D&D Shop Generator
This D&D shop generator builds a complete shop in one click: a name, a shopkeeper with one memorable trait, their attitude to prices, a rumour, and a priced inventory of SRD 5.2 equipment or, for a magic shop, SRD 5.2 magic items. Choose the shop type and settlement size, and village shops stock less than city ones.
Open a shop
How to use the shop generator
- Choose a shop type: General store, Blacksmith, Armorer, Fletcher, Alchemist, Magic shop, Curio dealer or Stable.
- Choose the settlement: Village, Town or City.
- Press Open a shop to create it, its keeper, a rumour and the inventory with prices.
- Copy the shop as Markdown for your notes, or share the page link to reproduce it.
What a generated shop contains
Each shop has six parts:
| Part | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Name | a sign to read out when the party walks in |
| Keeper | a name, a species and one trait to play |
| Price attitude | from bargain to gouging, shown as a multiplier on list price |
| Rumour | one piece of local news the keeper will share |
| Inventory | items with prices, adjusted by the keeper’s attitude |
| Settlement | decides how much stock there is and how rare it gets |
Ordinary shops stock equipment from the SRD 5.2 with its listed prices. A magic shop stocks SRD 5.2 magic items priced from the SRD’s typical values for each rarity. Village shops carry fewer items and rarely anything above uncommon. The seed and options live in the page link, so a co-GM can open the same shop.
Running a shopping scene in five minutes
Shopping can eat an hour if you let it. It doesn’t have to.
- Read the shop name and describe one thing the party sees or smells on the way in.
- Play the keeper’s trait in the first line of dialogue.
- Ask the players what they are looking for. Not “what do you browse”, but what they want.
- Read the matching items and prices from the inventory. If it is not there, it is not in stock.
- Allow one haggle, drop the rumour, and move on.
If one player wants to shop and the others don’t, run it in a couple of minutes at the end of a session, or let them handle it between sessions by message.
Haggling: keep it to one roll
The price multiplier tells you where the keeper starts. A keeper at 0.9 is already giving a deal; one at 1.5 is gouging and knows it. Rules of thumb that keep haggling quick:
- One Charisma (Persuasion) check per purchase, not per item. Against a fair keeper, a good result knocks off about a tenth; a poor one means the price stays put.
- A gouging keeper can be talked down to list price, but not below.
- A bargain keeper will not go lower. They are already doing the party a favour, and saying so is part of the character.
- Offering something other than coin (a favour, news, a rumour of their own) works better than a second roll.
That last one turns haggling into roleplay, which is the part worth playing out.
Magic shops should be rare and strange
If every town has a magic shop, magic items become equipment and treasure stops being exciting. Keep them to cities, and even then make them odd: a dealer who only sells what was found in one ruin, an alchemist with three potions and a waiting list, a pawnbroker who doesn’t know what half the stock does. The generator’s Curio dealer is good for this. It sells strange things that are not quite magic, which gives players the browsing fun without handing out power.
When a magic shop does appear, its prices come from the SRD 5.2 rarity values, so anything rare or above costs thousands of gold. That alone keeps it in check. For random items outside a shop, use the magic item generator.
What a village sells vs a city
| Settlement | Expect | Don’t expect |
|---|---|---|
| Village | rope, rations, simple weapons, horseshoes, one general store | plate armour, magic, anything special-order |
| Town | a smith, a fletcher, an alchemist with a small shelf | more than a handful of uncommon items |
| City | most mundane gear, specialist shops, the odd magic dealer | a menu of legendary items |
A village blacksmith repairs ploughs. Asking them for a longsword might take a week. That delay is a reason to stay in the village, and staying is often where the adventure starts. Name the place with the town name generator if it doesn’t have one yet.
The shopkeeper as a recurring NPC
The party will come back to a good shop. Favourite or copy the keeper, and next time remember one thing that happened on the last visit. A keeper who remembers the party haggling, or the broken sword they brought in, is a person, not a vending machine. Give them a want over time; the NPC generator can fill in a secret if the party starts asking questions. Keepers hear everything, so they are also the obvious place to drop the next hook.
Frequently asked questions
Can this be used as a magic shop generator?
Yes. Choose Magic shop as the shop type. The inventory then lists SRD 5.2 magic items priced from the SRD’s typical values for each rarity, and village magic shops rarely stock anything above uncommon.
Where do the item prices come from?
Mundane equipment uses the prices listed in the SRD 5.2, and magic items use the SRD’s typical value for their rarity. Each price is then adjusted by the shopkeeper’s price attitude, shown as a multiplier.
How should haggling work in D&D 5e?
Keep it to one Charisma (Persuasion) check per purchase. A good result takes a little off a fair price or brings a gouger down to list price, and offering a favour or information instead of a second roll keeps it interesting.
Why does a village shop have so few items?
Small settlements stock less and rarely carry anything above uncommon. It keeps the world believable and gives the party a reason to travel to a town or city.
Can I save a shop to use again?
Yes. Copy it as Markdown into your campaign notes, or keep the page link, which reproduces the same shop, keeper and inventory for anyone who opens it.