D&D 5E How do the classes change a small town on a day to day basis

[Crothian]

If they're /rare/ they wouldn't impact day to day life in a small town. Rather, when a classed character came into town for some reason, there'd be a temporary impact.

A village of 500 might have one or two classed individuals. That would still be rare.

There's no assumption of characters getting magic items, nor are their markets for them, so they'd be strictly objects of wonder, not something that'd get applied to anything prosaic.

I'm not talking about magical items. Obviously poor word choice on my part because I use the word item and people assume magical items. I'm talking about items in the class like abilities or skills.

Lesser Restoration, at only second level, with no components, and able to cure blindness, deafness, paralysis, poisoning, or disease stands out.

Finally, and answer to the question. Not a lot of people are doing that here.

 

[Lalato]

[MENTION=6778098]Us[/MENTION], I agree. What about all those retired adventurers? Are they as uncommon as working adventurers? How many go on adventures just once in their lifetime and then settle to live the rest of their life in peace (Bilbo)?

 

[KarinsDad]

This isn't about what's good for the game at your table. It's about what's good for the town. If I'm a town elder... I don't let merchants with "bodyguards" come into my town.

Then your town doesn't get trade because if the townsfolk are afraid of the merchants, then the merchants are not going to walk into town with all of their goods expecting to not be robbed. Fearful people are often untrustworthy people.


Your base assumption is that armed and armored travelers are often considered a threat and that all people would see them that way. Maybe in your game.

But D&D is not like that. D&D has healing (and other magic) and the moment one introduces magic (especially healing), things like town laws can become less enforceable because the world environment allows for those with magical power to ignore the edicts of those without magical power.

And if a town has magical power, what does it have to fear from armed and armored travelers? In the wild west, some towns had rules of no guns and sheriffs enforced those rules with guns. But the vast majority of western towns had no such rules. Even today, people can carry in many states. Some states (like your presumed game world of fearful towns) have strict restrictions on guns.

Ditto for D&D. Some towns might be paranoid like you claim, many shouldn't. The local authorities have enough power to handle wayward travelers who break the law, just like in the real world in the carry states. The real world in the old west and the current real world seem to not quite match your expectations of how people should react. Some are afraid and create strict laws and rules, some allow people to live and only intervene when people screw up.

 

[Lalato]

[MENTION=232]Crothian[/MENTION], apologies, didn't realize my riff would cause a derailment of your thread. [MENTION=2011]KarinsDad[/MENTION] happy to discuss this offline or in another thread if you like.

 

[Umbran]

This isn't about what's good for the game at your table. It's about what's good for the town. If I'm a town elder... I don't let merchants with "bodyguards" come into my town.

You expect a merchant to travel from place to place across uncivilized wilderness carrying valuable goods and money from trade alone, unarmed, and unguarded? He's supposed to walk into town with that huge purse or wagon of silks with no way to protect them?

That's just not reasonable. Protecting the goods and cash are a requirement for trade to happen.

 

[Lalato]

You expect a merchant to travel from place to place across uncivilized wilderness carrying valuable goods and money from trade alone, unarmed, and unguarded? He's supposed to walk into town with that huge purse or wagon of silks with no way to protect them?

That's just not reasonable. Protecting the goods and cash are a requirement for trade to happen.

And that's not what I said (probably misconstrued by you because I was less than clear). If the merchant comes into town with wagonloads of goods, sure. Of course he'll have some guards. However, if a guy comes into town claiming he's a merchant because he has a couple of swatches of silk and six bodyguards... not so much.

We now return you to Crothian's thread. (apologies again, Crothian)

 

[MarkB]

A village of 500 might have one or two classed individuals. That would still be rare.

One effect of such uniquely skilled individuals being rare is that they'll become a commodity.

If you have a spellcaster who's settled in town because he likes the quiet and the fresh air, you're not going to be able to change the way your town operates based purely on his capabilities, because he might sell up and move out tomorrow, and take his Purify Food and Drink with him.

No, if you want the utility of his skillset, reliably available, then you hire him and pay him a decent wage. And if the people in the next village notice the benefits he's providing you and start talking about maybe making him a better offer, then that wage goes up. And once you've got an established market for those skills, with the going rates stabilised across regions, then you also have backup, because if your current caster dies or moves on, there will be others looking for similar positions.

Pretty much any classed character who has a useful skillset beyond that of most NPCs should find it relatively easy to find someone who will pay well for their talents, and not just in a wilderness-trekking, dungeon-crawling capacity. Their very rarity will make them more valued and sought-after.

 

[fanboy2000]

Mending is useful. Light and Dancing Lights have the potential to extend the work day. We take that for granted now, but getting more time to do stuff is really useful.

Crest or Destroy water is only 1st level, though Creat Food and Water is 3rd level.

 

[ppaladin123]

A druid/oath of ancients paladin/whatever with plant growth would be the local farmers' best friend. The 8 hour version of the spell doubles the agricultural output of all crops in a 1/2 mile radius out for an entire year.

 

[Wrathamon]

I always like the idea that just cause there is a temple doesnt mean a cleric is there.

It could be a Priest with no magically ability (no class additions) who has the Medical and Religion skill and might have some healing kits if they worship a god of life.

Same with wizards ... might just be a seer or hedge wizard with some alchemy to make some crappy potions and poisons.


Not all "druid" can actually cast magic, maybe they only have some medical and nature skills along with herblism.