I have a magic shop in my Waterdeep that has about 10-15 magical items rotating but they are largely outside my players price range. They can be, however, quest rewards - for instance, they are about to choose one item each for services rendered for the city. I made them handouts with Open Lord's decree that says that the person holding this is allowed to pick an item of their choosing that will be later reimbursed by the city.
Some of the items are made and some are simply either bought or traded by the shopkeeper or scavenged from parties that perished in Undermountain.
The whole interaction was fun for me and for them, I made an impressionable young girl who is the daughter of the owner and is a beginner adventurer herself and between her own adventures she lives vicariously through other people's exploits. Asks them what they did to earn the decree and listens to the story with wide eyes while proudly presenting the store's available magic items despite her mother sighing and telling her to "just use the catalog".
I typically have small shops that carry a limited supply of common and uncommon magical items. +1 weapons and armors are reasonably accessible. Stuff beyond that is generally found via loot at my discretion or needs to be crafted which takes an extended time/special ingredients.
It would be a magic shop, but also a magical shop. In certain locations in big cities like Waterdeep and Neverwinter, the proprietors have cast a spell that senses the proximity of experienced adventurers with cash to spare. When detected, a portal opens, taking the appearance of a store front where previously there was nothing. The first time, the party member with highest PP would fleetingly notice it out of the corner of their eye - it resists being directly looked at. The idea is to invite a little roleplay of sidling awkwardly up to the store, trying to keep it in sight. Nothing important will drive off the store's existence, so if they just walk on, so be it - they'll keep encountering it until they get it.
By making it of no-fixed-location, I can be as capricious as I please when it comes to player access. If they're getting a little over-powered, the magic store is currently servicing other patrons.
Once they enter the store, via the portal, it will be very much like the store described in the video. No items in the store itself, just a menu. The Gnomish shop keep teleports to the vault which holds the items. The vault is impenetrable by DM fiat, and should the party try to rob it, they'll encounter whatever security is necessary to stop them.
Not sure I'll make it contain everything. Inventory will change over time.
The proprietors have cast a spell that senses the proximity of experienced adventurers with cash to spare. When detected, a portal opens, taking the appearance of a store front where previously there was nothing. The first time, the party member with highest PP would fleetingly notice it out of the corner of their eye - it resists being directly looked at.
No offense meant to you or the video creator, but I would not be down for this kind of thing. Just thematically, it smacks a little too much of the "Harry Potter" aesthetic. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Harry Potter novels. But I don't want a HP style aesthetic in my D&D game. At least not when I am the DM, or unless we had explicitly decided to play "Hogwarts D&D" or something. (I could potentially be made to get on board something like that as, again, I like HP -- but I do not want HP aesthetical elements dumped into an otherwise more standard, serious RP world.)
I say that the players can track down expensive non-combat uncommon and common items (such as boots of the winterlands) in downtime (in shady transactions with dealers who work through intermediaries to sell item to the wealthy), but most of the more useful (+1 weapon, instrument of the bards) items I don't allow to be bought.
I also don't do magic shops, but rather individual dealers in an underworld style network. And only open it to high level characters with cash in their pockets.
No offense meant to you or the video creator, but I would not be down for this kind of thing. Just thematically, it smacks a little too much of the "Harry Potter" aesthetic. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Harry Potter novels. But I don't want a HP style aesthetic in my D&D game. At least not when I am the DM, or unless we had explicitly decided to play "Hogwarts D&D" or something. (I could potentially be made to get on board something like that as, again, I like HP -- but I do not want HP aesthetical elements dumped into an otherwise more standard, serious RP world.)
More power to you. I know my table would enjoy it. We all make the best decisions we can for the table we have. At a table of experienced hard core players, I'd probably not do it for the reasons cited.
In a world where magic is common, where people can have wonderful things and exposure to all sorts of items what else will a wizard, artificer or maybe even sorceror that does not want to risk there lives fighting monsters do. How will that merchant keep himself unique and convince people into his shop? Removing magic shops from your DnD campaign to me seems to ignore a large part of the truth of the world. People have powers but might choose to earn a living in a more mundane way putting them to use making and selling stuff.
In terms of price, I limit what my players earn in terms of coin, I make sure I charge them daily and weekly rates for lodging, rent, food and drink. There are loads of ways to siphon money off your players that are all logical and make sense. But I also don’t mind my players having a plethora of magic items, they can only attune to 3 at a time and so need to balance and work out which they will use. My barbarian at last count has 8 magic weapons in the party bag of holding, it has become a bit of a joke that he just collects them. It doesn’t break my game at all and the NPC magic shop owners have become a fav part of my campaigns.
Removing magic ships from your DnD campaign to me seems to ignore a large part of the truth of the world.
This is entirely a matter of personal taste. There is no right or wrong answer.
In terms of the rules, as to why people wouldn't just keep making more of this stuff, according to the DMG, "The game assumes that the secrets of creating the most powerful items arose centuries ago and were then gradually lost as a result of wars, cataclysms, and mishaps. Even uncommon items can’t be easily created. Thus, many magic items are well-preserved antiquities."
Further down in the same section, they state clearly in the DMG that the default is not to have magic shops: "Unless you decide your campaign works otherwise, most magic items are so rare that they aren’t available for purchase." They go on to say that even for common items like Potions of Healing, procuring them, "is rarely as simple as walking into a shop and selecting an item from a shelf."
Thus, although, again, how much magic is available and by what means it can be acquired, is entirely up to the taste of the GM and the table, the rules clearly set the default as rare/no magic available in shops.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I had a more apothecary shop in one of my bigger cities. My cleric bought a set of playing cards there for his augury spell. There also was a jewelry shop. My wizard bought a pearl there so he could use certain spells. No actual magic items were sold there. Just some that could help them.
I was planning on adding actual magic shops, but reading the other comments here I'm not sure anymore haha.
Removing magic ships from your DnD campaign to me seems to ignore a large part of the truth of the world.
This is entirely a matter of personal taste. There is no right or wrong answer.
In terms of the rules, as to why people wouldn't just keep making more of this stuff, according to the DMG, "The game assumes that the secrets of creating the most powerful items arose centuries ago and were then gradually lost as a result of wars, cataclysms, and mishaps. Even uncommon items can’t be easily created. Thus, many magic items are well-preserved antiquities."
Further down in the same section, they state clearly in the DMG that the default is not to have magic shops: "Unless you decide your campaign works otherwise, most magic items are so rare that they aren’t available for purchase." They go on to say that even for common items like Potions of Healing, procuring them, "is rarely as simple as walking into a shop and selecting an item from a shelf."
Thus, although, again, how much magic is available and by what means it can be acquired, is entirely up to the taste of the GM and the table, the rules clearly set the default as rare/no magic available in shops.
Of is of course down to DM I do think the creation of the artificer class goes a little against that idea of magic items being easily created. When you have a class who’s entire purpose is to make magic items in your campaign I think as a DM you have to consider that magic items will be less rare then that. I allow my artificer player to make magic items during down time, equating the time and coat of materials based on the actual magic item, and the result of a series of skill checks.
There are of course items I make ultra rare and don’t allow for purchase but common and uncommon items are generally available somewhere for purchase, just not necessarily where the party are right now :)
In my Avernus game? No. Not really. They have to find or barter their soul for the good stuff. Hell sucks.
My Yawning Portal run? Yes. I used downtime between the first and second adventure, allowed them to make some money and spend the time looking for a magic vendor via Xanathars.
The rest of the adventures dish enough out that I'm holding off on buying magic items until they are about to go to ToH. Then I'll allow them to sell and pool all their treasure and unused magic gear to buy anything they can afford before entering and probably TPK. I've had 1 tpk so far and I took all their magic items and money and spread it around the dungeon they were in, allowing them to not lose EVERYTHING.
Removing magic ships from your DnD campaign to me seems to ignore a large part of the truth of the world.
This is entirely a matter of personal taste. There is no right or wrong answer.
In terms of the rules, as to why people wouldn't just keep making more of this stuff, according to the DMG, "The game assumes that the secrets of creating the most powerful items arose centuries ago and were then gradually lost as a result of wars, cataclysms, and mishaps. Even uncommon items can’t be easily created. Thus, many magic items are well-preserved antiquities."
Further down in the same section, they state clearly in the DMG that the default is not to have magic shops: "Unless you decide your campaign works otherwise, most magic items are so rare that they aren’t available for purchase." They go on to say that even for common items like Potions of Healing, procuring them, "is rarely as simple as walking into a shop and selecting an item from a shelf."
Thus, although, again, how much magic is available and by what means it can be acquired, is entirely up to the taste of the GM and the table, the rules clearly set the default as rare/no magic available in shops.
Of is of course down to DM I do think the creation of the artificer class goes a little against that idea of magic items being easily created. When you have a class who’s entire purpose is to make magic items in your campaign I think as a DM you have to consider that magic items will be less rare then that. I allow my artificer player to make magic items during down time, equating the time and coat of materials based on the actual magic item, and the result of a series of skill checks.
There are of course items I make ultra rare and don’t allow for purchase but common and uncommon items are generally available somewhere for purchase, just not necessarily where the party are right now :)
You note the items artificers can replicate? It isn't just a pass to duplicate anything (like an oathbow for example). They also don't seem to be as durable (with effects that can, theoretically, wear off). It's like a mimicry of the past, even for the greatest artificers.
There's no one-size-fits-all answer: it depends on the campaign and on the group of the players. By the way, the game rules are not supposed (and don't) specify exact magic items prices for every item, probably to give the DM customisation options. Rather, a general range of prices is given and in Xanather's items of each tier are split into minor and major to further differentiate their power and rarity. Ultimately, it is up to the Dungeon Master to assign magic item values. However, it is a good idea to keep common and uncommon items obviously much cheaper than rare, etc. The rules give good guidelines on ranges of values for each tier, for both buying and selling magic items. So long as the PCs' current total wealth is as it should be for the level they are at, the game should be well balanced. (The problem occurs when the PCs are too poor or too rich and or the DM over-values say Uncommon items into the value of what the book recommends for Rare items and vice-versa. The easiest way is to follow guidelines of the game rules).
I found one major thing affecting the possibility of magic shops is the locale of the setting: whether it's urban or wilderness, high magic / low magic, a little hamlet or a thriving metropolis.
I have a shop in the main city of each continent/kingdom, and then sometimes a smaller shop in another city/town if there is good reason for it to exist there. These tend to be very limited, though. Mostly magic potions (and not a reliable stock of them), some scrolls, and magical components (though it can be harder to find the priced ones in a shop). It's VERY RARE that I include actual magic items as far as magical equipment in those shops... I'm more likely to throw in "for fun" items such as endless quills. Sometimes, though, a good item will come into stock and be a big deal.
When it comes to magic shops I really think it depends on the type of world you are trying to set up and create. The sort of standard world talked about in the DMG takes place after at least one great empire has fallen. Knowledge has been lost, and one of the reasons to go into dungeons is to find the magic items that no one knows how to make any more. In this case magic shops should be rare, possibly a dedicated magic shop doesn't exist at all but there are art and antiques dealers and curio shops where magical items could be found.
But you don't have to run that world. Eberron is full of low level magic items that can be bought on street corners. So it depends on your setting. What magic shops you have if you have any should reflect what feels right for the world.
Also I think someone pointed out that people are used to them from video games, honestly the opposite is true (at least in my experience). Video game shops are where I go to unload my loot, but very few games can you get good items by buys them. Generally anything good comes from loot drops. Consumables are sometimes different. It's been forever since I played WoW but the shops never carried anything good. Anything good had to be gotten from other players on the Auction House or found as loot. Final Fantasy games? I pretty much always have silly amounts of gold because I never have anything to spend it on (probably I should buy more consumables but I never do). Most video games know they want you to find the cool stuff by playing, and don't want to encourage you to grid for gold to buy it. Overall I think this is good advice.
So far my party has visited the Sorcerer's Encapsulate in Daggerford. I stocked it up with common to very rare items (ranging 500gp to 6000gp.) Unfortunately I regret doing this. One player is saving up for The Dwarven Thrower. (He already has the Belt of the Dwarven Kind from Deck of Many Things.) He is very close to buying it. (I priced it at 3000.) So I now have to deal with when he buys it, an over-powered level three barbarian.
Luckily I have a plan that will sorta balance it out. I won't be a jerk DM and jack up the prices, but I'm gonna make to where some rich guy wants to buy or something I am still deciding.
I know now how to properly stock my magic shops. oof
This brings up something tangentially related... if you don't have magic shops in your games, what do you have for players to spend money on?
Pretty much any adventure you could run a player through eventually awards them enough money to purchase anything mechanically useful in the DMG and still have plenty to spare. The only thing that might still be out of a player's price range would be something like a Warship, which is really only worth the investment if the DM specifically includes adventures where owning a warship would actually be useful.
So far my party has visited the Sorcerer's Encapsulate in Daggerford. I stocked it up with common to very rare items (ranging 500gp to 6000gp.) Unfortunately I regret doing this. One player is saving up for The Dwarven Thrower. (He already has the Belt of the Dwarven Kind from Deck of Many Things.) He is very close to buying it. (I priced it at 3000.) So I now have to deal with when he buys it, an over-powered level three barbarian.
Luckily I have a plan that will sorta balance it out. I won't be a jerk DM and jack up the prices, but I'm gonna make to where some rich guy wants to buy or something I am still deciding.
I know now how to properly stock my magic shops. oof
Yeah best way to handle it at this point is when the player visits, have the shopkeeper tell him that someone came from out of town and bought it. Make it a mini quest for him.
Then again, if you have level 3 PCs playing with Deck of Many Things then there is no telling what kind of shenanigans happen in that game xD
Right now my players have a small ship they are considering keeping... if they do, they will need to spend some gold on upkeep (about 100 gp/month).
They have also bypassed some treasure so they are not super rich right now.
They will come upon a magic shop that sells "select" items (with a slowly rotating stock so they can find new stuff when they return). Some items are for sale, some for trade, and some available for a quest. A couple of the sale items are QUITE expensive (way more money than they all currently have, combined).
I use the Sane Magic Item price guide to give you an idea of the pricing structure.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
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I have a magic shop in my Waterdeep that has about 10-15 magical items rotating but they are largely outside my players price range. They can be, however, quest rewards - for instance, they are about to choose one item each for services rendered for the city. I made them handouts with Open Lord's decree that says that the person holding this is allowed to pick an item of their choosing that will be later reimbursed by the city.
Some of the items are made and some are simply either bought or traded by the shopkeeper or scavenged from parties that perished in Undermountain.
The whole interaction was fun for me and for them, I made an impressionable young girl who is the daughter of the owner and is a beginner adventurer herself and between her own adventures she lives vicariously through other people's exploits. Asks them what they did to earn the decree and listens to the story with wide eyes while proudly presenting the store's available magic items despite her mother sighing and telling her to "just use the catalog".
I typically have small shops that carry a limited supply of common and uncommon magical items. +1 weapons and armors are reasonably accessible. Stuff beyond that is generally found via loot at my discretion or needs to be crafted which takes an extended time/special ingredients.
This helps me keep down the power creep.
After watching this video, I am considering creating a magic shop -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0FiO5b3PPI
It would be a magic shop, but also a magical shop. In certain locations in big cities like Waterdeep and Neverwinter, the proprietors have cast a spell that senses the proximity of experienced adventurers with cash to spare. When detected, a portal opens, taking the appearance of a store front where previously there was nothing. The first time, the party member with highest PP would fleetingly notice it out of the corner of their eye - it resists being directly looked at. The idea is to invite a little roleplay of sidling awkwardly up to the store, trying to keep it in sight. Nothing important will drive off the store's existence, so if they just walk on, so be it - they'll keep encountering it until they get it.
By making it of no-fixed-location, I can be as capricious as I please when it comes to player access. If they're getting a little over-powered, the magic store is currently servicing other patrons.
Once they enter the store, via the portal, it will be very much like the store described in the video. No items in the store itself, just a menu. The Gnomish shop keep teleports to the vault which holds the items. The vault is impenetrable by DM fiat, and should the party try to rob it, they'll encounter whatever security is necessary to stop them.
Not sure I'll make it contain everything. Inventory will change over time.
No offense meant to you or the video creator, but I would not be down for this kind of thing. Just thematically, it smacks a little too much of the "Harry Potter" aesthetic. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Harry Potter novels. But I don't want a HP style aesthetic in my D&D game. At least not when I am the DM, or unless we had explicitly decided to play "Hogwarts D&D" or something. (I could potentially be made to get on board something like that as, again, I like HP -- but I do not want HP aesthetical elements dumped into an otherwise more standard, serious RP world.)
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I say that the players can track down expensive non-combat uncommon and common items (such as boots of the winterlands) in downtime (in shady transactions with dealers who work through intermediaries to sell item to the wealthy), but most of the more useful (+1 weapon, instrument of the bards) items I don't allow to be bought.
I also don't do magic shops, but rather individual dealers in an underworld style network. And only open it to high level characters with cash in their pockets.
Chilling kinda vibe.
More power to you. I know my table would enjoy it. We all make the best decisions we can for the table we have. At a table of experienced hard core players, I'd probably not do it for the reasons cited.
In a world where magic is common, where people can have wonderful things and exposure to all sorts of items what else will a wizard, artificer or maybe even sorceror that does not want to risk there lives fighting monsters do. How will that merchant keep himself unique and convince people into his shop? Removing magic shops from your DnD campaign to me seems to ignore a large part of the truth of the world. People have powers but might choose to earn a living in a more mundane way putting them to use making and selling stuff.
In terms of price, I limit what my players earn in terms of coin, I make sure I charge them daily and weekly rates for lodging, rent, food and drink. There are loads of ways to siphon money off your players that are all logical and make sense. But I also don’t mind my players having a plethora of magic items, they can only attune to 3 at a time and so need to balance and work out which they will use. My barbarian at last count has 8 magic weapons in the party bag of holding, it has become a bit of a joke that he just collects them. It doesn’t break my game at all and the NPC magic shop owners have become a fav part of my campaigns.
This is entirely a matter of personal taste. There is no right or wrong answer.
In terms of the rules, as to why people wouldn't just keep making more of this stuff, according to the DMG, "The game assumes that the secrets of creating the most powerful items arose centuries ago and were then gradually lost as a result of wars, cataclysms, and mishaps. Even uncommon items can’t be easily created. Thus, many magic items are well-preserved antiquities."
Further down in the same section, they state clearly in the DMG that the default is not to have magic shops: "Unless you decide your campaign works otherwise, most magic items are so rare that they aren’t available for purchase." They go on to say that even for common items like Potions of Healing, procuring them, "is rarely as simple as walking into a shop and selecting an item from a shelf."
Thus, although, again, how much magic is available and by what means it can be acquired, is entirely up to the taste of the GM and the table, the rules clearly set the default as rare/no magic available in shops.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I had a more apothecary shop in one of my bigger cities. My cleric bought a set of playing cards there for his augury spell.
There also was a jewelry shop. My wizard bought a pearl there so he could use certain spells. No actual magic items were sold there. Just some that could help them.
I was planning on adding actual magic shops, but reading the other comments here I'm not sure anymore haha.
Of is of course down to DM I do think the creation of the artificer class goes a little against that idea of magic items being easily created. When you have a class who’s entire purpose is to make magic items in your campaign I think as a DM you have to consider that magic items will be less rare then that. I allow my artificer player to make magic items during down time, equating the time and coat of materials based on the actual magic item, and the result of a series of skill checks.
There are of course items I make ultra rare and don’t allow for purchase but common and uncommon items are generally available somewhere for purchase, just not necessarily where the party are right now :)
In my Avernus game? No. Not really. They have to find or barter their soul for the good stuff. Hell sucks.
My Yawning Portal run? Yes. I used downtime between the first and second adventure, allowed them to make some money and spend the time looking for a magic vendor via Xanathars.
The rest of the adventures dish enough out that I'm holding off on buying magic items until they are about to go to ToH. Then I'll allow them to sell and pool all their treasure and unused magic gear to buy anything they can afford before entering and probably TPK. I've had 1 tpk so far and I took all their magic items and money and spread it around the dungeon they were in, allowing them to not lose EVERYTHING.
Call me Knives.
You note the items artificers can replicate? It isn't just a pass to duplicate anything (like an oathbow for example). They also don't seem to be as durable (with effects that can, theoretically, wear off). It's like a mimicry of the past, even for the greatest artificers.
Chilling kinda vibe.
There's no one-size-fits-all answer: it depends on the campaign and on the group of the players. By the way, the game rules are not supposed (and don't) specify exact magic items prices for every item, probably to give the DM customisation options. Rather, a general range of prices is given and in Xanather's items of each tier are split into minor and major to further differentiate their power and rarity. Ultimately, it is up to the Dungeon Master to assign magic item values. However, it is a good idea to keep common and uncommon items obviously much cheaper than rare, etc. The rules give good guidelines on ranges of values for each tier, for both buying and selling magic items. So long as the PCs' current total wealth is as it should be for the level they are at, the game should be well balanced. (The problem occurs when the PCs are too poor or too rich and or the DM over-values say Uncommon items into the value of what the book recommends for Rare items and vice-versa. The easiest way is to follow guidelines of the game rules).
I found one major thing affecting the possibility of magic shops is the locale of the setting: whether it's urban or wilderness, high magic / low magic, a little hamlet or a thriving metropolis.
This is something I found interesting about how to run magic shops. Start's at 2:30 to get past the fluff.
I have a shop in the main city of each continent/kingdom, and then sometimes a smaller shop in another city/town if there is good reason for it to exist there. These tend to be very limited, though. Mostly magic potions (and not a reliable stock of them), some scrolls, and magical components (though it can be harder to find the priced ones in a shop). It's VERY RARE that I include actual magic items as far as magical equipment in those shops... I'm more likely to throw in "for fun" items such as endless quills. Sometimes, though, a good item will come into stock and be a big deal.
When it comes to magic shops I really think it depends on the type of world you are trying to set up and create. The sort of standard world talked about in the DMG takes place after at least one great empire has fallen. Knowledge has been lost, and one of the reasons to go into dungeons is to find the magic items that no one knows how to make any more. In this case magic shops should be rare, possibly a dedicated magic shop doesn't exist at all but there are art and antiques dealers and curio shops where magical items could be found.
But you don't have to run that world. Eberron is full of low level magic items that can be bought on street corners. So it depends on your setting. What magic shops you have if you have any should reflect what feels right for the world.
Also I think someone pointed out that people are used to them from video games, honestly the opposite is true (at least in my experience). Video game shops are where I go to unload my loot, but very few games can you get good items by buys them. Generally anything good comes from loot drops. Consumables are sometimes different. It's been forever since I played WoW but the shops never carried anything good. Anything good had to be gotten from other players on the Auction House or found as loot. Final Fantasy games? I pretty much always have silly amounts of gold because I never have anything to spend it on (probably I should buy more consumables but I never do). Most video games know they want you to find the cool stuff by playing, and don't want to encourage you to grid for gold to buy it. Overall I think this is good advice.
So far my party has visited the Sorcerer's Encapsulate in Daggerford. I stocked it up with common to very rare items (ranging 500gp to 6000gp.) Unfortunately I regret doing this. One player is saving up for The Dwarven Thrower. (He already has the Belt of the Dwarven Kind from Deck of Many Things.) He is very close to buying it. (I priced it at 3000.) So I now have to deal with when he buys it, an over-powered level three barbarian.
Luckily I have a plan that will sorta balance it out. I won't be a jerk DM and jack up the prices, but I'm gonna make to where some rich guy wants to buy or something I am still deciding.
I know now how to properly stock my magic shops. oof
A New DM up against the World
This brings up something tangentially related... if you don't have magic shops in your games, what do you have for players to spend money on?
Pretty much any adventure you could run a player through eventually awards them enough money to purchase anything mechanically useful in the DMG and still have plenty to spare. The only thing that might still be out of a player's price range would be something like a Warship, which is really only worth the investment if the DM specifically includes adventures where owning a warship would actually be useful.
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Yeah best way to handle it at this point is when the player visits, have the shopkeeper tell him that someone came from out of town and bought it. Make it a mini quest for him.
Then again, if you have level 3 PCs playing with Deck of Many Things then there is no telling what kind of shenanigans happen in that game xD
Right now my players have a small ship they are considering keeping... if they do, they will need to spend some gold on upkeep (about 100 gp/month).
They have also bypassed some treasure so they are not super rich right now.
They will come upon a magic shop that sells "select" items (with a slowly rotating stock so they can find new stuff when they return). Some items are for sale, some for trade, and some available for a quest. A couple of the sale items are QUITE expensive (way more money than they all currently have, combined).
I use the Sane Magic Item price guide to give you an idea of the pricing structure.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.