Do you allow magic to be purchased in your 1E AD&D games?

[kaomera]

Mark down another response in the "mostly no" column.

PCs who had a relationship with specific NPCs (individuals or organizations; could be a powerful Wizard, could be a Church) might be able to purchase some items, but typically it was "Go do this quest, and in return I'll let you buy X, Y, or Z items at book price, if not higher..." Still, since it was a chance to choose (even from a short list) an item, most players went for it with much enthusiasm.

 

[Melan]

Yes, of course. Shops where you can buy magic items are like curio stores - you have a lot of useless junk, some quirky stuff that may or may not be interesting, and some genuinely good deals - but telling the three apart may not be easy, even with detect magic. Sometimes that mummy dust is just dust. Sometimes it is real mummy dust. And sometimes it is some poisonous powder that turns the slain victims into animate zombies!

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

Minor items, yes. Potions, +1 weapons, that sort of thing.

That about sums up my 1E experience as well as my 3.x too.

 

[WayneLigon]

You mean 'did you'? Yes, usually potions, scrolls, anything under about 1,000 gp could probably be found in a very large city. Potions you could usually get in some towns or cities depending on what the local magical community was like. Potions were something like 50-150 gp for the basic stuff, if I remember right. At some point I had a little chart that told me how long it took for things to come back in stock - since there were virutally no rules for making magic items we usually used some third party stuff, which gave manufacture times and the like.

There was some product that had rules for potions, poisons, various alchemical things and as you went up in level you could master more complex recipies of stuff: I've long forgotten what the product name was. But we used that in a lot of games until around 2E or so.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

There was some product that had rules for potions, poisons, various alchemical things and as you went up in level you could master more complex recipies of stuff: I've long forgotten what the product name was. But we used that in a lot of games until around 2E or so.

That sounds like The Complete Alchemist?

 

[airwalkrr]

Been a while since we played 1e. When we started out magic was ridiculously rare. I think we were level 5 before we even saw a healing potion. It was a hardcore campaign. When I started DMing for the group, I eased things up just a little. There were occassional "magic shops," but they didn't stock magic items so much as supplies for creating magic items, namely potions and scrolls. If the PCs knew the right people, they could arrange to purchase magic items however. I had an organization called the League of Ventures that often sponsored adventuring parties and their leader crafted potions that were for sale to members and allies only. The PCs only rarely took them up on it. That was kind of a hybrid 1e/2e/3e game though.

My current campaign is a hybrid 1e/2e/3e game as well (although it is now more 3e than 1e). But I maintain the flavor of 1e by making magic rare. Potions are occassionally gifted by NPCs to PCs with similar goals. Minor divine scrolls and potions are usually available at temples for very high prices. The only city with shops that actually keep magic items in stock regularly is Greyhawk, and even then most are scroll or potion shops. Maldin and Elenderi's allegedly CAN get a hold of almost any magic item, but one must be on good terms with the owners and be willing to fork over a lot of cash in advance. The occassional random magic item can be found in various shops, but they are pricey and jealously guarded. My PCs can never just waltz into a shop and buy whatever they want.

 

[tx7321]

I also tend to make magic more expensive as PCs go up in level. This is a great way to keep your players relatively poor. I try not to make this incremental increase in prices noticable.

Oh, also, do you make magic potions etc. more available to magic user and cleric PCs (since they'd likely have more access to spell casters who make them). We used to broker through our group magicians to trade or buy magic.

 

[Grazzt]

Nope. Never allowed magic items to be purchased.

 

[sckeener]

Yes, everything can be bought if you are in the right store and the item is common.

In the major cities I usually have places similar to Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, row upon row of magic shops with items running the gambit from cheap (common/safe) to expensive (unique/dangerous)....most items that I usually list are magical non-adventuring items (with the problem that creative minds usually find an adventuring use) such as a bodice that laces itself or bubbly faerie wine that makes the user talk in a high (helium like) voice