My table will eventually come across this fine looking beast and I know one or two of them will attempt to buy it. How much do you think it should cost? Please see the link of the Dino Cat.

Thanks

https://gsllcblog.com/2022/03/05/thedinosaurcat/

I'd put it at 1000gp... enough to feel like a unique rarity, but not so much that it's completely unattainable.

That is what I was thinking too.. thanks

I'd cost it based on how much cash the PCs have. If they have 2k gold then a 1k dino cat is going to be a bargain. If they have 150g then a 1k dino cat is going to be a challenge and an incentive. So the question for you is is this a reward or a challenge/quest hook? If it is a reward then they can afford it. If it is a challenge then they need to find the cash to obtain it, or learn how/where to get one in the wild. I think that dropping stuff like this into the game has an amazing potential for plot hooks.

I get what you're talking about, but mechanically, the dino cat isn't particularly useful. It's cool visually and has some roleplay potential, but as an adventure hook it offers fairly little as a reward.

Quote from TransmorpherDDS >>

I get what you're talking about, but mechanically, the dino cat isn't particularly useful. It's cool visually and has some roleplay potential, but as an adventure hook it offers fairly little as a reward.

 I have had players go wild for much less.

Also, remember WoW? How players would sink years of their life (exaggeration) into getting a mount with a slightly different colour (also exaggeration but you get what I mean)? It depends on the players.

I guess it also depends on where they are? E.g. if the party is near the jungles where the cat has been caught, a trader will likely sell it for less than if it has been shipped a long way. 

Using a warhorse at 400gp as a reference point, the price could range from 50-1,000 gp depending on how exclusive and rare you want to make it IMO.

Lots of potential hooks - maybe they manage to buy the cat ahead of some powerful lord or merchant who really wants it as a status symbol, and will not shy away from other methods if they decline to sell it on to them :) Maybe the cat was a former familiar with a message or news of treasure from its previous owner when someone uses speak with animals.

It is just going to be a fun add to the adventure, to see what they will do with it. They may not even want it, but I am pretty sure two of the players will go wild over it.lol

Also consider what plot hook it's going to fulfil - you could have them sell it cheap, and the players say "100gp? that's nothing!", only to find...

• it was stolen from a prominent noble in the next city
• it is doped up, and the dope is wearing off - and it's still very much a wild beast
• it's not toilet trained. At all.
• it's actually a kitten. Mummy wants it back.
• It's supposed to be a ferocious mount - it's entirely pacifistic, and an utter coward
• It's actually someone who was polymorphed into a dino-cat
• It really belongs to a crime boss, and she puts a bounty on getting it back.
• It's insanely destructive - it destroys random stuff every night. It is also too attached to the party to be chased off.
• It's actually been growing by about half a foot per day, and it's showing no signs of stopping.
• It's actually a shapeshifting demon with evil motives, who whispers to the party as they sleep, filling their dreams with dark shadows and thought-forgotten memories.
• It's been marked for death by an ancient curse, and now zombie-pirates are after the party.
• It's openly the manifestation of a curse - and the party just willingly claimed it. It speaks plainly about it, and is literally there to screw things up for them - like the shadow demon thing in disenchanted. It has the personality of the cheshire cat, only more inclination to interfere.
• It belongs to a Lich, who was trying to change her Phylactery and transferred it to her cat temporarily. The cat then ran off, and was caught. The Lich is now hunting down the party with all haste, to recover her cat before it is put in danger. Her entire motive is to save the cat.

Feel free to try any of them!

I think people go way too deep trying to calculate the worth of things in a game that has plenty of inconsistency in the items it already offers.

Bottom line, you want the players to have this and you think the players will want to have it. So at the least it should cost less than what they currently have. How much less depends on the opportunity cost. What else could they get with that gold? If there are other intriguing things they could spend the money on, it gives the purchase more meaning.