Party Magic Pool

[S'mon]

It seems to me that all you're really getting at is that you want to exceed the wealth guidelines. Nothing wrong with that, especially if it isn't going far about the guidelines. Just think a bit about what extra power and ability you're giving them as you build your encounters.

The wealth guidelines are there to guide the GM as to what's a suitable combat challenge (given 25 point default array PCs); I tend to think that any wealth not spent on combat enhancements shouldn't count towards the guideline figure. You should not allow players to think in terms of the guidelines, really, and preferably not in terms of anything in the DMG, like magic item lists.

 

[Umbran]

I tend to think that any wealth not spent on combat enhancements shouldn't count towards the guideline figure.

To the clever player, there is no such thing as an item that is not a combat enhancement.

I think the designers were a little more clever than that - it isn't all about combat. It is about overcoming challenges. Often enough, challenges are overcome by combat, but not always. So, in a campaign with varied types of challenges, any item that helps you overcome those challenges should be counted.

The number of items presented in the DMG that are really not at all useful at overcoming challenges in general is... small indeed.

 

[phindar]

Shadowrun players might remember Availabilty and Street Index, which were used to determine how difficult items are to find and how much they cost on the street. A Predator II heavy pistol might have a 550 nuyen MSRP, but they are so common that they had a Street Index of .5, meaning they went for 225ny on the corner. APDS ammo, on the other hand, was rare and highly illegal, so it cost x4 of its MSRP to buy on the street.

D&D magic items have a cost based on their cost to produce, but it ignores all the other factors that cause prices to fluctuate, like supply and demand. (I won't pretend to be an expert on economics, but I know that ultimately the price of something is what someone is willing to pay for it. Yard sale economics and all.)