Best spells to cast before a long rest, or sell in a town

[Corinath]

As title

I'm wondering what spells you'd cast before a long-rest that might help you in the long run since they'd be "free" casts anyway. Things like Scry.

Also, there's a chapter on buying spells in a town, so I wanted to turn around and do the opposite. What spells would you try and sell for a fee to townfolk who knew you were around? Identify?

Just general brainstorming and such. :)

Cheers!

[Dalebert]

Goodberry and Heroe's Feast immediately come to mind since their effects last 24 hours. Simulacrum also.

[Blood of Gaea]

Mind Blank, Wish, Water Breathing, Private Sanctum, Tiny Hut.

I'd be willing to sell most spells provided I was giving something worthwhile in return and the spell slot was not currently crucial.

[LudicSavant]

As title

I'm wondering what spells you'd cast before a long-rest that might help you in the long run since they'd be "free" casts anyway. Things like Scry.

For Druids, Goodberry is a big one. Since the berries last 24 hours, you'll occasionally see Druids just dumping all of their leftover spell slots into goodberries right before their spell slots refresh, giving them a bank of hp healing for the next day.

[Dallion80]

I agree about tiny hut

[Blacky the Blackball]

Skywrite is one of my favourites.

It's a ritual with no material components, so it can be cast repeatedly, and it has a spectacular effect. On top of that, it's only a second level spell so you only need a third level caster to cast it.

In my campaign, most cities have Skywrite spells over them almost constantly advertising various businesses.

[Edgerunner]

As title

What spells would you try and sell for a fee to townfolk who knew you were around?

Just general brainstorming and such. :)

Cheers!

Plant Growth is a popular one for my Druid. Most towns will pay just about anything for a double Harvest that last a year.

[Anymage]

The big catch here is that most peasants don't have that much gold on hand to make hawking your spellcasting services profitable, and the people who do have the gold on hand probably have spellcasters on retainer for things like that. If it's worth paying a druid to cast Plant Growth on an area, they've probably already made arrangements with the local druids.

By all means dump your remaining spell slots into Goodberries. Maybe cast a few cure spells on locals to engender good will. But the downtime rules in 5e very pointedly try to avoid generating more money than what's required to keep pace with living expenses. It's an intentional design conceit that adventuring is supposed to be more lucrative than setting yourself up as a business owner.

[PeteNutButter]

This list expands when you tack on extend spell with sorcerer. Any spell that is 8 hours long can now last the duration of your long rest +8 hours. Mage armor and Aid are both great with this.

[Blood of Gaea]

The big catch here is that most peasants don't have that much gold on hand to make hawking your spellcasting services profitable, and the people who do have the gold on hand probably have spellcasters on retainer for things like that. If it's worth paying a druid to cast Plant Growth on an area, they've probably already made arrangements with the local druids.

By all means dump your remaining spell slots into Goodberries. Maybe cast a few cure spells on locals to engender good will. But the downtime rules in 5e very pointedly try to avoid generating more money than what's required to keep pace with living expenses. It's an intentional design conceit that adventuring is supposed to be more lucrative than setting yourself up as a business owner.
They don't have to give you money specifically, it could also be traded for goods or services.

[Temperjoke]

Continual Flame doesn't seem like a bad one to cast, or sell if you're in an area that can afford it (50gp of ruby dust is consumed after all). Having it prepped can save time and slots later, and concept-wise, people could probably find a lot of use for a torch that you don't risk burning a house down with.

[MaxWilson]

The big catch here is that most peasants don't have that much gold on hand to make hawking your spellcasting services profitable, and the people who do have the gold on hand probably have spellcasters on retainer for things like that. If it's worth paying a druid to cast Plant Growth on an area, they've probably already made arrangements with the local druids.

Yet another reason why it's more fun for players if you run a low-magic world. "Somebody else already did that" is a disappointing answer to everything. "Somebody else already cast Plant Growth," "somebody else is already skywriting all over the sky," "somebody else already scouted the dungeon," "somebody else already destroyed the orc army."

Either make all of the spellcasters bad guys, or just kill them all off in a big disaster days or centuries before the campaign starts. There's a reason why magical artifacts in dungeons traditionally come from an ancient, now-vanished precursor civilization instead of from the next town over.

Anyway, just because the peasants can't help you out with gold doesn't mean it's not rewarding to help them out in ways that don't involve killing monsters. Fabricate/Mending for material goods, Plant Growth for crops, Skywrite for advertising, Goodberry for nourishment, Lesser Restoration/paladin healing for diseases, Greater Restoration for other afflictions, Raise Dead for grieving family, Unseen Servant for household chores, Prestidigitation for flavor/texture/cleaning, Major Image (for entertainment purposes, temporary or permanent), Mold Earth for construction, Commune With Nature for safe drinking water/checking for malign influences, Control Weather for disaster control or even just a pleasant day of recreation, or even just plain old elbow grease... all of these things can benefit people who don't have gold to pay you with.

Who knows, the relationships you establish may even become a source of new NPCs and even PCs!

[solidork]

My personal favorite is Sending to spread information to distant allies.

[Tanarii]

In my campaign, most cities have Skywrite spells over them almost constantly advertising various businesses.
How did it work before XtgE?

[Blacky the Blackball]

How did it work before XtgE?

It didn't. I started the campaign when XgE came out.

Previous campaigns were also (usually) high magic to the point of almost being magitech - Spelljammer-style flying ships, Teleport Circles in every city administered by the Mage's Guild, commoners getting free curing (up to and including Raise Dead if available) because their tithes pay for it, etc., but without that particular spell (and without most major temples being a Temple of the Gods and most important nobles living in a Mighty Fortress, which is now also the case).

The thing I liked the most about XgE was the new "worldbuilding" spells that it had.

[Kadesh]

Potentially by using the spell from Princes of the Apocalypse is the alternative.

[dragoeniex]

I always thought it sounded fun to go say "hi" to nobles and officers and generally important people and offer glyph of warding as a service. Help them set up their own explosive burglar deterrent or- if they've got a lot of enemies- help set an escape clause style glyph beneath their bed. Someone gets too close to the sleeping person without saying a password, and they get hit whatever spell you've lovingly prepared.

Or maybe you leave it in a strategic spot for someone to stand in and trigger invisibility on themselves for a while. Or fly. The possibilities for utilities are great!

Adventurers don't always stay in one place long enough to make use of an emergency spell stuck to one spot, but people who live somewhere definitely could. See if anyone would be willing to pay or trade a favor for it, or offer it as a freebie and get yourself into good graces.

Or just be helpful because you think you're a hero or something. Whatever makes you happy.

[Tanarii]

Adventurers don't always stay in one place long enough to make use of an emergency spell stuck to one spot,
This is why no one in power will trust them to set up magic anything for them. Not even as a freebie. They don't trust the hobos in the first place.

[dragoeniex]

This is why no one in power will trust them to set up magic anything for them. Not even as a freebie. They don't trust the hobos in the first place.

Heh. Your social rolls may vary. As with most situations, it's a good idea to pay attention to mood, timing, and how you offer.

All those castle-based dungeons that have had magical traps or tricks? It would be majorly cool to be the group hired on to set those up for somebody else.

[Blood of Gaea]

This is why no one in power will trust them to set up magic anything for them. Not even as a freebie. They don't trust the hobos in the first place.
Do they also refuse to purchase goods from traveling merchants, attend a traveling circus, or pay for a mercenaries services?

Assuming all adventurers are homeless is also odd.

[VoxRationis]

It didn't. I started the campaign when XgE came out.

Previous campaigns were also (usually) high magic to the point of almost being magitech - Spelljammer-style flying ships, Teleport Circles in every city administered by the Mage's Guild, commoners getting free curing (up to and including Raise Dead if available) because their tithes pay for it, etc., but without that particular spell (and without most major temples being a Temple of the Gods and most important nobles living in a Mighty Fortress, which is now also the case).

The thing I liked the most about XgE was the new "worldbuilding" spells that it had.

This is a little nitpicky, but temple of the gods and mighty fortress both have very strict size limitations which are actually a bit on the small side for use by someone who's really important. Mighty fortress is great for setting up a secure base in some out-of-the way location that's difficult to build in, or quickly securing some area which heretofore had not been worth fortifying, but its walls are too narrow to be good against normal siege equipment (or even to put guards on) and the central keep is of the same height as the corner towers, which, because of the lack of a wall walk, will be isolated from one another if the enclosure is broken into. It's a pretty mediocre castle for permanent residence; its primary benefit is that you can make it anywhere with essentially no prep time.

Edit: On topic, one of my favorites is alarm, and dream or sending. Then again, the game I'm currently in is one in which communication across long distances is an important and vital resource.

[NinaWu]

If it hasn't been said already, I think contingency is really helpful as lasts 10 days and both spell slots expended at casting

[Blacky the Blackball]

This is a little nitpicky, but temple of the gods and mighty fortress both have very strict size limitations which are actually a bit on the small side for use by someone who's really important. Mighty fortress is great for setting up a secure base in some out-of-the way location that's difficult to build in, or quickly securing some area which heretofore had not been worth fortifying, but its walls are too narrow to be good against normal siege equipment (or even to put guards on) and the central keep is of the same height as the corner towers, which, because of the lack of a wall walk, will be isolated from one another if the enclosure is broken into. It's a pretty mediocre castle for permanent residence; its primary benefit is that you can make it anywhere with essentially no prep time.

It's not the defensive qualities of Mighty Fortress that make it attractive to a noble. It's the prestige of having one and the "quality of life" bonus of having a free nine course banquet for 100 people every day and a hundred Unseen Servants at your beck and call.

Having said that, it's not too bad defensively either. A Mighty Fortress is good enough to keep out disorganised rabble or most unintelligent monsters, and in a high magic world medieval-style siege warfare isn't really a thing. Spell casters, fantastic creatures, and strike teams with almost-superhuman fighting prowess put paid to that in the same way that cannons put paid to it in the real world.

[JackPhoenix]

Do they also refuse to purchase goods from traveling merchants, attend a traveling circus, or pay for a mercenaries services?

Assuming all adventurers are homeless is also odd.

There's a difference between buying potentially shoddy or stolen goods and letting a hobo set up a magical landmine you have no control over, or even an idea what it really does, anywhere near you.

They wouldn't let random mercenaries guard their bedroom either.

[Tanarii]

Assuming all adventurers are homeless is also odd.
Agreed, but that was the assumption that was given.

From what I've seen. it's also the assumption of the 5e campaign paths published so far.

I've certainly run plenty campaigns, including my current 5e open table campaign, that assumes the PCs have a home base of operations village/town/city they invest their filthy lucre back into. And had plenty of others where the PCs set down roots themselves.