Magic availibility and Magic shops

[Gilwen]

I was just curious to how you determine what kinds and how many magic items show up in your magic shops in your campaigns.

I am currently using a percentage to see if the items the party is looking for can be found there but I am working on a more complex system and was hoping seeing how other ppl do it could help me come up with something useful.
I am trying to avoid saying "everything under Xgp is able to be found in this area."

Thanks,

Bryan

 

[Mark Chance]

I was just curious to how you determine what kinds and how many magic items show up in your magic shops in your campaigns.

A variety of opinions found by clicking here.

 

[MarauderX]

None to zero

Often times I only have 1 'magic shop' where PCs could possibly buy or sell low level magic items in the whole realm. Otherwise I think they feel lucky for what they have. I also use this site for shops that have spell components, parchment and the like.

http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm

 

[alsih2o]

what i always wonder is- what kind of security doesw it take to run a magic shop? i mean, folks would be frothign at the mouth to get these items, especially commoners and evil folks.

what happens when the peasants get riled up and bumrush the shop?

 

[Enkhidu]

The idea of a magic shop really sticks in my craw. I just can't envision a magical Wal-mart:

"Why yes, the Holy Avengers are in aisle 14."

That's why I prefer less centralized methods. Example - A successful Information Gathering check might net the following information next time the PC's are in town: Sir Radamund's family is very old, very powerful, and very wealthy, but recent business ventures by Radamund's son have bled the family coffers dry. As a result he is holding a very discrete and private auction for a handul of family hierlooms, some of which are rumored to be magical in nature. (good for selling high gp value items).

Or for low level magics,

For the past two weeks, a woman selling "Cure All Tonics" has been traveling through rural towns. However, unlike the standard breed of quack, her more tonics actually work. In fact, she might be willing to part with a batch of more potent tonic for a small fee... (Potions, potions, and more potions!)

Much of purchasing magic items is in the delivery.

 

[elbandit]

My method

I took a more anal approach to the question of magic item availablity.

IMC each magic shop has two listings of magic items. The first is the items that the resident mage owner is capable of making. This is based on his feats and level. The second listing is the items that he may have traded or purchased from adventurers. I normall roll a D6 or D10 or D20 and sometimes multiple dice to see how many such random items the show has.

Arms and Equipment has a convient listing of the amount of items in gp value that a shop would have in a city of specific size. I generally use that as a rule of thumb for items that a mage owner would have made and randomly determine the other items.

 

[Umbran]

I generally don't use "magic shops". Items are available for sale, but not in centralized locations, lying idle. Magic items are too valuable to sit on a shelf waiting for a buyer. They're out and about being used. The party needs to either find someone with the appropriate feats and commission an item, or find the person who would have such an item that they'd be willing to sell.

 

[Robbert Raets]

what i always wonder is- what kind of security doesw it take to run a magic shop? i mean, folks would be frothign at the mouth to get these items, especially commoners and evil folks.

what happens when the peasants get riled up and bumrush the shop?

Wouldn't you want to run/play in a riot in the Urban Arcana version of Los Angeles?

 

[alsih2o]

Wouldn't you want to run/play in a riot in the Urban Arcana version of Los Angeles?

my point exactly

 

[Mordane76]

I generally don't use "magic shops". Items are available for sale, but not in centralized locations, lying idle. Magic items are too valuable to sit on a shelf waiting for a buyer. They're out and about being used. The party needs to either find someone with the appropriate feats and commission an item, or find the person who would have such an item that they'd be willing to sell.

How has this worked for you? We're about to transition our campaign from using the standard DMG rules for items to something more akin to this, as well as limiting the use of referring to items by their mechanical names (items above a certain power level will have unique names, items under a certain power level will just be referred to as "magical" or "enchanted").