Hello guys, I have a quick question regarding magic items.
I'm GMing a level 14 (almost 15) party playing Rise of The Runelords, and I wonder how strict I should be about the availability of Magic items? At this level there are a lot of specific, expensive magic items my party would like to acquire, but most of these will not 'naturally' come up because of the way items are rolled (e.g. only 1d4 major items in Magnimar and a cap of 75.000). Magnimar is basically the only major city in the vicinity.
Thus far I've been saying that they can buy any magic item they want through contacts in the Bazar of Sails (the open market in Magnimar) for a 50% markup, but with items costing more and more this is starting to get ridiculous.
Any people who might want to offer a solution to this? My chief concern: is it gamebreaking if I say they're allowed to buy anything for the normal price? Thanks in advance!
Probably not gamebreaking. Depends on what they want to buy. Watch out for things like someone trying to increase their AC to unhittable levels.
You could have them give you a list of what they want to buy, and if there are any items on there you don't want them to have say they're unavailable.
At the end of the day, you're the one who gets to decide what balancing suits your group best.
To answer your question: it may be gamebreaking for some groups, and necessary for others.
My suggestion: Find a few items that you think will be specifically of use to them, and offer those at the normal price as a one-off "wandering trader" thing, and if it works out repeat it again from time to time. That way you're still retaining a level of control over what they get while giving them some decent prices.
Considering that other groups get anything they want for half the price via crafting, I don't think giving them everything they want at full price should hurt the game.
If they can't craft the items because they lack the feats and skills and can't buy it because having everything they want on stock in Magnimar hurts the "realism", they could always hire someone who can craft everything. Magnimar goes up to 8th (?) level spells, I think so there should be casters that can craft just about everything.
Okay, sounds like it won't be too bad to make all items available, then :)
@Matthew and Matt, we have one fighter trying to max out his AC (it has come to a point where I'd almost always have to throw at least 18 to hit him) but he's not trying to be overpowered and will absolutely listen if I ask him to invest in something else for the last adventure.
I would allow them to get virtually anything they want (anything item listed in the books, not custom crafted or made using crafting rules) by paying full price. This wont break the game, and adventures paths are normally written assuming you have access to these sorts of items (though I believe Rise of the Runelords is an example of where thats not true, but I haven't played it). You're players likely want the big 6 items anyways if they don't have them. Anything else is gravy.
You should allow them their choice of:
1) Up to +5 enhanced weapon of their choice
2) Up to +5 enhanced armor of their choice
3) Up to +5 amulet of natural armor
4) Up to +5 ring of protection
5) Up to +5 cloak of resistance
6) Up to +6 main stat adjusting item
I say up to, because depending on their level and wealth they may not be able to afford the capped items of each type at this time, but they'll certainly want to purchase them as they have the funds to do so.
How you flavor the availability of items in the game is up to you, I find the easiest thing is to say the heros can either teleport to Absolom as needed, or they can talk to the merchants in Magnimar and ask them to make a request for the item. Make it take some amount of time for common items (the big six and other items that seem like they would be common to you) maybe two weeks. For other rarer items have the merchant tell them they're not sure if they item is readily available even in Absolom's market and that they may have to really search for it. This will obviously take more time, but make it something reasonable that feels appropriate. Heck, tell them an associate is searching the city for your requested item. Make a d% check and give it a 25% chance each week of being found, and then another week for transport. I would increase the cost here by 10%, nothing major, but it represents the extra work done on the behalf of the PCs and the merchant putting the gold upfront so the PC doesn't have to pay in advance.
I really just thought this up in about 10 mins, so if you don't like it it's no big deal. Hopefully this gives you some ideas though.
Roll normally for the Major/Minor Items. Have those items be available instantly and for normal cost. The players can order additional items, which are made to order (these items require a waiting time equal to the time required to craft the item). If a player is on a time budget, he can pay full price for the item, plus the cost of a Teleport Object spell (1000G (910 rounded up)), and have the item teleported to the shop from a distant city that does have the item.
If they have access to Greater Teleport, they can just go to Absolom for all their shopping needs.
Assuming the party has either been to Absolom, can recover a highly detailed and accurate description of a specific place in the city to greater teleport to, or has someone they know individually in Absolom that they can scry on successfully.
To the OP, I'd probably run it as follows if I found that PCs were having a lot of trouble getting equipment and (they and I) didn't want to take the time and effort to develop relationships and connections with those who could provide said items (merchants or spellcasters).
When they go looking for a specific item there is a fifty percent chance that said item is available. Flip a coin, roll a dice, whatever you wish to resolve this. If it is not available roll on the chart normally for a random item. This random item is now one of the items available in the city. Repeat as needed until all random items (in this case 1d4) are accounted for. They can try again later. This tends to mean if they really want something they'll get it sooner rather than later, but that they can't always order exactly what they want.
You might consider allowing them to expand the available selection by cultivating relationships with powerful merchants or spellcasters on a basic level. You could allow them to invest for instance to bring more items. Whatever works.
If you are really tired of all hastel I don't think simply having the common items they want available is damaging to game balance in the sense of overpowering PCs, though I do think it contributes to cheapening magic as a whole.
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Heh. Anniversary edition Magnimar has a cap of about 14k, not 75k. The group I'm currently running through it (14th level) hasn't really expressed a lack of powerful items. They do have a wizard with most of the item crafting feats; the real issue, as always, is time. They don't feel they have the time to make items that take a month or more to create, or even to commission them made. So there's been a lot of "on the road" crafting, but that has its own limitations.
This is all self-imposed, btw. I give them very few "hard" time limits. They just know that while they craft, the "bad guys" are doing something.
well most have covered most things well enough but i will just address some "food for thought".
On the note of crafting, why DIDN'T the players take crafting feats? Does RotRL adventure path not allow the down time? Most APs aren't on a forced time frame but being the first AP and not running it i don't know. Were the players not made aware they would have the time to craft? OR, did the players simply choose power feats over crafting feats? If they chose not taking crafting feats for more powerful feats then i would say they chose feats over magical equipment and should have to accept it. They had feats they COULD have spent if magic items was more important than raw power. This route seems more like the players want to have there cake and eat it too.
As for just breaking the Town limit and giving the players what they want. You might want to be careful on this one. As the first time you do this for the players they will begin to expect it. And not just this campaign either! If this is the only path your planning on running these players through then it's less of a worry. BUT, if you have plans to run another BE PREPARED next run for.."but last campaign there was no town limit" or "how come come i can't buy mithral armor here in shanty town at lvl 3, last game we didn't use town value". just saying!
There's a few ways that you can give players what they want without explicitly catering to there every whim. Here's a list of some of things i do.
1) always have a wishlist from players. Ask them to update it every level. This gives you an idea of what exactly players want throughout there entire career. Usually i ask them to give me a list of 5 items within there range. while i might not throw in there first pick there's usually an item from there list in every adventure for each PC.
2) edit the items of NPC's and treasure to include items from the above lists. while this adds a little disbelief it's more believable then "Hi i'm random merchant bob. i happen to have everything you happen to want.."
3) Just because the town item lists says your SUPPOSE to roll for magic items doesn't mean you have to. Throw in an item or two from the players wish list. This is much easier believable if its a common or well known item such as a +3 cloak of resistance than say... a +2 agile elven curved blade with Toranis the brave engraved on it ;)
4) USE quests! Diplomacy and gather information are great ways not to award items but to find out how or where to find such items and open up side quests as well. In the above statement about teleporting to Absalom it could be played out. Ex: player gathers information: Shopkeeper- I don't have the item you seek but i DO know a wizard who can teleport you to Absalom without error. If you go there and retrieve an item for me i will pay for the trip and offer you a reward upon your return. As a bonus I'm sure you can find what you seek there. Old Kern might even be able to locate your item beforehand..."
Ex2: Kern the wise: "alas, there is no-one in the relms that i'm aware of that has such an item. BUT, in the cavern of the lost Idol, a forgotten place only known to myself, there is rumored to be a gem of immense magical power. If you help me retrieve this gem i will craft the exact item you desire! i will even let you keep any other treasure we may find. (unbeknownst to the players are a few other items lower on there list).
The possibilities for quests like this are only limited by your imagination!
just some food for thought.
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If they have access to Greater Teleport, they can just go to Absolom for all their shopping needs.Assuming the party has either been to Absolom, can recover a highly detailed and accurate description of a specific place in the city to greater teleport to, or has someone they know individually in Absolom that they can scry on successfully.
At their level they probably also have access to Wind Walk as well and can fly there in a day, maybe two. Then they can Greater Teleport there in the future. If they took a week or two, they could become familiar with most major cities in the Inner Sea so they can shop around. The point was that at their level they are by no means restricted to nearby cities. You've reached the point in the game where distance is pretty much no longer a factor.