Tips on PCs buying magic items

[Orsayan]

What I usually do is this:

* The NPCs have (by me) a few selected items that the PCs might aqcuire through battle or reward. Sometimes I arrange so that an item "fits" for one of the PCs (like an upgrade for the dwarf wielding a greataxe) and I try to balance this for everyone.

* I sometimes use random dices but only if it feels authentic. Like the if the PCs find a chest after defeating a monster.

My problem is when it comes to letting the PCs buy items they want themselves. Now lets say that a PC wants a certain item and its quite a powerfull item, he can afford it but he has to find a dealer for it. If he cant find a dealer, he might search for one for a long time and here is where my problem of staying neutral begins.

I dont want the PCs be able to buy whatever they can afford anytime they like but at the same time I cant stop them from searching for a dealer. After a while it gets tedious to actually roleplay these events so I mainly just give the PCs what they want, in the meanwhile, losing the illusion of the world. This doesnt seem to be much of a problems for the players (I guess cos they get the shiny trinkets they want) but it is for me.

So my question is: How do you deal with PCs buying magic items?

(Feel free to describe how you handle treasure in other instances aswell).

[Gandolfi Feesh]

TPK the party in the next encounter, then base the rest of the campaign on them escaping the bowels of hell and recapturing their lost souls.
You keep what you kill down there. I don't imagine there are too many merchants kicking around the infernal wastelands.

If someone wants an item, perhaps a devil can read his mind and bargain with him for it. That way you get something in return, such as a crucial adventure hook to keep them subtly on course.
Creativity is key. The PC doesn't necessarily have to obtain what he wants, (s)he simply has to believe it that it is within their grasp.

Regarding monster drops, I usually split into three categories:
Minions: 70% nothing, 20% Non magical gear, 10% low level standard drop
Sub Bosses: 25% Named weapons & armour, 75% low level standard drops
Bosses: 30% Signature Items, 65% High level standard drops, 5% tomes

Standard drops: Ring of protection, Bracers of Armour, Cloak of Resistance.
etc etc etc. (Boring items essentially)

Of course these percentages are merely guidelines I use. The trick is to hand out non-specific items that characters can partially use or have to train to use them. Then when you unveil the demon butter-slicing katana strapped to the samurai Pit Fiend's back, you make the PC's fight him several times before the party fighter gets his hands on it.
The thrill of the chase, an' aw that...

The only way I can sum it up is through a simple quote:
"Give people jam today, and they'll just sit and eat it. Jam tomorrow, now -- that'll keep them going for ever." - Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

[Gavinfoxx]

Well, I would make people who can make powerful items exist in the campaign.

Remember, items are a reward for playing, and are an integral part of the math of the system, and the game assumes they have useful equipment appropriate to their level.

So make sure you give appropriate treasure for encounters and stuff, and let magic item crafters exist. Don't let there be magic marts -- ie, shops you can steal from -- but let them give a bunch of gold (and magic items they don't want) to the artificer or whatever and a few days later they pick up their magic items, and get on with their life. Sometimes they keep some items, sometimes they sell everything they have for better stuff. Also let that guy upgrade their items too.

[Cor1]

I happened to make my latest character with a built-in cheat code of, basically, unlimited wealth. And the possibility to get practically limitless (non-epic) personal gear.

You know what? It doesn't matter. (I didn't try to go LOL IWIN XD , mind you.)

My character's power level frankly wasn't improved very much after I exploded the WBL... I was powerful enough already, it turns out. And a character that would gain a power as great just by buying stuff, well, maybe they weren't powerful enough to begin with.

Explicitly : my Psion, without items, can transform itself into a dozen hydras. What do I need stuff for? Just to save on known powers and stuff : I chose them mainly to augment versatility, not just raw power, so that it's still fun to play. And there are limits.

Yeah, you can go LOL IWIN XD with just items, if you know what you're doing... but even then... a lot of power doesn't win Good Ends, right choices do.
The second character who happened to have the same cheat, was some sort of Gunfighter. In psiotech power armor. And, well, she was still Tier Fighter, no matter that her gear was worth ten times her WBL.

If the DM is stingy with the magic items, the evident workaround is to get a party crafter... or a Contact, or a Cohort - a personal Magic Mart if there is none in-setting.
Or get a party's Incarnum user.

Just ask Xykon about power. "It's not something you can put on and off like a cloak" : if it's all magic items, you have no real power, because they can be taken away from you. "Your soul shenanigans were [...] shackled to your lame mid-level ass" : a character can be somewhat augmented by magic items, but it's still limited by class level. "The type of power? Doesn't matter as much as you think" : it matters more to have a lot of little powers that add up, than to have one big fat one that can be blocked.

tl;dr : items don't make power all by themselves, and even combining them into godmode won't make a character solve a scenario without playing it.

[ericgrau]

In a big city let them find NPC crafters for larger items (above 3,000 gp according to the PHB). It may take a few days but now they can get anything without it being contrived. And then send assassins at them while their armor is being upgraded :smallwink:. But seriously when the plot keeps moving while the PCs are waiting for crafting it can create some interesting results while avoiding the excessive ease of a "magic mart".