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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 9322282" data-attributes="member: 6877472">We know that too much or too powerful magic can destroy games.  Gary wrote about "Monty Haul" campaigns way back in 1e.  I remember an article in Dragon talking about fair distribution of magic; if a 1st-level Fighter slays an Orc and finds a +5 sword in a chest with all the abilities of a Staff of the Magi, and an 11th level Fighter goes through a grueling gauntlet of foes to find a +1 dagger, something is very wrong with the game, lol.But if you use treasure tables or pre-made content, you're going to end up with a lot of low-powered magic items you don't need, and you might need high powered ones (or just want them, because it's nice to have an upgrade).How much of this is necessary depends on the system, but DM's have been handling it in a variety of ways since the very beginning.  Some campaigns are generous and let players find the things they want, but I think it's just as common that the GM seeds the game with items and what you find is what you find- and if your AD&D Fighter is double-specialized in a Bohemian Ear-Spoon, well, tough luck, kid, better learn the magic tables (or the DM's preference in weaponry) next time!  So having a way to purchase an odd weapon might be useful to one's game.As I noted upthread, many D&D settings are lousy with adventurers, or even whole adventuring companies.  If you assume that they're all finding magic items at the same rate, there could be thousands of +1 long swords laying about.It would be strange if they all "lacked value" and could not be traded.  In fact, if they are that ubiquitous, they can't be all that valuable, now can they?  So the idea of a magic item pawn shop isn't unrealistic in these circumstances, but supply and demand (and caveat emptor) are going to be the watchwords here.  If you want to offload a +1 sword, we got dozens in stock, so they won't sell for much.  If you want a +3 Scimitar of Speed, you might be out of luck.Once you start examining your game worlds this way, you quickly realize that magic items may not be as rare and special as you thought they were; but powerful items still can be.  So by all means, have magic shops, but they're mostly full of low rarity junk most adventurers won't want or need for very long.Valuable items will be traded only by select, exclusive groups of billionaires who spend most of their time buying and selling the same objects from each other, much like real world art.</blockquote>

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