magical item market [Archive] - Wizards Community

magical item market [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
konad
10-06-06, 05:25 PM sup all

i need some advice on devising a magical item market. for the most part my group simply states, you have the money you buy it no questions asked. personnally i have a real problem with how unrealistic this is in my mind. so when i run my campaign im going to change it.

basically in my opinion there should be a magic item market obviously, any wizard with the capabilities to make them is going to learn real fast that they can make a really good living selling magic items. however just because a pc wants a long sword +1 doesnt mean that they are going to find a magic shop with one just laying around, these items are somewhat in demand. additionally there is always the possibility of finding a guy in the bar who is willing to buy your item for more then what a standard dealer would pay you.

i need a lot of fine tuning but here is the general parameters that i have figured out so far.

you have a flat 10% chance of finding a given magic item for sale assuming the town is big enough. 15% chance if there is an organization present that deals specifically in the trade of magical items (red wizards of thay). you have a 40% chance of finding a magic item within an organization that you belong too. you have a 25% chance of finding a wizard who is willing to make the item but you have to wait, im thinking anywhere between 2 and 4 weeks. 65% chance to find a wizard in your organization who is willing to make the item. if you want a rush job on the item you will pay 1.5 market price.

i also need a system to deal with selling magic items. i realize a shop is going to be interested in buying almost any items but at the same time if they have 5 +1 longswords they need to liquidate some before they can buy more. im thinking a percent chance that a store will buy an item like 50%. if they wont then a pc can sell their magic item to anybody by spending 1d4 days looking for a buyer they have a 25% chance to find someone. when this is done they can sell the item for 3/4 market price as opposed to half. these values will go up 15-25% for looking within your organization.

im setting it up this way because my group tends to be quick between adventures. during one campaign i was lucky to get a full week in-between adventures for my wizard to learn new spells.

any suggestions?
Killion
10-06-06, 05:31 PM As soon as your characters get Plane Shift or find a portal, they can easily go to a magic market in the planes that far surpasses anything on the Prime.

Imagine going shopping in Sigil or the City of Brass. That could be a real culture shock, as well as a hook for innumerous adventures.
konad
10-06-06, 05:44 PM im thinking that for finding an independant buyer a 10% cumulative chance per week spent looking. max 60%
rydi123
10-09-06, 02:00 AM in my current game i made inflation an issue when shopping on other planes (add a zero to any gold cost in sigil) but made all the good stuff accessible there.

also, the only way to get maxed out gear (+6 to an attribute, +5 rings of protection, the top of the charts in epic, etc) is to make it, discover it in random treasure, or to buy it at the item shops in sigil/union/etc.
Xeviat-DM
10-09-06, 02:48 AM The DMG gives max item value based on city size. If I remember correctly, off the top of my head, a metropolise will have any item costing 100,000 gp or lower. Once your players get access to greater teleport and a decent map (or gather information/knowledge (local), they'll be able to teleport between their adventure locale and the nearest metropolise.

But there doesn't have to be an actual store. I make things believable by requiring gather information checks to locate someone who has the item. The DC is generally 20, but I'll scale it up if it makes sense (at first glance, finding powerful items should be harder, but the ones selling the items are still going to want buyers to find them). Items can also be commisioned, but this is based off the highest NPCs in the city (and generally requires the favor of organizations; the highest level wizard is surely part of a guild, and the highest level cleric is probably the leader of the local cathedral). Off the shelf items never exceed the settlement's max gp value, but commisioned items can (the NPC has to be friendly towards you to accept commisions, since they are expending XP to make it).

Try that out, it works and it doesn't unfairly penalize the party (since having good equipment is part of the character's power level).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
konad 10-06-06, 05:25 PM	sup all i need some advice on devising a magical item market. for the most part my group simply states, you have the money you buy it no questions asked. personnally i have a real problem with how unrealistic this is in my mind. so when i run my campaign im going to change it. basically in my opinion there should be a magic item market obviously, any wizard with the capabilities to make them is going to learn real fast that they can make a really good living selling magic items. however just because a pc wants a long sword +1 doesnt mean that they are going to find a magic shop with one just laying around, these items are somewhat in demand. additionally there is always the possibility of finding a guy in the bar who is willing to buy your item for more then what a standard dealer would pay you. i need a lot of fine tuning but here is the general parameters that i have figured out so far. you have a flat 10% chance of finding a given magic item for sale assuming the town is big enough. 15% chance if there is an organization present that deals specifically in the trade of magical items (red wizards of thay). you have a 40% chance of finding a magic item within an organization that you belong too. you have a 25% chance of finding a wizard who is willing to make the item but you have to wait, im thinking anywhere between 2 and 4 weeks. 65% chance to find a wizard in your organization who is willing to make the item. if you want a rush job on the item you will pay 1.5 market price. i also need a system to deal with selling magic items. i realize a shop is going to be interested in buying almost any items but at the same time if they have 5 +1 longswords they need to liquidate some before they can buy more. im thinking a percent chance that a store will buy an item like 50%. if they wont then a pc can sell their magic item to anybody by spending 1d4 days looking for a buyer they have a 25% chance to find someone. when this is done they can sell the item for 3/4 market price as opposed to half. these values will go up 15-25% for looking within your organization. im setting it up this way because my group tends to be quick between adventures. during one campaign i was lucky to get a full week in-between adventures for my wizard to learn new spells. any suggestions?
Killion 10-06-06, 05:31 PM	As soon as your characters get Plane Shift or find a portal, they can easily go to a magic market in the planes that far surpasses anything on the Prime. Imagine going shopping in Sigil or the City of Brass. That could be a real culture shock, as well as a hook for innumerous adventures.
konad 10-06-06, 05:44 PM	im thinking that for finding an independant buyer a 10% cumulative chance per week spent looking. max 60%
rydi123 10-09-06, 02:00 AM	in my current game i made inflation an issue when shopping on other planes (add a zero to any gold cost in sigil) but made all the good stuff accessible there. also, the only way to get maxed out gear (+6 to an attribute, +5 rings of protection, the top of the charts in epic, etc) is to make it, discover it in random treasure, or to buy it at the item shops in sigil/union/etc.
Xeviat-DM 10-09-06, 02:48 AM	The DMG gives max item value based on city size. If I remember correctly, off the top of my head, a metropolise will have any item costing 100,000 gp or lower. Once your players get access to greater teleport and a decent map (or gather information/knowledge (local), they'll be able to teleport between their adventure locale and the nearest metropolise. But there doesn't have to be an actual store. I make things believable by requiring gather information checks to locate someone who has the item. The DC is generally 20, but I'll scale it up if it makes sense (at first glance, finding powerful items should be harder, but the ones selling the items are still going to want buyers to find them). Items can also be commisioned, but this is based off the highest NPCs in the city (and generally requires the favor of organizations; the highest level wizard is surely part of a guild, and the highest level cleric is probably the leader of the local cathedral). Off the shelf items never exceed the settlement's max gp value, but commisioned items can (the NPC has to be friendly towards you to accept commisions, since they are expending XP to make it). Try that out, it works and it doesn't unfairly penalize the party (since having good equipment is part of the character's power level).