Magic in Gaming

...and the Cycle of Creativity
The fictional setting of R.E. Howard's Hyborian Age is a major influence on my long-running homebrew setting I call Dreadmoor. As far as fantastic settings go, the home-world  of Conan the Barbarian could be described as low magic. Low magic because although magic is known to exist, the average citizen doesn't often encounter it, if ever.
J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth is likewise a low magic setting of a slightly different bent. Certainly M.E. is a fantastic place full of magic, but it seems to be more the world that is magical than the characters. With the exception of the god-like Maiar such as Gandalf, who himself only wields relatively subtle magics, casters are rare and this has always posed a challenge to players of the game who aspire to use Middle Earth as a setting.
Similarly, I like to keep magic "magical" in Dreadmoor and to me that means it is rare and unusual outside of the player's hands. There are no magic shops, no village wizard, most priests are not blessed to perform miracles or spells and the average citizen views magic, or "sorcery" as it is generally termed, with some degree of apprehension or fear. This way the players are in control of something unusual and powerful which sets them apart.
Low magic settings appear often in popular media as evidenced by Game of Thrones and Princess Bride. Even Harry Potter can be seen as low magic because the magic is mostly confined to a small sub-culture hidden away from public awareness. Low magic, high magic or in between, I wonder how many settings in today's media have been influenced by the game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson?
White Box is a flexible system and easily adapted by adding to or taking away from the rules as written. It is also a thing unto itself with an implied setting based on what is included, character classes, races, alignment, monsters and magic. While White Box draws from a number of varied sources for inspiration it has in turn influenced many popular culture developments since its publication. Many authors and film makers to date have cited their experiences with tabletop role-playing as being an influence on their work.