Everyday Arcana: Trade Magic

A crew of builders are hard at work on a bridge that is lighter, longer, and stronger than what could be built with available mundane techniques. As they work, a trade magician sits cross-legged atop a half-finished truss, dozens of crystals and ingots of metal slowly orbiting their body. Deep in a trance, they stitch together metal and stone, complementing the efforts of the builders at work on the structure, creating something that couldn't be done without magic.

An isolated hut just outside the village is surrounded by concentric gardens filled with exotic herbs and strange plants. Within, the trade magician crafts potions and charms. She is not a wizard or cleric, but rather part apothecary, part pharmacist, part herbalist; a trade magician.

An enormous galleon sails the open seas, too far from land to navigate by dead reckoning. In the ship's hull, in a spherical room crafted from specially grown coral, a trade magician keeps the ship on course, monitors the stability of the hull, anticipates storms, and wards the ship against fire and explosion.

Ordinary people in a medium- or high-magic world do not not use magic to delve dungeons or fight dragons. They use it to do Normal Human Stuff: build things, create art, grow food, and raise healthy families. Few of the spells in the Player's Handbook (what ordinary people might call strange magic or high magic) do these things; or if they do, they do them indirectly, inefficiently, or in a way that is bound to attract unwanted attention.

Ordinary people are more familiar with trade magic. It is slow, predictable, limited in power, and useful for everyday purposes. All trade magic is ritual magic, with casting times typically ranging from an hour to the better part of a day, depending on the complexity of the task. They may require significant material components, or the cooperation of several trade magicians. Few high magic spellcasters (i.e., PCs or NPCs with class levels) cast any trade magic, or vice versa.

There is no particular limit to the scope of trade magic, but it runs broadly parallel to the real-world advances in science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, and other fields from the beginning of the renaissance to just before the industrial revolution. It is useful in civilized places, but mostly useless in the wilderness or in the dungeon.

Culturally, trade magic has moderately high social standing, and if low or middle class families have children with a knack for magic, they maneuver to place them in the most prestigious programs. High magic, by contrast, is seen as suspicious at best and criminal at worst, depending on local laws and customs.