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Maybe this is where the magic went...(Forked Thread: Where Has All the Magic Gone?)
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<blockquote data-quote="CruelSummerLord" data-source="post: 4587167" data-attributes="member: 48692"><p>What about in a campaign where there are no magic shops? I myself hate the idea of just being able to go in and buy a magic sword or shield right off the shelf, pre-made to order; capitalism is all well and good in the real world, but this is a fantasy setting. </p><p> </p><p>Buying potions is one thing, especially when your party comes across one magic weapon in about eight or nine levels of adventuring, and you have to make do with using Oil of Impact or Oil of Sharpness to temporarily enchant your non-magical, non-masterwork weapons, but it's quite another to expect that you can just stroll into the local wizard's guild and get whatever you want at your convenience. Most wizards, as I imagine it, would laugh in your face if you walked into their guildhall and asked for a flaming sword at "market price". </p><p> </p><p>If that Flagon of Booze is the only magical treasure you come across in three years of campaign time, and the entire party has accumulated maybe four or five magical items between them on their way from 1st to 13th level, chances are they'll try and find a way to make the best of whatever items they can get. </p><p> </p><p>If you houserule (as I would) that you couldn't make permanent items until at least 16th level, or couldn't scribe spell scrolls until 9th level, in effect restoring the old 1E rules on magic item creation, and note the fact that reaching 6th or 7th level by itself marks you as exceptional, each individual magical treasure becomes that much more essential. </p><p> </p><p>And, like I said, creative players can find a way to use any number of items. If you're captured by hill giants, for example, you could perhaps offer to give them some of your delicious ale, which you'll gladly hand over if they let you go. If the suspicious giants demand that you drink it first to prove that it's not poison, you could drink the weakest, least alcoholic part as proof, and then rig the flagon to run with the thickest, most powerful alcohol, to the point where the giants drink themselves into a stupor, or at least become so loaded they're that much easier to defeat in combat. </p><p> </p><p>In a social occasion, when you're dealing with a hostile baron or other noble figure, you could get him juiced up as a means of weakening his judgment and getting him to sign whatever you put in front of him...even if that document is a civic pardon that clears your fellow adventurer of the crime he was framed for! </p><p> </p><p>Want an instant gift to impress a lady of noble standing? Use that rod of splendor to conjure up some beautiful furs and jewels for her, and suddenly the DC for your Diplomacy check becomes that much lower. </p><p> </p><p>If you and your companions suddenly find yourselves having to escort a group of recently freed slaves back to civilization, that decanter of endless water can come in mighty handy for keeping them alive until you return to the outpost. If you're going into the desert, you don't even need to carry a large amount of water-the decanter will provide all the H20 you need, so you don't have to worry about keeping track of your water supplies as you travel, or suffer any combat penalties. Keep it running long enough, and you might even be able to gather enough water to conjure a water elemental...</p><p> </p><p>Again, like I said, clever players can find creative uses for items that otherwise might not seem so useful at first glance.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CruelSummerLord, post: 4587167, member: 48692"] What about in a campaign where there are no magic shops? I myself hate the idea of just being able to go in and buy a magic sword or shield right off the shelf, pre-made to order; capitalism is all well and good in the real world, but this is a fantasy setting. Buying potions is one thing, especially when your party comes across one magic weapon in about eight or nine levels of adventuring, and you have to make do with using Oil of Impact or Oil of Sharpness to temporarily enchant your non-magical, non-masterwork weapons, but it's quite another to expect that you can just stroll into the local wizard's guild and get whatever you want at your convenience. Most wizards, as I imagine it, would laugh in your face if you walked into their guildhall and asked for a flaming sword at "market price". If that Flagon of Booze is the only magical treasure you come across in three years of campaign time, and the entire party has accumulated maybe four or five magical items between them on their way from 1st to 13th level, chances are they'll try and find a way to make the best of whatever items they can get. If you houserule (as I would) that you couldn't make permanent items until at least 16th level, or couldn't scribe spell scrolls until 9th level, in effect restoring the old 1E rules on magic item creation, and note the fact that reaching 6th or 7th level by itself marks you as exceptional, each individual magical treasure becomes that much more essential. And, like I said, creative players can find a way to use any number of items. If you're captured by hill giants, for example, you could perhaps offer to give them some of your delicious ale, which you'll gladly hand over if they let you go. If the suspicious giants demand that you drink it first to prove that it's not poison, you could drink the weakest, least alcoholic part as proof, and then rig the flagon to run with the thickest, most powerful alcohol, to the point where the giants drink themselves into a stupor, or at least become so loaded they're that much easier to defeat in combat. In a social occasion, when you're dealing with a hostile baron or other noble figure, you could get him juiced up as a means of weakening his judgment and getting him to sign whatever you put in front of him...even if that document is a civic pardon that clears your fellow adventurer of the crime he was framed for! Want an instant gift to impress a lady of noble standing? Use that rod of splendor to conjure up some beautiful furs and jewels for her, and suddenly the DC for your Diplomacy check becomes that much lower. If you and your companions suddenly find yourselves having to escort a group of recently freed slaves back to civilization, that decanter of endless water can come in mighty handy for keeping them alive until you return to the outpost. If you're going into the desert, you don't even need to carry a large amount of water-the decanter will provide all the H20 you need, so you don't have to worry about keeping track of your water supplies as you travel, or suffer any combat penalties. Keep it running long enough, and you might even be able to gather enough water to conjure a water elemental... Again, like I said, clever players can find creative uses for items that otherwise might not seem so useful at first glance. [/QUOTE]
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