The rules for Runesmithing in the Black Fire Pass / Book of Grudges supplement say you can only strike a rune on an item of Superior Quality. They then dive into some fairly intricate levels of detail on how a PC can go about making their own Superior items to save them the cost of buying them. Basically spending time and making a die roll to save a lot of money.

Problem is, the rules all hinge upon percentages of the cost of a purchased item. Raw materials cost 1/4 that of the finished item. That's fine when you're making a Rune Axe or a Rune Platemail (since they have prices in the book), but it's rather trickier in the case of a Runic Amulet.

I could see a case for the amulet costing less than a superior hand weapon. The hand weapon at least does something before you stick a rune on it, and the superior quality means a bonus fortune die on attack rolls. In contrast to that, the amulet is mechanically nothing but window-dressing till you stick a rune on it. From a gaming perspective, it seems odd to charge the PC a premium for a thing that is useless till they spend further XP, time and money striking a Rune on it.

On the other hand, I can see a case for the amulet costing more than a superior hand weapon. A superior quality weapon may just be well-balanced and stoutly made. It's not necessariy covered with gold filligree or precious gems. A superior-quality amulet seems rather more likely to have such ostentatious bling on it, raising the price. So from a setting perspective, I could see such an item having a really high price tag.

In TEW, there's a necklace in a treasure horde that's worth 50 silvers. That's the amount the PCs can get for it at a pawn shop or fence, so probably only a fraction of its original sale price. We're also not told whether that's a superior-quality item or not.

Any suggestions on pricing and availability would be welcome.

My first stab at it was 1 Gold. In game terms that seems a little too expensive, but from a setting perspective it seems way too cheap. I'm really torn on this.

TL;DR version: How much do you think a superior amulet should cost the PC?

See my house rules and/or Liber Fanatica 8 for a full table of how to price out such things from white die bonus all the way up to green die bonus.

In my opinion, which I'm always so loathe to give , I recommend having a flat rate for superior permenant items. I personally use 7.5 gold. 5g is probably a better number for most groups, as my group goes through more healing draughts and Asylum visits than most groups.

Anything that gives a White Die is really not worth that much in terms of success (something around 4-6% improvement..or +1 in d20 games).

The main problem arises not in PURCHASE, but in the sale of the item. If the group discovers a 7.5g amulet in a tomb of thieves, for instance, they're bound to want to sell it just for the loot value (it's what I would do as a player).

jh

Emirikol said:

Well they're not going to get to sell it for much, honestly. Not at my table, anyway.

A few years back, I worked in a used book store. The going rate was thus: most used books sold (from the store to customers) for 1/2 the retail price of a new book, so when buying in books they'd pay either 1/4 retail in store-credit, or 1/6 retail in cash. There were half a dozen other used book stores in town, and they all paid at that rate or worse. Even with that much competition out there, we were always swimming in excess inventory and so turned down (refused to buy) on average about 5 books for every 1 we purchased. If you frequently brought us the same books we'd rejected previously, we'd essentially blacklist you for wasting our time. It was pretty harsh.

Pawn shop rates are similar. They pay out 10% to 40% of "fair market value" depending on the rarity and demand for the item, according to http://business.whatitcosts.com/pawn-shop.htm. They're also mostly set up to do loans, as opposed to straight-up purchases.

And of course, in the Warhammer world, those options might not even be there. Warhammer cities are subject to Guild structures. You can't legally sell Amulets if you're not a dues-paying, card-carrying member of the Jeweler's Guild, for example. There's probably even Guilds for the Pawnbrokers and and Rag-and-Bone-Pickers.

I have no personal experience with genuine fences, but I can't imagine they pay out terribly well, either. They're risking arrest on a daily basis, and I'm sure they're in it for the profit themselves.

In short, players might have some luck selling something really specifically valuable and desirable from time-to-time for a fraction of the cost of a new item, but shouldn't expect to be able to just unload tons of "used and slightly bloody" equipment everytime they blow into town. YMMV.

Anyhow, back on topic… RUNESMITHS… so are you saying that I should actually be charging the PC something on the order of 5 to 7.5 gold crowns for the superior amulet he needs in order to be able to use the Rune Talent he just bought with XP? That seems harsh.