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

[Chaosmancer]

I find it sometimes interesting to think about all the "pure utility" spells that are almost hidden amongst all the war magic in the PHB.

Imagine if you were a local hedge mage in a peasant village (you have the magic adept feat). You know unseen servant (or perhaps summon familiar?), mending and move earth. The locals would adore you.

Holy crap.

Plowing a Field.

Depending on how common that magic is, you could change so much with just that one thing. No oxen or plowhorses, no plows at all. And potentially (I'm not soil expert) better plowing and faster plowing

 

[Dausuul]

Holy crap.

Plowing a Field.

Depending on how common that magic is, you could change so much with just that one thing. No oxen or plowhorses, no plows at all. And potentially (I'm not soil expert) better plowing and faster plowing

It would take about 3 hours to plow an acre of land using move earth. The traditional way requires a team of oxen and a full day, so that is a significant improvement. But unless spellcasters are as common as dirt (pun intended), it's not going to have a significant effect on agriculture. Wizards can find more lucrative uses for their time than taking the place of 4 peasant farmers.

This is the reason I rarely fuss about the worldbuilding impact of utility magic--most of it doesn't scale to the extent that would be needed to affect the world. The exceptions generally involve the rich and powerful, because their numbers are small enough to benefit from the similarly small supply of casters. For example, resurrection, healing, and restoration magic means the rich never have to die except of old age. The clone spell makes it possible to overcome even that. Zone of truth changes torture from "mostly pointless sadism" into "highly effective interrogation technique," enabling a powerful surveillance state.

 

[Oofta]

It would take about 3 hours to plow an acre of land using move earth. The traditional way requires a team of oxen and a full day, so that is a significant improvement. But unless spellcasters are as common as dirt (pun intended), it's not going to have a significant effect on agriculture. Wizards can find more lucrative uses for their time than taking the place of 4 peasant farmers.

This is the reason I rarely fuss about the worldbuilding impact of utility magic--most of it doesn't scale to the extent that would be needed to affect the world. The exceptions generally involve the rich and powerful, because their numbers are small enough to benefit from the similarly small supply of casters. For example, resurrection, healing, and restoration magic means the rich never have to die except of old age. The clone spell makes it possible to overcome even that. Zone of truth changes torture from "mostly pointless sadism" into "highly effective interrogation technique," enabling a powerful surveillance state.

Except move earth is a cantrip, a beginner's intro to magic spell. Doesn't even need to be a 1st level caster.

The other thing is that the books only reflect spells applicable to adventurers. I've always though it would be a bit silly that the only spells in existence are the ones listed in the PHB and related books. D&D, by and large, is not a world building game. So when it comes to issues like this, it's really up to the DM and group. You can go anywhere from strict real world norms to magi-tech science fantasy. For me I've settled on "it's not too in-you-face, but it has impacts." Recently the group was in a null magic zone eating pastries from a local bakery, I let the group know that they weren't quite as good. Unbeknownst to them, the cookies really were magically delicious. Most people don't even think about it any more than most people don't think about how much technology and investment goes into making toilets work.

 

[Zubatcarteira]

In 5e, Mold Earth is the cantrip, Move Earth is the 6th level spell.

 

[Dausuul]

Except move earth is a cantrip, a beginner's intro to magic spell. Doesn't even need to be a 1st level caster.

You're assuming that casters below 1st level have unlimited usage of cantrips. (And I mean really truly unlimited. You have to cast mold earth 1700 times to plow one acre of land.) Since there are no rules for casters below 1st level, that is entirely up to the DM. The PHB neither requires nor implies such a thing.

If you want profligate use of spellcasting in society, of course, nothing's stopping you.

However, even if you do make that assumption, you still need an absolutely enormous number of apprentice casters to make a dent in agriculture on a large scale.

 

[Oofta]

You're assuming that casters below 1st level have unlimited usage of cantrips. (And I mean really truly unlimited. You have to cast mold earth 1700 times to plow one acre of land.) Since there are no rules for casters below 1st level, that is entirely up to the DM. The PHB neither requires nor implies such a thing.

If you want profligate use of spellcasting in society, of course, nothing's stopping you.

However, even if you do make that assumption, you still need an absolutely enormous number of apprentice casters to make a dent in agriculture on a large scale.

Mold earth is one of the few spells in the book (barring some druid things) that would be useful outside of combat. It's just an example of what magic could do, I'm assuming that other magic exists. Maybe the layman version only goes down a foot but encompasses a larger area while taking a full minute to cast. Maybe it takes multiple people to cast the spell.

My point was that it doesn't make sense to me for magic to be limited to what are effectively military applications that can be cast with the snap of the fingers. Of course, do what makes sense for your campaign.

 

[Ancalagon]

a few comments:

• I don't think a caster can cast cantrips indefinitely. Your mind will get tired. But still, useful
• I know that wizards are not very common, but this isn't even a level 1 wizard - it's someone with the magical powers provided by the feat "magical adept" - a hedge mage, if you will.
• Familiars could be used to carry small messages between villages
• the sheer utility of magic should have a major impact on the acceptability of spellcasting in general. Would necromancy be so bad if the local necromancer raises some skeletons to help in the heavy labor period of the year (harvest and plowing/planting, normally)?
• another example of the "hedge mage" would be an NPC with the feat "ritual caster"

When something is useful for survival, people use it.

 

[BookTenTiger]

a few comments:

• I don't think a caster can cast cantrips indefinitely. Your mind will get tired. But still, useful
• I know that wizards are not very common, but this isn't even a level 1 wizard - it's someone with the magical powers provided by the feat "magical adept" - a hedge mage, if you will.
• Familiars could be used to carry small messages between villages
• the sheer utility of magic should have a major impact on the acceptability of spellcasting in general. Would necromancy be so bad if the local necromancer raises some skeletons to help in the heavy labor period of the year (harvest and plowing/planting, normally)?
• another example of the "hedge mage" would be an NPC with the feat "ritual caster"

When something is useful for survival, people use it.

It would be fun if each village or area knew a different Cantrip, seeing how that would change daily life.

Edit: hit reply too soon

So how would a village with Mold Earth be different than a village with Control Flame or one with Light?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

a few comments:

• the sheer utility of magic should have a major impact on the acceptability of spellcasting in general. Would necromancy be so bad if the local necromancer raises some skeletons to help in the heavy labor period of the year (harvest and plowing/planting, normally)?

This is a huge thing that gets ignored. Ideas around magic are less superstitious than IRL, because people know that clerics, druids, Paladins, and Rangers, all exist. Even if they’re all rare, people would know about them. The life changing utility of cure wounds, good berry, accurate weather prediction via druidcraft, and others would ensure that.

• another example of the "hedge mage" would be an NPC with the feat "ritual caster"

Even just three rituals spells makes a huge difference. Unseen Servant and Alarm would be very high demand.

When something is useful for survival, people use it.

Absolutely. And find ways to think well of it.

 

[Faolyn]

You're assuming that casters below 1st level have unlimited usage of cantrips. (And I mean really truly unlimited. You have to cast mold earth 1700 times to plow one acre of land.)

But it could still be very useful for household vegetable and herb gardens. Also mold earth could still be useful for large-scale farming not to entirely plow a field, but to help just to remove obstacles, or to aerate packed sections of ground. The majority of the work could still be done the nonmagical way, but the parts that are extra time-consuming could be quickly accomplished by magic.