A Call for Speculation

[Dragongirl]

Ventilation? What about ventilation? Under direct Sunlight the best ventilation won't do you a dang bit of good. All it will do is create a hot wind that makes things worse. For ventilation to do any good you need shade.

Well I live in Phoenix AZ and I can tell you that I prefer a hot wind to no wind. At least that will blow/evaporate the sweat and help cool you off. Requires relatilvely frequent intake of fluids but still better than stagnant air.

 

[mythusmage]

I think anyone bright enough to master this magic would be bright enough to leave some areas unenchanted.

If ventilation makes things worse, then why does every pre-air-conditioning architectural style from subtropical and tropical latitudes make it a major element of the design of living spaces?

Finally, you yourself offered the possibility that the intensity can be varied.

Please.

Tropical and sub-tropical architecture also includes shade. The interior of a (for example) southern California house does not include direct sunlight. Keep in mind I was replying to a post that included the possibility of using the sunlight to cook food and heat a home, which means having the sunlight at "full blast".

In addition, we are talking about 24 hour a day sunlight. No chance for things to cool off here. And it is in an enclosed space, where the heat can build up. Much like an oven.

For the lighting and heating of a room I would hope the sunlight would be damped down a tad.

The question of how affordable it is is an important one. The answer comes down to, how affordable do you want it to be? If you want it restricted to temples to Sun gods, then you need to make it very expensive. Possibly even restrict it to divine magic of high level. If you want it available any place, then it'll be cheap. Use what fits your game.

I see it as being costly, reserved for large buildings. Also for special "solariums" in hospitals where sunlight is needed to aid in the healing process.

Scene: A tower 500 stories high. At the bottom is a lobby with a vaulted ceiling 300 feet high. Access to the upper reaches is by elevator, stairs, levitation, and portal. It is lit by sunlight, produced by a series of spheres that hang in the middle of the air. Whereever there is space available there are plants growing. Trees, bushes, flowers. The pathways themselves are used to grow a tough, resiliant grass well able to bear under heavy traffic. Indeed, to thrive.

***That's the sort of use I'm thinking of. Your milage may vary.

 

[Emiricol]

First - ventilation is a good thing. Even in direct light, the concepts of sweating = evaporation = heat reduction sill apply.

Uses? Lots of underground farms. Dwarves would be net exporters. Hydroponics with no electricity bill. Um... cemetaries would probably all have 24-hour daylight.

Casting upon a ball inside a mirrored cone gives directional heating (and light) - depending on range, possibly a good weapon for seiges...

Goblins would not survive due to natural selection - the dwarves would daylight the caverns they claim, driving the goblins (and maybe even orcs) ever deeper, where they'd clash with the more powerful denizens of the middle underdark.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

One word... Coruscant.

If you came up with this thing today, you'd remove the last stumbling block in some people's minds to total land development. If we can tap into that kind of power to a) generate energy and b) grow crops, then you could say goodbye to government support for farmers and land grants. "Dig us a deep hole and grow your crops in there, farm-boy. We need that land for an industrial park."

Of course, that would only be after all the military applications had been worked out.

Don't mind me. My inner cynic's getting rambunctious today.

 

[mythusmage]

My final word regarding ventilation (for now at least).

Temporary relief at best. Even with a breeze to take away sweat, you'd still have the sunlight beating down. In fact, all that sweating would dehydrate the subject, leading to heat prostration.

Ventilation is not a cure all, you need shelter as well. A good breeze can alleviate some of the effect, but it can't provide total relief.

Goblins and Orcs.

The dwarfs are putting Sunlight everywhere? Find counters for it. Dispelling, altering, perverting.

Or, you adapt.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Here are my thoughts.

First I'm guessing that the spell is equivelent to the 2nd level spell Daylight. If so then most spellcasters (arcane or divine) would be able to cast it.

Among human culture, the first places to get it would be Temples associated with light, Mage Guild Halls/Libraries , and government buildings/Palaces.

Lighthouses would also be a place for this light. A successful merchant ship, or a warship would have 1 for emergencies (but they would keep it covered most of the time).

Large Workshops (i.e. factories), Noble Estates, and homes of rich merchants would be next to pay for the "luxery".

Most commoners would not have axcess to getting "magical light" although Lords may have these lights used on their own farms and mines.

In alot of ways it depends on cost. A second level spell is not too expensive "By the Book", but if the spellcaster in an area all agree to limit the supply, then the price will go up.

Dwarves (in general) are not keen about magic, but then they arn't keen on farming either, so using magical sunlight for underground farms could work. They probably wouldn't use the light most other places. Dwarves have darkvision.

Gnomes would use it more frequently, and more creatively (they might have "Sunlight Ovens").

Elves would probably use it more ceremonialy. So at certain times the would use it (Harvest Festival, Day after Midwinter). At other times they wouldn't bother, they would just wait for daylight (when you live to be 400 what's the rush).

That's how I see it.

 

[Dragongirl]

My final word regarding ventilation (for now at least).

Temporary relief at best. Even with a breeze to take away sweat, you'd still have the sunlight beating down. In fact, all that sweating would dehydrate the subject, leading to heat prostration.

Ventilation is not a cure all, you need shelter as well. A good breeze can alleviate some of the effect, but it can't provide total relief.

Just to clarify. I didn't say ventilation was better than shade, and I did mention needing to take in liquids. I was just pointing out that if you have no shade, ANY breeze hot or not is better than none.

 

[Meds]

One word... Coruscant.
....
Of course, that would only be after all the military applications had been worked out.

Yeah, very smart stuff. I think you're right on both counts.

This is all very subjective, but for what it's worth:
'Primitive': pre-fire. This power could play a similar role to fire. Wielders are revered leaders/shamans.
'Primitive': post-fire. Assuming it is abundant enough to enhance crop-growing, this power tips the balance towards agrarian, and away from hunter-gatherer lifestyles (in the few places where the geography/fauna/flora can support farming). Probably accelerates the adoption of agriculture by a few thousand years.
Ancient: Farms can support higher population densities leading to quicker development of governments, trading, technology in general, and epidemics.
Renaissance: development of focussing lenses and mirrors means this can now be turned into weapons (assuming this is allowed). Siege warfare is revolutionized. Castles, metal armour die out. Invention of gunpowder-based firearms possibly delayed but probably still eventually replace sunlight-based weapons in short order.
Industrial Revolution: development of the steam engine, means we have an unlimited supply of free energy. Coal, oil and gas industries do not develop. Rapid adoption of this power leads to exponential increase in energy produced on Earth. Global temperatures rise dramtically. Ice caps melt. Maladaptive species (like humans) die out.
1960s: Surviving cockroaches finally evolve opposable thumbs. Build the finest illict hydroponics dens in history.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

What excess heat?

Given that most homes will have sufficient ventilation to allow people to breathe, I imagine that the heat would not build up to dangerous levels unless someone was intentionally concentrating it.

Well, then you get global warming!

As well as the usual group of wizards, politician and businessmen who will claim that (a) there is no such thing as "global warming", only "climate change", (b) it is unproven that any such "climate change" has anything to do with human use of magic, and (c) banning or putting a limit on this kind of magic use would be bad for the economy, which would be bad for everyone...

(ducks and runs for cover)

 

[Umbran]

"Dig us a deep hole and grow your crops in there, farm-boy. We need that land for an industrial park."

Nope - Light is insufficient to move most farms underground. Plants need light, but they also need space, water and topsoil. Having the ability to create light doesn't imply having the engineering ability to create vast tracts of "land" underground. Engineering-wise, it's probably easier to move the industrial park underground than it is to move the farms.

Jürgen Hubert said it jokingly, but he has a point. Magic in D&D worlds normally doesn't have much ecological effect, because it's applied sparsely. If you make any magical effect really, really common, you ought to consider what drawbacks it has, if any.

In this case, heat and light pollution are possibilities. If this is actual sunlight, in a society that doesn't have sunblock, then skin cancers are another, and they can be deadly.