Settings - For Low Magic 5th Edition D&D

Previously I suggested ideas for how to run a 5th Ed. D&D game with lower availability of spellcasting.  Weirdly however, even though the idea of trying to run low spellcasting games of 5th Edition holds some interest for me, I've sometimes been at a loss what sort of game I'd find that combination a useful fit for, or (if I was a player) attractive to play in.

This post is a follow-up, brainstorming various settings which might make use of such a lower magic system.  In these settings humans (and maybe other creatures) might have access to a few spells, but spellcasting classes as such are not available. Spells are mostly cast either through artifacts or rituals except maybe a few cantrips.

Hyborian Age

The obvious default seems like it would be something Conan-esque. After all, that is part of the inspiration behind D&D. A world build on the crumbling ruins of older things, but now largely a land of decadent city-states and harsh lands in between.

Legendary/Eldrich Europe

Again, this seems like an obvious choice. Might covering anything from antiquity through, lets say, the high middle ages. Sort of Ars Magica or Cthulhu Invictus type stuff.

There are fae demesnes dotted in the weird and desolate parts of the world, dragons, unicorns, kelpies and the like stalk the countryside. Old powerful magicians are feared as tamperers with the natural order, and the strange arts of local hedgewizards can only barely be trusted.

Or maybe, for the weirder, use fear rules and treat certain unnatural things as innately unsettling alien monsters.

Lithic

As much as the idea of neo/paleolithic has attracted me in the past, I've alway found the idea of structuring adventures or campaigns in that era to be a bit daunting. I think 5E D&D could handle it mechanically, especially with tweaks to lower the magic level. But not quite sure how well the desperate struggle for basic subsistence in a world at the dawn of prehistory matches up with the durable fightyness of modern D&D.

Atlas Games does seem to be giving it the old college try with Planegea. But looks a bit higher powered than the low magic fantasy I'd envisioned.

Owl Light: The Aftermath

This would take place in my own Owl Light setting, but during the 400 year Aftermath period after the Cataclysm war and before the Daybreak Kingdom was established. During this period things are a complete mess, most "humans" around are probably crazy-powerful magicians, seemingly living mentally in worlds of their own, along with a few less powerful ones who are totally confused and daunted to find their villages or regions on other planes of existence randomly uprooted and shoved into this world.

Most player characters would be foot soldiers of the factions which fought in the war. Mainly dwarves, orcs and warforged.  Some continue on their (now defunct) missions for extinguished polities. Others try to make local alliances and operate independently, but are in constant fear of being having their brains "rooted" by ancient survivors who happen to know the old command languages programmed into their very genes.

Survival amid famine, marauders and terrors from the last war are all persistent issues to contend with.

Tomb World

An idea previously posted, a set of small communities trying to win back land and resources from the calcified undead hierarchy dominating most of the planet. This might actually be a pretty good fit, if undead dominance relied on their mastery over magic, compared to the stunted skills of the living.

I tend to think undead magic would mostly be of the arcane variety, though undead bards (ghostly enchantments) or druids (wilderness decay and life cycles) might be an interesting twist.

The Plague

The idea is that all PCs are a set of warforged who wake up on a moderately developed magitech world. They have no past memories, but occasionally receive mental instructions from an unresponsive source to investigate various points around the region. It quickly becomes obvious that an extremely fast acting disease has wiped out nearly all animal life on the planet's surface.

This is sort of a set of images in my head, but I don't know completely where to go with it yet. For one thing, maybe a bit close to home with recent Covid-19 issues. For another thing, it seems like it subverts expectations of D&D a bit too much. Trouble thinking of actual conflicts for them to get involved in, or a resolution to their current state. So pretty much getting back burnered for now.

Otherworld Incursion

Something is different. The barriers between worlds are weakening and things are coming through here and there, notably from the Feywild or Far Realms or Shadowfell.

Maybe reality is going through a periodic cycle of disharmony (such as the one that brought down the last civilization). Or maybe some outside beings who've have been trying to chip away at this realm's defenses for centuries are finally meeting success. Or maybe it's those damn cultists invoking them for power.

Whatever the cause, a rash of abductions, mutations, irrational phenomena and madness have been the ultimate result.

Characters are part of a team sent out to try and track down such incursions, prevent them worsening and seal them away.

Winterwold

A (frequently cold) points of light, Black Forest type setting, with grim towns and strange woods. Probably mostly dwarves and humans with a few elves and gnomes living in the wilder places. Things like werewolves, forest giants, wild hordes and mad druids are a conceivable threat.

Setting might be like 20% Ravenloft, 20% Three Hearts and Three Lions, 15% Mythago Wood, and 10% Banner Saga.

Probably uses some fear mechanics for uncanny encounters, though partly fae or magic connected PCs might have to deal with sanity mechanics to retain a connection to the mortal world and avoid being lured away to an more otherworldly existence.

Against The Dragons

Chromatic dragons and their tyrannical humanoid minions control the world.  They grant warlock or clerical powers to their cultists. All others only have access to martial prowess or low magic. Setting elements:

• Races - Gnomes are the ancestral race.  All others were bred or genetically manipulated by dragons as servants or playthings.  All other races are available, but:
• Dragonborn - These are literally half-dragons.  They have no favored status, being something of an embarrassment to the dragons who sired them.
• Orcs - Created as brute squads and for heavy labor.
• Gnomes/Elves - Created to facilitate art, crafts and magic.
• Dwarves/Halflings/Humans - The unintended crossbreeds of orc, elf, and gnome.  These beings have become much more numerous among the commoners and a few have administrative jobs among the loyalists.

• Factions - The dragons undertake leisurely wars against each for greater demesnes, treasure, or petty grudges. Sometimes they make alliances for strategic reasons or breeding purposes, but such things rarely last more than 50-100 years. There are three main groups of characters operating under the dragons:

• Loyalists - These are humanish creatures who are essentially on board with what the dragons are doing.  Some have received special powers, equipment or benefits, authority from their connections.
• Commoners - These are under the authority of the dragons, and compelled to obey them.  Some are more comfortable with draconic law than others.  However, most will not risk themselves.  Or must be persuaded to do so.  Some might harbor or assist rebels less directly though.
• Rebels - All those at war against the dragons and their forces. Rebels tend to operate in covert groups in any given area. Dragons rarely perceive them as much of a threat, and it's assumed Loyalist servants take care of most necessary Rebel suppression without direct guidance.

• Languages - There are a number of languages spoken in the setting:
• Primal - Among themselves the dragons speak primal.
• Local Tongues - To help divide and conquer, each dragon imposes a unique languages among their subjects, making it difficult for commoners to interact with those of other domains.  Dragons also tend to tightly control who can learn other languages (secret police, etc.), mainly allowing only loyalists to do so.
• Rebel Cant (thieve’s cant) - A secret language of rebels, shared between dragon fiefs.  Highly illegal.

Turning of the Age

The world has gone through several ages, during each a given type of power prevailed in the world. Now is the lull as one age ends and the next begins:

• The Gloaming - An age of primal dragons and fae mists. This was an era of primal terror for ancient proto-humoids.  The magic of this era was Sorcery and Druidism.

• The Age of Divinities - The fae and dragons were driven to the margins of existence as the hopes and fears of mortals gave rise to Divinities: powerful beings who empowered and defended them against the hungers and caprices of those earlier powers. The magic of this era was Clerical and Warlock power.

• The Age of Magi - The inflexible systems of Divinity gave way as the science of Wizardry gave a more rational and baggage-free means to wield power and manipulate the universe. Arcane magic dominated this age until the mages began to lord their skills over the less capable

• The Interregnum - The Mage-Princes have been deposed, their ashes scattered. Those who easily harness the power of earlier eras are generally feared as dangerously deranged or anti-humanist. Only through hedge magic and a few crafted items, is magic worked now.

• The Coming Era - No one knows what the next era will bring. Machines?  The resurrection of a previous age? Many are trying to shape the coming age, or at least prevent some old and previously known evil from reemerging.