Love DMing, hate doing loot

Vyvyan Basterd · Jan 5, 2010

S'mon said:
I think the easiest thing is to let the players decide what items they possess, changing every level as desired. Maybe the PC's own power charges them; or they are heirlooms that level with the PC, or the PC's boss/patron gifts them, or they are rewards from a grateful kingdom, etc. For higher level PCs; 1 item level +1, 1 item at level, 1 or maybe 2 items at level -1; and the GM can still give out 'story' items.

This is what I do, sort of. Every time the characters level the players receive a budget of gold equivalent to 1 item level +1, 1 item at level, and 2 items at level -1. They can choose whatever they want and they can describe the acquisition any way they want as long as they don't change the rules. They can describe the item(s) as found, an increase in power in their ancestral weapon, a new technique their character learned, etc. And I still include 'story' items in the form of artifacts in-game.

Dausuul · Jan 5, 2010

Best DM I ever had was a total skinflint when it came to handing out loot. It's all relative, really.

Piratecat · Jan 5, 2010

Treasure got much, much more fun for me when I made myself a little chart in Word to track what I had handed out. It lists the expected treasure parcels for their levels and the total amount of gold they're expected to get during this level.

Whenever I hand out treasure, I mark the chart with (a) what I gave, (b) who it went to, (c) where in the dungeon they found it, and (d) the date. Whether cash or magic, I can then tell at a glance who deserves l00tz0r and how much more treasure they're roughly going to receive at this level. Sometimes I go over (or under) and make it up in the next level, and sometimes I hand out ritual components or rituals in lieu of gold. I almost always mix and match the parcels so that the total amount is correct, but the portions don't seem predictable.

By doing this I can quickly see, for instance, that the group's rogue hasn't seen a cool weapon in a while, so I can troll the Compendium for a nifty 7th-9th lvl dagger and then make up a good backstory for it.

Voadam · Jan 5, 2010

ForceUser said:
I'm thinking about going with inherent bonuses instead of the paper doll. I was wondering if anyone's done that, and what the result has been. Any other comments are welcome as well. Thanks.

I think it is a great idea that should work well. I haven't used it but I've been interested in it since I heard of it. Sounds great for turning 4e into 4e Iron Heroes with a working magic system and without the IH fiddly token pool mechanics.

It makes me tempted to get the DMG II for this subsystem alone.

Hand of Evil · Jan 5, 2010

Build a list of alternate treasure! Look at what you have in real life as "loot" and then think about it in a fantasy world. Players, look for pocket items, make large items cool. Other words, move away from rings and weapons, make players wonder how they are going to get the item back to market, if they can!

32 inch flat TV becomes a 32 inch magic mirror with selected channel (places) to view and a monthly bill (kill someone or charges)
Then you have desk, chairs and other house hold items - hard to get wood, special effects, etc.

Create a list on legal and illegal items. Bad guys always have a lot of illegal things.

Remember that for every action, there is a re-action! Loot taken from a bad guy had to come from somewhere else, unless it was created. Who has the claim to the item? I remember a game where there was only ONE holy blade, when it was given to a player by the god, someone lost it! GM set a double fumble rule on it...

History - I have found a good backstory on an item can make an item more special. It is not just a +1 sword, but the blade used by Ranger Bob to hold the orcs in the Barren Pass and kill the troll Grimtooth...

Mallus · Jan 5, 2010

S'mon said:
I think the easiest thing is to let the players decide what items they possess, changing every level as desired.

That's what my group ended up doing. It works fine.

That said, we're going to start introducing a few pieces of more old-school magical treasure; shiny, weird, almost certainly overpowered and ripped from the dead hands of our hacked-and-blasted foes. If we introduce something that truly approaches game-breaking, we'll just remove/nerf it. No worries there.

Oddly enough, my character in our 4e game has been carrying what amount to an artifact since 1st level. A small god wishing to remain hidden in an unbreakable wooden box. Maybe we just need or or two more post-rules items like that...

MadLordOfMilk · Jan 6, 2010

Piratecat said:
Treasure got much, much more fun for me when I made myself a little chart in Word to track what I had handed out. It lists the expected treasure parcels for their levels and the total amount of gold they're expected to get during this level.

Would you be able to post an example? I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing it as anything but, basically, a table in a word document.

Unless, of course, it is just a table in a word document. But I'm a very visual person regardless

vagabundo · Jan 6, 2010

Let the Players manage themselves:

* There is a loot/level table on the 4e homebrew forum, give out only cash treasure.
* Have an appropriate magic shop (merchants or whatever) for them to kit out.
* Lay some ground rules (level+4 items only, no bloodclaw weapons, etc...)
* Give them some time during the game while you prep the next few encounters, or only allow it in between sessions. Let them haggle, loan, bargain and borrow. Let them manage themselves.

Hand of Evil · Jan 6, 2010

Treasure Rule of Thumbs (example)

60% of Treasure will be in coin

30% Copper
20% Silver
10% Gold

20% of Treasure will be Clothing

5% Bracelets
7% Rings
8% Clothing - cloaks, gloves, belts, boots

10% of Treasure will be Other

5% Weapons
5% Art

10% of Treasure will be magical

5% of Clothing above
5% of Other above

You can add more detail as needed

Piratecat · Jan 6, 2010

MadLordOfMilk said:
Would you be able to post an example? I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing it as anything but, basically, a table in a word document.

Unless, of course, it is just a table in a word document. But I'm a very visual person regardless

Nope, that's pretty much it! It's nothing fancy. But I was having a lot of trouble remembering which parcels, or portion of parcels, I had awarded. This kept track of it for me. I could just as easily substitute weird art, trade goods, or ritual/alchemical components so long as the totals remained steady.

Love DMing, hate doing loot

Vyvyan Basterd

Adventurer

Dausuul

Legend

Piratecat

Sesquipedalian

Voadam

Legend

Hand of Evil

Hero

Mallus

Legend

MadLordOfMilk

First Post

vagabundo

Adventurer

Hand of Evil

Hero

Piratecat

Sesquipedalian

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