Working for a Magic Item Dealer - Ideas

[hanez]

Hi, my level 11 players are currently in P1 The King of the Trollhaunt. I added a Magic shop "Tracks Trades" that sells Magic Items. This shop is run by Track, and Halfling NPC who frequents the Feywild and sells Fey style magic items in Moonstair. Since the city is so close to a portal Tracks Trades get lots of items from travelers from either side wanting to sell and trade strange magical items.

Anyways, there is going to be an attack on the town by Trolls, and my players are going to attempt to save the town. I also want Tracks shop to be attacked and the players to help save Tracks shop. If successful my player will receive a generous discount on future magic items.

I was thinking that maybe he currently has a party (or ... golems!) on retainer. When the town is attacked the golems defend the shop, and are defeated by the Troll invaders. Enter the PC's to save the day.

If the PC's save the day Track will give them some sort of item to teleport them back to the shop if there is any trouble. So Track can hit like an emergency button and the PC's appear. This is in part because the PC's have another larger quest to go on and I just wanted this to add some side flavor. Its also a good thing for me to use on a day when the main quest isn't prepared.

So any thoughts on how could I make this idea cooler?

 

[Gilladian]

Sounds like fun!

I would be careful not to over-use the "call button" feature; if the PCs get yanked out of their own quest too often, they may get resentful or distracted, and either one could be bad.

Right now, Tracks sounds like a kind of cool ally, but possibly a bit to "good to be true". Just because they save his life once, he's being VERY generous. I think he needs to be a bit more mercenery, seeing them as "his" adventurers now and maybe making them feel that they "owe" him for his favors. Nothing is more annoying than feeling in debt to someone for whom you've done a favor!

Side missions should have distinct flavor and character all their own. How about having him send them on a "fetch" trip into strange locales in the feywild. A living volcano, an enchanted forest or swamp, the darkest depths of a mysterious cave, or (possibly worse) the High Fey Court... Just having them do a rush delivery, or retrieve a very valuable item on a tight time limit could be very fun and let you stretch your creativity to the max.

 

[Sigurd]

Magic Shops should have a way of vanishing rather than fighting. There are too many ways that it would be useful and they potentially have too many thieves\enemies.

Sigurd

 

[hanez]

shop disapears

Your right, it would make a lot more sense if the shop just vanished. I could even see the rope hanging out of nowhere (what was that tensers castle?), or some sign so that they can have a check to see that he portaled out of there.

But that would take a cool side trek away. Plus I wanted the magic item dealer to owe them so that I could justify cheaper items

Any way we can do both?

 

[Sigurd]

Give the magic dealer a son\daughter\loved-one that is rejecting the dealer and intent on defending the town. The dealer knows that just staying he actually makes things more dangerous for the town by adding a very worthy prize. The dealer is also pretty scared the loved one is going to get themselves killed 'being brave not smart'.

The dealer might be very inclined to find the loved-one some protectors to watch over him\her.

This way you can actually have the loved one do whatever you want, brave mission, stalwart defense, rescue etc.., and have the players play bodyguard\accomplices.

The dealer will officially be gone from the city, might even announce that he is setting up shop somewhere distant. If he's the heroic type he might be ready to help rescue the party\loved one anyway cause he's watching somehow.

Seriously, the third thing a magic shop would want is a way to travel light and quickly. Its too dangerous for you enemies to know where you are. If you use Planescape the shop might have returned to Sigil or officially closed for acquisitions\restocking.

That sounds like a very workable storyline.

What do you think?

Sigurd

 

[hanez]

Thanks for your reply Sigurd, that does sound great, but since the attack is more of a suprise (and its already started for my pc's ) I don't think I can go with that.

I think after the fight, when they pass by Tracks Shop they will notice is it gone. This will be a major bummer to them since it is there only source for selling/buying magic items. Maybe some skill checks will tell them he planeshifted the shop to the Feywild and they may go on an expedition to the shop. Maybe he just waits for someone to tell him its safe to bring his shop back.

Is this believable?
​

 

[Sigurd]

That sounds very believable. You might actually impress the PCs with their ability to bug out.

If the shop is high brow enough they might have left minor illusion with apologies for their valued customers. Perhaps they left a small stack of addressed letters with a promise of payment for each letter faithfully delivered.


Sigurd

 

[Robbs]

I think you could do it either way. You could have the teleport element already a part of the defenses or not, there are ways to work it into your current storyline either way.
Option 1: No teleport. You stick with your idea about his having built in defenses. While I agree a shop like this would have to be able to protect its merchandise, there is also a cost benefit analysis. Unless he deals in items of vast power, having a bunch of expensive spells put on his house (and a lot of the GM fait accomplis, such as whole building disappears, can't teleport within the entire building, etc. are pretty dang expensive if you actually had to pay for them-like a player would) would eat into his profits. However, an easy compromise is this-up 'til now his guardians and some mid-level magics (detect inviso, zone of truth, dimensional anchor, whatever) have been enough to handle thieves and rowdies. With the recent attack they proved not enough, which is where the PCs come in to save the day. This also causes him to upgrade his system, thus the teleport option to avoid trouble coming to town and the panic button (for when the trouble is already in the shop, where teleporting the shop doesn't really solve the problem). This allows him to show off his cool new trick to try and impress the PCs next time they come through the area.

Option 2: Teleport feature already exists. With this one, all you need is a reason why he didn't use it. I think it was Sigurd who mentioned one reason, for another option it could be that he happens to frequent a particular 'escort' or brothel and was literally caught with his pants down. Probably need to be in the shop to use the teleport option, probably not in a position to teleport when all hell broke loose. This achieves the logical 'he should have this' element without screwing the continuity issue 'why didn't he use it then?'.

As for when it is gone, I think it would be hilarious to have the equivalent of a dimestore Indian out front that stays behind when he teleports. Anyone who approaches where the front door used to be triggers the Magic Mouth on the statue, which recites his pre-recorded apology..."Due to certain local disruptions beyond our control Track's Trades has temporarily suspended sales in this area. When the current instability has ended we look forward to meeting your magic item needs."

As for side missions, I had a similar plotline years back and a fun (for you, life threatening for them) option is to also have them go on missions to pick up certain 'raw materials' needed for item creation. You get great scenes like the PCs looking up a mountain, looking at each other and asking..."You think he really needs hippogriff feathers or would a really big turkey work?" I also found the PCs started really being on the lookout for any potential materials while on their regular missions..."Hey, grab a couple of that things claws, Track might want 'em." In my current campaign certain magical raw materials boost spell effects so the players periodically pocket something hoping they can use it to boost a spell later.

Hope some of that helps. I'm already trying to figure out where I can put this in my campaign!

 

[ajanders]

Right now, Tracks sounds like a kind of cool ally, but possibly a bit to "good to be true". Just because they save his life once, he's being VERY generous.

Yes...yes he is.
And the PC's will never ask why, will they?

Perhaps Tracks defense wasn't teleporting at all.
Perhaps the trolls made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and now Tracks dispenses cursed and selectively magicked items to further the plots of an Unseelie Duke.

Perhaps Tracks is actually a succubus tempting people to evil by offering them cursed magical items...or beneficial ones, in exchange for a "minor consideration to be determined later". The poor trolls thought they were muscling in on a little halfling magic shop and got the surprise of their lives. (Followed shortly by the ends of their lives.)

As for missions, repo jobs are always interesting. From dragons, liches, or efreet. So are delivery jobs. If Tracks has enough of a reputation (and isn't some kind of succubus warlock) he may need the PC's for security, as noted.
Sufficiently powerful magical items start to change the political landscape of the game, for example:

"Deliver this rod of resurrection to Temple Blackskull. Yes, the Banite temple whose leader just got killed by adventurers before he could open the gate to the Shadowfell. I don't ask what they're doing with it, I just get payment up front and in cash."
(Bonus points if the party caused the leader's demise during their raid on Temple Blackskull. Now that's a social challenge)

 

[phloog]

Let's get weird....(warning, I have little experience running 4e - these are fairly 'general D&D' thoughts).

Magic items in 4e can be intelligent, no? What if there is an intelligent/cunning item that doesn't LIKE to be sitting on the shelf in this shop, and is conspiring with the invaders? What if there are MANY animated objects that see this as the perfect time to rebel and seek their own personal liberty..."We will form a new land called Broomania!!!" - a battle is without and within.

The shop is well-stocked, and in fact has more CURSED/annoyance items than items of value to deter thieves. During the battle, the owner has gone to his 'safe room' (he can't afford a whole teleport, but can afford a small place to hide in another dimension). The party is free to actually ENTER the shop (possibly via some kind of gating magic), and can opt to use items found there, but this injects a VERY wild element into it as they never really know what they're going to get.

Inject an NPC into the plot - - try to do this one adventure ahead or so to build trust if you can, or make him an assistant to the owner. During the chaos of the raid, this NPC steals one or more items that he's had his eye on for some time. After the raid, they need to track him down.

The owner is dishonest. He was hired to mend/polish/improve an item of incredible power by a mighty entity who expects it back. Either the entire town raid was created by the owner of the shop, or he exploits the chaos in order to have the item 'stolen' (which he then keeps or sells for huge profit)...even if the PCs think they have protected the shop, a few items (including this item) go missing. They might even be sent on a wild goose chase to recover it.

Placed precariously on a high shelf by a foolish halfling is a jar of dehydrated Xorns (just add water!!!)

As far as keeping the ally too good to be true, I would always tend to make him a gnome (oh wait...are they in 4e yet?) and part of the 'bargain' is not 10% off all stock...but maybe 1% of most stock, and a generous 10% off any item that...well...he hasn't really fully tested yet ("But the extraplanar entity swears it's the best thing ever!")