Chapter Nine

Into the Capitalist Underbelly: Illegal Goods and Black Markets

Every society has laws, and some laws make certain items illegal to sell or own. If some magic items are considered available for sale, others may be made illegal as well.

In some cases, items will be illegal for reasons specific to the location or the culture of the area. For example, if a snowy northern town is run by servants of Auril (goddess of winter), Flame Tongue swords might not be allowed. In other areas, ones where the local thieves’ guild and black market run the town, almost everything might be available, although someone might try to steal it from you an hour after you buy it.

However, in general towns and cities will set rules against items which help thieves, murderers, and con men, and at minimum make them illegal to sell. These items, broadly speaking, include: 

  • Boosts to stealth and invisibility

  • Tools that let thieves bypass security

  • Methods of evading detection

  • Mind control 

  • Poison (any weapon, of course, could be used for murder, but since poison is widely considered an assassin’s weapon and more routine types of weapons are commonly seen, only poison and poisoned items are the only weapons routinely proscribed)

  • Cursed items (illegal to sell, not own)

You may use the following list as a core set of items likely to be illegal to sell, and adjust to fit your campaign overall or particular areas the PCs are likely to find themselves. Explanations are added where the reason for banning the item may not fit the above categories.

Common

  • Horn of Silent Alarm (allows thieves to call warnings without alerting patrols)

Uncommon

  • Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location

  • Boots of Elvenkind

  • Cloak of Elvenkind

  • Dust of Disappearance

  • Eyes of Charming

  • Gloves of Thievery

  • Hat of Disguise

  • Helm of Telepathy

  • Medallion of Thoughts

  • Potion of Poison

  • Slippers of Spider Climbing

  • Staff of the Adder

  • Staff of the Python (doesn’t inflict poison, but is dangerous and looks similar to a Staff of the Adder, so some cities would just rule both illegal)

  • Sword of Vengeance (cursed)

  • Wand of Secrets

Rare

  • Armor of Vulnerability (cursed)

  • Berserker Axe (cursed)

  • Cape of the Mountebank

  • Chime of Opening

  • Cloak of the Bat

  • Dagger of Venom

  • Helm of Teleportation

  • Portable Hole (can be folded up and well-hidden, and thieves can hide inside)

  • Potion of Mind Reading

  • Ring of X-Ray Vision (creepy)

  • Rod of Rulership

  • Shield of Missile Attraction (cursed)

  • Staff of Charming

  • Wand of Wonder (not cursed, per se, but illegal to sell due to powerful random effects)

To reiterate, the intent is only to make these unavailable for purchase, unless found on the black market. You could have a country where some or all of these items are illegal to own as well, possibly even having patrols stop adventurers and check out their magic items to ensure no illegal items are being carried within the country’s borders. However, it’s frequently more of a hassle than anything to make PCs hide certain items every time they enter a town, so allowing them to be owned as long as they’re not used for nefarious purposes is easier for everyone. (Plus, if a major robbery happens, the law can always look at the rogue’s Elvenkind gear and consider them a suspect.)

If you allow it, underground sources may be available through which PCs can purchase these items. Like finding a seller for legal items, a DC 20 Investigation check is required, but it must be made by someone who knows Thieves’ Cant or has a confirmed relationship with someone who can make underground connections for them. Also, like finding a seller for legal items, if a specific item isn’t available, the PCs may be informed something else is for sale instead (DM’s discretion).

Illegally sold items may be smuggled in from outside or made by a caster who’s willing to take the risk. If they’re made by a caster intending to sell them on the black market, the price will be considerably higher than the regular market price for that rarity. If the caster can’t get that type of premium for the item, it’s not worth the risk to make it unless commissioned.

Rarity

Black Market Price

Common

1,000 gp

Uncommon

5,000 gp

Rare

60,000 gp

The list stops with rare items for two reasons. One, there aren’t any very rare items which are clearly useful to criminals. Two, although legendary items aren’t made for sale, and would basically never be sold secondhand, it is possible that the rare gifted and lucky thief might make off with someone else’s. These items, whether useful to criminals (e.g. Cloak of Invisibility) or not, would have to be sold underground, and very carefully at that. Buying such an item could well involve the party in serious criminal drama, so a huge range of prices are viable. 

As a rule, the lower the price a thief asks for an extremely valuable item, the more immediate danger he’s in, and thus the more immediate danger the party will be in if they buy it. If a very rare or (especially) legendary item is in play, the danger should be substantial.