Remember too that when a lot of these elements were introduced (even if they have evolved over the years) downtime was a much bigger aspect of play, especially at levels where spells like Teleportation Circle come into play. The fighters build their keeps and the thieves run their guilds while the wizards and clerics do their permanent magic. Also, players had multiple PCs running concurrently and could level one while another researched a new spell or whatever. Personally, i don't see a problem with the party taking a year off from adventuring so they can upgrade their HQ with something like a teleportation circle. But that requires they have an HQ, of course, as well as not being involved in some massive campaign metaplot that drives ever moment of the game. I prefer the option be in there rather than assuming every campaign was an AP where characters hit max level sometime within a few months of in-game time.
D&D 5E Teleportation circles costs *how* much?!
Remember too that when a lot of these elements were introduced (even if they have evolved over the years) downtime was a much bigger aspect of play, especially at levels where spells like Teleportation Circle come into play. The fighters build their keeps and the thieves run their guilds while the wizards and clerics do their permanent magic. Also, players had multiple PCs running concurrently and could level one while another researched a new spell or whatever. Personally, i don't see a problem with the party taking a year off from adventuring so they can upgrade their HQ with something like a teleportation circle. But that requires they have an HQ, of course, as well as not being involved in some massive campaign metaplot that drives ever moment of the game. I prefer the option be in there rather than assuming every campaign was an AP where characters hit max level sometime within a few months of in-game time.
Ath-kethin
Elder Thing
If you want finely detailed fantasy economics, look into Adventurer Conqueror King. The game has a detailed and exhaustive economic system built into it, and accounts for a huge amount of the stuff people are arguing about here.
The developer holds that an entire economic system revolves around the price of land, and goes from there. They even give an interesting breakdown of demographics based on that economy, on their website: http://www.autarch.co/blog/demographics-heroism/ .
It's pretty impressive.
The developer holds that an entire economic system revolves around the price of land, and goes from there. They even give an interesting breakdown of demographics based on that economy, on their website: http://www.autarch.co/blog/demographics-heroism/ .
It's pretty impressive.
Ath-kethin
Elder Thing
Hey hey, look at the "site timestamp is broken so there's no way to tell if I'm necro'ing an old thread" dance I just did!
Jester David
Hero
Oh good, I thought it was just me...
Saeviomagy
Adventurer
Unless nobody wants their services, particularly for the price they charge for said services.
THE MARKET FINDS A WAY!
Right - so teleportation spells could be anywhere on the continuum from incredibly common (because every spellcaster has the dough to buy the materials and make their own) to moderately uncommon (because hiring a spellcaster to make one is cheap, but the component cost is still expensive, meaning anyone who wants one and could afford a castle can have one made and hire a caster to use it).
The only thing that's going to make them more rare than that is the rarity of the components or the rarity of spellcasters of the appropriate level.
This is somewhat like I use it in my campaign setting. There is a network of circles all over the world, but a spellcaster needs to personally study the glyphs and runes at a location before he can teleport there. A scrying spell can be used to teleport, but it suffers a slightly less chance of failure/mishap than a random spot in the wilderness seen through the spell. Glyphs cannot be studied for memorization in this way via scrying. Time must be spent at the location committing the thing to memory in a very metaphysical way. Once learned, however, that spellcaster has free use of the circle.
It's much like Stargate. Only instead of a gate's location based on an origin point and six other points in space, the glyphs show a circle's location on the aethereal plane, which rarely corresponds with its location in the Material.
Most circles are very old, the result of an old empire's expansion and wealth. Some, however, are fairly new, and are the result of very powerful, rich organizations that guard those locations' "addresses" zealously. A teleportation circle's location would be a very valuable piece of information, especially if one can teleport another spellcaster there directly for study.
NotActuallyTim
First Post
Or they're super expensive because teleport gangs ambush teleport travelers who travel by teleport, and the external uncertainty makes teleporters (heh, porters. It's a pun.) charge extra due to daaaaaaaaanger cost.
After all, since teleporting is so cheap, teleporting into ambush the unsuspecting teleporters is cheap, so now safe teleportation is what's expensive. UNREGULATED MAGIC MARKETS!
SkaflocHalfelven
Villager
I had my group find one.
It was in a collapsed section of a stronghold that is their base.
Not all players can make all sessions.
So, I have the circle act as a 1 way teleport. The circle is linked to a token each character has. I character has a master token. If a token is rubbed the character is transported back to the circle. (ie the player is unavailable and his character is still in the field). The character is instantly transported back to the circle. When the player can rejoin the group he/she steps onto the circle and is transported to the master token location.
Each journey that makes use of the circle or token uses 1 charge. Charges are recovered by sacrificing items with magic properties, scroll, object, whatever. For every 50gp worth of the item sacrificed 1 charge is replaced. I rolled a D100 for random starting charges and the group found that out when they cast Identify.
I keep a tally of charges used/renewed but leave the group to figure out when to sacrifice items to recharge the system.
It is purely a game mechanic to allow players to miss sessions but not have their characters controlled by someone else, due to the character being left in the field, and to rejoin when they are able.
It also keeps the level of magic items found to a minimum.
It was in a collapsed section of a stronghold that is their base.
Not all players can make all sessions.
So, I have the circle act as a 1 way teleport. The circle is linked to a token each character has. I character has a master token. If a token is rubbed the character is transported back to the circle. (ie the player is unavailable and his character is still in the field). The character is instantly transported back to the circle. When the player can rejoin the group he/she steps onto the circle and is transported to the master token location.
Each journey that makes use of the circle or token uses 1 charge. Charges are recovered by sacrificing items with magic properties, scroll, object, whatever. For every 50gp worth of the item sacrificed 1 charge is replaced. I rolled a D100 for random starting charges and the group found that out when they cast Identify.
I keep a tally of charges used/renewed but leave the group to figure out when to sacrifice items to recharge the system.
It is purely a game mechanic to allow players to miss sessions but not have their characters controlled by someone else, due to the character being left in the field, and to rejoin when they are able.
It also keeps the level of magic items found to a minimum.
I like my D&D to be a fallen world. Which explains why ruins have magical treasure.
In such a world, making a new teleportation circle is crazy. But the Citadel of Wizards has one left over from a previous era, as does a ruined castle on a mountain near a pass, as does a few other spots in the world. Mostly relics from an ancient era, in turn only usable by a rare few spellcasters; most use of teleportation circles relies on scrolls of teleportation circle, which are far more common than spellcasters capable of casting it.
This is the "PCs are exceptional", as I weave in story-reasons why some relative zeros scale up to demigod scale over the campaign; they reach heights of power never seen in mortals since the previous age. (There are similar story-reasons why the treasures in the ruins haven't been long plundered)
In such a world, making a new teleportation circle is crazy. But the Citadel of Wizards has one left over from a previous era, as does a ruined castle on a mountain near a pass, as does a few other spots in the world. Mostly relics from an ancient era, in turn only usable by a rare few spellcasters; most use of teleportation circles relies on scrolls of teleportation circle, which are far more common than spellcasters capable of casting it.
This is the "PCs are exceptional", as I weave in story-reasons why some relative zeros scale up to demigod scale over the campaign; they reach heights of power never seen in mortals since the previous age. (There are similar story-reasons why the treasures in the ruins haven't been long plundered)
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