How do you reduce treasure accounting

[delericho]

Just ignore the treasure accounting entirely - describe the hoards as you see fit, and let them game through buying and selling if they want... but whenever a character levels up he just re-equips based on the Wealth per Level table in the DMG. And if you do the levelling up and re-equipping between sessions, there's no need to spend any significant length of time with treasure at all.

 

[Crothian]

Don't do it at the gaming table. We have a table rule: All accounting and buying and selling of items has to happen outside the gaming session. we have a message board for everyone to list what they have and what they want to sell and buy. we have one player who tracks the party treasure and posts what they find and everyone's split. I think because of this we get about 50% more out of a 4 hour gaming session then I have with other groups.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I give out gold, and just give the PC's ways to turn it into useful magic items.

Every once in a while, I'll give them some unique magic item that they wouldn't buy themselves, but in this case it's only one or two. Gold splits pretty evenly.

 

[Lanefan]

You could also reduce the number of small magical treasures, that will likely just get sold, and combine those into a single item too. So instead of ring of protection +1, plate +1, cloak of resistance +2 and some potions you have a single sword +2.

Which no single party member can afford, so it too will get sold. Either that, or you end up with a session of role-playing some borrowing-lending of funds between characters. Or, you end up with a significant wealth imbalance within the party...

Just ignore the treasure accounting entirely - describe the hoards as you see fit, and let them game through buying and selling if they want... but whenever a character levels up he just re-equips based on the Wealth per Level table in the DMG. And if you do the levelling up and re-equipping between sessions, there's no need to spend any significant length of time with treasure at all.

Two problems here: 1. you assume it's possible to get together with people outside the sessions; not always the case. 2. you assume the items a character wants just happen to be available when said character levels up (huge sacrifice of realism)...and that your party happens to be close to the wealth-by-level guidelines and haven't found any huge hoards lately (or had any disasters e.g. their boat sinking with all treasure).

No matter what you do, in the end fairness kinda forces full accounting, like it or not.

Lanefan

 

[delericho]

Two problems here: 1. you assume it's possible to get together with people outside the sessions; not always the case.

True, that. If it's not an option, it's not an option.

2. you assume the items a character wants just happen to be available when said character levels up (huge sacrifice of realism)...

There's always going to be something of a trade-off. Generally, though, I've found it makes the game run a whole lot more smoothly if you let PCs buy the items they want, than either leaving them going wanting (and potentially whining about it), or alternatively 'just happening' to find exactly the right items in exactly the right proportions at just the right times.

and that your party happens to be close to the wealth-by-level guidelines and haven't found any huge hoards lately (or had any disasters e.g. their boat sinking with all treasure).

Ah, that can be dealt with by allowing a passage of time between adventures and handwaving outrageous fortune (good or bad). Perhaps the PCs spend the next four months living like kings, and squander their wealth. Perhaps they invest the sums in that castle they've always wanted. Alternatively, perhaps they spend the next months in lucrative (but boring) work protecting rich merchants. Perhaps a rich uncle dies, leaving them a fortune.

It's not a perfect system (and it's a system I personally use, either), but it does work, and does eliminate much of the book-keeping of treasure.

 

[Lanefan]

There's always going to be something of a trade-off. Generally, though, I've found it makes the game run a whole lot more smoothly if you let PCs buy the items they want, than either leaving them going wanting (and potentially whining about it), or alternatively 'just happening' to find exactly the right items in exactly the right proportions at just the right times.

They find what they find in the field, which may or may not be what they "need", and when in town I generate a list of what randomly happens to be available to buy at that time...again, without reference to what they "need". Sometimes, a character's share for an adventure might end up being just a big pile o' coins. Other times, the same character might want to buy the whole treasury if she could!

If your players are whining because their character can't have exactly the item(s) they think they should have for their level, then it's time for a little ol' fashioned DM smackdown. And while you're at it, tear up and burn the wealth-by-level guidelines...DMs trying to adhere to them is bad enough; players even knowing of their existence is just asking for headaches...

Now if they want to spend the time and extra money to specifically commission artificers to build items for them, fair and well...assuming, of course, they know in-character that said items even exist...but I have that process always take long enough that there'll be at least one or two adventures come along between commissioning and pick-up.

Lanefan

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I used to go into great detail about treasure composition. Now I just say, "You get 5,000 gp worth of gems" or whatever.

I also recommend the Mother of All Treasure Tables. It saves a lot of time and gives you richly detailed treasure.

Use a spreadsheet. It's much easier to make calculations and keep track of things.

Finally, don't sweat the small stuff. We just cleaned up our treasure by lumping a whole whack of stuff together and cashing it in. No muss, no fuss.

 

[FireLance]

Two problems here: 1. you assume it's possible to get together with people outside the sessions; not always the case. 2. you assume the items a character wants just happen to be available when said character levels up (huge sacrifice of realism)...and that your party happens to be close to the wealth-by-level guidelines and haven't found any huge hoards lately (or had any disasters e.g. their boat sinking with all treasure).

No matter what you do, in the end fairness kinda forces full accounting, like it or not.

Actually, my group uses the convention that the PCs simply re-select whatever gear they want, up to the standard wealth levels, whenever they gain a level, and it works fine for us. It cuts down on DM preparation time and game time spent on treasure division. It really isn't necessary to get together between sessions since anyone can download the SRD and get a basic equipment and magic item list. Accounting can simply be done before the game session starts, and a relatively experienced DM can determine whether a PC has significantly more or less equipment than he should have fairly quickly. The standard wealth guidelines do represent a more or less steady gain in wealth, but a DM who wants to simulate the effect of a sudden gain or loss of treasure could simply give the PCs an arbitrary amount of gp instead. And, as mentioned, if there is sufficient downtime between adventures, the PCs' ability to find exactly the equipment they want seems less unrealistic - it's simply a matter of not playing through the process of finding someone who's willing to sell or craft the item in question. Alternatively, the PCs could simply have found it in the last treasure hoard they looted - PCs do seem to have the mysterious ability to run into whatever equipment they need, after all.

 

[green slime]

Takes ten to twenty minutes tops.

One guy keeps a running table of all the loot collected during the session.
Next time they're at a town/city, this loot list is read through, identified and I as the DM provide a value which they can seli each individual item for.
If someone want something in the list, they can claim it, knowing it'll get subtracted from their share.
Summarize the value of all the remaining non-claimed loot.
Sell the rest, split the cash.

There are only two events which can cause discussion:

1) An individual item exceeds the value of the rest of the loot, and someone wants it.
2) Two or more characters want the same item.

Issue number one is resolved by incurring a debt to the party.
Issue number two is resolved through quick discussion, and bargaining, with all the players involved. Generally, if worst comes to worst, and no one can agree, the item goes to the character who wanted it with the least wealth.

 

[Jack99]

My players sell what noone wants, and divide the rest by who needs what the most. If more than one person wants an item, and the group as a whole doesnt agree on who should get it, they just roll a d20 for it.

/shrug

We rarely use any significant time on the loot dividing. However since I dont have any magicshops, acquiring specific items can on the other hand take quite a while.