>>47840282
You can't. Get a different system.

There are two classes in 5e that aren't magic. So unless you have an all Fighter/Rogue party and disbar some of their subclasses, you already failed in making a low fantasy party.

Go convert a classic WFRP adventure like the Ashes of Middleheim into D&D 5e. Read WFRP sourcebooks for ideas and adjust them. Your setting sounds similar.

This will be slightly off topic. I haven't played much 5e, and I dont even think I've played much dnd or pathfinder.

My experience with them has all been unenjoyable because the DM focuses too much on the setting and storyline and not the players/characters in the story.

So its always felt more like they're random people at a theme park that have no bearing on the story direction, which are built not for them but for something other than them, and that they just happen to inhabit it.

Things will be more meaningful if they're firstly built around the players playing the game.

dnd and probably 5e are primarily combat games. But that sense of mystery might seep in if you're more careful about focusing on non-combat things. Combat elements should be the chapter climax, the threat of coming to blows should build tension instead of being convenient time killers.

Think of the story like a movie. Either people have to like fighting, or they have to like the story. If you want the story to be liked, thats where the focus should be, there should be more "story" and "stuff" happening.

Magic will feel rare and mysterious if it isn't used often to ridiculous effect. But DnD magic (dont know if 5e as well) specifically wizard magic tends to feel ridiculous because the powers tend to not be themed in any way. A scientist would have a specialization, meanwhile those dont really exist for wizards.

>>47840282

You could check out Symbaroum, kickstarter for a print run of that game is up and the general that's up has some useful links.

Low-fantasy, magic is much more subdued and mysterious but can still be powerful. However, that power comes with a price in the form of corruption, which can cause you to lose standing, develop mutations, become shunned by society, become the target of witch hunters, and eventually get corrupted into a monster if it goes long enough.

If you're looking for weird races, core ones are barbarian humans, civilized humans, ogres, goblins, and changelings. There's also elves, dwarves, and undead for supplements, but they should by no means be accepted as regular races. Classes fit into the three archetype trinity: Warrior, Rogue, and Mystic, each with five subclasses that determine flavor. The mechanical advantages from race and class are minimal, so go ahead and build for flavor and let roleplaying determine how things go down more than straight mechanics.

>>47840310
>There are two classes in 5e that aren't magic.

when the fuck is this awful trend going to stop? it just tells me that these fucktards know nothing about design and think throwing spells at the game is the best way of making classes interesting

>>47841137
A solution would probably be give noncaster spelllike abilities that are literally items. An entangle ability that is literally the PC having and (and knowing how to) throw a net.

An ability for trapsetting with limited uses per day that is literally the character setting a trap.

The weirdness in the abilities thing is because its a combat based game, and casters are the most interesting and most powerful to play because of their versatility.

It probably wont stop because there are so many people that buy into the game as it is. DnD seems to be the standard for tabletop gaming. It is a terrible standard.

>>47840282
Low Fantasy really just describes the setting being either our real world or one similar, and grounded in a strong sense of reality. Usually Low Fantasy deals less with "Save the World" and focusses more on smaller, more personal stories.
You can take cues from Hellboy or The Witcher Series to get a feel for how to handle fantastic elements.
Magic is mysterious, unwieldy and in the hands of a very select few. The general population may or may not believe in it, or outright fear it.
When it comes to fantasy races, just treat them logically. Will a group of backwater, godfearing peasants accept a Tiefling walking down the street? How about an Elf? Dragonborn?
If your players want to be a gaggle of weirdos then let them, as long as they know walking down mainstreet as a 7ft tall dragon-man, slinging magic left and right, is going to get them drawn and quartered.

>>47841137
>it just tells me that these fucktards know nothing about design and think throwing spells at the game is the best way of making classes interesting
Not all magic is spell casting in D&D. Monks are "magical" and don't cast spells at all.

This is more of an issue of D&D not bothering to distinguish between magic and supernatural phenomena. Medusa is a wizard according to D&D logic, which leads to stupid shit like Conan having levels in Psion to properly emulate his abilities.

Simple, ban all spellcasters that have lists that go to 9th level.

You're chasing two rabbits here. You need to pick one and chase it exclusively.

If you want a setting where magic is extremely rare, just blanket allow fighters and rogues as written and rangers and monks w/o their supernatural abilities and change the setting to compensate.

If you want the players to have unrestricted access to all options of class and race you either have to make them super-special snowflakes that have a huge destiny to fulfill or bite the bullet and just run RAW.

Personally, I would go with a low-ish setting by allowing all races for PCs and NPCs, allowing all classes but placing a hard cap at lvl 5 per class per character (if not outright, I liked e6 a lot,) and pulling all non-artifact magical items out of the game. No scrolls, no potions, no wands, no staves, no enchanted bracers, nothing. Magic is something you *do* or *are,* not something you own or buy, and Druid's claim to fame is that Goodberry actually lasts a whole day and you can carry them around. Since the math is based around a game being challenging but not overly challenging without magic equipment you can just use rules as written without having to do too much editing, and you can still use artifacts as plot hooks since they're such shockingly terrifying OP devices and yet no one understands what they are, how they work, where they come from, or what they demand in return.

Set it up right and this should get you something like early Earthsea saga/Arthurian legend where no one blinks at someone working as the Town Wizard but he's a busy little bee who has to be fetched by an urchin whenever his intervention is required

>>47840282
>I was wondering how I might be able to evoke a feel of magic being rare and mysterious without limiting player options to much and also how to incorporate some of the weirder races from the PHB like gnomes, dragon born and tieflings.

As a man who normally plays a wizard, I can tell you that unless you restrict out casters you won't be able to get a low fantasy feeling. It's hard to fear and distrust wizards and sorcerers when half the party turns combat into a light show. It hard to be in awe of magic when you have party members who can make stuff appear out of thin air all the time. For races just make the lives of fantasy races as dull as human lives. It's a much better way than trying to make them mysterious.

OP, read this >>47840446.
It's so true that comparatively gravity is disprovable by the average person.