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Old May 24th, 2017, 03:31 PM
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PF: Wand availability

Currently, as a DM, I'm a little bit unhappy with the standard rules on magic item availability in Pathfinder, especially with respect to wands.

The rules on settlements say that any item below the settlement's base value can be obtained with 75% probability 'with little effort', but of magic items more expensive than that there is usually only a very small number to be found.

What I feel is that this is a quite coarse distinction (below base value: almost everything available, above base value: almost nothing available) and in general I would like to have less availability for cheaper magic items like 1st level wands.

My question is, does someone have a suggestion for a house rule that helps here? Preferably something that is successfully play-tested.
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Old May 26th, 2017, 02:35 PM
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In games where I don't want magic shops, I predetermine a small list of magic items in every city; where they are, cost or quest, etc. More work, but it's flavorful and often puts in entertaining "side quests."

In games where I am fine with magic shops, I use DMG rules.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 12:40 AM
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I usually do it so that things that are below 25% of a settlement's base value, at least 1 is available unless extenuating circumstances apply. For stuff that is half of the base value about 75% chance that at least one is available with a limit of the settlement's base value in total items. Items that are 75% of the base value have about a 50% chance of being available.
100% - 25% availability
125% - 12% availability
150% - 6% availability

etc - each 25% increase in value halves the chance that something is available to be bought. The odds become very small very quickly, but sometimes players do find a Matisse in the attic.

A few years ago, a player randomly found an artifact in a small village. That kicked off several years of adventures that we just wrapped up last summer. I hadn't planned that in advance, but it worked out nicely.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 08:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CE2JRH View Post
In games where I don't want magic shops, I predetermine a small list of magic items in every city; where they are, cost or quest, etc. More work, but it's flavorful and often puts in entertaining "side quests."
Yes, that would work, I guess. But needs a lot of work in advance to determine items for a long time and for lots of place the PCs might go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roninkelt View Post
I usually do it so that things that are below 25% of a settlement's base value, at least 1 is available unless extenuating circumstances apply. For stuff that is half of the base value about 75% chance that at least one is available with a limit of the settlement's base value in total items. Items that are 75% of the base value have about a 50% chance of being available.
100% - 25% availability
125% - 12% availability
150% - 6% availability

etc - each 25% increase in value halves the chance that something is available to be bought. The odds become very small very quickly,
Thought along the same lines. With the rule seems nothing wrong for the case below base value (although in my world I might make it even scarcer), but exponential decrease for more expensive ones might not be necessary, considering that prices seem to rise at least quadratic with power. Maybe something like:
availability = 20% * (settlement base value) / (item value)
would already do. Maybe I will go with a combination of both ideas. Chance of availability by dice roll for player-specified items plus some DM-chosen items being on sale.

What I wonder is whether it would make sense to increase probability is case the PC is willing to pay a premium. What rule would make sense for that?
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