Another Dichotomy of the DMG, the players are not and have not been the only adventurers in the world, there is a dearth of magic items but every tomb has some to find, but they have not been found yet.
That to me is harder to believe and makes less sense then magic shops existing in a low magic world.
Among the reasons there is not a lot of tomb robbing in my campaigns. Which, to me, is an easier answer to that question. Why would valuable gear be buried with people rather than passed on to heirs anyway?
Typical answer: for use in the afterlife.
They may also have not had any heirs that they felt worthy of said magic, or said magic could be from an earlier adventuring party that died in the tomb to a trap, undead or other monster.
And in the real world, much like D&D, there were people who decided that those things would be much more useful to them than to the afterlife. The problem isn't actually with things being buried. Its with them not being immediately dug up and stolen.
In the end, dungeons are a genre convention, and you have to either ignore the logic there, or come up with exotic explanations.
And in the real world, much like D&D, there were people who decided that those things would be much more useful to them than to the afterlife. The problem isn't actually with things being buried. Its with them not being immediately dug up and stolen.
In the end, dungeons are a genre convention, and you have to either ignore the logic there, or come up with exotic explanations.
Eh... Rarely "immediately". Between religious beliefs, superstitions, traps and well, people still living nearby, digging up tombs is not as straightforward a proposition as it may seem a century or two later. If they are getting broken into there's the aforementioned traps as well as the possibility of the good stuff being hidden away. Not all tombs have to be treasure troves either. And then there are, as you say, exotic explanations.
In the context of D&D, I recall very few tombs that were devoid of life (or undeath, I guess) too. Adventurers rarely get to just rifle through the last resting place of a fallen king undisturbed - that doesn't make for a great adventure. Whatever's down there making things interesting may be safeguarding treasure, have taken it for themselves, or brought in stuff of their own.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Another Dichotomy of the DMG, the players are not and have not been the only adventurers in the world, there is a dearth of magic items but every tomb has some to find, but they have not been found yet.
That to me is harder to believe and makes less sense then magic shops existing in a low magic world.
Among the reasons there is not a lot of tomb robbing in my campaigns. Which, to me, is an easier answer to that question. Why would valuable gear be buried with people rather than passed on to heirs anyway?
So, how does a typical session look like in your campaign, and in the greater scheme off things how does a campaign look like?
Another Dichotomy of the DMG, the players are not and have not been the only adventurers in the world, there is a dearth of magic items but every tomb has some to find, but they have not been found yet.
That to me is harder to believe and makes less sense then magic shops existing in a low magic world.
Among the reasons there is not a lot of tomb robbing in my campaigns. Which, to me, is an easier answer to that question. Why would valuable gear be buried with people rather than passed on to heirs anyway?
So, how does a typical session look like in your campaign, and in the greater scheme off things how does a campaign look like?
Well my current conventional campaign is a post apocalyptic setting, set on a formerly high magic/high powered setting that went through the magical equivalent of nuclear war and is in the process of rebuilding. The party are the latest expedition sent to reclaim the so called "Lost Lands," the former no-man's land between the remains of the two great empires. As such, there is next to no civilization at all currently.
When they find magic items, they are not in tombs but in the ruins of former military installations or other surviving caches set up at various points during the war. At this point they have enough +1 weeapons to arm a small standing army, but since they have no contact with their homelands, there is nowhere to sell them. Nor to spend the gold they have recovered. It isn't that kind of campaign.
My other campaign is set in an extradimensional tavern. Since it connects with other worlds (and other realities) there are some magic shops but so far the players have only found worlds where items are relatively controlled. And trade between realities is controlled by a consortium of pantheons, so gear tends to conform to the rules of any given world anyway. Everything conforms to the rules of any given world. Groups have been transformed into animals at times. Have at other times needed to transform into small animals just to enter a world, been in modern worlds, been in a reality where one can only move by song quotes.... so about as high magic as it gets, but still keeps things relatively sane. Obtaining parts for enchanting is very doable, but strangely most players do nothing about this and give it no thought, even though the downtime is not such a big deal either. Multiple characters are allowed, with a limit of just one character at any given time outside of social/NPC play.
I can see why your campaigns don't need or have magic shops, thanks!
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They may also have not had any heirs that they felt worthy of said magic, or said magic could be from an earlier adventuring party that died in the tomb to a trap, undead or other monster.
And in the real world, much like D&D, there were people who decided that those things would be much more useful to them than to the afterlife. The problem isn't actually with things being buried. Its with them not being immediately dug up and stolen.
In the end, dungeons are a genre convention, and you have to either ignore the logic there, or come up with exotic explanations.
Eh... Rarely "immediately". Between religious beliefs, superstitions, traps and well, people still living nearby, digging up tombs is not as straightforward a proposition as it may seem a century or two later. If they are getting broken into there's the aforementioned traps as well as the possibility of the good stuff being hidden away. Not all tombs have to be treasure troves either. And then there are, as you say, exotic explanations.
In the context of D&D, I recall very few tombs that were devoid of life (or undeath, I guess) too. Adventurers rarely get to just rifle through the last resting place of a fallen king undisturbed - that doesn't make for a great adventure. Whatever's down there making things interesting may be safeguarding treasure, have taken it for themselves, or brought in stuff of their own.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
So, how does a typical session look like in your campaign, and in the greater scheme off things how does a campaign look like?
I can see why your campaigns don't need or have magic shops, thanks!