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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jaer" data-source="post: 4220045" data-attributes="member: 57861">I got the impression that the magic items were the icing on the cake for the wandering merchant.  They go to a city, load up on utility items and things that smaller towns might not be able to get readily, and they make their rounds.  They plan to hit certain places knowing that Lakeside doesn't have any way to get ore, but has lots of fish; Maiden's Gaze is near a salt mine, but is lacking decent hunting grounds; and Lallis is located in a forest with plenty of wood supplies and great game, but they could are always in need of a good shipment of salt for curing meats and skins (which always sell well in the city whne he returns).Making this run, the merchant has a variety of common items which could sell in any of the places (copper tea kettles, some books, kitchen utensils, a few weapons or armor) and he'll replenish this stock at any of the villages or citieis in which he can pick up such things, but has specific things he buys and sells to each of the places, which is what makes the route truely profitable.  Perhaps he makes this route 3 times a year, and during one of those runs, he hits a fewer smaller, more far out villages who are always in need of what he is selling.  So profitable is this run that he is able to afford a small guard.  Should he happen to run across some adventures with magical items to sell, that is just the good fortune and a good deal of profit on his part, profit that was unexpected and uncalculated in his route (saving perhaps the occasional sale of potions or something, depending on how those turn out).In my own game, I would definitely make it so any items (magic or otherwise) a merchant may have would be more expensive then if the same item was found in a city, and likewise make it so the traveling merchant wouldn't pay nearly as much for them as goods taken to the city and sold directly.  That is the price of the convenience of having a traveling merchant coming around: he takes the risk, he pays for the guards, he makes the money.</blockquote>

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