A magic shop generator in Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a tool or resource that helps Dungeon Masters (DMs) create and populate magical shops within their game world. D&D is a tabletop role-playing game where players take on the roles of characters venturing on adventures in a fantasy setting. In the game, magic shops are essential locations where characters can buy or trade magical items, spells, and other enchantments. Creating a unique and interesting magic shop can be a challenging task for DMs, as it requires imagination and knowledge of the game's mechanics. This is where a magic shop generator comes in handy. It provides DMs with randomized or pre-generated content for magic shops, allowing them to quickly populate their game world with these crucial establishments.
My Favorite DM Town & Shop Generators
Your players will inevitably end up in some city, town, or village during the campaign. Setting the scene as a DM can be quite challenging, but there’s no reason you have to start from scratch every time. In this article, I’ll introduce some of my favorite tools to build out town and shop experiences for my players in the hopes that you will benefit as well. If you have any additional suggestions, please feel free to contact me and share!
Roll For Fantasy Random Shop Generator
Roll For Fantasy has a ton of creators and generators to choose from, so my first suggestion is to visit their site and look around! In this article, however, we’ll focus on their Random Shop Generator. It’s quite simple to use and there are instructions right on the page. Basically you start by toggling the type of shop keeper you want (Human, Dwarven, Elven, Halfing, and/or Orcish). The next step is to select the type of store you want such as General Store, Magic, etc. The click Randomize All to get your shop keeper and some inventory.
Sometimes I like to copy the inventory, then click Randomize Store again (maybe a few times) to get more items. You can also create your own customized list by choosing custom from the dropdown and adding the list (see instructions on the page). It’s a simple but useful generator you can use in your games to expedite campaign planning.
TCS Not Another Tavern Generator
TCS stands for The Copper Sanctum and this next generator they built was found on github. It has been very useful to me in creating taverns and pubs and is packed with information. Simply open the page and click “Visit a Tavern” and you’ll get a ton of meta data from the Tavern’s tale, who the bartender is, the clientele, even down to the food and beverage menus. If you like it you can PDF or print the tavern in a very elegant format that’s easy to read and use in your campaigns. Of course you can customize it somewhat, if you scroll to the very bottom there are several radio buttons you can change to get a more personalized tavern setting.
5eMagic.Shop Magic Shop Generator
Once again, this particular generator is part of a larger offering by 5eMagic.Shop, so I encourage you to check out their other projects. The Magic Shop Generator has some very simple preset options from village to large city, as well as a general store option. You can customize the options by changing the various values. For example if I wanted 10 mundane items I could just put 10 in the field, or alternatively I could put a dice roll (i.e. 1d10) to get a range of possibilities. You an also add plusses and minuses, so for Rare Items I could put 1d10+5 to get anywhere between 6 and 15. So as you can see, there’s a lot possibility. However, once you’re done you just hit Generate Shop and you’ll get your list. You can also choose to add potions of healing to the results which is nice because I always want to offer my party healing potions myself.
If you want more control, feel free to expand the Advanced Options to pick and choose more. When you’re done you’ll get a list of products along with their price. The results page lets you adjust the markup and you an download your list as a CSV file. It’s great for your spell slingers when it’s time to run a shopping session!
Jennifer Brussow D&D Library Generator
I don’t know who Jennifer is, but she created a pretty spectacular Library Generator! Simply enter the number of books you want, what topics, and what languages and the generator auto updates with your results. Having to entertain a party that decides to go to the library can be really challenging so this generator has been just a fantastic help for me. Sometimes I’ll adjust the topics a bit or even languages, but overall it provides me with a solid foundation for those awkward library moments.
Eigengaru’s Generator
When you first open this page, it offers you a friendly tutorial which provides some helpful information and offers you a list of features. Once you roll up a town, you have the opportunity to customize it a bit. Once you are done adjusting the features, scroll down and click Save to get the details of the town you just created. You can click on the various options to get more details, even ask it to tell you who else is there and create posters, buildings, etc. It’s a little clumsy to use at first, but once you understand how it works you’ll probably love it because it’s very detailed and very feature rich!
Random shop generator
Need a quick shop inventory for an RPG campaign? Perhaps a fully fleshed out inventory of wares you handpicked? Look no further, this tool provides it all and more. Simply select the shop inventory type you need from the drop-down menu, toggle one or more of the races (if none are toggled, humans will be used), and click one of the randomize buttons.
'Randomize NPC' will randomize the top info, and the look of the NPC, 'Randomize store' will randomize the shop inventory, and 'Randomize all' will randomize all of these elements.
You can still edit the generated inventory, perhaps to alter the prices for example. Simply click in the field you wish to alter, and type away. The prices aren't in any currency, this is done on purpose as different game systems use different currencies. Not to mention the differences in prices within those economies. But you can easily set your own prices by creating a custom inventory.
It provides DMs with randomized or pre-generated content for magic shops, allowing them to quickly populate their game world with these crucial establishments. A typical magic shop generator for D&D may generate details such as shop name, shopkeeper's name, location, appearance, and inventory. It may also include a pricing guide or suggested prices for magical items, depending on their rarity and power level within the game system.
Creating a custom inventory
Adding your own custom inventory is very easy. Simply enter an item, followed by a comma, followed by a price, then, if you want to add more items, either add them on a new line, or separate them further with commas. So your lists should look like either:
Item name, item price, item name, item price
Or:
Item name, item price
Item name, item price
There are two more fields to play around with. The first is the price margin, this determines how much the price you've entered will be randomized. If you set it to 0, the price you entered will not change. If you enter 10, there'll be a price difference of up to 10%. This value is randomized however, and could both be added and subtracted from the price you entered.
Then there's the amount field. This field determines how many items from your list will be randomly added to the shop inventory. Note that if this number is higher than the number of items in your list, it'll simply add items up until that maximum.
Once you've created your list, simply select 'Custom' from the drop-down menu, then use the 'Randomize all' or 'Randomize store' button for a random, custom inventory.
You can save up to 5 lists using the save buttons at the bottom of the page. The lists will be saved locally in your browser, so you can safely close your browser, and come back another time. Note that this only works in modern browsers, and only if you're not using incognito mode.
Alternatively, create all the lists you need in a program like notepad, then simply copy paste the list in the input field as you go.
This process can be further automated using the local save and load options found at the bottom. Simply click the "Save local" button to have the code create a text file with all the custom inventory code in it, then click on the download link to download it directly to your computer. Now you can use the "Choose file" field to upload your custom inventory data and use it in the future. This method makes sure there's no risk of losing all your data in case your browser data is wiped, for example, but it does mean keeping track of your downloaded file.
How should I balance having Magic Shops in my world?
I want to give my world the presence of magic shops that can be used by players. From this other question:
Default 5e assumes that "magic shops" pretty much won't exist, and even goes on to suggest that potions and the like be bought at alchemist's shops instead.From the DMG, page 135:
Unless you decide your campaign works otherwise, most magic items are so rare that they aren't available for purchase.
In order to correctly judge the question I'm also including the structure for the shop magical items and the relationship with how much the players "earn" per session of role play.
Using a magic shop generator can save time and effort for DMs, as it provides them with a starting point for creating unique and diverse magic shops. It also helps ensure that magic items and spells are distributed fairly and consistently within the game world. However, it is important to note that a magic shop generator is just a tool, and DMs have the flexibility to customize and modify generated content to fit their game's specific needs and narrative. They can add their own details, quests, or lore to make the magic shop more immersive and interesting for their players. In conclusion, a magic shop generator in D&D is a helpful resource for DMs to quickly create and populate magical shops within their game world. It saves time and provides a starting point for creating unique and diverse establishments. However, it is up to the DM to add their own personal touch and customization to make the magic shop truly captivating and memorable for their players..
Reviews for "Enhancing Player Agency with a Magic Shop Generator for D&D"
1. John - 2/5 - I was really excited to try out the Magic Shop Generator DND app, but I was ultimately disappointed. The interface was clunky and difficult to navigate, making it hard to find the specific items I was looking for. The generated magic items also felt lackluster and unoriginal, as if they were just copy-pasted from a basic magic item list. Overall, I didn't find much value in this app and ended up deleting it from my phone.
2. Sarah - 1/5 - This Magic Shop Generator DND app was a complete waste of time for me. The selection of available magic items was extremely limited, and the few items it generated were incredibly underwhelming. I was hoping for unique and interesting magical items to enhance my D&D campaign, but all I got were basic and mundane items that didn't add any excitement or intrigue. I would not recommend this app to anyone looking to enhance their D&D experience.
3. Michael - 2/5 - I found the Magic Shop Generator DND app to be quite disappointing. The user interface was confusing and not intuitive at all, making it difficult to even generate magic items. Additionally, the variety of items it generated was extremely limited, and I quickly grew bored with the repetitive options. It felt like the app was lacking creativity and imagination, which is essential for a D&D magic item generator. I would suggest looking for other alternatives instead of wasting your time with this app.
4. Emily - 1/5 - As a D&D enthusiast, I was excited to try out the Magic Shop Generator DND app, but it fell flat on its face. The generated magic items were uninteresting and didn't offer anything unique or captivating. The interface was clunky and awkward, making it frustrating to navigate and use. Overall, this app failed to deliver on its promises and left me feeling disappointed. I would not recommend wasting your time or storage space on this app.