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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Salthorae" data-source="post: 7461723" data-attributes="member: 1095">And? That accurately reflects the buying power relative to populace in medieval Europe which is the baseline for *most* D&D settings. A horse or an ox was a huge sum of money to most people and they would scrimp and save to buy a new one when the existing was getting older. I think your conception of the modern middle class and the buying power that Western people have in the modern era is really coloring your perception of what a D&D world should look like from a commerce perspective. My base assumptions and that of the core books, I think, is that most of the items are priced in the PHB high because a craftsman may only sell a few, maybe a dozen a year, so they are expensive. Not because every schmo out there can afford a 10 gp shortsword and the sword smith is cranking out 4000 a year. DMG downtime rules for running a smithy (where a sword would be made) shows that if you spend 30 days working on the business you have a reasonable chance of earning between 7-21 gp per MONTH. So a normal craftsman would have to use that money for his and his families upkeep (lifestyle). Let’s say comfortable for a family of 5, that leaves him with -3 to 11 gp per month to save. Why would he save for 10-50 months and waste that on a +1 sword even if it were available? Keep in mind that is a business getting in the 80th % on the check. Below that and you’re not making money after upkeep. And most wealthy don’t deal in coin. They deal in rights to a shipment or land or property. So you might be able to trade a magic item to a nobleman for a keep or a title or something. But you’re not going to get just straight gp. Most besides adventurers don’t have that kind of liquid gp just laying around. So could there be a magic item economy? In my world maybe, if you find the right person for the right item and it doesn’t get stolen first while you’re shopping. But you aren’t getting gp, you’re getting other things, goods, lands, properties, club membership, a tavern, etc. That’s my worlds anyway, and how I think the core books see it.</blockquote>

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