[pclmulqdq]

This sort of thing only works with relatively inexperienced PCs, who don't realize that 1000 GP can hire all of a typical town for a few weeks to do almost anything, no questions asked. That quantity of hirelings is a relatively effective replacement to magic items. All you have to do afterward is turn combat problems into non-combat problems, which is relatively easy if you can think outside the box.

Need to clear a dungeon? Divert the nearest river to flood it and then use some other means (magical) to clear out the water.

Need to cross a bridge guarded by trolls? The new bridge you build won't be guarded by anyone.

[pavel_lishin]

I like that both of your suggestions include spending money and time.

You can flood a dungeon or build a new bridge, but both will take at minimum weeks, if not months.

If the King's daughter was kidnapped by those who live in the dungeon, or if the outcome of a battle hinges on you being able to cross that bridge over a chasm, they're not going to be happy when you come to them with a three-year plan for civic improvements.

[pclmulqdq]

Just use a little bit of magic or a different solution if you want things to go faster. I trust a set of clever players to be able to come up with something to totally fuck up the DM's plans.

Also note that Caesar's crossing of the Rhine (a notoriously tough river to bridge) took 10 days, and several similarly amazing feats of quick river diversion have occurred in Chinese history. All without magic. If you don't care whether your works are permanent, the work can be done very quickly.

[com2kid]

> Need to clear a dungeon? Divert the nearest river to flood it and then use some other means (magical) to clear out the water.

In a future setting (Eclipse Phase), the party was sent out to investigate rumors of a downed spaceship.

We bought a rover, bought a wagon to go behind the rover. Filled it up with the setting's equivalent of C4. The GM tried to stop us on route, we planned very far and ended up hauling the trailer by hand (the rover got destroyed by a landmine, we specified a 10m rope between the rover and the wagon full of explosives just for such an occasion, the GM had forgotten about that, we didn't, we wrote it down).

We kept lobbing explosives into the ship (low G) until bits of alien started flying out. The GM looked... a bit sad.

High lethality games encourage creative problem solving.

[mcv]

Best story I've heard about clearing a dungeon was a group that drove a flock of sheep into the dungeon. Later, while exploring the dungeon, they'd find tons of traps with dead sheep in them.