Shadows of the Past: How a Forgotten Curse Haunts Fantasy Worlds

In the fantasy world of "Curse of the Shadow," an ancient evil looms, threatening to engulf the land in darkness. The titular curse takes the form of a shadow that possesses people and corrupts their souls. Once someone falls victim to the curse, they become slaves to the shadow, carrying out its bidding and spreading chaos wherever they go. Only a few brave heroes have the power to resist the curse and stand against the shadow's nefarious plans. The main protagonist is a skilled warrior named Arnaud, who has dedicated his life to fighting the shadow and freeing those trapped in its grasp. With his trusted companions, Arnaud embarks on a perilous quest to uncover the origins of the curse and find a way to lift it.

Another thing I always always include is big-ticket items. These can be limited in stock, but I could absolutely imagine a Fighter's Guild champion who is willing to part with his Weapon of Warning for 60kGP. Maybe the characters will pool their money, save up, and buy it at level 7. That's a good thing! It means gold mattered to your party in a tangible way: the group's fighter now has a cool weapon that directly benefits combat.

People in guilds, nobility, rich merchants in cities, dragons, etc, all would have frequent enough customers adventurers that stocking magic items could be necessary. Making each item unique, with a minor trait, a description of history, or a quirk brings the item to life and helps define the character who uses it.

With his trusted companions, Arnaud embarks on a perilous quest to uncover the origins of the curse and find a way to lift it. Along the way, they face numerous challenges, battle fierce monsters, and encounter other individuals who have fallen victim to the shadow. The central theme of "Curse of the Shadow" revolves around the struggle between light and darkness, both on a personal and larger scale.

Magic item shop 5d

In a setting like this, Players need to be able to buy magic items. You can't have everybody and their brother using sending stones and not offer them to the PCs. But I think this applies to other campaign worlds as well, for one big reason: gold.

Gold presents a weird problem in the D&D world. It seems self-evident that players expect to receive it. Nearly every monster has some sort of treasure or reward. And yet, what can the players spend their riches on? Living expenses and adventuring gear are laughably cheap. Even hirelings are insanely inexpensive in D&D. At 2 GP / day, a well-rewarded party could afford to bring a small militia with them into every dungeon.

So how can we make gold matter? My solution is to make sure the players know exactly what they can buy with their gold, and the benefits of that purchase. In particular, I use big ticket items to force the players to make a choice: do I restock my health potions, or do I keep saving up to buy my own +2 longsword? Can I donate that much to charity while I am looking at purchasing a castle?


Establishing Magic Item Trade

Now, in a world where people can freely buy magic items, you'd think every bandit and thug would have a +1 dagger and a Cap of Water Breathing, right? I disagree.

Again, look at the cost of living per day (PHB pg. 157). Remember, that is also per person. That means each week a smith that makes and sells a set of scale mail (50GP), he is likely paying for the living expenses of his family, his apprentices, and covering the cost of running his shop (DMG pg. 127). For a week's worth of expenses, with a family of four and an apprentice, making the scale mail costs 49GP. I think you can see where I'm going with this.

The fact is, most people in the D&D economy deal in copper and silver, not gold. They don't have the money to afford magic items, except for perhaps a family heirloom scrupulously saved for or donated by a kind-hearted adventurer years ago. And that means most bandits won't have much to steal from their victims.

So then where do we find the pockets of high-rolling economy that can garner the cash to trade in magic items?


Now, this doesn't mean that a bandit captain couldn't have a +1 weapon or a ring of protection. But make sure you consider that it would be the result of years of banditry, hoarding gold away from the other members of his crew, and potentially making him a target for other bandits.

Setting Up Shop

Now, for pricing the items, I use Saidoro's excellent guide to Sane Magic Item Prices. This is more a post about the shops that sell the items, not what items cost, so please check out his link even if you decide to not use the method I've created here.

• Level 1-4: Common Magic Items, few Uncommon Items
• Level 5-10: Uncommon Magic Items, few Rare Items
• Level 11-16: Rare Magic Items, few Very Rare Items
• Level 17-20: Very Rare Magic Items, few Legendary Items

• Shops based on Item type: Consumables, Combat Items, Noncombat Items, Summoning Items, Cursed Items, etc.
• Shops based on Item rarity: common, uncommon, rare, very rare, and legendary

1. Common Magic Item shops: found in small towns and big cities. Usually serves as a general supply store with a few healing potions and scrolls they picked up from travelers. About 1 shop per 50 square miles, so at normal travel pace the PCs can expect to find one within a small town every 4-5 days of travel.
2. Uncommon Magic Item Shops: found in big cities. These shops are owned by amateur wizards, strange item collectors, and rich merchants. They often specialize in selling items to adventurers, so they aren't terribly difficult to find. A PC could expect to find 1 shop per 500,000 people in a large, populated area.
3. Rare Magic Item Shops: found in highly magical places. These shops are usually for established magic-users and scholars only, often they are cloistered or off-limits to the public. Sometimes they are used to house dangerous items for safekeeping, but threats to the realm may convince them to open their doors. Because of their secretive nature, a PC may have to spend time searching to even learn of their existence, but they might be able to find about 1 shop per major country or government.
4. Very Rare Magic Item Shops: This is the stuff of legends. There may be one node of magical power on the entire planet, where scholarly monks and ancient wizards make pilgrimages to in order to unlock dark secret magics. This collection of magic would be located at that point. Like the Library of Alexandria, most people would have heard of such a place, but the journey to get there, the danger of the magic contained within, and the protections afforded such power all make this the purvey of only the planet's greatest heroes. A PC could easily find legends of this location, but there would only be one in the world.
5. Legendary Magic Item Shops: Mammon's treasure keep. The troves of the Gold Dragons of Mount Celestia. These type of shops exist in very few places across the entire multiverse. Even then, those who guard them are so powerful (or so greedy) that even glimpsing such a location is tantamount to impossible. If the PCs wish to buy and sell legendary magic items, this is the only way to do so.

Another thing I always always include is big-ticket items. These can be limited in stock, but I could absolutely imagine a Fighter's Guild champion who is willing to part with his Weapon of Warning for 60kGP. Maybe the characters will pool their money, save up, and buy it at level 7. That's a good thing! It means gold mattered to your party in a tangible way: the group's fighter now has a cool weapon that directly benefits combat.

Also, never pass up an opportunity to use the property tables listed in the DMG (pg. 142-143). Making each item unique, with a minor trait, a description of history, or a quirk brings the item to life and helps define the character who uses it.

1. Scale down. Perhaps common magic shops are only found in big cities, and uncommon magic shops are the secret vaults of wizards. Maybe anything higher than a rare item can only ever be granted by gods or found in the deepest reaches of the multiverse.
2. Make non-magic purchases more expensive and more appealing.

These options allow you to select the number of magic items by rarity.

Each character in the story must confront their inner demons and make choices that will either lead them towards the light or plunge them further into the shadow's clutches. Through this journey, the story explores themes of redemption, sacrifice, and the power of hope. The world-building in "Curse of the Shadow" is rich and expansive, with vivid descriptions of fantastical landscapes, ancient ruins, and magical creatures. The lore of the curse is intricately woven into the fabric of the world, creating a sense of depth and history. The story balances intense action sequences with moments of introspection and character development, creating a compelling narrative that keeps readers engaged. "Curse of the Shadow" is a thrilling tale of adventure, magic, and the triumph of good over evil. It showcases the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of darkness. With its captivating storyline and well-crafted world, it is sure to captivate fans of fantasy and leave them eagerly awaiting the next installment..

Reviews for "The Curse Spreads: The Challenging Quest to Break the Grip of the Shadow in Fantasy"

1. John - 2/5 - I was really disappointed with "Fantasy Curse of the Shadow". The storyline was extremely confusing and hard to follow, with no clear explanation of the characters' motives or the overall objective. The acting was subpar, and the dialogue felt forced and lacked depth. The special effects were also quite poor, making the action scenes feel cheesy and unrealistic. Overall, I found this film to be a forgettable fantasy adventure that failed to live up to its potential.

2. Emily - 1/5 - I couldn't stand "Fantasy Curse of the Shadow". The script was poorly written, filled with clichés and predictable plot twists. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked any sort of depth, making it hard to care about their fates. The pacing was off, with slow and dull moments dragging on endlessly. The CGI effects were also laughably bad, making the action scenes look like a cheap video game cutscene. I would not recommend wasting your time on this lackluster fantasy film.

3. Robert - 2/5 - "Fantasy Curse of the Shadow" was a disappointment for me. The plot felt like a jumbled mess, with too many unnecessary subplots and characters. The acting was decent, but the characters themselves were poorly developed, leaving me feeling indifferent about their fates. The action sequences were poorly choreographed and lacked excitement, making the film drag on and lose my interest. Overall, it was a forgettable and confusing fantasy film that didn't live up to the genre's standards.

4. Sarah - 2.5/5 - I had high hopes for "Fantasy Curse of the Shadow", but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The film had potential with its interesting concept, but the execution was lacking. The pacing was uneven, with rushed scenes followed by slow moments that felt unnecessary. The characters lacked depth and their motivations were unclear. While the special effects were decent, they couldn't save the dull storyline. Overall, it's a film that had potential but failed to deliver a captivating fantasy adventure.

Between Light and Darkness: The Curse that Plagues Fantasy Realms