Re-Establishing vWord or Equinox

[Muskrat]

Personally, I would like to play around with a world where there used to be active and powerful deities, but the connection has since been severed, though with the occasional inspired individual that inexplicably manage to perform miracles and they all seem to believe that this or that god granted them favor. So deities=plot devices.

While I generally like the feel you're shooting for, Zorb, let me suggest something more ambiguous in regard to the above suggestion. There are certainly stories of the gods being more actively involved in the world in ancient times, but, while almost everyone believes in the gods, many people are skeptical that most of the stories about them are true. Some people may regard them as literally true; some people may regard them as metaphorically capturing important truths, but not being literally true; and some as just stories. People may channel divine energies to cast magic, leading most people to believe in the gods, but they have little direct communication with the gods, at least that's clear--they may receive omens or dreams, which they believe are sent by the gods, but which are open to multiple interpretations and other people regard with skepticism.

[TetNak]

I find myself pretty much inline with Zorb with a lot of this. I will try to make a more detailed response in a bit.

[TetNak]

I'm really interested in low magic stuff. Rituals, occult-like, magic. Curses, etc. I'm not all that interested in fireballs, etc. I think some stuff in combat is okay, but it would really have to be controlled. I also think, that with a big enough world, magic levels could vary depending on where you were. I also think the cosmology of gods would be different based on the civilization, or even just sects of worshipers. Take Christians and those that still worshiped Roman Gods at the same place, and same time. I think that certainly causes plot hooks, etc. Not all of these gods really need to exist. Maybe none do. But I do like the idea of the bad god creating the world, and a good god trying to save people from it.

Also - should we move this to the workshop?

[Vardaen]

You know you want fireball slinging khazad

[TetNak]

Only dwarfs, and only out of their butts.

[Vardaen]

Epic flatulence

[Zorbeltuss]

But it's mostly torches and inhuman methane production.

[TetNak]

So -- Let's get this back on track.

Is everyone good with a mostly low-magic fantasy setting? If so, let's kinda define what this means a bit more. My thought is, there can be other, non-human races, but overt magic is rare. Fireballs, lightening strikes, etc, are not really seen. Witchcraft, rituals, etc, are more likely. The level of magic differs depending on where you are in the world.

[Muskrat]

One suggestion on magic: It takes a long time to cast safely. People need to set up a ritual space, with a magic circle of protection, etc. In great need, however, magic can be cast more quickly--one could simply draw a rough circle in the dirt around one or sketch one in chalk on the floor, while creating the rest of the circle in one's head--but that's much less safe. At the very least, it will create fatigue and there's always the possibility of something worse happening. This system retains the low magic feel, but makes things more flexible. You could still have battle mages, but it would be a high risk profession.

One other thought: We want to make it so this setting can translate into game systems, even if we don't have a consensus on which one. Most systems though allow for rapid fire spells. While I like the low magic idea, I'm not sure our implementation of it will translate well into using the setting as a game world. Thoughts?

[TetNak]

Are you saying that some systems do not support low-magic? I would probably agree with that. How does Pathfinder not support slinging fireballs, etc? I'm not sure -- I'm not that well versed on the different Pathfinder classes. However, I think that any generic system, GURPS, Savage Worlds, etc, already have support for this. Other things could be developed. If we're truly a system agnostic setting, then we should not worry about the systems at all. It would be the GM's job to tailor whatever their system is to the setting/theme, not the other way around.

As for magic, I like that it takes a lot of work, like you mentioned. You probably could do it faster, but mostly to bad results. I like all that. It really depends what you mean by 'battle mages' though? Are we talking about spell slingers in the fireball sense? If so, I'm not for it. I think magic should be far more subtle. Think Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire.