For someone who earns his living with fighting or lives in such a dangerous area where this kind of weapons are needed (and legal), yes.
The assumption that something very valuable and useful exists and it won't be traded is simply silly.
D&D 5E magic items prices
For someone who earns his living with fighting or lives in such a dangerous area where this kind of weapons are needed (and legal), yes.
The assumption that something very valuable and useful exists and it won't be traded is simply silly.
ExploderWizard
Hero
Of course! What percentage of the overall population do you think that is?
In the real world not much as armies issue the weapons. Still 3-4% sounds right (many soldiers and policemen tend to privately buy body armor and misc stuff, though). It are probably more considering all the current troubles and in or near conflict zones the % would be much, much higher.
In a monster filled medieval fantasy world? Likely twice that % or even more.
Last edited:
ExploderWizard
Hero
In a fantasy world you might count high ranking military officers as well as adventurers but not regular soldiers & guards. They simply don't have the hit points. In the D&D universe hit points are everything. Spending your life savings on a gadget that might improve your survival odds ever so slightly isn't a good bet if you are going to face things that can splat you in one hit. Thus only adventurers are really in the market for such things. I think 8% or more of the population being adventurers is a bit high personally.
Nergal Pendragon
First Post
Probably around ten percent. Militaries make up about 2% of the world's population, and then there are places like Iraq and Somalia...
However, to counter that, note that most of the non-military people only own assault rifles. Those are basically the nonmagical longsword of modern warfare. Actual military access to helicopters and similar equipment is also massively limited even within militaries; maybe 25-40% have full access. So, overall, less than 1% of the world's population would qualify for what Derren said.
Why would adventurers always be much higher level than professional mercenaries (basically just adventurers in larger groups), Men-at-arms, knights and other professional warriors, etc?
Besides, how would someone know in game how much HP he has and if it would be "cost effective" for him to buy a better weapon/armor to keep him alive?
Mostly because of legal issues as well as training and maintenance and supply issues. The latter two do not apply to magic items.
And don't limit it to militias. Anyone near IS or Boko Haram would want some heavy gear, militia or not.
Last edited:
Gecko85
Explorer
To keep it in context, his quote about the fully automatic machine guns, etc., was in direct response (and quoted) this:
So, he wasn't talking about someone who earns his living with fighting...
For them there are non combat magical items and general purpose consumables.
Nergal Pendragon
First Post
Legal issues only apply in nations where there are enforced laws that get in the way. Training, maintenance, and supply issues can be solved through a combination of gun runners and mercenaries.
Also, in a world where magical items are very rare (i.e. DnD 5E default), supply issues very much apply to magic items. In fact, massive supply issues is the default assumption of the setting; that's part of why it doesn't include a market by default. Not that one doesn't necessarily exist, but that magic items themselves are so hard to get that the market is effectively nonexistent as far as most people know.
Also, I didn't limit my comments to militias. I limited who qualified to such, but that's because reality tends to do the same.
Similar Threads
