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Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Starfinder RPG

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High or Low Magic?

Types of Magic Shops

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 106
Low-end shops are small, dingy operations, usually owned by a sole proprietor. They’re often disorganized, dingy, and filled with marginally useful clutter. Shops of this grade frequently appear in undesirable or remote neighborhoods. They offer minor magic items, a range of common magical components, occult texts, and perhaps the occasional mighty relic misidentified as useless junk. Most low-end shops follow an inflexible “buyer beware” policy, offering no guarantee that items are free from defects, curses, hauntings, or ownership disputes. For security, these shops rely on traps, curses, and crude but effective fortifications. Low-end shop owners tend to be reclusive, eccentric, or truculent.

Mid-range shops are larger and cleaner, usually with a small staff that courteously caters to customers. Shops of this type frequently nestle on cozy side streets not far from a city’s commercial district. Many double as informal social clubs for the mystically inclined. Mid-range shops offer a fuller array of merchandise: in addition to a wide range of well-labeled components and large collections of scholarly tomes, they sell both minor and medium items. Items are guaranteed free from curse or defect, though the customer’s only remedy is a full refund. Skilled mercenaries, some of whom are spellcasters, provide security. Magical traps supplement the fortifications.

High-end shops are located alongside a city’s purveyors of luxury goods, in heavily guarded districts. These top-range shops often specialize exclusively in major items, and reliably vouch for the quality of their wares, including freedom from curses or other ill effects. Security such shops is top of the line, with powerful spells and traps, and highly skilled and well-paid guards, some of whom may not be entirely mortal. They might be trained monsters, ingenious automatons, or summoned outsiders. The identities of a high-end shop’s true owners are often shrouded in rumor and mystery. They might be phantasmal surrogates, disguised dragons, or even powerful entities from the Great Beyond.