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ffone
2010-09-17, 02:39 AM
When DMing I sometimes designs encounters in a semi-back-to-back way where time is of the essence - for example, the PCs are following several bands of enemies (out of sight/sound of one another) whom they meet and (we hope) slay in succession, trying to get to the head of the train quickly Or soon after defeating one group of foes, they see or hear a cry for help in the distance, and know they might not get the chance to come back for thorough looting (say it's an urban area where locals will likely scavenge any values off the corpses if the PCs leave them unattended).

How fast can characters loot the corpses of the fallen? How much ability do they have to identify valuable items - say, masterwork vs not - if carrying capacity of speed is an issue?

Also, are there is item that grants at-will Detect Magic (possibly still requiring concentration, like the spell)? I'm looking for a way to make looting more expedient for a low-magic party, and detecting what's magic vs not goes along way towards knowing what's worth keeping. However I'm loathe to just use the SRD formula (2000 x caster level x spell level, the latter being 0.5 for cnatrips) for such an item, as it'll lead to a proliferation of requests for other continuous spell effect items.

korifugi
2010-09-17, 02:46 AM
I usually work on the idea that it'll take a couple of minutes at least to loot properly - as the party'll have to got through pockets / packs / surrounding areas or whatever.

Think about how long it would take you to go completely through someone's pockets, pack and lair to find anything of worth, discarding all the useless guff.

Small trinkets like worn jewellry and the like should be easy enough so you could argue that a magic necklace and rings could be looted quick enough but proper looting? That takes time.

Additional: Your question regarding masterwork.

Masterwork kit is usually easily identifiable, so masterwork weapons should be easy enough to pick up, along with magical which is even more obvious.

This only regards weapons though as the example you give certainly won't give enough time for looting armour.

Tyndmyr
2010-09-17, 07:09 AM
I usually use 1 item a round as a rule of thumb for things that are not hidden, or attached in any specifically difficult way(such as armor, which takes much longer to loot). Note that items inside others can make this still relatively quick, as players are free to say "I grab his pack".

jiriku
2010-09-17, 08:41 AM
I usually use 1 item a round as a rule of thumb for things that are not hidden, or attached in any specifically difficult way(such as armor, which takes much longer to loot). Note that items inside others can make this still relatively quick, as players are free to say "I grab his pack".

This is a pretty solid rule of thumb. Assume a move action to pick up an item, then a second move action to stow it securely in your gear.

It's actually pretty generous, considering how much time it might take to, say, unbuckle a belt and remove it from a dead guy, then fasten it around your own waist or coil it and stow in your pack. OTOH, even mid-level adventurers probably have lots of experience looting quickly and efficiently, and are pretty good at it. Heck, rogues probably practice speed-looting. :smalltongue:

However, finding a small item that a fallen foe had hidden on his person requires the Search skill, so a hidden knife in a boot sheath or a platinum piece sewed in a hidden interior pocket will go undetected unless the characters take the addition time to Search the bodies.

JeenLeen
2010-09-17, 01:33 PM
I forget the exact percentage, but a high number of magic items emit light (or maybe it's just weapons and armor, not wondrous items). That should make them easy to spot. It's possible a player might overlook a magic sword as a masterwork one, not worth looting at high levels if time is short, but you should roll for such occurrances unless the enemy purposely did so (or was purposely given a rare, non-glowing sword, such as his boss expected him to die but would like to get the sword back if it's no real hassle.)

Psionic items have a different thing, but equally obvious, IIRC.

So grab any glowing stuff and any trinkets (rings, odd-looking items, etc) if time is short. Full looting (minutes) if the PCs can take their time.


Move actions sound fine. I think that's the cost to store or retrieve items on one's person, although that might have been a houserule.

EDIT: The stuff about glowing is in the DMG, but I know in my game at least it was often overlooked or just ignored by the DM. Seems glowing equipment would make stealth harder or at least more complicated, so we ignored the rule for simplicity. Your players might like it for variety or loot-assistance.

Tyger
2010-09-17, 01:48 PM
When in doubt, carry a big Bag of Holding or better yet, a Portable Hole. Stuff them in now, search them later. :)

Kidding aside, Tyndmyr's rule seems pretty decent, and one that I would steal given the chance.

jiriku
2010-09-17, 02:08 PM
When in doubt, carry a big Bag of Holding or better yet, a Portable Hole. Stuff them in now, search them later. :)

That's not a joke. My players have done that. Repeatedly. :smalleek:

Tyndmyr
2010-09-17, 02:10 PM
When in doubt, carry a big Bag of Holding or better yet, a Portable Hole. Stuff them in now, search them later. :)

Kidding aside, Tyndmyr's rule seems pretty decent, and one that I would steal given the chance.

Go, for it.

But yeah, the bag o' holding to loot later has definitely been used. Remember when players do this. Particularly when they then forget to loot for a while.

Consider what happens to a decomposing body in their gear. This is especially amusing if they're in public when they start taking stuff out.

Dr.Epic
2010-09-17, 02:12 PM
Depends what they're trying to remove. A bag full of coins at their belt, a ring or necklace clearly visible, or weapon they were carrying or visible would only take a few seconds. Something like armor, clothing, or an item that's insanely well hide might take awhile to claim.

ffone
2010-09-17, 02:59 PM
Thanks everyone.

I've been in past campaigns where we bagged-o-holding whole bodies (and I figured the limited air inside would retard decomposition, and usually the PCs would 'dump' at least one a day).

In this case the PCs only have handy haversacks, although those could probably still fit one Small enemy if relatively empty beforehand.

1 round per item for non-armor sounds decent, with various groupings, usch as identical sets of items all being considered together (like 10 throwing hammers being on one bandolier).

Wasn't sure how to translate armor times, maybe the Remove times - 1 minute for most armor, 1d4+1 mins for plate, halved with help. Maybe use those times for one looter (the body isn't helping), halved for 2+ looters.

RS14
2010-09-17, 03:15 PM
When in doubt, carry a big Bag of Holding or better yet, a Portable Hole. Stuff them in now, search them later. :)

Kidding aside, Tyndmyr's rule seems pretty decent, and one that I would steal given the chance.

Better hope the loot doesn't contain a bag of holding/portable hole. :smalleek:

ericgrau
2010-09-17, 03:20 PM
1 item a round is about right, though an entire backpack or etc. could be grabbed at once. It's a move action to pick up an item, and a full round action to search for something hidden (though that's usually not necessary). Technically you could get up to 2 items per round with 2 move actions, but if you're looking around or concentrating on a detect magic then 1 per round is probably more typical. 2 per round is more like if you're stripping him naked ASAP without regard to whether or not what you're taking is valuable.

A major exception would be removing armor, which takes 1-2 minutes to undo all the straps (see equipment section of PHB if you need an exact time). Backpacks and shields take a move action to remove the strap(s), but that's minor enough to handwave into the same generic "1 item per round" as above.

FMArthur
2010-09-17, 03:34 PM
1: Character A sets up a Portable Hole near the treasure/lootable corpses.
2: Character B casts Control Winds and sucks everything into it.
3: Character B ends the spell, picks up the portable hole, and leaves.
4: Character B unrolls the Portable Hole somewhere safe and casts Raise Dead on Character A.
5: Loot.

KillianHawkeye
2010-09-17, 04:01 PM
1: Character A sets up a Portable Hole near the treasure/lootable corpses.
2: Character B casts Control Winds and sucks everything into it.
3: Character B ends the spell, picks up the portable hole, and leaves.
4: Character B unrolls the Portable Hole somewhere safe and casts Raise Dead on Character A.
5: Loot.

Why does Character A have to die for this scenario to work? Can't he just walk away instead of getting sucked into the hole? :smallconfused:

Curmudgeon
2010-09-17, 04:35 PM
The rules have this covered pretty well.
Action: It takes a full-round action to search a 5-foot-by-5-foot area or a volume of goods 5 feet on a side. That's 1 round (6 seconds) for a Medium or smaller body, and 4 rounds (24 seconds) for a Large one. Then add the "Pick up an item" move action (2 per round) for each item found.

imp_fireball
2010-09-17, 05:26 PM
(say it's an urban area where locals will likely scavenge any values off the corpses if the PCs leave them unattended).


One word. Explosive runes. Wait, that's two words. Ah well.

imp_fireball
2010-09-17, 05:29 PM
The rules have this covered pretty well. That's 1 round (6 seconds) for a Medium or smaller body, and 4 rounds (24 seconds) for a Large one. Then add the "Pick up an item" move action (2 per round) for each item found.

Also, searching, say... a great hall filled by 16x5 spaces (80 spaces total). takes 8 minutes. Not hard to work out calculations.

You could also generally rule half an hour for extensive searches of a few rooms, 4 hours for entire salvaging operations and 12 hours + for search and rescue.


4: Character B unrolls the Portable Hole somewhere safe and casts Raise Dead on Character A.


Character A could also have defensive roll, evasion or sudden leap or whatever allows them to escape a portable hole.