Economics: Fabricate

One of the more interesting spells in terms of economics is Fabricate.

Level:	Sor/Wiz 5
Components:	V, S, M
Casting Time:	See text
Range:	Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target:	Up to 10 cu. ft./level; see text
Duration:	Instantaneous
Saving Throw:	None
Spell Resistance:	No

You convert material of one sort into a product that is of the same material. Creatures or magic items cannot be created or transmuted by the fabricate spell. The quality of items made by this spell is commensurate with the quality of material used as the basis for the new fabrication. If you work with a mineral, the target is reduced to 1 cubic foot per level instead of 10 cubic feet.

You must make an appropriate Craft check to fabricate articles requiring a high degree of craftsmanship.

Casting requires 1 round per 10 cubic feet (or 1 cubic foot) of material to be affected by the spell.

So say your PCs are travelling along and come to an ocean. The 9th level wizard rests for the day, memorizes Fabricate and then turns 90 cubic feet of wood into a boat. Your PCs can then keep going.

But what about the theoretical 9th wizard who stays home. He can use this spell to construct large ships in a couple days. Maybe he stops by the shepherds every year to cast this spell to generate 90 cubic feet of clothing for the village. Maybe he is actually 11th level and can cast Wall of Iron. This gives him enough raw materials to quickly zap up arms and armor. Or maybe the local castle needs siege engines zapped up immediately.

So if you have a 9th level wizard they can do the work of hundreds of skilled craftsmen and be one person factories. So if you had a society with a handful of these wizards the nature of society would be greatly changed. Typically cities are places of manufacturing and trade, but manufacturing does not require large numbers of people anymore so wouldn't this affect cities. People would shift from being tradesmen to being responsible for producing raw materials...