What Should the Market for Magic Look Like?

[mmadsen]

Magic items require a tremendous amount of human capital (expertise) and financial capital (gold) to create, and they generally appeal to a very narrow customer base (extremely wealthy individuals who choose to put themselves in danger) with very specific needs (i.e. the right magic item is worth much more to an individual than an "equivalent" item).

Further, most customers cannot simply look at a magic item and know what they're getting (information asymmetry).

Also, magic items are typically powerful weapons, likely to be monitored and controlled by anyone with political and military power. Simply carrying an inventory of such weapons makes one a target for bandits or local lords and their taxmen.

Given all that, what should the market for magic items look like? What would it look like if the rest of the economy was early medieval? Renaissance?

 

[Henry]

Probably similar to the markets for a seige engine, or precious gemstones or works of art. It would be either entirely in the hands of the powerful and wealthy, or exclusive in a "procurator-only" market. In other words, the people who know where to find them would be the ones who got pretty rich.

In fact, that would be a cool campaign premise -- the PCs are in the magic item procurement business, and either broker deals with people who have magic items versus people who want them, OR they adventure to uncover or retrieve magic items that people want, but are in dangerous places. In other words, they're not going ruin-delving for themselves, they're going so they can sell it to someone else!

 

[Raven Crowking]

The problem I see with the model Henry suggests is that magic weapons, unlike siege weapons, are easily portable and concealable. If such a market did exist in a D&D world, it would be highly covert, not unlike a black market for WMDs today. Governments would not only attempt to hoard military-grade magic items, but they would actively attempt to confiscate/stop sales of existing military-grade magic items and prevent other governments from developing military-grade magic (while at the same time closely controlling production within their own sphere of influence).

IRL, people were burned at the stake because others suspected that they might be able to harm them (or their livelihood) at a distance. Imagine a world where such things were not only suspected, they were known.

Of course, if there was a sufficient threat to the world (due to undead, dragons, or some other types of monsters), an "Us vs. Them" mentality might exist. Training in a certain level of military magic might be a societal obligation, and the PCs could well be the equivilent of Black Ops, supplied by their government to do special jobs. In this model, a certain level of military-grade magic items would be widely available, as guns were in the American frontier.

RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

Another Thought: The Arcane model, from 2nd Ed Spelljammer, effectively purports a seller that no local government is powerful enough to monopolize/put out of business, but that all governments would presumably be reliant upon. This sort of model might also exist, and leads to a couple of interesting points:

(1) If there was a central repository, whatever nation controlled the area and/or routes to the area would have a vast advantage over its neighbours.

(2) If there are "branch locations" scattered across the world, they might actually all be portals to the same central office. This would mean that, in addition to selling magic items, the Arcane (or whatever) could also sell quick and easy transportation. I.e., I go into the branch office in Greyhawk City and exit at the office in Rhadagast.

Just some thoughts.

RC

 

[Sejs]

I really do think the works of art analogy works best.

They're rare, expensive, and require a very skilled artisan to create. They're not something the common man can just wander down to the market square and pick up. For the rich and powerful, just like any other object of great value, they're a status symbol. The ducal palace may have a great hall lined in paintings by several the Flanese Masters, stables filled with thoroughbred horses - and the sword above the mantle in the throne room is +2.

It would be a collector's market. Even though some people would want magic items for practical purposes, almost every time the same job could be accomplished at far less expense, by simply hiring more guys. Particularly true of the more combat focused magic items. A +1 to hit and damage versus hiring 10 more soldiers - doesn't take much to figure out which is more effective in a fight.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

If such a market did exist in a D&D world, it would be highly covert, not unlike a black market for WMDs today.

I think that would be part of it, but goverments would probably seek to control markets, as well. In that case it might look like the overall Military business, with "legit" and black-market components, with the business trying to set itself up like the Arcane, as you point out in your next post.

If I were to look at this in the context of my own campaign, I'd try to consider the entire history of magic and of the selling and buying of magic to try and figure out how things happened in my own world. In this way, I could come up with a good, plausible framework to explain why things are the way they are. The above is just one way things could play out; with different influences, things could work out very differently.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I really do think the works of art analogy works best.

Taking that a step farther - magic auctions!

Give the players an opportunity to buy/sell magic, but only at certain times of the year and certain places. A business like Sotherby's might run major auctions every 3 months, and all kinds of people would show up. Imagine the opportunities for intrigue, for old nemesises to pop up, etc. The auction house takes a cut of the sales (25%?) but will buy items at other times for the traditional 50%...

 

[jontherev]

I look at it like a modern Jewelry Store, which houses literally 100's of 1000's of dollars worth of jewelry (and some in the millions). If Joe Blow decides he wants to rob Nystul's Magic Shop, he would have oodles of security to deal with. There would be probably be a "standard" scrying device that all shops would use, that constantly scrys upon the shop, similar to a "black box".

Also, I envision a magical version of the UPC code alarms that go off whenever a thief walks out the door in real life. I guess it could be something like an antimagic field, along with a wall of force (which turns on and off with a switch) separating you from the salesman. Also, for good measure, add in a Dimensional Lock, and of course an actual guard or 2, and a quick way to notify the town or city guard.

Powerful villains could probably circumvent these security measures, but then again, they could also assassinate kings and stuff on a whim.

 

[painandgreed]

In medieval, I think it would look like the office of a wizard or cleric. He probably makes them too which is how he got into the business. Most major sales would go to the larger estates such as wizard colleges, rich nobles, or large temples who would be the only ones to have much 'in stock'. Every thing else would be made on commission.

As trade, methods or travel and communication increased, you'd probably see the existance of a broker who would keep track of who has what, who can make what, and who deals with what. They'd probably have an office with an assistant that would take buy sale orders. That person would then be the intermediatary between those who want to buy and those who want to sale. They might even have their own stock of items that could be moved and guarded easily.

Into the renaissance, things would simply become more stable. Collections of nonexpendable items would increase and be on stock. Shops might spring up but probably specialize in a single type of item such as armor & weapons, scrolls, or rings. It would probably still look like a personal business that is based upon the person running it. What would probably differ the most is that lines of trade will be opening up. Known makers of items will be grouped into trade guilds or merchantile organizations which can handle money transfer so that items can be ordered without actually having to visit the person involved because they'll take care of all that. As items are still more like works of art, ordering such an item from an office would probably involve reading the sales pamphlets of the maker along with books of styles which said item could be made in. The buyer would choose the make and style and have it custom made according the set patterns. Similar books would be made of aquired magic items that were in stock at other locals. Such offices would probably hire artists to create such catalogs or even artisans to craft mundane replicas to show to prospective buyers.

I like the idea of a quarterly magic items auction.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Don't forget that, in the Victorian model, there's a glass egg on the counter that's always scrying part of the surface of Mars.....


(Bennies if you know the reference)