I’m just starting the Hall of Harsh Reflections (the party is still fighting random encounters on the road) and the party wants to sell and buy magic items when getting to the Free City, but I’m having trouble figuring out what magic items would be appropriate for a 7th level party to be able to buy and where. I know they would pool their money and buy one very powerful item if I let them buy anything out of the book, which might leave other members of the party vulnerable.
I’m planning on having them sell most magic items at around 50% of the value and able to buy magic items at book value, if they can find what they want. Since they’ll be in Greyhawk City for a while, I want a way for them to get better items as time goes on that makes sense. My campaign is in Greyhawk so I’m using any material I have to base things on. I remembering reading that the Guild of Wizardry rewards members who donate to the guild, so I was thinking of using that as one way to moderate what they get. I was thinking an Adventurer’s Guild would work the same way, which I thought I saw in one of the books.
Is selling magic items at 50% too low if I want them to have the correct money and items for their level? Especially since everything I’ve read makes HOHR look really tough.
Also, they are debating taking two captured trolls to sell at the arena. I’m all for letting them do that as more money might help them with the next set of adventures, but I’m not sure what price would be reasonable for such beasts. Any thoughts?
For a prize for a monster in the Arena i whould go with its CR and using that determin how much "gold" its worth...
So the monster is basicly worth its tresure IMHO...
Of course, the PCs should also have a tough time even getting the trolls into the city, much less selling them, as Greyhawk has strict laws regarding bringing monsters into the city.
Only a suicidal watchman would let someone bring a dangerous critter into their city, and at the very least would confiscate the creature, & probably imprison &/or fine the offender.
There are exceptions to the rule, such as Loris Raknian & Lord Henway, but they've been in the dangerous monster biz for a long time, & have licences for that sort of thing.
I believe the standard D&D rule (despite how realistic it may or may not be) is that any item sold, regardless of what condition it's in, can only be sold for 50% of the market price. (And yet, any items they buy are bought at 100% market price. What's so different about a merchant selling items and an adventurer selling items? I'm sure any player would do whatever it takes to get a merchant's license or whatever, if it meant selling that +5 Vorpal longsword gets him an extra 100,000 gp, not to mention any other magic items they find.)
Anyway, like I said, I'm pretty sure the standard is you only get 50% of market price when you sell something. Change it if you want, but the adventures assume a 50% selling price.
What's so different about a merchant selling items and an adventurer selling items? I'm sure any player would do whatever it takes to get a merchant's license or whatever, if it meant selling that +5 Vorpal longsword gets him an extra 100,000 gp, not to mention any other magic items they find.)
The difference is that the merchant has to pay for property, staff, security, publicity, storage, and can afford to wait a while until someone with 200,000 gp comes along who happens to want a +5 vorpal longsword. Adventurers generally do not have the time, the social network, or the infrastructure needed to sell things at market value on demand. The 50% rule is a useful abstraction of all this for the purposes of the game. Several sourcebooks (DMG2?) have rules for players who wish to go into business. Nothing prevents the DM from having an NPC contact the party and offer to pay full price for one or more of their magic items (or offer to sell something at 50% of its value), but players would definitely surpass the recommened wealth per level guidelines if that was an option all the time.
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So the monster is basicly worth its tresure IMHO...
This seems like very sound reasoning to me.
I might make them go through a song and dance at the gate ("What?!?! You're not bringing that in, no way!!!" "But we have a permit" (hands him 50 gps) "Uh...okay...I guess it can go through." I'd have fun with the situation and reward your player's creativity rather than bog them down with customs.
Besides, it'll be worth it later on when you replace Pitch Blade with a pair of leveled trolls...
I believe the standard D&D rule (despite how realistic it may or may not be) is that any item sold, regardless of what condition it's in, can only be sold for 50% of the market price.
IIRC, the 50% markdown applies to everything except, jewelry, gems, works of art (sculptures, paintings, carvings, etc), and trade goods.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I am making it a bit difficult for them to get the Trolls to the city. They wanted to keep one of them below 0 hit points, non-lethal, at all times and calculated the amount of damage in an hour they would have to do. So I give them points for creativity.
And I will be making it a bit tough to get the trolls in the city. One member has already said he'd go ahead and try to talk to the guards. I think it will be an amusing story and a good time either way.
One bonus for them, I'm not rolling for any more random encounters if they are riding along with two tied up trolls!
I do plan on doing 50% for magic items. They keep asking if they can trade in the items for more money and such things. I saw the trolls as a different way of increasing their wealth. I'm worried the HOHR will be really tough on them and a little extra cash might help.
I'm running the part where they bring the trolls into the city tomorrow night, Trolls and the City. Should be interesting!