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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jürgen Hubert" data-source="post: 3352197" data-attributes="member: 7177">I think this issue is a bit more complicated than that.Let's say you are Suplreme Overlord of X, and you have been in a state of conflict with the kingdom of Y and its High King. The war has been going on for a few years, and the way things are looking, it will probably last some more years before the outcome is clear - thus, weakening your country and treasury, and possibly inviting an attack from the nation of Z.Now you hear that some lucky adventurers have gained the All-Powerful Sceptre of Xyx the All-Powerful - and they are willing to sell it. This sceptre could win you the war in a matter of weeks! So you immediately send out some agents to buy it - before Y or Z can get it first.You know that, above all else, you will have to prevent Y and Z from getting the artifact. But the adventurers want to see which of you will offer the most money - and in cash, too! Your treasury has been seriously depleted anyway, and most of your wealth is in land, not coins, so there is a limit to what you can afford - but there's no way you can allow the others to get it. And each passing day more interested buyers show up - and at any time, they might try to steal the artifact, and possibly succeed, too (sure, the adventurers are powerful - but powerful enough to ward off any attacks or attempts to steal the sceptre? Do you know how capable they are - and how capable the people are who attempt to steal it?) So you secretly hire the best thieves in the world to get the sceptre - or at least, the best who haven't been hired yet. If that doesn't work, you might try to kidnap some of the weaker members in exchange for the artifact - or some friends, relatives, or loved ones. Anything that might convince them to turn the sceptre over. You might feel a bit guilty about this, but if any of your rivals get it first, you are doomed anyway...In other words, player characters who openly announce that they have an artifact to sell more often than not invite trouble on a scale that will make any two Great Wyrms seem like a cakewalk in comparison. Everyone who is anyone will come after them until they get rid of the item - and all interested parties know it.Sure, they can probably make a statement (if they are powerful enough) by killing two or three heads of states that ordered hit squads to come after them - but through this, they will also throw these countries into chaos and cause a lot of resentment against them. Is it that what they really want - to be feared and seen as terrorists by much of the world?I'll repeat my earlier advice: If they find some powerful artifact and want to exchange it for cash or favors, their best bet is to secretly contact a power or organization that (a) has plenty of money and (b) is unlikely to stab them in the back to get it. Sure, they won't get as much money out of it like they would have by auctioning it off - but at least they can speand the gold in peace...</blockquote>

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