D&D 5E Sane Magic Item Prices

[Maxperson]

That is never how that comes across



With bounded accuracy and a lack of support for buying and selling magic items, how is the game not balanced for playing a very archetypical role like the rich kid? Other than starting them at lower level than the party, you've got just about all of the pieces for playing a very classical example.

Because you can buy other unbalanced things, like armies, favors from kings, etc.

 

[Hussar]

For all the complaints made by 5e's defenders about how past editions had player running around as walking christmas trees high magic or whatever it' hard to overstate just how far over level & often deep into epic grade legendary gear 5e's forever recharging magic items are

But, by the same token, because magic items aren't fungible, it's easy to just not give those items.

I will never, ever give a flaming sword in my games. They are just too powerful. But, if I allow the PC's to buy magic items, I can guarantee that every single campaign I ran for my last group will feature every single fighter type carrying a flaming sword. Five campaigns in a row. Every fighter type had IDENTICAL magic item loadouts.

No thanks.

 

[Ancalagon]

The big issue in 5e is that some items are in the wrong rarity bracket for reasonable sale & purchase prices

Rarity and price should be linked, but not fully. Let us look at two weapons - a vicious sword (rare) and a +1 sword (uncommon).

The vicious weapon is rarer than the +1 sword. Why? There are tons of reasons why it could be. Perhaps the enchantment for vicious demand special and rare materials (must be quenched in the tears of the innocent!), while the magical procedure to make a +1 weapon is fairly well understood and straightforward ( required good steel and a bit of incantations and engraving). The details are left to the individual GM, this is just an example, but the bottom line is that it's easier to make a +1 sword than a vicious weapons. This is fine.

But should a vicious sword be more expensive than a +1 sword? From a utilitarian point of view, absolutely not! A +1 sword is just better than a vicious sword. (I'm going to assume that people understand why, if you don't let me know and I'll elaborate). So why should it be more expensive?

2 explanations:

1: there are collectors, not just users, of magical items (see my Yoon Suin example above).
2: The properties are not fully understood by people in-world. If you know the numerical values, it's clear. But if all you know is "this sword is just a bit better balanced and sharp, while this other sword from time to time will inflict huge wounds!" ... it's a bit less clear which is better than the other. So the PLAYER knows, but the PCs and NPCs do not.

So it is a problem, but perhaps not as unrealistic as it seems. After all, price and utility in the real world aren't 100% linked. Why is an old classic car worth more than the clearly better modern equivalent?

 

[Ancalagon]

But, by the same token, because magic items aren't fungible, it's easy to just not give those items.

I will never, ever give a flaming sword in my games. They are just too powerful. But, if I allow the PC's to buy magic items, I can guarantee that every single campaign I ran for my last group will feature every single fighter type carrying a flaming sword. Five campaigns in a row. Every fighter type had IDENTICAL magic item loadouts.

No thanks.

I like randomly rolling my items, it can lead to fun

 

[Chaosmancer]

Because you can buy other unbalanced things, like armies, favors from kings, etc.

You can do that with a big Hoard too. Never really hear a lot of stories of "my mid-level DnD party bought the King and have ruined my game."

 

[Maxperson]

You can do that with a big Hoard too. Never really hear a lot of stories of "my mid-level DnD party bought the King and have ruined my game."

Sure, but by the time you get the big hoard you are high level and what you are fighting will toast 2gp mercenaries.

 

[Stattick]

I've been in a long running 5e game. There's only one original character from that game still being played, and the character has made it to 17th or 18th level. At some point, the GM switched over to using Sane Magic Item Prices. It's kind of a pain, since the longer the game runs, the more out of date the Sane Magic Item Prices gets, as more magical items get added, while Sane doesn't get updated.

The bigger problem is that at some point, the GM started cutting back on the amount of treasure we get. I haven't talked to him about that, but I'm guessing that switched over to DMG recommendations or something.

Now, we can't stay afloat. There's not enough gold coming in, and the magic items are just too expensive. My present character (Changling Bard) started at 4th level and is now 8th level. She started play with Glamoured Studded Leather as her magic item. Since then, the only additional magic item I've acquired has been Goggles of Night, because another character took pity on me.

Maybe it's just a problem with my group, but I think it's actually the DMG advice (don't give out treasure) coupled with the Sane Magic Item Prices (overcharge for everything). But I'm very interested in what others have to say about this, and what solutions you've come up with at your own tables. I'm planning on GMing my own game soon, and would rather not have my players endlessly frustrated by not being able to afford magical items... or looking down at their character sheet and having to sheepishly say, "I can't afford <basic expense>... I'm broke."

I recently downloaded the Magic Item Management supplement that Matrix Sorcica posted. The prices there, for the most part, are quite a bit lower than the prices listed in Sane. Plus it's a more complete list, with items up through Tasha's being listed. The list isn't perfect, I've ran across a few missing items already, and have seen a few typos. But it's probably going to be what I'll be using when I start my own game.

 

[billd91]

I like randomly rolling my items, it can lead to fun

I’m doing that a lot now too in 5e. It‘s fun.

 

[Azzy]

I did link to newer, better projects many posts ago. (nobody commented, so it probably got lost in the bickering). I'm not on a pc for most of the day, so won't be digging it up soon, but look for:
Blackball's Treasure (what I mostly use)
Magic Item Manual (from Wain Wright or something on DM's Guild)
Angry DM's crafting rules.

Thank you, I missed those.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

Thank you, I missed those.

Here's the link for the Angry GM's take

The Great Magic Item Analysis: How to Describe an Item

In the long awaited next-but-definitely-not-last part of the AngryCraft series, I come up with a way to describe every item in the DMG in just 20 words.

theangrygm.com

And most of his reasoning behind.