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<blockquote data-quote="bobcat_grad" data-source="post: 4951640" data-attributes="member: 69786">I'm looking for player feedback on a few rules I'm including in a campaign I'll be starting to run within the week.&nbsp; I've already delivered these rules to the players in the campaign, but I'd like to get community feedback on these before we start.&nbsp; If there are any good points or fair criticism, I'll adapt the rules for the campaign.&nbsp; There are two things to look at here:&nbsp; Item Availability and Item Enchanting.&nbsp;&nbsp; Item Availability:&nbsp;&nbsp; Item availability is going to be based on chance.&nbsp; As much as I really like D&amp;D 4.0, one of the things that bothered me was how easy it is to acquire the specific magical item you want (after character creation, that is).&nbsp; You can walk into a store and buy anything in the AV books whether or not you’re in a thriving metropolis or a small village.&nbsp; So I decided to add a little excitement and chance to this scenario.&nbsp; Basically, the probability of finding a certain type and level item is based on the type of settlement you’re in.&nbsp; If you’re in a village you might find the more mundane magical item, but the chance of finding a Level 25 Greatsword is almost nil.&nbsp; If you are in Krondor, the capital of the Western Realm, you are going to have a pretty good chance of finding just about anything you want.&nbsp; The mechanics for this is pretty simple.&nbsp; When you’re in a settlement that sells items, I’ll have a sheet for the settlement.&nbsp; It will include a chart like this (the forum text editor butchered my chart layout - but you should be able to get the idea of how it works):&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Level 1-10
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Level&nbsp;&nbsp; 11-20
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Level&nbsp;&nbsp; 21-30
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Light Armor&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Great 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Heavy Armor&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Great
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Shields&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Melee Weapons&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Ranged Weapons&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Orbs, Rods, and Wands&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Arms Slot&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Feet Slot&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Hands Slot&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Great
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Neck Slot&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Waist Slot&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Rings&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; n/a
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Consumables&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Wondrous Items&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slim
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; These categories map to percentiles like this:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Percent

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Category

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 0-4

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Impossible

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 5-19

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slim

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 20-44

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Slight

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 45-64

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Decent

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 65-79

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Good

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 80-95

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Great

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 96-99

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Sure Thing

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; I’ll have a chart that has the actual target number of the category.&nbsp; If you have your eye on a particular thing, tell me what it is, we’ll figure what category it’s in and you roll a percentile and announce your result.&nbsp; If you hit the number (or less) I have on my sheet, congratulations – a vendor had what you were looking for.&nbsp; If you don’t hit the number, you must wait a certain amount of time before you can try again (for new stock to arrive – maybe it’ll be here then).&nbsp; This time will vary on settlement size and type.&nbsp; Additionally, some of the larger cities will have Black Markets.&nbsp; If you fail to find the item and you don’t want to wait, you can look on the Black Market.&nbsp; You (or an ally if he wishes to help you in this effort) may add the value of the Streetwise skill to the percentile you need to hit.&nbsp; If you succeed with this roll, you find the item, but there’s a premium for buying off the Black Market.&nbsp; That premium varies due to city size and they type of citizenry there.&nbsp; A seedy seaside port might only have a premium of 10%.&nbsp; But the Dwarven capital will have a much higher premium (since Dwarves aren’t as likely do a shady deal).&nbsp; Example of how this works:&nbsp; If Kirk’s character is looking for a Jousting Shield (Level 12 item – 13,000 GP), using the table above, we see that he has Decent chance of finding what he’s looking for.&nbsp; My sheet would show he needs to get under a 60.&nbsp; He rolls a 75.&nbsp; Well, it seems he just can’t find a Jousting Shield here.&nbsp; He can either wait a week and try again, or try the Black Market.&nbsp; Kirk’s character has a low Streetwise, so he asks Brandon’s character to ask around for him.&nbsp; Brandon’s Streetwise is 14, so now Kirk rolls again and rolls a 70 this time.&nbsp; I take the 60 target number and add the 14 Streetwise from Brandon’s character which means the roll of 70 beat the new target of 74.&nbsp; Great – he found a guy who’s selling it.&nbsp; But the Black Market premium here is 20%.&nbsp; So, does he want that shield enough to pay 15,600 GP for it?&nbsp; Or would he be willing to look for a different Level 12 shield ?&nbsp; This does not apply to character creation.&nbsp; It will be assumed your character has spent some effort in acquiring what he/she already has.&nbsp; Enchanting Items:Since I’m trying to increase the ‘WOW’ factor of magic items and since you won’t be able to wander into any store in Midkemia and pick up a Flaming Sword +8, the issue of Enchanting Items needs to be addressed.&nbsp; It makes no sense to add an element of chance to being able to find an item in a certain city, or lobbying your party members to take a detour to a place you KNOW carries a huge selection of ranged weapons if a party member can just whip you up something out of thin air given enough residuum.&nbsp; So, regarding Enchanting Items – you can still do it, but in a very few number of places in the world.&nbsp; There will be Places of Power throughout the world – only four are known, but there is always a chance you may discover one.&nbsp; More may be already known, but imagine the power held by a person who knows of a Place of Power and is able to keep it secret.&nbsp; One of the most famously known Places of Power is at Stardock, the island magician’s academy.&nbsp; Others are more obscure.&nbsp; &nbsp; It is thought that all of the various magical items in the world were at some point created at the Places of Powers, but no one knows for certain.&nbsp; In order to enchant an item, you must have the base item, the residuum, and be located within the rune circle at the Place of Power.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="bobcat_grad, post: 4951640, member: 69786"] I'm looking for player feedback on a few rules I'm including in a campaign I'll be starting to run within the week. I've already delivered these rules to the players in the campaign, but I'd like to get community feedback on these before we start. If there are any good points or fair criticism, I'll adapt the rules for the campaign. There are two things to look at here: Item Availability and Item Enchanting. [B]Item Availability:[/B] Item availability is going to be based on chance. As much as I really like D&D 4.0, one of the things that bothered me was how easy it is to acquire the specific magical item you want (after character creation, that is). You can walk into a store and buy anything in the AV books whether or not you’re in a thriving metropolis or a small village. So I decided to add a little excitement and chance to this scenario. Basically, the probability of finding a certain type and level item is based on the type of settlement you’re in. If you’re in a village you might find the more mundane magical item, but the chance of finding a Level 25 Greatsword is almost nil. If you are in Krondor, the capital of the Western Realm, you are going to have a pretty good chance of finding just about anything you want. The mechanics for this is pretty simple. When you’re in a settlement that sells items, I’ll have a sheet for the settlement. It will include a chart like this (the forum text editor butchered my chart layout - but you should be able to get the idea of how it works): [CENTER][CENTER][B][COLOR=white]Level 1-10[/COLOR][/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B][COLOR=white]Level 11-20[/COLOR][/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B][COLOR=white]Level 21-30[/COLOR][/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Light Armor[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Great [/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Heavy Armor[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Great[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Shields[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Melee Weapons[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Ranged Weapons[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Orbs, Rods, and Wands[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Arms Slot[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Feet Slot[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Hands Slot[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Great[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Neck Slot[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Waist Slot[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Rings[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]n/a[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Consumables[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [B][COLOR=white]Wondrous Items[/COLOR][/B] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slim[/CENTER] [/CENTER] These categories map to percentiles like this: [CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B][COLOR=white]Percent[/COLOR][/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B][COLOR=white]Category[/COLOR][/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B]0-4[/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Impossible[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B]5-19[/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slim[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B]20-44[/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Slight[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B]45-64[/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Decent[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B]65-79[/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Good[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B]80-95[/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Great[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER][B]96-99[/B][/CENTER] [/CENTER] [CENTER][CENTER]Sure Thing[/CENTER] [/CENTER] [/CENTER] I’ll have a chart that has the actual target number of the category. If you have your eye on a particular thing, tell me what it is, we’ll figure what category it’s in and you roll a percentile and announce your result. If you hit the number (or less) I have on my sheet, congratulations – a vendor had what you were looking for. If you don’t hit the number, you must wait a certain amount of time before you can try again (for new stock to arrive – maybe it’ll be here then). This time will vary on settlement size and type. Additionally, some of the larger cities will have Black Markets. If you fail to find the item and you don’t want to wait, you can look on the Black Market. You (or an ally if he wishes to help you in this effort) may add the value of the Streetwise skill to the percentile you need to hit. If you succeed with this roll, you find the item, but there’s a premium for buying off the Black Market. That premium varies due to city size and they type of citizenry there. A seedy seaside port might only have a premium of 10%. But the Dwarven capital will have a much higher premium (since Dwarves aren’t as likely do a shady deal). Example of how this works: If Kirk’s character is looking for a Jousting Shield (Level 12 item – 13,000 GP), using the table above, we see that he has Decent chance of finding what he’s looking for. My sheet would show he needs to get under a 60. He rolls a 75. Well, it seems he just can’t find a Jousting Shield here. He can either wait a week and try again, or try the Black Market. Kirk’s character has a low Streetwise, so he asks Brandon’s character to ask around for him. Brandon’s Streetwise is 14, so now Kirk rolls again and rolls a 70 this time. I take the 60 target number and add the 14 Streetwise from Brandon’s character which means the roll of 70 beat the new target of 74. Great – he found a guy who’s selling it. But the Black Market premium here is 20%. So, does he want that shield enough to pay 15,600 GP for it? Or would he be willing to look for a different Level 12 shield ? This does not apply to character creation. It will be assumed your character has spent some effort in acquiring what he/she already has. [B]Enchanting Items:[/B] Since I’m trying to increase the ‘WOW’ factor of magic items and since you won’t be able to wander into any store in Midkemia and pick up a Flaming Sword +8, the issue of Enchanting Items needs to be addressed. It makes no sense to add an element of chance to being able to find an item in a certain city, or lobbying your party members to take a detour to a place you KNOW carries a huge selection of ranged weapons if a party member can just whip you up something out of thin air given enough residuum. So, regarding Enchanting Items – you can still do it, but in a very few number of places in the world. There will be Places of Power throughout the world – only four are known, but there is always a chance you may discover one. More may be already known, but imagine the power held by a person who knows of a Place of Power and is able to keep it secret. One of the most famously known Places of Power is at Stardock, the island magician’s academy. Others are more obscure. It is thought that all of the various magical items in the world were at some point created at the Places of Powers, but no one knows for certain. In order to enchant an item, you must have the base item, the residuum, and be located within the rune circle at the Place of Power. [/QUOTE]

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