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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 6250447" data-attributes="member: 1210">Actually, before 3e, magic item shops were never the assumption, item creation was difficult and time-consuming and magic items were almost exclusively controlled by the DM. It's only 3e and 4e that have the "item shop" culture, at least in my experience. Certainly, 3e is the first edition that encouraged such things and actively gave item creation power to the players instead of making it a PITA.Nonetheless, you bring up some interesting points here...I think that typically, at least in my campaign (and this is absolutely a matter of setting and playstyle preference), the producers either are, or are companions of, the end users. There are few item creators who aren't mid to high-level adventurers. The vast majority of npcs are the equivalent of the 'commoner' npc class, in 3e terms; most of the rest are other npc classes. Only a tiny number are pc classes, fewer still spellcasters and yet fewer capable of item creation. Again, though, this is a setting choice.4e has an elegant answer to this: you break it down for raw residuum that can be used to make other magic items (or in rituals). That's absolutely reasonable. Personally, I'm inclined to have maybe one or two npc casters of note in a city, and let the pcs go to them with that 1000 gp and see if they can negotiate to have the item in question crafted, rather than handwaving that bit; but there certainly is the occasional magic item for sale, especially in bigger cities or richer npcs. In effect, I think the difference in our approaches, in practical terms, is that you handwave the details while I make the players take that extra bit of time and effort.</blockquote>

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