D&D spells are overpowered

Some guy with Prestigidation and Mending (both cantrips that can be cast pretty much whenever) could not only clean their home in minutes and prevent the usual filth and disease from medieval life, but also repair anything with no menial labor, meaning nothing would ever get worn out. And since humans can get a bonus feat, and the Magic Initiate feat grants two cantrips, there's no reason why every human shouldn't just have these spells and improve quality of life dramatically. Not only that, but hire a bunch of people who can cast Sending and suddenly you have long distance communication (hell, depending on how you houserule it, a line of tall towers and guys with Dancing Lights could do a similar thing for less magic cost). Make enough teleportation circles and you have long-distance transportation instantly. Why is every D&D campaign world not super high-magic? I hate "low-magic" settings because logically, with magic as powerful as this, it would quickly spark an industrial revolution-scale magic item boom, people's lives would drastically improve, and there would be no way to get rid of it without causing a societal collapse. All you need is one Chaotic Good wizard communist who settles down and builds cheap magic items to give to peasants and you've transformed the world forever. And that's just fifth edition! Those 3.5 bastards get like 5 9th-level spell slots a day? That's insane!

FuzeBar · 26-30, M

Bring this up to your DM. If you are the DM, check this out: Maybe you could do a campaign that includes that revolution and ends up in an Eberron-type setting? Sounds like a good business opportunity for PCs (though the PHB (or the DMG?) warns against making rulings that would negate the heroes' need to adventure. Also, even the most communal of wizards spending all their time using cantrips to help the people would only be able to cover a certain amount of ground. Maybe there's a CG wizard's guild dedicated to helping the commonfolk but they're opposed by a cabal of elitist spellcasters who resent the guild using their powers for free. Or maybe they just despise the selflessness itself (Evil and Good are palpable forces in RAW and most of the default lore). In 5e there's no such thing as a cheap magic item so that part might be more tricky. It could definitely be a thing in 3.5 tho haha.

Also, remember that hero PCs are supposed to be above average (the median Commoner has a stat array of 10's) and the average person wouldn't have the innate magical ability, the willingness and desire for power to strike a pact with a powerful patron, or the raw intellect and dedication it takes to become even a first level wizard 🧙‍♂️🧙‍♀️

As for 9th-level spells, you can use the idea that these spells have been around for a long time and the world has presumably been shaped by them (particularly the Wish spell). Maybe the monsters in the world and lack of technology is the result of a Wish spell (or several) gone wrong in long-forgotten history. Or, maybe a spellcaster has never reached that high of a level in the world and your PCs have broken new ground in manipulating the Weave.

You make good points, all of which are great jumping-off points to weave a super-interesting story! The homebrew opportunities are endless and if you're not running, bring it up with your DM. They'd probably love the opportunity to bring another layer of verisimilitude to their campaign 😎😎

EnjoyTheFeast · 22-25, F

Well, if you get to look, so do I! *Runs past you, snatching your robes away in the process*

expomasseur · 36-40, M

Any low-magic campaign should be the result of a Wish gone bad. I'm running a campaign where the dictator hates magic and made it a crime, but he can't possibly manage to enforce it. So it devolved into a "don't get caught doing it" law.