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B1okHead
2012-03-06, 08:25 AM
So when I was rolling up loot for a D&D 3.5 game I got zeros on both of my D10s (both the one I was using for the tens place and the one I was using for the ones place.) What number is this?

Ravens_cry
2012-03-06, 08:34 AM
So when I was rolling up loot for a D&D 3.5 game I got zeros on both of my D10s (both the one I was using for the tens place and the one I was using for the ones place.) What number is this?
Double zero is 100.

Deepbluediver
2012-03-06, 08:49 AM
What Ravens said.

I never liked rolling for loot though; it always seemed to produce mostly stuff that was sold for cash, and then used to buy better stuff.
My favorite GM used to come up with interesting ways to give us specific items that we could use. For example, in one low-level campaign we where exploring an old abandoned castle, and there was a hall filled with ceremonial garb, including old arms and armor. Most of it was rusted or falling appart, but by scavenging through several different sets, we where able to collect enough pieces to assemble a full set of plate armor.
In another adventure, when we finally killed the assassin that had been harrassing us for 3 sessions, we found that he was using an unusually good set of magic daggers, which quickly became property of our rogue.

Jay R
2012-03-06, 09:14 AM
I never liked rolling for loot though; it always seemed to produce mostly stuff that was sold for cash, and then used to buy better stuff.

I understand the frustration. Mine is the same, but turned around.

I never liked the idea of magic markets. It always seemed to mean that magic discovered in adventurers didn't mean anything other than a source of cash.

When you find a magic item in a long sealed crypt, it should feel like a source of mystery and power, not a debit card.

Besides, if there are that many magic items available, then rich nobles with have armies all of whom used magical weapons and armor, and none would be left for PCs to buy anyway. Certainly the first step in an invasion would be to go buy all the available magic weapons.

In any event, a double-zero is read as 100, which is why the tables show that result last. (So where is the missing "1"? Think of it as a two-digit odometer that just rolled over.)

tyckspoon
2012-03-06, 09:53 AM
Besides, if there are that many magic items available, then rich nobles with have armies all of whom used magical weapons and armor, and none would be left for PCs to buy anyway. Certainly the first step in an invasion would be to go buy all the available magic weapons.


That's actually an incredibly inefficient way to outfit an army. The minimum cost to outfit a soldier with +1 arms and armor is ~3500 (magic+masterwork cost). You could support ten soldiers with standard equipment for that much, or hire a bunch of bards to sing at your soldiers, or.. well, all kinds of things that will have a much, much larger impact than giving a single soldier +1 to hit/damage/armor.

NikitaDarkstar
2012-03-06, 03:42 PM
That's actually an incredibly inefficient way to outfit an army. The minimum cost to outfit a soldier with +1 arms and armor is ~3500 (magic+masterwork cost). You could support ten soldiers with standard equipment for that much, or hire a bunch of bards to sing at your soldiers, or.. well, all kinds of things that will have a much, much larger impact than giving a single soldier +1 to hit/damage/armor.

That depends. If you assume that magic equipment is common as dirt it would also be far cheaper than the books suggest, at least for something as low/common as +1 equipment.
Heck if it's that common it means it's easy to make so you could most likely just hire the people you need to create it in large quantities.

The thing is, it has to be of Masterwork quality first. Look that up. A masterwork or masterpiece in actuality isn't common, then you make it better. Meaning that it really should be rare, meaning at least magic armor and weapons should be very, very rare, and I think the prices the PBH shows are meant to reflect that, they wouldn't make sense in a world where magic armor and weapons are common.

B1okHead
2012-03-06, 07:40 PM
Thanks for the answers everyone! I wasn't sure if it was a zero or a one or what so it's good to know.

KillianHawkeye
2012-03-08, 09:34 AM
Thanks for the answers everyone! I wasn't sure if it was a zero or a one or what so it's good to know.

A good way to remember this is that, like all your other dice, a d% has values from 1 to N (in this case 1 to 100, not 0 to 99).

Tyndmyr
2012-03-08, 05:07 PM
The thing is, it has to be of Masterwork quality first. Look that up. A masterwork or masterpiece in actuality isn't common, then you make it better. Meaning that it really should be rare, meaning at least magic armor and weapons should be very, very rare, and I think the prices the PBH shows are meant to reflect that, they wouldn't make sense in a world where magic armor and weapons are common.

I suspect the issue is with your impression of what rare means.

In our world, precious gems(diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc) are rare, yet I could get basically any of them I could afford in a couple of hours. If there's a market, there will be sellers in that market. That's how economies work.

Slipperychicken
2012-03-08, 05:37 PM
That depends. If you assume that magic equipment is common as dirt it would also be far cheaper than the books suggest, at least for something as low/common as +1 equipment.
Heck if it's that common it means it's easy to make so you could most likely just hire the people you need to create it in large quantities.


There's no reason to give everyone Magic +1 weapons. Masterwork gives pretty much all the benefits (+5% hit chance) of +1, and the marginal utility is so small for a conventional army, such that upgrading is less efficient than using the cash hiring more muscle.


Even if you need the 5% hit chance, Masterwork is far more efficient unless you need to smack armies of ghosts, in which case you just call in the adventurers anyway.

Belril Duskwalk
2012-03-08, 06:25 PM
I suspect the issue is with your impression of what rare means.

In our world, precious gems(diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc) are rare, yet I could get basically any of them I could afford in a couple of hours. If there's a market, there will be sellers in that market. That's how economies work.

While that is a valid perspective, I have always thought magic items really should be more rare than that. More on the scale of artwork by a renaissance masters. Still rare, there's still dealers, but the dealers are harder to find, their selection is less predictable and the prices are higher. That's how I run my game anyway.

Mystify
2012-03-10, 03:10 PM
That depends. If you assume that magic equipment is common as dirt it would also be far cheaper than the books suggest, at least for something as low/common as +1 equipment.
Heck if it's that common it means it's easy to make so you could most likely just hire the people you need to create it in large quantities.

The thing is, it has to be of Masterwork quality first. Look that up. A masterwork or masterpiece in actuality isn't common, then you make it better. Meaning that it really should be rare, meaning at least magic armor and weapons should be very, very rare, and I think the prices the PBH shows are meant to reflect that, they wouldn't make sense in a world where magic armor and weapons are common.

Congratulations, you have discovered the complete disconnect between the normal economy and the magic item economy.