Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Sane Magic Item Prices
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8252631" data-attributes="member: 72555"><p>If there aren't magic item shops, and finding someone to buy or sell a single item takes weeks of downtime, and in-world there is no global standard pricing scheme for magic items...</p><p></p><p>Why isn't it easy for the DM to price items, especially given a vague price range based on rarity?</p><p></p><p>I mean, the DM could price something 10x higher or 10x lower than the recommended price, so long as they are happy with the players having that much gold or spending that much.</p><p></p><p>Outside of magic item shops, I do not see the value in "logical magic item prices" when in world fiction by default means <strong>there is no such list in world</strong>, there are isolated people who may or may not be willing to spend gold or take gold for individual magic items. And those people tend to be either powerful enough that they can just take the gold or items from people who want to buy or sell, or they are weak enough that they risk other people taking their gold or items.</p><p></p><p>And I see a detriment. A magic item price list implies the existence of a market for magic items that efficiently clears, which basically implies magic item shops (even if they aren't actual corner stores).</p><p></p><p>In editions of D&D prior to magic item lists, magic item prices where mercurial and shops rarely existed. In editions with price lists, magic item shops became more common. It is very natural for people, given a list of prices, to go off and actually let players spend gold at that price on those items.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Now, the "but rare items are worse than uncommon ones" is a bigger problem in my mind. Making the common items worse, or the rarer items better, is a better solution. Or just don't introduce the common items that are too good into the game as a DM, unless you feel like the players need that "power up".</p><p></p><p>Again, magic item and their distribution are intended to be one of the DM's levers to determine how the game goes.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Alternatively, you could explain why the rarer worse items are better in ways that don't matter to adventuring power. Maybe the boots of levitation are rarer because an ancient civilization made them, and nobody else knows how; meanwhile, the boots of flying where made much more recently. So collectors pay big bucks for the boots of levitation. Much like people might pay more for an anient Egyptian sword than a more recent one, even if the more recent one is better for fighting.</p><p></p><p>Or maybe boots of levitation can be hooked up to a harness and used to move more mass than boots of flying can be, as the boots of flying's lifting ability pushes through the body of the flier, while the levitation boots cancel out gravity. Such a harness requires precise setup, but makes the industrial application of boots of levitation very strong.</p><p></p><p>On the buying side, what items the players find to buy is up to the DM. Players looking for something to help them fly, you as a DM determine how hard it is, and what item they find. Maybe they only find boots of levitation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 8252631, member: 72555"] If there aren't magic item shops, and finding someone to buy or sell a single item takes weeks of downtime, and in-world there is no global standard pricing scheme for magic items... Why isn't it easy for the DM to price items, especially given a vague price range based on rarity? I mean, the DM could price something 10x higher or 10x lower than the recommended price, so long as they are happy with the players having that much gold or spending that much. Outside of magic item shops, I do not see the value in "logical magic item prices" when in world fiction by default means [b]there is no such list in world[/b], there are isolated people who may or may not be willing to spend gold or take gold for individual magic items. And those people tend to be either powerful enough that they can just take the gold or items from people who want to buy or sell, or they are weak enough that they risk other people taking their gold or items. And I see a detriment. A magic item price list implies the existence of a market for magic items that efficiently clears, which basically implies magic item shops (even if they aren't actual corner stores). In editions of D&D prior to magic item lists, magic item prices where mercurial and shops rarely existed. In editions with price lists, magic item shops became more common. It is very natural for people, given a list of prices, to go off and actually let players spend gold at that price on those items. --- Now, the "but rare items are worse than uncommon ones" is a bigger problem in my mind. Making the common items worse, or the rarer items better, is a better solution. Or just don't introduce the common items that are too good into the game as a DM, unless you feel like the players need that "power up". Again, magic item and their distribution are intended to be one of the DM's levers to determine how the game goes. --- Alternatively, you could explain why the rarer worse items are better in ways that don't matter to adventuring power. Maybe the boots of levitation are rarer because an ancient civilization made them, and nobody else knows how; meanwhile, the boots of flying where made much more recently. So collectors pay big bucks for the boots of levitation. Much like people might pay more for an anient Egyptian sword than a more recent one, even if the more recent one is better for fighting. Or maybe boots of levitation can be hooked up to a harness and used to move more mass than boots of flying can be, as the boots of flying's lifting ability pushes through the body of the flier, while the levitation boots cancel out gravity. Such a harness requires precise setup, but makes the industrial application of boots of levitation very strong. On the buying side, what items the players find to buy is up to the DM. Players looking for something to help them fly, you as a DM determine how hard it is, and what item they find. Maybe they only find boots of levitation. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Sane Magic Item Prices
Top