Players Whining that they Should be able to Buy Magic Items

[Belen]

Right. So, show me where the cash value for the following are given in the D&D books so I know how much to charge my PCs for the following, as I custom fashion a new magic item:

The breath of a fish.
The sound of a cat stalking.
Moonlight reflected in Kheled-zaram.
Tears freely shed from a stone.
The thought of a god.

Not everyone's campaign is going to reflect the nature of the market you're presupposing must exist there--at least one that's based entirely on value that can be expressed in gold. This works fine in games where a +1 (or +5) sword is only ever described as that, a +1 (or +5) sword. But not everyone is going to be satisfied with such mundanity, especially if they're shooting for something else.

Though, of course, there's always the possibility that we're, you know, playing D&D wrong, or something.

We do things in a like manner. The PCs had better find the components they need or they will be SOL for item creation and in many cases they will need to get the ingrediants even if they commission an item.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Only if you think xp aren't worth anything.

Perhaps you could read the rules a little more closely?

The market price of a magic item is what it is.

Half of that cost is strictly raw materials; so, .5 market.

Furthermore, the creator must pay 1/25 of that cost in XP. XP are valued at 5gp per XP (see the section on hiring spellcasters). That results in an "XP cost" of 1/25 * 5 = .2 market

So, the total raw materials cost of a magic item, including the cost of XP, is .7 market.

This means that every magic item has a markup on it of .3 market to cover the creator's time and profit - and that's assuming your creators aren't trying to gouge the PCs / buyers for all they can.

 

[Ibram]

Assumptions that make buying and selling magic items more likely, not less. The more valuable an item is, the more likely it is to have a market built up around it.

Actualy it makes it less likely that they will be sold. Its not reasonable to think that the Order of the Martyered Lady would sell the Shroud of St. Lasira (cloak, +2 all saves +4 vs. magic w/ evil descriptor, +2 deflection bonus vs. daemons) that they have been keeping for centuries to a chump who shows up with a bag of gold? Would the Order of the Golden Blade sell the sword that gives their order its name? Thats not to say that there is no access to magic items; a close friend of the OML could borrow the Shroud to help defeat Gerlaok the Heart Stealer but they had better return the Shroud once they are done with it.

Since magic items are so rare there can be no "Ye Olde Magik Shope" floating around, magic can be bought and sold but it is a very risky procedure and a bag of gold is rarely enough.

My current party has two magic weapons, a +2 ancesteral Katana carried by the samurai (whos not going to be traiding it in) and a Shocking Rapier carried by the rogue. thats the extent of the parties magic (level 7 party).

 

[fusangite]

In which case, the characters will likely try to purchase noble titles. Which was a common enough practice that it would not be surprising.

Really? How easy do you suppose it would have been to purchase a noble title in Charlemagne's world? Or in a Norse kingdom? Especially in the Norse world, where coins were pounded into ornaments because there was so much gold and nothing to spend it on. If someone showed up in 9th century Denmark with a bunch of gold and tried to buy a title with it, here's what might have happened: he would have been beaten or executed for insulting the local king by trying to bribe him; then his money would have been taken and turned into jewelry to commemorate the occasion of his execution.

From about the 16th century forward in England, people could purchase minor titles for cash but the whole reason feudalism arose was because the power of the sword trumped both money and civil authority.

So, no. For most of history one could not purchase an aristocratic title at all. Look at India today, for goodness sake. Tell me: can people purchase membership in the brahmin or ksatriyah castes? There are billionaires in India who are still untouchables; why? Because caste, like feudal titles for most of history, cannot be bought.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Fortunately, this type of world is not the only type of world in which all (or hopefully even most) D&D adventures take place.

Actually, fusangite, I'd imagine that your particular way of playing D&D is in the vast minority. Not many people that I've ever met are interested in attempting a "true-to-history" re-enactment of the middle ages, complete with fully-fleshed out medieval philosophies.

Your method sounds interesting, but I believe you're deluding yourself if you believe you are anything but in the minority.

And seriously, are you arguing that because there is a substantial black market in children Central Asia that I, sitting here in Central Canada, can go out and purchase a child today?

Can you purchase a plane ticket?

Can you speak or find someone to speak the appropriate Central Asian language?

Then yes, it is possible that you could go buy a child. Maybe not today - travel times are a bit difficult - but then, no one is saying that a standard PC should be able to go out and buy a +2 Flaming Burst longsword today, either.

 

[Bregh]

Then yes, it is possible that you could go buy a child. Maybe not today - travel times are a bit difficult - but then, no one is saying that a standard PC should be able to go out and buy a +2 Flaming Burst longsword today, either.

emphasis added.

No, no. Storm Raven said it was quite easy. Go back and read his post! Children are actually one of the "easiest" things to acquire.

 

[Hitokiri]

And the only person talking about having a magic shop in a campign is you. Perhaps you could find another argument no one is making, and fight about that?

And here we can see Storm Ravens innability to understand what he has read. Reading comprehension is a wonderful thing my friend, I suggest you work on it.

As for magic items being on sale BECAUSE they are rare and valuable....I'll give that one to the first person that can show me the going price for the Shroud of Turin. Heck, I'll even give the argument to someone who can tell me who to talk to about purchasing the Mona Lisa. My point is that magical items in my games are like Picasso's. Do the ever get sold, yeah, but it's not going o be a regular occurance, and it is definately not something which my players can just assume is on the open market once they reach the amount of gold listed in the dmg. Even minor items are hard to get ahold of (Hey, clw potions take time and effort to make, why would a church sell them to every two bit adventurer that walked through the door, especially when they may not even follow the churchs precepts).

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Ah, and there goes any sense of logic this thread ever had.

Don't bother responding to any of my posts, as they won't have much relevance on the world you live on. Here, on my planet, at least, alcohol for minors, MP3 and DVD players, narcotics, firearms, and automobiles are far more readily availble on the "black market" than children.

But at least most people get the item creation feat for free.

 

[Sammael]

Actually, you'd be surprised as to how many slave children end up in the U.S. Since the U.S.-Canada border is a joke, smuggling a kidnapped child into Canada would be quite easy.

 

[fusangite]

Perhaps you could read the rules a little more closely?

Perhaps you could read my posts a little more closely. I already clarified this in my response to Henry.