Gaming · Tabletop RPG
Campaign economy price scaler.
Many DMs find printed magic item prices too high for their table. Pick the price one item should have, and every other price on your list moves by the same factor.
Your price list
Result
Enter your numbers and press Calculate.
What this calculator does
Online threads about magic item prices keep landing on the same complaint: the numbers on the list do not fit a campaign where a day's modest living costs a gold piece. There is no neutral fix, so this tool does not invent a replacement price list. You supply the items and the prices you are working from; it supplies one rule that keeps them in proportion.
The rule is a single multiplier: your price for the anchor item divided by its listed price. If a healing potion lists at 50 gp and you want it at 5 gp, every price on the list is multiplied by 0.1. Because the multiplier is the same for every item, expensive things stay expensive relative to cheap ones, and you only decide the one number that sets your table's feel.
Worked example
The anchor is a potion that lists at 50 gp, and you want it to cost 5 gp. The factor is 5 / 50 = 0.1. A bag of holding listed at 4,000 gp becomes 400 gp. A torch at 1 cp becomes 0 cp, because coins do not split: price very cheap goods by hand rather than by factor. The potion itself is 5 gp, or 5 days of modest living at the SRD figure of 1 gp per day.
How it is calculated
Each price is parsed into copper (gold by default, or with sp, cp, ep or pp). The factor is the campaign anchor divided by the listed anchor. Each scaled price is the listed price times the factor, rounded to the nearest copper piece. The "modest-lifestyle days" column divides the scaled price by 100 copper, since SRD 5.1 prices a modest lifestyle at 1 gp per day. It is a yardstick for how a price feels, not a rule. Lines that do not parse are skipped and listed so you can fix them.
The "Selling Treasure" text in the Equipment chapter and the Lifestyle Expenses table of SRD 5.1. The scaling rule is arithmetic defined on this page. Last checked 2026-10-26.
What this does not cover
- The tool contains no price list of its own. The prices you paste are your responsibility and may be under a licence of their own.
- One multiplier cannot fix a list that is wrong in shape, such as an item that is too cheap relative to its power.
- Mundane goods already have workable prices; scaling them with a magic-item factor usually makes little sense.
- Prices round to the nearest copper, so very cheap items distort at small factors.
Common mix-ups
-
Often assumedThe core rules include a fixed price list for magic items that players can sell at.
What the source saysSRD 5.1 prices mundane gear and says that undamaged equipment fetches half its cost when sold, but that selling magic items is problematic and finding a buyer for a potion or scroll is not easy. Magic item sale prices are left to the table. [1]
-
Often assumedCharacters sell their loot for the full listed price.
What the source saysThe SRD says that, as a general rule, undamaged weapons, armor and other equipment fetch half their cost when sold. [1]
Checked against these sources on .
Frequently asked questions
How do I pick the anchor item?
Choose something your players buy often and have a feel for, like a healing potion or a night at an inn. Set its price to what feels right at your table. Everything else follows from that one choice.
Does the SRD give prices for magic items?
SRD 5.1 gives prices for mundane equipment and says selling magic items is problematic. It describes finding someone to buy a potion or scroll as not easy. Any gold figure you use for magic items comes from another list or from your own table.
What is the modest lifestyle figure?
SRD 5.1 lists a modest lifestyle at 1 gp per day. The tool shows how many such days a price equals, so you can judge whether a purchase is a week of wages or a year of them.
Can I enter prices in silver or copper?
Yes. Write the unit after the number, for example "Torch, 1 cp" or "Rope, 5 sp". Without a unit the number is taken as gold.
What if my scaled price is below one copper piece?
It rounds to the nearest copper, so very cheap goods can come out as 0 or 1 cp. Price those by hand.
Sources
Checked
The "Selling Treasure" text in the Equipment chapter and the Lifestyle Expenses table of SRD 5.1. The scaling rule is arithmetic defined on this page. Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or stored.
Disclaimer
TNAADO is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast. This tool is compatible with fifth edition and uses game names only to describe what it is for. Odds and totals are arithmetic from the cited rules, and your table's house rules may differ. This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.