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Message: <blockquote data-quote="niklinna" data-source="post: 8668407" data-attributes="member: 71235">Shopping can be made interesting, but it takes more work as most games don't provide explicit support for doing so: It's a common assumption that most goods are routinely available at standard prices, like shopping at Walmart. But even in a fantasy world with magic, things aren't "really" likely to be so smooth. Here again, of course, most game rules don't even think of what magic might exist out of adventuring & combat needs; Eberron kind of broke new ground there.Anyhow, here are just some off-the-cuff ideas on how shopping could be more interesting:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Item quality vs. availability & price: Sure those iron spikes are half the price at Pentti's Adventuring Emporium, but when they have a 1 in 3 chance of snapping under load, maybe you'll reconsider shopping there in future (hat tip to Mike Mignola's Zinco!). Or maybe higher-quality items are available that grant bonuses to checks, for a hefty surcharge. Maybe no one vendor has as much of the thing as you need, so you have to mix them up. Usually no rules support for this, but fairly easy to improvise. Downside: Mixed inventory tracking adds hassle.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Item particularity: Maybe the PCs are looking for very specific things rather than commodity goods, and it will take some hunting.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Merchant availability: Maybe your preferred supplier is out of stock, or out on caravan, or has some other issue. But a new merchant has arrived in town, maybe they're worth taking a chance on.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Making deals: Basic haggling, but also things like merchants noticing your reputation, or who else you've dealt with (and their reputations), and adjusting their prices/availability/gossip (see below) accordingly. Lots of room for role-play of a particular kind here. Maybe the merchant hates bards and will only deal with fighters. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f606.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":LOL:" title="Laugh    :LOL:"  data-smilie="17"data-shortname=":LOL:" /></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gossip, rumors, merchant reputation: On the flip side, getting the dirt on where to get the best deals and/or info, who can be trusted, etc., becomes particularly significant, and this can be fertile ground for quest/adventure hooks as well, whether planted by the GM or arising spontaneously through the conversations. More role-play, possibly actual crunchy adventure right in the market setting too.</li> </ul>Edit: Fixed a typo.</blockquote>

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