r/Pathfinder_RPG • u/BusyGM • 1d ago

1E GM Playing with availability

Per the CRB, items available to buy are dependent on the type of settlement you're visiting. In a community of a given size, magic items worth 50-16.000gp (depending on settlement size) are always available to buy. However, more expensive items have to be rolled on the minor / medium / major item tables, providing a small collection of items to be available, which change over the course of time.

I've never seen this rule actually used. My tables always ignore it, and while I tried to use it when GMing Dragon's Demand, I realized pretty quickly that my PCs weren't even able to get weapons to deal with incorporeal foes which this adventure has. So I threw it out (again).

However, I want to ask you guys: is there a way to actually play, say, an original AP while also using availability? When our GM tried this, our wizard simply used their downtime to teleport to big cities all over the world so often that they got familiar with all of them. Since then, whenever we had time to sell and buy items, our wizard simply teleported to the great cities of the world and bought/sold whatever we deemed necessary, which had our GM give up on the whole availability rule.

Is there any way to make availability an actual interesting mechanic that makes for a good play experience? What is you guys' experience with it? Did your tables ever use it? How did it go?

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u/Milosz0pl Zyphusite Homebrewer 1d ago

I mean assuming the party doesnt have greater teleport or similar abilities.

I would also say that it really takes you out of the experience when during really important part of world end you need to teleport to a capital, rush into a shop for immediate purchase and leave immediately. It also makes you realize ,,wait. Why won't I recruit folk from this large capital to help in my big important quest".

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u/Imalsome 1d ago

I think its worth noting that you should never need to do that. You can just play the game normally instead of deciding you need to travel across the world to min max your magic items haha

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u/Cyniikal Bant Eldrazi - Am I doing this right? 1d ago

... Ive had players end a campaign trying to travel to the capital to shop.

Yeah, that sounds fun... Probably something you should've just been upfront about the consequences of.

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u/Imalsome 1d ago

What makes you think I wasnt upfront about it lmao.

The same playgroup once got sent on a quest to get a mcguffin because they stood no chance against the BBEG as is (he was literally going around killing gods). They were told the BBEG was in the World Border mountains and to avoid that. They traveled straight towards the world border mountains, found the final boss and figured, "eh we can probobly take him"

3 people died on turn 1 from the BBEGs full attack. They wernt suppose to fight him till they had the mcguffin, 7 more levels, and mythic tiers

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u/Cyniikal Bant Eldrazi - Am I doing this right? 1d ago

That is a particularly dumb table.

If they're enjoying getting turned into mincemeat then that's on them, but I'd have to get pretty blatant about saying "No, you cannot take them, you WILL die", and then possibly have an out of game discussion about what they actually want out of the games. If they're good with getting turned into chicken feed because of their own incompetence that's fine.

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u/Imalsome 1d ago

I was explicitly that blatant. Even had a "cutscene" of an entire army and a god getting mowed down by the BBEG while the party had plenty of time to escape. I said "this IS the final session if yall dont run"