Dragonsbane
Proud Grognard
Totally fair cost. Aren't some magical items worth more than 18k?
True enough, but I feel like on those rare occasions when the game actually tells you how to create a permanent magic thing using the spells in the book, having plot magic not available to players do it instead is dissatisfying worldbuilding and kind of a cheap move. Better to save mysterious arcane or divine knowledge the players don't have for the manifold things you want in your campaign that the PHB doesn't give an established way to create.Don't forget that the rules in the PH are mainly for PCs. The DM can easily say that any NPC wizard can build a permanent teleportation circle in less time, using cheaper reagents, because they have access to arcane or divine knowledge the PCs don't.
Yeah, I can see this as something a major city invests in. The city hires wizards, bankrolls the cost, with expected long term returns over years from trade with another major city.No, the richest people are the people who bankroll wizards, just like in the real world. Unless all wizards are adventurers, then the average wizard can't afford 18,000gp (plus living expenses) to set up a circle, doesn't have the contacts with a circle at the other end to trade with, doesn't have a supply of grain etc etc. He probably creates and operates the circle for a wage, or loses most of his profits paying back his business loan.
Meh. I think that's an "each to their own." I don't mind having PCs with stricter rules--it gives me, the DM, more options.True enough, but I feel like on those rare occasions when the game actually tells you how to create a permanent magic thing using the spells in the book, having plot magic not available to players do it instead is dissatisfying worldbuilding and kind of a cheap move. Better to save mysterious arcane or divine knowledge the players don't have for the manifold things you want in your campaign that the PHB doesn't give an established way to create.