Yeah, but the problem is, the more (general/fundamental) stuff you give out for free the less markets/economics you get.
Think about it. If you give out free-food magic, THE WHOLE medievil society would COLLAPSE!
Well, what could they do? Robbery, theft, murder, sex...
I think this is why it wasn't done yet.
But I could think about a small magocracy which citizens are either craftsmen, wizards (and maybe some priests) and soldiers.
Quite frightening neighbor, right?
1.It is not terribly costly to create an item that creates food and water once per round indefinately.
2. It is not terribly costly to create an item that will cure disease in the same manner.
I feel the need to point out that "not terribly costly" (from the average PC's perspective) is equal to "hopelessly out of my price range" for most of the NPC populace in the typical D&D campaign world.
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I feel the need to point out that "not terribly costly" (from the average PC's perspective) is equal to "hopelessly out of my price range" for most of the NPC populace in the typical D&D campaign world.1.It is not terribly costly to create an item that creates food and water once per round indefinately.
2. It is not terribly costly to create an item that will cure disease in the same manner.
It won't be out of their price range now that they don't have to spend most of their income on food or medical care. Being freed of the need to toil in the fields for hours on end also provides commoners the opportunity to try their hands at more profitable professions - magic item crafting, for instance.
Of course in a typical D&D adventure, you are 10 times more likely to run into a spellcaster or magic item shop than a farmer, anyway. Actually, this is why I think Eberron is the ideal setting for D&D - it actually takes into account the effects of magic & magic items on society. Leave more traditional fantasy settings to other systems with less abundance of magic.
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Of course, places like Andoran would quickly develop this sort of magic and make it a feature of public works programs. Likewise, the traditional issue for medival armies on campaign was the limitations of forage and cosnequence health issues for the common soldier.
This magic addresses both those issues.
I do not see it as a problem, rather as a narrative opportunity.
i'ld like to point out that we have the technology to feed the entire world's population... we don't do it beause there is no money to be made from it... same thing with magic, yes you can feed everybody, but what money is to be made from it. More specifically, the people with the magical aptitude (which is less than 1% of the population) can make more money doing other things than producing free food for the populace...
There is a somewhat annoying logical progression with crafted items in both 3.0 and 3.5 that may want to addressed in 3.75.
1.It is not terribly costly to create an item that creates food and water once per round indefinately.
2. It is not terribly costly to create an item that will cure disease in the same manner.This means that any society that wants healthy and well fed people will ensure that these items are available.
This means that there will be a population boom of epic proportions...the modern industrial revolution doesn't hold a candle to almost free food and perfect health care. Add in items that create walls of stone for roads, disintigration for tunnels/excavation, rock to mud etc...and there will no longer be an even remotely feudal system left, which is where D&D is set.
Any nation that does not invest in crafted items, especially food and disease ones, will quickly be crushed by the overwhelming numbers of neighboring nations; elves will be especially vulnerable since it takes so long for elves to mature into adults...
I realize this is a little silly, but if a D.M. is running a game that emphasizes politics and how nations interact, the D.M. would be remiss in not looking for ways in which those nations could use spells or items to create a more powerful nation; that is what we do with technology after all. Creating these items, however, irrevocably changes the game...pretty hard to have an adventure in the wilderness when there is no wilderness left(an adventure theme that is rather appropriate given the current state of our world, but still...)
Yours in nerdyness,
Jeff
Taking those two things and ONLY those two things lets look at what would happen.
1st: Free Food for all, ok so now you have all those farmers (animal, food plants, wheat etc.) are all now out of work, cant make money because theres no call for there products, now you have thousands if not millions of animals that now cant be feed the grains they need because the farmer cant sell them at market, in 3-4 years theres going to be BIG trouble, the crop farmers cant sell thier produce anymore because its being magicked into being, those fields now go defunct.
2nd: Those road builders are all now out of jobs, they cant make any more money because it only takes one person now to do the work of dozens in just minutes.
(Yes I know both those points can be worked out better, its almost midnight, so give me a break.)
3rd: All the out of work people now have to find work, they join the army, now the kingdom has a massive army to feed take care of, and find something for them to do, need more wands for food and health care.
4th: Those that cant get into the army turn to banditry, the army now has something to do, killing their kinsmen.
5th: The Kingdom goes broke from paying for all the soldiers and buying new wands for food and health care, cant afford new wands for roads, roads start breaking down, army cant get where it needs to defend the country, bandits start taking over at the borders.
6th: No more Mages or Priest able to make wands as they have used all their energy on making all the other batches of wands, rival Mages start charging massive ransoms for the creation of wands, Priest cant keep up with the demand, Temples fall into ruin.
7th: Gods get mad, their Temples are in shambles, Priest no longer get spells until they atone, people get sick and die from the new diseases and lack of food.
8th: New lost kingdom for Adventures to explore rinse and repeat as needed.