Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="RainOnTheSun" data-source="post: 9332092" data-attributes="member: 7031409">Oh, I see! I think I was a bit too vague, initially. I didn't mean that the faction with the most magical items wouldn't be willing to sell any of them. If anything, somebody with a dozen magic wands is probably more willing to sell/trade one of them than somebody who only has one. My point was that, if a jewelry store, a museum, or some other storehouse of valuable objects gets attacked, they'll turn to the city watch for help. Or the royal guard, or whatever the local peacekeepers are called. If the people with all the magic items get attacked, they're already more dangerous than anyone else they could call. It's a very different power dynamic than you have buying mundane goods from somebody.The Elminster example is a good point, and one I hadn't really given enough thought to. A person in a D&amp;D world can become overwhelmingly powerful without having to rely on equipment or allies, in a way that there's just no equivalent to in the real world. I'd still expect there to be a relative power disparity, though: an 11th level spellcaster with a shop full of magical items is probably still a lot more powerful than most of their customers, and to Elminster, the things that spellcaster creates barely qualify as magic at all. If Elminster ever needs to get a magical item that's significant by his standards, he's probably going to have to go to the Simbul, or Larloch, or Szass Tam, or one of the goddesses he's sleeping with.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="RainOnTheSun, post: 9332092, member: 7031409"] Oh, I see! I think I was a bit too vague, initially. I didn't mean that the faction with the most magical items wouldn't be willing to sell any of them. If anything, somebody with a dozen magic wands is probably more willing to sell/trade one of them than somebody who only has one. My point was that, if a jewelry store, a museum, or some other storehouse of valuable objects gets attacked, they'll turn to the city watch for help. Or the royal guard, or whatever the local peacekeepers are called. If the people with all the magic items get attacked, they're already more dangerous than anyone else they could call. It's a very different power dynamic than you have buying mundane goods from somebody. The Elminster example is a good point, and one I hadn't really given enough thought to. A person in a D&D world can become overwhelmingly powerful without having to rely on equipment or allies, in a way that there's just no equivalent to in the real world. I'd still expect there to be a relative power disparity, though: an 11th level spellcaster with a shop full of magical items is probably still a lot more powerful than most of their customers, and to Elminster, the things that spellcaster creates barely qualify as magic at all. If Elminster ever needs to get a magical item that's significant by his standards, he's probably going to have to go to the Simbul, or Larloch, or Szass Tam, or one of the goddesses he's sleeping with. [/QUOTE]

Verification