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<blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 4952914" data-attributes="member: 3424">I don't think we're in disagreement here.If there is a cultural or generational gap, I guess it would be in seeing gold as a medium of exchange, or to be more precise, a shorthand for all the resources available to the PC. Hence, the acquisition of magic items (to paraphrase <a href="http://jo-kes.blogspot.com/2007/06/churchill-humor.html" target="_blank">Winston Churchill</a>) is simply the DM and the player haggling over the price (or accepting the standard prices in the rules if they prefer not to spend time negotiating). If the magic item is significant and powerful, the price will be high, and this in itself an obstacle in the way of fulfilling the player's desires. Which brings me to the next point.The other variable that must be considered when it comes to trade in magic items is the means of the character. The prices of certain magic items may be set so that by the time the character rises to a certain level of wealth, eminence and influence (all of which are assumed to be approximated by his level in standard games), acquiring the item is fairly straightforward for a character of his level. There is no need to play through this process at the table because the task is assumed to be trivial. If you don't like the flavor of the character walking into a shop and buying an item off the shelf, you could describe the process as the character tapping on contacts to locate the item, commissioning the item from an allied wizard or temple, or even hiring a band of lower-level adventurers to obtain the item on his behalf (as he is busy with more important matters). Of course, powerful items (relative to the character's current level) cannot be obtained in so straightforward a matter and must be quested for as normal!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FireLance, post: 4952914, member: 3424"] I don't think we're in disagreement here. If there is a cultural or generational gap, I guess it would be in seeing gold as a medium of exchange, or to be more precise, a shorthand for all the resources available to the PC. Hence, the acquisition of magic items (to paraphrase [URL="http://jo-kes.blogspot.com/2007/06/churchill-humor.html"]Winston Churchill[/URL]) is simply the DM and the player haggling over the price (or accepting the standard prices in the rules if they prefer not to spend time negotiating). If the magic item is significant and powerful, the price will be high, and this in itself an obstacle in the way of fulfilling the player's desires. Which brings me to the next point. The other variable that must be considered when it comes to trade in magic items is the means of the character. The prices of certain magic items may be set so that by the time the character rises to a certain level of wealth, eminence and influence (all of which are assumed to be approximated by his level in standard games), acquiring the item is fairly straightforward [I]for a character of his level[/I]. There is no need to play through this process at the table because the task is assumed to be trivial. If you don't like the flavor of the character walking into a shop and buying an item off the shelf, you could describe the process as the character tapping on contacts to locate the item, commissioning the item from an allied wizard or temple, or even hiring a band of lower-level adventurers to obtain the item on his behalf (as he is busy with more important matters). Of course, powerful items (relative to the character's current level) cannot be obtained in so straightforward a matter and must be quested for as normal! [/QUOTE]

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