How do you feel when the DM rules that you lose all of your items?

[Kashell]

So basically, if they're carrying say, an Orb of Annhilation, they better have a dang good reason why they lose it.

Seems to be a lot of different opinions on the subject, but so far everyone agrees that just taking items away for no good reason is completely unfair.

 

[VirgilCaine]

- How do you feel when the DM rules that all of the items are lost?

- Do you think there should be some way of recovering the items?

- If the items were unable to be recovered, (and were unfairly taken) should the DM give the players similar (but not exactly the same) items?

I'll try and keep it from happening again.

Of course I'll try to, but if there isn't, I would hope that the DM has either let us know that he's done this for a reason or will do something to replace them.
If it was unfair, gee, I hope I've judged the DM better than that.

After, a long search in the waters of the swamp, he found not only his equipment, but the underwater entrance to the dragon's lair and it's horde.

A horde of dead dragons will leave a horde of hoards.

 

[Greylock]

The campaign I am playing in doesn't force chars into situations where high-powered gear is neccessary. In fact, we have little in the way of uber-gear. Granted, we are only 4th and 5th level, but I think we'd survive quite nicely without our +1 and MW stuff if need be.

Probably the single most useful item any of our chars carries is an amulet of translation. But it mainly cuts down on the hand-signing. ;P

I can see cutting down the gear, within reason and with good reason. Would force chars to reassess their tactics.

 

[Psion]

More on the point of 'taking items away for plot purposes' would it be good to simply give the players similar equipment(if not some items, exactly) what they had before?

I really don't think so.

Why is simple. Higher levels assume bigger "equipment balance." If you have a +1 sword, and you have an equipment balance of 8000 gp, if the gm wants to keep a close eye on the treasure balance of the party, he only has room to give you 6000 gp worth of items. If he strips that +1 item away, he has enough room for an 8000 gp item, which could be the next bigger sword.

It could be a blessing in disguise.

 

[Anabstercorian]

Ooh. I was going to say that I would be appalled. But after Psion's explanation, I think I'd be almost thrilled.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I think if it does happen (and sometimes it does) the DM should keep an eye open and an open mind for ideas that might help redress the balance.

For example, in a 1st edition game long ago, I played a fighter who had gotten to a pretty good point with magic items. He had some magical chainmail, a couple magical weapons (he fought with two) and a few other bits and pieces. He faced down a Black Dragon along with the party, and through a series of horrificly bad saving throws, lost all of it. I mean he had scraps of clothes left when we got to the end of it all.

So I started wracking my brain on what to do, as a player. I recalled that back when the PC was 2nd level, he had helped break an NPC out of the dungeon of a Baron that he was on bad terms with. In the course of that adventure, he had found the Baron's secret treasury, and seen some of the items in it - clearly magical weapons and armor. Of course at that level, he couldn't hope to crack the defenses.

So I proposed a short solo side adventure to my DM. I'd go back to town, get a couple of NPC thief buddies to help pick locks and such, and be back in a couple of days. My PC knew the challenges, knew the defenses that would need to be breached, and figured it could be done.

The DM let me do it - we ran it in an hour or so before the next session, and I managed to get some (reasonable) replacements for what I had lost.

My assumption in any game I play in is that magic items are transitory. They come and they go, and if you lose one, another will be just around the corner. I expect to lose some now and then to the rigors of adventure.

 

[Jupp]

We had this once in a campaign. We were stupid enough that someone cought us, bound us and sent us off to a far away place via caravan and ship. Naturally all our items were taken away from us and all was sold. As far as I remember no one objected to it. Well, it was was part of the plot, it was logical and we really had other things to think about at that time. Like how to escape and run away Later on after we managed to escape we were able to slowly "restock" with items again in the time of about 2-3 adventures. I was actually quite fun and no one wanted to hang the DM on the tree because it was all good roleplay and the story was great overall.

 

[Crothian]

I think its fine and people need to fight the fact that equipment is so important. Ones sword or armor should not be the defining point of a character. It can help, but shouldn't be the most important and players shouldn't be mad if they lose their stuff.

 

[Henry]

If I am a fighter, monk, or sorcerer, I don't mind so much; anything else, and I get a little concerned. However, it wouldn't bother me so much. In fact, I've started a campaign naked before, so getting stripped in the middle shouldn't be that different.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

We had this once in a campaign. We were stupid enough that someone cought us, bound us and sent us off to a far away place via caravan and ship. Naturally all our items were taken away from us and all was sold. As far as I remember no one objected to it. Well, it was was part of the plot, it was logical and we really had other things to think about at that time. Like how to escape and run away Later on after we managed to escape we were able to slowly "restock" with items again in the time of about 2-3 adventures. I was actually quite fun and no one wanted to hang the DM on the tree because it was all good roleplay and the story was great overall.

I don't suppose you're from Bettendorf originally? I ran an extended (4 month real time) adventure with this premise (inspired by A4) back in '86. Far from being angry, while my players were at various times worried, appaled, and downright scared, the consensus after the fact was that it was the best adventure they had ever played. They really enjoyed the challenge of thinking of how to deal with tough situations without magic. Suddenly giant ants and alligators were tough again (they were level 8-10)

Towards the end, they arrived at the city where their items had been sold. Through purchase, theft, and guile, they were able to recover 5-7 items each. We played this out, and it was later known as "The Quest for our Stuff" One particularly fun section was a roleplay where a good-aligned thief was caught in the act of recovering party gear from an NPC based on Princess Di. He didn't want to steal from her or hurt her, but OTOH he rally wanted his stuff back.

Besides the fun factor, I ran this adventure to reduce their overall level of magic gear. The stuff accumulates over time even in 1e, and it had gotten to the point where people couldn't even remember all of their abilities anymore. A few troublesome items were sold to a ship's captain, and only one of those was ever recoverd, about a year later real-time.

I think the key factor is how much players trust their DM. If they know he's doing his best to make the game fun for them, they tend to roll with it. IME, of course.