| This paradigm represents
a generic Low Fantasy implementation, a form of Fantasy that is mostly realistic
and has very little in the way of fantastical or supernatural elements (sometimes none at all).
In general this means that characters
are less capable than in "higher" forms of the genre,
mortality is higher, and play tends to be "grittier". |
| EXAMPLE SOURCE
MATERIAL |
| Some Fantasy literature
falls into this category, but it is less common than other
subgenres. For many the more fantastical elements that are
lacking from Low Fantasy are essential to the genre. Nevertheless some examples
include some of Dave Duncan's work like the Reluctant Swordsman,
the Deverry series by Katherine Kerr, the Sun Wolf books of
Barbara Hambly, and some of David Gemmell's books fall into this category,
among others. Examples in movies are few between, but the 13th
Warrior works as a Low Fantasy, and Hollywood "historical" epics like
Troy and Gladiator have aspects of Low Fantasy as well. |
| KEY NOTE: HIGH
LETHALITY |
| This subgenre is usually
brutally dangerous, with the most strict damage options
available to the game in effect and Magical healing usually
nonexistent. Characters are much more likely to die in
this subgenre, so a GM should be
prepared for it. It
is recommended that each player have at
least one "back up" character with a full background
and write up available at all times
just in case their character dies
in the middle of a session; this enables the
GM to get the player back into the game at the earliest
opportunity. |
| KEY NOTE: TOTAL PARTY
KILL |
| Due to the extreme
lethality of this subgenre, there is a constant risk of a Total
Party Kill (TPK). GM's should be very careful to balance
encounters and err on the side of caution. It's important to
remember that the GM can always escalate a threat if necessary,
but it is difficult to defuse a situation that is getting out of
hand without employing an obvious Deus Ex Machina, which is
particularly harmful to this genre. It's expected that some
characters will die semi regularly, but unless the GM wants to
end the game abruptly killing off a majority of the group all at
once is rarely a good idea. |
| KEY NOTE: CAN WE TALK
ABOUT THIS? |
| As a side effect of
combat being extremely risky, players often show a greater
willingness to pursue other means of overcoming opposition than
simply whacking it until it dies or goes away. GM's should consider this
when they make opposition for their games and consider multiple
solution paths for encounters allowing players the option of
pursuing other means of resolution aside from direct violence. |
| KEY NOTE:
OVERSTRAINING DISBELIEF |
| Mood and feel are very important in Low
Fantasy, so a GM should be careful to
maintain the "fourth wall" and to be
internally consistent. The catch-all
"well, its MAGIC, that's why it works" excuse
is not available to fall back on
so things need to be thought out or justified in internally
consistent ways. |
| KEY NOTE: NO DOUBLE
STANDARD |
| A generally good rule to
observe in all cases, it is especially important that a GM be
careful to hold the opposition to the
same general limitations
on power level that the
heroes labor under,
or else this subgenre can become really frustrating really fast. |
| ASSUMPTIONS |
| The following options are
assumed to be in effect for this paradigm. |
| No
Formal Race Package or NCM |
|
X |
Formal Race Package with NCM |
| END
Cost = Active Points / 10 |
|
X |
END
Cost = Active Points / 5 |
|
Knockback |
|
X |
Knockdown |
|
Generalized Damage |
|
X |
Hit
Location Damage |
| No
Long Term Damage |
|
X |
Injury & Impairment Damage |
|
Literacy Standard |
|
X |
Literacy Not Standard |
| Super
Skills Available |
|
X |
No
Super Skills Available |
|
Combat Luck Allowed |
|
X |
No
Combat Luck Allowed |
| No
Deadly Blow Allowed |
|
X |
Deadly Blow Allowed |
| No
Armor Proficiency |
|
X |
Armor
Proficiency |
| No
Skill Maxima |
|
X |
Skill
Maxima |
| No
STR Minima |
|
X |
STR
Minima |
|
Equipment Costs Points |
|
X |
Equipment Doesn't Cost Points |
| Bases
& Vehicles Cost Points |
|
X |
Bases
& Vehicles Don't Cost Points |
|
Followers Cost Points |
|
X |
Follower Don't Cost Points |
|
Superheroic CSL Conversion |
|
X |
Heroic CSL Conversion |
| No
Encumbrance |
|
X |
Encumbrance |
| No
Long Term Endurance |
|
X |
Long
Term Endurance |
|
Normal Damage Default |
|
X |
Killing Damage Default |
|
| HEALING: VERY RARE TO
NONEXISTENT |
| Low Fantasy characters
get hurt often and will frequently have some residual damage
from previous encounters. Magical Healing is extremely rare to
outright nonexistent in most forms of Low Fantasy. Further, it
is not common for characters to have either a lot of BODY or the
Rapid Healing Talent. Some might, but they should be remarkable
for it if they do. |
| STARTING POINTS: 25+50 |
| It is assumed that new
characters in this paradigm start with 25 Base Points and up to
50 points from Disadvantages. This value can be altered by the
GM at will. |
| This paradigm is expected
to be low powered and to stay low to mid power level. A GM can easily
kick start the campaign to a higher level of play by granting
Experience to characters to represent their
status as veteran adventurers when the campaign starts, but this
is not as common in this paradigm.
Similarly the GM could downscale the characters to represent
that they are somewhat green when the campaign starts |
| The following chart
vaguely indicates relative status levels by adjusted character
points. The status titles are not intended to have any literal
meaning; they are just intended to give an idea of the status of
a character with that many character points. |
|
Sheltered Neophyte |
0 |
25 |
0 |
25 |
|
Neophyte |
25 |
25 |
0 |
50 |
|
*Youngblood |
25 |
50 |
0 |
75 |
|
Seasoned Youngblood |
25 |
50 |
25 |
100 |
|
Veteran |
25 |
50 |
50 |
125 |
|
Seasoned Veteran |
25 |
50 |
75 |
150 |
|
Hero |
25 |
50 |
100 |
175 |
|
Champion |
25 |
50 |
125 |
200 |
|
Famous |
25 |
50 |
150 |
225 |
|
Legend |
25 |
50 |
175 |
250+ |
|
* Assumed Default |
|
| RACES: HUMAN CENTRIC FANTASY |
| This paradigm tends to be
more Human centric. This isn't to say that there aren't more
fantastic Race in existence; but if they do exist they tend to
be more rare than in higher echelons of Fantasy. Even when more
exotic Races do exist, their special abilities (if any) are
modest. They might have some minor advantages, but they are as
low powered as everyone else. |
|
|
| MAGIC SYSTEMS: NONE |
| There are few Magic
Systems appropriate to this paradigm; most are too powerful and
care must be taken when introducing a Magic System. |
| By default it is assumed
that there is no Magic System in effect for a Low Fantasy
campaign. However, it is expected that most GM's will add one or
more. |
| Several Magic Systems
presented on this site work well for Low Fantasy. The Aeldenari,
Totemic Shaman, and Piedregamasi Magic Systems all scale well
for this paradigm, and Runeforging can also work well since the
lower points available to characters acts as an effective check
on the creation of Permanent Magic Items. Spellweaving can also
be a good fit for Low Magic for similar reasons; with more
Character Points it escalates into a more powerful system but
the cost of ownership and internal restrictions allows it to
scale down to the paradigm. |
|
|
| PROFESSIONS: ILL DEFINED |
| The concept of Profession
is usually not very marked in this paradigm, largely because
character's don't have enough Character Points to be very
specialized. |
| Generally character's in
this paradigm will tend to use the various Extension Packages,
which are topically oriented, and the Base Packages which are
more generic, rather than the Composite Packages presented on
this site. |
| As a by product of the
low Character Point levels, it doesn't take much for a character
to distinguish themselves from others; often a single skill
level or familiarity is sufficient to give a character an edge. |
|
|