Party Treasure

For awhile, we've used the concept of Party Treasure when dividing up shares of spoils.

Party treasure is stuff that one person might hold onto, but which will get used by whoever needs it most. Such treasure doesn't count against the shares of whoever holds onto it.

If we find a wand of cure moderate wounds, it'll go to the druid to hold onto, with the understanding that he'll heal whoever needs it. It's party treasure.

If we find 500 gp diamonds, they'll go to the cleric, to be used in resurrecting anyone who dies.

But recently, we've started getting in weird arguments over it. Does an item that has 10 charges of fabricate count as party treasure, since everyone might have a say in how it's used? What about an item that can detect scrying attempts? What about a ring that summons an arcane spirit once/week and can be used to cast identify?

I'm wondering whether other folks have used the idea of party treasure before in their campaign, and if so, what criteria they use to keep everyone from claiming that all their treasure is really party treasure and shouldn't be counted against their share of the loot.

Daniel

I have always found the practice of "party treasure" to be dubious one - and treating any magcial item as party treaure can be dangerous . . . Luckily for me, my last few groups have been the type to give the magic item to whoever could use it best or or use it most - depending on what they already have and what they need.

we roleplay it.

mostly the character who speaks up the loudest gets it.

Play it out. Usually, if only 1 person can put an item to good use, that person gets control of the item. If 2 or more persons can use it, let them debate on whom it suits best, and perhaps give the other something else in return for it.

Then again, a lot of items aren't found by the party as a whole, but by one character. Then it's up to that character how honest he is about the item and whom to give it to if he decides to give it away.

In my last campaign we held enough money to identify, any healing item, quest artefacts, as party treasure, and allotted enough money to keep the cleric in restoration spell components, then divided everything else out by shares.

Worked for us.

we generally only have one-use useable-by-anybody magic items as party treasure (i.e., potions). everything else pretty much gets divvied up.

cash is also generally considered party treasure, and we all get a say in how it gets spent.

I don't think party treasure is necessarily a good thing, because it can lead to arguments about what belongs to who, but I will kibbutz with other players about how they should use theirs Our party cleric found a ring of protection; she wasn't wearing it, she just took it because it was pretty. *boggle* She also refuses to wear anything other than leather armor, because she likes the way it looks. And she can afford much better. She's going to start having a hard time surviving fights, and we can only help her so much. At least she's wearing the ring now. When she goes down, I guess my monk can use it, though I'd prefer if she bought herself some darn armor and gave it to the sorceror or something.

Another guy found a magic shield, couldn't use it because he fights with a greataxe, and no one else could use it, the rest of the party is a monk, cleric, sorceror, and psion. So he sold it, congratulated himself on getting 1700+ gp for it, and did... nothing. We said, hey, you could get yourself some nice plate mail for that, he was like, nah, I'll just carry around all this money for a while. I don't think these guys get the concept yet that fights are going to get harder as we go up in level, and they will need to use some stuff to survive.

It's still a new party and new game group, only a couple of sessions under our belts, but I've been trying to set an example, giving away gear I found but couldn't use to people who could use it better. Magic dagger to the cleric. Potion of charisma buffing to the sorceror. If they don't catch on soon, maybe we'll talk about the "party treasure" concept. If they still don't get it, well, I'm playing a monk, he's pretty self-sufficient, and can get by with less gear and support.

diaglo said:

we roleplay it.

Click to expand...

Likewise. Our three most recent games have had three totally different ways of divying up loot.

The first was a cross between whoever laid hands on it first and the smoothest talker. The group contained an abundance of chaotics in it and was borderline good/neutral.

The second one (which I DMed rather than played), I began calling the players' "Little Socialist Experiment". Almost nothing left "party treasure" unless a PC actually departed from the group -- in which case, they took a token amount of loot with them. Everything was granted, for use, by the concensus of the group to various characters and could be, likewise, revoked by concensus. The group consisted of two LGs, one LN, two NG, and one CN. The poor CN constantly chaffed at treasure distribution, but stayed because a) he was pretty dumb, and b) he was too heavily invested in the group to walk away with a pitance. Overall, it worked pretty well and was interesting.

The current group was actually chartered in the Greyhawk Adventurers' Guild and is run like a business. We have a complex division of treasure that reads like something out of a corporate legal department. We split treasure at set intervals and have a rotating order of selection for magic items. Anything not claimed as a "pick" remains in the group kitty until the charter members vote to sell it. Any expidition carried out in the group's name has 10% taken off the top that is paid directly into the company coffers. Of course, the company pays for lodging, etc., as well as some other services. If anyone decides, at a later date, that they want to an item that is owned by the company, they may purchase it for current market value (in Greyhawk). We lost three of our original members and the replacement characters were brought in as mercenaries, hired by the company. They have no vote in company business, but are consulted in their fields of expertise. We have an official treasurer. We also have a stated leader and a means to overrule that leader's orders (important when commands are being issued to mercenaries). I believe that the founding members were actually one each of LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN. The system fuctions well because the lawfuls have an organized system and the chaotics have private ownership.

Anyway, all of the above methods came from the same exact six players. All worked fairly well, though they each have strengths and weaknesses. I really would encourage you to work out treasure division in character. It can actually add a lot of depth the the roleplaying.

We had party treasure in my last campaign. It worked pretty well. We were all adults, and there wasn't much arguing about it. Items that were to the benefit of everyone (like healing items) were bought with party funds, or put into the party treasure if found. Items that were found but nobody really wanted were given to someone, but not counted against his "picking power" when it comes to divvying up treasure.

It's strange how your experiences compare. Most groups I have belonged to have tended towards the notion that items go to whomever needs them. But of late we have also started using the idea of the 'party pot', where a share of the party funds goes after each adventure. It is used to buy healing magics, and to pay for group expenses (so rather than calculate out the exact expenditure on drinks and rooms for a night's stay in an inn, the DM just says 'deduct Xgp from party funds'). For the groups I am involved with, this has worked really well. Heck, when someone is seriously weakened, the party pot pays for new equipment, or extra spells, or the like.

On the other hand, a DM friend of mine has had his own group nearly come to blows over dividing party treasure and over the idea of the party pot. It seems that the problem arises out of mutual mistrust - not PC-PC mistrust, mind, but player-player mistrust! Each seemed to fear that 'they' (the other players) were getting more than their fair share. The upshot was that they sold every single magic item they found, at 50% value, and so were becoming steadily weaker and weaker compared with their level. They seem to have sorted themselves out, much to my friend's relief. It wasn't too pleasant to have to deal with sessions undermined by petty bickering.

Oh, and Mercule, you 'Little Socialists Experiment' reminds me of my Ars Magica group. Since the game is predicated on communal living for its Wizards (the Covenant), we decided to hold all property in common. Offcicially even the robes on his back belonged to the Covenant first, and were only loaned to the Wizard to use! After a dozen (real) years of play we've relaxed that considerably, but even now the expectation is that anything found belongs first to the covenant, to be used at the discretion of the Council of Magi. There have been some tensions since play started (over 'gifts'), but it has really promoted the sense of community.

I suspect that it's from this that I have learned my habit of expecting to own goods in common. When you every day put your life in the hands of your fellow adventurers, and expect them to put their lives in your hands, arguing over exactly who gets every last copper piece seems like a betrayal.