Why DMs Don't Like Magic Marts

[Dausuul]

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.

"Caveat emptor" is one thing. "Caveat omnes" is something else again. Cursed magic items have the potential to threaten not just the buyer, but a lot of other people... including the rich and powerful folks who make the laws.

But I think it's the non-cursed items that would really draw down the wrath of the powers that be. A magic shop is the fantasy equivalent of Suitcase Nukes R Us. No government would allow such armaments to be sold freely within its borders, if it was remotely within the state's power to prevent it.

 

[prosfilaes]

But I think it's the non-cursed items that would really draw down the wrath of the powers that be. A magic shop is the fantasy equivalent of Suitcase Nukes R Us. No government would allow such armaments to be sold freely within its borders, if it was remotely within the state's power to prevent it.

True, but I think that's a different universe then most D&D universes. A high-level character, even without magical equipment, is a massively dangerous thing. High-level magic should be regulated, controlled, like in Dragonlance, probably without the ecumenical attitudes towards the bad guys, and if the government doesn't control the Wizard's guild, it's because they can't so they form an uneasy truce. Governments should at least make a claim on magical treasure, like Traveller's Imperium does on Ancient artifacts.

And there's a real question how much the government can control high-level characters in a D&D world. If a 20th level fighter decides to open up a magic mart, does the government (sans Elmunchkin) have the power to stop him? If a 20th level wizard decides to play games with dimensional portals and have a moving magic shop, can they even find him?

 

[S'mon]

I think there are some magics like wands of fireballs and mind-control magic that even a D&D-style government (in a Greyhawk type setting with powerful states, not PoL) would want to restrict/monopolise. The Tokugawa Shogunate's ban on firearms is a real-world historical equivalent.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

True, but I think that's a different universe then most D&D universes. A high-level character, even without magical equipment, is a massively dangerous thing. High-level magic should be regulated, controlled, like in Dragonlance, probably without the ecumenical attitudes towards the bad guys, and if the government doesn't control the Wizard's guild, it's because they can't so they form an uneasy truce. Governments should at least make a claim on magical treasure, like Traveller's Imperium does on Ancient artifacts.

And there's a real question how much the government can control high-level characters in a D&D world. If a 20th level fighter decides to open up a magic mart, does the government (sans Elmunchkin) have the power to stop him? If a 20th level wizard decides to play games with dimensional portals and have a moving magic shop, can they even find him?

DMG page 135 discusses about "Player Characters out of control" and I think this falls into that section. You know, there's always someone more powerful that will stop anyone screwing around with the Law and basically ruining the campaign world. Someone setting up a magic mart in my Greyhawk campaign will receive one (1) warning from the local ruler and Boccobites. After that I'm enforcing everything in "Player Characters out of control".

 

[prosfilaes]

You know, there's always someone more powerful that will stop anyone screwing around with the Law and basically ruining the campaign world.

That's only true if you feel magic marts are ruining the campaign world. And the most powerful figures in the campaign setting can range from LG characters that will keep everything orderly, to CN/CE characters that leave trails of destruction wherever they go, to creatures that act on motivations no human understands.

Personally, I think PCs running a magic mart would be interesting. They'd have to deal with government interference, but it would be all be part of the game.

 

[Stoat]

Frankly, I don't think a typical D&D economy could support a "Magic Walmart" as that term is sometimes used on ENWorld. There would absolutely be trade in magic items. However, items are too expensive, too specialized (I want a +1 keen, flaming burst greataxe; your +1 keen, flaming burst greatsword is no use to me) and too rare to support a store that sold nothing but magical gewgaws.