(Slightly OT) (Slightly Flippant) DIY Industrial Revolution. And no gnomes involved.

[Al]

All it takes is one Murlynd's Spoon!

Here's how it works:
Firstly, you are a high(ish)-level wizard. Instead of buying a +X Headband of Intellect, manufacture a small supply of Murlynd's Spoon.

Hire helpers in various cities (better, take Leadership and use followers) and set up 'cheap food' restaurants. The punter comes in with a bowl, the lackey goes out the back and returns with a pot of gruel. Voila! Charge very very low prices (say a few copper).
Before long, given that this is the Middle Ages and most people are impoverished, you will find that more and more people will come to your Murlynd's Spoon Restaurants.
This will have three main effects:
1. Others will begin to copy you. If you are paying your minion 1sp per day, and he sells rougly 1000 meals in a large city, since expenses are nearly nil, you can expect to make (say you charge 2cp) 20 gold per day. In rougly a year, you've paid back your expenses. Entrepeneurs will realise and join the market. Alternately, you just use the profits and expand expand expand.

2. The price of food plummets and the reliability is increased. Because most medieval peasants end to live and not to enjoy, they will buy your Murlynd's Mush. The ample cheap supply of Murlynd's Mush will cause all those to eventually have cheap food in large cities with no harvest failure problems.

3. Farmers will go out of business, as there food prices are being undercut (assume no strongarm farming guilds)

This will lead to two things in turn:

1. Urban Migration. As farmers go out of business, the rural economy will fold. Agricultural workers will be forced to move into the cities for alternative employment.

2. Increase in Real Disposable Income. In the bad old days (pre-Murlynd's Mush), most labourers, peasants and the like spent nearly all their disposable income on feeding their families. With the advent of Murlynd's Mush, they have income to spend on other goods.

Point 2 will cause a boom in demand for manufactured consumer goods (plenty of surplus income, so consumers demand more goods). Point 1 will cause a boom in supply for manufactured consumer goods (plenty of surplus labour). These are basic economic tenets.
Thus, the Murlynd's Mush will cause the economy to shift from one of predominantly agriculture to one of predominantly manufacturing. Urbanisation has occured, the consumer economy is booming and before long the country is fully industrialised. Establish Murlynd's Mush Restaurants throughout the world and before long you have a full-scale Industrial Revolution on your hands!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

First, thanks for that. I love posts like this.

But would it be an industrial revolution or an arcane one? I agree that farmers would go out of work, just like they did with the invention of the gas-powered tractor. But moving the labor force into the city wouldn't necessarily mean that they'd start tinkering with stuff as opposed to cutting off frog legs and summoning small outsiders.

It would depend on how easy it was to learn magic over science. And I'd point out that to learn divine magic, all you need is faith.

 

[Wolfspirit]

I'd point out that to learn divine magic, all you need is faith.

You realize that quite often hard study is a lot easier than faith sometimes, right?


(BTW, good idea Al )

 

[BiggusGeekus]

You realize that quite often hard study is a lot easier than faith sometimes, right?

That depends on how active the gods are in the game world. In some place like the Forgotten Realms where you can't throw a stick without hitting an avatar, I think faith would be easy to summon up.

But given that you only need a 9 in INT, WIS, or CHA to cast a spell and given that factory labor is bone-breaking and demanding, I'm not sure that science would be a magic-using world's first bet.

 

[Zhure]

McMurlynd's will generate a rash of competitors, using similar tactics. To retain it's edge, McMurlynd's has to expand either horizontally or vertically.

One way would be to develop a prestidigitation cantrip wand (50 charges, 187.5 gp to make, or 3.75 gp per use). This would allow the mush to be flavored for one hour to any taste the consumer desires. If the McMurlynd's is open for 24 hours a day (necessary in a highly urbanized environment), it has an increase of overhead of 90 gp, assuming continual use of the cantrip wand by an apprentice.

This also increases the cost dramatically as it requires a skilled laborer (Sorc 1, Wizard 1, Cleric [magic] 1, or a higher level Rogue, Bard or Psychic Warrior with a specialized Use Magic Device)... or three such in three eight-hour shifts.

Another way to increase competition would be to employ Clerics of 5th level or higher, each one making 3 meals per day in ten minutes time. The time of employ is lower than using the prestidigitation wand above, but the level of the user is subsequently much higher. This would probably raise the cost so much, it becomes impractical to provide adequate return on the investment for McMurlynds.

My final suggestion would be mundane spices. Shakers of flavoring could be kept around McMyrlynd's back room. The proprieter merely need shake some flavor packet into the mush, swish it around with a whisk, and voila, a Ramen-noodle like mush, or something frighteningly akin to a modern day malt.

Greg

 

[Gez]

OK. Now, look at the Lyre of Building, and tell me what you think of it. Orchestra Philarmonia Constructions, here I come !

But remember, however, that Murlynd's Spoon produce something that don't taste really good (IIRC). Also, remember that any people with sunglasses and black trenchcoat can negate your spoon out of existence without saving throws, so don't be too eager to create an industrial revolution based on spoons.

 

[Al]

An arcane revolution would be possible, BiggusGeekus, but remember that most people would not be wizards, clerics or sorcerers. So the only employment available would be labouring jobs. So Industrial is more likely.

Zhure: Of course it will attract competitors. But hopefully you can implement patent laws so no one can use Murlynd's Spoon technology other than yourself! Expansion may not be viable: it is far too expensive. Wand of prestidgitation raises the variable cost per meal by nearly 4 gold, as you say. Most could not afford this. And as for clerics with Create Food, this is also unaffordable, using NPC spellcasting charts.

Keep it cheap and trashy!

 

[clockworkjoe]

Farmers won't go out of business, since they can feed themselves, their food tastes better than mush, can be stored and is not subject to dispel magic, can be shipped to many different places as opposed to one spoon, and most importantly provides essential vitamins and nutrients.

Remember a little disease called SCURVY? What diseases do you think that mush will cause?

What happens when the spoons are dispelled or when the King seizes them for his army?

The spoons could cause a boom in urban population though.