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| #1DateOfLiesOct 30, 2014 9:04:48 | Hello,
I'd like to talk about how to price magic items. Here's the rule of thumb I picked up to help me price a +1 armor or sword. It actually all stems from the difference in price between the splint armor (200gp) and the plate armor (1500gp) as well as from the scale mal (50gp) to the half plate (750gp).
Since the more expensive armor sets mentioned above are basically a direct upgrades to the cheaper sets, the ratio of prices could be interpreted as describing the cost of 'step up' in efficiency. A plate armor costs 7.5x a splint armor and a half plate costs 15x the scale armor. if you then apply that same multiplier to the expensive armors, a plate armor +1 could be valued at 1500*7.5 = 11,250gp and a half-plate +1 would be 750*15 = 11,250gp. Exactly the same, the step up prices don't seem arbitrary, so to me, if we go the 4e route of valuing +1 items more or less similarly (weapons as well as armors), then a +1 item should cost no less than 11,250gp (or 10,000gp if you want a nice round number).
That seems more or less fair for the amount of loot a typical party would get. Any comments or ideas?
For those that want to argue against magic item shops: I don't want to cause a ruckus but having been on the player side, i think quite simply you guys are silly. The simple fact is, if magic items exist, why should I deprive my players from doing what they wish with their hard earned gold. Sure, some could opt to buy a castle or yacht, but what if one of them genuinely wants to help himself do his day job better if he's a battle oriented character? I think a lot of DMs love going the anti magic item purchasing route as some form of power trip, so that PCs must rely on the DM's good graces to get what they want. I have always been a fan of giving PCs MORE choice, not less. You are not god, you are an omniscient referee. If the magic items are fairly priced (where they can only afford a very very small number of them, maybe 2-3 per character for their whole 20 level career), than what's the problem?
If they start trashing encounters, simply make them tougher, but removing choice of magic items (a mechanic that has ever since the dawn of RPGs added MORE depth to player tactics) is kind of sad since it removes choice and player autonomy. In fact I feel so strongly about it that I often get digusted by campaigns that don't offer it and refused to join them. Give players MORE choice guys, not less.
For the record, i intend to limit the supply of magic items at shops.
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| #2TherosOct 30, 2014 9:27:59 | I'm sure the DMG will have something to say about this, until then I haven't made magic items for sale in any of my games not that i'm all that againts the idea of magic item shops. If someone held a gun to my head however I would just use the 3.5 or Pathfinder prices until we get an offical ruling.
Weapons +1 2000 +2 8000 +3 18000
Armor +1 1000 +2 4000 +3 9000
That's all I can think of at the top of my head.
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| #3iserithOct 30, 2014 9:39:52 |
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| #4icedcrowOct 30, 2014 9:53:29 | We follow the PHB for 5th which is simply that magic items are very rare and don't just show up in magic shops.
However if you are looking for guidelines on how to price them - I would say look at the Tiamat adventure and look at the Lost Mine adventure and see what the average treasure haul is. Treasure seems to be a lot less in this edition than it was in 3rd and 4th.
I can't recall in 2nd what the average was but I remember rolling random treasure quite a bit then.
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| (Reply to #2)Timborama |
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| #6DateOfLiesOct 30, 2014 10:46:29 |
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| (Reply to #6)Timborama |
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| #8KalaniOct 30, 2014 11:29:37 | Personally, I don't see a problem with +1 weapons and armor being available for sale in a large city or metropolis. +2 weapons and armor would be for sale only in private collections - and would cost exhorbitant prices. +3 items however, would be considered priceless.
Just eyeballing the costs, I would go with the following:
Magic Item (City)
Collectors
* Depending on properties. Minimum price is for the basic +x item. Prices do not reflect haggling which may increase/decrease price by 10%
Items purchased from collectors would need to be tracked down individually. This would involve a quest to even locate such a collector, after which the PCs would need to convince them to sell the item to the player. Legendary items however, would not be available for sale even by collectors - however such collectors may be willing to purchase such items. The prices listed below would be the sale price PCs could expect if they sold any of the following to a dedicated collector.
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| #9Coredump00Oct 30, 2014 13:08:58 | I think we need more information.... the amount of magic from HotDQ is no where near the amount available in PHandelver. Not sure about the Expeditions yet.....
Oh, and treasure is pretty minuscule too....
Waiting to see how it moves forward... |
| #10crimfan07Oct 30, 2014 13:23:16 | One reason to have prices is because PCs will want to sell items, not just buy them. This may be challenging to do because most individuals won't have the kind of $$$ to buy items, but then market will lower the cost. |
| (Reply to #10)Timborama |
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| (Reply to #11)crimfan07 |
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| #13TimboramaOct 30, 2014 13:40:27 | Which is very true. But I'm waiting on the DMG to give me that. Until then, I'm basically either ignoring it, or just winging it if absolutely necessary! |
| #14AaronOfBarbariaOct 30, 2014 14:06:59 | Why not just base the prices on the rarity of the item, with expendable items like potions costing 1/100th the price?
Such as common items having a price of 5,000 gp, Uncommon a price of 10,000 gp, Rare 20,000 gp, Very Rare 50,000, and Legendary being priceless or 100,000 gp or more.
Note, I make this suggestion for simplicity, not actually supporting the buying and selling of magical items, which I don't. |
| #15Coredump00Oct 30, 2014 18:01:34 | To me it completely depends on the frequency of magic items, and the difficulty of making them.
If players come across magic while adventuring with any sort of frequency... there almost *has* to be a market for it. (Unless the players are the only adventurers in the world)
If there isn't enough magic to warrant an 'after market', that means magic items will be *so* valuable that finding that first item will set you and your family for life. |
| #16TherosOct 31, 2014 7:06:40 | This came up in last nights game.
The party just got to Baulders Gate after 6 sessions of adventuring. Each party member had about 550gp. The level 4 Paladin really wanted a set of plate mail but didn’t have the coin. He convinced the rogue to trade the +1 Shortsword (the only magic item in the game so far) to the smith for 1350gp. The Paladin paid his $1500 and was able to commission some plate mail.
I used the same price costs for magic items as Pathfinder and it seemed to work out alright. A +1 short sword costs around 2355gp, and the Paladin was able to haggle to something a little north of half price.
I’m happy with the way it went. I’ll go with the RAW version when the DMG comes up, but using the old economy seems to be fine. |
| #17Goober4473Oct 31, 2014 15:39:08 | As the DM, you have full control of what money is available, so you can price magic items however you want. If the expected treasure over an adventure is 10,000 gp, and a +1 sword costs 5,000, that's the same as if the expected treasure was 50,000 and the sword cost 25,000. Really its just a matter of how difficult to get you want the already priced items to be. |