Where is my Freaking Mule?!

[billd91]

Wut?

For a 10' pole? A mule? Really?

Really. Some people aren't good at coming up with that sort of stuff on the fly. It's one of the reasons we buy rule expansions, so that we can benefit from the ability other people have to kit things up.

I can understand a bit of dismay at having a couple books of expanded gear without much treatment of mundane gear, particularly since the main adventuring gear list was fairly sparse. For me, it's another reminder that 4e really isn't in the same groove as earlier editions and isn't thought of in the same way by WotC.

 

[Glyfair]

wow, that was uncalled for...

I also believe you don´t need a book full of roleplaying items... but it would fill some pages of DMG 3 quie well.

Actually, I already have it. There was a Rolemaster book released called "...and a 10' pole." It was essentially a book of "roleplaying items" sorted by era with some brief descriptions and price based on era.

Now, I never played Rolemaster. However, that doesn't matter for this book. There is just a smidgen of rules content, so it works for every game I might want to play. I don't see why WotC would be able to sell me something I already have, and don't see why they'd want to duplicate something that already exists.

 

[Orius]

I prefer games where cold hard coin is something you're encouraged to spend on luxuries: spyglasses, sailing ships, owning your own property (and improving it), ale and whores.

Since when are ale and whores luxury goods?!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

2Ed had[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Auroras-Whole-Realms-Catalog-Forgotten/dp/1560763272"] Aurora's Whole Realms' Catalog[/ame] full of "role-play" gear, some of which had real in-game impact...and not all of it good! (Some items were, essentially, snake-oil.)

3Ed had a variety of arms & equipment guides- official and 3rd party, mere sections and whole books worth, most of which had real in-game impact.

4Ed could probably use a bit more of this- this kind of product brings real value to the table.

Consider- if you follow that link, you'll see that Aurora's goes for the not-inconsiderable sum of nearly $40 at Amazon! Somebody wants this kind of material!

 

[Nahat Anoj]

I also believe you don´t need a book full of roleplaying items... but it would fill some pages of DMG 3 quie well.

I don't think a book full of "roleplaying" items is strictly necessary, either. But, when I played WoW, vanity pets and titles were popular things amongst a large subgrou of player. I think they could devote a decent chunk of an Adventurer's Vault or Bazaar of the Bizarre article to beasts, vehicles, and items that don't have a direct relationship to adventuring.

 

[nightwyrm]

Free yourself of the burden of precision from rulebooks and prep time for this sort of stuff.

Your player asks to buy a mule. You say ok, you buy a mule. He says how much is it...and if they are around 1-3 level, you make up a number on the fly like 5gp from the local vendor. And if they are 4+ level you say "don't worry about it, you can afford it without noticing the cost really". And that's it.

And when they ask for the stats, you say "it will get you where you are going faster that your feet for long distances, but if you try to use it in combat for anything more than an object filling a space, it will die like a minion".

And that's it. You don't need a book. You don't need stats. You don't need prep time for this. You don't need anything more than the shortest of conversations for this.

You can do it. You'll probably find it becomes a freeing feeling to just do this sort of thing on the fly, and maybe other things in your game will come more easily on the fly.

+1

I don't want to carry around and reference a book filled with stats of useless stuff. For things that have little to no effect in game, I prefer to just make it up on the spot.

 

[Lanefan]

If you have the time, it's not that hard to come up with a 'Sears Catalog' of mundane gear, transport, hirelings, and other assorted gype.

Or use ours. It can be found here - just click on item 4.20 "Sears Catalog and Equpiment Guide" and it'll open in Word. It even has weights listed, for those who want to track encumbrance.

You might have to adjust the listed costs of things to reflect a 4e economy; I'll leave that up to you.

Lan-"in Decast, a mule costs 10 g.p."-efan

 

[Holy Bovine]

Free yourself of the burden of precision from rulebooks and prep time for this sort of stuff.

Your player asks to buy a mule. You say ok, you buy a mule. He says how much is it...and if they are around 1-3 level, you make up a number on the fly like 5gp from the local vendor. And if they are 4+ level you say "don't worry about it, you can afford it without noticing the cost really". And that's it.

And when they ask for the stats, you say "it will get you where you are going faster that your feet for long distances, but if you try to use it in combat for anything more than an object filling a space, it will die like a minion".

And that's it. You don't need a book. You don't need stats. You don't need prep time for this. You don't need anything more than the shortest of conversations for this.

You can do it. You'll probably find it becomes a freeing feeling to just do this sort of thing on the fly, and maybe other things in your game will come more easily on the fly.

Excellent suggestions Mistwell. This is exactly how I treat horses the party buys just to get them from point A to point B faster. Chances are they are going to sell them (if they don't eat them - there is a reason the most popular names for horses in my games are Extra Rations and Chicken! )when they are done and get back a good amount of what they paid in the first place. For the first few levels this is worth tracking - after that it becomes needless bookkeeping. And I have always had non-warfare trained horses act as minions in combat - they also would only attack if something attacked them and missed.

 

[Holy Bovine]

2Ed had Aurora's Whole Realms' Catalog full of "role-play" gear, some of which had real in-game impact...and not all of it good! (Some items were, essentially, snake-oil.)

3Ed had a variety of arms & equipment guides- official and 3rd party, mere sections and whole books worth, most of which had real in-game impact.

4Ed could probably use a bit more of this- this kind of product brings real value to the table.

Consider- if you follow that link, you'll see that Aurora's goes for the not-inconsiderable sum of nearly $40 at Amazon! Somebody wants this kind of material!

I was going to suggest that one. Aurora's Whole Realms should be a must own for any DM. So much neat and fun (and funny!) stuff in there.

 

[Zaran]

Wut?

For a 10' pole? A mule? Really?

How about a 3 masted ship? Or a 12 bedroom estate? How much does a moathouse cost?

Sure the GM can make up this stuff. But alot of GMs don't want to deal with that sort of thing.

What I don't understand is why would anyone oppose a book like this? It does nothing but give players and GMs tender to kindle the fires of inspiration.

And I would be all for this stuff being put into the next Adventurer's Vault or Dungeon Master's Guide but I do think that we can come up with all kinds of ideas to fill a whole book.