Stuff from my game.

[AJ]

GAME: Latest edition of D&D (using the last playtest until the books are released, and a home brew magic system).
SETTING: The world of  Medusa V in the Ultima Segmentum, warhammer 40K universe. The planet has survived its fall into a warp storm, and emerged once more into the galaxy, much changed. The inhabitants of the world, all descendents of the alien races who fought there, have no idea about the truth of their origins, thanks largely to the army of demons that swarmed over the planet when it plunged into the warp, and the reign of victorious tyrants who harnessed the magic of the warp to shield the planet from the demon host, and also thanks to the efforts of the Skaven (rat men) who have sought out and destroyed all evidence of the past, so as to keep the world ignorant and hidden from the powers of the galaxy. I call this campaign 'Dragonhammer'.
At Time of Writing: The players have no idea they are actually in a warhammer 40K setting, and think this is just a home brew D&D world, as this was what I did for my last campaign, using 4th edition rules. They are playing a group of non humans who are survivors (three had been captured and escaped from a slaver ship, one has returned from being trapped in a hell dimension)
The Characters:
Lady Mahueka Scarletscale, a dragonborn noble and sorceress.
Gard, a mul man at arms and caravan mercenary.
Uleth, a warforged druid of decay.
Yrran, a dwarf rogue and lothario.

They are currently level three and we are 11 sessions into the campaign, they survived escape from a slaver shipwreck, a secret cult in a human town, and an encounter with Skaven beneath the town sewers, as well as an encounter with a cockatrice and the mad mutant mage who was using it to attempt an assassination. Now they have travelled to the human city of Urbia, left again and are on a quest to investigate a rediscovered ruin of impressive size and historic significance.
It is only a matter of time before they make a discovery that reveals the true history of the planet, and sets in motion a chain of events which plunges the entire world back into the galactic conflict.
I have no idea what is going to happen next, and I am enjoying myself immensely.

[AJ]

Campaign Message Board for Medusa

The players have access to all of the campaign specific info on races, classes and such.. the actual name of the campaign will not be revealed until the discover what is going on, in the course of play. When they do reveal the actual setting, I will update the message board with a lot of new info,  particularly in regard to what galactic races are present on the planet, in their current 'devolved' form.

[Running Wolf]

Sounds cool. But than again I am partial to the post apoc settings and that seems to suit the bill

Are you using any of the tactical from the original system in your setting?

[AJ]

Not at all, its all just converted to D&D, however, I have changed the magic system from a spell slot (Vancian) to a power point version, so, all magic activity is actually psionic in nature (basically) though you can still use rituals, circles, sacrifice and magic amulets to generate, direct and store power points. One aspect my players have chewed my ass over a little, is that they did the math and they have much fewer power points at higher levels, than the spell slots they would normally have.. I tried to explain how, with clever play and interaction with the game world, they could far, far outstrip the normal power level of the game they were used to, but they keep thinking in an out dated way and are convinced I'm going to bushwhack them somehow, lol.
I did the math myself, of course, and using followers, magic storage devices, sacrificial victims and rituals, the average mage can generate MASSIVE amounts of magical power.. so to cap this, I introduced taint, corruption and mutation from the 'warp energy' the magic users (basically Psikers) were exposing themselves to, and channelling through themselves... this has freaked out the players, who are (of course) convinced I am going to inflict sudden mutation on them the moment they try anything cool... *sigh*... well, I persuaded to give the new system a fair go, and so far, so good.

[Running Wolf]

That's the thing that gets me about most magic systems. A powerful spell caster could walk down the street in a town casting low level fire balls without breaking a sweat and basically doing a Godzilla type of damage program without breaking a sweat.

There are a few threads over at Steve Jackson Games about how magic would effect things like technology, society, and the economy of a game world. Sounds like you have a good way to explain why everyone doesn't have a +30 armor shirt, uber magic weapons, and golems out working the fields instead of peasants

[onethatwas]

Magic is the biggest problem in many games. It's often too powerful, without a good balancing drawback.

Alot of mage players I know (I am one as well) seem to do it for the simple pleasure of being OP in a game. The D&D vancian system seemed to be designed to dissuade players from playing a mage due to the book keeping, but most people hand wave away that aspect because it also demands extra work for a GM. Which gives the player free reign to spam fireball.

The most effective fixes I've seen seem to be like what you're presenting here: a big, bad, damaging or crippling consequence for casting spells. Even if it's just a threat, it tends to keep a smart caster in check (and keeps out those power gamey munchkins).

I have ask, which 40k races are you depicting? I'm guessing Tau, Kroot, and 'nids are out, which leaves only Eldar, Men, Orcs, and Necrons (who I imagine are in hibernation, if they're there at all). Oh, and the Chaos Demons...

[Running Wolf]

think I will start another thread instead of side tracking this one....