Our table almost never loots bodies. Is this a 5E thing?

[Beelzebubba]

Our table is not playing the D&D I grew up with.

They're kind of murder-ey, but in a way that makes sense for the characters. So, when we subdued the ringleader of a human trafficking ring, the Tiefling Urchin - who grew up in a really oppressed way - slashed his throat rather than turn him over to authorities.

But we realized later that we didn't search the body.

When I DM'd, the party was in a caravan that got chased by 20+ goblins on Wargs. The players won - man, a high Dex Battlemaster with a crossbow is fearsome - and they didn't check any of them.

Hell, a bunch of us are in the Sunken Citadel now, and after we handled the we didn't even search there either, and a thing that resolves a major plot point is in that treasure.

Some of it is character choices - my stoner Druid isn't really about that, maaaaaaan - but even the Urchin isn't as sticky-fingered as I'd expected. It feels like we're definitely more 'violent with a purpose' rather than 'greedy murder hobo'.

Is this happening for anyone else?

[Ninja_Prawn]

In games I've played, corpse looting has been fairly infrequent, certainly in comparison to video games. It just doesn't seem to be the done thing. That, or we just forget.

[JohnDaBarr]

Because after level 2 in 5ed players usually have everything they need with the exception of plate/halfplate and magical items. Plus most creeps don't carry any noticeable amount of coin.

[Unoriginal]

Are you playing in the Adventure League or with people who are used to play in AL?

Because I think the AL has specific rules about looting.


Otherwise, I'm not sure it's due to playing 5e your table is doing that, but 5e monsters don't have a "treasure" part in their statblock, while they did in 3.X, and they can only rarely be butchered for magical components or the like (which happened a lot in 4e, in my limited experience), so, like many thing in 5e, what kind of riches is on the bodies is entirely up to the DM, with the DMG guidelines of course. Add to this how it's said that stuff like monster's armor is often too damaged to sell, and maybe your table got a wrong impression?

It's been a while I've been in a 5e game, but it's the first time I hear something like that happening. Pretty sure most tables loot equipment, magic items and the like from their enemies' dead bodies.

[Beelzebubba]

Because after level 2 in 5ed players usually have everything they need with the exception of plate/halfplate and magical items. Plus most creeps don't carry any noticeable amount of coin.

That may be a factor. We wrote good back stories and even flavored the 'trinkets' so they feel like fully-realized people on a quest.




Are you playing in the Adventure League or with people who are used to play in AL?

Because I think the AL has specific rules about looting.

Otherwise, I'm not sure it's due to playing 5e your table is doing that

No, no Adventure League.

It's a mix of experience with the game. We range from 30+ year grognards to brand new. And the grognard - me - is sitting back a bit to let the table find it's own voice without trying to show off or telling them 'how it's done'.

Most of the folks know each other from strategic board gaming. They cut their teeth on Diplomacy more than pencil & paper games or computer RPGs, so maybe that's it?

[MrFahrenheit]

Because after level 2 in 5ed players usually have everything they need with the exception of plate/halfplate and magical items. Plus most creeps don't carry any noticeable amount of coin.

^This.

John is right on the money. So much more in 5e is about your character choices than equipment. A level 20 party with no equipment other than starting gear only has a *slightly* less good chance (I can't get myself to use the word "worse" here) of beating an end-game BBEG combat encounter than a party with magic items of varying rarity.

[MrFahrenheit]

I will ask this, though:

Are living conditions impacting the party/does it matter if they sleep outside at night or in a tent? I give my party inspiration for sleeping in more luxurious arrangements. And I actually give them negative inspiration (I tinkered with the inspiration system in my game a bit) for more squalid sleeping arrangements. Suddenly buying a home (if the missions don't send you very far) or making sure you always have a tent and hearth at bare minimum become worthwhile investments, and make bodies worth looting.

Do you track simple things like arrows and rations/hunting, or are they freebies? Seems petty and spreadsheet-y, but if the archer runs out of arrows mid-combat, then goes to town after the party neglected to loot the orcish raiders' corpses fifty miles back, said archer will feel pretty dumb when he can't buy more arrows (hope someone in the party has the entertainer background at that point...or sleight of hand expertise).

[nickl_2000]

If it's a 5e thing it's because there isn't a magic economy like there was in 3.5 and they feel that they have everything they need. Personally, our table always loots the bodies. You never know when it will be handy to have some spare cash. However, we are still in the first tier, that may be something we worry less about in the upper tiers

[MrFahrenheit]

If it's a 5e thing it's because there isn't a magic economy like there was in 3.5 and they feel that they have everything they need. Personally, our table always loots the bodies. You never know when it will be handy to have some spare cash. However, we are still in the first tier, that may be something we worry less about in the upper tiers

Having DMed a 1-20 campaign in 5e, I can tell you this regarding gear...

Obtain the best armor for relevant characters (full plate for str-based non-barbs, breast plate or half plate for dex-based martial characters who get access to medium armor, dependent upon whether or not they take the medium armor master feat, studded leather for light armor only folks. Obvious exceptions apply for Druids). This should be available. The DM may make you get fitted for full or half plate, and take a few sessions to have the gear smithed, but it should be effectively readily available nonetheless.

If you get magic weapons, you don't even really *need* there to be anything else special about them (not even the simplest +1). Around mid-game, you'll begin facing enemies who resist mundane physical attacks. They become more common as the game progresses, too. Getting past that resistance is super helpful.

[Pex]

In my groups we loot the bodies regardless of prevalence of magic items. My groups range from "are you sure you're not playing 3E" to "what is this term, magic item, of which you speak". Wealth may not be needed as much for character game mechanis, but it's still useful for roleplaying.

[Unoriginal]

Just remember player characters can't carry tons of money either. Unless they buy elephants and carts

[Armored Walrus]

Is this happening for anyone else?

My players generally forget to loot bodies, too. You mention Sunless Citadel, and this is where I really noticed it. When my players went through there they left so much on the table. They just went in because of the plot I had set up to tie it into our campaign, and got out soon as they killed the end boss. Hell, when they came upon the dragon wyrmling sitting on its small pile of treasure, they just charmed the wyrmling and led it back to Yusdrayl, never picked up the treasure pile.

I haven't picked up a new video game in awhile, but maybe looting bodies is out of fashion there? I know two of my players play more Overwatch and Zelda games than WoW or whatever RPGs the kids are playing nowadays, so maybe that's part of it. I picked up the last Dragon Age and played it, can't remember if looting bodies was a thing in that game.

[Beechgnome]

For my group it's less about 5e than us. We are older, have young kids and can't reasonably play a session longer than 4 hours. So time is essential. Anything that doesn't advance the story is cut.

When we started we kept track of all the piddly gems and whatnots we looted along the way, but then we realised we didn't have 2 hours to waste to go into town and buy stuff. Now all that stuff happens between sessions or not at all.

[Laserlight]

I DM one group and play in another. I've played since 1978 or so, nobody else has played anything but 4e and 5e. I regularly loot the bodies of anyone who I think might have clues, or significant loot; one other player also loots occasionally; nobody else does unless the monster obviously has an interesting item. It's not at all like earlier versions, where we looted everything.

I suspect that's because we don't get XP for GP, and we mostly don't track money or other supplies. If I need a plot hook, I can tell the party "You're almost out of money, you need to take a contract. You can bodyguard for the gnome party, steal from the alchemist, or take a gig for the explorers' guild" and "you completed the contract, you get paid enough to keep you going until Winterdark" without anyone caring exactly how much they got paid.

[KorvinStarmast]

That may be a factor. We wrote good back stories and even flavored the 'trinkets' so they feel like fully-realized people on a quest. We did to. We still loot the bodies. We have three fundamental reasons:
Intel: markings, totems, tattoos, badges. Find out if there is a clue.
Loot: ya never know what useful thing might be on a fallen opponent's body
Salvage: If we have a cart of a wagon, someone with a mending cantrip can repair some things and make us some cash/beer money at the next village. Our caravan guard mission a couple of years ago, as we were beginning, got us enough cash to buy our Rogue a Long Bow at the next village. Me, a cleric, sitting on the cart with the mending cantrip. Things like chain mail and plate? usually our DM, once we'd defeated them in combat, offered a 1/10th price salvage value if we found a town or a city; without a cart, not worth carrying around.
It's a mix of experience with the game. We range from 30+ year grognards They are growing grognards young these days. :smallbiggrin:


Most of the folks know each other from strategic board gaming. They cut their teeth on Diplomacy more than pencil & paper games or computer RPGs, so maybe that's it? Hmm, that sounds a lot like the people who first played D&D in the 70's. A lot. (My entry into the game was via my boardgamer/wargamer friends, half of whom were on the soccer team with me. I'd been playing Diplomacy since I was 11, AH games since then as well).

If you get magic weapons, you don't even really *need* there to be anything else special about them (not even the simplest +1). Around mid-game, you'll begin facing enemies who resist mundane physical attacks. They become more common as the game progresses, too. Getting past that resistance is super helpful. We ran into were rats at level 2.
In my groups we loot the bodies regardless of prevalence of magic items. My groups range from "are you sure you're not playing 3E" to "what is this term, magic item, of which you speak". Wealth may not be needed as much for character game mechanis, but it's still useful for roleplaying. Yeah.

[Dudewithknives]

My group is kind of odd.

We loot everything we can get our hands on, but mainly it is just junk we lug around in some bags.

We have a Cleric, Druid, Bard and I am playing a Monk.

The cleric already has his plate armor, so what loot we get is not really needed, we just like having it around to improvise with.

Ex. Slight spoiler for OotA....

When we escaped from being captured I took all our manicles, and locked them together to make a chain with a loop on it and lassoed, an outcropping of rock to enter the priestess chamber from the bottom floor instead of the top.

You never know when mundane supplies can come in handy.

[smcmike]

I suspect that's because we don't get XP for GP, and we mostly don't track money or other supplies. If I need a plot hook, I can tell the party "You're almost out of money, you need to take a contract. You can bodyguard for the gnome party, steal from the alchemist, or take a gig for the explorers' guild" and "you completed the contract, you get paid enough to keep you going until Winterdark" without anyone caring exactly how much they got paid.

Though this seems mildly heretical, given the history of the game, I love the idea of not even tracking money with any sort of specificity.

[Zorku]

When my group loots more than one or two bodies in 5e it's under the same category of behavior as when the rogue picks locks on doors that were already open.

We're still tracking money but there's no relevant use for it.

[Theodoxus]

My players only loot weapons. Last session, the dwarf cleric took an ettin's axe and club and hauled them around town trying to sell them. None of the blacksmiths or general goods folk wanted them. He tried getting the innkeeper to buy them as decorations for this mantle - but the innkeeper offered about half what the dwarf was asking, so the cleric decided it was more beneficial to lug them around.

I like the idea of not really worrying about cash... one DM I played with just handwaved looting bodies, saying we found enough coin to pay for incidentals - ammo, lodging, food, etc for the day.

[xroads]

Our group loots bodies. And we'll even collect weapons & armor we pull of our enemies if we think that we can sell it (though we're currently too far from civilization to bother carrying such equipment).

On a personal note, I extend kudos to your group for being diplomatic & tactful. My group has at least two Leeroy Jenkins. Frankly it's a miracle we haven't died. Helm must be looking out for us. :smallwink:

[Tanarii]

In games I've played, corpse looting has been fairly infrequent, certainly in comparison to video games. It just doesn't seem to be the done thing. That, or we just forget.
Every time I get brand new players to D&D, I know exactly which ones played RPG video games that involved 'looting corpses'. Not saying that there aren't plenty of experienced players that automatically roll the enemy for gold. But with new players to the game, it's pretty obvious. "Loot the corpses" isn't a statement that comes about naturally. :smallamused:

Edit: also searching every crate, vase, other container, bookshelf, and even piles of bones / leaves / dirt. Thank god with 5e they built a system that allows you to just assume the PCs searching an area automatically find whatever can be found, just by taking ten times as long. (Per DMG auto success rules.)

[Breashios]

After our group piled up everything in a room (and off bodies) including a collection of rocks to detect magic on, I just look at the situation. If there is no time pressure I assume they did loot everything and just tell them what they got. Since the party shares everything, this just saves time. I'd guess if these players now went to other games they might be lazy about stating they are going to loot the bodies.

When they are in a rush, I don't say anything. Sometimes they'll say they go back later to search the bodies/rooms, but other times they don't. They've missed a few things because of this, but nothing critical.

To answer the question, I don't think this is related to the ROLE PLAYING game system as much as the dynamic of the groups that play and the stories themselves. I remember many sessions of GURPS, MechWarrior, Traveller, MERPS, and fantasy Savage Worlds where we did not loot bodies. Other times we did. I don't ever remember looting bodies in our old Star Trek The Roleplaying Game campaign.

[Temperjoke]

It's funny, in the game that I was part of for a while (life happened to everyone, game went on permanent hiatus), a couple of us always searched the bodies, while a couple of people didn't. I suspect it's also a matter of natural curiousity/greed to see what's on the bodies.

[Sariel Vailo]

In games I've played, corpse looting has been fairly infrequent, certainly in comparison to video games. It just doesn't seem to be the done thing. That, or we just forget. i only loot bodies or defeated foes if they had better armor say splint mail.otherwise i dont loot bodies as a paladin i bury them.

[Sariel Vailo]

I picked up the last Dragon Age and played it, can't remember if looting bodies was a thing in that game. if its inquisition yes you looted bodies but in a weird way like last time. If you look at a body and inspect the loot it will turn into a sack if u dont pick up said loot.but in that game the crafting system made it to wear why steal enemy weapons and armor to sell them so i can craft more things.

[Sigreid]

My group is in the even gold teeth and loose change camp. And on occasion even meat and hides...

[Beelzebubba]

Are living conditions impacting the party/does it matter if they sleep outside at night or in a tent?

Do you track simple things like arrows and rations/hunting, or are they freebies?

Living conditions have been good, we've just been charging the lifestyle costs, and have been on one real 'adventure' as a team, strung together with a time constraint so there hasn't been a chance to rest. I think some of it was about the feeling of being in a hurry (at one point we were saving one of the PC's children from human traffickers), some of it was the first BBEG being an elected official that worked for the Paladin's family (so looting the government building wouldn't have gone over well), and some of it was being on the road.

But, they didn't start looting inside the dungeon, though, so that's where I started getting concerned. :smallbiggrin:

I think you're on to something with the resource tracking. We just had a DM-only 'Session 0' and decided to start using the optional encumbrance, and start tracking food / arrows / etc. more. We'll couple that with setting up the 'West Marches Style' home base, and will make the team deal with horses, tents, and treasure hauling on the road. Feeding a bunch of horses will definitely make us start scrounging for every copper.



In my groups we loot the bodies regardless of prevalence of magic items. My groups range from "are you sure you're not playing 3E" to "what is this term, magic item, of which you speak". Wealth may not be needed as much for character game mechanics, but it's still useful for roleplaying.

Keep fighting the good fight! I love the Conan / Fafhrd / Elric conceit of always being broke from carousing, and living the big life.



They are growing grognards young these days. :smallbiggrin:

That was 30+ years of playing. :smalltongue:

[N810]

The way our DM dies it, if an opponent has anything good he will likely be using it.
so we tend to get the best look when fighting humanoid bosses.
it is seldom worth looting monsters or low level lackeys, usually they only have a handful of gold at best.
Sometimes we find random treasure at the end of the dungeon so that helps.

[Naez]

In every group I've played with it was assumed we loot the bodies so the DM just told us what we found of note. This saves time and stops us from missing plot relevant drops. The only time it isn't is if we don't have time. Like fighting baddies in a burning building or we gotta hightail it cause guards are coming.

[LordCdrMilitant]

There's not a whole lot to do with the stuff in 5e, so there is less incentive to take it.

My parties used to loot everything, including the enemy underwear. I kept track of every set of armor and every weapon and every ration tin they took from killed enemy soldiers. Memorably, one character considered the bodies themselves itself to be loot, because somebody will pay for corpses. But now that happens a lot less. We don't play D&D as much anyway, but with less to gain from looting the bodies, there's not much reason to take forty-five goblin spears that sell for half a silver each and haul it back to town.

We always rifle through their pockets for valuable things, though, but their armor and weapons get left behind. Usually.

[Tanarii]

I thought the default rule for 5e was non-magical armor & weapons are worth nothing if you try to sell them?

[Yagyujubei]

man my group and I always check the corpses...every copper counts yo. and not even checking a room for treasure? thats just blasphemy!

[Afrodactyl]

My group typically only tends to loot bodies of humanoids, and occasionally one will harvest something from some aberrations.

It's generally sparked by a ranged character looking to retrieve his ammunition, or the DM describing "you notice one of the orcs carrying a highly ornate MacGuffin" prior to combat starting.

[Waazraath]

No, like, just.... no! Since I started playing early nineties, I never been on a table that doesn't loot the bodies. That hasn't changed in 5e.

I mean, even if you don't do it for the loot (that arguably is less important in 5e), you want to do it for clues.

Essential part of the game, really. Should have been called DD&LtB.

[Tsubodai]

My group always loots bodies, whether I am DM'ing or playing.

I suspect that this is partially due to the fact that we all play games like The Elder Scrolls, where you loot most bodies.
We also ignore the rules regarding how much you can carry, as we feel that they just get in the way. This means that there is no logistical incentive to not loot bodies.
Finally, when anyone of us is DM'ing, we all ensure that BBEG's and other powerful creatures carry magic items, so we have come to expect good loot after we kill powerful enemies.

Edit: Just to note, this is the same across all the levels our characters have been. At 20th level our characters looted bodies exactly the same as they had done at 10th and 1st level.

[Beelzebubba]

Us 3 DMs had a 'session 0' yesterday, and it turns out a sub-quest our team was given in our last adventure - finding a specific statue for the Kobolds in the Sunless Citadel - was invented by the DM to get us to actually find a big treasure horde we didn't even bother to look for.

I couldn't stop laughing.

I've been trying to let the table find it's own way, but I think I have to - um, 'influence' this a bit.

[OverdrivePrime]

Most of my players started out in AD&D back in the 90s. They loot ANYTHING. "Waste not, want not" should be the party motto. :smallamused:

[sluggo]

I generally find most bodies don't have anything worth looting most of the time.

[tieren]

We loot bodies.

However I was a little concerned in a recent session when we cleared a village that was being sacked by goblins, and the party members proceeded to loot the villagers homes and things, breaking into their lockboxes, stealing the holy symbols from the church, etc...

it seemed out of character and too "videogamey" for me.

[GlenSmash!]

I thought the default rule for 5e was non-magical armor & weapons are worth nothing if you try to sell them?

If I remember correctly they can be sold for half their value listed in the PHB. To me that's typically not worth the Weight of carrying them.

If its something I can use immediately I equip it. If not I leave it for the scavengers.

[Ixidor92]

In 5e I've seen a steep drop in looting the dead. Based on what I've seen, it's because magic items are usually less common and also less important than in previous editions. My 5th level party has only two minor magic items, but we are still completely effective at beating down our opponents (which are actually regularly above CR 5) Whereas in 3.5 you definitely need at least a couple of minor items to ensure you could regularly beat encounters above your CR in a dungeon.

[Zorku]

We loot bodies.

However I was a little concerned in a recent session when we cleared a village that was being sacked by goblins, and the party members proceeded to loot the villagers homes and things, breaking into their lockboxes, stealing the holy symbols from the church, etc...

it seemed out of character and too "videogamey" for me.Who does do that kind of stuff in the world though? If the materials are worth something then it seems like somebody would salvage them from the ruins before too long. No point leaving a bunch of religious decoration on a burnt out husk.

How much low-value slightly-valuable stuff do you think that one party of adventurers could actually carry out of a ruined town though?

[Beelzebubba]

If I remember correctly they can be sold for half their value listed in the PHB. To me that's typically not worth the Weight of carrying them.

If its something I can use immediately I equip it. If not I leave it for the scavengers.

Close, but there's an out for DMs to prevent characters from hoarding Goblin Scimitars...


PHB 144:
As a general rule, undamaged weapons, armor, and other equipment fetch half their cost when sold in a market. Weapons and armor used by monsters are rarely in good enough condition to sell.

[GlenSmash!]

Close, but there's an out for DMs to prevent characters from hoarding Goblin Scimitars...

Ah yes! I forgot about that one.

Mostly my players have never tried to hoard weapons and armor. Valuable carrying space is usually saved for magic items, plot items, coin, or gems.

[lperkins2]

It's a 5e thing, or maybe a 5e official module thing. When we started out, we checked everything for anything interesting, there was nothing. I don't mean nothing of value, or nothing worth the weight to sell, I mean nothing. The goblins wore rags and used slings or stone daggers. They had no coins, no bits of shiny, nothing looted which might indicate where they came from or anything. The last time the party bothered looting was when we realized the mooks we'd just killed didn't even have a tinderbox for them to have lit their fire, let alone basic camping gear. And no, this wasn't a plot point (how did these guys with nothing get here), it was just that the module didn't bother to list those sorts of details, and the DM didn't bother to add anything. It wouldn't be so bad, but it's all electronically tracked, so he can't easily handwave things into existence. Continuing to check and find absolutely nothing was starting to break the immersion, so we all just kinda stopped.

If you want players to take the time to check bodies, you need to make it interesting at least some of the time. This doesn't mean you need to give out loot (money or magic items), just that checking the bodies needs to be worth the time. I'd usually far rather gain insight into the people we killed than get a shiny ring. Maybe they have written orders on them, or a letter from a friend. Maybe they have the description of a specific party member, or something that gives a clue about why they were here. Also, don't try to be overly nitpicky about it, or the players will give it up as not worth the time, if they take the time to look, either quickly say there's nothing of note, or give them the information. Don't make them roll investigation for each corpse, and certainly don't make them go through 'I check corpse 328, anything?' 'No.' 'I check corpse 329...'

[Sigreid]

It's a 5e thing, or maybe a 5e official module thing. When we started out, we checked everything for anything interesting, there was nothing. I don't mean nothing of value, or nothing worth the weight to sell, I mean nothing. The goblins wore rags and used slings or stone daggers. They had no coins, no bits of shiny, nothing looted which might indicate where they came from or anything. The last time the party bothered looting was when we realized the mooks we'd just killed didn't even have a tinderbox for them to have lit their fire, let alone basic camping gear. And no, this wasn't a plot point (how did these guys with nothing get here), it was just that the module didn't bother to list those sorts of details, and the DM didn't bother to add anything. It wouldn't be so bad, but it's all electronically tracked, so he can't easily handwave things into existence. Continuing to check and find absolutely nothing was starting to break the immersion, so we all just kinda stopped.

If you want players to take the time to check bodies, you need to make it interesting at least some of the time. This doesn't mean you need to give out loot (money or magic items), just that checking the bodies needs to be worth the time. I'd usually far rather gain insight into the people we killed than get a shiny ring. Maybe they have written orders on them, or a letter from a friend. Maybe they have the description of a specific party member, or something that gives a clue about why they were here. Also, don't try to be overly nitpicky about it, or the players will give it up as not worth the time, if they take the time to look, either quickly say there's nothing of note, or give them the information. Don't make them roll investigation for each corpse, and certainly don't make them go through 'I check corpse 328, anything?' 'No.' 'I check corpse 329...'

That's a DM thing I think. In our group, humanoid opponents always have something. May not be worth picking up. May not be something you want to touch, but something none the less.

[Slayn82]

I'm currently playing a Bard in 5e, and I selected spells like Shatter, Wall of Stone and Major Image. When our party find some big treasure that we can't carry around, I bury it and hide with illusions, then create a map and later trade it with an ally for something we may be in need. Our treasure maps are kinda like letters of credit, since we can swear their autenticity, and use divinations to check if the vaults are still untouched. Suggestion and Gaeas spells further help to pass off the maps.

[Laserlight]

Though this seems mildly heretical, given the history of the game, I love the idea of not even tracking money with any sort of specificity.

My players are all in their mid 20s and have to deal with budgets IRL. There didn't seem any point in requiring them to do it in game, and it would take away from game time. That said, they did get shipwrecked and arrive in town with about 30gp among them, and I had them dig out the pricelist in the PHB and buy supplies. They had fun doing that, partly because of its rarity.

When I'm a player, I collect all the money, track all the party's loot, including magic items and potions that other people have unless I know they've put it on their charsheet, and post it as a doc file in our Facebook group. I'm willing to bet that when I retire that character, no one will think to ask for a share of the treasure.

[lperkins2]

That's a DM thing I think. In our group, humanoid opponents always have something. May not be worth picking up. May not be something you want to touch, but something none the less.

It is and it isn't. It's certainly a DM thing to not address the issue, and we do have a fairly new DM (and new players, who are mostly there for the social aspect rather than the game aspect). It's also a 5e issue, since previous editions' modules would go into (sometimes too much) detail about what stuff NPCs had.

As far as dungeon monsters' weapons and armor, they can be sold in town, assuming they are made of iron or steel. Hauling them in will net you 1 silver per pound (per the trade goods table), so the 1800-gp-when-new full plate will net you about 4 gold. You might need to rent time with a smelter to make them into ingots, but that is fairly trivial (and could be done via spells, probably).

[Snails]

You guys play too nice. Because the bodies. Are. The loot.

[Sigreid]

You guys play too nice. Because the bodies. Are. The loot.

I had listed earlier that my group has been known to decide that they wanted the meat and hides from even humanoid opponents.

[Luccan]

Mostly playing 3.5 in gaming experience, we didn't usually loot bodies either, except for gold. Because at low levels, you end up lugging around non-magical garbage and at any other level, you just have someone detect magic for any worthy loot in the area. I assume similar would be true in 5e, but without loot tables (particularly on humanoids and giants) there is very little purpose to even checking if your enemy has anything of value: they either can't carry it anyway or they're just some mook without anything good on them.

[Beelzebubba]

Well, we played today and everyone looted bodies.

The rogue even stole some of the gold he found by himself with an excellent sleight of hand check.

They - they're getting it!

(single tear rolls down cheek)

[ZorroGames]

Looting seldom gets much attention after you find multiple handfuls or less of copper pieces. Search bodies but do not expect much in 5e. Always search rooms, just to keep the DM in his/her toes.

Though one certifiable evil DM in OD&D has us in the fight of our lives only to discover the 'treasure horde' was multiple chests of Copper pieces. 30,000 copper pieces. Same guy had us find platinum pieces only to have all the towns reject them as not "real" money (cp sp, gp, electrum at a steep discount.)

Grr.

[Nifft]

You never loot the corpse any more when you stab my imps
And there's no greediness like before in your sidelong glimpse
You're trying hard not to show it
But PCs, PCs I know it

You lost that lootin' feelin'
Woah, that lootin' feelin'
You lost that lootin' feelin'
Now it's gone, gone, gone, woh

[Saeviomage]

Every time I get brand new players to D&D, I know exactly which ones played RPG video games that involved 'looting corpses'. Not saying that there aren't plenty of experienced players that automatically roll the enemy for gold. But with new players to the game, it's pretty obvious. "Loot the corpses" isn't a statement that comes about naturally. :smallamused:

So... if computer games are to blame, then how did the grognards come upon it?

I personally can't remember a time when we didn't loot bodies for gold... and I didn't play any D&Dish games until after I'd started playing D&D...

[smcmike]

You never loot the corpse any more when you stab my imps
And there's no greediness like before in your sidelong glimpse
You're trying hard not to show it
But PCs, PCs I know it

You lost that lootin' feelin'
Woah, that lootin' feelin'
You lost that lootin' feelin'
Now it's gone, gone, gone, woh

This is a quality post.

[Nifft]

So... if computer games are to blame, then how did the grognards come upon it?

I personally can't remember a time when we didn't loot bodies for gold... and I didn't play any D&Dish games until after I'd started playing D&D...

Video games got looting from D&D.

"Pixel-bitching" came directly from oD&D modules.

In ye olde editions, you got XP for finding treasure and taking it home -- so searching bodies for treasure was actually searching bodies for XP.

[Tanarii]

So... if computer games are to blame, then how did the grognards come upon it?

I personally can't remember a time when we didn't loot bodies for gold... and I didn't play any D&Dish games until after I'd started playing D&D...
Oh, RPG computer games definitely got it from old-school D&D. But my experience is that players new to D&D (now) don't instinctively think that way unless they've played video games fairly heavily. Although nowadays that's a large majority of new players.

[Zorku]

It's a 5e thing, or maybe a 5e official module thing. When we started out, we checked everything for anything interesting, there was nothing. I don't mean nothing of value, or nothing worth the weight to sell, I mean nothing. The goblins wore rags and used slings or stone daggers. They had no coins, no bits of shiny, nothing looted which might indicate where they came from or anything. The last time the party bothered looting was when we realized the mooks we'd just killed didn't even have a tinderbox for them to have lit their fire, let alone basic camping gear. And no, this wasn't a plot point (how did these guys with nothing get here), it was just that the module didn't bother to list those sorts of details, and the DM didn't bother to add anything. It wouldn't be so bad, but it's all electronically tracked, so he can't easily handwave things into existence. Continuing to check and find absolutely nothing was starting to break the immersion, so we all just kinda stopped.

If you want players to take the time to check bodies, you need to make it interesting at least some of the time. This doesn't mean you need to give out loot (money or magic items), just that checking the bodies needs to be worth the time. I'd usually far rather gain insight into the people we killed than get a shiny ring. Maybe they have written orders on them, or a letter from a friend. Maybe they have the description of a specific party member, or something that gives a clue about why they were here. Also, don't try to be overly nitpicky about it, or the players will give it up as not worth the time, if they take the time to look, either quickly say there's nothing of note, or give them the information. Don't make them roll investigation for each corpse, and certainly don't make them go through 'I check corpse 328, anything?' 'No.' 'I check corpse 329...'

It's really a shame that 5e doesn't have a few more words devoted to "think about what the party could find and then make up some details for it." I know the really old editions listed the exact number of coins you could get for checking someone's couch cushions, and that that's all pretty terrible to sift through, but just having that nod that things like that should exist made those GMs infinitely better at fabricating those details.

[Cybren]

If I remember correctly they can be sold for half their value listed in the PHB. To me that's typically not worth the Weight of carrying them.

If its something I can use immediately I equip it. If not I leave it for the scavengers.

Maybe not worth the weight of carrying them to the PCs, but to the urban poor with no trade skills that would otherwise be rag-picking...