Shopping in RPGs?

[virgil]

This is a semi-independent question from that of the Christmas Tree effect. I'm talking about the breadth of options.

How much is too much for your equipment chapter(s) in an RPG, and by inference, how much is ideal for a general context? 3.X has a lot, but the list becomes dramatically smaller once you throw in basic heuristics. Shadowrun & Rifts, however, are infamous for their catalogue approach to equipment; and that's before you start getting into the minor stuff like periscopes.

[GnomeWorks]

The number of equipment options should be proportional to the number of dials and switches that can be fiddled with. Every piece of equipment should be distinct in some fashion.

If two things do exactly the same thing and interact with all other mechanics in exactly the same way, they are redundant and one should be removed.

IIRC, d20 modern had a book of firearms or whatever, and it was basically just chaff. None of them were distinct enough to warrant caring, and the game wasn't built to handle the level of granularity required to distinguish between most modern firearms.

[Seerow]

shopping and customization of assets is one of the most fun parts of a game for me. I play on a bi-weekly schedule, so I have a lot of downtime between games, and it's fun to be able to play around with different options like that and have them ready to take into the next game.

When my friends ran a campaign where we got our own personal feifdom to run, a couple of us spent literally weeks just designing and building our castle within our budget. Followed by time invested in modeling it Minecraft (because going overkill makes everything much more fun). We then proceeded to waste a lot of time coming up with various plans for growth and training/outfitting soldiers, and so on. The DM never really expected us to put a quarter as much effort as we did into it, and most of it didn't really matter much in context of the game itself, but it made us feel good to have done it.

On a similar note I really enjoy a lot of the more fiddly "build your own stuff" systems out there. Dragonmech's Mech rules, Shadowrun's vehicle mods, etc.

I don't actually care too much for weapon/armor modification systems (like Shadowrun's weapon mods). Those tend to either have a definite set answer on what is optimal, and barring that they're mostly useless. I like the concept, and if it can be executed correctly so that everyone doesn't just take the same thing, or a player carries around a few different things for different purposes, it can be interesting. But I haven't seen it done well (even my own attempt at it for 3.5 weapons and armor falls into the same pitfall).


As for lots of gear options with unique effects (whether Magic Items for a D&D like game or Spy Gadgets and Exotic Technology for a Shadowrun esque game) that can be cool, but I generally don't find it as satisfying to use. Like in D&D so often I find my characters, regardless of how different they are, buying the same items over and over again to be competitive. Same sort of thing applies as what I said about standard equipment, if you can get rid of the obviously optimal choices and bake them in elsewhere, leaving everything else to choose between it could work... but in the case of magic items especially it risks making the items feel bland and unrewarding.

[fectin]

What seerow said.

[Dogbert]

Depends on the genre and your game's objectives.

Shadowrun is equipment catalog porn by necessity because cyberpunk pays a great deal of attention to technology as a focal point in society. Now, if you were running superheroes, no one cares about the exact inventory in Batman's combat armor, only that Batman gets the job done (anything that gets in the way of the narrative becomes a drag).

[silva]

...is fucking boring.

[Foxwarrior]

I gave my Shadowrun book to someone else so they could read it, but I'm pretty sure I remember Shadowrun 2e having fewer mundane items than the 3.5e D&D PHB.

[radthemad4]

How much is too much for your equipment chapter(s) in an RPG, and by inference, how much is ideal for a general context?

I'd go with the more the better as long as they're arranged into categories and sub categories that make them easy to find. Even something as simple as sorting them by price helps.

As for lots of gear options with unique effects (whether Magic Items for a D&D like game or Spy Gadgets and Exotic Technology for a Shadowrun esque game) that can be cool, but I generally don't find it as satisfying to use. Like in D&D so often I find my characters, regardless of how different they are, buying the same items over and over again to be competitive. Same sort of thing applies as what I said about standard equipment, if you can get rid of the obviously optimal choices and bake them in elsewhere, leaving everything else to choose between it could work... but in the case of magic items especially it risks making the items feel bland and unrewarding.

Yeah, there's a lot of mundane stuff in D&D that you have no reason not to carry, e.g. the weightless (or nearly so) and/or ridiculously cheap stuff that could be situationally useful no matter what your character is (plus you could lend it to party members if you can't use it well yourself). I suppose you could just make your lists once, but perhaps that's something game designers should do for you. Perhaps by making a bunch of recommended shopping lists with the total price displayed could help. Something like this:

Haversack Type I
Total Price: 5908 GP (includes 2000 GP for Haversack)
Weight: 113 lbs

The basic Type I equipment layout consists entirely of non-magical alchemical items and special substances. To save space, I've left out various kits (Climber's Kit, Hunter's Kit, etc.) and some very narrow-purpose items that are only effective against one type of creature, such as Alchemical Vampire Repellent or Slimebane. I've also left out trail rations or any kind of food, based on the assumption that an average adventurer has roughly a 50% chance of feeding himself for one day by making a Survival check DC 10. There's about 5 pounds of wiggle-room in the pack if you want to add any of that. If you need more space, reduce the number of Acidic Fire flasks or Tanglefoot Bags.

Aboleth Mucus
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 46)
This is one of the cheapest and deadliest poisons in the game, although not actually a poison so there's no check to see if you accidentally poison yourself. Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack to hit (no splash effect). If the creature fails a Fort save DC 19, it loses the ability to breathe air for 3 hours. A creature can hold it's breath for a number of rounds equal to twice its Constitution score, so it essentially has that many rounds to find someone who can cast water breathing or air breathing. Delay poison and neutralize poison won't help (it's not a poison), dispel magic won't help (it's non-magical), deep breath (Spell Compendium) won't work (it fills your lungs with air you still can't breathe), sticking your head in a bucket of water won't help (the mucus doesn't confer the ability to breathe water), and there may be a good argument that a heal spell won't work, either (unable to breathe isn't one of the conditions listed in the spell description). After failing a Con check, the creature starts to suffocate and falls unconscious, and two rounds later it dies. So while it may take a little longer than poison (2-3 minutes), getting hit with this is pretty much a death sentence for most creatures.

Acidic Fire (x5, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
What's better than burning things with acid? Burning things with flaming acid! Rather than carry separate flasks of Acid and Alchemist's Fire, it saves space to combine them into the same bottle. Although combining the two substances drops the damage die to 1d4, if you hit a creature that is still vulnerable to both acid and fire (I'm looking at you, Mr. Troll), you actually come out slightly ahead on the average damage (7.5 damage for Acidic Fire, 7 damage for Alchemist's Fire, and 3.5 damage for just plain ol' acid). The 2 points of splash damage isn't too shabby, either. Give a sack full of 19 flasks of Acidic Fire to an unseen servant and it can drop it in a square for 38 splash damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Alchemical Flare Stake (x3, 15 GP ea.)
Price: 45 GP
Weight: 0.3#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
One-shot item, treated as a dagger, does 1d6 fire damage against corporeal undead. It also lodges into the undead's body and does an additional 1d6 fire damage every round (the undead creature, assuming it isn't mindless, can remove all stakes with a standard action). There's no duration listed, so it apparently continues to burn until the creature is dead or the stake is removed. There are also alchemical flare bolts for the same price, but they don't do additional damage on subsequent rounds. Although the description says treat the stakes like daggers for proficiency purposes, I'm not clear on whether they can be thrown Buffy-style like daggers... but it would be pure awesomesauce if they could.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Alchemical Sun Flash
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
Works just like alchemist's fire, but also explodes with a burst of daylight that dazzles creatures that are light sensitive, no save. Vampires are also staggered for one round, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Angel Radiance
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Book of Exalted Deeds p. 37)
Bunko's Bargain Basement recommends Liquid Sunlight (Complete Scoundrel p. 110) as a cheap everburning torch, but this item is even better: same price, shines like a torch, but as a spell component it can be drawn as a free action.

Animal Call
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
+1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to find food, stacks with Fowler's Snare (+1 circumstance, Arms & Equipment Guide) and Hunter's Kit (+2 circumstance, Secrets of Xendrik). Also can be used as a signal device.

Antitoxin (x4, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Where else are you going to find a +5 alchemical bonus on saves for only 50 GP? Chug one of these vials when you know you're up against a creature using poison, and you've got a good chance to save yourself the cost of a neutralize poison potion or scroll. Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Atramen Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 75)
Throw as a grenade-like splash weapon, ranged touch attack with a 10' range increment, direct hit on a target takes -4 penalty on Fort saves for 1 minute. Any creature in the 5' splash gets a similar -1 penalty on Fort saves. Great way to soften up a target for poison or some other Fort-based attack.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Auran Mask
Price: 60 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Mage p. 134)
Provides a +5 circumstance bonus against inhaled toxins (which stacks with Antitoxin), but this is easily overshadowed by 10 minutes of water breathing. Requires less upkeep than Air Plants. For longer durations, consider a potion of water breathing for 750 GP, which lasts for 10 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Bitterleaf Oil
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 122)
Although created and used by kobolds to prevent shedding, there's nothing in the description that says it can't be used by non-kobolds. Boosts natural healing, gain 1 HP per character level (up to a maximum of 5 HP) after a full night's rest. Each bottle contains 10 applications. Combine with a Magic Bedroll (Magic Item Compendium) for even more natural healing.

Bloodspike, Spatter
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Adds 1 acid damage to bite attack for 1 hour, or end effect with a free action to spit 1d6 acid damage as a ranged touch attack.

Bloodspike, Tempo
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Within one hour, expend to take an additional move action on your turn.

Bloodspike, Thickener
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
For one hour, weapon damage reduced by 1 point (minimum 1).

Cablespool
Price: 175 GP
Weight: 6#
(Savage Species p. 46)
100' winch that pulls with a Strength of 16 (lift 230 lbs, drag 1150 lbs). While the cable is too thin to climb up for anybody except a Desmodu, you can use it to descend up to 100' without taking any falling damage.

Candle, Focusing
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, and Search checks. Note: if you think you'll need this for longer than an hour, you can increase the duration to 15 days (365 days / 24 hours = 15.21 days) with a little Unguent of Timelessness (19 GP per dose, DMG).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Candle, Insectbane (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
Keeps nonmonstrous vermin away, 5' radius, burns for 1 hour. Vermin Ointment (Secrets of Xendrik p. 139, included below) does the same thing and costs 20 GP, but it also affects monstrous vermin if they fail a Fortitude save DC 15. If you're surrounded by inexhaustible number of insect swarms, 10 hours should be long enough to allow all your spellcasters to rest and regain spells.

Chaos Flask (x2, 100 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 76)
Make a Wisdom check DC 13 as a free action to shape this material into almost any non-magical object of the same volume or smaller (depending on the material or density). Similar to a one-shot Marvelous Pigments, but no price limit. Most alchemical items are small and non-magical, so this is a great wild card to have up your sleeve. Know what else is small and non-magical? Vials of poison. For only 100 GP, you can whip up a vial of Black Lotus Extract at a 4400 GP discount. (The nastiest poison in print is Megapede Poison, DC 44, primary/secondary 2d6 Con damage + 1d4 Dex penalty, 24000 GP, Dungeonscape p. 129.) Lasts a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom score, but as long as your Wis is 11+, that should be long enough for the poison's secondary effect to kick in. Another good use would be expensive material components for spells. Need 5,000 GP diamond for a raise dead? (Sadly, this won't work for resurrection's 10 minute casting time unless your Wis is 100+.) Also, check out Flux Slime (Epic Level Handbook p. 107): 10' antimagic field, permanently disjunct magic items (no save), or 2d6 Con damage (no save) against any creature with (Su) or SLA abilities. If destroyed by cold, fire, or sunlight, it explodes and every creature within 50' may get a permanent random mutation.

Clearwater Tablet
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
Removes any disease, poison, or other toxins from 1 gallon of water. Doesn't work on magical potions, oils, or alcohol-based liquids, and clean water ceases to be much of an issue once you get hold of a Travel Cloak, but you never know where it might come in handy.

Defoliator
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 33)
Grenade-like weapon that does 2d4 damage to plant creatures and auto-kills any non-creature plant that is size medium or smaller in a 5' radius burst, AKA a "Get Out of Entangle Free Card". Since all slimes, molds, and fungi are treated as plants (and are not considered creatures), this item also instantly kills Green Slime, Yellow Mold, Brown Mold (DMG), Snowflake Lichen (Frostburn), Grey Slime, and Bone Fungus (Dungeonscape) in a 5' radius. It also does 2d4 damage to wooden objects, dissolving them like acid, although hardness still applies.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Earplugs
Price: 3 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 22)
+1 circumstance bonus on saves against deafness and sonic attacks.

Eggshell Grenade, Dust (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 5'. A dust grenade that hits its target directly blinds the target for 1d4 rounds *NO SAVE*. Anyone else within the 5' radius splash must make a Fort save DC 10 or be blinded for 1 round. This is an amazingly effective weapon that works on a wide variety of opponents, but don't overuse this one or your DM will come down on you with a banhammer like a ton of bricks.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Expandable Pole
Price: 5 GP
Weight: 1#
(Song & Silence p. 53)
Every adventurer needs the obligatory 10' pole, but this one "goes to 11". It can be adjusted to 5', 7', 9', or 11' lengths, or collapsed down to 1'. Another version, called a Mobile Brace, can be found in Races of Faerun, which has more detailed rules on how much weight it can support and for using it to secure a rope for climbing, but it weights 3 lbs. Dungeonscape has a similar "Collapsable Pole" that goes out to 12', but it weighs 8 lbs. I chose this version to conserve weight.

Explosive Pack
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 2#
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
An alchemical explosive that can be set to go off after a predetermined time, usually 1 to 10 rounds. 1d6 bludgeoning and slashing damage in a 5' radius burst. Full-round action that provokes AoOs to activate. For another 200 GP, you can add 2 lbs of explosives and increase the damage by 1d6, and for each 3d6 damage, the blast radius increases by 5', up to a maximum of 10d6 and 20'. A Profession (Siege Engineer) check DC 20 causes double damage to objects, and a DC 30 check does triple. Note: the DMG has slightly cheaper bombs (150 GP for 2d6 fire damage) if you're just looking for something you can light and throw.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 26

Fast Torch (x3, 5 GP ea.)
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(Complete Mage p. 134)
When you absolutely, positively must light something on fire with only a swift action.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Firestone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, it does 1d6 fire damage, but unlike a splash weapon, it has an area effect that damages everything in the 5' square without a Ref save. Ranged touch attacks are pretty easy to begin with, but targeting a stationary square rather than a creature makes them even ridiculously more so. This might allow you to throw a whole bag full of these into a square for Xd6 fire damage, X = however many firestones fit in the bag. Another interesting tactic might be to give this bag to an unseen servant, and have it drop or empty the bag into a square from above (doesn't require an attack roll). No weight was given in the Dragon Compendium or the original Dragon article, so I'm assuming a firestone weighs the same as a sling bullet (1/2 lb). Thus, an unseen servant could put 39 into a sack (20 lbs total) and drop it in a square for 39d6 fire damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Flint & Steel
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
If your sparker burns out and your magnifying glass won't work, best to have this as a fallback.

Flour Pouch (x4, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 4 SP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Thrown as splash weapon, 5' burst. Locates invisible creatures, reduces their concealment to 20%, and reduces their hide bonus. To completely negate concealment, see Torch Bug Paste (25 GP, Complete Scoundrel).

Forger's Paper (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
+2 alchemical bonus on Forgery checks, so it stacks with a Forgery Kit (see below). In many ways, Forgery is more powerful than Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, or Intimidate put together. Why? Because it's resisted by Forgery, a skill no one ever takes. Stacks with Forgery Kit and Focusing Candle.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Forgery Kit
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 5#
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
+2 circumstance bonus on Forgery checks. This kit includes a variety of inks, papers, pens, and seals. Unfortunately, there was a price and weight increase from where it was first printed in the Arms & Equipment Guide, and any mention of waxes, guides and magnifying glasses was removed. Still, this is probably worth it just to avoid the fuss and bother of buying all the included items separately. Each kit lasts for 10 uses, and it stacks with Forger's Paper and a Focusing Candle.

Garlic (x10, 1 CP ea.)
Price: 1 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 31)
Mash a few cloves up into a paste and smear it on yourself, your equipment, or various openings/furniture to drive away vampires. Unlike wasting 150 GP on Alchemical Vampire Repellent (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209), garlic doesn't have a specific duration. The rules in the Monster Manual are pretty vague on mechanics, so you may want to work out with your DM how close vampires can approach and how long it lasts.

Ghostblight
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Used against incorporeal creatures to ignore the 50% miss chance, lasts for 3 rounds. There's a similar substance in Libris Mortis called Ghostoil, but it takes a full round action to apply and only lasts for 2 rounds.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 35

Ghostwall Shellac
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dungeonscape p. 35)
This item requires at least 1 hour prep time and a gallon of water, so it won't help while you're being attacked by an incorporeal creature, but if you have time to paint your armor and weapons with this stuff (up to a 100 square feet), they'll work like Ghost Touch weapons/armor for 4d6 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Healing Salve
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Tome & Blood p. 72)
A potion of cure light wounds costs the same and cures one more HP, but a Healing Salve is non-magical and thus can be used in an anti-magic field or created by marvelous pigments. It's also not a conjuration (healing) effect, so it works normally on Warforged. There's also a Healing Salve in the Magic Item Compendium, but it's a magic item, and it's a lot more expensive (2250 GP) than 10 applications of this alchemical item.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Hearthfire
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 2#
(Races of Stone p. 160)
This is Jello... that glows like a torch. Angel Radiance may be a better light source, but I'm sorry, this is just too cool not to include. While the dowdy ol' torch may still be the most economical light source at only 1 CP apiece, they're very bulky (each torch weighs a pound). Two pounds of Hearthfire includes 12 cubes, and each cube lasts 24 hours. While an equivalent number of torches would only cost 2.88 GP, they would weigh 288 pounds. Hearthfire doesn't produce any heat and thus can't be used to light anything on fire or as an improvised weapon, but... Glowing Jello!
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Hearthfire Lantern
Price: 7 GP
Weight: 2#
(Races of Stone p. 160)
Needed to carry hearthfire, but is otherwise identical to a normal hooded lantern.

Holy Water
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
Thrown as a splash weapon, 2d4 damage to undead and evil outsiders. There are equivalents for each major alignment (Unholy Water in the PHB, Axiomatic and Anarchic Water in the Planar Handbook), but undead and evil outsiders are much more common than any other alignment type. You can also douse incorporeal undead for 2d4 damage, but unfortunately they still get their 50% miss chance against this attack. In that case, load the Holy Water into a Sprayer (Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25) to turn it into an area effect which ignores concealment.

Icewild Lichen Paste
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
Reduces fatigue or exhaustion by a step for 2d4 hours. At the end of that duration, character is fatigued for 2d4 minutes. Multiple doses taken within 24 hours cause 1d4 Constitution damage.

Ipecac
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209)
If you ever get swallowed by a creature, empty this into its stomach. The creature is forced to regurgitate you, and is nauseated for 1d4 rounds, no save. It can also be used to induce vomiting after ingesting a poison, giving a +5 untyped bonus to the secondary effect. Each vial contains 10 doses.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Jeweler's Loupe
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks with art/gems/jewelry. Combine with a magnifying glass for another +2 circumstance bonus. Make either of them masterwork for 50 GP and get another +2 circumstance bonus.

Liquid Ice
Price: 30 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dragon Compendium p. 118)
Empty your waterskin on the ground and you can use this to create a non-magical 10' x 10' ice sheet, or extinguish a 10' x 10' section of fire. As per the DMG p. 91, slippery ice counts as difficult terrain, costing 2 squares of movement. It also has the same effect as a grease spell, as described in the PHB under the Balance skill: targets without 5 ranks in Balance that are attacked on a slippery surface are considered flat-footed. From there, you can add Razor Ice Powder to create a 10' x 10' section of Razor Ice (1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save). Liquid Ice can also be thrown as a splash weapon, doing 1d6 cold damage on a direct hit and 1 splash damage. If your DM doesn't allow Dragon Compendium material, you can use Freeze Powder (100 GP, Frostburn p. 79) instead, although this can't be thrown as a splash weapon. If you need an alternative for splash damage, use Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120). Note: Neither Dragon Compendium nor the original Dragon Magazine article listed a weight, so I had to guess. Alchemist's Frost, Freeze Powder, and Frostfire all weighed 1 lb., so I figured Liquid Ice would most likely weigh the same.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Liquid Smoke
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Same price as a smokestick, but reacts with air and thus does not need to be lit. Provides concealment, blocks LOS, or a cheap theatrical effect.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Magnet
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 2#
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Attach to candle wick or pole to pick up ferrous objects, up to 2 lbs. Also useful for attaching notes or art projects to your shield or breastplate.

Magnifying Glass
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
+2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks on small objects. Combine with Jeweler's Loupe for another +1. Make it masterwork for another 50 GP and another +2 circumstance bonus. Also, start a fire without flint & steel, or incinerate a few anthills for some easy XP.

Manacles, Masterwork
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(PHB)
Requires a Strength check DC 28 or Escape Artist check DC 35 to get out of. Useful for keeping hostages/prisoners (particularly spellcasters) out of trouble.

Marbles (x4, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 8 SP
Weight: 8#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
These are deployed much like caltrops, so it takes a standard action to spread. Basically a 5' x 5' square of non-magical grease. Dump them under an opponent without 5 ranks of Balance to deny his Dex bonus and make the party rogue happy.

Mordrei'in
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Faiths of Eberron p. 153)
+2 alchemical bonus to Concentration and Spot checks for 10 minutes. For fluff reasons, may only be available to elves from Aerenal.

Needle (x2, 5 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Mend clothing, sew a sack closed, or hide it in a haystack. You can also magnetize it and use it as a compass, or bend it into a fishhook.

Net
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 6#
(PHB)
Although this is an exotic weapon, ranged touch attacks are usually easy enough to hit even with the non-proficiency penalty. A hit with a net entangles a creature (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), which can be a cheap and easy debuff or delaying tactic. If you're running into larger creatures, use a lasso instead. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (lasso, tanglefoot, etc.). There's also a Razor Net version (50 GP, Dragon Compendium) that does 1d6 damage if the target fails their check to get out of the net (Escape Artist check DC 20 or Strength check DC 25), but it's a little too easy to escape and the razors cut up the net, preventing it from being used again.

Noxious Smokestick
Price: 80 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 121)
Creates 10' cube of smoke and anyone inside has to make a Fort save DC 15 or become nauseated for 1 round. While this makes it a little tricky to light, you can fix that by having an unseen servant light it and carry it around.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Oil
Price: 1 SP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
There are rules for turning these things into splash weapons, but it takes a full-round action to prep and with a 50% failure rate, it's probably not worth the bother. Spreading it on the ground and lighting it on fire may be a bit more promising if you have enough time to prep for it.

Panther Tears (x2, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 0.2#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Eye drops that give you low-light vision for 1 hour. This also gives you light sensitivity, but for only 10 GP Sundark Goggles will fix that for you.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Piton (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
Attach ropes, spike doors, trepanize your friends and neighbors.

Periscope, Hand
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Peek around corners (with a +7 Hide bonus).

Potion Belt, Masterwork
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 1#
(Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting p. 97)
Once per round, you can retrieve a potion as a free action. Holds up to 10 potions. While this item should really be worn rather than kept in the haversack, I'm mentioning it here just in case you weren't aware of it before.

Quicksilver
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Allows weapon to deal damage as if coated with silver (including -1 damage), lasts for 3 rounds. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to Silversheen (250 GP, DMG) which lasts an hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Quickspark
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Of all the various alchemical items that do energy damage, Quickspark is the easiest to use and you're less likely to run into electricity resistance than fire or cold. It can be applied to a weapon as on oil with a standard action, or as a swift action when used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer). It can't be thrown on its own and does no splash damage, but you can apply it to any grenade-like weapon just like any other weapon. A Quickspark + Acidic Fire, for example, does an average of 11 energy damage over 2 rounds. Alchemist's Spark (Eberron Campaign Setting) is easier to throw, does a little more damage (1d8) and also splashes for 1 damage, but can't be applied to a weapon. A Sparkstone (Arms & Equipment Guide) can be thrown as a grenade-like weapon for 1d6 electricity damage and it will arc to one adjacent opponent (but only one) for half damage.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Razor Ice Powder
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Frostburn p. 79)
When combined with the contents of a waterskin and Liquid Ice (Dragon Compendium p. 118) or Freeze Powder (Frostburn p. 79), you can create a 10' x 10' square of slippery Razor Ice, which does 1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Rope Climber
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 3#
(Races of Faerun p. 160)
+5 circumstance bonus on Climb checks to ascend a rope, although it halves the rate of ascent. Full-round action to thread or remove the Rope Climber from a rope.

Rope, Silk (50')
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
When you can afford it, most of your rope needs should be met with Troll Gut Rope, but if you need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, it's good to have some normal rope handy. Keep in mind that the Cablespool can be used for descent, and Shapesand can be used to make temporary equipment (ropes, ladders) that retains its shape within 100' of you.

Rust Monster Wand
Price: 160 GP
Weight: 2#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Destroys metal objects. Requires fresh air and 5 coins per day as food. Upgrade to a +1 rusting weapon (8300 GP, Shining South) when available.

Sack (x3, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 3 SP
Weight: 1.5#
(PHB)
Loot redistribution device.

Screaming Flask
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Mage p. 135)
1d8 sonic damage in a 15' cone, Fort save DC 15 vs. deafness.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Shapesand (jug)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 12#
(Sandstorm p. 102)
Through the exertion of your will (Wisdom check DC 16), you can create any mundane non-magical object out of sand that supposedly "serves as a normal item of the same sort". (So... does that mean I can turn it into 12 lbs of acid or alchemist's fire? How about explosives or poisons? How about a masterwork gatling gun? Hmm...) It retains that shape as long as it stays within 100' of you, but you can also reshape it whenever you like by making another Wisdom check. While the question of acid/explosives/poisons will have to be settled by your DM, you have any tool you can possibly imagine at your fingertips. Need a hammer? Done. Don't need the hammer anymore, need a shovel? Done. It's particularly useful for tools that wear out after a certain number of uses, such as hacksaws and drills. How about exotic weapons or armor (Shapesand Fullplate = 500 GP, shapesand Mechanus Gear = 700 GP)? It can do that, too, although be aware, if an enemy recognizes you're using shapesand, he could try to reshape it under his control with a Wisdom check of his own.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Slippery Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 119)
+5 untyped bonus to Escape Artist checks, so it stacks with Spelunker's Oil (+2 alchemical, 15 GP, Drow of the Underdark). Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Sparker
Price: 2 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Works similar to a tindertwig (standard action to light a torch), but cheaper. 10 uses for only 2 GP.

Sprayer
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 4#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Spray a 10' long cloud of oil, holy water, an inhaled poison, or our new favorite special substance: aboleth mucus. It's an area effect, essentially a 5' x 10' line, but it doesn't require an attack roll and can be given to an unseen servant. The description says acid won't work, but doesn't mention alchemist's fire (which should work if the storage drum is airtight, but I'm not sure it is). Quickflame, Quickfrost, or Quickspark (Complete Adventurer) might also work, as well as Alchemist's Frost (Eberron Campaign Setting), but Alchemist's Spark requires two liquids in separate containers to be mixed. Atramen Oil, Liquid Smoke, or Stonebreaker Acid could also be interesting options when delivered by a sprayer.

Stonebreaker Acid
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 35)
Thrown as grenade-like weapon. Against stone objects/creatures, 5d10 damage over 2 rounds that ignores hardness. While Delver Slime (150 GP, Savage Species) may deal more damage per application, Stonebreaker Acid is a lot cheaper.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sundark Goggles
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 123)
Never take the Daylight Adaptation feat ever again. These handy little shades negate the dazed penalty for creatures with Light Sensitivity, and also provide a +2 circumstance bonus on saves against gaze attacks. Creatures without low-light or darkvision take a -2 penalty on spot and search checks.

Suregrip
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 119)
+1 alchemical bonus on Climb checks, stacks with Climber's Kit (+2 circumstance, PHB), Rope Climber (+5 circumstance, Races of Faerun), and Spider Kit (+2 circumstance, Drow of the Underdark).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Tarpaulin, Honey Leather (big)
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of the Wild p. 170)
An upgrade from a winter blanket, wearing a honey leather tarpaulin gives a +1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to resist the effects of severe weather, or +2 bonus if you're stationary. The big tarpaulin is waterproof, 6' square, and could be used to wrap your equipment to prevent it from getting wet, collect rainwater, cover a 5' pit trap, smother a small fire, or convert it into a float bladder.

Tanglefoot Bag (x3, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 12#
(PHB)
Ranged touch attack that entangles (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), a chance to immobilize, and makes life difficult for flying creatures. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (net, lasso, etc.).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Torch Bug Paste (x4, 25 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Thrown as a splash weapon, non-magical faerie fire effect, which pinpoints invisible creatures and completely negates concealment.

Trollbane
Price: 90 GP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 37)
Running into a regenerating creature when the party isn't ready for it can quickly turn into a TPK. While one dose of Alchemist's Fire, Bladefire, or Quickflame might be cheaper, trollbane allows all of a weapon's damage (not just fire/acid) to ignore regeneration. Save this for high-damage single-hit attacks, such as two-handed power-attack leap-attack ubercharger combos.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Vermin Ointment
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Vermin of diminuative size or smaller (including swarms) can't get within 5' of you unless magically compelled (and with most vermin being mindless, good luck with that). Larger vermin must make a Fortitude save DC 15 or become sickened.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Waterskin
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 4#
Dihydrogen oxide dispensation device, unless you're a dwarf, in which case just spend another silver piece for a half-gallon of ale.

Wick, Candle (x5, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 27)
Can be used anywhere you would use Twine (Dungeonscape p. 33), such as tripwires, improvised alarm systems, fishing lines, signal kites, or hang from the ceiling to detect invisible flying creatures. In addition, you can use it as a timing device: it takes 30 seconds (5 rounds) to burn 1 inch. Comes in 50' rolls.

Wine, Bottle
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(PHB)
There are several alchemical substances and adhesives that can be washed off or dissolved with an alcoholic liquid, so it's best to have a little bit of "liquid courage" on tap.

[Blade]

Shadowrun is equipment catalog porn by necessity because cyberpunk pays a great deal of attention to technology as a focal point in society.

I agree that cyberpunk pays attention to technology, but I don't think that means there's a need for catalog porn in a cyberpunk game.

From what I've seen, this varies greatly from one player to another. Some love to keep track of each and every tiny piece of equipment, while others would rather have "a rating x B&E kit" that would cover everything.

[Smeelbo]

What I've done in order to cut down on time wasted shopping is implementing "Stuff" rules. Player's may buy "Stuff," specifying the type, value, and weight of the "Stuff," without having to make an exact list of what is bought. For example:

Scrolls and Potions from the local Church of Abadar, 1200 GP, 10 lbs.

Whenever the character wants something specific out of the Stuff, I set a DC for an Intelligence or Wisdom check, and if they make the check, they have the item, and reduce the weight and value of the remaining stuff.

So a Potion of Cure Light Wounds (very likely) might be DC2, whereas a Scroll of Resist Energy (Acid) (more specific) might be DC12.

Saves me a lot of time.

Smeelbo

[Concise Locket]

Traveller and most of its associated settings (OTU, 2300AD, Judge Dredd, etc.) use a catalog approach for equipment. Roughly 1/3rd of priced equipment provides no stat modifiers. Rather its listed as being a prerequisite to complete a certain tasks. For example, a DNA scanner is a requirement to identify genetic remains. It doesn't give a bonus to a Science roll, it simply succeeds in identifying a sequence if it's in it's database. On the flip side, a forensic kit which includes a ballistic analysis computer, only provides a bonus on Investigation rolls. A possible line of reasoning is that a portable science lab is more prone to human error than a clean room.

Shadowrun 4E with Arsenal was the right amount of equipment for that game. Weapons were all different enough to be interesting mechanically and the non-combat gear was (mostly) useful. All of the follow-up gun books were firearm porn/fan service for early-'90s gamers who missed the Street Samurai Catalog.

[Ravengm]

What I've done in order to cut down on time wasted shopping is implementing "Stuff" rules. Player's may buy "Stuff," specifying the type, value, and weight of the "Stuff," without having to make an exact list of what is bought. For example:

Scrolls and Potions from the local Church of Abadar, 1200 GP, 10 lbs.

Whenever the character wants something specific out of the Stuff, I set a DC for an Intelligence or Wisdom check, and if they make the check, they have the item, and reduce the weight and value of the remaining stuff.

So a Potion of Cure Light Wounds (very likely) might be DC2, whereas a Scroll of Resist Energy (Acid) (more specific) might be DC12.

Saves me a lot of time.

Smeelbo

I actually like the idea of a magical Felix the Cat bag, but making everything have a chance of failure is iffy to me. Maybe make it so you're guaranteed to find an item once, and then you have to start rolling after that? You could just keep an index card nearby and write down the things you've pulled at least once.

[Dogbert]

As a side note, I won't play a sci-fi game with a GM who doesn't care enough for science, and I won't play any so-called sci-fi game where the person who doesn't care for science is the -designer- *cough*Diaspora*cough*.

Yes, I'm fuzzy like that. Some of us still care for Hugo Gernsback's criteria for considering whether a work qualifies as sci-fi or not.

[hogarth]

I like games where equipment powers are part of the same pool of abilities as innate powers (e.g. Champions or Mutants & Masterminds) instead of being a separate power system.

[OgreBattle]

How much is too much for your equipment chapter(s) in an RPG, and by inference, how much is ideal for a general context? 3.X has a lot, but the list becomes dramatically smaller once you throw in basic heuristics. Shadowrun & Rifts, however, are infamous for their catalogue approach to equipment; and that's before you start getting into the minor stuff like periscopes.

'Too much' is when I don't notice any gameplay use of the items I've collected. Right now in Ancient History's AD&D game my dorf managed to avoid getting poisoned to death 'cause he was wearing gloves, so it's validated the nitpickiness of writing down clothing choice for my character. I can tolerate that in AD&D though because it's a very bare bones game and there's not much else written on my char sheet though.

I like reading RIFTS books (including the equipment lists for different countries), but actually playing with that turns into a slog because the stats are all over the place. I'd rather have a solid system down, like how D&D has it for magic items, and then variants from there. So the Coalition has a laser rifle but the NGR has a "+1 laser rifle" and I can comprehend it very quickly. Shadowrun has too much fiddliness equipment to slog through, it's my least favorite part of that game.


For a D&D kinda game this is the level of equipment detail that's ideal for me:

You have some broad weapon types that encompass many popular weapon types. So all weapons are either...
-Reach (like a rapier and spear)
-Versatile (like a longsword or katana)
-Smashing (axe, flail)

And then you have different size categories of 'em so a large sized reach weapon would be held in two hands by a medium sized PC and 1h by a large size PC. I really don't need a nodachi to have different stats than a greatsword. Same with armor and shields, they're just light/medium/heavy. Maybe throw in rules for 'crude/average/master' quality so your elite knight's armor is still better in some way than orcish heavy infantry.

Your equipment section would list everything like chalk and lanterns and pitons because it's pretty fun to read that, BUT they'd be lumped into packages like "Adventurer's kit: bedroll, torch, etc.", "Burglar's kit: lockpicks, grappling hook and silk rope..." so it's quick to generate.

[silva]

Gear/catalog- porn is just a side-effect of the 80s obsession for realism and simulation. There is no single genre of fiction that justifies it (not even cyberpunk).

Luckly though, its getting behind in the gaming zeitgeist - I don't remember many new designs from the last 5 years that emphasizes this aspect - and I'm very happy for it.

[Hicks]

Right now in Ancient History's AD&D game my dorf managed to avoid getting poisoned to death 'cause he was wearing gloves, so it's validated the nitpickiness of writing down clothing choice for my character. I can tolerate that in AD&D though because it's a very bare bones game and there's not much else written on my char sheet though.

This is exactly why I set aside money for leather gloves at the beginning of the game, even though I knew for absolute certain I would never intentionally stick my hand on anything, just in case of contact poison. If I had enough money I would have bought 2 pair.

When playing an RPG I pore over equipment lists, desperately trying to stretch my budget to cover as many contingencies as I can think of.

When I MC an RPG I let players set aside an amount of gold for 'stuff' bought for adventuring. They track the weight in gold and spend it on the fly on things they "totally bought back in town." Anything from arrows to rope to wands to magic swords to ships; whatever they think would be most useful right now, as long as the gold was set aside.