What form of magic is most usefull in day to day life.

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Druid.

As others have said, a good amount of abilities to survive in a rural area. Though Cleric would be another fairly good choice.

 

[Chimera]

I think that too many people are looking at it with the idea that you're higher than first or second level.

For the basic low level person, it's Wizard all the way. If only for the variety of zero level spells.

Prestidigitation can do a lot of very nice things. Detect Poison. Light! Ray of Frost - cold beer anyone? Relief on a hot day? Mending for repairing objects. Message. Ghost sounds.

Going to the Spell Compendium: Silent Portal - for when you want to sneak back in without the wife knowing. Launch Item. Stick. Amanuensis for the literate.

Healing may be nice, but if you have d8 hp, the natural healing rates are such that a CLW probably isn't necessary for the average Joe.

 

[jeffh]

but what happend to the sorcerer?

Doesn't fit the question as worded. You're being offered training, and you can't train someone to be a sorc.

 

[genshou]

Druid. Clerics have a lot of awesome powers, but Druids are optimized for agriculture, animal husbrandry, and hunting. Changes to agriculture are the foundation of the growth of civilizations.

 

[Slife]

Artificer. They're already munchkin enough. Level four and I'm good to go.

 

[Storyteller01]

Cleric. You gain spells plus legal authority, depending on the god and kingdom.

Marriage ceremonies, funerals, arbitration. As a cleric, you're never out of a job. You always have a purpose, and you don't always have to cast spells to get paid. That, and the populace is less likely to brand you a witch during harsh times...

 

[Fat Daddy]

If you were a young person in a D&D world with no interest in adventureing, but you had been offered training in magic, what type of magic would you want to learn? Which would help you to earn a living and serve you well in your sedentary life?

What spells and abilities would you use routinely?

Being as we're assuming I'm lazy and sedentary (that takes a stretch of the imagination) I would have to go with wizard and more specifically an Enchanter. Why do it when I can cast a spell and have someone else do it... or even better, convince them to give me the fruits of their labors so I don't even have to wait for them to do it.

Ahhh. Reaping the benefits without doing the work.... is there anything enchantment/charm can't do?

 

[Sejs]

Wizard.

There would be a ton of niche spells that would be amazingly useful in day to day life, but due to their narrow focus (and possibly long casting times, etc) would be low level ... assuming someone just had the presence of mind to research them. Wizards are capable of knowing any number of arcane spells and can specialize by purpose for any given task by just hitting the books for a few minutes, assuming their spell slots are free.

Personal spell research + no limit on spells known + ability to fill an 'open' spell slot in a short time = wizards all the way.

 

[Stormborn]

Depends on the DnD world, in Eberron or any other setting with large urban centers and a realtively common level of magic and Artificer is great. Even in less magic rich enviroments, the clever blacksmith is appropriate and very useful. An Artificer could get a job anywhere doing anything they wanted. Although he might wind up enslaved by someone following the practice of hobbeling smiths as a matter of national security.

Cleric is the second choice, again for universal application and all those things people have already said. Plus, one could be a cleric of just about anything in a fantasy setting, so you could follow almost any path you wished (again given the opportunity). For example sckeener said: "To make money, I wouldn't be a cleric...I'm not that amoral."
What no gods of Coin, Wealth, Buisness, or Profit in your campaign? Such a cleric would practically be required to make money.

 

[dragonhead]

I said Druid. I hate nature getting the best of me so if i commune and control nature, life would be easier. the claric is a good glass as well. no more hours of surgery, cure critical wounds, and call the next one in line. you could also complete work faster with helping hand, ergo makeing the wizard useful as well, but hey, druid rulez all