It takes a lot of gold to be evil

[Jonsey]

has anyone else noticed that a lot of times when Redcloak is using an item that it has a price tag on it? Specific examples i can remember are a 1000gp telescope and a 5000gp wide screen crystal ball. I don't know if this has been discussed before but is there meaning in these price tags or is it just a gag?

[BrokenButterfly]

I think that it's more the fact that Xykon finds a way to buy all of this stuff despite the fact that his lair and treasury was blown to kingdom-come. I always liked that the serving lad didn't bat an eyelid when he was serving a very suspicious-looking lich magic items.

I was a big fan of the little red wagon that Redcloak used to cart Xykon around in, but that didn't really cost a lot...

[Jonsey]

heh heh true...i also like the pink unbrella the "creature in the darkness" has...it has nothing to do with money but i find it funny that Redcloak would have bin carrying that around with him

[BrokenButterfly]

Does Redcloak like Greetings Dire Kitty or what? The kitten on the pattern does have fangs after all, so maybe it's an evil kitten...

[random11]

I think that it's more the fact that Xykon finds a way to buy all of this stuff despite the fact that his lair and treasury was blown to kingdom-come. I always liked that the serving lad didn't bat an eyelid when he was serving a very suspicious-looking lich magic items.

I was a big fan of the little red wagon that Redcloak used to cart Xykon around in, but that didn't really cost a lot...

They got about a gazillion hobgoblins following their orders, so the resources are not a problem.
There is however, the question of how to make money out of a hobgoblin corpse :smallsmile:

[EloquentRune]

They got about a gazillion hobgoblins following their orders, so the resources are not a problem.
There is however, the question of how to make money out of a hobgoblin corpse :smallsmile:

well one of my science teachers taught me that a human body taken just to its elemental compounds is worth about 14 cents

[BrokenButterfly]

Actually I just realised, Xykon has a huge hobgoblin city to take resources from...man I'm stupid!

[fall_ark]

Does Redcloak like Greetings Dire Kitty or what? The kitten on the pattern does have fangs after all, so maybe it's an evil kitten...


Hell-O Kitty?

[Paramajic]

You are assuming that :xykon: and :redcloak: actually bought the items in question. I submit that a truely evil villian would have robbed or pillaged to get those items. After all who would notice if :xykon: left a zombie working at Quest Buy? Well one more zombie anyway?

[Deuce]

They got about a gazillion hobgoblins following their orders, so the resources are not a problem.
There is however, the question of how to make money out of a hobgoblin corpse :smallsmile:

Easy, introduce the all new XykonBuck, printed on Hobgoblin-hide, changing the question to "How much money can you make out of a Hobgoblin corpse?"

[Gentlemaniac]

Well, sure Xykon and Redcloak could have killed someone and stolen those expensive items. But how? In just about every computer RPG I've ever played, killing and looting a shopkeeper will yield a few coins and a dagger, if you are lucky. The good stash always evaporates, as if its existence was dependent on the shopkeeper. In any tabletop RPG, the DM will simply find a way to screw you over so badly it won't be worth it, unless you're playing in a monty haul campaign in which case the point will be very moot.

[NEO|Phyte]

well one of my science teachers taught me that a human body taken just to its elemental compounds is worth about 14 cents
If you want to profit off of a human body, selling the organs on the black market is the way to go. You can get a few million off of a healthy body. Don't remember the exact number though.

[Paramajic]

Well, sure Xykon and Redcloak could have killed someone and stolen those expensive items. But how? In just about every computer RPG I've ever played, killing and looting a shopkeeper will yield a few coins and a dagger, if you are lucky. The good stash always evaporates, as if its existence was dependent on the shopkeeper. In any tabletop RPG, the DM will simply find a way to screw you over so badly it won't be worth it, unless you're playing in a monty haul campaign in which case the point will be very moot.


Valid points, when you are talking about PCs. :xykon: and :redcloak: are NPCs. And since NPCs are the DM's characters, such actions would work in their favor and increase their evil reputations.

[the_tick_rules]

well xykon seems to be fairly well off. The tags, while accurate, were just meant to be funny.

[Mike_G]

I always liked that the serving lad didn't bat an eyelid when he was serving a very suspicious-looking lich magic items.


Hey, he probably works on commission. I don't know about you guys, but in my experience, working on commission sucks, and you take the big windfalls wherever you can.

I'd sell a lich a 5,000 gp crystal ball for a 10% commission in half a heartbeat. I got bills to pay, man.

We don't discriminate. So long as the money's the right color....

[Goofy]

I think it's partly a joke on how the BBEG in D&D (and entertainment in general) tends to have limitless resources compared to the PC party.

[CrossP]

It's a joke about the TOTALLY ABSURD pricing for those two items in the Player's Handbook. You can buy 10 custom-fitted suits of plate armor for the same price as some guy grinding two lenses and putting them in a tube? Yeah right...

[LVL 10 Rouge]

It's a joke about the TOTALLY ABSURD pricing for those two items in the Player's Handbook. You can buy 10 custom-fitted suits of plate armor for the same price as some guy grinding two lenses and putting them in a tube? Yeah right...

I agree to an extent there. The items are overpriced for what they are, but the telescope is slightly understandable. Glass of the quality required for a telescope may be hard to come by or make in the time period of the game. But they are a little overpriced for their functions. I mean why use them when you could use a simple scrying spell and a bowl of water?

[The Extinguisher]

After all who would notice if :xykon: left a zombie working at Quest Buy? Well one more zombie anyway?

Quoted for hillarity