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We have just finished chapter 2 of CC and the PCs are looking to spend the gold they have been rewarded. This is our first Adventure Path, so I am unsure if there are any restrictions on what they can buy. Are they allowed to purchase magic items in cities like Liepenstadt as outlined in the Core Rulebook? If so, what items from Pathfinder resources other than the Core Rulebook are open to them?
They can buy according to the Core Rulebook. Book 2 has a city stat block for Lepidstadt which defines the price point for finding an item for sale, as well as the number of other items that are randomly for sale. Rolling those out does kind of suck; there's a lot of tables involved to figure out which 3d4 medium magic items are available.
You can also simply ask for a list of items they want to buy and then decide which ones are for sale and which ones are not available at a store.
As for the resources available, that is up to you as the GM. You can restrict to the basic core book or open up the entirety of Ultimate Equipment. As this is your first game, it may be easier to keep it restricted to the basic rule book; especially if you've restricted class, race, feat, and spells to only that book.
Lepidstadt has a base market value of 6,000 gp. Any item the players want to buy under that value--+1 weapons and armor, for example--are 75% likely to be found available for purchase with a minimum of effort.
Anything above a 6,000 gp price is probably more than your players can afford at the end of TotB. But hey, maybe they’ll pool their money and pawn their grandmother’s teeth to buy a really interesting item, or maybe they’ll want to return later in the game if they want something badly enough. So, since some folks hate rolling up random items, here’s the random major and medium items I just rolled for the Lepidstadt market:
Major
Mantle of Spell Resistance
Charletan’s Cape
Staff of Conjuration
Orange Prism Ioun Stone
Heretic’s Bane
+4 Breastplate
8th level Pearl of Power
Medium
Wand of Communal Resist Energy
Phylactery of Positive Channeling
+1 Undead-Defying Benevolent Chain Shirt
+2 Shocking Burst Falchion
Minor Rod of Maximize Spell
Celestial Shield
Some of these might be for sale from the Church of Pharasma (the chain shirt, the phylactery, the wand). Others might be old Kellid treasures from the Spiral Cromlech (the ioun stone, the pearl, the falchion). Perhaps others are the estate of a Shining Crusader’s distant heirs (the breastplate, the shield), while others are artifacts for sale by the university (mantle, cape, staff, rod.)
Rolling the minor items is a little pointless because they tend to be under the 6,000 gp market value.
It is also generally pointless to roll the major items, at least at this point. For example, my players got to see a traveling salesman come through with a Staff Of Power and a +5 suit of undead controlling leather armor. Really, the medium items can get you a few things of interest, but even then it will be pretty expensive for a party of that level.
It is also generally pointless to roll the major items, at least at this point... it will be pretty expensive for a party of that level.
Yes and no.
The other chance players will have at a shopping spree is in Caliphas in AaD. Caliphas has a 13,200 market base price, so the number of items they are 75% likely to be able to buy skyrockets.
However, by that point the party might have enough cash floating around that buying, say, a +4 breastplate for about 16,000 gold sounds like a pretty good idea. In which case they might think to teleport back to Lepidstadt to buy it, if they learned it was available. Which is a nice little reward for characters who are really on the ball.
In fact, instead of rolling randomly, you might consider planting major items in the Lepidstadt market that you would expect your party could really benefit from at the end of AoD, so if they think to make a jaunt there before they head to Gallowspire, they’ll have an extra edge.
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I used this page to random the magic items in Lepidstadt. Also realize that if there are any spellcasters who own shops and happen to have item creation feats it's fairly easy for the players to hire them to enchant items for them. (although allowing that is a decision that I am somewhat regretting now that they have enchanted a number of +1 weapons and items of protection)
http://www.wijbrandus.com/applications/app.html
I just kept rerolling until I got a list I liked. Their limit for a small city is 4,000 but I went with it.
Correct. First you roll the magic items per the Minor/Medium/Major list on the city stat block and give this to your players. Then if the players want to buy something else not on that list, you consult the item's value. If the value is above the city's limit, it is not for sale. If it is equal to or below the limit, you roll a d4. On a 1 it is not available. Perhaps the merchant recently sold out, or a shipment was lost at sea.
Now, there is a lot of options here to fiddle with this. I allow my players to have basic magic items that are not for sale (either not on the list or fail the 75% check) to be crafted for an additional 10% over market value. They also have to wait the number of days or come back afterwards. They seem happy with this arrangement.
“No +1 daggers, eh? How about a +1 brass knife?” [rolls] “Okay, how about a +1 punching dagger? A +1 silver dagger? A +1 cestus?”