Magic Items

Magic items are an integral part of treasure calculation in the Pathfinder RPG. The system determines a baseline treasure haul per character for each level, assuming that most of the treasure will be used to buy magic items.

Rewards-oriented groups, on the right end of the continuum, enjoy finding, trading, and selling magic items. Often they’ll enjoy the economic aspect of the game so much that they’ll set up lucrative side businesses making and selling enchanted objects. Let them feel rewarded for these activities, while subtly reducing dungeon treasure hauls to keep the group’s overall access to cash in line with Table 12–4. They might face early successes only to see the value of manufactured items drop as they contribute to an oversupply. Let them get away with what seems like a score or two, then add complicating factors that can also act as story hooks, such as:

• Other shady adventurers come after the characters, as easier sources of treasure than dungeons.
• Competing enchanters target the PCs for elimination.
• Supplies of raw materials dry up, requiring quests into the dangerous wilds.

Keep detailed treatment of magic items low for groups on the left side of the continuum. Ask them for wish lists of items they desire for their characters. Use these as the items they find while dungeon crawling, adding in just enough variation to maintain a sense of surprise. These groups usually want to use their magic items without fussing over them. The odd item might serve as an epic plot device, but most magic items should remain quietly in the background.

High or Low Magic?

Fantasy game fans often speak of high- or low-magic settings. High-magic settings feature powerful and commonly available spells and magic items. Low-magic settings make magic rarer and less effective.

In fantasy literature, especially works by writers like Robert E. Howard and J. R. R. Tolkien written before roleplaying tie-in novels began to influence the field, powerful magic tends to be scarce. Even in settings we tend to think of as having high magic restrict it to its rare and remarkable leading heroes and villains. Where magical gear is concerned, the hero might have one or two very special items, rather than an entire kit-bag loaded with devices for every occasion.

The default fantasy setting is usually one of very high magic. Magic items are widely available. They’re manufactured by retired magicians, traded by merchants, and found lying around in dungeons. This conceit trades epic atmosphere for gaming convenience. The rules as written assume that characters get magic items in line with their levels, and that when an adventurer desires a piece of magical gear, he need only pony up the cash and it’s his.

But these default assumptions do not appeal to everyone. If you want a setting with lower magic, two ways of adjusting the level of magic in your game are presented below, as well as the repercussions such changes can have on the game itself.

Reducing Magic with Rules Adjustments

Certain classes, like spellcasters, lose some of their effectiveness when deprived of magic items. If you restrict PC access to magic items, be sure to revisit all other aspects of the game system with which they interact. At lower levels, when magic users are somewhat outshined by weapon wielders, you already have a functionally low-magic game and don’t have to change so much.

But limits on magic can change game balance dramatically at higher levels. Monster Challenge Ratings will need adjusting, to take into account your group’s reduced damage output and lower AC values. Altering the rate at which the magic-wielding classes acquire spells also changes the balance between them and their weapon-wielding counterparts. Be careful when reducing access to healing items and spells, as this will make the PCs frailer.

Reducing Magic with World Description

As an alternative to altering the rules, you can do what fantasy authors do—establish magic as rare and remarkable, then portray the protagonists (the PCs) and their opponents as the few people who have access to it. In this model, you have high-magic PCs operating in a low-magic world. They retain ready access to magic items, but that doesn’t mean that every wealthy or accomplished NPC they meet is likewise dripping with them. People gasp in awe when they see the heroes walk down the street. The open display of these items in public makes the PCs a target for thieves. Be careful not to overdo this last point, however; having rare items should make the players feel special, not hounded.

High-magic PCs in a low-magic world can’t easily trade items and wouldn’t dream of selling them. Use the wish list method of magic treasure allocation, described above, to ensure that players get the gear they need and want.

Magic Shops

No issue epitomizes the advantages and drawbacks of a high-magic game like the question of whether to place magic shops in your world. Players, especially those toward the right end of the rewards continuum, love ready access to stores where they can purchase items they need, sell the ones they make, and trade the ones they find and don’t want. On the other hand, this makes magic items seem as prosaic and interchangeable as modern consumer goods.

If you consider this a problem, you can simply declare that magic shops don’t exist in your setting. Allocate items according to the wish list method. The PCs must always overcome plot obstacles to swap, sell, or buy major items they don’t find themselves. Minor or disposable items, like potions and scrolls, might be available for sale from itinerant traders or at general stores.

Alternatively, you can assume that magic shops exist in the background of the world, entering into a social contract with players not to focus on them or make them a part of the story. If the PCs pay too much attention to them, including planning heists, they go away, leaving the group without a way of buying, selling, or trading desired items.