1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

How does "shopping" work in PnP D&D?

Discussion in 'Dungeons & Dragons + Other RPGs' started by diagnull, Jan 15, 2008.

  1. diagnull Gems: 5/31
    Latest gem: Andar


    Joined:
    May 31, 2007
    Messages:
    122
    Likes Received:
    0
    Just something I was curious about...

    Having never really played PnP D&D, there's a lot of things that I only know the CRPG way of doing things.

    So, I was thinking, in CRPGs, if you want a certain ite or weapon for your PC, like Boots of Speed or something, you have to either hope you find it, or hope you find a store that sells it. If you're really lucky, someone in the game can make it for you.

    But how does it usually work in PnP? Obviously, you might find the boots in game, or if there is a town in the module, you might find them there, but if not, what is the usual way to buy something. Does a PC tell the DM what they want and let the DM fingure out an in-game way of letting them buy what they want?

    Like I said, just curious...

    Thanks,

    -D
     
  2. Fabius Maximus Gems: 19/31
    Latest gem: Aquamarine


    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2003
    Messages:
    1,103
    Likes Received:
    3
    You say it. Basically, you tell the Dm what you want to buy, and the DM says if it is available in the town you're in. Sourcebooks have statblocks for cities which include a gold piece limit. That means you can only find items up to a certain price there. But the DM makes the last call.
     
  3. Ilmater's Suffering Gems: 21/31
    Latest gem: Pearl


    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2006
    Messages:
    1,352
    Likes Received:
    4
    In a large city, you can usually buy most magic items you need through merchants who specialize in magical items, at the very least, common magical items like the items that boost ability scores or armor class. Epic items should not be for sale anywhere other then a planar metropolis like Sigil.

    However, the most common way in an adventure that does not have a city with a population over 5,001 (gold limit of 15,000 gp for a small city vs. a large town with a gold limit of 3,000 gp which doesn't by much in terms of magical items), you pretty much have to get your magic items off your enemies. That means, unless your GM is specifically planting magic items, the magic items your party receives is determined by rolling on varying charts and you simply have to make do with what you get.

    If you don't have access to magic items via shops, your party's wizard or cleric should be strongly encouraged to take item creation feats, namely craft magic arms and armor, forge ring and craft wondrous item.
     
  4. Gnarfflinger

    Gnarfflinger Wiseguy in Training

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2004
    Messages:
    5,423
    Likes Received:
    30
    It really varies from campaign to campaign. Some campaigns would have such shops available in larger cities, other campaigns would have no such opportunities. It's really up to the GM...
     
  5. Ziggyveld Gems: 5/31
    Latest gem: Andar


    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2006
    Messages:
    115
    Likes Received:
    0
    Besides, it felt that much more great when we *actually* came by a magic trinket.

    [​IMG] It really depends on how your Dungeon Master plays his cards -- for instance, in the campaigns I've had a hand in, players had a very limited scope of buyable items (most of them were very odd, non-combat oriented or utilities like potions, wands and so on -- very few "core" magical items all in all). If a particular player had a preference for a given type of item, weapon or armor, the DM would generally make said items a little more convenient to come by, but other than that, we were on our own.

    We mostly shopped for supplies rather than items. Mind you, currency was pretty scarce when we played, and we would have to find, earn, smuggle or steal our equipment rather than just drop a couple platinum coins and collect it.

    That being said, there's the "roll the die and check the chart" method, or "if you have the gold, you can buy it" some DMs use. It's pretty much at the discretion of the people running the game. :)
     
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.