Buying Magical Items

[Scott]

This is apparently more common than I would have guessed. Other than minor spell scrolls of the protection or healing type, and minor potions. I usually have alchemists selling healing type stuff, but if the party gives them a potion, they can try to duplicate it. I've never had magic available for purchase in my campaign. But as I've read more campaign journals and watched game streams, I see PCs buying pretty potent stuff. How do you handle it?

[geneweigel]

Even though I retain DM scrutiny, in underlying principle, around "Archmage" level (18th), or as I call it king level, you can get anything not unique for double book price with no insurance of delivery as long as it adheres to the idea of chaotic random adventure start or continuance as a default. High level players have holy relics and forgotten artifacts as goals although generally instead of magic items it to turns to the harnessing of the support of magic beings.

[GRWelsh]

The DMG gold piece values for magic items imply there is a market. If characters can sell magic items for g.p., then it is reasonable to assume they can buy them as well -- but perhaps only a limited selection and/or at inflated prices. I like the idea of player characters being able to buy a lot of the 'utility' potions, scrolls, and magic weapons and armor (like potions of healing and extra-healing, scrolls of protection or with lower levels spells, arrows +1, dagger +1, leather armor +1, etc.), but with the more powerful and distinctive magic items usually only acquired in the course of adventuring. Something seems wrong about a staff of wizardry with a price tag attached to it, sitting in Ye Olde Magic Shoppe...

"Look! A Ring of Gaxx! And it's on clearance!"

[Scott]

The campaign vibe I try to set, outside of the PC experience, is magic is a very rare and coveted thing. With PCs it's different; it's a game, and the PCs getting magic is assumed in the mechanics, and it's lots of fun for the players. I will sometimes have sponsor/mentor type NPCs gift the PCs minor magic items, but if you see anything for sale in my campaign, consider it a plot hook.
There's always a market, wealthy collectors, governments, etc. but it's hoarded, or used for the Imperial Elite Guard, the Royal Vizier, etc. That's how you get the high level NPCs with squads of guards all wielding +1 swords, etc.
Ye Old Magic Shoppes are few and far between.

[grodog]

I've played both ways. When I DM, I've generally not allowed powerful magic items to be bought, although they can be traded (if you can find the right person with the item you're looking for).

In the high-level campaign that I'm playing in, we've been able to purchase powerful magic items. My PC has bought a portable hole, robe of eyes, +3 arrows, +3 arrows of slaying, a ring of shooting stars, and other stuff good stuff over the years. In fact two of our players built the PC-based utility on DF @ www.dragonsfoot.org/php4/archive.php?sectioninit=FE&fileid=254&watchfile=0 (which lists out random options and adjusted costs for all magic items from the DMG and UA).

I think that making magic items available to purchase tends to over-inflate higher-level PCs moreso than low-level ones, but either way it does cheapen the value of a suit of +2 chainmail That doesn't mean that we're not running scared sometimes, either---our DM does a good job of instilling fear into the players!

Allan.

[geneweigel]

The only magic commerce involving trade at mid-level will be for the open-minded, affable and not greedy types. Its not going to happen with ultra-aligned classes or collector type players.

Fighters will easily bandy battle-oriented magic items the more neutral and helpful they however a paladin will get nothing but what their church provides hierarchically.

Thieves will not give another thief anything ala "no honor..."etc. so its black market prices (5x, etc.)for everything.

Clerics the more open-minded the church the more they will be trading magic however if they play their faith as exclusive and converting then they get whatever they can from temple only.

Magic-users tend to be locked into anti-social behavior as a default and as much they want to be "Gandalf" it rarely happens and they end up being a "Iucounu". So its always going to be a hard found trade with no money involved.

[geneweigel]

What I said for thieves regarding 5x is actually times the "market price" so in the case of scrolls it could be 15X or 25x xp value. EXAMPLE: A scroll of 7 spells of of 35 spell levels is going is going to be 52,5000 gp.

There has to be a motivation for cleverness and strategy towards adventure or there is no adventure game. The player who hands me a ream of scrolls manufactured in the down time is going to get an explanation about adventuring being the priority.

[Scott]

I like it when spell casters write scrolls, as long as they don't try to derail the game with it. It's one of the perks after eating crow for so long as a low level spell caster. Brewing potions too.
It's expensive, time consuming, and I use the rules for success/failure.

[Scott]

My cousin's magic-user is 13th level. He wants a castle, but he's landless and broke because he writes so many scrolls between adventures. That and he spends a lot on raise dead spells for his henchmen.
He's out of state, so we play online. It's just him and his henchmen. He'd probably be better off if he had other PCs in his party. We just talked about him trying to adventure with our face to face group via Skype or FaceTime. We'll see if his fortunes change.

[geneweigel]

Yeah, don't get me wrong I'm all for magic creation: spells and items but scrolls sometimes get out of hand because its mostly DM free once they've done a few.