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So, I am trying to add a bit of depth to my players making purchases in town to force interaction with the locals.
One of the things is, when they ask what they've got in stock. I hate just saying "If it's less than X, it's available." Not every shopkeeper keeps infinite mithril daggers laying around because they're cheap, etc.
Is there a resource that I've missed that would help me establish this?
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Here's an idea off the top of my head:
Assign items (or categories of items) a "rarity value". This would be a number from 1-99. This represents how rare an item is, or how unlikely it would be for it to be sitting in-stock in a shop.
Assign shops a "wealth value". This would also be a number from 1-99. This would be based on the size and nature of the shop and the size of the town in which it's located. It represents the shop's ability to keep more and pricier/rarer items in stock.
When a player goes to a shop and asks for item X, you find the item's rarity value, subtract it from the shop's wealth value, and get a number. That number is the % chance that the shop has the item in stock. (If the number is negative, meaning the rarity exceeds the wealth, the item is not in stock.)
For example:
Let's say that basic alchemical items (alchemist's fire, etc) have a rarity value of 5.
Simple weapons are 3, martial weapons are 6, and exotic weapons are 15.
Masterwork versions of weapons add 5 to the rarity value.
Weapons of special materials have a rarity value of double the normal total for a masterwork weapon (i.e., a masterwork martial weapon is 11, so a cold iron one is 22).
A +1 enchantment adds another 10.
After the first +1, each additional plus adds another 12.
Special qualities (like flaming or bane) add 20 to the rarity value, since really specific weapons don't exactly fly off the shelf. (Extremely specific or niche properties might add more to the rarity value, and common ones might add less.)
So!
PC walks into a small-ish shop with a wealth value of 50.
Alchemist's fire has a 45% chance of being in stock.
A mundane morningstar has a 47% chance of being on the shelf, a +1 longsword has a 29% chance of being ready to buy, an adamantine spiked chain is only 10% likely to be there, and a +1 flaming adamantine spiked chain absolutely will not be available for immediate purchase.
Obviously the exact numbers probably need tweaking, but you get the idea.
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Nice system! That is a heck of a lot better than what I did, which was roll specific items available at the shop. The way you have would allow a lot more flexibility, while still not making every shop look like a magic wal-mart.
I may have to retro the game session last weekend and let them redo their trip to the magic shop.
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Jiggy that is a very good start to a shop system for on the fly purchases. You don't have to make up an inventory and once you get the basic numbers can figure out quickly what is or is not in stock.
You could even add in an "appraise" or "Perception" check to find stuff on the shelves that got accidentally shoved behind things and forgotten that would be of higher rarity.
To which I can only say... 'Yoink'. love this idea...
I do the roll for the city thing and enforce the 75% chance on the city's base price rule. When my PCs walk into a shop and peruse the wears I scan randomly on the list from what I rolled and pick a few things they see and let them know I can roll for something if they're looking for something specific if it's at or below the base price. Since Ultimate Equipment designates common and uncommon items I've even thought about giving uncommon items only a 50% chance to exist even if they're at or below the base price.