Quote:
Originally Posted by DAT
With a few years of training, the number of metal smiths would increase, but you still end up with the question of who will buy the metal goods all these smiths are making.
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Everyone.
Metal weapons and armor make better armies. Metal plows allow you to grow more crops. Metal structures allow you to build bigger. Metal rails allow you to build railroads. Metal pipes make potable water easier to transport. Metal jewelery just looks shiny.
There's no shortage of uses, just look at the world around us which has abundant supplies of metals.
The problem with the meme in GURPS is that the Earth to Stone/Metal spell has no serious limitations built into it. It's cheap, creates large quantities, and is relatively permanent (yeah, it can be dispelled, but regular metal can be turned into air so if there's a large supply of mages dispelling mage-metal they're probably also dispelling regular metal). That's a bad mix for the world breaking factor. A spell that either cost hundreds of FP, lasted only a few hours, or could only create an ounce of metal wouldn't be nearly so bad.