Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 3511533" data-attributes="member: 30001">I have the same problem, and I never meant to suggest that magic items should be sitting on store shelves.&nbsp; A &quot;market&quot; for such items would probably mean something closer to what Celebrim gives as examples.On the topic of Aragorn not buying his magic items - that's another case where IMO DnD is an uncomfortable fit with Tolkien (ie. a more Dark Ages heroic setting).&nbsp; For one, the frequency of +1 swords in a typical game far exceeds anything you find in folklore.&nbsp; Another thing is that I find the economic picture of Middle Earth to be extremely undeveloped, and frankly implausible.&nbsp; The hobbits travel through huge swaths of abandoned wilderness.&nbsp; There was one scene in the book I recall where the orcs are converging on a fort (Helms Deep maybe?), and the fires of burning villages were seen in the distance as they approached.&nbsp; I found that jarring because no such mention was made of those villages in the hobbits approach to the fort.&nbsp; In fact, there's no discussion of transactions or currency, or any of the other stuff you'd expect to find underlying Middle Earth societies.&nbsp; The trolls had Orcrist and Sting sitting in their treasure pile in the hobbit.&nbsp; Isn't it possible that men have also hoarded these things?&nbsp; Descendants of great fighters who themselves are too sedintary to see much use for keeping around something worth so much that they'll never use?&nbsp; There's really nothing like that discussed in the books.&nbsp; Where's all the rest of the mithril?&nbsp; Did the dwarves trade it for something?&nbsp; I don't think that Tolkien really cared a whole lot about the economic nature of his world, because I don't find it to be that developed.&nbsp; A DnD world, though, I think has a greater requirement for versimiltude than a novel - unless your players are of similar mindset and can put aside their questions about how stuff works.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="gizmo33, post: 3511533, member: 30001"] I have the same problem, and I never meant to suggest that magic items should be sitting on store shelves. A "market" for such items would probably mean something closer to what Celebrim gives as examples. On the topic of Aragorn not buying his magic items - that's another case where IMO DnD is an uncomfortable fit with Tolkien (ie. a more Dark Ages heroic setting). For one, the frequency of +1 swords in a typical game far exceeds anything you find in folklore. Another thing is that I find the economic picture of Middle Earth to be extremely undeveloped, and frankly implausible. The hobbits travel through huge swaths of abandoned wilderness. There was one scene in the book I recall where the orcs are converging on a fort (Helms Deep maybe?), and the fires of burning villages were seen in the distance as they approached. I found that jarring because no such mention was made of those villages in the hobbits approach to the fort. In fact, there's no discussion of transactions or currency, or any of the other stuff you'd expect to find underlying Middle Earth societies. The trolls had Orcrist and Sting sitting in their treasure pile in the hobbit. Isn't it possible that men have also hoarded these things? Descendants of great fighters who themselves are too sedintary to see much use for keeping around something worth so much that they'll never use? There's really nothing like that discussed in the books. Where's all the rest of the mithril? Did the dwarves trade it for something? I don't think that Tolkien really cared a whole lot about the economic nature of his world, because I don't find it to be that developed. A DnD world, though, I think has a greater requirement for versimiltude than a novel - unless your players are of similar mindset and can put aside their questions about how stuff works. [/QUOTE]

Verification