Many Dungeon Masters have numerous town/hamlet/city adventures as part
of their regular campaigns. In these locales, adventurers can buy and sell items
and find out information by visiting
shops, inns, and taverns. On rare occasion, a shop might sell/buy a magic item
to/from an adventurer.

It must be understood, that for all of
the treasure in the average AD&D™ world,
the average tradesman or merchant will
rarely have an inventory valued
at over 50 gp. Many an AD&D player
feels that he can run to the local blacksmith and buy a horse using a 250 gp
gem, or that he can go into a weapon
shop and sell a +1 weapon for 2,000 gp.
The blacksmith wouldn’t know a 250 gp
gem from one worth 10 gp, nor would he
have the gold to give “in change” in any
case. The shop owner probably has never seen 100 gp at one time, much less
2,000.

Only a few guildsmen and tradesmen
are truly rich and have adequate coinage
to deal in the real values of the magic
items that might be found in the world. If
they do have such wealth it will be hidden, protected or both.
If their merchandise includes one or more magic items,
these will not be left lying on the counter
for everyone to see.

I have encountered numerous games
where the party wanders into town, finds
the “magic shop,” and then, under cover
of darkness, robs the place of its goodies. Alas, in most cases the DM makes
the shopkeeper some poor zero-level
figure who is helpless to protect his inventory from the haughty wizards and
ferocious fighters who roam the streets
of his little town. Any time a DM gives
players something for nothing, he is depriving them and himself of a great deal
of fun. Here, to solve this particular problem, are a few ways to make shopkeepers tougher.

Guild magic
Most professions found in the towns,
cities, and other population centers of an
AD&D world have organizations which
teach, regulate and protect the organization’s members. These organizations are
usually called guilds. There are guilds
for masons, carpenters, clothiers, weavers, and so forth. Not every town will
have a guild for each possible profession, nor will some towns require that a
person join any particular guild if he/she
does not wish to. Thus, even though
guilds are usually a strong force in society, some proprietors will be independent.
A profession is usually taught by
means of the apprentice system. Sometimes an apprentice will learn everything
from the single person he/she works for.
Other times there will be a succession of
teachers because the profession has various grades within it; for instance, someone training to be a mason might have
different teachers for each step of the
process, going through apprentice mason, mason, grand, mason, master mason, grand master mason, and so on.
Professions are often beset by outsiders who either want to learn the trade
without contributing to the guild (in
some set way), or others who try to take
money from the guild and its members
through unfair taxation, outright theft,
and the like. Thus, many guilds will teach
a proprietor some minor magics that
range in power somewhere between
cantrips (see From the Sorceror’s Scroll
by E. Gary Gygax in issues #59, #60, and
#61 of DRAGON™ magazine) and second level magic-user spells — but only
grand masters of a guild might be able to
cast a spell equivalent to a second level
magic-user spell.

In order to learn these minor magics,
the learner must have a minimum intelligence of 9 (as for magic-users), though a
minimum wisdom of 10 can be substituted for the weakest of these magics, the
cantrips. Those spells equivalent to a
first level or second level magic-user
spell need intelligence as a basis for their
casting; wisdom cannot be substituted.
The various types of minor guild magic can vary from profession to profession. Cantrips like Stir, Mix, Clean, Wipe,
Dry, Moisten, and Hold are quite common and apply to many professions.
These very minor magics have no attack
potential; that is, they cannot cause
damage directly. They can, occasionally, cause distraction or have defensive
value. For all practical purposes, any
cantrip could be used if a direct, useful
purpose for it can be demonstrated within the guild/profession. For example,
Hold can be used by a carpenter to keep
a nail in place prior to striking it with a
hammer. The duration of the Hold would
be only 1 segment, just long enough for
the carpenter to take the swing with the
hammer. However, the carpenter could
use one Hold cantrip over and over
again, for perhaps up to an hour, while
he pounded home nails one after the
other. If he stops nailing or uses some
other cantrip, then the Hold cantrip is
cancelled.

The average merchant or tradesman is
33% likely to know one useful cantrip.
The other two-thirds will not have any
knowledge of even the most simple magic. If the merchant or tradesman knows
at least one cantrip, there is a 50%
chance that the figure will have knowledge of more than the one incantation.
For each magic-using tradesman or
merchant, roll on the following table.
A number or range of numbers in parentheses after a listing indicates the
number of cantrips usable by a figure in
a single day. A number in brackets represents the figure’s daily capacity to
use Mysteries (explained hereafter). A
number set in italic type inside parentheses represents the number of first
level magic-user spells the figure can
use, and a number in italic type inside
brackets indicates the ability to use a
second level magic-user spell once per
day.

Spells known and usable
 

01-50	No other cantrip known. (1)
51-65	1 other cantrip known. (1)
66-70	2 other cantrips known. (1)
71-74	3 other cantrips known. (2)
75-76	4 other cantrips known. (2)
77	5 other cantrips known. (3)
78-80	2-5 (d4+1) other cantrips. (1-2)
81-82	2-7 (d6+1) other cantrips. (1-3)
83	3-8 (d6+2) other cantrips. (1-4)
84-85	2-5 other cantrips, 1 Mystery. (1-4) [1]
86	3-8 other cantrips, 1 Mystery. (1-6) [1]
87-89	3-8 other cantrips, 2 Mysteries. (1-6) [1]
90-91	3-8 other cantrips, 3 Mysteries. (1-6) [1]
92	3-8 other cantrips, 1-4 Mysteries. (1-6) [1-2]
93-95	3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries. (1-6) [1-3]
96-97	3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries, 1 first level magic-user spell. (1-6) [1-3] (1)
98	3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries, 2 first level magic-user spells. (1-6) [1-3] (1)
99	3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries, 1-4 first level magic-user spells. (1-6) [1-3] (2)
00	3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries, 1-4 first level magic-user spells, 1 second level magic-user spell. (1-6) [1-3] (2) [1]

Cantrips and Mysteries, as well as
magic-user spells, are read from books.
The “chance to know each listed spell”
as per Intelligence Table II in the Players
Handbook must be rolled for cantrips
and mysteries as well as regular spells,
with wisdom substituted for intelligence
in the case of a figure with low intelligence who still might be able to cast the
minor magics (cantrips and mysteries).
Cantrips take 15 minutes each to read, as
do mysteries. Rest prior to reading must
be a full 4 hours.

Mysteries: more minor magics
Mysteries are very minor forms of
magic used to protect a professional
from attacks and to protect his shop and
goods from theft and other forces. The
common mysteries are these:

1. Alarm
2. Appreciate
3. Bell
4. Drowsiness
5. Glue
6. Grab
7. Hound
8. Lapse
9. Lock
10. Pacify
11. Panic
12. Spin

1. Alarm: This magic will allow the
shopkeeper’s voice to become four times
louder than normal for one round, so
that he/she can call for help. The volume
of the voice will not directly affect the
offending person, but might cause him
or her to run off.

2. Appreciate: This is used on a person
to get him or her to see more quality in an
item. It can cause the victim to pay up to
20% more than he or she would have
paid for an item, because now he or she
is convinced of its higher value. The victim is allowed a saving throw if the item is
valued at under 10 gp; a save at +2 if the
value is 10-99 gp; a save at +5 for items
valued at 100-199 gp, and a save at +8 if
the value is 200 gp or more. Appreciate
cannot convince someone an item is
magical in any case. If the victim makes
the saving throw, he or she will not buy
the item unless the price drops by at
least 40%.

3. Bell: This uses an actual bell as a
material component. The dwoemer is
cast on the bell after it is placed near a
door or some item that the shopkeeper
wishes to guard. The duration of the bell
is 8 hours or until the bell has sounded.
Any living thing coming within 3 feet of
the bell will cause it to ring once.

4. Drowsiness: This can be applied to
any person or group of persons who add
up to no more than 4th level or 4 hit dice.
Men-at-arms, 0-level figures, and monsters of less than 1 hit die equal one level
each for this calculation. The victim(s)
must be inside a 20-foot-square area no
more than 40 feet away from the merchant. There is no saving throw. The vicim(s) will feel drowsy for 1 round, and
during that time is -2 to hit and -2 on
initiative rolls. The victim(s) will not feel
obliged to move unless a direct danger
to it/them exists. The magic affects all creatures
that are vulnerable to a Charm Person spell.
<persons>

5. Glue: This magic is applied to an
item and another surface of less than
one square foot each (the binding surfaces, that is). The two surfaces will stay
bound together for 5-20 rounds. Since
the surfaces must be touched to each
other within a l-segment span, the spell
can almost never be applied to another
living being but is usually used to make
an item in the shop pilfer-proof for a few
minutes.

6. Grab: This can be applied to any
single immobile object that weighs 10
pounds or less and is not already being
held by a living creature. If the shopkeeper casts Grab on an item (range 30
feet, duration 1 turn), the magic will hold
it fast in place. A character or creature
with strength of 18(01) or greater can
break the Grab, at a percentage chance
equal to its exceptional strength number.

7. Hound: This is cast on any living
creature of animal intelligence that can
be trained to be alert, such as a bird or a
cat. When the dwoemer is cast on the
animal (who is allowed a saving throw of
9), the animal will bark like a large dog
instead of its normal sound for a period
of one minute. The duration of the magic
is 6 hours or until the animal “barks.” If
the animal makes its saving throw then it
cannot bark; alas, the shopkeeper cannot know for sure if the spell has taken
effect or not.

8. Lapse: This is applied to one figure
at a time. If the intended victim fails a
normal saving throw, he or she is effectively paralyzed for 3-12 segments— but
if and only if no attack from the caster of
the magic is forthcoming. If the caster
moves to physically harm the paralyzed
figure, the spell breaks instantly. Someone else could attack, of course, but if
the paralyzed figure can see the attack
coming, he or she is allowed a second
saving throw instantly. Another saving
throw is allowed after any successful attack on the victim, to see if the blow
“breaks” the paralysis before the Lapse
duration expires. Such a paralyzed figure has some small amount of mobility
left, so he or she cannot necessarily be
killed outright.

9. Lock: The material component for
this magic is a key that exactly fits the
lock in question. A skeleton key will not
do, but an exact duplicate of an original
key would suffice. The shop owner holds
the key and makes a locking or unlocking motion to open or close the lock in
question. Range of the magic is up to 40
feet. The magic can be used to lock and
unlock (or vice versa) the same lock with
one application, if the two actions are
done within 10 minutes of each other
and the key never leaves the caster’s
hand during that time.

10. Pacify: This is applied to a single
person who is badly disposed toward the
shopkeeper (but open melee cannot have
occurred). The Pacify magic will change
the person’s frame of mind for 2-5
rounds. Targets of under 4th level obtain
no saving throw; those of 4th level and
above obtain the standard saving throw.
Range is 20 feet. Pacify is usually used to
prevent melee and as a way to ease a
person out of the shop before the magic
wears off. This spell is not a charm, and
thus the shopkeeper cannot obtain services, information or goods from the
person.

11. Panic: This can be applied to one
figure by touch. He or she (again, only
“persons” can be so attacked) is allowed
a normal saving throw. If it fails, the person will run away for 5-20 segments, but
will not drop anything held in any case.
The victim can defend himself or herself
if chased or attacked. The victim is only
afraid of the shopkeeper.

12. Spin: This is used on a single person at a maximum range of 20 feet. If the
intended victim fails a saving throw, he
or she will spin around for the next 2-8
segments. He or she cannot attack, but
can defend (at -2) while pirouetting.

All mysteries take 1 segment to cast.
They begin at the start of a melee segment and end at the end of the segment.
If the DM considers all blows with weapons to land in the middle of a segment,
it will be simple to determine if the attempted casting of a mystery is ruined by
a blow or by the touching of the spellcasting shopkeeper.

Guild languages
The guilds and trades that use cantrips, mysteries and actual magics have
developed their own languages and
symbols for the text of these spells.
Thus, if a magic-user found a book of
merchant cantrips and mysteries, the
magic-user could not use them without
casting Comprehend Languages first.
Once the language of a certain magical
text is understood, Comprehend Languages would not be needed again to
decipher that particular spell, cantrip, or
mystery any time it is written by someone in that particular profession. For instance, if a magic-user found the Glue
mystery in the book of a carpenter and
learned and used it (he must still roll the
% chance to know), he would not auto-

matically be able to use it if he found it in
the book of a goldsmith, since the languages used to write the two versions of
the magic would be different. Read Magic will not break the language barrier of a
cantrip or a mystery.
If a master guild member knows a first
level or second level magic-user spell, it
will be written in the language of the
guild and is likewise unavailable to any
full-fledged magic-user who might find
the merchant’s book.

Guild masters’ spells
The spells known by master guild
members are usually defensive or informational. The following spells are the
ones most often known by guild masters:

First level M-U spells

01-12	Unseen Servant
13-20	Comprehend Languages
21-27	Hold Portal
28-34	Mending
35-42	Tenser’s Floating Disc
43-50	Ventriloquism
51-54	Write
55-57	Affect Normal Fires
58	Burning Hands
59	Charm Person
60	Detect Magic
61-67	Enlarge
68-74	Reduce
75	Erase
76-79	Feather Fall
80-82	Friends
83	Jump
84-86	Light
87-88	Darkness
89	Magic Missile
90	Nystul’s Magic Aura
91-92	Protection from Evil
93-94	Push
95-99	Shield
00	Sleep

Second level M-U spells

01-16	Audible Glamer
17-18	Detect Evil
19	Detect invisibility
20-28	ESP
29	Fools Gold
30-39	Forget
40	Invisibility
41-43	Knock
44-50	Leomund’s Trap
51	Levitate
52-54	Locate Object
55-60	Magic Mouth
61-67	Mirror Image
68	Pyrotechnics
69	Ray of Enfeeblement
70	Rope Trick
71-80	Scare
81-88	Strength
89	Web
90-00	Wizard Lock

Merchant characteristics
    The average merchant will have 1-6 hit
points and will fight as a zero-hit-die figure.

ure. A merchant who can cast simple
cantrip magic, regardless of spell capacity, still has 1-6 hit points and still fights
as a 0-hit-die figure, but obtains the saving throw (vs. magic only) of a first level
magic-user. A merchant or tradesman
who can cast a mystery obtains the saving throw of a first level magic-user
against all attack forms except breath
weapon, A merchant who can cast a first
level magic-user spell still has 1-6 hit
points and attacks as a 0-hit-die figure
but has the full saving throw capability of
a first level magic-user. A merchant who
can cast two first level magic-user spells
will have 2-7 hit points. A merchant who
can cast a second-level magic user spell
will have 3-8 hit points.

Some merchants and tradesmen are
ex-adventure-class figures who have decided to settle down and give up adventuring. Such ex-adventurer-class figures
(or men/women-at-arms) retain their previous abilities and may add, if they are
guild or trade members, some minor
magics if they possess the required intelligence (or wisdom). However, learning
minor guild magic once a person has
been an adventure-class figure is much
less likely, so only 15% of such figures
will know any minor magic, as opposed
to the 33% figure for merchants who
never were adventurers.

    Merchants and tradesmen may teach
the cantrip they know to their spouses
and children if they work in the shop (on
he job) with the guild member. They
may teach cantrips only, however, and
not mysteries or magic-user spells — 
unless the spouse or child enters the guild
or trade in the usual manner.

Foiling theft
Merchants and tradesmen who cannot
cast cantrips, mysteries or low-level
magic-user spells and who are not retired adventurers can still protect their
goods from theft. The easiest solution is
a series of well-placed locks. Larger centers of population might have complex
locks that reduce a thief’s chance to pick
them by some set amount, perhaps down
to as low as one-half of the original
chance for success. Complex locks
should sell for about 1 electrum piece
per percent of this reduction (with a reduction of 50% being maximum, as described above).

Example: A thief has a 35% chance to
pick a lock. If a shopkeeper spends an
extra 10 gp on a complex lock, the thief’s
chance is reduced by a 20% proportion,
to (35% — (.2x.35), or 28%. If the thief’s
chance were 80%, the same amount of
reduction would take the chance down
to 80% — (.2x.80), or 64%. A run-of-themill padlock would cost anywhere from
1-100 silver pieces. Standard door locks
sell from 3-300 silver pieces. Locks for
strong doors, the type found in dungeons, on temple doors, in jails, and so
forth likely cost from 1-20 gp.

For added protection, the merchant
can also hire a thief or assassin to place a
trap. The cost to place the trap will be
about equal in gold pieces to the number
representing the percent chance the thief
or assassin has to set the trap successfully. That chance should be the same as
the chance to remove a trap.
Failure to set a trap successfully means
the thief or assassin will take full damage
from the trap. Thus, very few thieves or
assassins will set traps that might cause
injury. This is especially true of traps
containing poison needles. A poisonneedle trap with lethal poison in it will
cost at least double the usual price.
Some thieves and assassins will refuse
to set such a trap.
Traps able to be set by thieves involve
simple mechanics and not collapsing
floors or ceilings, two-ton blocks, or the
like. Most thieves will set traps that
sound an alarm (like ringing a bell or
gong), cause something to fall (like a
bucket, can, or pail), or cause minor
damage (the classic form is a crossbow
trap, though some spring-loaded traps
can also be set effectively to throw darts).
Poisons and liquids to coat daggers,
darts and bolts are quite expensive. Such
liquids will dry out and/or become impotent with time; usually the more potent
the liquid is, the faster it will dry out or
lose potency.

The merchant can also hire a magicuser, cleric, or druid to set a magical trap
via a spell. The most common of these
are Magic Mouth, Snare, and a Glyph of
Warding. Some magical traps can be
reset each night so that the merchant
can set the trap up and then go to bed.
This is surely true of the Magic Mouth,
which could be placed on an object that
is covered during the day or not even
brought out during the day, and then
exposed at night for the would-be thief
to trip.

Your DM may rule that a Glyph of
Warding cannot be placed on a carpet. If
this is allowed, however, this provides a
great defense: Just roll the rug up in the
morning and put it away until the next
night. Naturally, there are more potent
magics like Symbols and Explosive
Runes that might also be available, for a
much stiffer price. Any magical protection for a merchant’s shop will cost quite
a few gold pieces.
The merchant can employ one or more
guards for his goods at night or even
during the day. That is what town guards
are for, by the way. The guard a merchant employs can be an adventuringclass character even if the employer is
zero level himself. After all, money is the
key factor here, not level.
The merchant can buy a dog or other
animal (monster?) to guard his property.
A guard dog can stop many a robbery
before it starts. If the merchant has a
golem, basilisk or cockatrice, however,
so much the better!