Fields of Magic Items

[Milo v3]

I'm currently trying to think up potential magical items that could be created for my setting, and I'm trying to cover more mundane fields rather than just magically stabbing people so I've made a list of fields I'm trying to fill.

So far I've got:

• Agriculture
• Architecture
• Art
• Communication
• Cleaning
• Clothing
• Comfort
• Crafting
• Energy
• Entertainment
• Food
• Information
• Labour
• Maintenance
• Medical
• Military
• Mining
• Punishment
• Research
• Shelter
• Survival
• Transport

What other fields would people attempt to enhance with magic items?

[Kitten Champion]

Hmm...

Well, what about Information gathering -- like divination? And storing information, like a book that carries a whole library inside it.

There's also labour, making work easier for people or replacing them with magical constructs.

[Rondodu]

If you’re going with mundane, I’d recommend cleaning, crafting, cooking, agriculture (both of which could be covered by “food”, but it’s unclear). Think ”if it’s hard, time consuming or bothering, it’s worth improving with magic.”

[Heartspan]

You should also have a category called "weird", because sometimes, things are made that just don't make sense.

or accidents, like a chamber pot that teleports after you use it, leaving the stuff behind.

[Anonymouswizard]

Think about where humans adapted technology. There would likely be a lot more of the high level stuff (railways/airships, manufacturing, etc.) than the low level stuff (phones for everyone, cars, blenders), at least at first, and the magic system might make some inventions impossible.

For specific areas, data management. Especially because the mages who are making the stuff would care about it ("Where is my automatic hoe? I have three fields waiting!" "I'm sorry Mr Farmer, but the calculations will go quicker once I've finished the automatic abacus and book of recording." "Just get a computer!" "I think these will make computers an obsolete profession.") Just think about how many more projects become feasible if you have a good way of gathering, storing, and operating on data.

[GorinichSerpant]

I think the "weird" category Heartspan mentioned should be called "Becouse I can". But how these category are refereed to would probably be just personal preference.

[Anonymouswizard]

I think the "weird" category Heartspan mentioned should be called "Becouse I can". But how these category are refereed to would probably be just personal preference.

Because really, this is why all development is done. The other reasons are just to convince investors.

[Storm_Of_Snow]

Hmm...

Well, what about Information gathering -- like divination? And storing information, like a book that carries a whole library inside it.

What about straight forward research and discovery? Some mage interested in the stars and related fields might make a device to automatically map the heavens for himself, or a magical telescope to see finer detail than the lenses that can be produced allow and/or see things in the non-visible parts of the spectrum.

There's also labour, making work easier for people or replacing them with magical constructs.

Mining could be another field - magical devices to find ore seams, detect toxic or explosive gases, automata, golems or possibly even the simpler undead (zombies and skeletons) - depending on their alignment and available resources of course - to haul spoil out of the mines, or just do all the mining work in the first place.

Two things you will need to do are decide how pervasive the magic is - is it just controlled by a few people/groups or freely available to everyone, and what effect this has had on technological research? Do they run hand in hand, or have magic items stifled technology?

In the latter case, you might wind up with an underground of technologists, trying to bring down the arcanocracy.

[Milo v3]

Akay, added the ones so far to my list.

You should also have a category called "weird", because sometimes, things are made that just don't make sense.

or accidents, like a chamber pot that teleports after you use it, leaving the stuff behind.

Probably wont detail those type of items in this project, since the project is trying to see what sorta stuff I'll be putting in average homes in the setting, and I'm not sure people would be happy buying those except as do-hickies, trinkets, and collectables.

Think about where humans adapted technology. There would likely be a lot more of the high level stuff (railways/airships, manufacturing, etc.) than the low level stuff (phones for everyone, cars, blenders), at least at first, and the magic system might make some inventions impossible.

The settings many many years into it's High Magic stage so there should be High and Low stuff everywhere, which is mainly why I'm searching for mundane stuff.

Two things you will need to do are decide how pervasive the magic is - is it just controlled by a few people/groups or freely available to everyone, and what effect this has had on technological research? Do they run hand in hand, or have magic items stifled technology?

In the latter case, you might wind up with an underground of technologists, trying to bring down the arcanocracy.

At this stage in the setting, it's everywhere. Most people can do powerful magic, even those who don't can do a small ritual to gain divine items and blessings, and if someone tried to restrict it they would just fail because of how the setting's physics functions.

As for technological research, it's store of one in the same, they have tools x and y, they try to solve a problem with those tools, then make sure it's repeatable, then use the most efficient method of solving the problem that you found regardless of it's magic or "technology" (being it's economically viable helps though). Though, at a certain stage of development magic does surpass technology, but by then it is both a technology of it's own and it is also combined with technology.

[LooseCannoneer]

There would probably be golems everywhere. Mages would probably develop a plow golem, and everyone would use it, because its stronger and faster than horses or oxen. A massive watering system could be created using pipes and an endless decanter. Probably there would be another golem for harvesting.

There are already submarines (apparatus of the crab).

Probably communication could be done with items having at-will low level spells: cheap, but useful.

[Eldan]

I'd divide food into production and conservation. Because conserving food without spoiling it was a major concern until the invention of electric refrigeration.

[Milo v3]

There would probably be golems everywhere. Mages would probably develop a plow golem, and everyone would use it, because its stronger and faster than horses or oxen. A massive watering system could be created using pipes and an endless decanter. Probably there would be another golem for harvesting.

There are already submarines (apparatus of the crab).

Probably communication could be done with items having at-will low level spells: cheap, but useful.

Golems might actually be redundant in a lot of cases because of setting details, having a minor version of the leadership feat with elemental followers as a feat with easier prerequisites to Craft Construct, I didn't consider that constructs would be generally redundant till now.... hmmm....

I'd divide food into production and conservation. Because conserving food without spoiling it was a major concern until the invention of electric refrigeration.

It was like that originally but I quickly realized that spells that produce food rarely have applications for conserving food, and vice versa, so I thought it was just taking up space.

[LooseCannoneer]

What if you had an artificer mass-produce wands of create food and water withh high caster levels? A CL 10 wand can feed 30 people for 50 days.

[Milo v3]

What if you had an artificer mass-produce wands of create food and water withh high caster levels? A CL 10 wand can feed 30 people for 50 days.

Command Use Create Food and Water Wondrous item cast feed infinite people with only CL 1. Wands just seem inefficient when doing mass production.

Edit: Still, people want real food rather than simple food with a prestigitation on it. Combining it with good berry and prestigitation or something, might make it closer to the societies standards.

[Anonymouswizard]

Command Use Create Food and Water Wondrous item cast feed infinite people with only CL 1. Wands just seem inefficient when doing mass production.

Edit: Still, people want real food rather than simple food with a prestigitation on it. Combining it with good berry and prestigitation or something, might make it closer to the societies standards.

Also turns water into wine, buy now and receive free boots of water walking.

[Kami2awa]

Comfort; consider magical air conditioning or central heating, or clothes that self-clean, self-repair, and so on.

Repairing stuff; the Mending and Make Whole spells could make life a whole lot easier for many people.

Art and fashion; magic would make new genres of art possible, such as 3-d illusionary art, moving images, and so on.

Punishment/rehabilitation; could create divination-based electronic tags for criminals, or on the darker side devices that automatically inflict punishments (or rewards...)

[Escapist]

Construction to make faster easier and better buildings.

[Milo v3]

Punishment/rehabilitation; could create divination-based electronic tags for criminals, or on the darker side devices that automatically inflict punishments (or rewards...)

Just realized how horrific this can be with the combination of a Detect Thoughts enchantment on a shock-collar device.

[Kami2awa]

Comfort; consider magical air conditioning or central heating, or clothes that self-clean, self-repair, and so on.

Another thought; almost all magical items self-size to the wearer... that would have huge advantages for clothes, especially for children who grow so fast.

[Jay R]

Items for aesthetics only.

A ring with an illusory pattern, which always matches your clothes.

Clothes that shift color and tone in different light, for maximum effect.

Perfume that smells like the closest other person's favorite smell.

The universal spice, works as garlic, salt, sugar, chocolate sauce - whatever best enhances the food it's been put on.

Mascara that creates an illusion of longer lashes.

A continual fireplace that always heats the room to exactly 72 degrees F.

A tiara that sparkles when the wearer smiles.

[LooseCannoneer]

Just realized how horrific this can be with the combination of a Detect Thoughts enchantment on a shock-collar device.

This is a great idea for a setting detail, mind if I steal it?

[LooseCannoneer]

Another thought; almost all magical items self-size to the wearer... that would have huge advantages for clothes, especially for children who grow so fast.

If you give an AC enchantment, it would be like wrapping kids in self-sizing bubble wrap. It would be rather too expensive, though. It would require either some adventurers funding the entire operation or an agricultural revolution, which can be brought about with the improved farm equipment. Build the economy, and either platinum pieces become the norm, or they move to a non-precious metal economy.

[Milo v3]

If you give an AC enchantment, it would be like wrapping kids in self-sizing bubble wrap. It would be rather too expensive, though.

Thankfully, in this setting the average level of the population is 15, so low-level magic items would be cheap as hell.