Putting a Price on Artifacts

[Count Mohawk]

Thinking about it more critically, Mentor probably doesn't have any Elixirs of Life on hand most of the time, or else he would give them to the Heroes. My sample case in this case comes from the beginning of Against the Ogre Horde, in which he gives them a total of twenty potions to be used throughout the Quests.

Of course, Mentor also claims that he can't choose to use the knowledge of Loretome to intervene directly in the battle against Morcar. Presumably the Heroes would want some of that action, too? How do you handle Mentor's hands-off approach at your table, cynthia?

As for the other Artifacts, it may be possible to replicate them with access to the right materials, but they wouldn't have the same history as the ones the Heroes find. The Spirit Blade in particular I don't think could be reproduced by anyone in the Empire.

[cynthialee]

Funny I would rule the Spirit Blade would have been the easiest to replicate its powers. It is blessed by a high level cleric to harm undead. Easy Peasy.

I portray Mentor as a feeble old man who is at best a well informed old dude with a few spells up his sleeves. The real power is the Emperor. It is he who tends to send the heroes on missions with Mentor being a ...Mentor.
Also consider:
Just because the dude has an awesome book with all the answers, does not mean that the dude himself has all the answers. Also such a book would be rife with minutia of all forms. Finding the information he wants could be a serious bitch. I could see him spending months trying to find a simple answer to any thing he investigates. And then there are the repercussions and back story to things, and we must consider these things and the things that informed the choices of the people who made the choices....ad infinitum.
Also there is no way he has read the entire book, nor would he possibly be able to assimilate all the facts contained with in. Also there is very little chance that he would be able to retain everything he has read in such a tome.
Loretome knows all, not Mentor.

[Big Bene]

Thinking about it more critically, Mentor probably doesn't have any Elixirs of Life on hand most of the time, or else he would give them to the Heroes.

Mentor doesn't equip the heroes, for whatever reason. Perhaps he thinks they need to learn and earn things the hard way. In any case,they have to buy or find their equipment, not only elixiers, but also weapons, armor etc.
Elixirs may be limited, but it should not be too hard for Mentor or the Emperor to buy full armor, longswords, crossbows and toolkits(!) for all heroes.
They could send a fully equipped party to their missinos from the beginning.
Well, they don't.

If this is a problem for you, in regard to game-world realism, you have to think of some in-game reason. You and Cynthia already put some thought in this, and I think there are other possible explantations. Could be an interesting side-thread to collect ideas.

[cynthialee]

"The armory is empty because the Empire is at war. We would give you better gear if we had it...."

[Anderas]

No. It is because you don't give a craftsman his tools. He'll bring them himself.


At that times, even in the army it could happen that in some "states" you had to pay for your weapons. And the Heroes are not even in the army.

The emperor states "Why, at least I pay. They get 100 gold if they are successful. If they don't want, they don't need to go. I could just I order them to go. Then they have no choice and i don't have to pay. If they say no, they go into prison."
Mentor states "The emperor orders me to read Loretome until my eyes hurt each day. Luckily my wife goes logging in the woods so that we have some money for something to eat at least. I don't even have enough money to pay a shaving knife, as you can see in my face. And I shall give you my personal possessions for your adventure? You won't hurt an old man, will you?"

[The Admiral]

How much for an Elven Cloak of Passage?

[Count Mohawk]

While I have not yet given my heroes the opportunity to purchase Magic Items directly, if the opportunity ever did come up I would probably charge about 400 for such a Cloak (or 200 if the Heroes are selling one back to the Empire).

[The Admiral]

While I have not yet given my heroes the opportunity to purchase Magic Items directly, if the opportunity ever did come up I would probably charge about 400 for such a Cloak (or 200 if the Heroes are selling one back to the Empire).

Thanks. I was thinking 500, so maybe 450 then.

[lestodante]

from my point of view an artifact is a very special and unique item. The Cloak of Passage you mentioned before is made by the Elves, so I guess Mentor is not able to produce one. Sometimes they are made by using special metals, or in someway powered by special magic and usually are ancient/legendary items, no longer in production and not a copy will ever be availabe. They can only be found, BUT, if a Hero found it and wish to sell one I don't see any problem, except that in this case they can be in trouble (imagine if they sell the Spirit Blade before slayinmg the Witch Lord...).
So if a NPC will make an offer for an artifact, it is the Hero's choice to accept or refuse. Also, Heroes should cooperate beetween them, but no one deny them to trade items each others. I simply try to apply concrete life to the HQ world when I have to decide about extra rules.
Anyway I have a different view on artifact like a anti-poison quill, Magical Daggers or scrolls. They are "minor" artifacts in my opinion, so they can be purchased in stores occasionally or at alchemist's shops. It is not their costs that really matter but their rarity. They are not always available from every merchant or in every place and prices may vary from place to place (Frozen Horrors potions are less useful when you are playing another expansion).

[wallydubbs]

Let's start off with the main artifacts from the game system:
Talisman of Lore: 150 gold
Reason: Keller's Keep lists a Potion of Restoration at the insane price of 300 gold. This gives +1 to both mind and body. Giving Mind Points the benefit of the doubt and say it's equal to body points, this would weigh 150 for each.

Wizard's Cloak: 350 gold
Reason: Cloak of Protection from the European game system costs 350. Same difference.

Borin's Armor: 1,000 gold
Reason: Plate Mail alone is 850 gold, we can give the movement bonus 150. As regular chain Mail also costs 500, double the defence dice theoretically could mean double the price.

Elixir of Life: 1,200 gold
Reason: already established that 1 Body Point is at least worth 150 gold. But not all heroes have the same amount of body points. 6 would be our average, but this potion not only revives a hero completely, but brings him back from he dead! So I rounded the price up to the highest body points, 8.

Wand of Magic: 600 gold
Reason: I would wager heroic brew being worth about 150. It gives you an extra attack, casting a spell is another action, which could be more or less of value. The Wizard has a limited number of spells and would probably only use this twice max during a quest, but he gets to hold onto it, but legitimately attacks would probably be worth more then a spell.

Ring of Return: 300 gold.
Reason: it's a one use item and really doesn't do a whole lot.

Orc' Bane: 750 gold
Reason: a short sword is worth 150, which is what I'd also rank Heroic brew. Multiply 150 to the average number of orcs per quest . Considering some quests don't even have orcs, we get 4. 4 x 150 +150=750.

Wizards Staff: 200 gold
Reason: the US staff does 1 attack and is worth 100 gold, you're getting doeble the attack for a similar weapon.

Spirit Blade: 900 gold
Reason: a broad sword is worth 300 gold, it gives you an extra attack against undead; a battle Axe is worth 400, but the Spirit Blade is a 1 handed weapon, allowing you to hold a shield in the other hand, which should make more ore less 600. But it's also the only weapon that can kill the Witch Lord, which adds an easy 300.

Spell Ring: 250 gold
Reason: you get to hold onto this item and practically get 1 extra spell each quest... no particular reason, 250 sounds about right fof the value of a spell.