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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tarek" data-source="post: 383567" data-attributes="member: 6661">Error in assumptionsDragonblade, the key here is this:A standard D&D fantasy world is still very much an agrarian society, NOT an industrial one.The number of people who have the drive to become clerics is very small. Ditto Wizards, all of the other PC classes and the Adept class. Thus their skills are in high demand, which means that at best they save their abilities for emergencies and at worst they charge through the nose to cast spells.This bears repeating: a standard D&D fantasy world is not an industrial society.Simply being able to work during the night does not mean anything for the majority of the people. They already work from pre-dawn to dusk. Working at night just means they get less sleep. Being able to work "round the clock" is only a little bit more useful for craftsmen, but still, the effect of artificial lighting is minimal by itself; you need automation in order to take advantage of the extra time.The real breakthrough that increased production came with automations like the printing press and the mechanical loom, and it wasn't until the invention of the combination harvester (VERY recent) that crop production ceased being a hand-labor affair.(yes, this is a bit simplistic.)Magic can do a lot of things, but it is no substitute for technology. Stop treating magic as a substitute for technology.To create a "Harvester Golem", a wizard will spend a lot of money and a lot of experience, but no village will be able to afford one. Creating a mechanical device like a horse-drawn combination harvester would also be expensive, but it would be more affordable than any magical construct.Tarek</blockquote>

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