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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6483842" data-attributes="member: 4937">This assumes that there is no consequences to transporting tons of stuff across the planar boundary.  That seems to be a highly unlikely proposition - particularly for 'energetic' earth ores like gemstones and precious metals (which presumably have higher shares of mineral and positive energy).   The consequences of transporting such material are likely to be as consequential as in the D&D world as they were postulated to be in the equivalent situation in Asimov's 'The Gods Themselves'.It's therefore likely that both the rules of the Elemental Plane and 'The Gods Themselves' would act to stop any wholesale mining operations.And that's not even to get into the absurdity of 'infinite' Elementals planes given the presumed finitude of most prime material worlds or the fact that, in all likelihood, mining on such planes would be costlier and more difficult than mining on the planet itself.   For example, there is no guarantee that the average density of say a vein of copper is higher on the elemental plane of earth, which lacks air and is only reachable by magic, than it is on a typical prime material world.   In fact, if copper is in fact some sort of molecule of earth, fire, mineral and positive elemental 'atoms', it's entirely possible that though the total amount of copper on the elemental plane of earth is infinite, that it is far less prevalent and harder to find there that it would be on a prime material world where such atoms regularly mingle.   Further, the only way an infinite elemental plane makes the slightest bit of sense is if there is also an infinite number of prime material worlds, which means that there would be about as much competition for such ores on the elemental plane of earth as their would be on the prime material worlds themselves.Or in short, your analysis is not as solid as you think.  We can't assume that the presence of an infinite amount of copper on the elemental plane of earth in any way impacts the price of copper on your average prime material world.  Depending on your assumptions, it might, but there is no way to validate your assumptions and many ways to invalidate them.  In fact, arguably, the very fact that ores don't have trivial value suggests the assumptions that make mining on the elemental plane of earth economically valid are in fact invalid.  The fallacy you raise is a particular case of a cautionary word I always give my new players - never assume that you are the first person who has ever had your 'great idea'.   The world has a 5000 year unbroken written history and a fragmentary written history for thousands of years before that.  If you don't see people doing something you think is an obvious way to revolutionize the world - building cannons, or mining the elemental plane of earth - chances are very good it is because people have tried it many times before and it didn't work.   Likewise, if you think that you've found a cute and easy way to cheat or trick society with your low level spell use, think twice.  You are not the first person who has ever been able to use that spell.  People have had that spell for thousands of years.   Chances are societies have highly evolved means of dealing with it.</blockquote>

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