D&D General Treasure - how much, how often, and how does your group divide it

[JiffyPopTart]

My reply to the Party Treasurer questions from another thread.

The Party Treasurer is a nominated job...like mapper in a dungeon. That player is responsible for writing down any coins, art, gems, items etc... That no player claims and marks on their own sheet.

Items in the party treasury may be distributed amongst get the party (if you just picked up 1000 coins but haven't left the dungeon yet), kept in a magical space (bag of holding), or even stored back at a base or bank or other physical location.

If Player A wanted to get an item from the party treasure, they would have to transfer it from the treasury as they would in any other game. If all the potions of fire resistance are kept in the treasury, they would have to interact with the character holding that bag or visit the armory in the keep or whatever. They could then write it on their individual character sheet and it would be stricken from the party treasure.

If a player leaves the game, they just hand the treasure sheet to another player to track. If a character dies someone else in the party would grab the stuff and take up the mantle.

We actually lost a wizard to disintegration in 5e who was holding the bag of holding that contained a large subset of the party treasure. We did indeed lose all of those items with our companion. It was crappy, but not devestating since most items in the treasury are those that nobody really wanted like a drow tentacle whip or a Potion of Friends or other useless item.

 

[Shiroiken]

I mean, you say that and I totally believe you feel that way, but I've played with a lot of D&D groups since 1989, and not a single one of them didn't have an approach that was basically identical to what you're describing (i.e. gold splits evenly, magic items go to whoever can use them best, people who don't get as many get left-over stuff they can use, etc.).

Were you ever forced to give your magic items to another PC? This happens in my group, if an item is "better" for another PC for the group. I've had this happen to me, and I've argue against taking an item from someone else. They treat magic items as a group commodity, regardless of who actually has it, which irks me.

In real life, I wouldn't give out my laptop to someone simply because I'm using my new tablet instead. Even if I wasn't actually using the laptop at all, it's still too valuable to just give away. Most people aren't this generous in real life, and so when my group does this, it breaks the suspension of disblief.

So how old-school are we talking? 1970s? Was the approach drastically different there? All the "older" D&D groups I heard about from older kids in 1989-1994 tended to described in ways that basically seemed like they either got no treasure ever, or it was full on Monty Haul so no-one cared.

Started in 1990 with 1E. In prior groups, it was always a pick system: you got a magic item or you got extra loot. Sometimes no one wanted an item, so it got sold instead, which is fine. While 5E doesn't have good options for selling items, it's not hard to implement a barter system to trade out undesired items for other ones (I do this when I run games, and the other DMs in my group sometimes do similar).

 

[ad_hoc]

I roll for treasure hoards wherever I think it makes sense that there could be some. The only other treasure is story specific.

The amount of treasure they get tends to vary as they rarely find (or are able to get) all the hoards.

The party decides what to do with the items. They mostly give the items to the character who can best use it. Either that or to a player who thinks the item is really nifty and would like to have it. At our table there isn't concern about ensuring everyone has equal treasure. It's a tough game so they're more worried about everyone being strong enough to succeed and get more treasure.

 

[billd91]

Were you ever forced to give your magic items to another PC? This happens in my group, if an item is "better" for another PC for the group. I've had this happen to me, and I've argue against taking an item from someone else. They treat magic items as a group commodity, regardless of who actually has it, which irks me.

In real life, I wouldn't give out my laptop to someone simply because I'm using my new tablet instead. Even if I wasn't actually using the laptop at all, it's still too valuable to just give away. Most people aren't this generous in real life, and so when my group does this, it breaks the suspension of disblief.

Does your life depend on your companions upgrading their gear? Was the original laptop (and its replacement) part of a plunder you obtained with the help of your companions?
If the answer for either of those questions is no, then your real life example may not be all that analogous.

 

[Stalker0]

My current campaigns revolve around the party working for a military group within their major city. So in general I don't do treasure at all

• Players get certain amounts and tiers of magic items depending on their mission (and the players get to choose within reason). This is the "Q" style of magic items, aka Q equipping James Bond with things before heading off. All items are returned after the mission ends.
• All magic items and treasure found are property of the military organization.
• The players are very well paid. In effect, gold is not a factor in most cases. They can live a fancy lifestyle, they have money for small bribes and things. Most material components they can afford as long as its not too crazy.

 

[Lanefan]

For shopping lists, I found that mix between random and players choice is a good compromise.

I.E: if player want's a magic item at a "magic mart", good idea is to ask players to give 4 items of choice(of apropriate level) and then roll 1d4 to see what is available.

This is kinda what I try to avoid: players curating their own lists.

Sure, someone might ask if something specific is available (often to save me having to read out a whole list), which will get a quick 'yes' or 'no' depending on what ye olde Excel RNG pulls up.

That said, there is a way to get exactly what you want; and that's by finding and commissioning an Artificer to make it for you. The drawback/risk here is you have to wait for it; while potions or scrolls can usually be done in a few days, anything bigger takes months at least, sometimes years, by which time you might be dead or otherwise no longer in need of the item.

 

[Lanefan]

There's not actually any guidelines in 5e for how much to give out but the 2edmg had a great section about giving out treasure that still holds true. I tried for probably a year or two to push players towards giving treasure distribution, but the magic item budget is so low with 5e designed to assume n feats & no magic items that there is not much room for them to save for anything do I can't really blame them for not caring much if they don't do a split at the end of the session like always seemed to happen when I ran past editions/pf. Eventually I got to the point where I didn't really care & just told them that they could buy reasonable stuff with a bill to their boss if they pretty much ignored it.

I gave out a lot of one time use trinkets that did things like a necrotic fireball or a flaming cloud of daggers plus fun fluff items but they pretty much almost never got used because the risks they face even against "deadly" encounters are so low

I ejoy designing cool magic items for my players that let them do neat stuff but it goes back to the magic item budget so either they are like +4 & +5 equivalent or "meh, guess it's better than this"

Magic items can be bought sold & potentially even custom ordered but it's not much of somethingthat seems to really interest my players much once they realize the way things are structured & have a +1 it's eitherartifact grade or meh

Your "once they realize the way things are structured" note sounds from here like your players have seen just a bit too much behind the curtain. Are your players also DMs?

Also, 5e only allowing three attuned items does kinda chop down hard on what you-as-DM can do with them, as they're always going to go for only the best - any thoughts of easing that restriction or even removing it entirely so as to allow them to carry things other than just "the best"?

As for the one-time-use item issue, if the risks are that low maybe beef 'em up a little?

 

[Odysseus]

Two or three threads have recently drifted into covering very similar territory around treasure in the game, so I thought starting one just for this topic might make sense.

So, treasure. Lots of questions here just to get things rolling.......

How much do you-as-DM tend to give, either overall or relative to guidelines? Flip side: how much do you-as-player like to get?

How much of your treasure is magic items vs non-magic?

How do you "place" it in adventures? By this I mean is it sitting there easy to find, is it hidden, is it always guarded, is your expectation that the PCs will find all of it or miss some, etc.

How does your group divide treasure and who decides the method used? Also, how often (if ever) does your group divide treasure?

Who owns the treasure before division? After division?

How easy is it in your game for treasure and-or PC-carried possessions to be destroyed, stolen, or lost? Are your players cool with possession loss and if not, why not?

Can magic items be bought, sold, or traded; and if not, why not?

There. That ought'a get us going.

I've been using the pdf by Inconnunom, and sticking to the treasure parcels there in.
The magic items are random. I place the parcels through out the adventure and are usually guarded. And approx half are hidden , so they may not be expected to be found.
The current players tend to split treasure immediately after finding it.
I allow magic items to be sold or brought.
After 4E , the players have found the magic items in 5E a bit to infrequent.
So i'm tending towards giving away to much.

 

[Lanefan]

I’ve tried a few different systems. The one I settled on uses this formula.

Character Wealth (Gold) by Level - Dungeon Masters Only - Dungeons & Dragons Discussion - D&D Beyond Forums - D&D Beyond

Note those lists are wealth only, and don’t include magic items.

Perhaps it's my 1e background, but wealth-by-level charts have never appealed to me. When I played 3e our party in effect took the WBL chart and threw it out the window by a) scouring for every wooden nickel in each adventure and b) making sure we only took on missions that promised a fat payday; thus making our DM's life more difficult but generating happier characters.

Yes Magic items can be bought and sold using the downtime rules in Xanathars Guide. This keeps item sale to higher levels.

When it comes to divying up treasure, players take by utility first (and I balance treasure to utility) then they roll off for things that are equally useful to several players. If a player was getting behind in terms of items through bad luck. I’d make sure they get some more suited to them. The group chose that method. Because... well... because they’re rational human beings.

Treasure gets split out when it’s sold. Magic item value isn’t considered at all.

If this works for your group, cool. We once tried an item draft system here - by player decision, as with yours - for a few adventures with one party, and it was a foursquare disaster. Never again.

Normal equipment has no value. Finely crafted items become the equivalent of art objects so would be sold for their value and are part of treasure. This lets me give the orc chief a nice weapon and it stand out from the rest of the Orcs, without it being magical.

And that nice weapon has no mechanical advantages in battle? Got it. (though if it's that well made I'd probabl give it a small bonus on any saving throws it had to make)

Sounds like you're approaching 3e's masterwork system only without mechanical benefits. Masterwork as a concept was and still is a good idea.

Stealing treasure is a bit of a douche move. I may use such a plot once every couple of campaigns but I would be very careful. They would probably have chance to get it back.

What about blowing it up, as in the character fails to save and gets the full blast of the Black Dragon's acid breath; do you force item saves at this point (RAW be damned)?

 

[Lanefan]

Before finding a bag of holding (that is, at low levels while the party is poor), the coins are divvied up and other loot is held until it can be sold.

Loot (coins, art, gems & jewels) generally just gets thrown into the bag of holding and party expenses come out of that. If any party member particularly needs or wants an item it is discussed and usually the request is granted as it is typically gems as spell components or minor valuables as a trophy.

So the Bag of Holding is party-owned, then?

Magic items go to the person who wants it the most, can make the best use out of it, or whoever happens to pick it up. Trading happens with some items that are useful, but no one feels particularly attached to (ring of xray vision). The current group is pretty diverse, so players rarely covet another's magic item - there's only one druid, so no one else can use the Staff of the Woodlands for example.

What about something anyone can make good use of e.g. a Ring of Invisibility or some sort of flying device - how do they decide who gets that?

And on a broader scale, how much character turnover is there? If for example everyone kinda meta-knows it's going to be the same party all the way along then party-owned items make tons of sense; but if there's more of an expectation that characters will come and go and be replaced, what then?