Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="prosfilaes" data-source="post: 3350772" data-attributes="member: 40166">In the real world, big expensive things are sold all the time. If you've got the money to buy a Caribbean island, you probably have enough to hire some mercenaries and take it by force; but people still buy Caribbean islands, because having a clear title and reputation is worth a lot. Probably since the Magna Carta, and certainly since the English Restoration, English monarchs wouldn't have taken it by force for their personal possession, because such an ill-use of power would have annoyed the nobles and Parliament. In any society with a strong enough law, openly taking something by force may be enough to cause you to lose some of that wealth, power, or influence, even if they can't openly arrest you. It may be all the justification someone with more power or influence needs to openly use force against you to take the artifact for their own use.From the other end of the issue, the type of people to tend to sell artifacts are powerful adventurers. They tend to do well against forceful measures; a high-level adventurer is only threatened by powerful monsters or other high-level characters. Is it really worth the death of a number of powerful followers (whose bodies might get tossed into a gate into the Abyss if the PCs are enraged enough) to try and get something that might be cleanly bought for gold? Is it worth possibly enraging the adventurers, who may use divination to figure out who's hassling them and empty the dance floor at your next party with Meteor Swarm? And even if you do get them, the adventurers quite probably had connections who might look askew at your blatant attacks. Besides the ordinary kings and lords, most parties include clerics with built-in allies. You drop a high-level paladin of St. Cuthbert and there will be a strong negative response. You drop a high-level priest of Olidammara, and we'll see how long you keep that artifact.So, yeah, maybe anyone who could afford to buy the artifact could probably get it through other ways, but cash on the barrel head is simple, easy and honest, and introduces no complications. After all, as you've implied, people are going to try force to take this from you; it's easier to leave the adventurers who found it off that list.</blockquote>

Verification