D&D 5E Magic Item Shops in Your Campaign

[CleverNickName]

The discussion about magic item costs in 5E Level Up thread has sent me down a rabbit-hole. I'm curious about how the folks at ENWorld handle "shopping lists" and magic item purchases in their D&D campaigns. Specifically, I'm curious what items are available for purchase, which ones aren't, and what the criteria that drives that decision.

To the polls, fellow voters!

Choose a city in your D&D game world, the closest one to what your characters would consider "home base," the place where they are expected to do their shopping. Then vote for the items that can be purchased there, checking as many boxes as are applicable.

If you base your decision on the type of items for sale ("only potions and scrolls," for example), vote according to Item type. If you base your decision on the rarity of the items instead ("only Common, Uncommon, and Rare items"), use the boxes for Rarity. If you base this decision on a combination of different types of criteria, click for everything that applies. And if you don't allow the purchase of any magic items at all, slap that "No magic items for sale" option.

As always, feel free to add any nuance and clarification in the comments. Thanks for your time!

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Might want a Type: Scrolls category

 

[CleverNickName]

Might want a Type: Scrolls category

Woops! Sorry about that. (It was a long list, and it's been a long morning...)

I fixed it; Scrolls now appear at the very bottom.

 

[CleverNickName]

In the "hometown" for my players, they can buy single-use items like potions and scrolls with little trouble. There's a small chance that the might find a magic item from Table B or Table F for sale, but it's never guaranteed. And in all cases, the players understand that there's a 1 in 10 chance that any magic item their character purchases could be cursed, fake, or mislabeled (this was discussed with the players beforehand at Session Zero and agreed upon).

 

[Cadence]

They don't really have a base, and their home village was tiny...

The three big metropolis probably have about everything short of a legendary item or artifact for sale somewhere, or someone who would make it for the right price. Whether the party can find that person and afford it is a different matter.

Wasn't sure how to vote so checked everything except the legendary and artifacts.

 

[Thunder Brother]

In the city of the Sternwall, renowned for its commerce and industry, there are many things that may strike the interest of an adventurer. However, magic items are generally rare and require good connections if you seek them out.

Now, you can get your weapon or armor made with Sternwall Steel, which gives a bonus to damage but is otherwise unmagical. magical runic enchantments can be commissioned from a runesmith, a profession dominated by dwarves and humans from the South.

If you know the right people, you may enquire at The Ink and Quill about any curios that have recently passed through. But usually such items require a hefty amount of gold and a good reputation with a made member of the Syndicate.

A magister at the University of Sternwall may be able to throw a spell scroll your way, but the price may involve recovering a missing book or other historical artifact.

And naturally there are people carrying around relatively common-place magical items; wealthy freemen, prominent nobles, veteran bodyguards, etc. You could obtain one of these items, but that may require some theft and/or violence.


Anyway, I treat magical items as rare rewards that have some kind of story attached to them or a distinct place in the world. In addition, acquiring them often becomes a story by itself. I don't accept "shopping lists", and honestly find the idea of them to be silly.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

In my current campaign I have a magic item seller who is most definitely evil and backed by the (probably evil) secretive mage who oversees that section of the Underdark. He's not against jacking-up prices on a whim. Also, a lot of his items were probably obtained by unsavory means and deals with evil creatures.

It adds an element of "hey, we can buy this stuff, but should we be giving money to this guy?"

As for security, most of the higher end-merchandise isn't on the premises, the buyers themselves consult a catalog rather than getting to browse directly, the person handling transactions is behind a barrier, and the floor has multiple glyphs of warding against troublemakers.

 

[aco175]

Last campaign we played was in Phandalin and there the PCs could get a few healing potions and a few other small potions and maybe a low level scroll. They needed to go to Waterdeep and see the guild to get anything they really wanted. There could be others in town that had an item and wanted to trade or sell and the guild could act as a middle man to swap. There is always a chance to not have something. Roll high on the d20.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Woops! Sorry about that. (It was a long list, and it's been a long morning...)

I fixed it; Scrolls now appear at the very bottom.

Cool - now what about an option for: “None because WotC’s designers refuse and/or are too inept to provide ample game mechanics for my desired magic item economy?”

(EDIT: meant this as a joke - I’m more than happy that the 5e default from XGtE is “purchasing a magic item requires time and money to seek out and contact people willing to sell items. Even then, there is no guarantee a seller will have the items a character desires.” Ye Olde Magic Shoppes are just not our table’s thing. That said I don’t mind some very minor single use items to sometimes be available depending on the campaign)

 

[CleverNickName]

Cool - now what about an option for: “None because WotC’s designers refuse and/or are too inept to provide ample game mechanics for my desired magic item economy?”

Eh, I'd probably just vote "None" and then post a comment about WotC. OH WAIT