New job opportunities in a magic using world...

Storyteller01

First Post
I've been trying to think of new occupations (legal ones :) ) that would have been created with the advent of magic. Unfotunately, I don't always think big enough. IMC, dwarves have an enhanced gravity sense, so they control navigation and teleport trades. Makes the Wayfarer PrC a viable NPC option. There are the massive 'holoshows' put on by illusionists, divine 'notaries' and moderators who make use of zone of truth and the like. I have a few others, but I'm running dry. Do you folks have any more ideas?
 

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Think small, low level magic jobs:

Sorcererous Cleaner - uses Prestidigitation to clean the expensive clothes of the wealthy who are afraid they will get damaged through ordinary means. Also repairs clothing with Mending.

Arcane Translator - with a few Comprehend Languages prepared, maybe a scroll for Tongues, and an apartmenr near a busy market place where he serves as a translator for high level deals that can afford his services. He could supplement his income with a dayly lock box service in which customers can place items in secrued boxes with aracne locks and alarm on them while they are in town for the day.

Fight promoter - a pit and unintelligent summoned monsters, house takes a percentage of the bets.

Fire brigade mage - A wand of energy resistance and mage armor for the noble's quarter fire brigade. Summon a few water elementals too.

Entertainer - there are pleanty of low level spells that, with some ranks in perform, can be used to wow audiences. Especially as a Bard who has the skills or a Sorcerer who can cast them over and over.


And thats just from a quick look at the lower level spells. Also consider detectives, spies, messangers, and other mundane tasks that would have an edge with a bit of magic.
 

Many Druids are employed in the Kingdom's Roads and Ways Dept., in part because of their early access to wood shape and stone shape, but because they want to be on-site to ensure environmental impact is low, and environmental damage is zero.

"Activists" who do the work. That's magic! :)

Cheers, -- N
 

The Eberron campaign setting might have some ideas about this with it's "magic as technology" take on the whole thing.

First of all, there's a new NPC class called "magewright", which is basically a craftsperson of somesort who can use magic to enhance their wares.

Then there are the Dragonmarked Houses, who each control one or more guilds across the main continent. These guilds make use of the house's dragonmark (i.e. spell-like ability) to gain an advantage in their given trade. Some examples of the more magically-linked trades would be:
  • Message-stations, where a variety of magic abilities are used to send messages between stations, kind of like telegraphs
  • Windwrights, who are employed to sit on ships and provide magical windpower
  • The Finder's Guild, who use magic to find things (a lot of the times rare ores/gems or water in deserts)
  • Rain-makers, who make rain for fields
  • People who magically breed animals

There are tons more, and you can find a lot of them by reading the section on the dragonmarked houses in the Eberron Campaign Setting.

For more ideas, think along the lines of "magic as technology". Pick some technological convenience that we have today (or another time period that you're aming for) and find a way for magic to do it. Don't just think about things like phones, trains, cars, but pay attention to a smaler scale, things we don't really think about as "technology", like velcro and ball-point pens. Walk around your house, pick out conveniences, and find a way to make them magical. :)
 

Ooh, I just thought of another one: a reporter. Magic could simulate a printing press, making news available to the masses, which creates jobs like "reporter", "editor", "printer", etc. that are associated with newspapers. This is also in Eberron (the Korranberg Chronicle). :)
 

Clerics heal all wounds. No one dies or is permanently injured. Ever. Each person remains healthy and hale until their God appointed "final day".

Clerics & wizards working together solve all legal disputes. With thought detection and zones of truth, lying is easily discerned. It's a brave new world.

Druids control the weather and supervise the health of crops and animals. It's always a sun shiny day unless rain is scheduled.

Wizards work on the side detecting any lost or misplaced items. "I can't find my glasses"

Wizards do contract work constructing dizzying cities and structures unparalleled in our own world.

The wealthiest have access to world altering power via Wishes and Miracles. They are easy to spot as they are truly Superhuman in nearly every physical and mental aspect. No one cares though as they are so enjoyable to have around.

A small group of humans is fighting for "awakened" sentience for all living creatures believing it unfair for them to remain in ignorance.

Privacy is no longer publicly possible as access to scrying and invisibility means one might never truly be alone.

Travel is instantaneous and, in truth, every person is a neighbor to every other.

The term "human" is no longer recognized as each individual can elect to alter themselves into virtually anything imaginable.

Everyone gets along well with each other as disagreements are easily assuaged with a couple "friendship" spells.

Historians no longer study the past, but rather record it as it actually happened. Most prefer to become futurians instead, writing future history of what will be.
 


IMC, magic is often used as "technology".

Emergency Response Teams: There are emergency beacons attached to lampposts scattered throughout most major cities. Each one in enchanted with a modified version of the Alarm spell. A half-dozen wizards are tuned into each beacon, and each Alarm gives off a distinct mental ping (identifying its location). There's always at least one 9th level wizard on call, and his spell list includes at least one Teleport and several Fly spells. When the emergency beacon is activated, the wizard preps his response team with a few spells, then teleports them to the location of the beacon. They fight fires, stop crimes, rescue the wounded, etc.

Film Projector: Kinda like the holoshow idea above. Skilled Illusionists will attend several showings of a play, opera, concert, or the like and memorize the performance. They'll then go and re-play it for the masses, charging a much lower admission price than the original.

Nareau
 

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