D&D 5E Does Prestidigitation Break the Law of Conservation of Energy?

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Simple question, but the consequences are a bit strange.

If you use Prestidigitation to clean an object . . . what happens to the "dirtiness" on it? Is it just magically destroyed? Is it teleported somewhere else? Is it somehow melded into the object you clean?

 

[Parmandur]

I also assume wizards have SOMETHING like a peer review

Well, not necessarily: as @Umbran says, that only goes back to the 17th Century in anything remotely like a systematic fashion.

 

[Parmandur]

Well, I suppose I've allowed some level of modernity to have swept into Faerun with this player's character prose.
I'm not averse to what has now become canon in the setting. The printing press and academies are around. Unbeknownst to him - what helps is that I acquired Arcana of the Ancients some time back and have wanted a way to incorporate it. His character is perfect for this Numenera addition.

Faerun does have printing presses, for what it is worth.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The "published papers" form found in modern academia, to me, doesn't normally fit with the low-ish tech of D&D pseudo- Medieval fantasy. As in, published papers require a publishing industry, and subscriptions to those publications. The first academic journal in our world was published in the mid-17th century.

On the other hand, we know that Paracelsus read Al Jabir and his contemporary.

Review is possible without journals, it just becomes generational, rather than a matter of months and years. In a place like FR, there are newspapers, and fast magical communication, so I’d say it’s fair to assume a system similar to early academic journal based peer review.

In Eberron, we can and should assume a well developed system of peer review across Khorvaire, between the various universities and libraries, and a sadly separate system amongst The Twelve.

 

[Parmandur]

On the other hand, we know that Paracelsus read Al Jabir and his contemporary.

Review is possible without journals, it just becomes generational, rather than a matter of months and years. In a place like FR, there are newspapers, and fast magical communication, so I’d say it’s fair to assume a system similar to early academic journal based peer review.

In Eberron, we can and should assume a well developed system of peer review across Khorvaire, between the various universities and libraries, and a sadly separate system amongst The Twelve.

Yeah, Eberron has international newspapers and modern Universities. It's very Modern.

Forgotten Realms is probably going to vary more from table to table, depending on how anachronistic a given DM want's to make it. Greenwood probably would have rolled with whatever his players wanted to do. Candlekeep feels way more Medieval than Modern on that front, at least.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Well, not necessarily: as @Umbran says, that only goes back to the 17th Century in anything remotely like a systematic fashion.

and pre 17th century didn't have magic so I don't see how that matters.

 

[Maxperson]

Faerun does have printing presses, for what it is worth.

Gond brings wonders.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yeah, Eberron has international newspapers and modern Universities. It's very Modern.

Forgotten Realms is probably going to vary more from table to table, depending on how anachronistic a given DM want's to make it. Greenwood probably would have rolled with whatever his players wanted to do. Candlekeep feels way more Medieval than Modern on that front, at least.

One thing I’ve come to appreciate about Faerun is it’s “messy” nature, wrt what time period and culture is being referenced.

IMO, the sometimes negative response to that aspect of the setting is a case of the Tiffany Problem. Sometimes what is historically accurate feels anachronistic, and audiences balk at, for instance, a Medieval English serf traveling to a pilgrimage site, or being relatively clean, or fairly well fed.

Exactly because Candlekeep is so very medieval monastic, while Waterdeep has newspapers. The “development level” of the world has never been flat, in any era, and I appreciate when it isn’t in a fantasy setting.

 

[Parmandur]

One thing I’ve come to appreciate about Faerun is it’s “messy” nature, wrt what time period and culture is being referenced.

IMO, the sometimes negative response to that aspect of the setting is a case of the Tiffany Problem. Sometimes what is historically accurate feels anachronistic, and audiences balk at, for instance, a Medieval English serf traveling to a pilgrimage site, or being relatively clean, or fairly well fed.

Exactly because Candlekeep is so very medieval monastic, while Waterdeep has newspapers. The “development level” of the world has never been flat, in any era, and I appreciate when it isn’t in a fantasy setting.

I think that is a major part of the "secret sauce" for what makes the FR so perennially popular: you can basically do anything with it, a generic Fantasy LEGO Setting of parts and possibilities.

 

[Parmandur]

and pre 17th century didn't have magic so I don't see how that matters.

That's, like, just your opinion, man.

There were definitely people who self-identified as Wizards, which informs the narrative space. And peer review, other than generational natural selection of source copying, was not part of thst scene.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I think that is a major part of the "secret sauce" for what makes the FR so perennially popular: you can basically do anything with it, a generic Fantasy LEGO Setting of parts and possibilities.

Hell yeah. And that makes it feel more “real”, IMO.