Kharille wrote:
But maybe one day we can create a merchant class, and all this will become relevant.
Please don't... Not sure we need a one-trick-pony profession. Much better to add (Looks-based) bartering skills to the game than to add this as a profession.
Kharille wrote:
I also think there should be a system of fencing stolen goods, selling captured arms and armour to smiths.
This leads to the murder-hobo style of play for which some better-known FRPGs are known and ignores the social context. For example, would a respectable trader risk his reputation on some second-hand goods of dubious provenance presented to him for sale by a bunch of unknown mendicants that came wandering through his village? And to whom does this stuff
actually belong? If the adventurers killed someone (even a bad guy) and took his stuff, then it actually belongs to that person's next of kin; if they robbed it from a tomb, then it belongs to whomever owns the land (probably the local lord or church), and anything that carries with it even the slightest whiff of the supernatural is likely to cause the god-fearing folk of Legend to treat such tainted artefacts as diabolical and anyone prepared to brazenly trade in such goods as being in league with the Otherworld. Consider also that plate armour, for example, is only worn by knights, so trotting into town with a 'spare' set of plate armour to sell is going to lead people to conclude, rightly or wrongly, that the characters have just killed a knight, for which there are serious social consequences.
Whilst fencing on the black market is always an option, even a fence will struggle to shift high-value items, so the characters may end up with little return on the investment in time required to solicit such underworld contacts and may do better to gift such items to lords, monasteries, and others whose favours they may, in time, need.
Kharille wrote:
Prices are for a new set of armour and some limitations such as availability of raw materials and the economy would be a factor. Maybe a new category of 'major port' or 'commercial capital' should be in place. I mean, what about Ongus? Should be 100% availability for everything, except for the most exotic imports like Mungodan fruit or Ta'ashim silks....
I agree entirely - capital cities, even those that may be smaller in population than other cities, should always have the greatest concentration of rare items. The examples you give are more trade goods than adventuring goods, but I like the direction in which you're thinking. It's still a little bit too much WFRP than Dragon Warriors for my liking, but I guess with some work you could identify key exports from exotic markets that might find their way to the kitchens and collections of the noble houses of Albion.
Kharille wrote:
On another topic, its not the mystic way to set up a magic weapon shop, but what stops dwarves selling their goods? Maybe a system where if you're willing to pay 2000% of the price of an item... We have the time for mystics manufacturing magic weapons. But what about raw material costs?
To me, magic shops are a bit too high fantasy, be they run by mystics or dwarfs. But you could easily come up with a price by coming up with a simple formula along the lines of...:
Start with a base subsistence rate (3p per day?), then assume that higher-ranked professionals probably want a higher standard of living (multiply subsistence rate by 3 per rank?), then assume a reasonable profit margin (20%?) and then just pump your mystic\dwarf's rank and time through those numbers. Your numbers may differ from mine, but the principle holds.
For example, a 4th rank Mystic producing a +1 sword would charge 3p x 12 (4th rank) x 100 (days) x 1.2 (profit) = 4,320p. Factor in the base cost of the sword (30F) and you could go to market with a +1 sword for 462F. 462F seems quite cheap to me, but if you want magic shops in your campaign you can't price them too high, otherwise there won't be enough of a market for Mystics to bother to create them. And would a world-renowned Adept (12th rank Mystic) be able to charge more for an equivalent +1 sword - is his reputation sufficient to demand a much higher price for the same item given that he may want to maintain a higher standard of living?
As you can probably tell, I'm opposed to magic shops in Dragon Warriors - if you want that high-fantasy magic-shop-in-every-town style of play, there are more appropriate systems you could be playing!