Death and Wealth

[Torx]

Character death is not common in my games, so this type of problem is rarely dealt with.

Assuming the character is not resurrected for whatever reason, the party has access to the character's wealth and the character had appropriate wealth for their level, when a character dies how should the money/goods/magic be redistributed? Also, what happens with the new character's (same player) wealth?

If the party gets to keep the character's money and equipment and a new character comes in with close to the same, the party just increased their overall wealth. While this is not a problem per se, it can lead to too much wealth too quickly if deaths continue to occur.

How does your group deal with character death and wealth?

 

[Crothian]

The dead PCs items are usually looted by the other PCs. Items that have significant history for the dead PC like a sword passed down from his father are usually returned to the family. Money also is usual returned to the family.

New characters start out with some equipment usually selected by the DM with influence by the player.

If this creates a situation with the PCs getting too much wealth I will have the group find less wealth or place in a situation that destroys or forces them to use up wealth they have. Note though I've never had to actual do that in a game.

 

[Doug McCrae]

We've been ruling that all the dead PC's loot goes to relatives. Otherwise it's just far too much of a bonanza for the rest of the party and could subconsciously influence players to try to get other players' PCs killed. Not good for teamwork. PC death should be a bad thing for the whole party.

'If you die, I get your shoes, okay?' is for Dirty Dozen type games.

 

[Ealli]

The way we've been playing is one of karma. The more gear the fallen PC had that is not salvaged by the rest of the party, the more gear that the next character to join the party has. If we took all the gear, we'd find the replacement character effectively naked. It does create a little weird situations where we actively want to pyre unneeded gear on the fallen PC, but it does assure we don't have runaway income from killing our friends.

 

[ethandrew]

Give it to the wizard

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Generally speaking, unless there's an item the party needs for some reason, the dead guy is buried/burned/whatever with his gear. For the very simple reason to avoid the rest of the party benefiting from a PC's death.

If an item in question was sought after but not crucial to the campaign, I might consider allowing another PC swap gear but the GP amount would have to balance out.

You shouldn't let PCs benefit from the death of a fellow PC, IMHO.

 

[el-remmen]

This is one of the reasons I play a low-wealth game. It allows the characters to do what makes sense with a dead companion's gear/wealth (from burying it with him, to donating to charity, to splitting it among themselves) without worrying about the meta-game consequences of what they choose.

 

[jefgorbach]

Most of my groups tend to follow the general viewpoint that if -everyone- is as powerful as possible then my own survival is that much more likely. Furthermore i know how they have thought/acted in the past making it more likely to know their future actions and its obvious they are much better equipped/skilled than any replacements I might locate in the wild -- bottomline: its in my best interests to maintain them in the best possible fashion for my own survival. Since "everyone" tends to reflect the same viewpoint, everyone is offered as much protection/retention as possible, salvaging everything of value from deceased friends/foes to further improve the group as a whole.
When friends absolutely need replaced, the newbie is generally accepted as-is if decently equipped or provided with better mudane armor/weapons until they confirm their party-orientation before being upgraded to the party norm.

 

[JustKim]

It's an unwritten rule that PCs' gear goes with them to the grave. I've played in games where the PCs are allowed to loot each other, and the situation is exactly as Doug describes- people do not want you to survive. The party rogue will sit back and laugh at the fighter's foolishness as he triggers every trap in his path. The wizard is left to fend for herself in a 30-person melee. Clerics heal only when they have nothing better to do.

And that kind of atmosphere in the game creates some resentment between players. I've seen groups get pretty darn unfriendly as a result.

 

[robberbaron]

Blimey, my group seems really well-adjusted compared to some.
We've never had anyone wishing another character dead just to get his stuff. Other in-game reasons, but not plunder.
Even our evil rogues aren't stupid enough to sit back and watch the PCs carrying stuff they want die.

In fact, I'd not want to play in a group that was like that. Doesn't sound like a group of friends to me.

There is no unwritten rule that a dead-guy's stuff goes anywhere in particular. If the party takes it, they take it. If they give it to the dead guy's family, so be it.
We've never limited PCs to the DMG guidelines as that is too arbitrary and not in the spirit of the game (we've had stingy DMs, but that is a different matter). What is the point of adventuring if you won't be allowed to find/keep any treasure simply because the DM is sticking rigidly to the table.