Begin with minimalistic spell descriptions; just a few brief sentences will do it; starting bare-bones is by design. This process of omitting excessive rules gives you space to increase realism. As the campaign progresses, you’ll fill in the gaps in how magic functions, looks, and behaves.

This entertaining practice lets magic feel magical as it’s similarly discovered in fiction—if you’re an excellent gamemaster, anyway.

This does give the gamemaster a lot of authority over how magic works in the setting. Negotiation is the process: magic has fictional rules to follow, and we discover it together. The gamemaster will decide what to roll when to roll, and the range of possible outcomes. Write that down, but keep it loose. Things may change later.

Humans can adjudicate complex magic systems better than abstract rules. 5e’s rote spells can take a lot of time to figure out in play, especially if the gamemaster and the players don’t know them very well (read: no immersion). Adopting an FKR style lets players do more by allowing them to manipulate an imaginary—but logically consistent—magic system to their advantage; you don’t use complex mechanics to solve problems; you use natural, open-ended problem-solving skills to solve problems, evoking that imaginary sweet spot.

Updates: 2023-10-30

  • There are tons of grammar updates for readability.
  • I added a callout card, which I didn't know I could do on this platform until recently.
  • Changed the title.