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Apr 7, 2012 -- 1:41PM, Emerikol wrote:

Apr 6, 2012 -- 3:52PM, Archangel62 wrote:

Except there were magic items shops in 2nd edition too, it depended on your game but there were GMs who would let you buy magic items in shops, especially given that there was a set GP cost for a lot of it. There were probably item shops in other games too. But then again, the role that the items played in the game was different as well. The problem here is that you have to look at how the items are treated in the system. For example in a game like Deadlands magic items are rare, to the point that the guy running might have a hard time deducing whether or not said items are appropriate for entry. In a game like D&D, well the magic items do seem to be assumed, the real question being when they show up. Remember also that the RNG could lead to some cases of feast or famine in long chains.

Well I'm sure there was everything in some game somewhere.  My experience was that magic item shops didn't exist in most games.  But I'm sure they existed.  If you followed Gygax at all then you'd definitely be thinking - no magic shops.  In 1e there was a subgroup of players that got classified by the rest of us as Monte Haul.  I wouldn't have been surprised if the Monte Haul groups had magic shops but I didn't hear of it even from them.  Monte Haul groups were basically excessively rewarded for minimal effort.  Thats the gist of it anyway.

 

It all depended, magic item shops might have been trade houses that sold items. They might have been wizards you could comission to get something made. Or maybe a guildhouse, hell it might have even been some guy that said "I have X item that you want, get me X amount of gold and I'll let you have it." Magic item shops aren't always mage-marts.

And who's to say that the shops were all monte haul games, it might just be that they got a helluva lot of gold and nearly no magic items. I'm also not sure if each edition had the rules where you had to hire trainers each level too, since that one could also be said to alter the whole wealth thing. It seems more like you have some kind of grudge against 3rd edition and stuff beyond.