Economics

This page will be revised in the near future as it is no longer being used for the campaign.

The base assumption in the DMG is that PCs can sell anything they find in any sized settlement because of the ubiquity of "traveling merchants". The game is obviously one of adventure and heroics rather than commerce and mercantilism, but this idea smacks too much of the "a wizard did it" trope. Even if a traveling merchant is in a remote mountain village, how likely is it that he has the capacity to purchase exalted chainmail +5 or a ring of wizardry? The system below is presented to inject a degree of realism into the default assumed economy while not adding unnecessary complication.

The table below lists the "Market Limit" of the types of settlements described in the DMG.

Settlement types are defined in the DMG. The descriptors along the top are a general classification for each settlement. They are loosely defined as:

• Frontier: A frontier settlement generally has a smaller population and is found on the fringes of civilization. It isn't (necessarily) completely isolated, but the amount of trade it receives is relatively low. This sort of settlement would have at most one major road leading to it and is more of a source for raw materials than a destination for finished goods.
• Standard: Standard settlements have an average population for their type and enjoy a fair amount of trade. They see a fair bit of commerce as they straddle a major road or trade route. A sizable minority of a standard settlement's population is transient, being merchants, travelers, pilgrims, and similar folk passing through.
• Trade: A trade settlement is a nexus for commerce. Trade settlements usually are the most heavily populated of their type and have a far larger market for most goods than smaller settlements. While most settlements are usually on a waterway, trade settlements always are (exceptions are very rare and usually temporary). These settlements are also at the intersection of numerous roads.

The numbers shown are "Market Limits". The limit defines the price of the most expensive items available in the settlement; anything in excess of the limit cannot be found there. The limit is also the maximum amount that someone can expect to receive when selling something. As an example, in a Standard Town, nothing that costs more than 5,000gp will be available, and a PC won't be able to sell any individual item for more than 5,000gp.

Note that the Market Limit applies to the base price of an item from the rulebooks; the actual price of an item may vary based on the variation roll from the DMG (on 1d6, 1 = 90% book value, 2 = 100%, 3-6 = 10-40%). So a 1,000gp item will be available in a Frontier Town or Trade Village even if its actual cost is 1,400gp.

A close look at the upper limit of the table will show that the highest value - 625,000gp - is the price of a Level 25 item. Items of Levels 26-30 are intentionally absent from the table. These items are of such great power and rarity that cannot be outright purchased (though they can be sold easily enough). Such things simply cannot be found in a marketplace; other means must be used to acquire them.