Realistic Prices for Magical Items

I came up with the following price list for magical items. This is only a portion of the complete list, but please feel free to use it if so inclined:

Table: Medium Wondrous Items
d% Item Market Price
1 Boots of levitation Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
2 Harp of charming Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
3 Amulet of natural armor +2 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
4 "Golem manual, flesh" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
5 Hand of glory Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
6 "Ioun stone, deep red sphere" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
7 "Ioun stone, incandescent blue sphere" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
8 "Ioun stone, pale blue rhomboid" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
9 "Ioun stone, pink and green sphere" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
10 "Ioun stone, pink rhomboid" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
11 "Ioun stone, scarlet and blue sphere" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
12 Deck of illusions Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
13 Necklace of fireballs type VI Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
14 Candle of invocation Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
15 Bracers of armor +3 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
16 Cloak of resistance +3 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
17 Decanter of endless water Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
18 Necklace of adaptation Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
19 "Pearl of power, 3rd-level spell" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
20 Talisman of the sphere Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
21 "Figurine of wondrous power, serpentine owl" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
22 Necklace of fireballs type VII Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
23 "Strand of prayer beads, lesser" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
24 Bag of holding type IV Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
25 "Figurine of wondrous power, bronze griffon" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
26 "Figurine of wondrous power, ebony fly" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
27 Glove of storing Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
28 "Ioun stone, dark blue rhomboid" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
29 "Stone horse, courser" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
30 Cape of the mountebank Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
31 Phylactery of undead turning Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
32 Gauntlet of rust Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
33 Boots of speed Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
34 Goggles of night Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
35 "Golem manual, clay" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
36 Medallion of thoughts Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
37 Pipes of pain Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
38 Blessed book Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
39 "Belt, monk’s" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
40 Gem of brightness Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
41 Lyre of building Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
42 Cloak of arachnida Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
43 "Stone horse, destrier" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
44 Belt of dwarvenkind Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
45 Periapt of wound closure Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
46 Horn of the tritons Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
47 Pearl of the sirines Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
48 "Figurine of wondrous power, onyx dog" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
49 Amulet of health +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
50 Belt of giant Strength +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
51 "Boots, winged" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
52 Bracers of armor +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
53 Cloak of Charisma +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
54 Cloak of resistance +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
55 Gloves of Dexterity +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
56 Headband of intellect +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
57 "Pearl of power, 4th-level spell" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
58 Periapt of Wisdom +4 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
59 Scabbard of keen edges Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
60 "Figurine of wondrous power, golden lions" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
61 Chime of interruption Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
62 Broom of flying Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
63 "Figurine of wondrous power, marble elephant" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
64 Amulet of natural armor +3 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
65 "Ioun stone, iridescent spindle" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
66 Bracelet of friends Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
67 "Carpet of flying, 5 ft. by 5 ft." Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
68 Horn of blasting Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
69 "Ioun stone, pale lavender ellipsoid" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
70 "Ioun stone, pearly white spindle" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
71 Portable hole Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
72 Stone of good luck (luckstone) Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
73 "Figurine of wondrous power, ivory goats" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
74 Rope of entanglement Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
75 "Golem manual, stone" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
76 Mask of the skull Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
77 Mattock of the titans Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
78 "Circlet of blasting, major" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
79 Amulet of mighty fists +2 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
80 "Cloak of displacement, minor" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
81 Helm of underwater action Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
82 "Bracers of archery, greater" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
83 Bracers of armor +5 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
84 Cloak of resistance +5 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
85 Eyes of doom Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
86 "Pearl of power, 5th-level spell" Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
87 Maul of the titans Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
88 Strand of prayer beads Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
89 Cloak of the bat Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
90 Iron bands of binding Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
91 Cube of frost resistance Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
92 Helm of telepathy Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
93 Periapt of proof against poison Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
94 Robe of scintillating colors Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
95 Manual of bodily health +1 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
96 Manual of gainful exercise +1 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
97 Manual of quickness in action +1 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
98 Tome of clear thought +1 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
99 Tome of leadership and influence +1 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp
100 Tome of understanding +1 Insufficient Funds but willing to offer 50gp

Hey Barkeep, A Round of Tea for My Friends

Ever since I could remember, when our characters made it to some quaint hamlet after a month-long, arduous trek through the hinterlands, maybe 30 minutes game time if there was an encounter, our first order of business was a bee line to the local tavern. I am unsure why every hamlet had a working inn and tavern, but it was high time our characters were able to do some carousing, I remind you again, this is in a hamlet.

From dwarven spirits to elven Firewine, obsidianman Rolling Rock to Blue Troll Ale, ork Hurlg, made from fermented animal fat, to halfling cheeeeeese wine, there has been no shortage of alcohol to choose from even in my younger days. Now that I'm older and, I like to think, a bit more refined, I look for new aspects to give characters added depth.

I purchased a tea pot for my wife on her birthday, with it came a sampling set of various teas and an informational book on tea. As I was doing more research on tea, I found that many cultures have special ways for serving tea. I was aware of the Japanese tea ceremony, but did not realize how tea worked in to the social aspect of life. Even in England, when you mention tea, it is implied that there will be food accompanying the tea. A 'spot of tea' is usually how you reference tea on its own.

Well this got me wanting to play a character that chooses tea over other forms of drink. I never really preferred monks in my fantasy game, but a far eastern monk type character would seem appropriate. And what type of tea does he prefer? Dragon Well tea of course, right before he hits you with a Dragon Punch.

Gadgets and Games

With the release of the new iPad 2, many people are looking at unloading their old iPads in lieu of getting the latest and greatest iProduct. Let me say that I am not a fanboy of apple. I do believe that they make a quality product, but I do not think they are the best products for everyone. Each person has to assess their needs individually. That being said, my wife knew I was interested in the iPads and she managed to get me a used one for the fraction of the price. For the last week or so, I have been playing with my new iPad and not focusing on much else. Along with countless hours I have whittled away playing Angry Birds and searching for cool new apps, I have also rediscovered comic books with the official Marvel iPad app. I am very happy with the iPad's functionality and the purchase.

The next question I posed to myself is how to use the iPad to enhance the gaming experience. I would have liked to turn this into a a Top Ten list of useful iPad apps, but I could not find enough apps to honestly recommend. Part of the reason is many of the apps don't have a free version to try and part is many apps are geared towards D&D, a game I am not playing.

Of the apps that I can recommend, I would suggest getting the Dicenomicon by Gandreas. This is a really nice dice rolling app for both the iPhone and the iPad. The main selling point for me was that it allows custom configuration of dice mechanics which allowed me to program the dice to explode. This is a core mechanic in Earthdawn and dice rollers without this functionality are not useful. You can also color-code your dice so if you make the same rolls repetitively, you can simply roll them together and have dicenomicon add up the totals. I even include initiative in there so that I don't have to switch my dice selection every round. Of course, this becomes harder for game masters who switch between rolls more often than players, but when used in conjunction with normal dice, I found that the app makes the fight go much quicker. There are a number of pre-programed rolls in the app and even has dice programmed for the Fudge system (which is what the Dresden Files use). Finally, the iPad version comes with a built-in PDF viewer so you can have your character sheet side by side with the die roller. The app costs $4.99, but is well worth the investment; and this is coming from someone who highly dislikes electronic dice rollers.

The Dungeon Master Toolkit by Level 99 Games is the other app that looks promising. The DM Toolkit is an empty database, template system that allows you customize the app for your game. I was leery to purchase the app as it costs a hefty 12.99, but it looks promising. The more I use this app, the more its functionality becomes apparent. Those that purchase the DM Toolkit for a full-featured Dungeons & Dragon App will be sorely disappointed. The app is configured with D&D in mind, but the configuration is only for the templates. Actually rule information on items, monsters, etc. will need to be manually entered prior to the game. I also recommend getting a blue tooth keyboard as entering data with on-screen keyboard is time consuming. I have high hopes that this will help accelerate combat in my non-D&D games. You can see a youtube demo of the app by clicking the following link: DM Toolkit Demo.

In the future, I will try to review other apps that I find useful for the iPad or iPhone. I am not a fan of laptops at the gaming tabled, but I have a feeling that tablets will be more usable at the game as they are less obtrusive than even netbooks. If you have any suggestions on gaming apps, please pass them along.

Take what you like and leave the rest for the next weary traveler.

An Old Ionic Post

Do any recall the struggle of Homlet against the bandits hidden in the crumbling gatehouse of ages past? What ever happened to the simplicity of scenarios that did not revolve around the epic struggle of world shattering consequences? The epicity (not a real word) of common life is to the point that the word has lost its meaning to me. Please do not misunderstand my intention. I do not begrudge a game master who wants to have his players traverse his ballad of good versus evil in their timeless struggle for the fate of the world (it even sound cliche when you spell it out), but not everything is Epic in nature. And, not everything is related to an EpIc event. AND, not everyone likes to play with this EPIC conundrum looming over their heads.

I relate it to the show Supernatural. I found the first two seasons very interesting with their hunting of various monsters. The third season kept my interest as the demon theme took precedence over the show, and I manged to keep up to the end of the fourth season when Sam was tricked into raising Lucifer from Hell. Well, after that it started getting harder to watch as, wait for the epicness to unfold, Sam was destined to be the vessel of Lucifer and fight his brother Dean who is prophesied to be the vessel of the Arch-angel Michael. Some of my friends liked this story, but it felt painfully drawn out to me, and the story no longer had any of the 'lesser' creatures that I had started watching the show for.

I prefer stories that are rooted in the world with believable chance of occurring. Sure, you might have to fight an evil drow army to get to the gates leading one of Orcus' netherlairs so that you can shift the cosmic balance to the side of good again. But you can also do that fighting a tribe of gnolls that have over hunted their area and are turning towards the small village of Homlet for the next food source. I prefer to have little victories, hard fought battles, and well earned trophies. The group I am currently GMing is playing a group that is averaging 3rd/4th level after 3 years. Now, the group has not been playing non-stop for the last three years, and there have been some character deaths have set back the average party level, but everything their characters have, has been earned. No-one is tossing another '+1' sword in to their collection of magic items to be sold at the next town and the story of the group has begun to transcend into old ionic. And that sir, is how I feel it should be done.

On a side note, a scenario that I would truly consider old ionic is to run two groups, unbeknownst of each other, on an adventure, in parallel, with opposing goals. The adventure ends with the two groups meeting and 'battling' it out to see who is the victor.

Pen and Paper... Who Uses Pens???

This is not a pet peeve of mine, but every time a I see a reference to table top role-playing as a 'pen and paper game', it makes me chuckle and I wonder if I've had some abnormal/alternate earth gaming experience. When I got into role-playing, everything was written in pencil. The volatile nature of character statistics made this a necessity if not a convenience. I remember when we would get a new player to the group, if they had never played before; no big deal, we would just inform them a pencil was a better idea for keeping track of characters. If the person said they had played before and used a pen, we would ride the player about not being a 'real' player. The game master might go out of his way to force the player to change values more often than other players. That character would be the odd man out and chosen for any ill-fated tasks until the player saw the errors of his way.

As I switched from group to group in my errant travels across the land, and yes as far away as the far east, this seemed pretty normal. I know the next question; "What about erasable pens?" My group at the time went through this phase too. I do not know which era of the erasable pen you are referring to, but when they came out... they were crap. The ink was spotty, not the smooth ball points or felt tips you have now. And they did not really erase. They partially erased and partially smeared the ink on the paper. The user generally created 'eraser holes' a lot faster than a pencil user.

I do not use erasable pens now, but a year or so ago, I was checking out of an office supply store that had a display at the register for an erasable pen. There was a little pad of paper and and cup of pens to try out. Since I wasn't doing anything but waiting to pay for my purchase, I figured 'why not?'. I must admit, they got me. The pen wrote beautifully, and erasing was easy and left no trace of the writing. I thought it was so good, I bought two on the spot. Well, I started using them and although I couldn't bring myself to desecrate my character sheet with it, I did use it to take notes. What I came to found out, was the reason it erased so well was that the ink was heat sensitive. The friction from the eraser was enough to counter the ink and make it turn invisible. How did I learn this? Well, on one particular game day, I decided to leave my backpack in the car when I went it to work. On this particular warm summer day, the natural oven like temperature in the car was enough to make four pages of notes disappear from sight. To exemplify the cosmic "gotcha" for using a pen in gaming, both pens 'burned' out in the hot car and no longer wrote. I probably could have done something to get my notes back, but it wasn't worth the effort to find out. I merely chalked up as another reason why you should not use a pen for table top RPGs.

I am curious as to how regular 'pens' are in other gamer's group. Is this an erroneous term or did I just happenstance on hard core pencil users.

Lolth vs Arachne

The gods are mean and spiteful entities that show little compassion for the hard work of others. As game masters, we put much into our games and give very little credit to those inspirations. We are the gods of our worlds. The weaver of tales for the amusement of other gods, we transmute the work of others to weave a tapestry to our liking.

Well, that may be a little much, and many of us like to give credit where credit is due, but, in the heat of the story, we often fail to cite the sources of inspiration. This is not a fault; breaking the storyline to explain the history of your story/creature/etc would detract from the game. And remembering to credit everything that happened after 8+ hours of gaming is excessive. Still, I often like to explain my reasonings after the game to those interested.

While sitting about on this lazy Saturday afternoon I came upon the 1985 movie 'The Adventures of Hercules'. Watching the scene where Hercules fights Aracne, the Spider Queen, I thought of Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, and made me think if the two were related in any way. The original story of Arachne was a human weaver so skilled she challenged Athena herself. Although she did not loose the challange, her pride was her downfall and Arachne killed herself when Athena destroyed her work. Athena took pity on Arachne and turned her into a spider.

In this version, and the version in 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys', Aracne/Arachne is the queen of spiders (pictured here). This can hardly be considered the source for Lolth since the adventure 'Descent into the Depths of the Earth' came out in 1978. Even still, Dungeons and Dragons is rooted in mythology and greek is not the only one around. Africans have a trickster that is a spider by the name of Anansi, the aztecs have Teotihuacan, the spider woman, and Peru has a spider god in its mythology (I tried to find the name, but it eluded me).

My final question would be, if the two would fight who would win? I would have to say that Arachne would be an elder god, around since the times of the Greeks, but her powers are weak and her followers are few, if any. The upstart Lolth is new, not even a hundred years old, but her following is vastly greater due to gamers around the world. This fuels her power and presents her as a threat to Arachne. If it were put into my world, Lolth would be defeated in a climatic battle with Arachne, who used her guile and wisdom to defeat the young upstart and take back her rightful place among the gods and renewing her followers from the ranks of the drow, but that's just me.