Magic in Eradain

Magic in Eradain has variations with some subtle impacts to normal game play.

Low Fantasy

Eradain is a low magic, low level, gritty world. Gold is not easy to come by but prices remain the same. Top tier magic items are +3 and anything above that is likely considered an artifact. Most mortal player races will reach a maximum of 7th level and manufactured magic items reflect this. Ancient artifacts have a full power range of magic up to the highest levels, thus an Ancient magic cache may have magic that includes spells of higher than 4th level (normal max for 7th level characters).

Incantations

In exchange for low level magic, possibilities are opened by use of Incantation Magic. This is meant to make room for more powerful magics being cast by temples and religious orders, etc. An example is the Summoning of the Wild Hunt. This ritual is used by The Circle to punish for transgressions against the gods and their priesthood. Other examples include the enchantment of Foundry Stones, which are sources of elemental power used by the Angharad as a substitute for burning wood or coal. Stones for other elements are used for a variety of purposes such as creating water for crops during a drought, but they have limited use before they are exhausted. Incantations may also be created by players and used for a variety of purposes. Examples of things that I have required an incantation for are the creation of a +1 magical item and the discovery of the activation word for an iron cobra.

The Summoned

Creatures which are summoned are in all ways normal as per their description and stats, but are spirits that dissipate upon death (i.e. a druid summons guardian spirits to die in battle, not actual animals). Familiars and animal companions are spirits which may be summoned back again after death (even as a different creature type).

Matters of Alignment

Because Eradain is mostly played without traditional alignment, certain magic is impacted by this (See House Rules for Alignment). In particular items like holy weapons are based primarily upon religion. A holy sword under one pantheon of deities would be an unholy sword to a different pantheon.

Lack of alignment impacts religion as well. Most deities have a sphere of influence reflected in their available domains rather than alignment. The priesthoods of the deities contain members of all types of temperaments and motivations (the full range of alignments) as long as they follow the tenants of their religion (based on their sphere of influence). Most deities are known to have both light and dark sides and their priesthoods reflect this. It is part of the internal politics of each religious organization what voices or attitudes are in control. For example, the priesthood of a deity dedicated to death may have both undead hunters and necromancers among their number.

Planar Travel

Eradain has unusual properties in regard to summoning and any extra dimensional travel to or from the plane. Some planes (those in "close proximity") can be reached by standard magic (which is mostly out of the hands of mortal player races who reach maximum level at 7th), but reaching other planes may require bolstering by artifact level magic.

Raise and Resurrection Magic

All raise dead magic will result in the loss of a constitution point. Magic which can block magical raises are as common as raise dead magic. For example, casting a variation of raise dead could be used to permanently block a raise dead.