Roguish Swindling

[janta]

Well, we've got trouble, my friends....

The first thing that jumped to mind when I saw this thread was this. The classic con man! (or at least I think so) Of course, selling a fantasy town on the benefits of a boy's band may be stretching it, but what if it was something like anti-demon/monster/werewolf amulets (or whatever strikes your fancy)? Get your comrades to pump up the fear of the monster, then sell cheap amulets against it. Then run like heck out of there.

Hmmm, I think I have a plot for my game....

--Janta

 

[Pbartender]

Ah, yes- the wandering snake-oil salesman!

Classic scam. Nasty tasting brew with some alcohol for sale at exorbitant prices. Sell quickly and get the heck out of town.

Of course, anything like that might be impossible in a world with real mages wandering around...

That, of course, is what the Wand of Magic Aura is for. You cast it on the items you are selling so that they detect magically of the appropriate power and type. It won't fool anybody casting identify, but it will fool anyone casting Detect Magic. No one is going to waste a one-hour-long 100gp Identify spell on a potion, and even if they do, they'll do it later. Plus, practically no one prepares Identify spells, while everone who casts spells has a Detect Magic ready.

If somebody does want to identify one, you keep a handful of legitimate potions and wands around for idenification, but you sell the fakes.

It's a bigger investment, but it's a surer sell, since the local populace would be more willing to trust the word of someone they know (especially a skeptic), rather than some random stranger they've never seen before (even if that stranger is pulled from the crowd).