Purchasing Magic Items

[Infiniti2000]

First of all, let me point out that I don't care if you dislike the idea of purchasing items or have some derogatory things to say about magic item shops and the like. I'm not policing the thread, but please don't reply to me that you don't let the players buy things willy-nilly or anything.

For those who let the players buy things, either at their own discretion (my choice) or by careful control, what specific types of things do you not allow? My inclination is to not allow the purchase of item sets or (more obviously) artifacts. What other things should not be purchasable? How about boons?

PS. Also, I'm not worried about broken items, just types of items in general. I can handle a broken boon, for example, but that doesn't mean that all boons should be disallowed via purchase.

 

[Llamas Notsheep]

I allow all regular items, including sets. No boons, no artifacts, and I reserve the right to say no to broken stuff. Hasn't happened yet, though.

If you're going to make item sets a significant part of treasure you're handing out, I can definitely see the merit of not having them readily available to players. Most of the sets, though, aren't really good enough to trump a more varied medley of items. I think you'd need to kick up the quality of the set bonuses to make it all that appealing... otherwise, sets are going to be very character-specific.

 

[Herschel]

I don't like letting them buy magic items.

But, I've relented on the point so long as they're basic magic items (no artifacts or boons, etc.). Some times stuff isn't available for various reasons (pure twink) but otherwise I'm pretty open.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

I'm going to start DMing a new group soon at lvl3. They can buy whatever they want except for artifacts and boons maybe boons if they have a nice little story to tell.

Generally when I run a game I let them have what they want, they should concentrate on the story and not on how to get item xyz.

 

[Solvarn]

Buying items

Rule wise it is assumed PC's are buying or selling magic items. If they are selling and not buying, it sort of defies logic. Then again, they are making fire mystically appear and teleporting around.

I don't let boon or artifacts be purchased. Also, nothing more than 4 levels above their current character level.

 

[Scribble]

I'd say it might seem weird to purchase boons most of the time, but I think there are ways to do it:

Perhaps the gods are willing to cast a favorable eye upon those who donate to their temples?

Or maybe a wizard with the proper rituals can imbue someone with temporary "mystic power" that allows them to accomplish extraordinary things?


I try not to say no outright to player ideas as much as possible... I'd rather say "Well... you don't find anyone with that item set for sale in this town... However, you did hear quite a bit of rumor about who might have them..."

That way if the player is really interested in it, we can make an adventure out of it.

 

[chitzk0i]

Well, if you stick close to the standard treasure parcels, they'll only be able to afford items their level and below, which really isn't going to cause problems. Plus, if the players just split the gold between them, it will take a lot of saving up before they can buy something they care about.

As for item sets, I'm not familiar with any of them that are game-breakingly awesome. Most items sets have some pieces which are practically useless compared to other stuff you could put in that slot, which balances out the benefit of the set bonuses.

 

[Loincloth of Armour]

I don't outright ban anything, but I do tell my players, "somethings might not be available, or not available immediately. Ie: tell me what you want to buy before you add it in Character Builder. I do reserve the right to say no to an item, but I'll try not to unless I feel there's a good, mechanical reason why you shouldn't have that item."

Nothing I've seen so-far has really made me say no.

As an aside, I find that getting rid of the 'Ye Olde Magic Shoppe' really helps me (and my players) accept the acquisiation of magic items. They still can buy items, but not by stopping by 'Magic-Mart' and dropping 20k in gold. Instead, I've got a list of colourful places in the campaign where they can get the items from. As an example:

• A widow, who's dead husband had a magic sword. She needs money for a funeral for him and to look after her grandkids.
• A young noble, desperate to pay off his gambling debts, has his grandfather's old ritual book he'll part with.
• A retired pirate captain has a suit of armor he took off a defeated foe. He's kept it, but has now found religion and repents his past actions. He'll give the party the armor if they make a donation to the local church.
• A blacksmith thinks he can create a new way to forge magic weapons. He needs to buy ritual regents for the attempt, and will reward the party with the first of the items he is sure he can make.
• Fire damaged a monestary. The order of monks inside need funds to repair their home, and so are willing to trade an old holy symbol they've had collecting dust for decades in return for the opportunity to rebuild their home.

The rest of the price of the item is spent greasing palms, talking to fences, and finding the information about who has items they are willing to sell.

Mechanically, it's the same as dropping by 'Magic-4-Less', takes about 30-seconds more to verbally describe the colorful seller, but I find it goes a long way to making the whole thing seem less like a shopping spree.

 

[Mengu]

Stuff my players need tends to just "appear" somewhere in the game, so I rarely have to deal with item purchases. But at certain locations (frequently enough) I do provide the opportunity to order custom made items (aka, shopping).

They can't shop for boons, artifacts, intelligent items, or things more than 5 levels above (not that they would normally have the coin to do so).

Looking at other items, I have never used or seen anyone use reagents or soulfangs. In my game dragon shards can only be found, not purchased, and Tattoos will require some special mini quest because of the way tattoo crafters operate. All of these are more plot/campaign related, than anything to do with balance.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Mechanically, it's the same as dropping by 'Magic-4-Less', takes about 30-seconds more to verbally describe the colorful seller, but I find it goes a long way to making the whole thing seem less like a shopping spree.

30 seconds? Whoa! That's like 30 minutes each to come up with those ideas, and you do that for EVERY magic item bought? That's an insane amount of effort that I couldn't possibly reproduce, let alone not use repetitively, which would kill the idea in the first place.