Societal conveniences by using core spells & items?

[Quasqueton]

What kind of common conveniences do the core spells and magic items allow a civilization to have, without having to make new spells or magic items?

[All prices below are just for materials. We can assume, for this discussion, that mages and priests are salaried. ]

For instance, continual flame costs 50gp. A (hooded) lamp with a year's supply of oil (8 hours a night, 365 nights) costs 56gp. Getting a supply of rubies for the material component would be a logistical problem, perhaps, but a city, theoretically, could have continual flame street lights.

Could a hand of the mage (mage hand at will) be useful to a society at 450gp each? What regular use would creative minds get out of this?

Can elementals be called and bound and compelled to work permanently? Looking through the various calling and binding spells, it seems the durations are not permanent. Am I missing something?

How about summoning a lantern archon to create the continual flame street lights -- could easily create 7 lights with a single 4th-level spell for no gp cost.

A wand of prestidigitation costs about 190gp for 50 hours worth of "service" - that's about 3.8gp/hour. What could such an item do to be worth its price to a society at large? Cleaning? Flavoring?

What could an animated (medium) skeleton do regularly to be worth the one-time cost of 25gp? Or a zombie for 50gp? Would they be a cost effective army, rather than training, equipping, and feeding conscripts? What service could these things perform that would be useful, profitable, yet keep them out of the public eye (kind of disturbing to have a skeleton or zombie pulling a ricksha).

What other core spells and items would a society exploit "right out of the book"?

The talk on Eberron got me thinking on this. Apparently, the designers of that setting created new spells and items to support the creation of things like trains and flying ships. But I'm wondering just how much use a society could get out of the core rules without having to create new spells and items.

Quasqueton

 

[Quasqueton]

You've got to be kidding me. Only 6 views?

Quasqueton

 

[Pyrex]

The problem is largely one of economy. (which has always been a problem with D&D)

The only spells that are economical are low-level spells with permanent durations and relatively low material costs.

The only two which come to mind from the PHB are Continual Flame (which you already noted) and Arcane Lock.

Most small-to-medium towns couldn't afford the investment to light their streets with CF and wouldn't be forward-thinking enough to invest in them slowly over time.

However, along with Arcane Lock, CF would be invaluable for wealthy merchant houses and strongholds.

Also, as you move up a few levels, a wiz/sor with access to the Creation spells, Fabricate and/or Polymorph Any Object is capable of single-handedly wrecking any local economy...

 

[Zappo]

For 500 gold, you can have an item with permanent prestidigitation. If I could afford it, I would carry one with me at all times, even in the bathroom (especially in the bathroom ).

 

[The Baron]

How about summoning a lantern archon to create the continual flame street lights -- could easily create 7 lights with a single 4th-level spell for no gp cost.

A wand of prestidigitation costs about 190gp for 50 hours worth of "service" - that's about 3.8gp/hour. What could such an item do to be worth its price to a society at large? Cleaning? Flavoring?

First off, I really enjoy the image in the first paragraph above. A little light fluttering through a city at dusk to make it shimmer. What a great scene!

As for the wand of prestidigitation, I imagine most people would hire someone to clean the manor or flavor the food for, oh, 1 sp a day rather than 3.8gp/hour. Of course, a hireling doesn't fit in your pocket.

Perhaps a noble on a long voyage might get a "cloth of cleaning" or a "shaker of flavoring" to pop in his pocket or belt pouch. The cantrips would also have an artistic purpose - add a shimmer to statue, an extra tone to a intrument. A few wealthy artists/crafters would be able to add these small magical elements to their work.

But again, such a luxury device would only be affordable to the wealthy - maybe 5% of the population.

Continual Light, however, would fall greatly into the public domain. Cities would light up. A DnD city would suffer less crime (well, less visible crime), not too mention being now visible for miles around. This would have a huge impact on the world, concerning ideas of time and safety and city life.

 

[Ibram]

its more dependent on the % of the population that are mages rather then the actual cost of the spell. if only 1% of the pop can cast spells then having CF street lights is impractical but if 25% are mages then CF street lights would be the norm for major cities.

Lets take a look at some spells and see how they could be used:

0 level

Ray of Frost could be used to create Ice, keeping things cooler for longer periods of time.
Arcane Mark could be used as a difficult to replace form of identification or as proof of taxes paid.
Mending can be used to repair basic objects quickly.

1st level
Alarm, use by a security company to monitor important locations
Tensers' Floating Disk could be used to aid in construction or onloading/offloading goods.
Enlarge Person would be quite usefull in construction work.

2nd level
Arcane lock could be used by banks to secure their vaults.
Detect Thoughts could be used by investigators to fight crime
Shatter could be used to demolish buildings.
the use of the Buff spells is quite obvious: Strenght increases help with construction, dex increases help craftsmen finish their work, imagine being able to cast Fox's cunning before you go in and take a test or Eagles Splendor before a presentation. Bears Endurance could be used to help people fight diseases.
Whispering wind used like walkie talkies

3rd level
Phantom steed pony express
Leomonds Tiny Hut removes the need for tents or setting up camp
Shrink Item used to make large items easier to transport
Water Breathing used for underwater construction

and those are just lower level arcane spell, you can do something similar with cleric spells (the presence of a few clerics in a town eliminates the need for a doctor of any kind).

 

[haiiro]

The talk on Eberron got me thinking on this. Apparently, the designers of that setting created new spells and items to support the creation of things like trains and flying ships. But I'm wondering just how much use a society could get out of the core rules without having to create new spells and items.

Interestingly, a lot of the ideas you brought up are also in Eberron -- Keith & co. got plenty of mileage out of the low-level spells and their impact on society. The same goes for many of Ibram's (also quite good) ideas.

This thread -- and Eberron -- delve into an area I've never given much serious thought to before, and I'm finding it fascinating.

 

[DaveStebbins]

I've never agreed with the sentiment that D&D cities would light up with Continual Flame. Just as there are portions of society that would like to see the lamps lit, there are those that prefer the darkness and shadows. As soon as this faction gains a spellcaster of suitable level, the continual effects are in trouble, as they cost money to (re)produce and dispel magic has no material component.


I could see certain sections or blocks in a city paying protection money to the local mob/thieves' guild and being well lit, while other sections are always having their continual flames dispelled sooner or later. But as long as it's free to dispel and 50 gp to light up, I don't think we'll see cities completely (or even very well) lit.

This is one of the reasons I like the 50 gp material component for Continual Flame. It allows the DM to easily justify as much (or as little) lighting as he or she desires to set the mood in each city.

 

[LostSoul]

With the spell Preserve Organ (BoVD, 0-level Arcane/Divine), you could possibly create some kind of fridge that will store food. Although I'm not sure how much that would cost.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Could a hand of the mage (mage hand at will) be useful to a society at 450gp each? What regular use would creative minds get out of this?

Mage hand is a very, very restricted spell - basically it can make a 50 pound object float about, and can't do anything else. So - very limited use, as calls for objects to be floated around are minimal - you could always just pick the thing up.

Potentially if you had some hazardous material, you could use it, but there aren't too many of those in D&D cities

How about summoning a lantern archon to create the continual flame street lights -- could easily create 7 lights with a single 4th-level spell for no gp cost.

Unfortunately upon the archon leaving, all it's spells timeout, so all those lights go out.

What could an animated (medium) skeleton do regularly to be worth the one-time cost of 25gp? Or a zombie for 50gp? Would they be a cost effective army, rather than training, equipping, and feeding conscripts? What service could these things perform that would be useful, profitable, yet keep them out of the public eye (kind of disturbing to have a skeleton or zombie pulling a ricksha).

Well, an unskilled labourer would be be 1 silver a day, so about 36 gp for a year.

And a skeleton can do the exact same work he can, but can do it day or night. Although he does need a lot more instruction, and will never turn into a skilled labourer.

So - I'd expect that a city would employ skeletons for unskilled tasks - lifting, carrying messages and the like.

I'd also expect the creation of animal skeletons for some pure brute force stuff. Imagine carthorses that you never need to feed or stable?

OTOH, if crafts and professions are also crewed by skeletons, you have a large unemployment problem, not to mention a gradual death of skills when apprentices don't carry on the trade...

What other core spells and items would a society exploit "right out of the book"?

Alarm.
Phantom trap. If your door is trapped, the thief will try next door instead.
Secret page - only people with the password can read the message...
Scrying is a great communications tool.

Then you're into wall of stone, fabricate and the like which basically make non-wizard craftsmen totally redundant.