Depends on what you mean. The game works fine with very limited or no magic items and there's nothing about your campaign world that needs to be magical.
If you want PC's without magic, that's tougher and you'll have to restrict a lot of material. Only 4 out of 14 classes lack some level of spell casting ability and even subclasses of those get access to spells. Non-magical healing is going to be tough to find and reflavoring it can work to an extent, but it's hard to describe the limitations imposed by spell slots.
If you're looking for something like Game of Thrones where magic is practically nonexistent, I think you could probably find a better system than 5e. Of course with homebrew on the table you can do anything, so with a lot of work (whether yours or someone else's material) you could certainly do it.
You can always keep most of the magic out of the campaign. For instance, you can just refuse to put magic items into dungeons, sell them in shops, etc. You could come up with magic restrictions for player characters.
However, you'd have to rebalance almost everything. The game assumes magic items -- and rather a lot of them -- and the spells to go with them. If you have a level 4 party without any access to magic, it will not be able to take on what a normal level 4 party would. You'll have to be very careful about monsters, or alter their stat blocks. Any monster that is immune to non-magical attacks would be nigh-unbeatable in a campaign with hardly any magic. This would turn a CR 4 or 5 monster into a CR 10, just because almost nobody would be able to affect it.
You'd need to be prepared for this and keep regularly modding the existing monsters or making up your own, or your party will get wiped by some weak thing like a basilisk when they're 10th level because they don't have the magic items and spells to combat it.
You can always keep most of the magic out of the campaign. For instance, you can just refuse to put magic items into dungeons, sell them in shops, etc. You could come up with magic restrictions for player characters.
However, you'd have to rebalance almost everything. The game assumes magic items -- and rather a lot of them -- and the spells to go with them. If you have a level 4 party without any access to magic, it will not be able to take on what a normal level 4 party would. You'll have to be very careful about monsters, or alter their stat blocks. Any monster that is immune to non-magical attacks would be nigh-unbeatable in a campaign with hardly any magic. This would turn a CR 4 or 5 monster into a CR 10, just because almost nobody would be able to affect it.
You'd need to be prepared for this and keep regularly modding the existing monsters or making up your own, or your party will get wiped by some weak thing like a basilisk when they're 10th level because they don't have the magic items and spells to combat it.
To combat this issue you can have "masterwork" items. Exceptionally well crafted and balanced so they can provide +x to hit and damage and still count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance, they just wont have any spells and magical abilities.
Another thing you could do is have it be where you can't buy magic items, but you might find some in an ancient tomb/temple/whatnot. Some past civilization had them even if the current one does not.
Townsfolk would be terrified of characters who can cast spells, or alternatively, if a villager gets healed or cured of a disease they might try to start a church to the character in that village. Or they might try to burn the wizard at the stake.
I once had a player who wanted to play a non-magical bard, so I turned it into a rogue subclass for her. Inspiration Dice, Cutting Words, Combat Inspiration, and Peerless Skill. You could limit player characters to half casters and third casters, or divine casters only. Or don't allow divine casters as the gods have forsaken the world.
If you like to watch live streamed D&D or listen to podcasts of it, a great example of a low magic world is Into the Bowels of Vallenguard! by MCDM. Phill Robb DM's a 3 episode adventure where the players are the only ones with magic, except for some of the monsters of course. During the episodes they talk about another short campaign they ran in the same world where the PCs were the first ones to have magic in thousands (I think) of years.
There are plenty of options for you if you want low/no magic in your campaign. One of my favorite things about 5e is it is set up to be altered by the DM to fit their world very well, have fun with it!
I personally am a fan of, maybe not low magic, but let's say "lower magic." I like it when magic exists and PCs slowly gain access to it. I just think it happens too fast in the more recent iterations of D&D.
EDIT: But that said, I am not doing "lower magic" in my current campaign, because the players aren't really on board with that. So I have like... medium magic. Lower than FR, but not true low magic.
If you wanted the Idea to be Non-magical, you could take a variation on Planeshift Kaladesh. It offers on how to change magic items, so even in a low magic campaign, you could give them items to help out.
If you want the Players without magic, you could have the magic flavored like the Artificer's, and just technology that functions like a spell would. In the UA version, it describes it as this:
To observers, you don’t appear to be casting spells in a conventional way; you look as if you’re producing wonders through various items.
As an artificer, you use tools when you cast your spells. When describing your spellcasting, think about how you’re using a tool to perform the spell effect. If you cast cure wounds using alchemist’s supplies, you could be quickly producing a salve. If you cast it using tinker’s tools, you might have a miniature mechanical spider that binds wounds. When you cast poison spray, you could fling foul chemicals or use a wand that spits venom. The effect of the spell is the same as for a spellcaster of any other class, but your method of spellcasting is special. The same principle applies when you prepare your spells. As an artificer, you don’t study a spellbook or pray to prepare your spells. Instead, you work with your tools and create the specialized items you’ll use to produce your effects.
If you replace cure wounds with shocking grasp, you might be breaking down the device you used to heal and creating an offensive item in its place—perhaps a gauntlet that lets you channel a surge of energy. Such details don’t limit you in any way or provide you with any benefit. You don’t have to justify how you’re using tools to cast a spell. But describing your spellcasting creatively is a fun way to distinguish yourself from other spellcasters.
It's still spellcasting with the 5e rules, but it's not typical magic. I think it would fit well in a world with no actual magic.
Recently had this as well, what I did was a timeskip from my previous campaign to the next in which magic was not as common and religion (since it is associated with magic) was not either, it was a real headscrather but here's the lore I used to make it possible :
After getting bored of regular magic some magic users have began experimenting and coming up with terrifying magic, however some experiments went wrong and affected non-magical beings.
This is when the general population first started fearing magic and it's possibilities and small groups started revolting against it's users.
However being in the majority the magic users had an advantage and the general population could not do much against them
Until one day they found out that every magic caster has their limits, with enough people and perseverance they managed to eliminate some magic users.
Hearing the news of this, the people who were against magic started gathering followers, and the group became bigger and bigger over many years, hunting down magic users
However, over the years they also realized another thing, many gods that magic users worshiped were the source of their power, so the people who were against magic had another problem to solve, yet they came up with an efficient solution, creating a religion of their own.
With the anti-magic group growing bigger and bigger by the minute more people started joining this religion, worshiping a god known as the truthful, a god who stands up against the lies and blasphemy of these other untruthful religions.
over the years the worshipers of the Truthful managed to start a full fledged crusade against magic-users, eliminating most of them and pushing the remaining few out of their cities, this is what they called the great cleansing.
However, since then many centuries have gone by and the religion of the truthful still exists, yet their old ways had long been forgotten, over the years the followers of the truthful no longer had the need to hunt down magic-users, they were all gone, so the concept of the great cleansing was lost to time.
They are still against other religions, worshiping the truthful as the one true god, but magic perseveres in small groups in the world, on rare occasions magic users are born here and there, and people were impressed yet fearsome whenever this occurred, however magic was still seen as something unnatural and so it was never taught or passed on.
People who regularly use magic live far outside the bigger cities seeing as their art was not widely accepted and ended up with them usually becoming outcasts.
To avoid this they started gathering in small groups outside and live their own life, not many people know where these places are however.
It is also said that from time to time, people find an old book containing magic spells and try to learn from it, in secret, in fear of being an outcast like the other magic users that were born.
Some even say they found old scriptures in caves, pertaining to ancient gods that were able to grant you powers, these too however are only myths.
It makes magic possible and more importantly not less powerful just less common.
I've toyed with the idea of making a "lower magic" campaign by giving casters fewer spell slots, but higher level. Like maybe your max spell slot equals your level for full casters instead of roughly half your level, but you get only one slot per level, ever. Think about how Gandalf rarely uses magic, but when he does, it's pretty kick-ass. I'm not sure exactly how the balance would work out, but I think it would be in the right ballpark.
Being stingy with magic items, or not including them at all, could work.
I think you'd run into issues however if you're trying to restrict the magic of PCs.
Of the base classes, bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, warlock and wizard are explicitly magical. And trying to reflavor them to NOT be would be a big undertaking.
Artificer if you play into the idea of them using inventions instead of traditional spells, could work if you're willing to have essentially 'magitech' in your campaign but not full on spells. But it's also going to be more techy than a medieval setting would if you're going for semi historical accuracy.
Monk is iffy depending on if you consider ki to be magic or not.
Fighter, barbarian and rogue aren't inherently magical but do have subclasses that are.
If you want to keep a leash on magic items, and have magic be rare within the world at large? Perfectly doable.
If you want to keep your PCs from having magical powers themselves...honestly there are probably better game systems out there for that. The sheer amount of things you'd have to restrict or heavily reflavor to make it work for PCs without severely limiting player choice IMO, wouldn't be worth it compared to finding a system built around low magic PCs.
Of course, if you and everyone at your table is fine with working around this, go for it. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is that your table is having fun.
I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (based on AD&D 2E, which treated magic differently), and one of the plot points of that game is that in the city of Athkatla, nobody except the sanctioned "Cowled Wizards" are allowed to use magic (I wish I knew this before importing my Sorcerer over from the first game and Siege of Dragonspear). So in order to not restrict players having magic spells and items, perhaps in your setting there's a ban on magic use. Your players could well be the 'lucky' one-in-a-million sorcerers, or have been sanctioned for its use, but this could come with consequence. If anyone can so much as smell the magic on you, expect for NPCs to be uncooperative at best, and hostile at worst. See The Witcher's namesake characters, where they're mutants. Monster hunters, true, but still viewed as monsters all the same.
This isn't so much as low magic but magic restricted, but it might be of some use for inspiring you. I'd say 5th Edition would make this a lot harder, but I doubt it would be impossible.
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The simplest way to have a lower level magic world is simply to ban the full caster classes. So the party can be Bards, etc. , but no Clerics, Wizards, etc.
You can run a low magic campaign up to level 20. It means magic items, spellcasters and magical effect will remain a rare thing. Monsters with magic capacities as well.
One thing i did in one of my low magic campaign is divise a number of exceptional items that had features granting bonus and effects without being magical in nature, mostly due to their superior fabric or workmanship or what they can represent. Some items exemple:
Exceptional Weapons: You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls made with this weapon.
Exceptional Armor: You have a +1 bonus to AC while wearing this armor.
Exceptional Spellcasting Focus: You gain a +1 bonus to spell DC and attack rolls made with this item.
Kron Hill Iron Ring: This pain ring bearing gnomish runes is usually given as a gift to creatures that performed great services for gnomes in Kron Hills. The iron ring is recognized by most of them as a boon so it gives you advantage on Charisma checks when interacting with gnomes from Kron Hills.
Black Dragon Armor: This black leathery armor is made from the hide of a black dragon (AC 12 + DEX mod). You have resistance to acid damage while you wear this armor.
Star of Celene: Set on a silver necklace, this golden medallion is usually given as a gift to creatures that performed great services for high elves in Celene. The star is recognized by most of them as a boon so it gives you advantage on Charisma checks when interacting with elves from Celene.
Cryptex: This portable vault is used to hide secret messages. It resembles a stone cylinder comprising five disks of marble engraved with letters and numbers that are mounted on brass framework. They tumble so someone can enter a password to open the cylinder and have access to the hollow interior. If one does not know the password but tries to force the cryptex open, the vial will break and the vinegar will dissolve the papyrus before it can be read.
Aphrodisiac Oil: This perfumed cologne gives you advantage to any Charisma check to interact with some creatures, feeling a certain attraction to you while within 5 feet of you.
Dlarun: This bone-white metal can take a high polish and is often mistaken for ivory when seen in finished items, but it has a distinctive greenish sheen in candlelight. Dlarun is a little-known metal worked by halflings. Derived from roasting clay dug from the banks of certain rivers, dlarun is first gathered as white chips among fire ash that are then melted in a hot crucible that is filled with a liquid. It has property of steadying the mind of any being in direct (bare flesh) contact with forehead, allowing them to have advantage on any saving throws against charm or illusion effects (and similar psionic or spell-like power). Its usually mounted on a diadem for maximum potency.
Amaratha Stone: Also known as shieldstone, amaratha is a soft, greenish white or very pale green, sparkling type of jewel. It’s found in the form of small lumps or nodules in deep rock strata. It is most often found in exposed canyon walls or in the Underdark. Amaratha attracts and absorbs electricity in a 10-foot radius and can be used to protect those who wear it or accompany the wearer from lightning and electrical discharges. Static charges and the like are continuously absorbed by shieldstones without altering them in any way, but a piece of amaratha automatically neutralizes even the most sudden and powerful of electrical effects (such as an electric eel shock, lightning bolt, or the like). A 3-inch-diameter sphere of shieldstone absorbs up to 18 points of lightning damage; in absorbing the charge, the shieldstone is consumed, vaporizing at the rate of a 1-inch-diameter volume per 6 points of damage absorbed. (A 1-inch-diameter stone disappears, and a 2-inch-diameter stone becomes a 1-inch-diameter stone, etc.) If an electrical discharge exceeds the capacity of a shieldstone to absorb it, all of the amarathas vaporize and the excess points of damage are suffered by those creatures or objects in the vicinity who would have normally been the targets of the discharge.
The simplest way to have a lower level magic world is simply to ban the full caster classes. So the party can be Bards, etc. , but no Clerics, Wizards, etc.
If I were banning classes, I'd include bards because they, quote the PHB, "weave[s] magic through words and music to inspire allies, demoralize foes, manipulate minds, create illusions, and even heal wounds." They don't play the lute for the sheer fun of it.... OK they do, but that's not the point! xD
Pedantry aside, an alternative to outright banning classes would be banning their abilities. Sure, you can choose to be a Cleric but you're doing it to serve a god (that may or may not exist/be alive), not for the magic powers that come from another fantasy setting. And you'd best uphold their tenets, because the temple has convinced you there's some eternal reward, or punishment, depending on how they've read you when you joined the clergy. Even then, one might benefit more from being a Paladin now their power comes from their Oath rather than a diety/alignment.
Or indeed, someone can be a bard. Proficiency in instruments and knowing some extra languages might well come in handy. Perhaps they don't need magic to inspire someone to do great things, and I'm guessing a lute does about 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
As for wizards, warlocks and sorcerers, they're a whole lot harder to re-flavour. I'd reflavour them as alchemists, charlatans (illusionists), chirugeons/vivisectionists, and such. Warlocks would definitely fall into the whole idea of cult worship, good or evil, but as with clerics, whether their patrons exist or not is up to the DM to decide (or not, I personally like the idea of not knowing who exactly is granting what powers.)
None of this is to discount your idea though. Banning classes outright saves time by letting players know immediately and without any ambiguity which classes are impossible to play, and should be disregarded for the purpose of the game. They can take it or leave it, and don't have to play 21 Questions with the DM about what they can and can't get away with flavour-wise.
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Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
Bards may be a bit of a jack of all trades class in a sense, but they are still full spell casters. Not half casters like paladins/rangers. They even get to pick some spells from any spell list with their magical secrets.
I don't think there is a good way to do true "low magic" in 5e D&D. You'd really need another system, like Lion and Dragon or Ironsworn, that are meant to be low-magic. D&D has too many classes with spells, and powerful ones, built into it, and creatures that are magical, and so on. It would be very difficult to do a true low magic world without homebrewing it so much that you'd be better off just using a different system.
You could get away with it by playing 1e, if you wanted to stick to D&D. Magic was just as powerful as it is in 5e, but the leveling progression was much slower and the # of spells/level was lower, and classes had very few "spell like" abilities the way they do now.
I don't think there is a good way to do true "low magic" in 5e D&D. You'd really need another system, like Lion and Dragon or Ironsworn, that are meant to be low-magic. D&D has too many classes with spells, and powerful ones, built into it, and creatures that are magical, and so on.
A low level magic campaign doesn't mean there can't be some spellcasters in the game, only that they're rare being low frequency, Same for magic items and other magic phonemenon.
I don't think there is a good way to do true "low magic" in 5e D&D. You'd really need another system, like Lion and Dragon or Ironsworn, that are meant to be low-magic. D&D has too many classes with spells, and powerful ones, built into it, and creatures that are magical, and so on.
A low level magic campaign doesn't mean there can't be some spellcasters in the game, only that they're rare being low frequency, Same for magic items and other magic phonemenon.
Yeah. Low magic works just fine, if it doesn't include the class/subclass options the PCs can take. It's only if you specifically try to limit the PCs to low magic as well that things start to get limited.
Low Magic isn't Non-Magic. The magic is there, though not common. you don't need to change the mechanics, only the taste. First of all, it's important to define with your players exactly what Low Magic is. Is it only about humans and a few fantastical elements? Are magic items allowed? Spellcasters? Here some tips:
1) Ban all races except humans, or make non-humans rare, few, and isolated.
2) Encourage, but don't restrict, players to choose barbarians, fighters, rogues, or monks. If they want spellcasters, no problem (see below).
3) Make all spellcasters unique or very rare. There are no other spellcasters besides the player characters, or perhaps two or three of the same order or tradition. They are special and unique in the world. Talk to your players to include this in your characters' backstory. Perhaps the wizard learns his spells from a single great ancient tome or library, the bard receives visions from an ancient spirit. The cleric is his deity's chosen one, rather than a mere priest. The druid may be the last remnant of her circle.
4) Prefer monsters and NPCs that are not spellcasters. Perhaps the villain is a non-spellcaster in possession of a very powerful magic item.
5) If you decide to use spellcasters, make them seem few, distant, isolated, and dangerous. Perhaps three evil wizards and their minions.
6) Use non-magical explanations for the existence of monsters, such as a contagious disease for zombies or technology for golems. Curses and experiments are good explanations too.
7) Make magic hard to see in traps, explorations, and interactions. Interpret the admiration, surprise, fear or horror of NPCs when PCs spellcasting publicly. Describe how each new spell feels like something wonderful to the player characters. Learning new spells should sound like a discovery.
8) Magic items may exist, but they are rare, old, and the knowledge to craft them has been lost. Perhaps the Artificer of the party is the last guardian of an ancient tradition.
9) Make magic items look mysterious and unique. A sword+1 may be the sword of King Akeroth, the Dragon Slayer, a Potion of Healing can be the ancient elixir of the gods and so on. Leave clues about the history of these items before players find them. Perhaps finding the items is an important part of the campaign.
10) There are no magic items for sale. There are no other spellcasters to help them. There are no spellcasters to present player characters with magic items.
11) If at some point in the campaign they need the help of magic, provide an item that can replace the absence of a spellcaster.
12) Limit magic items distribution during the campaign. In a 1-5 level campaign plan to give a maximum of 10-12 magic items to the party. Of these, about 6-8 minor items (like potions and scrolls) and, 4 major itens or magic weapons. In a 1-10 level campaign plan to give a maximum of 25-26 magic items to the party. Of these, about 20 minor items (like potions and scrolls) and, 5-6 major itens or magic weapons. Plan to give a maximum of 50 magic items to the party in a 1 to 20 level campaign. Of these, about 40 minor items and, 5-6 major itens and 4-5 magic weapons.
An idea our DM mentioned that he had heard of a rule where you could only get the benefit of a Long Rest sleeping in a secure location. A own, village, house, possibly an inn along the road, or even a cabin in the forest would suffice, but camping nightly wouldn't get you a Long Rest (spell slots all refreshed, Hit Dice restored, full healing) If you meld that with low to no magical item drops, it should wind up pretty low magic. Players will be extra stingy with spells and healing potions (if available) will become very valuable.
Drastic variations as have been mentioned (stripping back spell slots, banning full casting classes, etc) will end up being difficult to manage balance with as you progress. Going low magic by limiting the amount of times they can use it, should retain a lot of the balance and also serve to put your party on high alert concerning resource consumption.
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Is the possibility of a low magic campaign possible under 5th at this point? What are your thoughts?
Depends on what you mean. The game works fine with very limited or no magic items and there's nothing about your campaign world that needs to be magical.
If you want PC's without magic, that's tougher and you'll have to restrict a lot of material. Only 4 out of 14 classes lack some level of spell casting ability and even subclasses of those get access to spells. Non-magical healing is going to be tough to find and reflavoring it can work to an extent, but it's hard to describe the limitations imposed by spell slots.
If you're looking for something like Game of Thrones where magic is practically nonexistent, I think you could probably find a better system than 5e. Of course with homebrew on the table you can do anything, so with a lot of work (whether yours or someone else's material) you could certainly do it.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
You can always keep most of the magic out of the campaign. For instance, you can just refuse to put magic items into dungeons, sell them in shops, etc. You could come up with magic restrictions for player characters.
However, you'd have to rebalance almost everything. The game assumes magic items -- and rather a lot of them -- and the spells to go with them. If you have a level 4 party without any access to magic, it will not be able to take on what a normal level 4 party would. You'll have to be very careful about monsters, or alter their stat blocks. Any monster that is immune to non-magical attacks would be nigh-unbeatable in a campaign with hardly any magic. This would turn a CR 4 or 5 monster into a CR 10, just because almost nobody would be able to affect it.
You'd need to be prepared for this and keep regularly modding the existing monsters or making up your own, or your party will get wiped by some weak thing like a basilisk when they're 10th level because they don't have the magic items and spells to combat it.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
To combat this issue you can have "masterwork" items. Exceptionally well crafted and balanced so they can provide +x to hit and damage and still count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance, they just wont have any spells and magical abilities.
Another thing you could do is have it be where you can't buy magic items, but you might find some in an ancient tomb/temple/whatnot. Some past civilization had them even if the current one does not.
Townsfolk would be terrified of characters who can cast spells, or alternatively, if a villager gets healed or cured of a disease they might try to start a church to the character in that village. Or they might try to burn the wizard at the stake.
I once had a player who wanted to play a non-magical bard, so I turned it into a rogue subclass for her. Inspiration Dice, Cutting Words, Combat Inspiration, and Peerless Skill. You could limit player characters to half casters and third casters, or divine casters only. Or don't allow divine casters as the gods have forsaken the world.
If you like to watch live streamed D&D or listen to podcasts of it, a great example of a low magic world is Into the Bowels of Vallenguard! by MCDM. Phill Robb DM's a 3 episode adventure where the players are the only ones with magic, except for some of the monsters of course. During the episodes they talk about another short campaign they ran in the same world where the PCs were the first ones to have magic in thousands (I think) of years.
There are plenty of options for you if you want low/no magic in your campaign. One of my favorite things about 5e is it is set up to be altered by the DM to fit their world very well, have fun with it!
Some great suggestions there, Utticer.
I personally am a fan of, maybe not low magic, but let's say "lower magic." I like it when magic exists and PCs slowly gain access to it. I just think it happens too fast in the more recent iterations of D&D.
EDIT: But that said, I am not doing "lower magic" in my current campaign, because the players aren't really on board with that. So I have like... medium magic. Lower than FR, but not true low magic.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
If you wanted the Idea to be Non-magical, you could take a variation on Planeshift Kaladesh. It offers on how to change magic items, so even in a low magic campaign, you could give them items to help out.
https://media.wizards.com/2017/downloads/magic/Plane-Shift_Kaladesh.pdf
If you want the Players without magic, you could have the magic flavored like the Artificer's, and just technology that functions like a spell would. In the UA version, it describes it as this:
It's still spellcasting with the 5e rules, but it's not typical magic. I think it would fit well in a world with no actual magic.
Recently had this as well, what I did was a timeskip from my previous campaign to the next in which magic was not as common and religion (since it is associated with magic) was not either, it was a real headscrather but here's the lore I used to make it possible :
I've toyed with the idea of making a "lower magic" campaign by giving casters fewer spell slots, but higher level. Like maybe your max spell slot equals your level for full casters instead of roughly half your level, but you get only one slot per level, ever. Think about how Gandalf rarely uses magic, but when he does, it's pretty kick-ass. I'm not sure exactly how the balance would work out, but I think it would be in the right ballpark.
Being stingy with magic items, or not including them at all, could work.
I think you'd run into issues however if you're trying to restrict the magic of PCs.
Of the base classes, bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, warlock and wizard are explicitly magical. And trying to reflavor them to NOT be would be a big undertaking.
Artificer if you play into the idea of them using inventions instead of traditional spells, could work if you're willing to have essentially 'magitech' in your campaign but not full on spells. But it's also going to be more techy than a medieval setting would if you're going for semi historical accuracy.
Monk is iffy depending on if you consider ki to be magic or not.
Fighter, barbarian and rogue aren't inherently magical but do have subclasses that are.
If you want to keep a leash on magic items, and have magic be rare within the world at large? Perfectly doable.
If you want to keep your PCs from having magical powers themselves...honestly there are probably better game systems out there for that. The sheer amount of things you'd have to restrict or heavily reflavor to make it work for PCs without severely limiting player choice IMO, wouldn't be worth it compared to finding a system built around low magic PCs.
Of course, if you and everyone at your table is fine with working around this, go for it. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is that your table is having fun.
Nope. Boring.
I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (based on AD&D 2E, which treated magic differently), and one of the plot points of that game is that in the city of Athkatla, nobody except the sanctioned "Cowled Wizards" are allowed to use magic (I wish I knew this before importing my Sorcerer over from the first game and Siege of Dragonspear). So in order to not restrict players having magic spells and items, perhaps in your setting there's a ban on magic use. Your players could well be the 'lucky' one-in-a-million sorcerers, or have been sanctioned for its use, but this could come with consequence. If anyone can so much as smell the magic on you, expect for NPCs to be uncooperative at best, and hostile at worst. See The Witcher's namesake characters, where they're mutants. Monster hunters, true, but still viewed as monsters all the same.
This isn't so much as low magic but magic restricted, but it might be of some use for inspiring you. I'd say 5th Edition would make this a lot harder, but I doubt it would be impossible.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
The simplest way to have a lower level magic world is simply to ban the full caster classes. So the party can be Bards, etc. , but no Clerics, Wizards, etc.
You can run a low magic campaign up to level 20. It means magic items, spellcasters and magical effect will remain a rare thing. Monsters with magic capacities as well.
One thing i did in one of my low magic campaign is divise a number of exceptional items that had features granting bonus and effects without being magical in nature, mostly due to their superior fabric or workmanship or what they can represent. Some items exemple:
Exceptional Weapons: You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls made with this weapon.
Exceptional Armor: You have a +1 bonus to AC while wearing this armor.
Exceptional Spellcasting Focus: You gain a +1 bonus to spell DC and attack rolls made with this item.
Kron Hill Iron Ring: This pain ring bearing gnomish runes is usually given as a gift to creatures that performed great services for gnomes in Kron Hills. The iron ring is recognized by most of them as a boon so it gives you advantage on Charisma checks when interacting with gnomes from Kron Hills.
Black Dragon Armor: This black leathery armor is made from the hide of a black dragon (AC 12 + DEX mod). You have resistance to acid damage while you wear this armor.
Star of Celene: Set on a silver necklace, this golden medallion is usually given as a gift to creatures that performed great services for high elves in Celene. The star is recognized by most of them as a boon so it gives you advantage on Charisma checks when interacting with elves from Celene.
Cryptex: This portable vault is used to hide secret messages. It resembles a stone cylinder comprising five disks of marble engraved with letters and numbers that are mounted on brass framework. They tumble so someone can enter a password to open the cylinder and have access to the hollow interior. If one does not know the password but tries to force the cryptex open, the vial will break and the vinegar will dissolve the papyrus before it can be read.
Aphrodisiac Oil: This perfumed cologne gives you advantage to any Charisma check to interact with some creatures, feeling a certain attraction to you while within 5 feet of you.
Dlarun: This bone-white metal can take a high polish and is often mistaken for ivory when seen in finished items, but it has a distinctive greenish sheen in candlelight. Dlarun is a little-known metal worked by halflings. Derived from roasting clay dug from the banks of certain rivers, dlarun is first gathered as white chips among fire ash that are then melted in a hot crucible that is filled with a liquid. It has property of steadying the mind of any being in direct (bare flesh) contact with forehead, allowing them to have advantage on any saving throws against charm or illusion effects (and similar psionic or spell-like power). Its usually mounted on a diadem for maximum potency.
Amaratha Stone: Also known as shieldstone, amaratha is a soft, greenish white or very pale green, sparkling type of jewel. It’s found in the form of small lumps or nodules in deep rock strata. It is most often found in exposed canyon walls or in the Underdark. Amaratha attracts and absorbs electricity in a 10-foot radius and can be used to protect those who wear it or accompany the wearer from lightning and electrical discharges. Static charges and the like are continuously absorbed by shieldstones without altering them in any way, but a piece of amaratha automatically neutralizes even the most sudden and powerful of electrical effects (such as an electric eel shock, lightning bolt, or the like). A 3-inch-diameter sphere of shieldstone absorbs up to 18 points of lightning damage; in absorbing the charge, the shieldstone is consumed, vaporizing at the rate of a 1-inch-diameter volume per 6 points of damage absorbed. (A 1-inch-diameter stone disappears, and a 2-inch-diameter stone becomes a 1-inch-diameter stone, etc.) If an electrical discharge exceeds the capacity of a shieldstone to absorb it, all of the amarathas vaporize and the excess points of damage are suffered by those creatures or objects in the vicinity who would have normally been the targets of the discharge.
If I were banning classes, I'd include bards because they, quote the PHB, "weave[s] magic through words and music to inspire allies, demoralize foes, manipulate minds, create illusions, and even heal wounds." They don't play the lute for the sheer fun of it.... OK they do, but that's not the point! xD
Pedantry aside, an alternative to outright banning classes would be banning their abilities. Sure, you can choose to be a Cleric but you're doing it to serve a god (that may or may not exist/be alive), not for the magic powers that come from another fantasy setting. And you'd best uphold their tenets, because the temple has convinced you there's some eternal reward, or punishment, depending on how they've read you when you joined the clergy. Even then, one might benefit more from being a Paladin now their power comes from their Oath rather than a diety/alignment.
Or indeed, someone can be a bard. Proficiency in instruments and knowing some extra languages might well come in handy. Perhaps they don't need magic to inspire someone to do great things, and I'm guessing a lute does about 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
As for wizards, warlocks and sorcerers, they're a whole lot harder to re-flavour. I'd reflavour them as alchemists, charlatans (illusionists), chirugeons/vivisectionists, and such. Warlocks would definitely fall into the whole idea of cult worship, good or evil, but as with clerics, whether their patrons exist or not is up to the DM to decide (or not, I personally like the idea of not knowing who exactly is granting what powers.)
None of this is to discount your idea though. Banning classes outright saves time by letting players know immediately and without any ambiguity which classes are impossible to play, and should be disregarded for the purpose of the game. They can take it or leave it, and don't have to play 21 Questions with the DM about what they can and can't get away with flavour-wise.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
Bards may be a bit of a jack of all trades class in a sense, but they are still full spell casters. Not half casters like paladins/rangers. They even get to pick some spells from any spell list with their magical secrets.
I don't think there is a good way to do true "low magic" in 5e D&D. You'd really need another system, like Lion and Dragon or Ironsworn, that are meant to be low-magic. D&D has too many classes with spells, and powerful ones, built into it, and creatures that are magical, and so on. It would be very difficult to do a true low magic world without homebrewing it so much that you'd be better off just using a different system.
You could get away with it by playing 1e, if you wanted to stick to D&D. Magic was just as powerful as it is in 5e, but the leveling progression was much slower and the # of spells/level was lower, and classes had very few "spell like" abilities the way they do now.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
A low level magic campaign doesn't mean there can't be some spellcasters in the game, only that they're rare being low frequency, Same for magic items and other magic phonemenon.
Yeah. Low magic works just fine, if it doesn't include the class/subclass options the PCs can take. It's only if you specifically try to limit the PCs to low magic as well that things start to get limited.
Low Magic isn't Non-Magic. The magic is there, though not common. you don't need to change the mechanics, only the taste. First of all, it's important to define with your players exactly what Low Magic is. Is it only about humans and a few fantastical elements? Are magic items allowed? Spellcasters? Here some tips:
1) Ban all races except humans, or make non-humans rare, few, and isolated.
2) Encourage, but don't restrict, players to choose barbarians, fighters, rogues, or monks. If they want spellcasters, no problem (see below).
3) Make all spellcasters unique or very rare. There are no other spellcasters besides the player characters, or perhaps two or three of the same order or tradition. They are special and unique in the world. Talk to your players to include this in your characters' backstory. Perhaps the wizard learns his spells from a single great ancient tome or library, the bard receives visions from an ancient spirit. The cleric is his deity's chosen one, rather than a mere priest. The druid may be the last remnant of her circle.
4) Prefer monsters and NPCs that are not spellcasters. Perhaps the villain is a non-spellcaster in possession of a very powerful magic item.
5) If you decide to use spellcasters, make them seem few, distant, isolated, and dangerous. Perhaps three evil wizards and their minions.
6) Use non-magical explanations for the existence of monsters, such as a contagious disease for zombies or technology for golems. Curses and experiments are good explanations too.
7) Make magic hard to see in traps, explorations, and interactions. Interpret the admiration, surprise, fear or horror of NPCs when PCs spellcasting publicly. Describe how each new spell feels like something wonderful to the player characters. Learning new spells should sound like a discovery.
8) Magic items may exist, but they are rare, old, and the knowledge to craft them has been lost. Perhaps the Artificer of the party is the last guardian of an ancient tradition.
9) Make magic items look mysterious and unique. A sword+1 may be the sword of King Akeroth, the Dragon Slayer, a Potion of Healing can be the ancient elixir of the gods and so on. Leave clues about the history of these items before players find them. Perhaps finding the items is an important part of the campaign.
10) There are no magic items for sale. There are no other spellcasters to help them. There are no spellcasters to present player characters with magic items.
11) If at some point in the campaign they need the help of magic, provide an item that can replace the absence of a spellcaster.
12) Limit magic items distribution during the campaign. In a 1-5 level campaign plan to give a maximum of 10-12 magic items to the party. Of these, about 6-8 minor items (like potions and scrolls) and, 4 major itens or magic weapons. In a 1-10 level campaign plan to give a maximum of 25-26 magic items to the party. Of these, about 20 minor items (like potions and scrolls) and, 5-6 major itens or magic weapons. Plan to give a maximum of 50 magic items to the party in a 1 to 20 level campaign. Of these, about 40 minor items and, 5-6 major itens and 4-5 magic weapons.
An idea our DM mentioned that he had heard of a rule where you could only get the benefit of a Long Rest sleeping in a secure location. A own, village, house, possibly an inn along the road, or even a cabin in the forest would suffice, but camping nightly wouldn't get you a Long Rest (spell slots all refreshed, Hit Dice restored, full healing) If you meld that with low to no magical item drops, it should wind up pretty low magic. Players will be extra stingy with spells and healing potions (if available) will become very valuable.
Drastic variations as have been mentioned (stripping back spell slots, banning full casting classes, etc) will end up being difficult to manage balance with as you progress. Going low magic by limiting the amount of times they can use it, should retain a lot of the balance and also serve to put your party on high alert concerning resource consumption.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.