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Why DMs Don't Like Magic Marts

The rules or d20 system oh you mean the game thats not Dungeon and Dragons it's the d20 system. thanks in a conversation about DnD that other gaming system's rules are VERY useful and relevent. thanks

...Are you serious?

Those are the D&D 3.5 rules--at least, the part that's legally open content and can thus be republished freely. Go look in the 3.5 DMG, it's pretty much word for word.
 

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No sane government of any period or culture (fantasy or real) would allow anyone to sell things that puts the buyer and everyone else randomly at jeopardy.

I take it you've never read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle? Product safety laws are pretty new things. Apparently our society has no problem letting swords and crossbows fall into indiscriminate hands, so why is it going to stress about potions of jump that might be poisons. Caveat emptor.*

* Which comes from "A provision of Roman law which gave the seller of a http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/househouse the legal right to keep quiet about any defects of a house which he was selling", to speak of things that put the buyer and everybody else randomly at jeopardy.
 

...Are you serious?

Those are the D&D 3.5 rules--at least, the part that's legally open content and can thus be republished freely. Go look in the 3.5 DMG, it's pretty much word for word.

yeah see it's not the same game if it was it wouldn't have a different tag or side banner on this web site. if it was the same they wouldn't have 2 books for everything. there is a d20 system phb,mm, dmg, exe.... and a 3.5 dnd set 3.0 dnd set and a 4.0 dnd set. and i think d20 system even has it's own 3.5 edition but d20system was interduced during dnd 2edition time period.

it's not the same set of rules. they may have very similar idea's and facts but they are different. originally they weren't even put out by the same company. but wotc later bought them so they could have all the profit since some players like the guide lines inside the d20 system more.
 

it's not the same set of rules. they may have very similar idea's and facts but they are different. originally they weren't even put out by the same company. but wotc later bought them so they could have all the profit since some players like the guide lines inside the d20 system more.

... Yeah. No.

The d20 3.5 SRD is a subset of the D&D 3.5 rules, with trademarked terms - like certain spell names and monsters - either removed or genericized. For example, illithids / mind flayers are not in the SRD, and the spell Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion is instead just called Mage's Magnificent Mansion.

Essentially, you're not making any sense.
 
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it's not the same set of rules. they may have very similar idea's and facts but they are different. originally they weren't even put out by the same company.

On this, sir, you are incorrect. The history is quite clear. d20 was developed by WotC, and is the system underlying the 3.x D&D line.

"d20srd.org" merely republishes stuff that WotC has made legal to re-publish.

d20 System Archive
 

I take it you've never read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle? Product safety laws are pretty new things. Apparently our society has no problem letting swords and crossbows fall into indiscriminate hands, so why is it going to stress about potions of jump that might be poisons. Caveat emptor.*

* Which comes from "A provision of Roman law which gave the seller of a house the legal right to keep quiet about any defects of a house which he was selling", to speak of things that put the buyer and everybody else randomly at jeopardy.

I do see your point and it's very good, but comparing product safety laws on a 6th-level paladin turning suddenly CE because of a cursed helmet is either correct or not-so-correct. In my games I'll stick to my view until I die, but I won't argue with you (you seem smarter than me, like book-wise).
 

I think the real real problem with magic item shops is that players won't spend their gold on anything else unless the GM arm-twists/railroads them into doing so.

Players are just not going to drop large sums of gold "points" on something silly like a priest having a statue of their deity built, or a bard hosting an extravagant society event. Nope, the gold points are all going to be spent on getting the next combat upgrade as soon as possible.
I've had the same experience. Most players just don't want to spend money on things that don't give bonuses or advantages in doing what they like to do. [Dungeon-diving.]

Personally, I blame games like the original Final Fantasy.
I blame whoever's in office.

(What, isn't that what everybody does? ;))
 

I've had the same experience. Most players just don't want to spend money on things that don't give bonuses or advantages in doing what they like to do. [Dungeon-diving.]


I blame whoever's in office.

(What, isn't that what everybody does? ;))

Hmmm... my players must be weird. Last campaign, my players blew FAR more money on rebuilding an orphanage, buying a whole city block of property and remodeling it, building a museum, establishing a bookbinding business, selling tapestries they wove on their magitech loom, and buying fantastical statues than they did on magic items; this was in Ptolus, where there's a literal magic-mart built into the setting.

In my homebrew campaign, though, I am doing away with magic-marts; all their items will be what they find in the dungeon and win for themselves, or they'll be potions/scrolls which they can buy once they find the two or three NPCs in their small local town who can make them.

If they ever do go to a larger town, they'll have a small chance to shop for rarer items, but it will be a one-time occasion, I expect. Of course, this is an e6 campaign, so the implied magic level is quite low.
 


Hmmm... my players must be weird. Last campaign, my players blew FAR more money on rebuilding an orphanage, buying a whole city block of property and remodeling it, building a museum, establishing a bookbinding business, selling tapestries they wove on their magitech loom, and buying fantastical statues than they did on magic items; this was in Ptolus, where there's a literal magic-mart built into the setting.

In my homebrew campaign, though, I am doing away with magic-marts; all their items will be what they find in the dungeon and win for themselves, or they'll be potions/scrolls which they can buy once they find the two or three NPCs in their small local town who can make them.

If they ever do go to a larger town, they'll have a small chance to shop for rarer items, but it will be a one-time occasion, I expect. Of course, this is an e6 campaign, so the implied magic level is quite low.
Either your players are bucking for sainthood, are quietly plotting behind your back to subvert the population and turn on you in the future (long term planning in players, not a good sign. :) ), are die hard bleeding heart liberals, or you are yanking our collective chains.

Players never do this much good, not even a paladin brigade. They squash anthills for XP, rob orphanages for money to buy magic and overthrow the wrong government because they forgot which side they were on... You sir, MUST be lying.. :)
 

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