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So, how did this site come about? Well, as a DM, I enjoy a certain play style where magic items aren't as scarce as the 5th Edition game designers out at Wizards of the Coast intended. Basically, I like 3rd Edition. Except that I don't. Because math. And A.D.D. And budget.
So there I was, playing Dungeons and Dragons, freshly learning the streamlined, accessible wonder that is 5th Edition, and I'm wondering what it would cost to get a cool Cloak of Elvenkind or something. I look it up in the book... and there's no price. In fact, there's no price anywhere, other than some vague ranges based on rarity.
| Rarity | Character Level | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 1st or higher | 50 - 100 gp |
| Uncommon | 1st or higher | 101 - 500 gp |
| Rare | 5th or higher | 501 - 5,000 gp |
| Very rare | 11th or higher | 5,001 - 50,000 gp |
| Legendary | 17th or higher | 50,001+ gp |
Fast forward a bit, and I've learned a bit about Bounded Accuracy and 5th Edition's aim for game balance (and a large part of how it's been streamlined). The assumption is that magic shops aren't really a thing. As the Dungeon Master's Guide states:
Unless you decide your campaign works otherwise, most magic items are so rare that they aren’t available for purchase...
Well, as a DM, I want to decide my campaign works otherwise. And the vague ranges provided don't exactly help a brother out. So, off to Google I go.
Naturally, it didn't take me long to arrive at a likeminded Saidoro's Sane Magic Item Price List forum post. This was a godsend. Gods-send? Godssend? Gosling? Ryan Gosling?
Despite its criticisms, it was the first time I saw a reasonable attempt to sensically set prices. It's a little dated now (the last update was in 2015), but it gave me a great starting point.
I like me some generators. Sometimes I want to do something specific, but sometimes I don't have time or care enough to come up with specifics when my players go in an unexpected direction. But since Matt Colville, Guardian of Verisimilitude, is one of my heroes... I need to have something at the ready.
And there are some great generators out there. It's hard to go wrong with any of the donjon generators, and his Magic Shop Generator is no exception. In many ways, it puts what I've done to shame. Over on Reddit, Smokey42356 posted an impressive Google Sheet that can do some of your legwork for you. There are others, too, but those are solid.
But no one has prices. So now, I'm generating a shop, and cross-referencing the Sane Magic Item Pricing list, and it becomes tedious. Why, I ask myself, hasn't anyone combined these things?
And it's okay.
There's a lot I'd like to do to it, still. But it's close enough to good that it might not get a lot of love from here. Or it might. No promises.
Someday, hopefully, maybe I might get through all the things on my to-do list. We'll see.