NPC Item crafters and their limits

[BriarMonkey]

Generally, I am pretty open about magic items and crafting. I house ruled that anyone, as long as they were able to contribute something, could help with the creation of magic items. That in turn means that anyone who is part of the crafting process can contribute XP, gold, spells, etc., to the construction. Hence, if a PC wants something custom crafted, if he can assist then he can spend the XP vice the NPC doing so.

Availability was pretty well covered by the size of the town, city, dorf, etc., where the party was currently. In a small homlet, they may be able to get room and board for a few silver a week, but they wouldn't be able to find, or have made, Gauntlets of Ogre Power. Similarly, if they were in the middle of barren wastes, what they find is what they get - there aren't any shops, much less NPCs, there.

In some places, like certain guilds, I would have a pre-done list of available items. If it wasn't on the list, it would need to be found or crafted.

And too, there was no instant gratification. If the party had items to sell, they needed to find the right connections. Generally speaking, it wasn't uncommon to have a couple different avenues for disposing of loot. They may have a merchant, or collector, who delt in oddities; whereas a merchant with a particular guild dealt with arms and armor. The same applied to construction. There was no single one-stop crafting shop.

In the end, who got their items made the quickest was those who invested personal resources, and who had the most coin. But regardless of one's place in the queue, they still had to wait to have the item crafted (unless it was already available).

In my next campaign, I do plan on taking this out a bit further. The current feat-based system lacks some of the feel and effort of the previous systems (like in 1st edition). So, I am toying with replacing all magic crafting feats with a single feat. With that feat, you will have access to some very basic recipies. From there, you will need to create, find, beg, borrow, or steal recipies and materials in order to make better, or more diverse, items. This then opens up quests, additional NPC vendors and guilds, and a host of other options, while still giving PCs the ability to get what they need - at a price of course.

 

[jcbdragon]

How much do you limit consumable and custom magic items from NPC sources?

How do you explain/enforce this limit?

Some of the items that I think would be in greater demand (curative potions, etc) are available from a larger number of sources. Let's face it, if there's money to be made, somebody will do it. The problem is that you never know who you're dealing with. Is Aaron the Amazing Alchemist *really* selling you a Potion of Healing, or is it snake oil with a Nystul's Magic Aura on it?

Temples are the only really reliable source of such things, and they're going to give first preference to their own followers -- and the higher-ranked the follower, the higher priority his request gets. If the Archbishop walked into your local church today and said, "I need all the holy water in your font," he's probably going to get it. For a PC who isn't a priest higher in the temple hierarchy than the head of that church, he's going to be expected to do something for the church. Money will be part of it, but also actions on behalf of the church.

One group I DM'd for came up with an interesting solution. They found someone who was able to do good quality work, and they became his patron. It meant that they had to lay out a lot of gold to set him up in a properly-equipped workshop, but it also meant that they could say, "I need you to work on X," and have their needs get top priority.

 

[thompsja]

How much do you limit consumable and custom magic items from NPC sources?

How do you explain/enforce this limit?

I'm used to Eberron, which has a PC class (Artificer) and a NPC class (Magewright) who make magic items. Eberron has lower level characters, 11-12 are very high level in the game, but a lot more who make magic items.

My gut feelings +1 items, scrolls/potions of no higher than 3rd level spells, or +2 stat mod items, or wondrous items that have no higher than 3rd level spells - generally available in a large city. You should be able to purchases these at book price, with multiple vendors.


Anything that can be made by 9th level or lower caster might be found in a city after enquiries. You might have to pay above book level. It should be difficult, but not impossible to obtain this item. Items at this point are done with broker, who makes inquiries and after reviewing the buyer and his/her crendentials, supervises a meeting of buyer and seller. (This is the equivalent of going to a jeweler and trying to buy a 10-carat diamond. You simply aren't allowed near it unless you're a real customer. Also, items like this are in private hands, and may be selling them to maintain their station)


Higher than that is going to be commissioned. If you could find a person who could make a Staff of Power, or a Helm of Brilliance, they still might not, since those are weapons of Mass Destruction, and local law might have something to say about it. They really have to sought after in a quest. These items take substantial magical energy (XP), and months to build. No one would build one without a really good reason.