I'd think the biggest reason is arcane magic requires the stats, you need 11 or better. Then you need the training and natural ability. I'd assume that training is expensive. It cost on average 105 gold pieces if you go starting wealth. So the average commoner need the stats, the ability, and the gold.
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Going along with what people have said, it isn't the most practical choice.
Not everyone, about half the population probably, has the ability to cast 0-level cantrips. The percentage of the population able to cast the spells goes down with each increase in spell level. It's like today, not everyone can get a degree in mechanical engineering.
It takes a large investment. It takes seven years to become a first level cleric/wizard. That's about the time required to finish a Phd. That's huge! The number of people with the interest and resources to study for that long isn't very high. Especially considering the following.
It isn't very useful. You're brighter than the average joe, and you've just spent 7 years of your young life learning how to.... shoot a pretty pathetic ray of cold, and maybe a small cone of flame once a day. Yay. With that and some social skills you might get a job in a local tavern. Meanwhile, your friend has been in the city guard for several years as a fighter, just got promoted to sergeant, and is married.
Unless you're something special and have the ability and interest in getting somewhere in the 3-5th level range, studying magic is a bad investment. It's like studying philosophy or ancient greek, and stopping at bachelors. If you've got something else going for you and this is to make stand out, or you're just interested, great. Prestidigitation is a neat bonus if you're a carpenter, but probably not worth the trouble. Now, if you are one of those rare people, adventurers, it can be a great choice, just like some people become famous archeologists digging around the dead sea for treasure. For your average person though, stick to something with a better return.
Now, as for why more nations haven't invested in a few on command rock-to-mud, mud-to-rock, and wall of stone items for road construction ,or a plant growth thing increasing crop yields, I don't know. My general assumption is they have. That's why there are stone bridges in the unpopulated countryside and a higher than expected portion of the population not involved in agriculture. You just haven't encountered it because how often will peasants in need of a hero mention that the tax collector also cast a spell on the fields and part of the tax is a 'spell' tax?
Actually, a friend and I spent several mornings at work creating a setting where people had exploited magic. It turned into this apocalyptic wasteland populated by flying iron fortresses equipped with disintegration cannons and anti-magic bomb launchers. Orbital bombardment platforms destroyed anything that couldn't hide, dig deep, or move fast. Everything was based around magically hardened adamantine 'wish/miracle' spheres and the engineers who used them.
Plant Growth is the tricky one of those three. It's a divine spell that's mainly cast by Druids whose primary task is in maintaining nature's balance, not increasing crop yields for a nation's economic gain. A Druid knows that you don't start using your magic wholesale on nature without consequences from heedlessly tampering with natural balance.
Good point. You don't actually need to be able to cast the spell to make a magic item with similar effect though, so it might be easier to make an item to produce the effect than finding a person to cast it regularly.
Plant Growth is the tricky one of those three. It's a divine spell that's mainly cast by Druids whose primary task is in maintaining nature's balance, not increasing crop yields for a nation's economic gain. A Druid knows that you don't start using your magic wholesale on nature without consequences from heedlessly tampering with natural balance.Now, as for why more nations haven't invested in a few on command rock-to-mud, mud-to-rock, and wall of stone items for road construction ,or a plant growth thing increasing crop yields, I don't know. My general assumption is they have. That's why there are stone bridges in the unpopulated countryside and a higher than expected portion of the population not involved in agriculture. You just haven't encountered it because how often will peasants in need of a hero mention that the tax collector also cast a spell on the fields and part of the tax is a 'spell' tax?
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I would think the druids would be interested in helping increase crop yields naturally. The greater the yield the less land will be needed to feed a population. If a druid can make 1 acre grow food as if it were 2 than that second acre can remain as wild and free. This is actually a negotiation point for druids. "I'll help you with that if you don't touch this..."
Also, if the population gets hungry one of the first things they'll do is start foraging. Done in mass this can wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. Fewer future plant generations, less food for the fauna, etc.
When one looks at the big picture it strikes me as being in the druids best interest to help with food production.
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I would think the druids would be interested in helping increase crop yields naturally. The greater the yield the less land will be needed to feed a population.[...]
When one looks at the big picture it strikes me as being in the druids best interest to help with food production.
Conversely, the lower the population, the less land (and yield) would be needed. I'm not sure I'd trust the local druid not simply to find a way to "decrease the surplus population."
I would think the druids would be interested in helping increase crop yields naturally. The greater the yield the less land will be needed to feed a population. If a druid can make 1 acre grow food as if it were 2 than that second acre can remain as wild and free. This is actually a negotiation point for druids. "I'll help you with that if you don't touch this..."Also, if the population gets hungry one of the first things they'll do is start foraging. Done in mass this can wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. Fewer future plant generations, less food for the fauna, etc.
When one looks at the big picture it strikes me as being in the druids best interest to help with food production.
Just as an idea: Druid's tried increasing the yield of the land in the past, but noted (like Thomas Malthus) that the population just increased and so the demand for land did not decrease. Future druids are taught as part of their code (perhaps not realizing why) to not use their powers in this way.
Not sure I'm sold on this idea or not (or that there would be a universal druid approach(TM)).
I would think the druids would be interested in helping increase crop yields naturally. The greater the yield the less land will be needed to feed a population.[...]
When one looks at the big picture it strikes me as being in the druids best interest to help with food production.Conversely, the lower the population, the less land (and yield) would be needed. I'm not sure I'd trust the local druid not simply to find a way to "decrease the surplus population."
Why not both? One overtly and one covertly.
Whenever the population gets too high "wild animal attacks" increase.