Part 2: Class Decisions

I've changed my mind.

I was thinking about the potential of magic-using classes. I like the idea of a low-magic campaign world, but the limitations will make it unappealing for a significant portion of players. That said, I want to limit the magic-users' numbers significantly, and add other barriers to balance out the characters in the rest of the low-magic campaign. I'm thinking that arcane magic, in the sense of wizard schools, mage guilds, etc., does not exist anymore. At some point in the distant past, most wizardly knowledge was lost or purged. The more I think of it, the more I like the idea of a war against wizard kings. During that war, the powers-that-be destroyed most magic for the protection of the species; they would not be so stupid or naive as to completely eliminate the existence of a potentially powerful tool. The most useful magics would have been quarantined or sequestered, usable only by the "right people", most likely kings and kingmakers-- people interested in using the tools of magic to advance their own power, but not so foolish as to do it in bold, public ways.

There would be a high-level (politically-speaking) society (or possibly a couple with differing, maybe opposing philosophies) who control magic with the goal of manipulating the course of history. Think of the Skulls with secret magic. This would mean that these people should likely be NPC classes. Unless you're particularly interested in a campaign based around magic and political intrigue... which kind of sounds cool.

Other than these secret shadows, the largest segment of the population has been groomed over the generations to fear and hate magic. The idea of becoming a wizard would be repulsive to them. Anyone who espoused differing philosophies would probably be feared and hated.

The direct impact this has on PCs is that a) there is nowhere one can simply 'learn' magic, and b) whoever does learn magic would be a pariah if it were ever discovered. Basically, this is a world where wizard is a bad word. The study of magic would start with the unearthing of some long-forgotten artifact or grimoire that escaped the purge. If one of these were found, perhaps a dual-class could be taken, given an appropriate amount of time.

To bring magic closer to players, I thought of sorcerers. Casters with innate power could still be born. They would not only be hated and feared, some would be killed by horrified parents (if the baby's curse were visible somehow). Also, given the idea that's now stirring in my brain, which is that alchemists would be this world's 'wizards', a specialized village alchemist would be present at most births to use some kind of potion or oil on a child to detect the presence of the mark of magic. Magically gifted children would then be destroyed or whisked away from their parents. Sorcerers would actually be trained to be useful to the lords of the lands. This is not the kind of service that grants recognition like, say, a knight. These people are slaves, treated like subhumans. Part of their 'training' would be the idea that they are cursed and born part evil. This would be drilled into them, with a sense of self-loathing, along with the knowledge that the only way they can redeem themselves is through faithful service to their lord.

This way, a magic-using class can be taken, but it is limited by role-playing factors.

Please keep in mind that I am thinking of humans only at this point. The other races will be detailed a bit later on, and will likely have different opinions on magic, etc.

This brings me to thinking of other classes of magic-user. Bards spring to mind. I don't think bards would exist as a class in this world, so much as an occupation. Any bard subclass which has no magic use ability would be acceptable, of course. I'll freely admit to not being aware of all the forty million specialty prestige classes out there. Call me a classicist, but I still like my old 2nd Edition, when it comes to D&D. If I can think of a specific alteration to make to bards, I will do it before I put this all together in one final document.

That leaves us with divine magic. I would quite like to eliminate it altogether. I don't want gods to be recognizable entities. I like the idea of having religions more like they are on Earth. No one can prove that gods exist, and take it on faith that they do. Faith is stronger than certainty, in this sort of thing. Religion would then be an organization based on faith, rather than an order in service of an interactive deity.

I find the role-play ideas of this option more attractive, but it does leave us with a big problem: players. What do you do if you don't have someone who can heal? Realism is great in a game, but having your warrior spend three months convalescing after a battle with a giant is a real downer in terms of gameplay.

The idea I mentioned earlier, about having an alchemist-type class active, may be the answer. It would be interesting. It'd be a scholar class with the ability to brew potions, etc., that mimic a number of magical effects. Given the populace's reaction to wizardry, would alchemy flourish or be suppressed? For it to continue to exist, it must have its roots in something other than magic. This is where my idea for the human race would come into play...

Humans aren't from this world. They came here long ago from beyond the stars. That's where my history of science-fiction will come in to the story, as well. The race was brought here ages ago on a space ship. The exact purposes of their transplantation are still up in the air for now, but they are here, and have been here for many generations. I think alchemy would have sprung from the science of chemistry. It's kind of a reverse parallel to our world; a hybrid of magic and chemistry has evolved as a result of applying scientific principals and techniques to magical reagents and components. I like this idea; it seems I'll have a whole new class to replace (kind of ) a couple of classes.

The warrior class, and thief class are pretty much fine as they are. They need no alteration to fit into my campaign world. The barbarian and monk classes likewise need no changes. I think the only customization needed for the barbarian and monk classes will be to give histories for the organizations and clans that give rise to them.

Rangers, on the other hand, may need some surgery. I'm thinking of a nature-class warrior that uses natural ingredients and techniques in alchemy.

I should also point out that, to keep balance in a largely low-magic campaign, alchemy should be much less effective than true magic. You won't get a wish potion, for example. To balance it off, perhaps alchemists can be divided into scholarly NPC-types, and adventuring types who have taken up some measure of weapon or nature survival skill.

The lack of direct, divine intervention also means that paladin isn't really a class, so much as it is a distinction of social or organizational status.

I've made a few more changes than I imagined I would so far, so I'm going to leave it here for now. I'll have to think about these changes to see if they're something players can live with. If you have any opinion, feel free to add a comment.