Black market items ?

[Lance Tankmen]

What would be in a black market in d&d ? I have a few ideas such as battle drug and maybe monster eggs but what else would the black market be.

[Honest Tiefling]

Blasphemous objects of certain faiths might not be technically illegal in all places, but something you certainly don't want to flaunt when not in the right company.

Books of banned tales or knowledge is certainly a favorite! Ranging from history to black magic.

And who could forget items smuggled in just to get around tariffs or because the leaders are not on good terms with their country of origin?

[Lance Tankmen]

Those are some good ideas

[GPS]

This one's not as glamorous: the standard forged identification documents.

[RickAllison]

Magic items of a cursed or dangerous nature (a basket of ever-spawning bees, for example). Poisons. Dangerous traps designed for people. Restricted spell scrolls and books (Animate Dead, Power Word Kill, and Finger of Death come to mind). Anything related to becoming a lich or other undead, or contacting demons and Devils.

[Mjolnirbear]

Poisons.

Sacrificial creatures: unicorn foal or newborn child or dragon hatchling.

A chained pixie made to provide heart sight.

Trade in exotic creatures or xenoprostitution.

A magic item that avoids the city's punishing water tax.

Any magic item that charms.

Anti-divination protections.

Thieves tools

Poison delivery devices, such as rings.

"Child-bane" potions to avoid breeding, depending on local views.

[Potato_Priest]

Drugs and poached game.

Or did you mean stuff that wasn't in regular medieval black markets?

[Laserlight]

Luxury products sold by a hostile nation, such as silk, lace, brandy, certain spices. You can probably buy them legally, if you pay the heavy import taxes...but if you want the real thing at half the price, I know a guy....

There have been cases where, if you were in a colony, anything not produced locally or carried in by ships licensed by the central government would be black market goods. Pirates take a licensed cargo ship and sell the stuff to the colonists, who are much more interested in getting manufactured goods cheaply than they are in turning in the pirates. The mayor might be serious about capturing the pirate, or he might be saying "I am shocked, shocked, to find smuggled goods in this establishment" and taking a cut of the profits.

[Honest Tiefling]

There have been cases where, if you were in a colony, anything not produced locally or carried in by ships licensed by the central government would be black market goods. Pirates take a licensed cargo ship and sell the stuff to the colonists, who are much more interested in getting manufactured goods cheaply than they are in turning in the pirates. The mayor might be serious about capturing the pirate, or he might be saying "I am shocked, shocked, to find smuggled goods in this establishment" and taking a cut of the profits.

Yeah, so early relations between the colonies in the Americas and the British empire MIGHT have been colored by the fact that the colonies kept importing illegal French molasses to make rum and might have influenced actions leading to the American Revolutionary War. It's a good example of what he's talking about.

[Lance Tankmen]

I like all of these ideas gonna take and mold most to my setting . The banned spells is good

[JackPhoenix]

Weapons, in lands where ownership of a weapon by certain caste/class of people is forbidden/restricted.

Slaves

[Beastrolami]

I love using the Cypher generator from Donjon. Generate a bunch of items beforehand, then balance them, because they have really loose, and sometimes OP rules. However, they make for very interested, flavorful, minor magic items.

http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=Cypher

[Honest Tiefling]

Slaves

This is a good idea. You can also flavor it as 'indentured servitude' or 'reforming criminals via labor' if you want something less obvious.

[Sigreid]

Anything heavily taxed.
Things that have to be stolen such as rare art.
Anything expensive that can be sold cheaper after it falls off the donkey cart.

[Asmotherion]

-Spellbooks stolen from their owners
-Flesh Golem Components
-Monster Eggs
-Slaves, including sex slaves
-Halucination potions and other illegal drugs
-Evil Spell Scrolls such as Necromancy (Create Undead), or Enchanting (Dominate Person)
-Evil magic items
-Magic items, probably stolen from owners or looted from their dead bodies
-Gambling, with 80% chance of being a con
-Fake, malfunctioning or cursed magic items, including potions
-Stolen or illegal goods in general
-The inside map/construction plans of a local prison
-Fence service (buys obviously stolen items)
-Fortune telling (90% chance of fraud)
-Poisons and intoxicating herbs


Keep in mind that, if it's a store, it's going to have many mundane items avalable too, as a front, or may moonlight as a Tavern... Nobody will put a sign saying "we're the black marcket". If it's an agent, he most probably won't have his product on his person, rather than "arange" it's delivery to you on a latter date. There is still a good 50% chance that the agent will scam you, or set you up with the millitia, so it's wise to not pay full price up-front, and not make statements, except in a code-language that can be interpreted otherwise, in case it's a set-up. Thus, the ideal negotiator is a Rogue, with Thief's cant.

[Lance Tankmen]

not sure im keen on the scam being so likely, if you scam too much its bad for business

[Kane0]

A box of assorted, unlabelled potions. Not sure what they do (if anything), but they're super cheap!

[denthor]

You could just have a NPC that is a drech demon with intelligence an amulet of tongues that seems to have a way of getting exactly what someone needs. For these items but nothing that could be used to send him back or hurt him is available.

His quote I will check my sources.

[Dr. Cliché]

It would probably depend heavily on the area and on what is actually considered illegal. e.g. Some areas might be happy with citizens arming themselves, others might ban any weapons that aren't actively used for their jobs (e.g. a peasant might need an axe to chop wood, but he certainly doesn't need a sword).

Anyway, some possibilities:
- Anything stolen (regardless of type)
- Slaves
- Exotic pets
- Parts of rare creatures (Dragon Teeth, Griffin Claws etc.)
- Swords, maces, halberds and any other weapon that only exists to fight other human(oid)s.
- Magic weapons (a Wand of Fireballs would be like a peasant having a self-loading bazooka)
- All magic items
- Magic texts
- Religious texts that are considered heretical by the dominant power
- Poisons
- Lockpicks

Basically, think what the main powers within the region wouldn't want (or would want to control) and you'll have your answer.