The legacy of Verdance is of a young world, full of strangeness, wonder, and hearty folk. Its magics are wielded by supernatural creatures and mortal practitioners. Its monsters stem from the unknown wilds and the depredations of cruel minds. But overall, it is a place of possibility.
Verdance has not yet been sullied by the idea that killing should be “efficient”. Fighting is a brutal, intimate affair carried out by clubs, spears, and swords, where even bows are mostly used for hunting. Mechanically, this means that crossbows and hurlant weapons are not available.
The knowledge of magic and spells is the domain of the supernatural: fae, undead, and so on. Periodically, they pass morsels of this knowledge to humanity to be added to the corpus of High Magic. While human high mages are held back by their incomplete understanding, there is no saying what limitations may restrain magic’s true masters.
The so-called New Magic is native to humanity, born of ingenuity and invention. Many such spells mimic or reproduce the effects of High Magic, but some are more unique. Mechanically, magic wielding classes are unchanged except for RP considerations.
Every ruler tends to have at least one mage in their court, be it a slinger of high sorceries or a wise vowed monk.
Although magic suffuses the world, it is not often used to create magical equipment. Such items are rare and always worthy of their own stories. Special metals forged by a legendary smith might make for an enhanced suit of armor, or the limb of a snow-white tree blessed by the Queen of the Gossamer Sky might be the power behind an enhanced staff. Maintenance of these items consists of prayers, songs, anointed oils, and similar oblations to the magic of the item. The rules for acquiring and maintaining such gear are unchanged except for RP considerations.