Now, I'm slowly rebuiling a campaign wherein the players are part of a world without any other planes to it except the Astral (Spirit World) Plane, which is basically where your soul goes after death to be rejoin 'The Primal Fire' of which all souls were struck, are purified of their mortal memories and thoughts, thereby enriching the Primal Fire and after some time the souls come back to the Material Plane to be reborn/reincarnated, normally without memories of their previous lives (Think Katherine Kerr's work with Nevyn, Jill, Cullyn and Rhodry in her books, starting from Daggerspell and going onwards to the latest one).
Magic is hard for the 'Newborn' races to access, let alone master, wherein the 'Ancient' races, the Elves, the Dragons, the Magical Creatures, the Fey Court (Seelie and Unseelie) and the Gnomes all can easily learn to wield magic. Of all the 'Ancient' races, only the Dwarves labour under the same problems as Humans, Orcs and Goblins in that Magic is a hard-won prize.
Now, unlike the Dark Sun setting where material resources such as iron ore were uncommon and using bone and wood for weaponry and armor was much more likely, this campaign is roughly the same level of technology as your average medievil society, but Magic is not, meaning that most people consider Light spells as the height of the Art as far as they are concerned. Casters must deal with nonlethal damage every time they cast a spell, and crafting items requires expensive magical components for certain effects, meaning that players must gather reagents in addition to the normal cost for creating magical weapons, and materials such as Adamantite are almost unheard of, and Mithril is the sole domain of the Elves, being magically hardened Silver created in a process the Elves have held secret for thousands of years.
In this campaign, lacking Outsiders, I came up with Lesser Magic Beasts, Greater Magic Beasts, Lesser Dragons, Drakes and Greater Dragons as replacement subtypes. Lesser Magic Beasts would be creatures with limited magical influences, such as Gryphons, Bulettes and Girallon, creatures without obviously magical or supernatural abilities, and Greater Magic Beasts would be akin to Couatl, Cockatrices and Gorgons, creatures that can perform or emit abilities that are blatantly supernatural or magical in nature.
Lesser Dragons would be creatures with the Dragon Subtype but lack breath-weapons and the supernatural abilities of their True-blooded Kin, while Drakes are indentified by having large wings and only two legs and the Dragon subtype, potent natural weapons and high intelligences, and Greater Dragons would be the standard Chromatic/Metallic Dragons.
Now, Bone Weapons have a -2 to damage and are fairly weak in terms of hardness and hitpoints. Should bones from Magic Beasts count as Iron Weapons or should they instead, after certain treatments, count as magical instead? Weaker than metal, the bones still possess fragments of their magical natures? How about the claws, teeth and hides of the Magic Beasts? Shouldn't those likewise have innate magical abilities that could be called forth to enchant the weapons crafted from them?
What about Dragon Bone? We have Dragon Hide Armor that can be crafted into a variety of light, medium and heavy armor, let alone shields, would Dragon Bone count as a material harder than iron despite being roughly the same weight? Lesser Dragons and Drakes could yield up Lesser Dragonbone, which could easily be crafted into plates to form armor or carved into weapons, fired to harden any cutting edges and treated with alchemical solutions to prevent corrosion, while the biggest threat to the non-magical races in terms of outright damage and pure power would be the Greater Dragons, and their bones, teeth and claws could perhaps be even more potent still!
Any help in regards to this would help, as I'm struggling to figure out how such items could work within the campaign without resorting to magical hand-waving, which would not mesh with the campaign's theme of 'Magic is difficult to master'.
You may want to steal some ideas from a game like Fantasy Hero.
I'd suggest adding disadvantages to magic, to make the point that magic is difficult to master. Non-lethal damage is a good one for spells, but there are others.
-requires an activation roll (like UMD)
-increased casting/activation time
-side effects
-difficulties aiming
-easily broken
-limited charges (even on a sword +2, if you want)
I also think you want a wide variety of possible things in the world. I wouldn't limit it to "dragon bone only', I would instead write rules that say "When you make a dragon bone item, then...."
You may already have one problem. If the 'Ancient' races find magic easy to master but other races don't, then how can you have a theme that 'magic is difficult to master'? Are you barring the ancient races from play? Also, in mechanics terms, what does it mean exactly? Level limits? Different advancement rates?
For unusual materials:
1) Let the bones of magical beasts be useful for making weapons with enhancement bonuses, say a +1 enhancement bonus per 4 hit dice. Also apply the ability to start bypassing DR as per normal rules. So if you find and kill a magical beast with 12 HD, you can make a +3 weapon, complete with the ability to bypass DR/silver or cold iron. Same with teeth and claws.
2) Don't overly complicate things with your critters. Think about how many monsters are in the Bestiary. Now look each up and figure out what it does. Now how many different parts will you need information for? Teeth, claws, hide, bones, blood...the list goes on and on. Remove some of them from contention first.
3) Treat lesser dragon bones as being as hard as steel, upgrade the greater dragon bones to hardness of mithril or adamantine. Also, give the greater dragon parts even more of an edge. Maybe you can make weapons and armor with appropriate elemental properties for much less, even give them the properties for free.
Also, how will divine magic work?
I was fully intending for the 'Ancient' races to be unavailable for PC play, but I am also trying to avoid triggering the Mod's aggro and getting sent to the Homebrew forums and getting buried beneath the spam.
Magic is difficult meaning that while the 'Ancient' races can perform magic like normal campaigns, the Dwarves, Humans, Orcs, Goblins and whatever other races I decide to fling at the PCs as choices have a sort of genetic block on magic. It's very, very rare for Sorcerers to be born, and are more often 'created' by either accidents or cruel arcane rituals designed to empower the 'Newborn' races.
Divine magic ... Gods listen to the Newborn races, not as much as they listen to the Ancients, but still, they listen. The same problems arcane casters have, divine casters suffer from too, casting spells hurts (nonlethal damage), it takes a high-level character to flat-out enchant a weapon up to +5, and even then they are pushing themselves to the limit. Now if that same caster went out and bought/found the right reagents to craft a +5 Flaming Burst Greatsword, would involve finding the bones of a Drake or Greater Dragon with the right subtype, procuring a Fire Elemental to serve as the catalyst to 'ignite' the latent fire energies within the carved bone sword. A Greatsword made from a Greater Dragon's Tooth would be naturally keen, I would rule, and a Composite Longbow designed for, say, long-distance pin-point archery would require the feathers of a Giant Eagle, and possibly the eyes too if the PCs can swing it past their alignments and tendons from a magical beast of great physical strength for the bowstring.
PCs can make items through normal casting, but the less 'reagents' they use the more expensive and costly, and the higher level they will need to be, to effectively craft the item.
I like your 1st point, Lathiira. Bones should perhaps be mostly bludgeoning weapons, although suitably hard bones could potentially hold a cutting edge once magically enhanced, or perhaps the crafting process bonds a thin layer of metal to the weapon's 'cutting edge' to protect the more-valuable bone material underneath, or perhaps the bone could be studded with natural weapons such as small teeth and claws to create a cutting edge. A +1 per evey 4 HD works out great too!
As to the second point, I was torn between letting the PCs create their own common-sense crafting guides, ie Gryphons can be harvested to make items that make you strong, hearty and the ability to fly, Dragons grant increased armor, durability, possibly longevity and even elemental damage, abberations can produce effects that can warp the body in beneficial ways once activated, so on and so forth, but I was also considering that if the PCs wanted an item that could damage Earth Elementals, their best bet was to either hunt down a Bulette and harvest it for it's materials, in regards to it's burrowing abilities tying in to a magical weapon or armor that was highly effective against 'earth' based enemies, or in turn hunting down a wind-based creature for the 'opposites' angle, ie a weapon that penalises an earth elemental by temporarily severing it's connection to the Earth.
Bumping this. Been poking the brain for several weeks now, and have come up with some more ideas to incorporate into the overall design of the homebrew. Magic is no longer 'Hard' for the Mortal Races, but it is Subtle for the most part!
Magic is Subtle: Doing away with most of the 'Blasty' and 'Summon Monster' spells, for a feel of magic that is. Now before people start screaming, the overall idea is that Magic is everywhere, but because it is in everything, the rocks, trees, air, water and all living things. This ties in to a later point, which I will get to. Each 'Primary' Casting Class gains access to three 'Spheres' of Magic, and the 'Secondary' Casting Classes, Rangers and Bards, swap out their spellcasting for Supernatural or Extraordinary abilities.
The 'Spheres' of Magic, Healing, Protective, Illusion, Destruction, Divination, Enchantment and Transmutation, are all the same despite whatever Class is casting them, but certain Classes can only have access to certain Spheres, meaning that a Cleric and a Sorcerer who both have access to the Destruction Sphere can cast the same spells
Clerics gain access to three of the following Spheres: Healing, Protective, Destruction, Enchantment and Divination Magic. No Undead in the campaign, however, and no 'Gods', per se, but there are powerful Spirits whom look after or demand worship from Mortals...expect to see a 'One True God' faith in the campaign the Players will end up butting heads with. Think Nevyn from the Daggerspell Novels and you've got my take on the 'Cleric' Class. Just now with Armor and Smiting. Having to prepare spells, they are going to function as normal, mostly.
Not certain how I'll work this to include Domains, but likely means that Domains are the result of Pacts with these Spirits, meaning that a Cleric that makes a Pact with a new Spirit can change their Domains ... Some Domains will have to have their Domain Spells changed slightly to accomodate the lack of Summoning/Undead, but allowing 'Blasty' Spells as the domain of specific Spirits could be handy, if potentially game-breaking...
Sorcerers gain access to three of the following Spheres: Destruction, Divination, Illusion, Enchantment and Transmutation. Sorcerers are the only 'Arcane' Casters, born literally infused with magic, meaning some Bloodlines will disappear. Outsider, Undead and similar Bloodlines go. That said, because they have access to the entire Sphere, rather than just a few spells, they are quite potent but still are lacking in the physical domain...
Outright 'Damage' Spells will still exist, but to compensate for the lack of outright Damage and/or Summoning Spells, likely going to allow the caster to dictate what element they are using, rather than having it locked in stone. Spells like Fireball, Prismatic Spray and Cone of Cold would disappear, but spells like Shout, Ray of Exhaustion, Produce Flame
and Phantasmal Killer will remain. I am attempting to create a feel for Magic in that it's not an overtly 'flashy' power within the world, it's powerful but it's not 'grab the world by the throat and make it look' powerful.
Bards I am thinking to removing their spells, but allowing them to number their Bardic Performance in Minutes, not Rounds, and possibly as Spell-Like Abilities, choosing spells from the Illusion or Enchantment Spheres. Again, allowing for more Archetypes to be used as possible.
Rangers, trading out their Spell-Like abilities for the Skirmisher abilities, fairly simple solution, while still allowing them to utilise all the Archetypes.
Witches and Wizards no longer exist, nor do Paladins or Blackguards. Same for Summoners.
Inquisitors function well as a form of Cleric, an offensive Spirit-Hunting Class...maybe? Otherwise, I can't see this class breaking the 'Subtle Magic' ceiling.
Alchemists can function as per normal.
Druids I see as gaining the ability to use their Wild Empathy ability to speak to Animals, Plants and Magical Beasts at will, with higher levels able to use Suggestion, then Charm and finally Dominate as part of the Wild Empathy check. This replaces their ability to summon Nature's Ally ability, and otherwise allows them to function as normal (relatively).
Cavaliers function as Normal.
Fighters, Rogues, Barbarians can function pretty much normally, although I can see a few Feats/Class Abilities/Rogue Talents/Rage Powers that would need to go.
Replacing Outsiders, Undead and Constructs with Greater Magic Beast and Drake works for narrowing down the 'Type' forest.
Special Materials: Using a Survival Check of 10+CR or the Monster (individual CR, not the encounter CR or other increases to CR such as hostile environment or buffing...) to harvest materials from the beasts and monsters they encounter. Harvesting materials from monsters can replace treasure, to a certain extent...
'Normal' Weapons such as Iron, Steel, Silvered and Cold Iron exist, but it costs +25% more XP to enchant them. This has to do with the fact that because the metals are 'worked', the natural Magic within them has become distorted or weakened, meaning that to enchant them requires more effort. This additional cost is also added to items the PCs buy, naturally. That said, for the most part, 'Organic' Weapons tend to have lower hit-points and hardness, so it's a trade-off between Cost vs Endurance for the PCs.
*Note: When I say 'enchantment level', I am talking about flat-out Enchantment Bonus, not including the other things you can imbue a weapon with, such as Elemental Damages or Ghost Touch or Bane abilities.
Harvested from Dire Animals, Magical Beasts:
Monster Bone: Has same Hardness and Hit-Points as Bone, but once prepared properly, can function up to +3 Enchantment level*. Can only be turned into Bludgeoning or Piercing Weapons. Counts as Steel for Damage Reduction purposes.
Monster Claw: (Teeth, Horns, Ridges, Spines, etc) Functions the same as Monster Bone, but can only be turned into Piercing and Slashing Weapons.
Monster Hide: Has the same Hardness and Hit Points as Wood, rather than Normal Hide/Leather. Can be turned into Padded, Leather, Studded Leather, Hide, Breastplate, Half-Plate and Full Plate, as well as Shields of all kinds. If the Monster the Hide/Leather was harvested from had innate or nature elemental or special properties in life, adding similar properties to the armor costs 50% less, such as adding Greater Energy Resistance (Fire) to a Monster-Hide from a Red Dragon-Headed Chimera or the carpace from a Rust Monster protecting against Rust-attacks.
One Monster Hide can be used to create a suit of armor sized for a wearer one size smaller than the creature it was taken from. Multiple Hides can be combined to create larger suits, but all must be from the same type of Monster to allow the Cost Reduction special rule to work. Maximum Enhancement bonus +3*.
Monster Scale/Chitin: Has the same Hardness and Hit Points as Stone, rather than Normal Hide/Leather. Can be turned into Chain Shirt, Scale-Mail, Chain-Mail, Splint Mail and Banded Mail, as well as shields of all kinds. Otherwise functions a Monster Hide.
Harvested from Drakes, Dragons:
Dragon Hide: Has the same Hardness and Hit-Points as Mithril. Can be turned into Leather, Studded Leather, Hide, Breastplate, Banded Mail, Full Plate and all types of shield. If the creature the Hide was taken from had elemental or special properties, these abilities can be added to the suit for 50% less. For example, a Dragon Hide taken from Forest Drake could be easily enchanted with Acid Resistance and bonuses against Paralysis and Sleep.
One Dragon Hide can be used to create a suit of Armor two sizes smaller than the Dragon or Drake it was taken from. This is due to the general inflexibility of the Dragon Hide and the cutting required to fit the hide to a Humanoid frame. Dragon Hide Barding only requires a Hide one size larger than the desired wearer.
I'll post more later. It's 4 in the morning and the neighbours have finally stopped partying hard. *falls asleep on his keyboard and begins snoring and drooling*
I'd put in a penalty for the ancient races, but allow them to see play. Perhaps giving them a different (slower) xp progression? That will prevent the difficulties you see at the beginning of a campaign with an EL adjustment, which is the other way I can think to do it.
Likewise, if you just make it so that magic is sucky, then no one will want to play a caster, and that causes OTHER balance problems.
Ideas:
Magic is slow. If casting times are multiplied by ten (like in Masque of the Red Death), then there's little value in magic missile. But Invisibility is still well worth it, especially when it's going to take you ten rounds to cast see invisibility.
Magic is scary. Seeing or facing magic requires a fear check. (You're right, this isn't a penalty, but a counter-balance to the slow issue)
Magic is difficult. You could assess a Racial spell failure chance, that stacks with the one from armor. Allow people to offset it with moves like "Cast with a helper" or "Cast with spellbook open in two hands", or "Cast more slowly than normal"
I'd put in a penalty for the ancient races, but allow them to see play. Perhaps giving them a different (slower) xp progression? That will prevent the difficulties you see at the beginning of a campaign with an EL adjustment, which is the other way I can think to do it.
Likewise, if you just make it so that magic is sucky, then no one will want to play a caster, and that causes OTHER balance problems.
Ideas:
Magic is slow. If casting times are multiplied by ten (like in Masque of the Red Death), then there's little value in magic missile. But Invisibility is still well worth it, especially when it's going to take you ten rounds to cast see invisibility.
Magic is scary. Seeing or facing magic requires a fear check. (You're right, this isn't a penalty, but a counter-balance to the slow issue)
Magic is difficult. You could assess a Racial spell failure chance, that stacks with the one from armor. Allow people to offset it with moves like "Cast with a helper" or "Cast with spellbook open in two hands", or "Cast more slowly than normal"
You're right, of course, in that Magic is supposed to be fun, not 'sucky', but at the same point, most Games I play in I see party tactics warping themselves around 'stay out of the caster's way while they nuke everything'. Perhaps I'm just used to people who can make Casters to the optimum level.
I also think that while the lack of outright attack spells might turn people to other classes, I'm also still ironing out some changes to the primary Caster classes, (Sorcerer, Cleric, Druid) that gives them some out-of-combat uses and some interesting recharge mechanics. I'm attempting to allow Casters to be played in a way that makes Magic a vital force in the world, but not the 'snap your fingers and it's done' that the current plethora of spells allows.
Still, you do raise some very good points. Perhaps increasing outright damage spells, summoning spells and the like to remain, but the caster must take longer, in the case of spells like Fireball, Cone of Cold, etc etc, and in the case of spells like Summon Monster, must be completely still while casting to maintain 'control' of the Monsters.
most Games I play in I see party tactics warping themselves around 'stay out of the caster's way while they nuke everything'.
Well, then, the answer is easy. I'd start it out as a playtest, and just go ahead and ban evocation. Make wizards get through the day with protection from arrows and knock.
You're right, of course, in that Magic is supposed to be fun, not 'sucky', but at the same point, most Games I play in I see party tactics warping themselves around 'stay out of the caster's way while they nuke everything'. Perhaps I'm just used to people who can make Casters to the optimum level.
This is an interesting set of experience. I have always found in my games that while the blasty magic is often fun, its the least effective.
I also think that while the lack of outright attack spells might turn people to other classes, I'm also still ironing out some changes to the primary Caster classes, (Sorcerer, Cleric, Druid) that gives them some out-of-combat uses and some interesting recharge mechanics. I'm attempting to allow Casters to be played in a way that makes Magic a vital force in the world, but not the 'snap your fingers and it's done' that the current plethora of spells allows.
The question is would you be prepared to have a game without casters. If magic is as you describe I wouldnt want to play a caster, you should talk to your group. If you end up with an all martial party that really changes the dynamics of the game, and what kinds of challenges the party can handle. And while often the idea of snap your fingers magic is unpalatable to many, consider the implications at the table. In a movie or a book, 12 or 30 seconds of chanting to cast a spell might be ok, but in the game, that is several rounds and posibly a half hour or more of REAL time. No one wants to sit around for that long waiting to get to play the game. That is why the snap your fingers magic has become the norm in d20, so that everybody gets to participate when you are counting by rounds.
Still, you do raise some very good points. Perhaps increasing outright damage spells, summoning spells and the like to remain, but the caster must take longer, in the case of spells like Fireball, Cone of Cold, etc etc, and in the case of spells like Summon Monster, must be completely still while casting to maintain 'control' of the Monsters.
Again consider such restrictions carefully. If you make them too unappealing you might find yourself without casters at all, and that means a very different game is going to be played.