Cantrips Are Your Friend

     It goes without saying that if magic actually existed it would be a very different world. But I don't think I ever considered how drastically things would change. This week I was working on a D&D adventure and I was picking spells out for some NPCs. Now, usually I don't bother when it comes down to the lowest-level spells (which are considered 0-level, otherwise known as "cantrips" or "orisons"), because the effects are so minor that it shouldn't matter. For some reason, though, this week I decided to actually pick some out, and it got me thinking. Even if the only magic one could do were measly cantrips, it would be world-shakingly significant. Consider:

     Cure Minor Wounds: Probably the most obvious use of magic would be healing. Cure minors are the emergency stabilization patch of the D&D world; sure, it only does 1 hp, but according to the rules, any amount of magical healing automatically stops someone from bleeding out. So no more dramatic ambulance rides to the ER. EMTs would just be 1st-level clerics who drive up, poke a guy with a cure minor, then stop off for lunch on the way to the hospital (or temple, more likely).

     Detect Poison: Like cure minor wounds, this could revolutionize the medical field by making it simple to find out what is wrong with somebody. I guess we’d still need House to diagnose disease, but this would certainly make Poison Control’s job a lot easier.

     Create Water: You get a minimum of 2 gallons of water per casting. It almost seems cruel that this spell doesn’t exist, what with all the parts of the world where drought and clean drinking water are an issue. Even assuming you’re the worst caster ever, you could still do this several times a day. Considering a normal person needs less than a gallon of water a day to live (according to the Mayo Clinic), you could do the world a whole lot of good with this cantrip.

     Mage Hand: A very limited telekinesis that lets you move 5 pounds from 25 feet away (or more). While it's not fine-tuned enough to manipulate your iPhone or a gun, 5 lbs is still an unexpectedly large amount. Of course, I imagine that this magic power would be used more to annoy people (imagine playing keep away when the object in question is floating 20 feet over your head) and to facilitate us lazy fatties (no more bothersome getting off the couch to get a candy bar or a bottle to pee in).

     Mending: Mostly I put this in here for all those crafters and sewers out there. Because really, how much easier would costume-making be if you could just fix your mistake with a simple word?