Items in shop; everything or a limited selection?

[Evilhalfling]

I separate magic items into common and rare.
+1 and +2 common weapons and popular armor.
minor wondrous items >3000 gp
potions & scrolls >3rd level
wands of Cure Light Wounds

Wondrous items, wands, scrolls arms and armor
can mostly be bought on commission if the caster level <9th

Rare Items:
Most Rings & Staves (or anything that needs a 12th lvl casters)
Bless weapon potions.
Items from the MIC - although some items may be commonly obtained from the originator or their guild.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I always let people just buy stuff out of the books. Life's too short to roleplay shopping trips (although there are no doubt exceptions).

 

[Herzog]

I don't do magic item shops. ever.
if they want a magic item, they have to either make it themselves, or hire someone to build one. (other than potions.)
if they want to sell a magic item, they have to find someone that wants it.

that said, if someone really wants a specific item, and it's not unreasonable, and they have the money to buy it, I might handwave it if they are in a large city.

most 'normal' shopping (and potions) is handwaved, as in, if the city is sufficiently large, the items will be available, unless circumstances dictate otherwise (ie: in a city run by a werewolf clan, wolfsbane, silversheen and silvered weapons will not be readily available)

only when the town is rather small do I consider certain items unavailable. Mostly, small towns will lack a local mastercrafter, so masterwork items will be unavailable. Swords and even armor may be available, but not in large quantities. If they really want something, it pays off to travel to a nearby city.

Concluding: I don't do specific shops, unless the player asks for it (specifically mentioning they look for an armor shop? then the shop will sell armor, but not weapons) but I also don't make everything available without question or limitations.

 

[Iku Rex]

In 3rd edition DnD "gp" is meant to work much the same as "xp".

When a character accumulates enough XP, the player generally gets to decide how the character improves. This does not mean that every city or wilderness village has hundreds of specialized adventurer schools catering to adventurers who want to "level up" as this or that class or PrC. Just because a DM allowed the player to pick any class or PrC does not mean that the character had the same choice.

Equipment should work in the same way. The character collects treasure (valued in gp in the rule system), the player gets to decide how it's spent. But just because the player gets to select any item does not mean that the character has the same choice. There are no gigantic warehouses filled with magic items. The character just happens to end up with the item the player wants.

 

[DarkelvenSFi]

Great answers!

I just run a system that generates items based on how much wealth the town is expected to have. This way the players get that added bit of realism when choosing where to go next. Large towns are also more dangerous, so they have to weigh up their options.

I was curious about the 'the magic item compendium says to allow all items', and it doesn't really. It say that if a player asks for a specific item, the answer should usually be yes, but it goes on to place a limit on availability according to the value of items compared to the city size (as per the DMG).

Which makes a fair bit of sense.

So after all this, I'll be including my shop list that randomly pulls out details, but also granting a roll-check for when players ask for specific items.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Well, when I used magic items in games I largely hand-waved the shopping. If a player actually accumulated the gold and the town was big enough to have a shop/wizard/temple who could actually have the item - they found a way to buy the item. Item buying wasn't much of a place of enjoyment for the game, so we largely got rid of it and hand-waived th event.

However, if there are players around a table that enjoy it, then go for it. If I were playing in a system that actually still used equipment - I'd like to play in the system Jack Smith details above. That would appeal to me as a player. But in any case I don't think that any one table has a right to judge another table's gaming systems. So long as people at one table are enjoying what's being done, who cares whether you like what the next table over is doing? So my sympathies go out to the OP for having the table practices assaultedby another table. That's just bad taste.

As for my current games, we now use the Complete Gear system just published by Dreamscarred Press (I am the author). Totally eliminates all purchasing arguments from the table. Of course, it comes with the assumption that players can influence their own equipment and thus no longer need shops/temples/wizards to make their equipment for them. So, not for everyone. But it does sure save me time in equipping NPCs and the like. Oodles of time saved! For games that are just hand-waiving item purchases already, check it out: it'll add some unique flavor into a part of the game that is currently flat.

 

[Runestar]

I don't do magic item shops. ever.
if they want a magic item, they have to either make it themselves, or hire someone to build one. (other than potions.)
if they want to sell a magic item, they have to find someone that wants it.

I have never really understood what the difference between the 2 are.

What is the difference between you tracking down a wizard, paying him to craft a certain item for you, then waiting a certain amount of time for it before getting it, and simply strolling into a magic shop and purchasing that very item right off the shelves?

At the end of the day, they are still spending X amount of gold, and getting the magic items they want. The form may be different, but the essence pretty much remains the same. The shop is just there to streamline the process. I used to try and rp out the whole buying and selling process, but that was simply too much trouble and effort for too little results, so I just instituted magic shops as a catch-all to solve their buying/selling needs.

 

[Herzog]

What is the difference ...

It's a personal thing. To me, magic item shop reduces the magic items to commodities. And, by association, wizards to just another craftsman with a slighty different skillset.

I play in an Eberon campaign, and that setting actually is build around that principle. So I can accept that in that particular setting, there are magic item shops.

In my own campaigns, I like magic to be special. There are no wizards crafting huge amounts of magic items so the adventurers can pick and choose.

Of course, from a mechanical point of view, there is no difference (except maybe time required to obtain a specific item). Especially if you are handwaving the entire process.

 

[DarkelvenSFi]

But in any case I don't think that any one table has a right to judge another table's gaming systems. So long as people at one table are enjoying what's being done, who cares whether you like what the next table over is doing?

Thanks for that. Seems each time my group gets together now, there's some comment made about how the 'other side' does something different/better. Or how they are shocked that I allow something in my game.

I don't want to buy into these petty arguments and never attack the other table (just defend my game style), but the comments still make me wonder whether I am doing things that most would disapprove of (or are clearly against the rules).

So it's good to get some feedback from places like this. And it's given me some great ideas for how I can further improve things.

 

[Zanticor]

I used to be really hard on magic stuff. As in there are no stores that sell magic items and no one is interested in buying your expensive gear. Magic items are things you find in dungeons and gold is something to but in your bank account (with a tax deduction) for latter use in buying a keep. I became a bit less of an ass when they made powerfull friends. Those also did not have unlimmited supplies of magic junk lying around but the were willing to craft for them. Ofcorse the dungeon must go on so an item of 20000 takes 20 day of adventuring to be completed. Might be a bit harsh but finding nice things becomes so much more of a reward! I think I like the old rules better when 1 gp was also 1 xp and not a reason to start playing a different game: Shopping and Dragons.

Zanticor