Does your campaign have magic shops?

[Imperialus]

most campaigns I've run I generally go by something simmilar to the DMG. Anything that will end up being worth more than 25% of the total wealth avelable for your class though has to be roleplayed. Keeps archers from spending the better part of a session looking for ammo and stuff like that.

In my current campaign magic shops don't exists simply because for the most part shops don't exist. The world is still recovering from a devistating magical cataclysem that among other things created humans and turned elves into feral canabels. The ability to craft any magic items other than potions and scrolls is very rare. The only way you can learn those feats are through the mages guild and they have very tight controls over who they teach since magic was directly responsable for the cataclysem. Human civilization is spread over numerous hill forts and other small settlements. There are no real shops per say but rather numerous traveling merchants. Some of them are really quite wealthy and a few even have a small stock of magic weapons and armour but merchants themselves are rare and the ones stocking magic items show up once in a blue moon.

 

[Orius]

Whilst I can empathise with your premise, it's unfortunately this sort of non sequitur which led me to my notion of using logic to determine magical item availability in the first place. If a 3rd level character has to spend weeks going on quests, finding raw materials and venturing from place to place to find components, then finally seeking out a smith capable of crafting such a device and an iconoclastic wizard capable of imbuing - his +1 sword, it makes no sense that a dozen levels later he can just buy half a dozen off the racks for his henchmen. The inevitable question as to "Why couldn't I do that at level 3?" springs to mind. Magic shops don't have scanners to only let people of certain level buy certain items. If a +1 sword is available, it's available. Current PC level is irrelevant.

Maybe contacts have a role to play here. A third level character is probably a local hero, he's well known in a certain town or maybe part of a city. Remember, keeping demographics in mind, a larger city could be assumed to have higher numbers of 3rd level characters, so they're not as individually special. A 15th level character is more likely to be a national hero, maybe famous throughout the known world, and likely there'll be lots of people who may owe him favors or want to get on his good side. So while many people didn't care one way or other what he was doing at level 3, they're going to want to rub shoulders with him now. Thus, getting low-powered magical weapons in quantity might be easier for him.

Still, given the right circumstances though, I don't see it unlikely a 3rd level character could easily acquire a +1 weapon of any kind of commonly used weapon either.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Still, given the right circumstances though, I don't see it unlikely a 3rd level character could easily acquire a +1 weapon of any kind of commonly used weapon either.

All that has to happen is that he gets lucky...maybe finds a tomb or a another dead adventurer or whatever who has a magic longsword. Or saves a 15th level character from being pickpocketed (or whatever).

 

[Quasqueton]

PC wizard wants to write a scroll. He studies up on what is required for the scroll: "feather of cockatrice, ink of giant squid, venom of wyvern." Gets his party together to go kill a cockatrice, giant squid, and wyvern.

Once each creature is slain, the wizard thinks, "Hmm. You know, I only need one feather off this '. Only an ounce of the squid ink and 'vern poison. Wonder if I could sell any of the extra to other wizards wanting to write their own scrolls?"

Wizard makes a deal with a local shop to sell individual ' feathers, and special ink and poison by the ounce. As word gets around the small, tight mage community, the local shop gets some wizard patrons looking for special items for their scroll scribing. Few want to go to the trouble of hunting cockatrices just to scribe a single scroll. Heck, many wizards have died (or been petrified) trying to obtain such a quill.

While the wizards are in the shop, they ask, "Do you have any blood of gorgon? I need a howler's quill. How about a mummified elf hand?" The shopkeeper realizes that he could make a lot of money if he could have more magical ingredients.

The shopkeeper puts out word among the adventurous crowd, that he will pay money for odd bits and pieces of monsters. He pays 1gp per gallon of gorgon's blood; sure that's a hefty amount, and he needs to get some investors (maybe the local wizard guild) to help him out. Then he sells the blood for 1gp per ounce. He buys whole cockatrice carcases for 10gp, then sells the quills for 1gp each; the heart for 5gp; the beak for 2gp; etc.

The shopkeeper, having proven the magical market to be lucrative even on the small scale, forms a guild with some other interested merchants. They open a few magical shops in other large cities and towns throughout the land.

One day, a wizard wants to write a scroll. He studies up on what is required for the scroll: "feather of cockatrice, ink of giant squid, venom of wyvern." He knows of this little "curiosity shop" in Big Town. He stops by and buys the supplies he needs. A friend of his, an older, more experienced wizard, mocks him saying, "Back in my day, we actually had to go hunt the cockatrice, squid, and wyvern ourselves. This idea of just buying magical supplies 'over the counter' takes the excitement out of scribing scrolls."

After a couple years, the shopkeeper has contacts all over the country among various adventurers, wizard's guilds, even the king's court wizard. When a warrior stops by his store inquiring about an enchanted weapon, well, the shopkeeper thinks, "Hmm. I wonder if I could work out a deal with some mage to embue an item for me?"

Then in a few years, the guild is buying, selling, trading, and brokering magic *items* as well as components.

After a couple decades, adventurers (or anyone with the need and cash) can buy magic components and items "over the counter". And the old timer adventurers moan. . .

Quasqueton