Looting Bodies

[Dracorat]

My players would never complain if loot was trapped and claim they didn't loot. There is a level of trust that if they didn't specifically call out they were behaving differently than normal and some penalty befalls them because of it, they will accept the penalty and in return, I try not to look for opportunities to just 'get them'. As example, I had a rogue that said "I am listening at the door." I had him roll for a trap - he called out "Crap, I should have checked for one first. I rolled a ..." and then proceeded to accept the penalty of the trap. Conversely, if they do something like walk in to a room that is dark, I don't assume that they wouldn't turn on the lamp if it's normal for them to use one. I ask "are you going to use your lamp here, or proceed in the dark?"

Furthermore, out of sight, out of mind really applies here. As a player, they absent mindedly missed a usual step of cleaning up combat. As a character, the reminder would be lying in a pool of blood and they would have to consciously NOT loot. If you have any issue with them looting under normal circumstances, you should ask specifically as it is an exception to the normal rule. People adventure to gain loot, among other things. They aren't in the habit of just leaving the loot lying around.

If you asked a clarifying question - "Are you leaving the bodies untouched?" as they exitted and they affirmed, then I agree the loot is locked behind them. But if you didn't, then you are at as much fault as they are.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Lesson 1 from Caesar's Commentaries: Stow and secure your loot somewhere else before you go into battle.

 

[Endur]

Why is it a problem to ret con it? It was a simple, honest mistake. Where do we go from here?

Player : "I draw my sword and charge the ogre with my war cry!"

DM : "Oh you didnt say you were taking your SWORD with you when you left the inn this morning........"

Player : "What. The. F-?"

DM : "Oh btw you are stark naked......make a fort save for running around naked in the chilly dawn air........oh and no shoes either so make a fort save for running around without shoes.......and you havent said you have been washing your hands either so..." *roll some dices* "Congrats you got food poisoning for eating food with unclean hands!"

This is a good point. I hate the idea of always having to mention routine things (I despise dodge bonus's requirement of selecting an enemy every round for this reason, memorizing new spells every day, etc.). When I speak up during gaming, I want it to be important character-related stuff. Not about washing my hands.

I think the best way to handle the "oh we didn't mention we were looting the bodies" is for the GM to think back and say "Would the PCs have looted the bodies under the circumstances?" Weigh the reasons for looting and against looting and make a decision.

Remember this is a cooperative roleplaying experience. It is not a competition or game of gotcha between the GM and the PCs.

In a lot of Indiana Jone's adventures, Indy is running out of the ruined temple as it collapses behind him. Looting of bodies is infrequent under those circumstances.

On the other hand, it does not take long to pick up a fallen foe's lightsaber.

 

[Arnwyn]

Satisfaction for yourself, or your group as a whole? If you're the DM, it's easy to watch the players dance on your strings. If a DM's players and are the constant victims of verisimilitude, they'd have to be pretty massochistic to deem that satisfying.

Is this one of those freakish internet moments in which some random messageboard poster assumes he/she knows more about a certain group than the actual member of said group?

Those moments are weird.

 

[Lanefan]

DM was in the right, period. Telling them the amount they missed, depending on the group, probably serves as a good reminder for the future. Sometimes, if an adventure is done and no longer accessible (complex destroyed, whatever) and they missed a pile o' stuff, I'll tell them what they missed - both challenges and treasure.

As for SOP's, I'm not a big fan for anything other than the most mundane of things e.g. watch rotation while resting, mainly because so few situations are the same and the SOP will get varied often enough it's just simpler to get the players to say what the PC's are doing. Obviously, there's exceptions: if there's a hallway full of identical doors, for example, they can tell me once how they're operating and just say they're doing the same for each door, and that's fine.

Looting in particular is one thing I'd never do by SOP. If there's a cursed item in there, I want them to tell me who's picked it up...

For equipment, I have a simple rule: if it's not written on your character sheet, you don't have it with you. This has led, in the past, to the occasional character having to borrow clothes or mooch food in the field...eventually, the players learn that at least a small amount of record-keeping is a Useful Thing.

Lanefan

 

[Felon]

Is this one of those freakish internet moments in which some random messageboard poster assumes he/she knows more about a certain group than the actual member of said group?

See that curled-up exclamation point at the end of my first sentence? That's a question mark. It marks the sentence in question as a question rather than a statement.

 

[Arnwyn]

See that curled-up exclamation point at the end of my first sentence? That's a question mark. It marks the sentence in question as a question rather than a statement.

A "yes" or "no" would have sufficed.

 

[Thurbane]

This is going down the road of another one of those "DM vs. players" debates.

I don't think it is unreasonable from either perspective that unless the players have left standing instructions to the contrary, unless they state that they do something, they haven't done it.

 

[FireLance]

This is going down the road of another one of those "DM vs. players" debates.

Actually, I think it's more of a playstyle debate. The question of which actions the PCs are assumed to take (and can be glossed over during play) and which actions the PCs are required to state before that they are taking will vary between groups and even between sessions, e.g. in an urban adventure, the DM may assume that the PCs will restock normal ammunition at negligible cost, whereas he may pay closer attention to the depletion of ammunition during a wilderness trek. Similarly, the DM may enforce "no looting unless specifically stated" more strictly at low levels than at higher levels.

 

[Sigg]

I think many are assuming looting defeated enemies is a routine thing. I don't agree with that because there are many potential consequences of looting. My opinion hinges on the group actually using stuff like needing to ID magic items and using encumbrance rules and such. I can think of only one reason to make looting a SOP event... pacify irritated players who forget to loot.

I can think of many reasons to not make looting an SOP event...

1) Part of the loot could be cursed
2) Part of the loot could be poisoned
3) Part of the loot could be trapped
4) The act of looting could trigger an encounter by more/different monsters/npcs
5) Taking all the loot could encumber one or more players, potentially requiring more retconning because they might not have escaped their last encounter where they ran away (for example) or have required them to pick and choose what the take and what they don't
6) The act of looting might have led them in a different direction than they have currently taken (potentially requiring even more retconning)
7) Carrying looted items could have an modifying effect on the reactions of encountered npcs

I'm sure, given time, many more potential consequences of looting could be added to the list. I treat looting like I do searching for traps... they both have possible negative consequences. I allow a SOP for HOW traps are searched for and loot is gathered, but not WHEN. As has been already stated, the characters are just as fallible as the players and can forget to do something that can be considered routine. I've locked my keys in my car before, or forgotten to grab them on the way out the door. Hell, if it wasn't for Sir Kay forgetting to belt on his sword, Arthur might never have become king .

Outside of MMORPGs, looting can hardly be called routine, and even in the only MMORPGs I've played looting isn't automatic. I still had to go up to the corpse and click on it. Did I ever forget to do that? Absolutely.