Magic Armour

[TheTacoBandit]

I'm running a campaign, the setting is irrelevant except that magical items are somewhat common and a person in my campaign wants to buy some Magical Armour. I tried finding information on wikis about Magical Armour and its price but it was all from editions other than 5th. I tried looking through the DM guide and Players Handbook but I couldn't find any specific information. So any got links or ideas for magical armour and it's price?

[Sigreid]

There isn't anything but really broad prices based on rarity in the downtime section of the DMG. If it were me, I would probably just use the price list from one of the other editions.

[MeeposFire]

I would make it however it makes sense to make it as rare as you want. If you want everybody to have magical armor by 3rd level make sure they can buy/find that armor with the amount of gold you are expecting to give.

[Gurka]

One of the price charts from an earlier edition should server you well enough here. Just remember that a LOT of magic items flying around will skew CR based encounters a lot more this edition than earlier ones.

[PoeticDwarf]

I'm running a campaign, the setting is irrelevant except that magical items are somewhat common and a person in my campaign wants to buy some Magical Armour. I tried finding information on wikis about Magical Armour and its price but it was all from editions other than 5th. I tried looking through the DM guide and Players Handbook but I couldn't find any specific information. So any got links or ideas for magical armour and it's price?

+1 armor is rare, +2 very rare and +3 legendary.
The prices of rare, very rare and legendary items are in the DMG

[SharkForce]

i really should bookmark this thread, it seems like it keeps coming up... but anyways, you may find this helpful. i don't know if it's a good measurement or not, i just know someone else has done at least most of the work for you:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?424243-Sane-Magic-Item-Prices&p=19458299#post19458299

[Inevitability]

Well, maybe the buyer wants something other than money? How about having the PC's slay some pseudo-magical creature (like a manticore, hook horror, chimera, gorgon, or wyvern) and bring it back to the armorsmith so that he can make new armor out of its skin?

[coredump]

Yeah, why roleplay going to a store, when you can turn that desire for armor into a quest, or a favor, or a hook for an adventure....

[Millface]

One of the price charts from an earlier edition should server you well enough here. Just remember that a LOT of magic items flying around will skew CR based encounters a lot more this edition than earlier ones.

I would avoid this. They revamped magic items so much for 5e... for example: We started playing before the DMG was released, so I used the 3.x magic items. Around level 7 +2 items were fairly common amongst the party, and that broke my game. I had to drastically alter things going forward.

What I mean is that a +3 item from older versions won't cost nearly enough from those tables as it realistically should in 5e. +3 Items are for level 15+ in this edition. You're correct that the balance of the game is swayed by magic items WAY more this time around.

In 2 and 3.x I could rain magic items on the party, in 5e you just can't do that without making the MM mostly obsolete.

[cZak]

I've been running Red Hand o Doom for 5 member party.
They're 6th level and a good mix; Dwarf fighter, Cleric/ rogue, Bard, Warlock and Paladin (all 1/2 elves). 4/5 are veteran players.
They've scouted The Bridge and are back to Drellin's Ferry; for those familiar with the campaign.

I've intro'd NO magic items to the group and have been using monsters straight out of the Manual; no class levels, except for boss' like Koth.
The party is CHALLENGED. I don't have to spend hour(s) writing up 'popcorn' encounters with class levels to actually challenge the group. Nor do I have to distribute magic items amongst the bad guys to have any effect on the party, then worry about the power level increase of the party after they loot the bad guys. This is a huge time saver for me before & during the game.

The results:
The Keep.
Koth, generic minotaur, and six generic hobgoblins.
Kind of mopped this. Good tactics. Choke point advantage. Area of effects. I don't think the party was in serious trouble, but they were sweating it.

The Bridge.
Ozzy, two hell hounds, six generic hobgoblins and one hobgoblin boss. All straight out of The Manual.
Open area. Charged a fortified enemy. Group scatter. Ozzy fled after cat-n mouse'n the Warlock.
Killed one party member, two fled, and all were at single digit hit points after The Bridge encounter.

Goblin raid (night encounter back in Drellin's ferry)
The Warlock & Paladin met The Raiders on the other side of the river (four generic goblin riding worg combo's) and came close to get'n their butts whup'd.


I've been contemplating intro-ing some one shot/ utility magic like potions & scrolls just to add some 'special' to the campaign.
But as far as weapons, armor, wondrous, etc... I've always been leery of players defining their characters by their items. And I hate the magic arms race.

The limits on AC with no magic buffs to it, seem to keep a level of lethality that keeps the game challenging.
The Bard & Warlock have figured out the wonderful team combo of Mockery/ Hex. The damage the spells do is irrelevant...
Advantage/ disadvantage are a HUGE situational modifier. The group, as a whole, hasn't really grasped this yet it seems.

[SharkForce]

just to be clear, hex only gives disadvantage on checks, btw. attack rolls and saving throws are not ability checks (skills, however, are).

[TheOOB]

There isn't anything but really broad prices based on rarity in the downtime section of the DMG. If it were me, I would probably just use the price list from one of the other editions.

This, the suggested prices in the DMG are terrible. If purchasing magical items is a thing in your world ignore them. Magic swords and brooms of flying should cost less than half a suit of full plate.

[SharkForce]

This, the suggested prices in the DMG are terrible. If purchasing magical items is a thing in your world ignore them. Magic swords and brooms of flying should cost less than half a suit of full plate.

.....

did you perchance mean to say *more* than half a suit of full plate?

[TheOOB]

.....

did you perchance mean to say *more* than half a suit of full plate?

I did, sorry, didn't read before I posted.

By the DMG, a broom of flying or a magic sword +1 cost at most 500gp, Whereas fullplate is 1,500gp.

IMO, a magic weapon +1 should cost between 1,000gp and 2,000gp(i learn twords 2000). They both are about equally useful to adventurers, but most nobles and knights will put I higher priority on plate armor than magic weapons(if they can find them), which means even if they're rare a +1 weapon isn't going to cost that much more than magic weapons(a single +1 weapon has almost no influence on a military engagement, but full plate can keep an important person alive.)

A broom of flying should be much more expensive, 5,000gp or more. Even if you rule it's too unstable to fight on(which I would), it's use for delivering messages and orders would be so high that nobles, knights, merchants, and lords would drive the price up.

[Sigreid]

I would avoid this. They revamped magic items so much for 5e... for example: We started playing before the DMG was released, so I used the 3.x magic items. Around level 7 +2 items were fairly common amongst the party, and that broke my game. I had to drastically alter things going forward.

What I mean is that a +3 item from older versions won't cost nearly enough from those tables as it realistically should in 5e. +3 Items are for level 15+ in this edition. You're correct that the balance of the game is swayed by magic items WAY more this time around.

In 2 and 3.x I could rain magic items on the party, in 5e you just can't do that without making the MM mostly obsolete.

Well, if you use it for a guide you could, for example decide that a +3 sword's cost is based on the +10 enchanted weapon and work from there to get a reasonable ballpark without having to drive yourself crazy.

[Balain]

I don't recall exactly were but there is a section in DMG about buying items that has worked well in our game so far. The rarity gives the item a base price. Roll to see how long it takes the merchant to find the item, the more rare the item I think add 1 or 2 to the roll. Then a second roll adds or subtracts from the price. So for example the party waslooking for a bunch of various items. it took anywhere from 2 days to 10 days ( they did not know but had to leave town in about 6 days). some items were double the cost some items had a cheap price and a high price. ( cheap prices were stolen or of poor quality etc which will come up later in the game, since they all went for the cheap price)

[TheOOB]

I don't recall exactly were but there is a section in DMG about buying items that has worked well in our game so far. The rarity gives the item a base price. Roll to see how long it takes the merchant to find the item, the more rare the item I think add 1 or 2 to the roll. Then a second roll adds or subtracts from the price. So for example the party waslooking for a bunch of various items. it took anywhere from 2 days to 10 days ( they did not know but had to leave town in about 6 days). some items were double the cost some items had a cheap price and a high price. ( cheap prices were stolen or of poor quality etc which will come up later in the game, since they all went for the cheap price)

The problem is that many items rarity has nothning to do with how desirable the item would be on an open market. As I mentioned above, a broom of flying is very desirable on the market(also fairly game breaking at low levels), thus it's price would be driven up even if the formula for making them was common.

Meanwhile, the universal solvent is an incredibly niche item so even if the formula for making it no longer exists it's not going to be that crazy expensive.

[thereaper]

I've been running Red Hand o Doom for 5 member party.
They're 6th level and a good mix; Dwarf fighter, Cleric/ rogue, Bard, Warlock and Paladin (all 1/2 elves). 4/5 are veteran players.
They've scouted The Bridge and are back to Drellin's Ferry; for those familiar with the campaign.

I've intro'd NO magic items to the group and have been using monsters straight out of the Manual; no class levels, except for boss' like Koth.
The party is CHALLENGED. I don't have to spend hour(s) writing up 'popcorn' encounters with class levels to actually challenge the group. Nor do I have to distribute magic items amongst the bad guys to have any effect on the party, then worry about the power level increase of the party after they loot the bad guys. This is a huge time saver for me before & during the game.

The results:
The Keep.
Koth, generic minotaur, and six generic hobgoblins.
Kind of mopped this. Good tactics. Choke point advantage. Area of effects. I don't think the party was in serious trouble, but they were sweating it.

The Bridge.
Ozzy, two hell hounds, six generic hobgoblins and one hobgoblin boss. All straight out of The Manual.
Open area. Charged a fortified enemy. Group scatter. Ozzy fled after cat-n mouse'n the Warlock.
Killed one party member, two fled, and all were at single digit hit points after The Bridge encounter.

Goblin raid (night encounter back in Drellin's ferry)
The Warlock & Paladin met The Raiders on the other side of the river (four generic goblin riding worg combo's) and came close to get'n their butts whup'd.


I've been contemplating intro-ing some one shot/ utility magic like potions & scrolls just to add some 'special' to the campaign.
But as far as weapons, armor, wondrous, etc... I've always been leery of players defining their characters by their items. And I hate the magic arms race.

The limits on AC with no magic buffs to it, seem to keep a level of lethality that keeps the game challenging.
The Bard & Warlock have figured out the wonderful team combo of Mockery/ Hex. The damage the spells do is irrelevant...
Advantage/ disadvantage are a HUGE situational modifier. The group, as a whole, hasn't really grasped this yet it seems.

The one problem with this is that the non-casters need magic weapons after a certain level. Not +1 weapons or Flame Tongues, mind you, but some sort of weapon that allows them to not be completely useless against enemies like Golems (which are supposed to be anti-caster enemies, not anti-martial enemies) that are immune to nonmagical weapons. The upside, however, is that because magic item bonuses are not expected, you can just give them swords that glow blue when Orcs are near at level 5 and be done with it (or even just swords that are generically magical with no extra goodies).

[Shining Wrath]

It is hard to say how expensive magic should be without knowing how generous you are with gold. If you want magic to be somewhat common i'd say a +3 weapon or armor ought to cost 2/3 or even 3/4 of all the gold a level 12 character has ever made. It's the proverbial pearl of great price.

In a rare magic world that same item isn't for sale, or if it is, the party goes on special quests to earn the money to buy it, even at level 20.

[TheOOB]

It is hard to say how expensive magic should be without knowing how generous you are with gold. If you want magic to be somewhat common i'd say a +3 weapon or armor ought to cost 2/3 or even 3/4 of all the gold a level 12 character has ever made. It's the proverbial pearl of great price.

In a rare magic world that same item isn't for sale, or if it is, the party goes on special quests to earn the money to buy it, even at level 20.

While that's true to a point, at least for the cheaper items you can base a price on items we already have. The PGB has a huge collection of items, vehicles, goods, an services, and you can extrapolate prices from there. For more expensive items you can to use a bit more fiat. A staff of power is so rare and powerful that there really can't be a set price.