Designing more things to buy!

[Squee913]

Hello there! I am prepping for a 5E campaign and am looking for some feed back on ideas. One of my biggest issues with 5E is a distinct lack of things to spend money on. Yes, there are tons of mundane adventuring items, but most characters can buy any of them by level two without sweating it. Many characters start with the same weapon and armor they will be using for a very long time, and non-magical armors are not hard to come by in any case. It is quite common, in my experience, for the group to run out of things to buy very early on. Or more to the point, they lose the excitement that comes from shopping very early on. Yes, there are always health potions and ammo refills to buy, but no one gets excited to go get those. Traditionally, parties just save up and save up until they can buy really large things like magical items or boats. Either that, or the GM creates ways to leech their money off of them. Again, neither of these options makes players excited to go to the market place. So, I want to create an environment where, no matter your level, there is always a reason to go shopping! I would like to explain what I have come up with so far, and would love feedback, as well as ideas and input on what other people have done.

The home brew world I plan to use has seen Dwarven technology and constructs become much more common place, so it is a bit more advanced than the traditional 5E world. My main idea was a form of module armor. Imagine there is normal chain mail. Then, there is dwarven chain mail that has the ability to install an upgrade. This upgrade does something minor like add 5 feet of movement, 1 point of damage, or +1 to strength checks. Now imagine there are high quality sets of armor that allow for two or three different upgrades, or upgrades that are more powerful. Upgrades can by changed out during a long rest, so players could have a collection to help them prepare for different needs. Think of it like Materia from Final Fantasy 7. There can be permanent Materia, or cheaper, one use materia, like one that adds 1d6 fire damage for 6 rounds to any blade with an upgrade slot. There could be Materia that grant lesser forms of feats, like one that will grant the same benefits of Alert, but only for Goblins. One that grants the Mobility feat, but for only 24 hours. So, not only do you have several tiers of each type of armor you can buy, you have a plethora of items to install in them. Hopefully, a system like that would make the players excited again when they find a pile of gold to go spend. Thoughts?

I would love ideas on what different types of Materia there could be, but also what fair prices would be. The balance has to be good so that players are spending appropriate resources for the boosts they receive, but things are still cheap enough that they should always be able to get one or two things whenever they go shopping. I'm not too worried about power creep as I can always bump the CR up on encounters.

In addition, I would love to know what other people have done to give their players more excitement in the market place! Thank you in advance!

[Erloas]

Not really knowing 5E that well, but having done a quick scan of the magic items on the SRD, it seems like many of the magic properties of items didn't make it from 3.5/PF.
So unless they're there and just not on the SRD, I would start by adding many of those effects as your materia being socketed into armor/weapons. Things like energy resistance, balance, bane, flaming, menacing, etc. etc.

Of course by making those abilities modular you'll end up greatly reducing the effective costs, both in terms of purchasing and carrying, of having more than one or two easily available.
I think you could also add a lot of minor magic items, from 3.5/PF. Not sure how some would carry over with different skills, but simple things like magical saddle which increases your riding, night vision goggles, etc.

[sandmote]

I think a bigger problem is that 5e doesn't give recommended prices. Anyway, you could also reduce the availability of magic items, in order to slow down how long it takes to run out of meaningful upgrades.

Instead of the +1 weapon, give a masterwork weapon granting +1 on attack rolls but not damage rolls. Masterwork spellcasting focuses that grant +1 to attack rolls (being worse than a +1 Wand of the Warmage). Masterwork tools that allow you to roll a d4 and add it to rolls made with them.

Additionally, limit the magic items available in any given location. So when your Monk with the Dwarven Fortitude feat walks into the magic item shop, he can't just go "one Periapt of Wound Closure please." Or (more often) "one +1 greataxe please" gets the reply "sorry, we only have a +1 maul on hand." Once you establish this, there's at least the excitement for the party of asking "does the market in the new town have any cool items?"

The modular armor idea is also cool, but it reminds me of rings and various wondrous items, in which case you could just make versions of those with whatever minor enchantments you want, and skip the whole armor business.

Edit: Adamantium and mithril armor. To make magic armor rarer, give out adamantium and mithril armor first. I knew I was forgetting something from the 5e books.

[JNAProductions]

I'd actually lean towards giving +1 damage, but NOT attack. Easier to manage.

Also, try allowing them to buy non-combat stuff. Maybe they want to become a lord, so they need to buy land. Maybe their character wants to, when all is said and done, run a bar, so they need to buy a building and hire workers. Maybe a character has a family, friend, mentor, or someone else related in debt, and they need to help pay it off, or at least want to. Maybe they want booze and whores.

[Squee913]

I'd actually lean towards giving +1 damage, but NOT attack. Easier to manage.

Also, try allowing them to buy non-combat stuff. Maybe they want to become a lord, so they need to buy land. Maybe their character wants to, when all is said and done, run a bar, so they need to buy a building and hire workers. Maybe a character has a family, friend, mentor, or someone else related in debt, and they need to help pay it off, or at least want to. Maybe they want booze and whores.

That stuff will still be on the table. The trouble with those long term goal is that they don't exactly add excitement to finding treasure. If I need to save up 100,000 gold to buy land, I am not going to feel giddy when my party finds a pile of 5,000 gold. Yes, I will be happy I am a little closer to my goal, but said goal is still many many sessions away. I want to create a real sense of excitement every time my party finds loot. It's like getting $20 at Christmas. No one gets excited to put that $20 away for college no matter how good a cause it is. They get excited by thinking about all the things they could spend that $20 on at the local toy store. Whats more, if I can create the atmosphere I am hoping for, it will make saving up for that land or bar all the better. Saving money isn't really a meaningful choice when there isn't much else to spend it on.

[Squee913]

I think a bigger problem is that 5e doesn't give recommended prices. Anyway, you could also reduce the availability of magic items, in order to slow down how long it takes to run out of meaningful upgrades.

Instead of the +1 weapon, give a masterwork weapon granting +1 on attack rolls but not damage rolls. Masterwork spellcasting focuses that grant +1 to attack rolls (being worse than a +1 Wand of the Warmage). Masterwork tools that allow you to roll a d4 and add it to rolls made with them.

Additionally, limit the magic items available in any given location. So when your Monk with the Dwarven Fortitude feat walks into the magic item shop, he can't just go "one Periapt of Wound Closure please." Or (more often) "one +1 greataxe please" gets the reply "sorry, we only have a +1 maul on hand." Once you establish this, there's at least the excitement for the party of asking "does the market in the new town have any cool items?"

The modular armor idea is also cool, but it reminds me of rings and various wondrous items, in which case you could just make versions of those with whatever minor enchantments you want, and skip the whole armor business.

Edit: Adamantium and mithril armor. To make magic armor rarer, give out adamantium and mithril armor first. I knew I was forgetting something from the 5e books.

I do plan on limiting magic items to feel special. That is a large part of why I wanted to make this system. Sure I can buy little upgrades, but finding a wand of Fireball? Now that is a rare find! I agree that I could technically forego the "Materia" system and just make them all wondrous items, but the materia system would be a lot easier to manage. It's the difference between having a dozen items of all shapes and sizes that go on different parts of the body and do different things, verses having a dozen small gems that attach to a slot in my armor or weapon. It would also help create some separation between all these small little boosts and truly magical or wondrous items.

Of course Mithril armor will be out there, but let's be honest.... it's not very good in 5E unless you find Mithril heavy armor. I mean, mechanically, there is literally no difference between a chain shirt and a Mithril chain shirt as both can be worn under clothes, don't incur stealth penalties, and both allow the same AC rating. It's mostly just flavor and a lighter weight. I am not allowing Adamantium in my campaign. I honestly think giving players the ability to be immune to critical hits takes a lot of fun out of the game.

[sandmote]

I'd actually lean towards giving +1 damage, but NOT attack. Easier to manage.
I don't see how it's easier, but either way it's an upgrade before getting a magic weapon. So the characters can get excited about their upgrade options, and you can stall out +1 weapons by a few more levels. And if they get +1 weapons later, the rest of progression comes later as well.


I want to create a real sense of excitement every time my party finds loot. It's like getting $20 at Christmas. No one gets excited to put that $20 away for college no matter how good a cause it is. They get excited by thinking about all the things they could spend that $20 on at the local toy store. Whats more, if I can create the atmosphere I am hoping for, it will make saving up for that land or bar all the better. Saving money isn't really a meaningful choice when there isn't much else to spend it on.

I mean, you can have land of different values and locations being sold in different places. At the very least the player can see what deals are available while saving up. Not great, but better. My question in regard to the armor slots is why it would be different buying something for that $20 that goes on your finger vs buying something for that $20 that goes in your armor.


It's the difference between having a dozen items of all shapes and sizes that go on different parts of the body and do different things, verses having a dozen small gems that attach to a slot in my armor or weapon.

Yes, but there isn't much of a mechanical or experiential difference. You're making a pile of really minor magic items either way. So there isn't much to say in regard to the system. Heck, some of the armors say they come with non-magical bracers, so there's already a precedent for an armor slot. Honestly it would probably be faster to just to ask people for ideas on cool minor items for the players to buy.


Of course Mithril armor will be out there, but let's be honest.... it's not very good in 5E unless you find Mithril heavy armor. I mean, mechanically, there is literally no difference between a chain shirt and a Mithril chain shirt as both can be worn under clothes, don't incur stealth penalties, and both allow the same AC rating.

I mostly came back and mentioned the armors because I'd forgotten about the nearest equivalent for armor when listing masterwork items. But yeah, very quickly only half plate and full plate are worth getting Mithril versions of. Still, I image half the party will cheer at finding out the paladin can avoid having disadvantage while sneaking.


So, to get around to something productive, some lists for items using slots:
Your initial list:

Bonus movement
Bonus Damage
Bonus to specific checks
Single Use items
race specific items (which would be hard to separate from railroaded bonuses).

Some things I recommend:

Nonmagic weapons with a partial bonus.
A stronger but mechanically subpar weapon (ex: a half-orc upgrading to something else before getting a greataxe with the same bonuses).
Versions of items with different size bonuses. (ex: bracers of defense granting +1 AC before the player can get the standard kind).
Versions of items that don't work consistently (I recommend a command word to work for a while over a random failure chance).
Items that grant bonuses that come up less often (see Ring of Swimming).
Items that get bonuses against certain enemy types (see Dragon Slayer and 3.5's Cold Iron weapons).


Again, you already have slots on your head, neck, forearms ect. The players just need a supply of item to bother putting there. More slots if fine (especially there are upgrades granting more slots), but I doubt that's usually the problem.