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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tzarevitch" data-source="post: 64979" data-attributes="member: 1792">Re: Re: Re: High level 3e magic item purchasing... when does enough become too much?I would disagree. First a lord would have to be out of his mind to spend "a fortune" on magic items for himself and his retainers when the same amount of money can probably cover the regular maintenance on his castle, and allow him to upgrade his farmland. a noble lord probalby has a couple of magic items that he acquired or were passed down to him, but he won't likely be spending much hard earned money on more. Even if he were to spend lots of money on magic items, but equiping a couple of  lords and their retainers is not the makings of an entire market in magic. Someties the wealthy would like some magic to assist them, but that only goes so far. A lord usually is not spelding his time battling ghosts and things that require magic. He spends time administering to his estate and defending it. A couple of magic items will not help him when his neighbor marshalls an army against him. He'd be better off spending money upgrading his army and castle with a little money going for a choice magic item or two in case of emergencies. There simply aren't THAT many nobles and retainers who need much magic or can afford it. Even if they do choose to buy some magic weapons and protections it usually is a near one-time purchase. After all, it is not like your new lot of magic swords is going to wear out en masse. Believe me, I know.  I play in a 3e Birthright campaign in addition to the other campaign I run. I am a Ran1, Pal 1, Cler12 and I rule a fairly large theocracy. I have about 500 or so priests at my beck and call, I have a 15th level court wizard, and my wife is a 7th level wizard. Despite all of this I can't afford to equip all of my loyal retainers with magic. For the cost of a dozen minor magic swords I could equip an legion of 200 men, or I could maintain my castle or road network for 3 months. Any given small settlement will likely only have one minor lord and his retainers. En entire country say the the size of Cormyr in FR probably has no more that 50 landed noble families at best. It is possible that some merchant lords might want some magic too but there aren't that many of them either. The lion's share of the popolation: slaves/freemen/serfs etc have no real need for magic items. The farmer doesn't need a magic long sword to protect his farm when a stout staff will do about as well, especially when the magic sword would probably cost more than the entire farm's upkeep. My argument is that maybe 100 or so buyers in an entire country (who are not adventurers)  is not a ready "market". Magic items are basically exotic goods. Their value tends to be high to the few people who need them and can afford them (which is to say the wealthy and adventurers) and they have little value beyond their utility to everyone else. Since most magic items aren't preishable what little "market" there is doesn't even renew itself. Only adventurers (and their nemeses) need to "keep up with the Jonses" with regard to procuring bigger and better magic. (Wait a minute! There's a thought. . . perishable magic items. I'll have to spring that one on my PCs. But back to the topic. ) That is one of the reasons why I have such a problem with the Red Wizards in FR and their magical merchant emporium nonsense. The entire concept really only works as a business if you have a steady flow of customers who need a ready supply of magic (the more expensive the goods the fewer the customers you need) but the only people who need a constant flow of magic are adventurers.  I find it doubtful that most areas have all that many adventurers in to maintain demand (especially considering the tendency for adventurers to be a destabilizing force in large numbers.)All of this is why I go with the theory that there is no market for magic items. If you want to sell an item, you need to find that rare someone who is actually interested in buying it. If you want to buy a certain item, you realy need to contract with a particular wizard or priest to custom make it, and he will charge whatever he feels it is worth to you (in advance). Tzarevitch</blockquote>

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