Magic Item Market - Advanced Gamemastery

[@Oðrun]

Excellent advice, even if you're not doing 5E D&D... ...stay for the outake.

[@DennisSegebarth]

KZbin algorithm suggested this video for me & I was amazed by the logic & coherence of your suggestions, but then it struck me when I read your name in the links embedded in the description. The Alexandrian - like, THE Alexandrian? Dragon Heist was the first ever campaign I DM'd and I was SO frustrated with how the original book was written. Luckily, I stumbled upon your Remix & we had such a great time playing it. I can't say how much I admire and appreciate your work! Tremendous job, and I'll sure as hell leave you a like & subscribe at the very least. Keep it up!

[@TheAlexandrian]

Thanks, Dennis! Great to have you here! And I'm so glad to hear your Dragon Heist campaign went so well! (Minus the initial frustration!)

[@alexanderwizardjar9540]

You got nominated for 2 Ennies! Congratulations!

[@TheAlexandrian]

Thank you! Hope everyone gets a chance to VOTE and have their voice get heard: vote.ennie-awards.com/vote/2024/

[@matts8833]

always have a ton of love for d20srd. I find it hilarious that not only much of 3.5e PHB,MM, and DMG were released as OGL but also the Psionics (???) and Epic Level (?????) splatbooks and of course a whole bunch of unearthed arcana.

[@stevefugatt7075]

A rule of thumb I learned in the early 80s: "If everything is magical then nothing is magical."

[@formlessone8246]

Also, if you play any TCGs like Magic the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh, you could do something similar but more tactile. By now I am certain most of us who play those games have a ton of spare artifact and equipment cards laying about in trade folders and boxes of commons, so one way to make use of them at the table would be to put together a deck of artifacts, shuffle it up, and make the market table by drawing from the deck to fill out the table. You have to use your imagination to figure out what a Sword of Feast and Famine represents in D&D terms, but what's cool is precisely that the cards have such evocative names that you might start looking through the books for items you have only glimpsed a couple times before; or if you still play earlier editions of D&D like 3e where there were rules for custom magic weapons, you can decide for yourself what a Sword of Feast and Famine does. Maybe throw in some creature or xharacter cards like Planeswalkers, and you can use those to inspire the NPCs that currently possess them and may or may not be merchants... or fellow adventurers who need more convincing to part ways with their stuff.

[@TheAlexandrian]

I'm a huge fan of using random CCG draws for inspo!

[@GalvatronRodimus]

When I have magic items for sale, I usually like to have a random-ish selection; nothing can *reliably* be bought. Keeps some of that mysteriousness in place.

[@MrMrPater]

Your website has been my favourite place to get advice and system deep dives on since I discovered it. TIL that you have a KZbin channel?! There goes a few hours.

[@TheAlexandrian]

Thanks! Great to have you here, there, and everywhere! ;)

[@ProtonCannon]

10:41 _"In most Editions of DnD, you can just look the item up and it will have a price listed... but.. _*_sigh_*_ not in Dnd 5th Edition..."_ The "Anti-DM Edition" strikes again!

[@SortKaffe]

Yeah, they've promised to fix it in the 2024 DMG. They admit that they wrote the 2014 DMG to experienced DMs, which they will correct now. They in no way expected this edition to attract such a big new audience.

[@ProtonCannon]

@@SortKaffe Promises, promises, promises... I can promise you the world as well. But we will see, I have not yet get to read the new 2024 but heard stuff that it is like completely different game in itself.

[@SortKaffe]

Who told you that it's a different game? They're merely just trying to improve the balance of CR, classes, subclasses, feats, and spells, since the variety in power level is too big currently. Improvements of accessibility includes that you will learn how to play in the first chapters of the PHB and the DMG, which will both have a comprehensive rules glossary that's structured alphabetically rather than you having to remember in which chapter to find the rules for hiding etc.

[@ProtonCannon]

@@SortKaffe Just rumors from the KZbinr Dungeon Craft for example. Like he said races will no longer be thing other than fluff it will character backgrounds instead so basically everyone will be the same variant human. And that it will have some crazy number like over 400 new spells. Which means "power creep" incoming like in every game. The earlier release spells will be obsolete because new spells need to be better for people to use them. And such, like I said, nothing but rumors and bits of info.

[@WayneBraack]

Those prices and older editions were not meant to be the retail price. It's actually a power comparison of how one item stacks up against another. It is clearly stated in the old books. If a DM wants to put an item into the world the actual world value value in money could be anywhere from 10 to 100 times the listed price.

[@israelmorales4249]

Thx for the video! In 3.0 and 3.5 edition (Game Master Guide) you can find a relation of disponibilityof magic items in a determinated settlement. From village to Metropolis.

[@americanbagel]

wake up babe new alexandrian advanced game mastery video dropped

[@gcvrsa]

In any setting with magic, there will be a market for it. The more ubiquitious magic is in your world, the more of a market will exist, and the lower will be the barrier to entry into that market. My favorite magic device of all time is the flashlight. There are few single, simple magical items that are more useful and more mundane than the magical equivalent of a flashlight. This extends to all mundane gear: imagine magical backpacking equipment. A small magical cookstove or cookpot, a waterproof lightweight tent (and clothing!), a warm sleeping bag or blanket. These are the types of magical items that everyone wants, and few ever think about in a fantasy RPG.

[@yourseatatthetable]

I've ran both sorts with mixed results. Usually it comes down to what the player's are in the mood for. I always point out that these sort of games go both ways. A magic rich world means just that, and so the baddies and the NPCs are just as likely to have and use the same stuff. One thing I've noticed is that over time, many players will start seeing magic items as normal, meaning that (a mere +1 whatever? bah, the stable boy's got one of those!.)

[@Cassapphic]

Long comment I apologise it has a lot of anecdotes from a campaign to use as examples for my point, TLDR; Magic shops are fun both for unique npcs that can add dynamics to what's going on and to allow the players to tell you things you'd never have known they'd want without them having to feel guilty begging the DM for specific items. This is a trope/aspect of fantasy i really enjoy in part just because I love shopping for fancy items, but also froma game master's perspective, it gives me a chance for my players to tell me things they want that I'd never have thought of. In my dragon heist remix campaign I introduced "the serpent" as a magical merchant from "the wanderer's guide to enchanted emporiums" (my kickstarter copy had recently come in so I was excited to put this into my games) who appeared as a bak alley dealer, I had changed her lore to be vevette's sister taken in by mahsoon, and she was obsessed with making and experimenting wth poisons (similar to A.K.I in sf6), so when manshoon's plans of grandeur and violence/subetrfuge grew, she resented her saviour for pushing away from her experimentation, so she fled to ally with the doom raiders, which gave me a cool shady figure who could sell the party her poisons and other trinkets. One of my players who was playng a sorcerer who was a private detective asked about an item she had, a glove that could use minor illusions to change the appearance of small objects you hold, and could store doses of poison near the fingers. I never would've guessed she'd be excited by this, I expected it would mostly be poisons for the fighter to coat his glaive in and maybe the group'd use poisons for the heists (they were eyeing up the cassalanters next), but she loved the idea of her detective PC having such a tricksy item, which makes sense in hindsight, and made me love magic shops as a way to present ideas that I don't have to be dissapointed if the players don't vibe with as i would be if I gave them some neat magic item they never used (One of the drow response teams had an eevsmoking bottle they used in multiple fights with the PCs so obscure their actions, but eventually they were forced to abandon in an escape attempt, the plaeyrs took it and never used it, a xanathar guild response team had a robe of useful items that i tried to demonstrate by having him drop ladders in mid air to aoe attack the pcs and summon dogs, but once the wizard got it it became a bank of gold, both of these, even if theyw ere cool adn fun when the bad guys used them "no way it's faust guilty gear throwing items!", I did feel a bit defalted to never see the players mess with them.), while also letting thems elf select things that excite them I may not have realised.

[@TheAlexandrian]

I hadn't really thought of it like that, but you're 100% right! They are a great way for the players to express their interests diegetically through their character's actions! Very cool insight!

[@MagiofAsura]

I think the most relevant followup to this video is how to handle the economy of a game

[@edoardospagnolo6252]

Seeing giantitp mentioned in a video like this makes my grognard fuzzy heart get all warm and comfy in my chest. Great suggestions and tips all around in this one: I loved the examples in the city, especially the murderous bag merchant and "having the antagonist guild" have the item the PCs are looking for!

[@Zeedox]

In 20 years of roleplaying, I've never played in a setting with magic item shops... I'd honestly like to try, they honestly seem very fun, especially for hijinks!

[@davidburns9766]

My group recently went to the feywild and I had a magic market they visited. We’ve never had a magic shop either, it was cool seeing them trying to bargain weird and wonderful things for items. One of ours sold their ability to blink, another sold an hour of their time, and they got great items for it.

[@keeperoflenneth]

the ending got me good. xD

[@benjones1452]

I am loving your book. I am in a game atm the moment, and I am preparing a one-shot entry into GM-ing my, great DM suggest I might watch some of your videos. I did that and inspired bought your book - wow you don't disappoint, deep crystal clear waters, it really is wonderful - your approach with the rulings, and room and Dungeon 'loops' in the first 200 pages is a master class: and only part one of a five part folio (sorry I should have said book, tré pretentious but 'book' doesn't convey my sincere appreciation. Honestly, I want to bind it in forest green leather, with the scene of the GM I'd ink on the frontispiece.) Thanks again :)

[@TheAlexandrian]

That is very kind! Thank you so much! ... a forest-green leather-bound copy of the book sounds truly beautiful.

[@welovettrpgs]

It's a nice surprise to see a new video from you!

[@totallynotsmokeythebear7017]

Hey I know you! lol I'm not surprised to see you here. A great channel commenting on a great channel.

[@welovettrpgs]

@@totallynotsmokeythebear7017 You're too kind thank you! He deserves many many times his current number of subs!

[@TheAlexandrian]

Thanks! Past couple of months have been a little rough on the video production side of things, but I'm hoping we'll have some more frequent content coming out for the rest of the year!

[@Lewiddyion]

Another amazing video by one of the best minds doing work in the 5e/dnd space

[@sanshinobi3664]

If you wanna set your adventure in L.A., prepare for 3,796 treasure hoards.

[@coreeclinton]

This is an amazing value add to my open table setting! Finally gonna give my pcs something to spend their ludicrous amounts of money on!

[@anon36522]

5.0 Plebs buy, OG Chads sell

[@petoperceptum]

Something interesting in Invisible Sun is that significant magic is considered incomparable to ordinary, mundane goods. How much food is the equivalent to a bridge that you can fold up fit in your pocket? As such such it is generally only paid for with its own currency, which has its own useful properties. Exalted does something related, especially in the Realm. There is no amount of scrip that is going to (legally) buy a daiklave (or even an ordinary sword for that matter) you will need jade and the authority to spend it.

[@travisbaggett2813]

I love all Alexandrian videos!

[@startingoverpodcast]

I really enjoyed this video.

[@jamesrizza2640]

I like your percentage system for consumable magic items like potions and scrolls. Pathfinder 1e uses this in their settlement system while also providing an amount of such an item. I use hex crawls even for my settlements, so adding a magic shop would be an adventure in and of itself, especially if the owner does not want to be easily found, such as it being illegal or frowned apon in the city. For permanent magic items such as swords, staffs, crowns, rings, etc. I prefer to write a small history [a paragraph or two, no more], sometimes this provides adventures in and of themselves. Unless a PC has a magic item specifically made, it does not exist or has not been found yet. You can also generalize the item. All you do is write a history for say a weapon, [you don't specify it. Yet], your fighter uses a broadsword. When they find or capture the item it is a broadsword magic item now. Love your commentary as always, thanks.

[@keeperoflenneth]

SMIP has been a life saver for me at my table for ages. Its very reasonable, and in case you have min-maxers (the kind trying to pull a fast one, not the number-enjoyers) the "Things we dont price" section gives you a good heads-up on things you might not want to just sell. Anyway, actual user. its 10/10 great and helpful.

[@ElektronikArzt]

Yeah, and finally something to spend all that gold for.

[@Scaenicus]

4:57 Cyberpunk (especially RED) has great emphasis on the difference between price and availability. Playing a "fixer" specialized on magical items could be a great character idea.

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

And Shadowrun (and other games) has the idea of licences. It would make sense that the mages of the setting require some sort of certification to handle dangerous objects.

[@Scaenicus]

​@@estebanrodriguez5409 Great idea! You could make obtaining and keeping those licenses into main campaign steps if the group is focused around keeping a magical item shop. The "Corporation RPG" has a great iteration on licenses as a form of character development (in C-RPG you play a corpo but require licenses from the world government f.e. to be allowed to detain civilians like a police would, or to handle combat drugs).

[@hirosoli]

This is a great video! I wish I had it before I became burnt out on 5E! Just so many amazing ideas!

[@TheAlexandrian]

Thanks!

[@WayneBraack]

Those prices and older additions of d&d weren't really meant to be a retail price. I'm surprised you didn't mention that. Somewhere it is clearly stated that those are meant as a comparison of power between items. The actual retail price was suggested to be anywhere from 10 to a hundred times the listed price if, and I stress if, such items were somehow available on the market.

[@Calvin.of.Martin.Street]

There are no "magic stores" in my homebrew setting. If the players wander into even the largest cities purchasing anything above a barely useful magical trinket is nearly impossible, with scrolls and potions being the exceptions, and even then some aren't available without ordering them specifically.

[@HeliosLegion]

It would make more sense to commission a magic item from the local smith guild rather than having them lying around in the store.

[@farlanghn]

Hey Alexandrian, Have you ever heard of Dragonbane? I recently started playing and I am loving it. The art alone for the rule book is amazing.

[@CyberSkelly817]

Damn I missed the Spellbound Sea Kickstarter. Oh well. Wasn't meant to be.

[@dmeep]

Looking at the tier lvls of play for player characters can also give you an idea what gear could be available to buy. I was thinking about some sort of catchup gear like in mmos allowing players to buy that +1 dagger for their ofhand if that is what they want and the adventure has not provided it yet but only after lvl say 5 and when better gear is being found in dungeons and on the corpses of BBEG lieutenants etc. Not surprising pathfinder has a system for this where each setlement has a lvl and settlement lvl dictastes what you can buy. The town in the starterbox is close to the main capital Absalon (think baldurs gate waterdeep neverwinter etc) so you can send out for stuff and it arrives in a week or so.

[@Daniel-Strain]

You could list a price range and % chance for each (or a gather info DC). So as magic items become more valuable they are more rare. Then list modifiers for city size.

[@progressiveDND]

Personally I love utilizing some choice magic items at crazy prices as a motivation for saving and valuing gold.

[@Xplora213]

LoL😂the bloopers!

[@Luna_Everywhere]

See, I think that players should be able to buy magic items, at the very least in 5e. There's so little to spend gold on, either the currency box on your character sheets is useless after your fighter gets their Plate, or you need to do so much work to enable them to have something to do with it.

[@Tysto]

Let PCs donate money to their faith and get a vision of where to find the magic item they want. Then they have to adventure for it. On a smaller scale, give them a weird ingredient, and let an alchemist tell them they can have it brewed into any of 3 different potions for a modest sum. Never, NEVER create a "magic shop".

[@Hjorth87]

Love your blogs and videos. I've started looking at Savage Worlds as an alternative with less power creep, so all this +1-5 business gets less relevant

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

What sort of defenses a magic shop would have if it can have legendary magic items?

[@user-bq3mu5id3d]

I'm still waiting for the Zalohzny Quartet remix for Ngith's Black Agents ! (however is spelled)

[@TheAlexandrian]

It's coming!

[@user-bq3mu5id3d]

@@TheAlexandrian I'm also curious about your opinion on doing a "bait-and-switch": don't tell players there's gonna be vampires or anything unnatural or horror, but let it be a total surprise. I was kinda inkling toward it but then I read other GMs experiences whose big reveal fell totally flat so...

[@user-bq3mu5id3d]

Also the standalone scenario Dubai Reckoning could be a nice tie-in. You are set to investigate a shady biochemical company in the arabic desert. There arent supernatural elements to it (well, there are in the final operation if the GM wants to) and it would be easy to tie in the Philby plot with albedo, nigredo etc...

[@seanfager8063]

To ensure quasi feudal class structure is maintained, guard against theft, and maximize the owner's income, I propose that in worlds where magic items are not altogether ubiquitous, fancy high brow auctions are the appropriate venue for purchasing magic items. Social intrigue opportunities. Ninja attacks out of left field are contextually justified. Preauction machinations to lower the final bid prices give questing opportunities (if we get The Collector's agent amazingly drunk the night before the auction, he'll be too hung over to show up and outbid us again!) Traveling to a particular auction could put time pressure/opportunity costs on hexcrawls between cities.

[@jackmorrison5272]

Interesting, but I still prefer low magic worldbuilding with little magic let alone magic items or magic item markets. As with everything the best way to play it is the way your group likes best.

[@emmamacfarlane8137]

The answer to this has always been highly contextual. If it’s in Dragonlance or a more Tolkien-inspired setting and campaign, probably shouldn’t. If it’s in Eberron or Ptolus, you probably should.

[@troyamonga0005]

My TLDR take: Yes, but not in large quantities and often from dubious sources

[@TheAlexandrian]

The more dubious the better.

[@craigjones7343]

What is this ‘game balance’ you talk about? There is no such thing as game balance in DnD.

[@a_wild_Kirillian]

That's an absurd take to the point of making its author undesirable to argue with.

[@TheAlexandrian]

A game always has balance. It's just a question of how it's balanced. (And whether it's going to make the current session/campaign fall over.)

[@craigjones7343]

@@TheAlexandrianok DnD is balanced to be unbalanced. CR system does not work. The 3 different encounter building rules do not work. The encounters need to be adjusted and manipulated by the GM on the fly during combat to ensure there is anything resembling balance. Game player over 12 level is a disaster. WotC does not even make adventures that go over 15 level. Game is best between levels 5 and 10. The best encounter building rules I have ever found are by Sky Flourish and even that requires the GM to ‘turn the dials’ to achieve a satisfying outcome for the players.

[@craigjones7343]

@@a_wild_Kirillian well that is exactly what a WotC apologist would say.

[@a_wild_Kirillian]

@@craigjones7343 , human, I play GURPS, you're so off target =D