blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
What's the Dream Apothecary?
-blarg
-blarg
Where PCs buy & sell magic items
- Thread starter blargney the second
- Start date
Agamemnon
First Post
blargney the second said:
This is certainly an interesting idea. And if you keep the operating costs high enough, you'll ensure mundane goods will still have to be brought around by regular means, ensuring caravans will still be vulnerable to orc attacks, etc, so that 1st level adventurers have something to do.
I guess some of the larger Red Wizard enclaves in Faerûn could use a similar system, both for mercantile efforts and in preparation for the inevitable future invasion.
painandgreed
First Post
Usually, in the games I've been in and run lately, it's all been in large cities. Once everybody gets to a suitably large city that it is determined that such items can be bought and sold, they are. It all happens off screen in an undetermined amount of downtime. Even running it this way, it can take an hour for everybody to make their purchases and such. If we were to run though it role playing, it would be an entire session and most my players simply want to kill things and take their stuff.
What would happen if we did role play it or how I explain it, is that most low level items are commissioned from either a temples clerics or from the various wizards that set up shop in the city. As things get more powerful and expensive, you have to deal with more powerful and less available people. Such transactions take longer and eventually you might have to deal with people whose duties involve things other than making such items like the head of the wizard's college or head priest of the main temple. Getting them to make your items involves being viewed by them in a favorable light or even doing some favors for them first. There is a chance that a suitable already made item may be avaialable, owned by soembody, like similar adventurers or a noble who is willing to sell and knowledge of such and following transactions are usually brokered by the same people who would normally make such items. Likewise, to sell and item, you'd go to somebody who might be expected to make it (and thus knows the buyers or will be contacted by them) and they will broker the deal on commission. Soem of these brokers may have a legion of messengers and aids who can run throughout the land informing people of what they are looking to buy and sell as expensive magic items are equivilent of large corporate deals.
What would happen if we did role play it or how I explain it, is that most low level items are commissioned from either a temples clerics or from the various wizards that set up shop in the city. As things get more powerful and expensive, you have to deal with more powerful and less available people. Such transactions take longer and eventually you might have to deal with people whose duties involve things other than making such items like the head of the wizard's college or head priest of the main temple. Getting them to make your items involves being viewed by them in a favorable light or even doing some favors for them first. There is a chance that a suitable already made item may be avaialable, owned by soembody, like similar adventurers or a noble who is willing to sell and knowledge of such and following transactions are usually brokered by the same people who would normally make such items. Likewise, to sell and item, you'd go to somebody who might be expected to make it (and thus knows the buyers or will be contacted by them) and they will broker the deal on commission. Soem of these brokers may have a legion of messengers and aids who can run throughout the land informing people of what they are looking to buy and sell as expensive magic items are equivilent of large corporate deals.
kigmatzomat
Legend
Ring gates. Horribly underutilized and under-considered magic items.
Instantaneous communication and shipment of small goods. Banks could use them to transfer coinage. Combine with Shrink/Item to transport entire wagonloads of supplies in 100 mile jumps. Scouts and other mobile forces can be resupplied in the field. Plus spells can be cast through them so your BBEG can give the ring to a minion as an "amulet" and then blast away at the party.
Instantaneous communication and shipment of small goods. Banks could use them to transfer coinage. Combine with Shrink/Item to transport entire wagonloads of supplies in 100 mile jumps. Scouts and other mobile forces can be resupplied in the field. Plus spells can be cast through them so your BBEG can give the ring to a minion as an "amulet" and then blast away at the party.
Destil
Explorer
Many of the stuff that’s been listed is similar to my own Eberron game.
Cannith aside each other house can provide magical items related to their dragonmark's abilities (I allow dragonmark spell-like abilities to qualify for magic item creation). House Jorasco has the healing potion market cornered, for instance. Cannith makes special bottles for their healing potions, they have crystal like 'corks' on top that dissolve into a liquid once broken and exposed to air (alchematical invention). This drives the price up an extra 1GP for each but you know you're getting an authentic House Jorasco potion (all neatly labeled and color coded).
Most other houses have some magic item mercantile interest, related to their area of expertise, but they don’t produce goods on par with Cannith (CL 4-5 max usualy).
I've also been developing the Aura house in Sharn a bit, I don't remember who the original proprietor was in City of Towers but I'm having a half-elven Sorcerer 10 / Heir of Siberys 2 run the place, a prodigal son of Medani (they don’t get enough exposure). I may work in the Banking Guild and the gnomes (never forget the gnomes) as the primary way powerful items end up there. Right now I'm having daily auctions for small stuff (The E-Bay of Magic items!). Every Fir there's a larger auction (CL 5-6 max, unless someone's looking for quick coin...) and four times a year there's a major auction lasting a whole week, where some of the most powerful items in Khorvair change hands (this takes place during the seasonal trade fairs of Kol Korran).
The Aernai cities are the other major market for magical items, and they have a small trading post in several of the large Valanar encampments. This is one of the best places to find magical weapons and armor, as well as necromantic items.
While the Church of the Silver Flame doesn’t openly sell magic items corrupt priests run shady markets where coin and magic exchange hands across Thrane and in several other large cities. It's said that one of the Cardinals uses this to fund his expensive inquisitions...
Psionic items are a fairly exotic import that Lyrander brings in on it's monthly trading runs to Sarlona. They tend to be small oddities and trinkets as opposed to psicrowns of dominion. There's also a small psionic item shop in Sharn's Kalashatar gehtto.
Military magic is available from the major nations, especially Aundair. With huge debts from the wars most nations are eager to make some quick coin this way, though it's usually only available to citizens and officially only openly sold to ex-military.
Cannith aside each other house can provide magical items related to their dragonmark's abilities (I allow dragonmark spell-like abilities to qualify for magic item creation). House Jorasco has the healing potion market cornered, for instance. Cannith makes special bottles for their healing potions, they have crystal like 'corks' on top that dissolve into a liquid once broken and exposed to air (alchematical invention). This drives the price up an extra 1GP for each but you know you're getting an authentic House Jorasco potion (all neatly labeled and color coded).
Most other houses have some magic item mercantile interest, related to their area of expertise, but they don’t produce goods on par with Cannith (CL 4-5 max usualy).
I've also been developing the Aura house in Sharn a bit, I don't remember who the original proprietor was in City of Towers but I'm having a half-elven Sorcerer 10 / Heir of Siberys 2 run the place, a prodigal son of Medani (they don’t get enough exposure). I may work in the Banking Guild and the gnomes (never forget the gnomes) as the primary way powerful items end up there. Right now I'm having daily auctions for small stuff (The E-Bay of Magic items!). Every Fir there's a larger auction (CL 5-6 max, unless someone's looking for quick coin...) and four times a year there's a major auction lasting a whole week, where some of the most powerful items in Khorvair change hands (this takes place during the seasonal trade fairs of Kol Korran).
The Aernai cities are the other major market for magical items, and they have a small trading post in several of the large Valanar encampments. This is one of the best places to find magical weapons and armor, as well as necromantic items.
While the Church of the Silver Flame doesn’t openly sell magic items corrupt priests run shady markets where coin and magic exchange hands across Thrane and in several other large cities. It's said that one of the Cardinals uses this to fund his expensive inquisitions...
Psionic items are a fairly exotic import that Lyrander brings in on it's monthly trading runs to Sarlona. They tend to be small oddities and trinkets as opposed to psicrowns of dominion. There's also a small psionic item shop in Sharn's Kalashatar gehtto.
Military magic is available from the major nations, especially Aundair. With huge debts from the wars most nations are eager to make some quick coin this way, though it's usually only available to citizens and officially only openly sold to ex-military.
Thunderfoot
Hero
PCs (nor NPCs for that matter) can buy or sell magic items in our world with the exception of potions. HOWEVER, there are always the rare finds if one is willing to spend the time or the money to locate items.
The 'pricing guide' of the DMG is right out in our campaign for obvious reasons.
The 'pricing guide' of the DMG is right out in our campaign for obvious reasons.
Xer0
First Post
The Dreaming Apothecary is a man/organization/unknown entity that has a virtual monopoly on all magic weapon (could be all magical items, but I don't have the book in front of me) sales. With few notable exceptions, if you want a magical item/weapon, you contact the Apothecary, he visits you in your Dreams, you set up the order (no haggling) and in a couple of weeks, you get your shiny new magic item. There are a couple of other places you can get magical items, but they're rare and always used.blargney the second said:
Oh yeah, forgot this part. He's based in Ptolus.
Thomas Percy
First Post
The Dreaming Apothecary is a group of spellcasters who make magic items to order. The Dreaming Apothecary operates no storefront. They grant anyone wishing to contact the group a small bronze token with the image of a human man’s face on one side—his eyes closed, as though asleep—and a female elf’s face on the other, her eyes likewise closed. The representative instructs the interested party to place the token under his pillow or bed when he goes to sleep that night. The Dreaming Apothecary will contact the character in his dreams. Following these instructions essentially makes the character a willing recipient (no saving throw) to a powerful divination that tells the mages of the Apothecary his location and that he wants to be contacted. Further, the character willingly and automatically becomes subject to effects similar to detect thoughts and discern lies. The sleeping character with a token has a lucid dream in which a levitating figure appears to him in the room where he sleeps as a ilussion of a beautiful human woman in a long, flowing red-and-gold robe. The friendly figure gets right to business, asking the dreamer what he wants. Once the price and delivery date are secured, the figure asks the dreamer for the physical location of the funds. Payment is made entirely up front—no exceptions. The next morning, the item’s exact price is missing (teleported out) from the character’s funds. Delivery of an item comes on the appointed morning. Small, inexpensive items are delivered by a courier who has no idea what is in the package, who originally sent it, or where it came from. Larger or expensive items appear via teleportation magic in a location designated during the transaction.Xer0 said:
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
painandgreed said:
Yeah - we do the same thing. Game time is for gaming, so we do purchases in downtime on the private forum I built for the group. They probably would want to kill the merchants and take their stuff if we decided to do shopping trips in game time.
And who can blame them?
-blarg
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