INTERLUDE: RUNNING A SHOPPING TRIP

The main reason PCs come to the city is to buy and sell the spoils of their dangerous trade. As centers of commerce, cities have willing buyers for the rare treasures that PCs extract from dungeons, as well as the high-level artisans and spellcasters required to make the magic items every PC covets.

As the DM, you might want to make such shopping a strictly mechanical function, then get back to the adventure as soon as possible. You can simply say, “Sell what you want for half the market price, and buy what you want at the prices listed in the DMG.” Or you can make the shopping trip a mini-adventure in its own right, full of colorful characters and featuring a search across the city to find just the right buyer or seller.

These rules offer a compromise—getting the shopping trip done quickly, but also injecting some of the city’s flavor into the proceedings. First, check the City Economics table to determine the limit on the value of what PCs can buy and sell. Then select some details for the shop and its proprietor by consulting the Sample Shops and Sample Proprietors tables. If you wish, you can add a story twist from the Sample Complications table as well.

These tables use dice roll ranges so you can generate a shopping trip randomly, but there’s nothing wrong with just picking whatever options you like. Likewise, the suggested class and level of a proprietor are just guidelines; feel free to change them to better fit your city.

Sample Shops

d%	Shop Details
01–20	Cavalcade of Wonders: This shop appears normal from the outside, but the inside has all sorts of harmless illusions and flashy magic. At the proprietor’s direction, vast animated cabinets trundle forward and open their doors to display wares.
21–40	Dream Emporium: This shop exists beyond traditional walls, in a demiplane of its own. An unassuming door in an alley wall leads to the emporium, which has walls made of cloud. When PCs want to examine something for sale, a hand made of wispy fog emerges from the wall and holds the item forth.
41–60	Vermilion Caravan: Halfl ings or other nomadic people staff this shop—actually a train of wagons, tents set up in a public square, or some other mobile marketplace. Inquiring about an item means talking to several members of the caravan in turn until they’re convinced you’re worth their time. Then you meet the actual proprietor, who quickly makes a deal.
61–75	Arsenal of the Worthy: This shop is built like a military armory, with strong walls and obvious defenses such as portcullises and heavily armed guards. Inside are a series of specialized “quartermasters”—one for weapons, one for armor, and so on. Most of the inventory consists of items useful in battle, but the quartermasters have access to a little bit of everything.
76–90	Eye of the Owl: This disheveled shop has obvious junk falling off every shelf, strewn across the floor, and hanging from the ceiling. But amid the debris are wonders of great value—and only the proprietor can find the right one. This shop is a particularly good choice for PCs intent on buying or selling truly unusual items, rather than just another +1 rapier.
91–100	The Palatine Auction: Rather than a shop proper, this is a perpetually running auction of “antiquities.” Rather than roleplay the entire bidding/counterbidding process, you can just stipulate that the winning bid happens to be the listed market price. The proprietor might be the auctioneer, or simply a house owner who needs to ascertain whether the PCs are appropriate bidders or sellers. If you want to introduce NPCs, making them rival bidders—or purchasers of the PCs’ loot—is a good way to attract the players’ attention.

Sample Proprietors

d%	Proprietor Details
01–20	Blind Kerrulek: This dwarf proprietor (fighter 5/cleric 10) was a master weaponsmith and warchief before he was blinded and cursed in battle with mind flayers. Kerrulek took his disability as a sign from the gods, so he became a cleric of Moradin and started making magic weapons and armor. His grandchildren guide him around the shop and act as his eyes, and he’s always complaining and yelling at them.
21–40	Umerita Glann: A young, bookish gnome, Umerita Glann (wizard 11) takes a scholar’s approach to magic items. She can often discern details about an item’s history from aspects of its design, and sometimes she can even tell something about an item’s creator by identifying its magical aura.
41–60	A Faceless Servant: The owner of the shop—if there is one—remains unseen. All business is conducted with identically hooded servants who rarely speak. If PCs inquire about purchasing an item, the servants bow, depart, and return with the item for inspection. When the PCs are selling, a servant silently inspects the goods, then produces a pile of coins if the sale is acceptable.
61–80	Varria the Crone: Varria (human cleric 13) regards herself as an oracle capable of seeing the future, and she’s fond of offering impromptu fortunes to those who frequent her shop.
81–100	Harloon Traal: Harloon (human wizard 5/cleric 6/ mystic theurge 3) was once a traveling adventurer. Because Harloon has a wide array of both arcane and divine spells, his repertoire of merchandise is broad too. Harloon finds magic items endlessly fascinating and is eager to examine (and perhaps purchase) those he’s never seen before.

Sample Complications

d%	Complication
01–20	Surveillance: During the transaction, the PCs might notice that they’re under observation, either from a stealthy figure in the shadows or a scrying sensor. The surveillance might continue even after the PCs leave the shop.
21–40	Security: Before they get a chance to do business, the PCs are subject to a number of security procedures, including physical searches and divination spells.
41–60	Acquisition: After the PCs complete their business, the proprietor tells them that a particular sort of item is especially prized and will earn extra coin. The proprietor might even know where such items might be acquired—if the treasure-seekers don’t mind a little danger .
61–80	Business Rival: During the transaction, the PCs learn about someone else selling magic items—and it’s clear that the two businesses don’t get along. The proprietor might disparage a rival, or maybe an agent of the rival approaches the PCs shortly before or after the transaction.
81–100	Goods Not as Advertised: The items that the PCs purchase have additional “features.” It’s tempting to trick the PCs into buying cursed weapons, but doing so sows a lot of distrust among the players. Instead, think about extra, unadvertised functions, such as a weapon that’s sentient or that has a power activated under rare conditions. Perhaps the proprietor didn’t know about the extra function, or maybe there was another reason for remaining silent.

City Economics

City Size	GP Limit
Small city	15,000 gp
Large city	40,000 gp
Metropolis	100,000 gp