Spellcasters in Low and High magic settings

[Asmotherion]

So, I was thinking, were is an Arcane spellcaster really better off? In a High Magic Setting or a Low Magic setting?

Pros and Cons:

Pros for High Magic Setting:
-Easy access to Arcane Knowlage.
-Easy access to Magic Items and spell components.
-Less superstition around his powes and profession, viewed more as a scientinst in his field rather than an eldritch abomination.
-People respect him for his abilities, and potential contribution to society.
-May or may not be part of Society's Elite Class, due to his spellcasting ability.

Cons for High Magic Setting:
-More and more Laws form around magic, as people are aware of it. Some forms of magic might be illegal.
-People know the extends of an average mage's power, and can better protect themselves against more usual spells (fireball and charm person for example).
-Is less impressive, as Magic is part of everyday life.
-Similarily, should a spellcaster break the law, better, more specialised equipment will exist to restrain them if imprisoned.
-His actions will be more easyly noticable by other mages.
-More mages exist in such a setting, who can effectivelly rival his power.

Pros for Low Magic Setting:
-Not a lot is known about magic, and the mage can take advantage of that, in over-playing or down-playing his power. People won't know if he is lying if he says he can burn a town in 6 seconds, or kill you by staring, and will respect and/or fear him for it.
-He is more impressive, as he is a rare specimen, not usually part of everyday life.
-Most people will not be prepared to face his powers, especially if magic is stuff of legends rather than fact in said setting.
-He may or may not get away with subtle uses of magic that discriminate against people freedom, such as enchantment spells, since there will be a lack of existing laws about magic, as well as lack of people able to identyfy such a spell as one. Should someone claim that "That guy hypnotised me into killing that guy", he will propably be taken for a madman, and dealt with as such.
-He can establish himself highly in such a society, provided he can attract the interest of the right King in his spellcasting services.

Cons for Low Magic Setting:
-Superstition around magic will probably be at it's worst, the more rare magic is. According to folclore, he may be viewed as a Fiend or Fiend-Spawn, or some other form of monstrosity, and dealt with as such. Fear might prevent regular folk from attacking him, but church fanatics might find a reason to do so, should they learn of his powers.
-Because of the above, he will probably need to keep a low profile around his powers, downplaying them or not showing them in public at all, to save himself from superstitious procecution. At least 'till he hits high enough level to not worry about angry peasants.
-More difficult access to Arcane knowlage, spells and magical items, as well as spell components. Even finding a teacher might be a challenge.
-Superstition may drive a mage bitter towards society, and to a life of seclusion, if not drive them to get revenge on such a society.
-If anything involving magic, or a very strange phenomenon happen, even if inocent, should people know about his powers, he will be considered a suspect at the very least.

So, based on these speculations, and personal experiance, playing spellcasters in all kinds of settings, I think a Spellcaster will have an easyer life in a High Magic Campain, but still enjoy the challenge of a Low Magic just as much, and has equal ponential to rise in power in both.

What are your views in this? Do you believe I forgot to include something in my analysis? Do you have a diferent oppinion? Please let me know :)

[RossN]

I'd tend to agree that they both have challenges but can be rewarding. Where I an actual wizard (or warlock or sorcerer) I'd likely prefer to live in a high magic setting, but playing a spellcaster I might prefer the low magic setting for the challenge and mystery. :smallbiggrin:

One angle I had been thinking of, which admittedly is a bit too divergent from standard D&D is, what if Rituals are the only magic, but anyone could be educated to learn them?

[CaptainSarathai]

D&D doesn't really do Low-Magic all that well, unless you want to frustrate people by restricting classes. That's because there are really two ways to look at magic in a low magic setting:

Casters as pioneers
Casters are exploring and pushing the boundaries of what magic can do. Magic may be well known but little understood, or it could be entirely unknown and casters represent the first people to discover it.
In either case, Wizards would have a hard time, or would be seen almost as engineers. You can't just copy a spell to learn it - you would have to invent the spell, by learning the rules that govern magic.
For example, think of shouts in Skyrim, and imagine that's how verbal components for spells worked. As a Wizard, you have witnessed that people using 3 syllables can cast more powerful versions of the spell (Fus-Roh-Dah), and you know that words have to roughly translate to what you want the spell to do. So you say,
"Force, Pushing"
and discover that nothing happens. Odd, that's 3 syllables. So you cross that out of your spell book. Next you think that maybe it's just 3 words, not syllables. So you try
"Force, Pushing, Hard"
Still nothing. Cross it out. In a fit of frenzied invention, you wonder if perhaps it is not 3 mono-syllabic words. So you try
"Force, Push, Strong"
And blast your neighbor's elderly grandmother off the side of a mountain. Now you're being pursued by an angry mob with pitchforks and torches, for witchcraft and murder. That's the 4th time you've been chased out of a town this month!

Casters as an Order
This is the less realistic version, because it means that somehow, this order is either training people in magic, or finding all the magically gifted people they can. If these guys haven't taken over the world yet as a force of organized magic users, then it's because they are still overpowered by the "muggles."
---

In a high-magic setting, there are also two ways to view magic. Either magic is common and benign, like smart phones in the modern world or it is common but still feared and regulated, like handguns in the modern world.
I don't need a license to carry a smart phone. I can carry a smart phone into a school. The government does not occasionally threaten to take away my smart phone, or make ownership of a smart phone a criminal act. People do not walk a little further away from me if they know that I have a smart phone. People don't question whether I am carrying my smart phone with "criminal intent."

In Eberron, magic is considered a Smart Phone.
In Forgotten Realms, magic is more like a handgun. Yeah, it's common and people understand it, but that doesn't mean that people aren't afraid of it. You may need to be sanctioned or on a list or licensed to practice magic. Unlicensed practice of magic could be criminal, and carry severe penalties. Some kingdoms may want to ban magic altogether. Even in fairly moderate nations, the general populace will still be a bit uneasy around a caster, and wonder why the caster is there, what they want, etc. The same way people would wonder why you are carrying a pistol in day-to-day life; are you a criminal, are you undercover, are you even allowed to have that gun, are guns allowed in here, where are my children, quick let's leave before he starts shooting up the place...

[BoxANT]

Ran a low-magic campaign as a Great Old One warlock. Was a lot of fun, using abilities that help obfuscate magic (and at-will disguse self in low magic is awesome).

The challenge is making your character "fit" in the setting. Fireballs and laser beams draw a lot of attention, and a mob of farmers can "burn the witch" in any setting.

Also, start a cult, with people worshipping your magical abilities.

[KorvinStarmast]

Low magic Settings:

back when magical research was a thing (see OD&D and 1e AD&D in particular) there was an interesting relationship between trying to find that next spell, and adventuring. Magical research was expensive, so one might adventure to get the means to do one's magical research, which (when successful) could make you more competent at spell casting and thus adventuring ... rinse and repeat.

I played in a low magic AD&D setting where being a magic user had full DMG restrictions: roll for one of each on the three tables, and then pick one.

Any spell after that you had to find or research. (This made things like wands insanely valuable, needless to say).

The current mode, where we hand wave that between level advancement / training stuff also (in the name of playability, and I agree for the most part), provides a nice in between. You figure some stuff out as you play, and some of it you have to find/go looking for/trade for.

I infinitely prefer low magic settings, where magic is rare and even a bit dangerous to use.