D&D 5E Buying magic items, yes or no?

[Scruffy nerf herder]

I do like to sell magic items occasionally but if I do it, it has to be an uncommon kind of individual they run across, e.g. another adventurer, or even a Planeswalker or Djinni.

 

[edosan]

I said "rarely."

One of my favorite things about 5e is that it doesn't have the Magic Shop On Every Corner of 3.5. In my world, no one remembers how to make magic items apart from consumables and some smaller items.

 

[Jackdaw McGraw]

Yes but...

Most cities that have vendors that sell magic items also have a "right of primacy" where royalty, nobility, guild leaders, etc. get first dibs on the item. It's theirs to refuse first, then to pass on to the 'commoners market'. This also allows items to be returned to the lineages and institutions they might have been stolen from (or just lost to) for a negotiated price that recognizes the context. It also allows people in power to ban certain items from the market - even if they don't intent to buy them themselves.

Many magic sellers will align with a powerful patron, to help secure private sales and manage security.

 

[Shiroiken]

@Oofta might want to consider spoiler text to hide the massive post.

In my campaign, you can't buy or sell magic items. Even potions of healing in the PHB have been replaced with herbs of healing (1 minute to use, but otherwise identical). I've added a downtime activity to trade magic items, always requiring a downsize of rarity or consumable. PCs can either try to trade off specific items or seek a specific item, and I'll roll to see if anything's available.

 

[ECMO3]

This came up in another thread and I was curious how other people handled it. I don't think there's any right or wrong answer here, unlike some previous editions the magic mart is obviously not the default. I'm not talking about things like common potions of healing here, rather anything from that +1 sword to a +3 boomerang.

So how do you handle it? Note that I don't think the actual means of purchase matters much for purposes of the poll. In addition, if there's a handful of magic items that are banned, or the PCs have to travel to a big city, that shouldn't affect your vote.

• Yes would be magic item stores that sell everything under the sun. Specific items may take some time to procure, but it will always be available.
• Usually could include a brokerage service to give people something to do during their downtime, but most things are available.
• Occasionally means it's hard to find anything specific but something might be out there.
• Rarely, as it says. Items are almost never available for purchase.
• Never. Go plunder some dungeon if you want it.

As a DM it is never other than potions and scrolls.

As a player I have played with a lot of different DMs and it varies from you can find anything you want for the right $$$ to items hand picked by the DM for the campaign.

 

[Oofta]

@Oofta might want to consider spoiler text to hide the massive post.

In my campaign, you can't buy or sell magic items. Even potions of healing in the PHB have been replaced with herbs of healing (1 minute to use, but otherwise identical). I've added a downtime activity to trade magic items, always requiring a downsize of rarity or consumable. PCs can either try to trade off specific items or seek a specific item, and I'll roll to see if anything's available.

D'oh! Meant to do that. Fixed.

 

[J.Quondam]

Varies a LOT by campaign, based on the ubiquity of magic and of wealth in the setting. I usually (though not always) run "low-magic" campaigns, so I voted "Occasionally," "Rarely," and "Never."

 

[S'mon]

(don't think I answered yet - sorry if missed it)

In my Primeval Thule game you can sometimes find a few items for sale at Xhondar Jo's House of Curiousities.

In my Forgotten Realms there are a few reliable vendors of specific items. More commonly, items are crafted by the PCs. The smiths forge weapons and armour, the leatherworker makes boots, the spellcasters make wands, etc.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Yes. I've always found the hand-wringing about "Magic mart!!" tedious and more than a little uncharitable. Where there are resources, there will be trade. Most D&D worlds have far more magic in them than (say) Middle-Earth does. It's why "adventurer" is an aspiration people actually think about taking up, rather than something foisted upon them (as tends to be the case in most adventure stories.)

 

[cbwjm]

In my main campaign I allowed PCs to purchase some uncommon or rare potions and low-level scrolls. Items like +1 weapons they could put the word out through the store owner and he can perhaps connect people with items to sell or who want to purchase something.

In my thunder rift campaign where I was just running through a bunch of low-level modules I had any common items up for purchase as well as a couple uncommons, Not just anything was purchasable but then those old modules handed out items like candy anyway so the players had plenty of magical items by the time they hit 4th level.