I was considering running the Pathfinder adventures for my gaming group, but was thinking of having the game being a bit lower magic.
Specifically, spellcasters will be restricted; they won't be single-classed, so higher-level spells will be hard to get.
So the question is this: Will the higher level adventures assume that the PCs have high-level spellcasters?
Such as: The only way to get somewhere is by teleporting; puzzles that can only be solved by high-level Diviniation spells; inter-planar travel; and the like.
Combat challenges aren't a problem, they are easy to modify. It's plot elements that require high-level magic that would be a problem.
Geoff.
I was considering running the Pathfinder adventures for my gaming group, but was thinking of having the game being a bit lower magic.
Specifically, spellcasters will be restricted; they won't be single-classed, so higher-level spells will be hard to get.
So the question is this: Will the higher level adventures assume that the PCs have high-level spellcasters?
In general, high-level adventures assume high-level spellcasters in the party. Damage reduction, dispelling magical effects, divinations, enhanced mobility, numerous foes; these are common challenges in high-level adventures that spellcasters are best suited to handle. As long as you don't restrict spellcasting too much, they should be fine. Requiring them to start in a non-spellcasting class would be OK; requiring them to have one non-spellcasting class level for every spellcasting class level would probably leave them too weak in the spellcasting department.
I would hope that no adventure assumes the party will have any one particular spell. That just seems doomed to failure to me. Even when I know my group intimately, they still surprise me with their choices. Set up an encounter based on average assumptions, factor in the variety of options and multiply by the number of people you hope to sell to. I imagine the number of groups who are inadequately prepared escalate exponentially.
I was considering running the Pathfinder adventures for my gaming group, but was thinking of having the game being a bit lower magic.
Specifically, spellcasters will be restricted; they won't be single-classed, so higher-level spells will be hard to get.
The first 2 Pathfinders end around 15th level, so that helps a bit with lowering the expectation of high level magic. Also, from Paizo's existing Adventure Paths I can't recall any non-combat obstacles that required groups to use high level magic to get by.
I would guess there won't be any problems.
Creative Director
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The first 2 Pathfinders end around 15th level, so that helps a bit with lowering the expectation of high level magic. Also, from Paizo's existing Adventure Paths I can't recall any non-combat obstacles that required groups to use high level magic to get by.
I would guess there won't be any problems.
Actually... there probably WILL be problems. DR/magic turns some monsters into really tough foes. Flying creatures will walk all over most low-magic groups. Getting turned to stone is as good as dead. And not having access to teleport will change the logistics of the last few adventures a bit. A dungeon at the bottom of a 400 deep shaft becomes MUCH tougher to enter for a group that can't fly (or even levitate).
Nothing insurmountable, but keep in mind that when we design adventures, we do so to challenge the standard level of magic. Personally, I find low magic games to be interesting and fun, but you have to have the right kind of players to run them. If even one player's not on board... the whole thing tends to crash and burn.
If you DO go the low magic route, I'd love to see how things play out! And posting your results here will certainly help other folks who want to do a low-magic RotR run more smoothly.
I thought of a quick and dirty method for a lower magic world (actually somewhat inspired by D20 Modern).
Simply require that casters have an caster stat *Modifier* equal to the spell level. Currently you need 10 + spell level Int to cast wizard spells, etc. This would increase it to 10 + 2*spell level.
This is a fairly small change at low level, probably up to 5th-7th level or so. Needing an 18 stat to cast a 4th level spell can be a bit tough/rare early on.
The higher level slots aren't useless - they can be filled with lower level spells, or meta-magicked spells.
This might not be low magic enough for you, but I thought I'd share the idea.