By "low magic world" do you mean that magical items are rare, or do you mean that magic itself is rare (so there will be less spell casters and high level magic is very difficult to obtain)?

If you simply limit the items available then the spellcasting class have a serious advantage, since they can just magically create whatever tools they need, if you limit spellcasters then the classes that make good use of items will have an advantage, if you don't limit anything then you just have everyone wanting to make powerbuilds that combine magic and combat ability (which is basically what the default cleric/druid is).

To say that magic will be limited by RP methods assumes that players won't think about what makes their character the most powerful which I just don't see being the case. Who decides if a player chose their character for a RP reason or just to be uber? You'd need a team of DMs monitoring everyone just to make sure they don't throw magic around carelessly as if it was nothing. You could always require applications for magic users, but then that assumes spellcasters are automatically better, which isn't always the case and certainly not at low levels where you can only cast a few spells before needing to rest (witht he exception of warlocks).

I don't know how you plan to limit magic without editing at least some, or probably most spell scripts. If something exists in the game, players will use it, RP or not, so unless you plan to have a small army of police DMs to ensure magic is used appropriately it might be an idea to start thinking of a list of spell nerfs to balance magic users with the lack of magical items.

If you go too far and make magic very weak then you can always improve it later and the players will love you for "adding" something, but if you just ignore it and then later try to reduce overpowered spells you'll have a lot of angry spellcaster players complaining at you for "taking something away". You'll also have less issues early on with overpowered, fast leveled characters that complain about having nothing to do because everything was initially too easy for their overpowered character build. Players tend to think 2+1 is worth more than 4-1 because negative actions are met with negative thoughts 

I never actually suggested balance in PvP terms, although it may seem like it from that post. Really the balance issues for magic users are focused on their broad range of abilities which non-magical characters simply can't do. Such spells as invisibility, summoning and all the buffs can make certain monsters very easy to beat since the AI scripts won't figure out if a player is simply not worth attacking or is invulnerable to their attacks. There's also the RP issue, if for example a warlock can just click his fingers and turn invisible any time he feels like it, how are characters supposed to react to that situation? An amazing ability, or just a regular action eveyone has seen before? Then there's the party mechanics of "hey you, go invisible and scout the area, oh yeah and then buff and heal me, k thx" kind of attitude that is commonplace due to the general availabilty of magic in D&D settings where PCs may been seen to just assume magic is available to solve all their problems.

The biggest complaint I think players have when it comes to spellcasting characters is that they often assume too many roles (don't need a rogue, I have knock and find traps and my familiar can scout the area and it doesn't really matter if it gets killed) (don't need a monk since my cleric can cast spells and be good in melee and self heal) etc. If spellcasting characters were limited to specific types of spells based on playing style choices then players will more likely seek other PCs to balance a party rather than make casters capable of dealing with anything simply by picking the "best" spells.

On top of this is the arguably standard idea that Clerics (followed by druids and wizards) are the most power character classes, simply because there are basically no limits to the spells they can learn/cast so RP enforcement is required to ensure they don't use spells the game gives them access to but their character really shouldn't be using based on their alignment and other attributes.

Perhaps each spell needs a requirement for use or at least an explanation of how and why your character can cast it? Maybe the effectiveness of magic could vary between areas (certain spells restricted only to outdoors or natural or hot/cold environments). Perhaps spells should be restricted to alignment (eg. must be non-good to cast non-good spells) or maybe the spell lists themselves could be limited so that characters can only choose spells of a similar nature (clerics may focus just on protection/healing or smiting/damage, sorcerers could focus on a single element).

Another aspect of casting that causes issues in a low magic setting is that by default spells start powerful as soon as your character learns them. Instead of learning a small fireball and increasing the power slowly each level, the character levels up and suddenly they can cast a giant ball of fire at anything they want and a few levels later the damage may double, and so on.

It's a lot of work to try and modify spellcasting classes to suit a particular world setting however I also think it's not something that can just be left for the players to decide how to RP. I can't see many people actually choosing not to use their character's spells as much as possible just to appear more "normal" compared to the non magical PCs or choosing spells that have a very limited use because better spells wouldn't be suitable for their character. Either you tell the players "this is what your characters can/can't do" by writing a large rule book, or you modify the game itself to add/remove certain features, or you "educate" players on the "correct" way to RP their characters in the hope they'll play your style and not their style. Either way you have to decide exactly how you intend characters to be played on your server so you don't end up with player conflicts over how magic, RP or anything else is allowed to be used.

Well said.

The other consideration ... well, let's make a comparison.  It's kind of like being upset that the man over there carrying a gun is able to command more respect than his pocketknife.

Whether rare or common, magic is /powerful/.   A fireball can clear out an entire room of enemies in one blast, something a fighter could never do.   But that's the nature of magic in a D&D-based fantasy world - sure, we could change it, but that takes away from the overall enjoyment of the game for most players.  The concept of magic is fundamental to a fantasy world.


Also keep in mind the underlying philosophy of the server: we're not trying to force any one "right" style of RP.  As long as people aren't disruptive to overall gameplay, and make some effort  to RP, then why not let them do what they want to do? This will probably cost us the "hard-core" RPers; but -- having played it both ways in the past -- it will generally make for a more relaxed, enjoyable environment for most players.   Certainly it is easier to script and DM for when you don't have to worry about enforcing a large number of (seemingly) arbitrary RP requirements.

While that's a bit more extreme (and may give some PCs delusions of grandeur ) the general principal is the same.  As always, though, being the most powerful mage on the continent won't help one bit in commanding respect if you haven't been interacting consistently with PCs and NPCs.