How to handle treasure distribution

[JesterPoet]

Though any advice given will probably never see action in the particular group I'm concerned about, I'd be interested to see what people think.

To preface, the group in question is playing in a HIGH magic world. There are magic item shops (yes, I know this will make some of you cringe). We go through a number of magic items, and we are allowed to trade items for full value, or sell them for half value.

The group is made up of 4 9th level characters. We all get along pretty well, and things have gone smoothly for a couple of years now. We have one guy who takes care of all of the inventory (gold, magic items, what is identified/what isn't, etc). The problem that I have is that we're now starting to receive magic items that are worth significantly more than we each have. My concern with this is, how does one fairly devide up what we get. For example, if we get a 15,000gp item that two people in the group can use, and the other two don't really want, how do we go about handling that? My old group used to go by the system of "everything gets divided." If you want something specific, you can take it, and then you don't get your share of the next couple of things until that item is "paid for." I always liked this because it balanced things out.

In the situation we have (the, "Do you feel you're being cheated? No? Then why don't we just give people things that apply to them, and divide up the rest?" system) I don't think things balance out fairly (though I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm feeling cheated). Take the above example. Character A keeps the 15,000gp ring of amazing disco madness (RoADM). Both the Leisure-Suit Warrior, and the BellBottom Bandit can use the item, but it's agreed on that the Leisure-Suit Warrior keeps it. A few sessions later we pull a Brooch of Whupass (BoW) off another baddie. Nobody really wants this, so the group sells it for 12,000 and each get 3,000gp. It always made sense to me that the Leisure-Suit Warrior should have not gotten his 3,000gp share of the RoADM and everyone else should have gotten 4,000 (and the Leisure-Suit Warrior would now have a balance of 9,000 due).

The problem is compounded even further when one takes the BellBottom Bandit class into account. Assuming there are a significantly limited number of items that the Bandit is likely to use, and they're unlikely to show up as random treasure... he's likely to get even more screwed. More often than not, people are keeping things, and there's nothing he can really use, so he just doesn't make out the same way. Plus, as we all know, BellBottom Bandits are often along for their own personal purposes, so they would (if one were to stay in character) be particularly interested in having a "fair share" of the loot. However, OOC, one runs the risk of accusing the group of screwing him, even though that's not his intention.

It's not a huge deal, and I don't care a lot. But I do care a little. Because I know the GM will read this, I'd hope that he won't feel any need to intervene, because that's not the purpose of this post. The purpose is more centered in seeing what other people do to avoid this situation, and what other people suggest.

Wow... that was long.

 

[Crothian]

I've never really had it come up. But I guess you could add up the worth of everyone's items, and their equipment and distrribute wealth based on that instead of who needs it.

 

[Ellie_the_Elf]

I run one game and play in another, but it just isn't something that's an issue in either game- after the loot's idenitfied, people say what they want out of it. If more than one person wants the same thing we'll discuss who needs it most and decide as a group. If someone's trading in a new item for an old one (like bracers +2 for bracers +4 for example), the old one goes into party treasure for either someone else to claim or selling and splitting the profits.

When I'm DMing I sometimes tailor the treasure for the players, especially if someone hasn't got anything new for a while and there's something they want that's appropriate value and power-wise.

Ellie.

 

[JesterPoet]

It is possible, perhaps, that I am just a greedy bastard.

 

[Crothian]

It is possible, perhaps, that I am just a greedy bastard.

then demand the items that no one wants, sale themm and don't split the cash...then go buy what you can really use

 

[Hand of Evil]

This is a party question and should be handled prior to gaming.

Players should have a set of rules for the division of treasure and I have had groups that have done it a lot of ways, if a player wanted an item, it was taken as his share, no matter what the value or he could buy it at after value was determined, others that the party as a whole recieved a share, party members had a set salary, then expenses were taken out, then henchmen were paid.

As a DM I just give stuff out, the players are responsible for how they share.

 

[Trainz]

IMC, the players never really keep track of treasure sharing.

All loot is transported by one PC (usually the strongest), and magic item purchases/crafting is made solely on a party optimization perspective. For example, if in general the meat shield gets a lot of the brunt of the damage, efforts will be dispensed to up his AC and will saves, to make sure his weapons can bypass most DR's, as well as fit him with a ring of Freedom of Movement, even if other party members are behind him in terms of treasure owned.

Or, the wizard is very efficient in dealing a lot of damage/weakening monsters (via ray of enfeeblement/slow spells) but is often down at round 3 in neg HP's, then efforts will be made to make him more resistant to whatever is causing him to drop so fast.

We found that doing things this way ensures a better overall offense/defense potential than simply splitting everything four-ways.

 

[Kalendraf]

The party I DM for uses a "tick system" which considers the DMG suggested value for the items. As the magic items are picked by characters, it adds to their overall tally of picked items. When a new set of items are up for grabs, the person with the lowest value gets first pick, and so forth, rotating thru the PCs. In this regard, their picked magic items net worth act somewhat like inverse initiative modifiers for the magic picks.

Note - Potions, scrolls, wands and any other non-permanent items do not count toward these ticks. These items are handed out to whoever needs or can use them.

After the picks are done, all unclaimed items and other treasure is then liquidated (magic items usually getting 50% value in gold), and then the gold is evenly distributed to the characters. As a result, items characters craft or buy does not count toward their picks order.

There's no problems with trying divide the treasure into equal shares which can often be pretty difficult - "We found a +1 weapon and a 50gp gem and that's it. How should we divide it up?" This system avoids that problem. This system has the advantage that big desireable items will not get scarfed up by the same player every time. A character that picks an expensive item will be at the bottom of the pick list for a long time. Likewise, a character picking up several smaller items could eventually end up falling back in the future pick order as well. Over time, it tends to balance out quite nicely.

 

[diaglo]

i try and give all the stuff i can to the munchkin player.

it makes him happy. and gives me a good laugh.

 

[Brund the Decrepit]

We used to roll %100 at the adventures end and the highest got to choose 1st and then on down the line to the last player and if there were still items availble we would reverse the order. Of course there would be a flurry of trading going on afterwards. It was a cheesy method but fun..

Now that we are older and ummm somewhat more mature (I think) we just hand whatever items we find the character that would get the most use out of it and we never worry about the total values as long as the party would benefit from that player having XX item(s).


-Brund