D&D General Need wheat. Too dangerous. (worldbuilding)

[MGibster]

Sending Stones are an Uncommon item - so they cost a couple hundred gold and a couple of weeks to make. Or a hundred gold and a few days for an upper-level artificer. But, they are permanent. Watchtowers and people to staff them cost money too - using Lifestyle expenses as a guide, we are talking about one gold a day per watchperson.

I have to admit, and this is just a personal preference, that when magic becomes too common the setting starts to resemble the Flintstones with magic taking the place of dinosaurs or modern technology.

 

[jgsugden]

Heroes rise in times of danger. The world is built for the times when dangers are less prevalent.

In my settings, there is relatively little danger within settled lands. Sure, there are some Ankhegs or Wyvern attacks here or there, but the royal guards or adventurers are brought in to deal woith the issue and life goes on. However, the events of a D&D campaign take place at times of extraordinary stress. At those times, there are unusually numerous and dangerous threats afoot that threaten things, including farms that are otherwise pretty safe.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

So, this is how I imagine places are protected in rural areas:

Post Feudal Sicily: Sicilian Mafia - Wikipedia

Essentially, mercenary guilds organized by the elite and hired by land-owners. Sometimes, these guilds(criminal organizations) became problems in and of themselves. Adventurers also fill this niche. (as someone already noted).

 

[Iry]

A single loaf of fantasy bread is like 1,800 calories.
How do you think the monsters get so big?

 

[Bedrockgames]

I have to admit, and this is just a personal preference, that when magic becomes too common the setting starts to resemble the Flintstones with magic taking the place of dinosaurs or modern technology.

At a certain threshold I do think you are dealing with a different period in terms of emulation when magic or inventiveness goes really far. It also depends on how wide spread the stuff is. There was a show called Chinese Paladin and, if I remember (could be confusing it with another show) it has a strange item or magic that basically functioned like a cell phone (there were a few key things like this in the show) but it was otherwise set in a vaguely historical setting. So for me at least, the change it introduced was exceptional enough that it didn't disrupt the overall feel of the period. But something like the flinstones, it is basically just a modern setting with inventiveness getting around any pre-historical inconvenience: it is the past as today. I don't mind the latter, it can be fun to play with anachronisms, but to your point it is definitely quite different in feel. And if you are looking for ancient or medieval fantasy, magic being used in certain ways can make a setting feel much more modern (even if people are wearing plate mail and have horses)

 

[MarkB]

Just dress up scarecrows as a party of plucky adventurers! 8 Goblins out of 10 can't tell the difference between a real Wizard and a scarecrow in a pointy hat!

I love it! Every farm should have a group of stalwart Scaregobs guarding it's fields.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I was confused. We clarified that, all good.

I then gave a suggstion, because adding a single word would have elliminated that confusion. I am sorry - I honestly did not expect you to find a minor writing suggestion rude. If I had known this would be the reaction, I would not have done so. And I guess in the future I'll try in the future to not do so with you.

Tone is hard to interpret in text, so I probably read it uncharitably. But generally speaking, when I am having a conversation with someone, even in an online forum, someone pointing out where they feel I could improve my conversational skills feels insulting and like you are being talked down to (and like they are highlighting a flaw in my ability to communicate). I am not under some illusion that my post or posts are perfectly clear. Just this is not where I would expect to encounter instruction on those skills. It would be different if I had expressed frustration with being unable to communicate with you clearly or something. I also tend to assume a certain level of irritation and annoyance when someone offers such a correction

 

[embee]

Remember that in the real world, or at least in Europe, the vast majority of war and battles happened between Spring planting and Fall harvesting. Maybe your fantasy kingdom maintains that same large army during that time of year and no one is foolish enough to attack while the crops are growing. Or in a fantasy world, maybe the monsters are only active when the weather turns cold, and in the hotter part of the year, they stay inside their deep, dark tunnel systems.

It was also not vast fields of crops, like in modern times. The individual farmer, with a small section of planted land, or maybe a local lord with a decent, but still relatively small area, that their serfs farmed for them. So a village or two, or some small farms, getting pillaged and burned will not have an effect on the bigger cities.

Adventuring season:

Instead of going off to war, folks go off to kill monsters.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

Bone Meal Bread?!

4 out of 5 giants can't tell the difference! (The fifth ate the survey-taker.)

 

[Stalker0]

Another element of answer - one that is very 5e:

Large number of humans are scary as heck.

This. Hell 10 archers can do plenty of damage and dnd bow range is ridiculous. Most monsters don’t want to be shot at, and would rather leave to find an easier meal elsewhere.