Magic Item Shoppe - by RAW they don't seem too bad.

[Stefan Hill]

Hi,

I am a self confused Magic Shop hater. As mainly a GM I find that magic shops kill the wonder and excitement of finding magic items in an adventure. No point dancing for glee as the Identify tells you the sword you hold in your hand is a mighty +2 weapon when the guy beside just brought 3 +5 Dragon Slaying swords on special at the local mall.

That aside... On page 460 & 461 of the Core book the myth of the ultimate magic shop in every town is dispelled (well for me).

Community size is the tab the GM can adjust to make sure that while a magic shop exists it doesn't offer 'buy-now' options.

Armed this this my latest campaign starts the characters (1st level) in a Hamlet with a Village not too far away - but enough to get into trouble. So where they have started their adventures they have a 75% chance of getting an item 200 gp or less they are specifically after, along with the d6 randomly determined minor magic items. The village along the road will up the ante to 500 gp or less and some random medium items. If I decide to use the biggest community (the metropolis, 16,000 gp limit) then still items in the +5 power range can't be specifically purchased off the shelf. Roleplaying, random luck, making, or adventuring is required for these god-like magicks.

So I must apologise to Paizo for my nerd-rage cries against their system that neutered the GM's power over 'giving nice things'.

This came up in game - the player had also missed (or conveniently forgotten) this particular set of rules. But in the end RAW came to my rescue. The complaints I hear now is that they don't know where to find a city. Glorious thing about home brew campaigns, the players don't have a GPS like knowledge of the entire planet...

S.

[Gaekub]

Glad to hear you're coming around! :)

[Dr Grecko]

Stefan Hill wrote:

Glorious thing about home brew campaigns, the players don't have a GPS like knowledge of the entire planet...

That would certainly make Knowledge: Geography a little bit less of a throw away skill if the players wanted to find other cities to do some shopping.

But yes, per raw Magic Item Shops seem perfectly fine to me.

[Stefan Hill]

Dr Grecko wrote:

Stefan Hill wrote:

Glorious thing about home brew campaigns, the players don't have a GPS like knowledge of the entire planet...

That would certainly make Knowledge: Geography a little bit less of a throw away skill if the players wanted to find other cities to do some shopping.

As they are finding out when they hit level 2 there were a few arguments over who should spend skill points on this skill. Useful in this setting but still not the sexiest of skills.

[Adamantine Dragon]

It's amazing what a little reading of the rules can lead to... ;-)

(Does the smiley face help? Does it help make the comment less harsh?)

[BillyGoat]

To be fair to Knowledge (Geography) stats everywhere, I've had my players repeatedly inform me:

Frustrated Player with too Much Setting Knowledge wrote:

Darn it, I know where that city is! But, my character doesn't...

They may not be perfect, but most players I've dealt with are better than I am about separating player & character setting knowledge. Sometimes, they're not so good about remembering to forget monster stats.

But yes, when you follow the rules you've mentioned (or at least, have them as a guideline), the magic shoppes tend to be reasonable. And if you turn them into a specialty store with an interesting broker, they can even become a fun roleplaying encounter.

I'll never forget the time my players had to meet a go-between in a dark ally. Then, follow her through the sewers to a secret vault underground to deal with a masked stranger and his armed guards. All because the otherwise common & inexpensive magical items they were interested in were considered contraband & had to be smuggled into town.

[thejeff]

Dr Grecko wrote:

Stefan Hill wrote:

Glorious thing about home brew campaigns, the players don't have a GPS like knowledge of the entire planet...

That would certainly make Knowledge: Geography a little bit less of a throw away skill if the players wanted to find other cities to do some shopping.

Really? Geography to find a city? Assuming you know where any town is, can't you just ask someone? Even in the littlest hamlet, someone has to have been somewhere else. Maybe they can only point you to the nearest bigger town, but someone there will be able to put you on a road to a city.