Merchant NPC

[Showdown35]

Or shuffle the equipment, scroll, and other item cards and whathaveyou and draw a number of them for the merchant to have for sale.

I like the random supply of stuff for the merchant to have. You can make it as many or as few items as you wish, but having them randomly drawn keeps the feel that the Merchant won't always have every item there is. And if you do like I said earlier and have multiple copies of common items, and one or two copies of rarer items, it makes it very tempting for the Heroes to test their luck on buying from the Merchant when a rare item pops up!

[Patroclus]

Or shuffle the equipment, scroll, and other item cards and whathaveyou and draw a number of them for the merchant to have for sale.

in my opinion there is no need to hide some goods. If you check the values, they are very balanced. For example, if you have to spend 80 gold you can buy the Restoration Potion (from the elven expansion) that does full healing with 80 gold. But, will you?

Maybe, it’s better to buy one Rejuvenation potion (+1D6 body) with 50 gold and spend the 30 gold that left for a Battle potion (reroll an attack) that can save your day if you use it wisely. Of course you may roll only 1 on the six sided dice and spend 50 gold to restore only 1 body!

So, maybe it’s better to buy two Restoration potions (+1 Body&Mind) with 30 gold each and spend the remaining 20 gold for an Ice Bridge scroll (magic bridge for pits, etc). It can save you from a risk to get 1 damage one day. Or you can buy a throwing dagger with 20 gold, why not. If you can’t reach your enemy you can throw him a dagger and you could kill him. Or better you can buy two Dexterity potions (+5 squares, pit jump) with 10 gold each.

Or maybe forget the healing things and go for something more aggressive. Pay 70 gold and get a Ball of Flame scroll (2 damage, 2D6 avoid with 5+) + one Dexterity potion (+5 squares, pit jump) for 10 gold.

Or even better, two Fire of Wrath scrolls (1 damage, 1D6 avoid with 5+).

Which of the above is better? in my opinion, I think none. All are great but totally different. Some are more defensive, other more aggressive, other could be tricky. This is why I suggest to give to your Heroes the opportunity to choose by themselves how to spend their gold. And each player will have his own style, depending the items he chooses to use.

On the other hand, if you give them items by treasures, or by limited cards, they will always choose the best cards, so it’s random. No player could have his own style. They just play what they get, and this is wrong.

[Patroclus]

Or shuffle the equipment, scroll, and other item cards and whathaveyou and draw a number of them for the merchant to have for sale.

I like the random supply of stuff for the merchant to have. You can make it as many or as few items as you wish, but having them randomly drawn keeps the feel that the Merchant won't always have every item there is. And if you do like I said earlier and have multiple copies of common items, and one or two copies of rarer items, it makes it very tempting for the Heroes to test their luck on buying from the Merchant when a rare item pops up!

I like the idea where random things happens. I understand what you saying about rare items. But you can put rare treasures by making treasure matrixes like AHQ. I am not sure that it could work with the merchant, or with the market of a town, because everyone will buy the best item he finds, so finally all are random.

I have answered to knightkrawler about how bad is to not let your heroes choose their playing style. Someone could like aggressive potions, other could like defensive scrolls, for sure they will take one of your monsters more easily down, or they will bypass one of your pit traps by making a bridge of ice. But the opportunity of your heroes to choose their playing style, is priceless.

The items that the heroes are carrying is a very important part of “character building” in rpgs. Let them choose by themselves.

[Showdown35]

Point taken! I never really thought of the pros of having everything available to the heroes, but you are absolutely right that it allows more customization of play style. I may adapt some kind of hybrid.
I still don't like the idea that the big items are available all the time, as then I feel heroes will never waste their time buying the smaller stuff because they know they can save up for copies of the big items. If they are only scarcely available, they will have to make the decision of who gets it when one shows up, and I like the aspect of teamwork and team strategy that decision making involves (could even start a quarrel that could get interesting). Also, it makes the common items worth buying because they might be the best available for a while, the heroes have to decide to take the risk of buying common items for a small boost, but could then miss their chance at a big item if they don't have enough gold later on. I like that dynamic of item availability.
I do, however, like the ability to customize play style, but I have also developed a progression system based on "perks" that heroes can earn as they gain experience, and there are many to choose from, so that's where I'm giving them the big play style choice. Based on your comments, though, I will likely make potions and scrolls much more available, it's really just the big power weapons I want to be scarce.