D&D (2024) Magic Item Armour sale question

[DragonLancer]

A question has come up in a game I am DMing and we've scoured the books and seem to be missing something. We're still trying to get to grips with D&D 5th so apologies if this seems like an obvious question.

The Paladin in the party found a suit of Mithril Half-Plate but wants to sell it now to fund a better suit of armour. Being an Uncommon item it should sell for 200gp but half-plate is more expensive and would sell for more. We're still thinking of Pathfinder where the item cost is just increased by a value equivalent to the material and or bonus, which isn't the case here. The player has queried is he selling it for 200gp because it's just an Uncommon item or would he get half the armours sale cost as well? Nothing we can find says one way or the other but I am assuming because it is specifically an Uncommon item rather than a standard suit of armour that the flat 200gp is correct.

Thanks for your help.

 

[aco175]

No good answers or hard rules from anyone. I might just go with the cost of half the normal armor plus half being uncommon. I did see a website with 'sane' item costs saying it would cost about 1,500gp. Resale for half.

 

[Horwath]

1st, I would not call mithril armor a "magic" or "uncommon" item.
price needs to be put on mithril armor same as steel and potentially adamantium, as less frequent but natural mineral.

2nd, double base price for mithril sounds good to me.

3rd, price in 5E have no sense whatsoever, simply because 5E team did not spend more than 5 minutes on working on them,
they have more or less reprinted 3.5e price table, but forgot to price magic items as that was too much work for them.

 

[Osgood]

You would add the cost of the base armor, plus the magic item cost by rarity.

From the 2024 DMG (pg 217):
"If a magic item incorporates an item that has a purchase cost in the Player’s Handbook (such as a weapon or a suit of armor), add that item’s cost to the magic item’s value. For example, +1 Armor (Plate Armor) has a value of 5,500 GP, which is the sum of a Rare magic item’s value (4,000 GP) and the cost of Plate Armor (1,500 GP)."

 

[DragonLancer]

You would add the cost of the base armor, plus the magic item cost by rarity.

From the 2024 DMG (pg 217):
"If a magic item incorporates an item that has a purchase cost in the Player’s Handbook (such as a weapon or a suit of armor), add that item’s cost to the magic item’s value. For example, +1 Armor (Plate Armor) has a value of 5,500 GP, which is the sum of a Rare magic item’s value (4,000 GP) and the cost of Plate Armor (1,500 GP)."

Thank you. I knew there would be something we were missing somewhere.

1st, I would not call mithril armor a "magic" or "uncommon" item.

It rolls as Uncommon on the treasure table.

 

[kigmatzomat]

1st, I would not call mithril armor a "magic" or "uncommon" item.

Fun 5e fact: mitrhal and adamantine armors are not merely treasure or unusual materials, they are classified as "magic items" that are rarity "uncommon". By being a "magic item" they lose their properties while inside an Antimagic Field, meaning adamantine doesn't block criticals and mithral impedes stealth, gets heavier and if worn under other clothing causes some kind of mobility issue.

 

[mellored]

price in 5E have no sense whatsoever, simply because 5E team did not spend more than 5 minutes on working on them,

They did it for game reason, not realism.

You need to separate out item levels more clearly and not let a level 2 party but level 20 equipment.

Not that magic items are realistic in the first place. But it's supposed to be "rare and special" not "rich army mass producing wands of magic missile", which would be realistic.