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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Loonook" data-source="post: 5902109" data-attributes="member: 1861">The average D&D setting, where magic items are everywhere, makes the economy slightly absurd.  The amount of items produced per capita per annum, item loss, and item destruction need to be taken into account by the DM to determine their availability. Let's look at a maxed out metropolis of 50,000, assuming Experts as our crafters and the 20th level 'cap' on levels for npc classes, and assume all of our crafters have max ranks in Craft (Weaponsmith).4 20th level Experts (EL: 26 for our purposes of determining additional crafters)8 13th level Experts16 6th level Experts32 3rd level Experts64 2nd (to balance out our 'lost' 6th level Expert and other fractions)1628 1st level Experts (128 + 3% overall pop in Experts 1 (1500))*Now Craft is a trained skill, so let us give up 5 expert 1s to each Expert above level 1.  So 1008 Expert 1 not currently Aiding other experts.Our Max Craft Bonuses per each type:20th level: 4113th level: 336th: 263rd: 232nd: 221st: 9 (no additional assistants, no masterwork tools).The cost of a Masterwork Longsword (to keep with our previous examples) is going to be 315 GP, or 3150 sp.Taking into account maximum Fast Crafts for each level (+10 DC) while still passing the required Craft DC of 15, each Expert could craft the following amount of Masterwork Longswords in a year:20th level: 37.8 (151.2)13th level: 24.8 (198.4)6th: 20.8 (332.8)3rd: 13.6 (435.2)2nd: 13.2 (844.8)1st: 4.7. (4742.4)___Overall: 6704.8 Masterwork Longswords processed by the dwarven metropolis of Smith Heaven.704004 raw materials, 2.112 million GP retail.______________________________________________________* - 3% delineated from total population would be lower acting factoring in all denizens; however, the amount dropped would range so much that I didn't wish to do an equation to balance it.  This represents MAX experts anyways <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />.Now that is one year's output strictly in masterwork longswords if everyone was a weaponsmith.  Now the cost of enchanting all of those blades in XP is over half a million XP.  In the same city our maximum 5th level casters would be quite low (72 total spellcasters per basic DMG guidelines for a Metropolis p. 139, max spellcaster levels for all 4 rolls).  Not a lot of Enchanters for it <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />.That is absolute max.  Now if we reduce these numbers by 1/10th for our Experts we may see a pretty nice output here, but we need to factor in loss and destruction.  How many creatures can destroy a magic weapon?  Well, that number depends on your population... But between rust monsters, disjunction, sundering by magic weapons, etc. I would put destruction at at LEAST 5-9 destruction chance over a lifetime of the item.  Loss?  Well, again, depends on the needs of the group.  From magic carvans being lost in the desert wastes, dragon raids, demonic pillaging, etc. the numbers are in much flux.  I'd cap it at around 15% over the lifetime of the item.Then we have Consolidation percentage.  This is the percentage of items sent to various kingdoms, churches, arcane academies, etc.  Tithing runs at 10% of gross products, and most kingdoms will tax you on top of that.  If you belong to a guild you may also have requests.  There is a great 'mage tax' section in Medieval Society that lists the normal taxes sent in magic items to liege lords... This can serve as a guideline.A Magic Item also serves as a hard portable asset.  In a world where the +1 sword is worth ten times its weight in gold and gems/platinum are scarce guilds, banks, etc. may accept magic items as collateral on loans and payment for services rendered.  These caches are going to effectively remove the items from the market, and can be used by various firms for their own purposes.  A bank which has dealing with a militant customer may very well offer such instruments they have gained as a hard asset loan, charging the conqueror three times their actual value for use of the weapons for his elite troops.  Auctions of magical items to nation-states would be relatively common as the bank liquidates the assets of a bankrupt sorcerer.  A Guild offers equipment rentals on a smaller scale to adventurers for an eighth-share of the overall party profits, giving a marker that can allow the guild to come in and repo the property if the whole thing goes pearshaped.Again you have to understand that the value of the item can be controlled through macroeconomics of the region or even the world/planes.  Being cognizant of these possibilities will help you understand how the economy overall works rather than making an at-first-blush assessment.  Personally?  There are very very very few magic items and very rarely do you see just a +1 sword.  But that's my game running off these theories <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":P" title="Stick out tongue    :P"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":P" />.Slainte,-Loonook.</blockquote>

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