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<blockquote data-quote="Ahrimon" data-source="post: 6424138" data-attributes="member: 12630">One thing I think people miss is not that characters want to just buy a generic magic sword.&nbsp; They want sword X from page Y of book Z.&nbsp; To use the Ferrari example:&nbsp; Sure, you may be able to go into Albany and find a used Ferrari, but the player wanted the blue 89 convertible ferrari with the red trim and bucket seats.So you give a little and include some item shops.&nbsp; Next thing you know the players are upset because the stores don't have item X and the DM is being unfair/mean/rat-bastardly because the stores don't have what they want.I like the broker approach and that's how I ran my 4e games.&nbsp; The players had some contacts with several merchants.&nbsp; We didn't role play through it, but they could pay book price and had a 75% chance of getting the item in say 4d6 days, fully refundable if they don't.&nbsp; Pay +20% and have a 85% chance in 2d6 days, the 20% being non-refundable greasing of palms, bribes, etc.&nbsp; I had a scale so the players could choose how much they wanted the item and how fast.&nbsp; Everything was technically available, but there wasn't instant gratification.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ahrimon, post: 6424138, member: 12630"] One thing I think people miss is not that characters want to just buy a generic magic sword. They want sword X from page Y of book Z. To use the Ferrari example: Sure, you may be able to go into Albany and find a used Ferrari, but the player wanted the blue 89 convertible ferrari with the red trim and bucket seats. So you give a little and include some item shops. Next thing you know the players are upset because the stores don't have item X and the DM is being unfair/mean/rat-bastardly because the stores don't have what they want. I like the broker approach and that's how I ran my 4e games. The players had some contacts with several merchants. We didn't role play through it, but they could pay book price and had a 75% chance of getting the item in say 4d6 days, fully refundable if they don't. Pay +20% and have a 85% chance in 2d6 days, the 20% being non-refundable greasing of palms, bribes, etc. I had a scale so the players could choose how much they wanted the item and how fast. Everything was technically available, but there wasn't instant gratification. [/QUOTE]

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