D&D 5E I don't care anymore! The Magic shope is OPEN!
Matrix Sorcica
Hero
Ooohhh... Any notes or conversion experiences you'd like to share?
Can't say I like the 3.x "transfer cash to direct magical power" thing that much at all. However, I can also understand that some players don't want to play civ/kingdoms in their downtime with their rewards. I would probably use and adjusted random treasure table to generate available items for trade/barter, rather than making Sears & Roebuck shopping catalog out of the DM's guide.
This is all true enough, but what 5E doesn't seem to do give players the opportunity to use their gold for things that DO have a direct impact on their characters.
My players have done, and will continue to do, many of the things you list with their wealth, but all those things are abstract. I think there ought to be SOME way to make meaningful impacts on character math through wealth.
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Cap'n Kobold
Hero
If the players do have the aforementioned option of translating cash directly into rules-mechanical character power, are they likely to use most of their cash to do so?
(As opposing to using it for influencing people, building institutions, advancing socially, and other things that their characters may have an interest in advancing, but that won't directly translate to bigger numbers on their character sheet or DPR.)
You know your group; we don't.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
The designers intentionally moved away from the "christmas tree" of earlier editions. Is this the "right" direction from a narrative position - there's no single answer for that, really depends on your table. However, it's what they tuned the math in 5e for, so if you want to run it otherwise you should adjust AC/saves/to-hit of foes up as well.
For my own table, I wish I saw a nice middle road - where you couldn't christmas tree but you could still have a decent amount. I think attunement helps, but it's not enough.
I run a very laid back heavily homebrewed campaign in which I allow the characters to purchase feats. 10,000gp for the first, and then the prices doubles for each subsequent feat. They have to pay the gp AND learn the new feat in downtime. The players love it and they've all bought at least 2 feats and a couple of them have bought 3.
happyhermit
Adventurer
One thing that often gets overlooked though, is that it really shouldn't take magic items for PCs to be able to spend money to help them accomplish their goals, whether combat, social, whatever but a lot of games are run like that. It's funny because in past editions (I'm sure it still happens) a lot of GMs are 100% ok with players buying magic items yet balk at them doing very similar things in "mundane" ways. Spending money on combat items is fine while hiring some mercs to help out is fraught with problems, Wand of CLW is fine but an NPC healer or non-magical healing is impossible, magical item of social interaction is fine while spending money to impress/persuade/whatever is a fool's errand, all that work strategizing with NPCs/buying supplies/setting traps and you end up in the same combat as you would have anyways, etc.
Nothing wrong with magic item shops, they haven't gone anywhere and Wotc isn't going to shut yours down. I am glad they aren't the default but that doesn't mean I'm happy that it makes a little bit more work for you.
I don't think it's going to be an issue. My group is pretty role play oriented and as they near 12th level their character personalities are pretty fleshed out. I think there will come a point where the cleric, for example, will want to build his own temple.
Even in 3.x games, where magic buying and selling was an assumed given, they still poured a lot of money into those abstract cash pits.
Plus, the way I'm now setting up magical sales isn't anything like those 3.x days.
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CapnZapp
Legend
The ideal is for the game to be able to offer a supermarket of magic items where the prices are such that this shop doesn't imbalance the game, can't be abused.
The first prerequisite is a game that
helps DMs and adventure writers out by specifying how much gold to hand out each level.
Then, compared to d20, the price formulas needs serious tweaking.
Buffing is much rarer in 5e, which needs to be reflected in the price.
In d20 you could put a dozen enchantments on yourself where in 5e you should be lucky to have one.
For example: I have DMd three campaigns, and so far no character have cast Fly even once. The difference to d20 could not be greater. A potion of Fly or a magic broom should probably cost many many more times the d20 price.
So anyone dismissive of the issues saying "just use d20 prices" are either completely ignorant or a blatant troller.
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The first prerequisite is a game that
helps DMs and adventure writers out by specifying how much gold to hand out each level.
Then, compared to d20, the price formulas needs serious tweaking.
Buffing is much rarer in 5e, which needs to be reflected in the price.
In d20 you could put a dozen enchantments on yourself where in 5e you should be lucky to have one.
For example: I have DMd three campaigns, and so far no character have cast Fly even once. The difference to d20 could not be greater. A potion of Fly or a magic broom should probably cost many many more times the d20 price.
So anyone dismissive of the issues saying "just use d20 prices" are either completely ignorant or a blatant troller.
Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app
