So I've noticed something that looks a little bit weird around the cost for buying Rare items in the Downtime Activity (on DnD Beyond - no idea if it's the same in the physical book).
Generally, the ranges for the cost of purchasing a magic item corresponds roughly to the price when selling it - with some small adjustments for the cost of the activity itself I would guess.
E.g. buying an uncommon item averages at a 350gp with a range of 100 - 600gp. Selling an uncommon item gets you a 400gp, ranging from 200 - 600gp, depending on your charisma (persuasion) roll. This holds true for all the other tiers (again, roughly).
However, things get a bit weird with Rare magic items: Selling a rare item gets you 2,000 - 6,000 gp, with a 4,000 gp base. Buying a rare item would cost you 2,000 - 20,000 gp with an 11,000 gp average price.
My guess would be that this a typo, probably inteded to be 2d4 or 2d3 x 1,000 gp, rather than 2d10 as printed...
I think the typo happened in the writing of the physical book. By the DMG, a Rare item is worth 501-5,000gp, but the range in Xanathar's is 2,000-20,000gp.
I like a simple house rule of 1d6 * (Rarity * 10), with Common being Rarity 1, Uncommon being Rarity 2, etc. Much easier to remember without consulting a table.
I agree this seems like a typo. My players have always complained about the price of rare items. They call my economy broken even though I use XGtE. 4,000gp on average to sell a rare item seems reasonable but 11,000 gp on average to buy one?
I did some math. I think rare magic items should be (1d6 ) × 1,000 gp. Maybe even common magic items should be (1d6) × 10 gp. Then common "Selling Base Price" could be 40 gp.
Magic Item Price
Rarity
Value*†
Asking Price*‡
Average
Difference
Selling Base Price*‡
Common
50-100 gp
(1d6 + 1) × 10 gp
45gp
55 gp
100 gp
Uncommon
101-500 gp
1d6 × 100 gp
350gp
50 gp
400 gp
Rare
501-5,000 gp
2d10 × 1,000 gp
11,000gp
-7,000gp
4,000 gp
Very rare
5,001-50,000 gp
(1d4 + 1) × 10,000 gp
35000gp
5000 gp
40,000 gp
Legendary
50,001+ gp
2d6 × 25,000 gp
175,000gp
75,000 gp
200,000 gp
*Halved for a consumable item like a potion or scroll
†Dungeon Master’s Guide
‡Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Magic Item Price Rebalanced
Rarity
Value*†
Asking Price*‡
Average
Difference
Selling Base Price*‡
Common
50-100 gp
1d6 × 10 gp
35gp
5 gp
40 gp
Uncommon
101-500 gp
1d6 × 100 gp
350gp
50 gp
400 gp
Rare
501-5,000 gp
1d6 × 1,000 gp
3,500 gp
500gp
4,000 gp
Very rare
5,001-50,000 gp
(1d4 + 1) × 10,000 gp
35,000gp
5000 gp
40,000 gp
Legendary
50,001+ gp
2d6 × 25,000 gp
175,000gp
75,000 gp
200,000 gp
See the difference when you adjust common and rare magic items? Now the numbers more closely fall within the DMGs "Values" and are less than the "Selling Base Price." The "Difference" between "Asking Price" and "Selling Base Price" now all line up too. Everything is ten times the previous price on average like the "Selling Base Price," except legendary. A legendary item averages out to be five times a very rare item, though. Even that seems reasonable when compared to the DMG "Values" and the "Selling Base Price."
Basically, you have to be a fool to base pries solely on rarity. There are a lot more diamonds in the world than Black Lotus MTG cards, but many diamonds go for more than the $166k that the Lotus went for.
While I agree Mog as to pricing by individual items. Sane lost me with the 3500 gold price Oathbow. Or the 12K rod of the pact keeper +1. Several items are way off price for my world.
I normally use the guides lines DMG values as basic guide lines then add or subtract rather than random based on power. IE some items like belt of giant str have 2 of the same rarity they should not be the same price.
An Oathbow is relatively underpriced - except it only works on 1 target per day. If facing 1 big bad guy that is hard to kill and does not escape alive, it is overpowered. For an army, it is about right. And quite frankly it is relatively weak if the enemy escapes, This makes it hard to price. I could see making it more expensive but it is really hard to decide that.
I do agree that the rod of the pact keeper in all forms is underpriced.
That said, it is much better than the silly prices in the books. You simply can NOT price things based on rarity, way too many rare things are weak and vice versus.
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So I've noticed something that looks a little bit weird around the cost for buying Rare items in the Downtime Activity (on DnD Beyond - no idea if it's the same in the physical book).
Generally, the ranges for the cost of purchasing a magic item corresponds roughly to the price when selling it - with some small adjustments for the cost of the activity itself I would guess.
E.g. buying an uncommon item averages at a 350gp with a range of 100 - 600gp. Selling an uncommon item gets you a 400gp, ranging from 200 - 600gp, depending on your charisma (persuasion) roll. This holds true for all the other tiers (again, roughly).
However, things get a bit weird with Rare magic items:
Selling a rare item gets you 2,000 - 6,000 gp, with a 4,000 gp base.
Buying a rare item would cost you 2,000 - 20,000 gp with an 11,000 gp average price.
My guess would be that this a typo, probably inteded to be 2d4 or 2d3 x 1,000 gp, rather than 2d10 as printed...
Has anyone else spotted this?
yes! really didnt get it, so i just placed a sticky note over top with my own adjustments.
(edit) it was really weird cause it's not like there are significantly more or less rare items in the book then the rest.
and maybe its just me and my opinion, but legendary seemed weirdly cheap?
DDB shows the values in that table as the printed book does.
I think the typo happened in the writing of the physical book. By the DMG, a Rare item is worth 501-5,000gp, but the range in Xanathar's is 2,000-20,000gp.
I like a simple house rule of 1d6 * (Rarity * 10), with Common being Rarity 1, Uncommon being Rarity 2, etc. Much easier to remember without consulting a table.
Fair Winds and Following Seas
I agree this seems like a typo. My players have always complained about the price of rare items. They call my economy broken even though I use XGtE. 4,000gp on average to sell a rare item seems reasonable but 11,000 gp on average to buy one?
I did some math. I think rare magic items should be (1d6 ) × 1,000 gp. Maybe even common magic items should be (1d6) × 10 gp. Then common "Selling Base Price" could be 40 gp.
Magic Item Price
Rarity
Value*†
Asking Price*‡
Average
Difference
Selling Base Price*‡
Common
50-100 gp
(1d6 + 1) × 10 gp
45gp
55 gp
100 gp
Uncommon
101-500 gp
1d6 × 100 gp
350gp
50 gp
400 gp
Rare
501-5,000 gp
2d10 × 1,000 gp
11,000gp
-7,000gp
4,000 gp
Very rare
5,001-50,000 gp
(1d4 + 1) × 10,000 gp
35000gp
5000 gp
40,000 gp
Legendary
50,001+ gp
2d6 × 25,000 gp
175,000gp
75,000 gp
200,000 gp
*Halved for a consumable item like a potion or scroll
†Dungeon Master’s Guide
‡Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Magic Item Price Rebalanced
Rarity
Value*†
Asking Price*‡
Average
Difference
Selling Base Price*‡
Common
50-100 gp
1d6 × 10 gp
35gp
5 gp
40 gp
Uncommon
101-500 gp
1d6 × 100 gp
350gp
50 gp
400 gp
Rare
501-5,000 gp
1d6 × 1,000 gp
3,500 gp
500gp
4,000 gp
Very rare
5,001-50,000 gp
(1d4 + 1) × 10,000 gp
35,000gp
5000 gp
40,000 gp
Legendary
50,001+ gp
2d6 × 25,000 gp
175,000gp
75,000 gp
200,000 gp
See the difference when you adjust common and rare magic items? Now the numbers more closely fall within the DMGs "Values" and are less than the "Selling Base Price." The "Difference" between "Asking Price" and "Selling Base Price" now all line up too. Everything is ten times the previous price on average like the "Selling Base Price," except legendary. A legendary item averages out to be five times a very rare item, though. Even that seems reasonable when compared to the DMG "Values" and the "Selling Base Price."
I plan to use my revised table going forward.
All of those rules suck. I far prefer Giant In the Playground's Sane Magic Item Prices.
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?424243-Sane-Magic-Item-Prices
Basically, you have to be a fool to base pries solely on rarity. There are a lot more diamonds in the world than Black Lotus MTG cards, but many diamonds go for more than the $166k that the Lotus went for.
While I agree Mog as to pricing by individual items. Sane lost me with the 3500 gold price Oathbow. Or the 12K rod of the pact keeper +1. Several items are way off price for my world.
I normally use the guides lines DMG values as basic guide lines then add or subtract rather than random based on power. IE some items like belt of giant str have 2 of the same rarity they should not be the same price.
An Oathbow is relatively underpriced - except it only works on 1 target per day. If facing 1 big bad guy that is hard to kill and does not escape alive, it is overpowered. For an army, it is about right. And quite frankly it is relatively weak if the enemy escapes, This makes it hard to price. I could see making it more expensive but it is really hard to decide that.
I do agree that the rod of the pact keeper in all forms is underpriced.
That said, it is much better than the silly prices in the books. You simply can NOT price things based on rarity, way too many rare things are weak and vice versus.