Dungeons & Dragons: Creating Magic Shops For Your Campaign

Learn how to create magic shops in your campaign in D&D!

Every Dungeons & Dragons campaign needs at least one shopping episode, and most of the time, players want to get their hands on that powerful magic item they’ve been dreaming about since session one. Magic shops are a fantastic way to give players the chance to spend their hard-earned money on the gear they want and add a bit of personality and flair to the location where said shop is based.

Magic shops come in any shape and variety you can think of, but they do require a bit of forethought if you really want to make them special for your party. A stall and shopkeep are easy, but exquisite shops are more memorable to the party.

Creating A Magic Shop Based On Location

Location, location, location is the motto when starting; think about the city, kingdom, swamp, or general area where your shop will be and how you can build from it. This is also a great time to think of story elements for the surrounding regions or create a random encounter that can be associated with said shop.

For example, if your party is traveling through a thick forest, a seemingly random whimsical shop based on a giant mushroom run by a fae creature can lead to many exciting interactions (as well as a few questions).

When you start to finalize a location and a list of items the shop will sell, the location can also be the primary reason a shop sells what it sells. Maybe in a city where magic is only allowed on the weekends, a shop that sells concealment scrolls (if you ask nicely) would make sense in terms of story and lore.

Detailing The Shop & It’s Workers

Beyond location, you can focus on what the shop looks like and who runs it. A typical description of a shop will describe the following things:

• Exterior Design
• Interior Design
• NPCs
• (Optional) One specific trope

Using this list, ask yourself the simple question, “What would the outside/inside look like?”

Some parties may be curious about environmental and NPC details, while others are not as interested. It is all up to how your party operates and how much energy you want to use to create your shop. Overall, this can be completely optional!

Perhaps the shop matches the same building material as the rest of the city (cobblestone, brick, wood, etc.), or maybe it is different for a specific reason. Magic shops often come with the trope of being more colorful and noticeable than other shops (unless it’s a shop in the black market), so it wouldn’t hurt to describe the colors or trimmed paint it may have.

Of course, a Dungeon Master’s favorite part in creating something is the NPC that runs the shop. It’s even better when you give them a specific personality and plot points to feed the party and then completely forget to give them a name.

Creating a shopkeep, especially for a Magic Shop, can be a great way to provide the party with an extra ally (or annoyance). While making it a casual interaction is perfectly okay, giving them a personal charm can give the players a reason to return to said shop.

Possible dialogue/personality quirks include:

• “Hi! Welcome to Mighty Mac’s Shack! My name is Mac. It’s a pleasure to help you this fine afternoon!”
• ”Huh? Oh, yeah, welcome to the shop. Robes are half off today. I don’t care…”
• The shopkeeper sits in silence, reading a book on a stool. As you approach the counter, a tiny rat comes from a nearby box and sits before you as if waiting to see what you are looking for.

Some Dungeon Masters will also have a short bullet list of their NPC, especially if they will be important to the party later. This list can include a more accurate physical description, personality quirks/ ticks, several dialogue lines you may want to say to the party, and notes on how they may tie into the story later.

NPC Outline Example — “Amelia Crystalline” Of The “Hopping Dwarf Magic Shop”

• A petite half-elf woman with short blonde hair.
• Surprisingly bassy voice that catches most people off guard.
• Has a small scar on the side of their neck.
• Had previous relations with Charles Crystalline, a military captain in the neighboring town (used to be married until he started to get too ambitious with his work). Willing to explain more of his background and why he intends to send forces to another kingdom.

Adding one or two tropes is a neat way to tie the shop further into your story, whether directly with the current plot or as a side detail. They can help provoke more dialogue between the players and store owners and hint at future adventures/ details.

Trope examples include:

• The ceiling has a giant hole with charred marks. A note is pinned to the st pillar that reads “IOU.”
• ”Hello! Welcome to the shop, and don’t mind the Wyvern.”
• As you enter the shop, a single window is opened where the sun is. A voice from behind the counter yells: “ the door! Too much light.”

Creating A Shop Inventory — What Items Should You Sell?

Now, onto the fun part: listing what your shop will sell! This can be tricky to do on the fly, so it is always handy to have a general list of items prepared.Chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide is all about the treasures and items you can find in Dungeons & Dragons.

There are also level brackets for recommended items to be rewarded at certain levels. While those brackets are more commonly used to describe loot from dungeons and other quest rewards, they can also be used as a quick reference to see how they compare with the current level of your player characters.

Most magic shops will specialize in a specific category of magic items, such as robes, weapons, potions & poisons, trinkets, etc. This can also be a handy way to narrow your list so you are not pulling random magic items under one roof.

If you intend to tie story elements to a shop, your list can also be based on the limitations/freedoms of the location you are currently in. A shop that is surplus in exotic and rare potions & poisons may be because the area has a dense population of rare monsters that are hunted to create them.

Using the magic rarity reference table or by going based on your currency standard, having between 4-6 priced magic items is a fair amount of items to have prepared to sell at a time. If a player wants a specific item, you can always have your shopkeeper “go check the back room” while you flip through the Dungeon Master’s Guideto find an item they are after.

Magic Shop Guide Example

Using all that we have learned, you can go through a simple checklist that will ensure you have a general description of the important details of your Magic Shop.