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<blockquote data-quote="KidSnide" data-source="post: 5368713" data-attributes="member: 54710">To me, shops of any kind break my suspension of disbelief.&nbsp; The idea that a store keeps a large and ready supply of goods to be sold is a little silly in most D&amp;D contexts.&nbsp; If you want a suit of armor, you go to a smith who can make one for you.&nbsp; Of course, there is a re-sale market, so sufficiently large trade centers will have some supply of common goods (and an undependable supply of unusual items).&nbsp; Outside of that, there are travelling merchants (who keep a supply of what's demanded on their route and what they might have bought to sell back at the city) and - importantly - markets (economic centers that gather periodically).So, if a PC wants to buy a magic item, they need to either (1) find an artificer who can make the type of item they wish to purchase or (2) find a merchant who happens to have bought one.&nbsp; As a practical level, the likelihood of finding these people depends on the rarity of the item in question.&nbsp; In most worlds, a +1 longsword is common enough that you might find one (or a quality weaponsmith) in most major cities and fairs, whereas a +5 Greatsword of the Infernal might require a trip to the City of Brass.There's no reason that a GM needs to spend quality playing time on shopping.&nbsp; However, in a more &quot;realistic&quot; gameworld, the GM says &quot;a couple months go by as you find artificers to make the items you intend to buy and good prices for the loot you wish to sell.&quot;&nbsp; Just because something is difficult and tedious for the characters doesn't mean that you have to make it difficult and tedious for the players.&nbsp; (And, similarly, just because you want to make something quick and easy for the players, doesn't mean it can't be a huge time sink for the characters.)-KS</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KidSnide, post: 5368713, member: 54710"] To me, shops of any kind break my suspension of disbelief. The idea that a store keeps a large and ready supply of goods to be sold is a little silly in most D&D contexts. If you want a suit of armor, you go to a smith who can make one for you. Of course, there is a re-sale market, so sufficiently large trade centers will have some supply of common goods (and an undependable supply of unusual items). Outside of that, there are travelling merchants (who keep a supply of what's demanded on their route and what they might have bought to sell back at the city) and - importantly - markets (economic centers that gather periodically). So, if a PC wants to buy a magic item, they need to either (1) find an artificer who can make the type of item they wish to purchase or (2) find a merchant who happens to have bought one. As a practical level, the likelihood of finding these people depends on the rarity of the item in question. In most worlds, a +1 longsword is common enough that you might find one (or a quality weaponsmith) in most major cities and fairs, whereas a +5 Greatsword of the Infernal might require a trip to the City of Brass. There's no reason that a GM needs to spend quality playing time on shopping. However, in a more "realistic" gameworld, the GM says "a couple months go by as you find artificers to make the items you intend to buy and good prices for the loot you wish to sell." Just because something is difficult and tedious for the characters doesn't mean that you have to make it difficult and tedious for the players. (And, similarly, just because you want to make something quick and easy for the players, doesn't mean it can't be a huge time sink for the characters.) -KS [/QUOTE]

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