Magic Mart: Buying/selling magic items

I am not a fan of how later D&D editions (particularly 3.X) reduced magic items to a simple commodity. I get that some of the rules about crafting costs and times were a bit subjective before, but I fall into the camp that magic should be magical. 

That being said, players will want to find ways to spend their loot and one of the most useful things for an adventurer is better gear. Once the fighter has bought plate mail and silver arrows, his upgrade options in the standard price list are a bit thin on the ground. I sometimes do have the odd item or two for sale in towns. Usually it's things like potions or scrolls and other "limited" magics.

In the current campaign I am running, the PCs have managed to get through two adventures, both times clearing a fair amount of coin; enough that the PCs that have survived since session one are at or near level 3 (except the elf). The nature of the adventures limited the chance to find items, though. I am thinking of giving them a chance to acquire some magical shinies. The question is how to decide what's available in such situations without being utterly arbitrary.

The idea I am currently playing with is based roughly off of the Treasure Type Tables on X43. The larger the town or city, the better the chance of any magical items for sale. Likewise, certain types of items are more often found than others. A first pass at this for a typical BX fantasy setting (not particularly high or low magic) might look something like:

Small Town or Village: 15% Any 1
Medium-sized Town: 25% Any 2 + 1 potion + 1 scroll
Large Town or Small City: 1d4 scrolls, 30% Any 3 + 1 sword, armor, or weapon
Large Metropolis: 1d4 scrolls, 2d4 potions, 35% Any 4

It's up to the individual DM to decide where a given population in his setting falls on this list. As examples, I would say a town like Threshold in Karameikos would be a medium town, whereas Specularum might be a small city. You might also tweak how you roll based on things like how much trade or traffic a location sees or if adventurers are common there.

In my campaign, the party is currently in a town of 3,000-4,000 people; what I would consider medium-sized in my setting.  But, it is also a busy river port that sees a good deal of trade and adventurer types are not uncommon here (a name-level mage has a tower just outside the town walls). Therefore, I have chosen to roll as a large town/small city.

Roll results are as follows:

1d4 Scrolls = 1. The % dice came "00"! Which is a nice treasure map to 5d6 gems and 2 magic items. Buuuut, the party is already following one map and I am trying to generate magical items here. So I re-rolled that and got a Protection from Magic scroll.

% dice for other magic = 30 exactly (!) So 3 items plus 1 arm or armor. I rolled a d3 to see which and got a 3, which is a non-sword weapon.

The percentile rolls for the specific items came up as follows:

• A potion of Giant Control
• +1 Spear
• A Staff of Healing Staff of Striking (18 charges)
• A MU/Elf spell scroll of 3 spells. This came up as one 4th, one 1st, and one 2nd level spell. I rolled randomly (d12s) and got Charm Monster, Ventriloquism, and Detect Evil.

Now this is a pretty impressive haul, and frankly a lot more magic than I like to be just lying around. If I want to let these results stand, I need to make sure these items aren't too easy to get. Namely, they need to be expensive or require the PCs do something to get them.

The protection scroll has a lot of potential utility, but it's one use only, so I will peg that at 1000gp.

I decided to roll randomly for what type of giant the potion can control. There are six kinds of giants and I rolled a 4: Fire Giant. This is pretty neat but of limited usefulness. Commanding 1d4 fire giants even for only an hour could be pretty epic, though! Let's say 1000gp

The +1 spear is nice, but is just a bonus to hit and damage. 1000 gp should cover that.

The healing staff is another matter. I will invoke DM fiat and say this is too powerful to be simply bought in town, ready to go. This item essentially allows a cleric to cast a Cure Light Wounds once per day on each PC and uses no charges! This sort of thing would be snapped up by one of the temples in town and not readily available to wandering murder hobos. As with the map, I re-rolled and the result was a Staff of Striking with 18 charges. This is a nice item, but limited by who can use it (clerics) and of finite charges. I will judge it roughly equivalent to the spear and set its price at 1000 gp as well.

The spell scroll would be pretty expensive. I have previously established house rules about spell books and scrolls, so using those I can pin its price tag at 3,500gp (7 spell levels total at 500 gp per). Since they are all on one scroll, it's an all or nothing price.

Now, this is a pretty generous haul, but the rolls were with them. The odds favored 2-3 scrolls and that's it. I would also argue that it would be a while (a month or two at least) before this particular town might be "restocked." Over the course of a campaign, I would see this as balancing out. I'm not sure it's the perfect system. I still needed to intervene a little to maintain what I see as a correct balance, but isn't that what DMs are supposed to do?

RMA: Roc

POLLY WANT A BIG CRACKER!!

While running my Barrowmaze campaign a while back, the party stumbled upon a small Roc as a random wilderness encounter. No combat ensued (hooray for non-hostile reaction rolls), but it did mean taking a good look at its stats. I commented on how interesting the beasts were as written and one of my players suggested that an RMA might be in order. So here it is.

Roc, S/M/L (from Cook)

AC: 4/2/0
HD: 6/12/36
Move: 60' (20'), Fly 480' (160')
AL: Lawful
Att: 2 claws/1 bite 
Dmg: 2-5, 2-5, 2-12/1-8, 1-8, 2-20/3-18, 3-18, 8-48
No. App: 0 (1d12)/ 0 (1d8)/ 0 (1)
Morale: 8/9/10

One omission in the Cook Expert entry is the Save As listing (typo). 

This one took a little research because despite the fact that the entry includes three different sizes, the descriptive text is pretty sparse. I cobbled together a mental picture of ol' Beaky between BX, LL, 1st ed. AD&D, and d20 (3e). 

One thing to keep in mind is that these are some truly formidable birds. Even the small one is no picnic considering there might be TWELVE of them flapping about. At 6HD minimum, Sleep spells are useless, too. The AC not great for the smaller ones, but it's not terrible either. Three attacks at middling damage can mean a bad day for someone who looks like bird food. Small Rocs are relatively skittish though, so you might scare them off.

Medium Rocs are significantly tougher (x2 HD than small) but otherwise similar. Their bite is impressive though.

The Large Rocs are crazy! More HD than a Dragon Turtle! AC 0! Attacking with both claws and beak can deal up to eighty-four points of damage per round! Despite their hugeness, rocs' flight speed (all three sizes) is unbeaten and nearly unmatched.

I assume that the sizes are age categories and all rocs eventually become large ones (if they reach full maturity). 

The alignment is worth noting. It is a lawful creature that reacts poorly to neutrals and chaotics. They are not particularly intelligent, though. It makes me wonder how they make distinctions with whom they are dealing.

They have a fair chance of treasure lying about the nest (mostly coins and jewels per the chart), but the real wealth would be to make off with some of the eggs. Such chicks can be trained as mounts, which should entice some PCs to risk tracking down a roc eyrie.  The 1st edition AD&D Monster Manual has a fun note, too:

"Rocs are occasionally tamed and used by giants." 

At first, I thought they meant as hunting birds, but no. According to the Storm Giant entry, they RIDE them! Imagine that encounter! A couple of giants flying at you on the back of a bird that can pick up an elephant! 

Fee Fie Fo- you get the idea

My group is getting ready for a run through of G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. It's been over 20 years since I played any part of the module, so it should be a fun time. (We're using LL+AEC if you're interested.)

Anyhow, this got me thinking about GIANTS. Even in BX, you've got the six varieties, in escalating size and power: Hill, Stone, Frost, Fire. Cloud, and Storm. I've often wondered why so many? It's kind of like dragons, I suppose, where the authors wanted to include lots of good bits from mythology and folklore, but not lump them all together in one monster.

One thing that strikes me about all the giants is the treasure. They all have the same type ("E") plus 5000gp. (The ogre –aka "Giant Lite"– is similar with Type C + 1000gp). Where does this come from? Jack & the Beanstalk? Mythology? Probably a combination. Regardless, giants are a pretty lucrative monster to fight.

Hill Giants seem to be basically bigger, tougher ogres. Primitive brutes who eat just about anything.

Stone Giants are fun with their bouder flinging skills and pet bears. A pair of 9HD giants + up to four cave bears is a scary place!

Frost Giants are the first "supernatural" giants, obviously borrowing a little from the Norse myths with their cold immunity. They like to keep polar bears and wolves about. Even just one of these blue meanies is a truly challenging encounter.

Fire Giants –based (I think) on Surtr from the Norse as well– are also magical, with fire immunity. They also keep nasty pets (hell hounds and hydras).

Cloud Giants have got that castle in the sky/beanstalk thing going on. Giant Hawks hang out with them if their lair is airborne.

Storm Giants are frankly weird. Maybe they're in the sky, or MAYBE they're on a mountain, or MAYBE they're underwater! Who knows?? They are the biggest and toughest of the bunch, but like (gold) dragons, the toughest is also the most likely to be the nicest with their Lawful alignment. Their storm powers are impressive as well.

I'm not sure I have a point to all this other than reflecting on these iconic creatures and seeing all the interesting little rules that were included with them.

...Also to mention that a Girdle of Storm Giant Strength is a potential campaign wrecker!

RMA: Cyclops

Like some of the other mythological creatures I've talked about, it's not hard to figure out why the cyclops was included in the monster listings. It is, after all, a classic. 

The thing is, Mr. Monocle there doesn't seem to get a lot of table time. In a game with almost as many gigantic humanoids as slime-based monsters, it's not hard to -aheh- see how that could happen. You've got ogres, ettins, troll, and six kinds of giants to throw at the PCs. This is a shame, IMO, because the cyclops is such an interesting monster.

Well, not as interesting as YOU, of course!

Cyclops (from Cook)

No. App.: 1 (1d4)

AL: C

AC: 5

HD: 13

Move: 90' (30')

Att: 1

Dmg: 3d10 (club)

Save: F13

Morale: 9

As a straight-up combatant, it's not so unusual. It's 20' tall and smacks you with a gigantic club (or chucks boulders at you for 3d6 damage). Its -2 to hit for poor depth perception is an amusing little detail, I think.

While there can be up to 4 of them, their morale isn't terrific, so they could easily break and run, hiding in their caves. Their AC is so-so, but 13HD is a respectable force to deal with (roughly on par with a cloud giant). Like many giant-types, cyclops also have very respectable treasure, making them a choice target for loot-minded PCs.

No, what I like about the cyclops are the little details. They are described as "stupid"  and escapable through trickery. The Expert book also says they raise their own sheep and grapes, which I find an incredibly cool idea. I am imagining cyclops vineyards and wines. 

The last little bit I want to mention is, of course, the cyclops'  Curse ability. It is rare (5%), and only usable once a week, but again. a wonderful bit of mythological flavor right out of Homer to add to a night's gaming that can set some fun hooks for future adventures.