Magics Price

[Lameth]

I was wondering if there is a pricing for the cost of a single spell? I am aware of the costs in DF, but i find them a little too simple, such as 2 spells for 300$. Has anyone come up with a pricing if a PC wanted and was able to buy a simple cantrip from a guild, compared to IF they were able to buy a spell like Fireball from one? I know this is depending on many factors in the game world and in role playing, but i was wondering if anyone has a foundation for it?

thank you

[mlangsdorf]

The opportunity cost of not paying a wizard to cast the basic version of Continual Light is spending $7 on candles for a week's worth of equivalent light.

Therefore, (under the standard GURPS magic system) even the weakest wizard can make around $15-20/hour by casting Continual Light spells. Which further implies you need to pay him more than $15-20 an hour to cast any other spell.

If you're looking for pricing spells for something more rational than DF, you could approximate the cost of a spell as the time of the wizard casting it (more than $15-20 an hour, see above, including time to recover FP) plus the cost of any consumable supplies plus the pro-rated cost of any capital equipment (such as powerstones) necessary to cast the spell.

Under the standard magic system, either spell casting for hire is fairly cheap, or wizards need to make much, much more than Average wealth.

More details at the link http://noschoolgrognard.blogspot.com...ch-should.html

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

The opportunity cost of not paying a wizard to cast the basic version of Continual Light is spending $7 on candles for a week's worth of equivalent light.

Assuming you want always-on candles, sure. If you don't use lights during the day and sleep eight hours a night, you need $1-$1.5 per week.

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

Therefore, (under the standard GURPS magic system) even the weakest wizard can make around $15-20/hour by casting Continual Light spells.

Or, alternately, candle makers find themselves relegated to niche markets or completely out of business.

[Dwarf99]

Originally Posted by Lameth

I am aware of the costs in DF, but i find them a little too simple, such as 2 spells for 300$.

Where is this? I haven't seen it.

[mlangsdorf]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Assuming you want always-on candles, sure. If you don't use lights during the day and sleep eight hours a night, you need $1-$1.5 per week.

It's a thought experiment to provide a lower bounds for what a wizard can earn: if there is nothing else they can do, they can always make at least some money by providing light. And there are places like interior rooms or caves or dungeons that might need constant light.

Originally Posted by Anthony

Or, alternately, candle makers find themselves relegated to niche markets or completely out of business.

Only to the extent that wizards are cheaper than candles, which is roughly $1-$6/week, depending on how candles are burnt as you note above. If a wizard requires less than $1 to cast an easy to learn, low fatigue spell like Continual Light, then candle making is a niche market. If he requires more than $10, there definitely are candle makers.

The actual price of spell casting is pretty much game world dependent, and just about anything can be justified. If you want a low-tech world with candlemakers, wizards earn more than $15/hour. I honestly think it should be much, much more but then even average wizards are Very Wealthy to Filthy Rich in GURPS terms - and while I think that is perfectly reasonable assumption, it goes against a lot of GURPS worldbooks and lore.