Comments on Shops and Stores [Archive] - Wizards Community

Comments on Shops and Stores [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Agarash
12-28-04, 02:05 AM Hi,

i was wondering what is the best way in allowing pc's to upgrade weapons and buy equipment... in a town or city.

what is best practice??
Seeker95
12-28-04, 09:59 AM Definitely in a city. A town is probably too small to support the price levels that most upgrades would require.
CzarGarrett
12-28-04, 10:18 AM Or a town that some recluse wizard has taken up residence in. But only for a hefty price.

Cities are the better bet.
The Undertaker
12-28-04, 02:15 PM City, or internet. Be sure to tell your players about credit card fraud!
Agarash
12-30-04, 06:52 AM thanks, and how about the invenories for each shop? do you generate that before-hand?

sorry for the noob questions, but im just starting out as a DM.

thanks
e-z0r
12-30-04, 06:54 AM I'd make an inventory beforehand. And maybe one place in a city has someone who can custom-make items, or enchant masterwork items.
Rancorpit
12-30-04, 06:58 AM And if someone in your party has magical item creation feats, I would avoid putting magic item shops all around. At least it ****** me off when I spent all my wizard's precious feats on item creation and still all my mates bought every item from a generic shop because they didn't want to wait for me to craft the item/get enough XP to be able to craft it.
CzarGarrett
01-01-05, 09:19 PM thanks, and how about the invenories for each shop? do you generate that before-hand?

I often just put a gp limit.

Like you could go into an apocthery and get any potion less than 65 gp/dosage or the local wizard can sell you any of the wonderous items less than 500 gp.

The more expensive, and thus powerful stuff, I usually require to be commissioned by the players.
Yak of Darkness
01-02-05, 03:09 AM GP limit is a good way to go (especially in a magical metropolis, where you'd go insane trying to make inventory lists for every shop), but it's okay to have certain exceptions for either chance or items you'd love/hate your players to have.

In Mordon, the largest city IMC, my PCs know that they can get (with enough searching) almost anything at 10,000gp or under in stock, with few exceptions handled on a case by case basis. Anything over that will have a chance (usually a die roll I secretly make, DC set based on cost/likely availability) to be available, but this will sometimes lead to seedier, under-the-table dealings.

Anything else (or any upgrades to current weapons/armor/items) have to be commissioned and waited for, which is why everyone has a backup weapon and the party has a non-magical suit of elven chain as community property. You've got to use something to kill demons with when the elvish smiths are keen-ing your sword.
Telperion
01-02-05, 05:36 AM Magic shops? * shakes his head *

You can get some cantrips, 1st and 2nd level spells from an enterprising wizard, but even they aren't interested in spilling their secrets all over the world. That's the reason for the spell level cap.

Potions, miracle cures, herbal treatments and charms (most of which are fake) can be bought from nearly any street corner, although if you want the real stuff you probably have to look around for a while.

A temple is likely to provide some healing and potions, although those will be more or less expensive depending on who the buyer worships and how devouted they are. Some religions / people are probably outright banned from shopp...ahem...donating to a particular church or religion.

And what about the rest of the stuff? That's what adventuring is for. You want a + 3 Defending Icyburst Greatsword? Go rob someone's tomb, and try not to get caught. Better yet: join a religious order and hope they supply you with good tools when they send you out on a Quest. And if you are really down on your luck you can always become some wizard's pet and hope he feels like giving you the proper tools to do the work he forces you to do.

Being an adventurer doesn't automatically mean you are equipped with the latest, most power and advanced magical armament there is.

Bottom line: no one is really crazy enough to sell you a real magical item that isn't one-time-only, because they have invested a great deal of their resources, study, time and personal life-energy (also called XP) into creating the item in the first place. There's always someone around who is willing to trade their old magical items for whatever you have, but gold is just not worth that much when it comes down to magical items. O' and you better have someone check the items and make sure it is actually magical. After that you might also want to check if the item is cursed, although that can be somewhat more trickier as I recall :devil:.

So, there: my opinion on the whole Magic Shops business. It's great business for those who can hoax you into buying their last night's chamber pot and making you believe it actually does something else besides stinking to high heaven and looking ugly.
Draco Strang
01-02-05, 11:31 PM I've no problem with heroes getting weapons enchanted with anything that is +1 equivalent. Provided, there has to be a wizard for things like flaming, frost, etc. But...I view things like +1 enhancement, keen, defending as stuff that an exceptional smith could take care of via balancing the weapon, grinding an exceptionally sharp edge, etc, etc. For higher end enchantments, or anything over a few hundred gold, ya gotta talk to a wizard or go to a really big city that doesn't have a ban on magic.

For truly awesome items, I like to make my players earn them by either questing or forking over copious amounts of gold and doing a favor for the person who has the item.
MrkGrismer
01-04-05, 09:53 AM I generally let my players buy what they want as long as where they are has the GP cap high enough for them to get it (per the DMG). Sometimes I also have a place where there is not cap (a 'magic bazaar') where the players can get just about anything they want, as long as they have the cash. At book prices, and the PC can sell what they have for half (again, per the books).

But right now I am running kind of a higher-powered game. Middle of a big war and all that stuff, so most of the time the group is facing death, followed by more death...

... then maybe a break, followed by more death... :D
was_fired
01-04-05, 10:39 AM The only thing close to magic weapon shops in my campaign are the temples of the efreet. The efreeti empire has a massive infastructure built up in order to supply their soldiers with magical equipment so for economic, security, and political reasons they started to sell magical items to creatures on the material plane. Dubbed conquest through economics it has proven fairly effective as the efreet now have a temple in every major city on the plane. The system is rather effective: They will commission virtually any magical item so adventurers start going to them more and more. Based on the size of the purchases the empire can judge how powerful these adventurers are. So you they end up with an army of powerful, well equiped guys out there with a vested interest in keeping the efreeti empire (see source of magical items) safe. In the mean time the empire raking in money from this which can be used to finance their expansion onto other planes. If they ever run into serious opposition they can enlist the aid of some of their clients who will likely do it as a favor and for a discount.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Agarash 12-28-04, 02:05 AM	Hi, i was wondering what is the best way in allowing pc's to upgrade weapons and buy equipment... in a town or city. what is best practice??
Seeker95 12-28-04, 09:59 AM	Definitely in a city. A town is probably too small to support the price levels that most upgrades would require.
CzarGarrett 12-28-04, 10:18 AM	Or a town that some recluse wizard has taken up residence in. But only for a hefty price. Cities are the better bet.
The Undertaker 12-28-04, 02:15 PM	City, or internet. Be sure to tell your players about credit card fraud!
Agarash 12-30-04, 06:52 AM	thanks, and how about the invenories for each shop? do you generate that before-hand? sorry for the noob questions, but im just starting out as a DM. thanks
e-z0r 12-30-04, 06:54 AM	I'd make an inventory beforehand. And maybe one place in a city has someone who can custom-make items, or enchant masterwork items.
Rancorpit 12-30-04, 06:58 AM	And if someone in your party has magical item creation feats, I would avoid putting magic item shops all around. At least it ****** me off when I spent all my wizard's precious feats on item creation and still all my mates bought every item from a generic shop because they didn't want to wait for me to craft the item/get enough XP to be able to craft it.
CzarGarrett 01-01-05, 09:19 PM	thanks, and how about the invenories for each shop? do you generate that before-hand? I often just put a gp limit. Like you could go into an apocthery and get any potion less than 65 gp/dosage or the local wizard can sell you any of the wonderous items less than 500 gp. The more expensive, and thus powerful stuff, I usually require to be commissioned by the players.
Yak of Darkness 01-02-05, 03:09 AM	GP limit is a good way to go (especially in a magical metropolis, where you'd go insane trying to make inventory lists for every shop), but it's okay to have certain exceptions for either chance or items you'd love/hate your players to have. In Mordon, the largest city IMC, my PCs know that they can get (with enough searching) almost anything at 10,000gp or under in stock, with few exceptions handled on a case by case basis. Anything over that will have a chance (usually a die roll I secretly make, DC set based on cost/likely availability) to be available, but this will sometimes lead to seedier, under-the-table dealings. Anything else (or any upgrades to current weapons/armor/items) have to be commissioned and waited for, which is why everyone has a backup weapon and the party has a non-magical suit of elven chain as community property. You've got to use something to kill demons with when the elvish smiths are keen-ing your sword.
Telperion 01-02-05, 05:36 AM	Magic shops? * shakes his head * You can get some cantrips, 1st and 2nd level spells from an enterprising wizard, but even they aren't interested in spilling their secrets all over the world. That's the reason for the spell level cap. Potions, miracle cures, herbal treatments and charms (most of which are fake) can be bought from nearly any street corner, although if you want the real stuff you probably have to look around for a while. A temple is likely to provide some healing and potions, although those will be more or less expensive depending on who the buyer worships and how devouted they are. Some religions / people are probably outright banned from shopp...ahem...donating to a particular church or religion. And what about the rest of the stuff? That's what adventuring is for. You want a + 3 Defending Icyburst Greatsword? Go rob someone's tomb, and try not to get caught. Better yet: join a religious order and hope they supply you with good tools when they send you out on a Quest. And if you are really down on your luck you can always become some wizard's pet and hope he feels like giving you the proper tools to do the work he forces you to do. Being an adventurer doesn't automatically mean you are equipped with the latest, most power and advanced magical armament there is. Bottom line: no one is really crazy enough to sell you a real magical item that isn't one-time-only, because they have invested a great deal of their resources, study, time and personal life-energy (also called XP) into creating the item in the first place. There's always someone around who is willing to trade their old magical items for whatever you have, but gold is just not worth that much when it comes down to magical items. O' and you better have someone check the items and make sure it is actually magical. After that you might also want to check if the item is cursed, although that can be somewhat more trickier as I recall :devil:. So, there: my opinion on the whole Magic Shops business. It's great business for those who can hoax you into buying their last night's chamber pot and making you believe it actually does something else besides stinking to high heaven and looking ugly.
Draco Strang 01-02-05, 11:31 PM	I've no problem with heroes getting weapons enchanted with anything that is +1 equivalent. Provided, there has to be a wizard for things like flaming, frost, etc. But...I view things like +1 enhancement, keen, defending as stuff that an exceptional smith could take care of via balancing the weapon, grinding an exceptionally sharp edge, etc, etc. For higher end enchantments, or anything over a few hundred gold, ya gotta talk to a wizard or go to a really big city that doesn't have a ban on magic. For truly awesome items, I like to make my players earn them by either questing or forking over copious amounts of gold and doing a favor for the person who has the item.
MrkGrismer 01-04-05, 09:53 AM	I generally let my players buy what they want as long as where they are has the GP cap high enough for them to get it (per the DMG). Sometimes I also have a place where there is not cap (a 'magic bazaar') where the players can get just about anything they want, as long as they have the cash. At book prices, and the PC can sell what they have for half (again, per the books). But right now I am running kind of a higher-powered game. Middle of a big war and all that stuff, so most of the time the group is facing death, followed by more death... ... then maybe a break, followed by more death... :D
was_fired 01-04-05, 10:39 AM	The only thing close to magic weapon shops in my campaign are the temples of the efreet. The efreeti empire has a massive infastructure built up in order to supply their soldiers with magical equipment so for economic, security, and political reasons they started to sell magical items to creatures on the material plane. Dubbed conquest through economics it has proven fairly effective as the efreet now have a temple in every major city on the plane. The system is rather effective: They will commission virtually any magical item so adventurers start going to them more and more. Based on the size of the purchases the empire can judge how powerful these adventurers are. So you they end up with an army of powerful, well equiped guys out there with a vested interest in keeping the efreeti empire (see source of magical items) safe. In the mean time the empire raking in money from this which can be used to finance their expansion onto other planes. If they ever run into serious opposition they can enlist the aid of some of their clients who will likely do it as a favor and for a discount.