splitting loot

[Yechezkiel]

Often, one person falls into the role of dividing up the loot. This is decided half IC, half OOC and the party either comes to an IC decision to trust him with this, or not. The other options for loot are a general free-for-all grab based on who speaks up first, and coins are loosely distributed, OR heavier, complicated RP has character wealth going in every-which way.

These are just my personal experiences in several different groups of friends, not definitive facts or worthy of debate (it varies very much depending on how much role-playing and gaming experience are involved). My question:

What method of splitting up the loot do you prefer?

(In your group) is everything equated to it's gp value, including scrolls, items, misc., then divided (so if the Ftr takes a piece of armor, and the Wiz takes a scroll, they get less of the coin)? Do you take items that you can convince would contribute to the party most in your hands (and gp is factored in after)? Is it the right of some classes to just grab things without thinking about that?

Again, I'm just looking for what you've seen/prefer. No one needs to argue about what's most fair or not.

[Dark Knight Renee]

In most of the parties in my games, the PCs usually end up splitting up the important loot based on who needs it most, and dumping most of the rest into a shared party loot pile to be used either for important equipment, or hoarded for expensive party-benefiting stuff like Raise Dead.

[martyboy74]

Magic items get distributed to whoever needs them most, then their value is subtracted from their share of loot.

[Alleine]

We split the coinage evenly and give to each person what they use/need most. So the fighter gets the armor and the wizard gets the amulet of nat'l armor.

[Dean Fellithor]

there is one thing about all of this loot splitting, the Theif is always going to steal something, if you split up the gold and have your own private hoard, the theif is going to steal some gold, if you have it all in a pile inbetween you, the theif is going to steal some of the gold to make his own sneaky private hoard.

[martyboy74]

there is one thing about all of this loot splitting, the Theif is always going to steal something, if you split up the gold and have your own private hoard, the theif is going to steal some gold, if you have it all in a pile inbetween you, the theif is going to steal some of the gold to make his own sneaky private hoard.

Y'know, there is a world outside the game where they have to announce their actions.

[Inigo_Carmine]

During adventure: Whoever needs it the most/can make the best use of it gets it. Since gold is typically not needed during this time, it is a moot point and goes to the person with the most carrying capacity.

Downtime: The worth of everything is added up and everyone gets an equal share. Magical items are equated to their worth in gold and count toward the new owner's cut of the treasure. Items consumed during the adventure may or may not calculate into this...it varies from game to game.

Certain items are an exception to this; namely items that effect everyone in the group, and healing items. IE: a scroll of haste given to the wizard might only count as half its value, since the wizard is most likely to use it on the entire party. A wand of Cure Light Wounds might go to the Cleric for free ( or for the equivalent of a few gold to make the division of loot easier). It is understood that the Cleric will not refuse to heal a party member with said wand when needed.

[Yechezkiel]

Yeah, assuming no character is trying to steal from the party (because they've learned no one likes being cheated OOC and will resent them OOC).

[Breaon]

Items which characters need are given to them. Potions & scrolls are distributed as needed. Anything not handed out is liquidated, added to the coin total, and that is split N+1 ways, with N party members, and an extra share going to a party slush fund. Cohorts typically get a 1/2 share, figured into N.

Some people argue this may not be fair in terms of value, but that doesn't matter to our gaming group; making sure that everyone is geared out to the best of their ability with the items we get does.

[Dean Fellithor]

Y'know, there is a world outside the game where they have to announce their actions.

really, i just forgot to notice it. when the DM is telling us what happens I'm quickly trying to vision what he is trying to tell. like the Werewolf that had me over its shoulder to escape a pub brawl, the Hangover from the Dwarven spirits, the anger as the dwarf takes the keys for the Prison door out of my hands and crushes them into a ball while I was trying to bargain for my Swords back in exchange for the keys (which would inevitably would save me and my best friends characters lives, while letteng the Wizard escape by turning into a bluebird, leaving the Werewolf party member and the Dwarf to Die). ahhh... that was a good plan...FRIGGIN DWARF!

[Citizen Joe]

Debts, wages (for hirelings) and expenses compensated first. Then someone 'slices the cake' creating a share by any means that he wishes. The slicer gets last dibs, thus encouraging a fair share.

You can also play 'nasty cake', where you can pick a share or take someone else's. You're not allowed to take back any share that was taken from you.

The cake slicer rotates each time shares are divided.

[Icewalker]

Yeah, I'd definitely say that the easiest way to do it is with a party loot pool. That way the gear goes to who needs it, and money is spent as agreed by the party. This doesn't work if characters come and go, or if the players don't really get along.

It also doesn't really work as well if you use lots of fighting and loot tables. By luck, lots of one kind of item may come up, and one class may be left out by bad luck. I usually make my own loot, I prefer it that way, magic items and such, and only use the tables rarely, as I use far more puzzles that fighting anyways.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

Y'know, there is a world outside the game where they have to announce their actions.

Ah, the advantages of play by post, with its personal messages (and on some forums, private text for the DM). In a game I'm in on another forum, my rogue took over 2/3 of the loot from one room while the fighter distracted the troll who'd been inside. Ironically, my rogue also did almost all the damage to the troll at the same time (the two of us were split up from the rest of the group).

Rogue: *Snatch loot, toss alchemist's fire, repeat*
Fighter: *Combat Expertise for 5 means I can't hit anything, but I'm not getting hit, either!*

And the fighter never knew about all the extra loot I was carrying.

Of course, this is only done with me OOC finding ways for the greedy rogue to share the wealth. There's a line between roleplaying the character right and just being an ass.

[Ditto]

I just realized that my group doesn't get loot... I seriously can't remember the last time we found a pile of gold somewhere and had to figure out what to do with it. We have been paid minor sums for doing odd jobs that don't nearly run up to the level of side quest. Bizarre...

Debts, wages (for hirelings) and expenses compensated first. Then someone 'slices the cake' creating a share by any means that he wishes. The slicer gets last dibs, thus encouraging a fair share.

That is always the best way to split anything. Just ask the lion, in my favorite of Aesop's fables:

Lion, Rabbit, and Badger just found a cake. Lion asks Rabbit to split the cake according to what he thinks is fair. Rabbit slices it cleanly into perfect thirds. Lion eats Rabbit, and asks Badger if he'd like to try splitting the cake. Badger carves out a mouthful for himself, leaving Lion most of the cake. Lion congratulates Badger on his admirable sense of balance and justice.

I don't know what the moral is, but it might be where the phrase 'lion's share' came from, eh? Perhaps it's "Choose your battles" or "You are crunchy and taste good with ketchup".

[HidaTsuzua]

Loot doesn't tend to be a big issue in the games I play. The one where it did was in a hero low fantasy game. Since we had a small close knit party, we pooled all of resources with my character as the bank master. Some characters had their own private stuff but generally it was low key. The team funds would go for whatever a character want if reasonable. Then again, most of our money went into water (as part of a several month goal) so it wasn't that bad.

[Dausuul]

I'm the one who handles the division of treasure for our party. The way I handle it:

During the adventure, we just hand out the loot to whoever can get the best use out of it and/or carry it.

Once we have a chance to sell, I add up the sale price of each item (that is, the amount we can get by selling it; typically half the book price for magic items, or full price for gems, jewelry, and coin). I divide that by the number of players in the party to determine everyone's share; cohorts count for half a player.

Next, I go down the list of magic items. For each item, I announce the sale price and ask if anyone wants it. If somebody says yes, I subtract the sale price (not the book price!) from that character's share. If two people want the same item, it goes to the person who will, in the party's collective judgement, make the best use of it.

Once that's done, we sell all the remaining items and divide up the proceeds, giving each person the balance of his or her share.

If an item is something that's of major benefit, we try to avoid selling it even if that means one player has to go into "debt." For instance, we once found a +4 amulet of health, at a point when no one was anywhere near being able to afford to drop 8K gold on it. However, given how useful such amulets are, selling it would have been stupid; we hung onto it instead and somebody went into debt to keep it, said debt to be made up later out of future shares.

[I'm da Rogue!]

Everyone should share the loot equally and blah blah blah.
But! If you are chaotic, if for your own reasons you believe the arrogant palladin(why do they always have to be arrogant and snob?) won't give a sh*t about the loot, if you accidentally put some ranks in Bluff and if you have a reaaaally nice Charisma score.... it would be a crime not to bluff and get some more money for you, the poor fellow. You just know how to spend the gps better. If the others have a decent sense motive though, you can always try sleight of hand/pickpocket ;).
And if their spot ranks are a lot too, you can share the loot and try something else at night. A rogue's life is never boring.
I don't agree that rogues always steal the other party members' money. I would never steal a friend,or someone I respect. But u have to admit that there are some lawful stupid ppl you just have to tease!!!

[Tyger]

I'm the one who handles the division of treasure for our party. The way I handle it:

During the adventure, we just hand out the loot to whoever can get the best use out of it and/or carry it.

Once we have a chance to sell, I add up the sale price of each item (that is, the amount we can get by selling it; typically half the book price for magic items, or full price for gems, jewelry, and coin). I divide that by the number of players in the party to determine everyone's share; cohorts count for half a player.

Next, I go down the list of magic items. For each item, I announce the sale price and ask if anyone wants it. If somebody says yes, I subtract the sale price (not the book price!) from that character's share. If two people want the same item, it goes to the person who will, in the party's collective judgement, make the best use of it.

Once that's done, we sell all the remaining items and divide up the proceeds, giving each person the balance of his or her share.

If an item is something that's of major benefit, we try to avoid selling it even if that means one player has to go into "debt." For instance, we once found a +4 amulet of health, at a point when no one was anywhere near being able to afford to drop 8K gold on it. However, given how useful such amulets are, selling it would have been stupid; we hung onto it instead and somebody went into debt to keep it, said debt to be made up later out of future shares.

This is exaly how we do it too. Though we account for an equal share to go to the "party" for things like transportation, housing, identification of magic, etc. Occassionally the party fund is used for other things as well, on an ad hoc basis. And finally, our party fund was just recently divided in half with one half staying in party funds, and the other half going to a cohort recently acquired.

[Piccamo]

there is one thing about all of this loot splitting, the Theif is always going to steal something, if you split up the gold and have your own private hoard, the theif is going to steal some gold, if you have it all in a pile inbetween you, the theif is going to steal some of the gold to make his own sneaky private hoard.

Everyone should share the loot equally and blah blah blah.
But! If you are chaotic, if for your own reasons you believe the arrogant palladin(why do they always have to be arrogant and snob?) won't give a sh*t about the loot, if you accidentally put some ranks in Bluff and if you have a reaaaally nice Charisma score.... it would be a crime not to bluff and get some more money for you, the poor fellow. You just know how to spend the gps better. If the others have a decent sense motive though, you can always try sleight of hand/pickpocket ;).
And if their spot ranks are a lot too, you can share the loot and try something else at night. A rogue's life is never boring.
I don't agree that rogues always steal the other party members' money. I would never steal a friend,or someone I respect. But u have to admit that there are some lawful stupid ppl you just have to tease!!!

Yes. Please screw over your party. That makes them far more likely to want to continue adventuring with you. Thats not being chaotic, thats being stupid. Even chaotic types know not to mess with the people that are helping them.

[Dausuul]

Yes. Please screw over your party. That makes them far more likely to want to continue adventuring with you. Thats not being chaotic, thats being stupid. Even chaotic types know not to mess with the people that are helping them.

It really depends on how you go about it.

If one of my party members is an acquisitive type who sometimes skims a little extra off the top--eh, whatever. It's a character quirk. I'm willing to overlook it, so long as it doesn't get out of hand and the player of the acquisitive character doesn't shove it in my face. If we just hauled in a treasure hoard worth ten thousand gold pieces, I'm not going to worry about it if five hundred of that goes missing. Especially if the acquisitive fellow makes up for it by "acquiring" some extra gold for the group when the opportunity presents itself.

Now, if five thousand goes missing, that's another story. That's when I start to get pissed off, because the rogue is crippling the rest of us by depriving us of the money we need to equip ourselves.

[Delaney Gale]

We've generally just split items up based on who would benefit most from them and split the gold even. There have been IC indiscretions (like when the rogue/swashbuckler noticed that the "worthless beaded necklace" was actually a Necklace of Fireballs and "thought it was pretty" and kept it...) but it generally works well IC and OOC- the characters have come to an understanding that benefitting each individual character benefits the party as a whole- if the rogue/swashbuckler can use the ring of invisibility to sneak in and backstab the BBEG, it means less of the rest of the party gets hurt/risks dying. If we need money for a large purchase, the characters ask in-character- i.e. the cleric asking everyone to pool 10000 gp for diamonds so he can have two charges of raise dead on hand. Heck, one of the fighters bought the other one a ring of protection +3 as a gift.

... which makes me wonder how our party became a commune.

[Dausuul]

We've generally just split items up based on who would benefit most from them and split the gold even. There have been IC indiscretions (like when the rogue/swashbuckler noticed that the "worthless beaded necklace" was actually a Necklace of Fireballs and "thought it was pretty" and kept it...) but it generally works well IC and OOC- the characters have come to an understanding that benefitting each individual character benefits the party as a whole- if the rogue/swashbuckler can use the ring of invisibility to sneak in and backstab the BBEG, it means less of the rest of the party gets hurt/risks dying. If we need money for a large purchase, the characters ask in-character- i.e. the cleric asking everyone to pool 10000 gp for diamonds so he can have two charges of raise dead on hand. Heck, one of the fighters bought the other one a ring of protection +3 as a gift.

... which makes me wonder how our party became a commune.

Although we're generally fairly rigorous about an even division of loot (probably a consequence of playing in settings where we can easily buy and sell magic items; if we couldn't do that, our system would probably look a lot more like yours), we do keep a certain supply of party loot on hand. Examples include things like cure wands for the cleric, and protection from energy scrolls so the wizard can buff us before we go into battle against a dragon.

It is, of course, understood that these items are to be used for the good of the party rather than the personal benefit of the character carrying them.

[Iku Rex]

[...how to divide treasure...]

That's how we usually do it too, except for one thing. If two or more players/characters want the same item they bid for it. The item goes to the character who needs it most (as made evident by his willingness to spend gold to get it), and as compensation the rest of the party gets a higher share than if the item has been sold at half price.

Example: A party of four finds loot worth 24000 gp if it's all sold. Each player's share is 6000 gp. Among the items is a Ring of Protection +2 (sale value 4000 gp), and three of the PCs would like to have it. They offer bids until one of the players offer 6500 gp for the ring and the others back out. (That's 1500 gp less than the regular market price, so it's still a good buy.) The total value of the loot is now 26500 gp, meaning 6625 gp for each PC. The player who got the ring gets 125 gp, the rest get 6625 gp.

[Skjaldbakka]

The way my parties tend to split up treasure:

Step 1- determine the salve value of each item, and the total sale value of the loot.

Step 2- divide the total sale value by the number of party members +1. This determines how much each 'share' of the party loot each person gets. The extra slot is for the 'party stash' which is for buying resses, restorations, potions, and macguffins.

Step 3- (OOC) pass list of items around, and everyone writes their names next to stuff they want.

Step 4- If there is no conflict in items, subtract the sale value of each item taken by a party member from their share, and divvy up. If someone takes a big magic item, they put money into the pot (essentially 'buying' the item from the party). If they don't have enough to cover it, they are 'in debt' to the party, and will get less money from the next haul.

Step 5- If there is a conflict in items, it is usually resolved on a 'need' basis, but if an agreement isn't reached that way, the party members that want the item bid for it.

[de-trick]

my way of splitting up party treasure play a CE Rogue and take watch make sure you have a wagon or bag of holding for these.
know kill you whole party in there sleep make sure you have zone of silence on the area so no one hears the cry of pain coming from your former party.

After you kill all the party take the treasure sell what ever you don't need and buy a big home and live peacefully for th rest of your life

[Yechezkiel]

my way of splitting up party treasure play a CE Rogue and take watch make sure you have a wagon or bag of holding for these.
know kill you whole party in there sleep make sure you have zone of silence on the area so no one hears the cry of pain coming from your former party.

After you kill all the party take the treasure sell what ever you don't need and buy a big home and live peacefully for th rest of your life

This is the antonym for splitting.

[de-trick]

I'm am splitting up the loot i get all the loot everyone else gets to see there gods and be able to rest peacefully for ever

[Skjaldbakka]

(whisper) nobody play with that guy (/whisper)

[MinusInnocence]

As a DM I've pretty much seen it all. People trying to rob each other blind; people divvying it up evenly including the value of magic items once everything is identified and appraised; people divvying up items, gems and art before they're appraised; one person carrying all the loot in a bag of holding and distributing it as needed to the rest of the party; complex bargaining arrangements including I.O.U.s...

Just about the only situation I haven't seen yet is one charismatic character somehow hoarding everything and loaning it out with interest. During my most recent stint as a player in another DM's game, I played a patriotic serial killer obsessed with revitalizing his broken community. To that end, he needed funds, so he necessarily stole from pretty much everyone else in the party. The trouble is, about half the party was doing this so 100% of the wealth was constantly changing hands between only two or three people.

He gave plenty of handouts to the meatshield because, as the wizard, it seemed like a worthy investment. As long as he kept passing the barbarian coin he was also purchasing the thug's silence whenever he was spotted looting the dead before the battles were officially over. Two of the other characters were from his hometown, so he didn't really mind tossing them a few gp here and there either. Just about the only character who never got any cash was the goblin cleric because he kept giving it to charity.

The funniest situation came up when I sent my closest friend out to sell some of our loot we had found. On the sly, another character (who thought he was in the loop) approached me, "just to make sure" he would get his fair share. I assured him he would, I was looking out for all the important people!

When the rogue came back with the cash, we split it two ways and I told the greedy druid our buddy got ripped off and that his cut was only about 10gp. This tactic of consistently robbing everyone else in the party blind got me and the rogue in trouble eventually when he was eaten by a crocodile in the sewer, literally sending half the party's funds down the drain. Then again, no one but me and him knew we had so much cash, everyone else thought we were constantly broke, so I was really the only one who got upset.

[geek_2049]

Depends on the campaign.

1. Items as needed are dispensed accordingly. All else is divided equally minus most any items dispensed as needed.

2. I tend to play in large groups 6-9 people, so there is often overlap between what is best for whom and hence who gets what. We decide by rolling dice, incentive to use the d12. In the long run it works out to about even.

Note- I often play rogues and never steal from party treasure, it's bad form. Wait till the loot is divided out, then steal from an individual, if you must. I prefer stealing from someone that does not matter like an NPC.