Making Magic Special - without going "Low Magic"

[Selenir]

Well, the dwarves apparently have a monopoly on magic weapons and armor. (Higher prices for non-dwarves?) Potions can be created by herbalists, witches etc. You should even be able to buy scrolls. Most other things you won't find in a shop. You might have to locate a buyer who can actually afford to own a magic item instead.

Not quite a "monopoly," but it's well-known that no one can make magical arms and armor like a dwarf.

Unfortunately, the city-sized Runeforge responsible for the greatest and most powerful items was recently destroyed by the agents of a new and militant church. So production of these items has declined sharply in recent years.

There are ways to deal with players who want to sell and buy at magic shops.
- Scam the players. If they want to buy a specific item, convince them of the fact that a item is magical when it's not. (Nystul's Magic Aura) A cursed item is also fun, especially when they pay a lot of money for it.

I've done this now so often I'm amazed they still visit markets.

- It's entirely possible they will never find the magic item they need in a shop. Ofcourse, you could always place an order. (Except for Dwarfbane Swords. Dwarves are not very like to make these for you. I wonder why...)

Hehe.

You could instead let the players create magic items through battle. If they want a dragonbane sword, they'd either have to find a sword that was used to slay a dragon or use a sword to slay a dragon. That Flaming Sword they need? They have to forge it themselves from starmetal. And when the heroic heroes go after that freshly fallen meteorite they just happen to run into the Ice Demon that was imprisoned inside the meteor.

Oh yeah, I'm definitely feeling this angle. You can't just cast a few spells, you need to acquire rare ingredients/perform dangerous tasks to forge unique weapons.

As far as starmetal, that's this world's stand-in for Mithral. It only comes from meteorites and is stronger, but lighter, than steel.

Adamantine is replaced by blood iron, whose origin is just about as horrible as it sounds and comes from blood sacrifices made by the gnomes of Quetzatlan. Not inherently evil, though - just its creation. So, if you're squeamish... not for you.

While D&D doesn't actively discourage the concept of acting in character (or "roleplay"), it does very little to encourage it (with the exception of the paladin's code of conduct).

This is true if you play the game in a vacuum and don't allow creativity in it - which is a good thing. If players don't want to roleplay, the game allows them. But a good DM can use those dry, calculating rules and infuse them with a lot of life through roleplaying. My players get circumstance bonuses (and penalties) for roleplaying, even in combat. Clever choices are rewarded, with just as harsh punishments for silly or unwise ideas. No one in my campaign ever rolls a d20 for Diplomacy and waits to see what happens - they roll and then they get talking.

An idea for boosting non-magic PCs or letting them feel special: have some system so that non-spellcasters get hexcraft.

For whatever reason (disdain, it interfering with their channels of power), actual spellcasters like wizards or miracle-workers like clerics cannot use hexcraft.

This is exactly how it works. Hexcraft is blasphemous to the Deities (no clerics), anathema to nature spirits/lesser gods (no druids), and disdainful "fake magic" (no wizards/sorcerers).

A witch, on the other hand, is a primary spellcaster whose powers are ENTIRELY driven by Hexcraft. She can use Hexcraft to rival the powers of a wizard... if she's clever, and subtle.

I don't know what system would work best. Maybe one hex/charm per level? Some fluff to justify: NPCs know more hexcraft at level 1 than a PC since they can devote energy to learning it, while a Fighter has to train as a Fighter and therefore doesn't also have time to master all the stuff his mom and dad could have taught him.

In-between classes like hexblade, duskblade, and dragon shaman should probably count as spellcasters for this purpose.

Hexcraft is a skill (a class skill only for Witches, Bards and Hexblades), whose effects are relatively minor - until one takes Hex Feats or levels of Witch (or Hexblade) to gain additional abilities.