Buying Magic Items in Overlook - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Buying Magic Items in Overlook

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
carahue
Jun 15, 2009 9:50:28 According to Siege at Bordrin's Watch, the best bet for finding magic items in Overlook is at Merty’s, where the prices are 150% above the normal prices. That means that a 4th level magic item would cost 2100gp instead of 840gp. That sounds extremely high, especially since the Scales of War adventure path gives less gold than what is recommended in the DMG to begin with. Now, I could accept 50% above normal prices. Does anyone think this might be a typo? How are you dealing with PCs buying magic items in Overlook?
#2
thellaren
Jun 15, 2009 10:08:07 Yeah, shocking, but probably just a typo. Go with 50% above normal prices. Then again, given how stingy some of the modules are with loot, you might want to go with the straight value and start raising them if the party gets too item-heavy.
#3
tiamatthedragongod
Jun 15, 2009 10:16:25 Agreed, should probably have read: "where the prices are 150% OF the normal prices."

#4
iserith
Jun 15, 2009 16:59:31 I cut out gold completely in favor of magic items. Other than for flavor, I don't see the point of actual gold pieces. When an encounter is complete and the looting begins, I let the players know they've found "some gold and silver coins in addition to that nice sword the githyanki was wielding" (for example). The coins are just an abstract.

Since there's also no XP in my campaign, I made the trade off that if you show up to a session, you're guaranteed to find a magical item that is actually useful to your character. Gold is then only needed for miscellaneous expenses that have little real mechanical benefit and so if someone needs something for character development or for fun - a plot of land, a boat, an apartment in Overlook, etc. - I just give it to them. If they want to trade a magical item that they found for something of equivalent value, I let them do a skill challenge to find someone willing to barter.

I really can't be bothered to read out a list of gold and art objects, have people haggle over who gets what and how, and then watch people forget to write it down or lose it or whatever. It really seems like a superfluous step to me that doesn't bring any real gaming value to the table. Give it a shot - it seems counter-intuitive, but it works.
#5
tomlib
Jun 15, 2009 19:15:53
I cut out gold completely in favor of magic items. Other than for flavor, I don't see the point of actual gold pieces. When an encounter is complete and the looting begins, I let the players know they've found "some gold and silver coins in addition to that nice sword the githyanki was wielding" (for example). The coins are just an abstract.

I really can't be bothered to read out a list of gold and art objects, have people haggle over who gets what and how, and then watch people forget to write it down or lose it or whatever. It really seems like a superfluous step to me that doesn't bring any real gaming value to the table. Give it a shot - it seems counter-intuitive, but it works.

This is an interesting point and probably a fork that belongs on a completely different thread. For a long time I kind of did the same thing as the poster but I've found my players enjoy getting specific treasure.

For the campaign I'm currently writing (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/the-girl-in-glass) I'm going insanely overboard. I'm completely equiping every enemy with items of varying detail; weapons, armor, trinkets, foodstuff, books, and more.

Example:

A small carved hobby horse made from apple wood and with the name Sedra on the bottom carried by one of the drudges and worth five gold coins. Sedra is a common Orc girl name.

I'll be interested to see how this goes but it is a lot of work! Yikes.

Happy Gaming!

Tom

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 carahue Jun 15, 2009 9:50:28	According to Siege at Bordrin's Watch, the best bet for finding magic items in Overlook is at Merty’s, where the prices are 150% above the normal prices. That means that a 4th level magic item would cost 2100gp instead of 840gp. That sounds extremely high, especially since the Scales of War adventure path gives less gold than what is recommended in the DMG to begin with. Now, I could accept 50% above normal prices. Does anyone think this might be a typo? How are you dealing with PCs buying magic items in Overlook?
#2 thellaren Jun 15, 2009 10:08:07	Yeah, shocking, but probably just a typo. Go with 50% above normal prices. Then again, given how stingy some of the modules are with loot, you might want to go with the straight value and start raising them if the party gets too item-heavy.
#3 tiamatthedragongod Jun 15, 2009 10:16:25	Agreed, should probably have read: "where the prices are 150% OF the normal prices."
#4 iserith Jun 15, 2009 16:59:31	I cut out gold completely in favor of magic items. Other than for flavor, I don't see the point of actual gold pieces. When an encounter is complete and the looting begins, I let the players know they've found "some gold and silver coins in addition to that nice sword the githyanki was wielding" (for example). The coins are just an abstract. Since there's also no XP in my campaign, I made the trade off that if you show up to a session, you're guaranteed to find a magical item that is actually useful to your character. Gold is then only needed for miscellaneous expenses that have little real mechanical benefit and so if someone needs something for character development or for fun - a plot of land, a boat, an apartment in Overlook, etc. - I just give it to them. If they want to trade a magical item that they found for something of equivalent value, I let them do a skill challenge to find someone willing to barter. I really can't be bothered to read out a list of gold and art objects, have people haggle over who gets what and how, and then watch people forget to write it down or lose it or whatever. It really seems like a superfluous step to me that doesn't bring any real gaming value to the table. Give it a shot - it seems counter-intuitive, but it works.
#5 tomlib Jun 15, 2009 19:15:53	I cut out gold completely in favor of magic items. Other than for flavor, I don't see the point of actual gold pieces. When an encounter is complete and the looting begins, I let the players know they've found "some gold and silver coins in addition to that nice sword the githyanki was wielding" (for example). The coins are just an abstract. I really can't be bothered to read out a list of gold and art objects, have people haggle over who gets what and how, and then watch people forget to write it down or lose it or whatever. It really seems like a superfluous step to me that doesn't bring any real gaming value to the table. Give it a shot - it seems counter-intuitive, but it works. This is an interesting point and probably a fork that belongs on a completely different thread. For a long time I kind of did the same thing as the poster but I've found my players enjoy getting specific treasure. For the campaign I'm currently writing (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/the-girl-in-glass) I'm going insanely overboard. I'm completely equiping every enemy with items of varying detail; weapons, armor, trinkets, foodstuff, books, and more. Example: A small carved hobby horse made from apple wood and with the name Sedra on the bottom carried by one of the drudges and worth five gold coins. Sedra is a common Orc girl name. I'll be interested to see how this goes but it is a lot of work! Yikes. Happy Gaming! Tom