System to determine what is for sale in town

[Locutus Zero]

This is a system I've come up with to see what a given town has for sale. I didn't want to draw up a list of every item the town's magic shops and magic craftsmen have in stock. This system allows a player to seek out a particular item and have a better chance of finding it.

I assign the town a magic level. I take the magic item in question's level, subtract the town's level, and add 10. That determines the DC that I roll against to see if the item is in stock in town.

For example, my players are in a low-medium magic setting. They find themselves in the most well-learned town for many many miles. There is a magic order here and several magic shops. I assign the town's magic level to be 8. If the player is looking to buy a level 7 magic item, we take 7-8+10=9. I roll a d20, if I get 9 or better, they find a vendor selling that item or a craftsman who will make it for the listed price. They are allowed to make this check a limited number of times each month in each town. For a town with several magic shops and craftsmen, the number might be 10. This isn't to say there are only 10 items for sale, this is an abstraction to represent that the shops have plenty of things the players aren't interested in. Each month, new inventory comes in and the players can make more checks.

This math applies to uncommon items. If it is common, I subtract 10 from the DC. So the town listed above has a 55% chance to have a level 18 common magic item. Additionally, a 1 always means they can't find the item, and a 20 always means they can.

What do you guys think?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I have always viewed higher level magic items cost as their commissioning cost, rather than a 'plunk 25000 gp on the table' deal. It is abstracted so players who don't like hagggling/streetwise checks/etc can substract the gp off the sheet. In character, however, they spend that gold tracking down a buyer, bribing guilds, paying taxes, working contacts, and commisioning the item.

I have posted my 4e version of the gp limit by population as a guide to what can be bought without messing with the economy.

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[Kzach]

I use an old grognard method of determining what's for sale in a town: it's called roleplaying.

 

[S'mon]

I use an old grognard method of determining what's for sale in a town: it's called roleplaying.

How does roleplaying determine what's for sale?

Personally I use a max item level/gp value for PHB 1&2 items, so generally PCs can acquire low-level PHB/PHB2 items, then Streetwise and other checks if they want to get higher level stuff or stuff from other sources, normally at 110-140% over list price.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Since this floated back up to the top, and I lost the version of the HR on my computer.. here is the link I mentioned upthread: quasi-historical towns and shopping

Now to re-find the part that used skill challenges to find magic items above the gp limit!