Magnus Skyhammer would keep his ear to the ground for reports of activity by Aberrations. In the meantime, he’d probably enjoy showing off his dance skills and practicing his steel drums.
Mage about town...
Oofta
Legend
In my campaign world, magic that is useful to the general populace is relatively common. Adventurers can cast spells with the snap of a fingers, but healers are just as capable (if not more so) of healing minor wounds, setting bones and curing diseases. It will take longer and would be roughly akin to modern medicine. It can also be used to do things that most adventurer spell casters would have difficulty with.
So what would they actually do? Well my paladin could heal disease of course. Unfortunately being a god given ability, using it for profit alone could lead to disfavor of the gods. Same for any cleric really - the power is granted to enable the paladin/cleric to be the warrior or voice of a god not for personal gain.
Bards can already ply their trade to get luxury level. My wizard? Obviously simple cantrips like prestidigitation or mending could be used of course. But a lot of spells like fireball are going to be pointless.
Then there's the guilds. You can't have just everyone promising to heal people without proof they aren't selling snake oil. So yes, you can make a reasonable living casting spells but you aren't going to get rich.
So what would they actually do? Well my paladin could heal disease of course. Unfortunately being a god given ability, using it for profit alone could lead to disfavor of the gods. Same for any cleric really - the power is granted to enable the paladin/cleric to be the warrior or voice of a god not for personal gain.
Bards can already ply their trade to get luxury level. My wizard? Obviously simple cantrips like prestidigitation or mending could be used of course. But a lot of spells like fireball are going to be pointless.
Then there's the guilds. You can't have just everyone promising to heal people without proof they aren't selling snake oil. So yes, you can make a reasonable living casting spells but you aren't going to get rich.
jgsugden
Legend
Yes. Your points were considered. Especially by my gnome. Prices are competitive with the non-magical equivalents, and there are folks in town angry about the competition. He isn't too worried about angering those folks... he saved their lives, after all. They should be grateful they're alive to have their business stolen.Hiya!
Hello there! My name is Mr. WetBlanket! I'll be your destroyer of fun tonight!
Curious...has your DM though to the ramifications of 'letting' you do this? Have YOU thought of the ramifications?...
And they won't get tooooooo angry with an ENCHANTER... (note: alignment is not lawful good).
But, you're talking about exactly the thing I'm looking to see: hooks that grow out of down time activity.
Invisible Stalker
First Post
I ran a druid PC named Agath, whose second or third adventure arc was about helping a barbarian army conquer a city ruled by demon-worshippers. There were side adventures recruiting allies, prep raids on the city's water supply, etc., and eventually the Big Battle. When the dust settled, all of the demons and their high level worshippers were dead or had left town, and the barbarian king held the city.
So Agath settled down in the city, and started applying influence. His major project was restoring the barren devastation of the land surrounding the city, by castings of the 8-hour version of Plant Growth. He also could Wildshape into either earth elemental, useful for clearing rubble from the battle into flat ground suitable for rebuilding, or water elemental, useful in a port city (best tugboat ever). He planted vines all round the city walls and then Awakened them, as a perimeter alarm. Then he Awakened a whale (second best tugboat ever, and she worked in exchange for healthcare; for herself, and more importantly, for her calves).
Every day, shortly before sunset, he'd use every remaining 1st and 2nd level spell slot for Goodberries, and then provide them to the "food for the hungry" program at the newly-established Good-aligned temples. Feeding 60-100 people per day, single-handedly, helped ease the transition to a new municipal economy, after the arena and the slave trade had been outlawed.
There were some oozes and slimes in the sewers under the city, who had flourished under the previous regime, as the arena and the altars resulted in a steady flow of corpse disposal. The druid helped eradicate those, mostly using Sunbeam. Combat, nominally, but not played out as such, as the outcome was not in doubt.
The city's law enforcement team, such as it was, under the demon worshipping regime, was mostly made up of blue dragons. Some of them chose to stay on, and work for the new regime; that process involved letting Agath cast Geas on each "recruit", binding them to obeying and enforcing the laws *uniformly* (no taking bribes to look the other way). Also a standing order to report any contacts with anyone from the former regime.
All in all, it was a huge project, enough to keep him busy for at least a year, and probably expend many or most of his spell slots (though he'd always keep some in reserve, in case the old regime ever returned for revenge).
So Agath settled down in the city, and started applying influence. His major project was restoring the barren devastation of the land surrounding the city, by castings of the 8-hour version of Plant Growth. He also could Wildshape into either earth elemental, useful for clearing rubble from the battle into flat ground suitable for rebuilding, or water elemental, useful in a port city (best tugboat ever). He planted vines all round the city walls and then Awakened them, as a perimeter alarm. Then he Awakened a whale (second best tugboat ever, and she worked in exchange for healthcare; for herself, and more importantly, for her calves).
Every day, shortly before sunset, he'd use every remaining 1st and 2nd level spell slot for Goodberries, and then provide them to the "food for the hungry" program at the newly-established Good-aligned temples. Feeding 60-100 people per day, single-handedly, helped ease the transition to a new municipal economy, after the arena and the slave trade had been outlawed.
There were some oozes and slimes in the sewers under the city, who had flourished under the previous regime, as the arena and the altars resulted in a steady flow of corpse disposal. The druid helped eradicate those, mostly using Sunbeam. Combat, nominally, but not played out as such, as the outcome was not in doubt.
The city's law enforcement team, such as it was, under the demon worshipping regime, was mostly made up of blue dragons. Some of them chose to stay on, and work for the new regime; that process involved letting Agath cast Geas on each "recruit", binding them to obeying and enforcing the laws *uniformly* (no taking bribes to look the other way). Also a standing order to report any contacts with anyone from the former regime.
All in all, it was a huge project, enough to keep him busy for at least a year, and probably expend many or most of his spell slots (though he'd always keep some in reserve, in case the old regime ever returned for revenge).
MonkeezOnFire
Adventurer
In the transition period between Lost Mines of Phandelvar and Out of the Abyss we had some down time. As we knew our next mission would be to pursue the Spider into the depths of the underdark where he had escaped my wizard had decided to do some research on the place to get to know about some of the hazards of adventuring down there. A few high investigation rolls later and the DM decided that I had found a dusty tome in a library describing common beats of the underdark written by Drizzt himself. It became a bit of a gag that my high elf was becoming a Drizzt fanboy over the course of the campaign. This may have been accelerated by madness rolls.
More recently my paladin received down time and decided he needed a distraction from his latest woes. He was in a romantic relationship with one of the other PCs and her player had to leave the game due to scheduling conflicts. So her PC had just disappeared leaving only a note behind. In order to get over the heart break he spent his down time alternating between carousing and time in religious service. It makes sense for the character as he's dedicated to his faith, but he also has a lot of intimacy issues from growing up which he deals with by drinking and flirting with women that catch his fancy. Neither roll resulting in anything spectacular. I had recovered my carousing expenses and earned 1 favour with the temple of Erathis. Though I was only a few off on the percentile roll to start a whirlwind romance on the carousing table. That would have certainly been interesting.
More recently my paladin received down time and decided he needed a distraction from his latest woes. He was in a romantic relationship with one of the other PCs and her player had to leave the game due to scheduling conflicts. So her PC had just disappeared leaving only a note behind. In order to get over the heart break he spent his down time alternating between carousing and time in religious service. It makes sense for the character as he's dedicated to his faith, but he also has a lot of intimacy issues from growing up which he deals with by drinking and flirting with women that catch his fancy. Neither roll resulting in anything spectacular. I had recovered my carousing expenses and earned 1 favour with the temple of Erathis. Though I was only a few off on the percentile roll to start a whirlwind romance on the carousing table. That would have certainly been interesting.
Visit a tavern I haven't been to yet. Pick up a girl(s) with Expertise in the CHA skills, Cutting Words, Peerless Skill, and Enhance Ability. If she prefers to go to my place, create a Demiplane (create a Demiplane later even if she doesn't). Kick her out before the demiplane closes. Cast Clone via Wish. If I struck out at the tavern, cast Conjure Woodland Beings with any remaining spell slots until at least one attractive female is summoned. Order any non-attractive females to cheer us on. Get a long rest and then cast Bestow Curse (5th level or higher) on myself for disadvantage on CHA saves. Then cast Prestidigitation for a whistle that I use as a focus. Then cast Banishment on myself. Keep casting Prestidigitation and Banishment until I fail my save. Once back, Teleport to the next tavern.
AmerginLiath
Adventurer
Gnome enchanters are basically the Ordering-Kiosks-at-McDonalds of the gaming world!
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