Buying and Selling Magic Items

Buying a Magic Item

Purchasing a magic item requires time and money to contact people willing to sell items. Even then, there is no guarantee they will have the desired items.

Resources

Finding magic items to purchase requires one workweek of effort and 100 gp minimum in expenses. Spending more time and money increases your chance of finding a high-quality item.

Resolution

A character seeking to buy a magic item makes a Charisma (Persuasion) check to determine the quality of seller found. The character gains a +1 bonus for every workweek beyond the first spent seeking a seller and a +1 bonus for every 100 gp spent on the search. The total bonus for time and money spent can’t be greater than +10.

As shown on the Buying Magic Items table, the total of the check dictates which table in the Dungeon Master’s Guide to roll on to determine which items are on the market. Using the Magic Item Price table, the DM then assigns prices to the available items, based on their rarity. Halve the price of any consumable item—such as a potion or a scroll—when using the table to determine an asking price. The DM has final say in determining which items are for sale and their final price, no matter what the tables say.

If the characters seek a specific magic item, first decide if it’s an item you want to allow in the game. If so, include the item among the offerings if it appears on a table that the result allows you to roll on.

Selling a Magic Item

Selling a magic item is by no means an easy task. Con artists and thieves are always looking out for an easy score, and there’s no guarantee that a character will receive a good offer even if a legitimate buyer is found.

Resources

Finding a buyer for one of your magic items requires one workweek of work and 100 gp in expenses, spent to spread word of the sale. You must pick one item at a time to sell.

Resolution

A character who wants to sell an item must make a Charisma (Persuasion) check to determine what kind of offer comes in. The character can always opt to not sell, instead wasting the workweek and trying again later. Use the Magic Item Base Prices and Magic Item Offer tables to determine the sale price.