Looting Bodies

[Dracorat]

My players have NEVER used any reason you just listed as an excuse to not loot. And if they conscously decided to leave the loot alone, then they would state so.

And I have played MMOs myself and I have never forgotten to loot. In fact, I usually do a sweep before I leave the area just to be sure I didn't accidentally kill a monster I didn't even know about, so that if I did, I can loot it too.

 

[Sigg]

My players have NEVER used any reason you just listed as an excuse to not loot. And if they conscously decided to leave the loot alone, then they would state so.

And I have played MMOs myself and I have never forgotten to loot. In fact, I usually do a sweep before I leave the area just to be sure I didn't accidentally kill a monster I didn't even know about, so that if I did, I can loot it too.

Well your players might use any or all of those excuses if they ever were to play in my game.

There are more choices to be made in relation to looting than just whether it get's picked up or not. Who has the potions? Who's carrying the coin and where? Who has the amulet, and do they wear it, or just carry it? Is someone using the masterwork longsword, or does it just get strapped to a backpack? Who's backpack?

In the game I'm playing in right now, our group found a chest containing some potions and some scrolls. The cleric took the potions, and my wizard took the scrolls. Three rooms later my wizard was dead and the rest of the party fled, so the scrolls were lost but not the potions. This happened because we are required to take the time to search for and distribute the loot, as we should be.

I'm glad for you, that you have never forgotten to loot in a MMO. That doesn't mean it shouldn't or couldn't (obviously) happen, just that you have been unusually lucky and/or diligent. Are ALL your characters always just as lucky and/or diligent as you? Does your SOP include who takes what, what gets taken and what gets left, how it gets stored in the character's inventory, and how and when it gets IDed and appraised?

How do you handle it when the looting triggers an encounter that you don't want to give away by making the players play out the looting instead of just assuming everything gets found and taken without having to even mention it?

 

[Dracorat]

There are more choices to be made in relation to looting than just whether it get's picked up or not. Who has the potions? Who's carrying the coin and where? Who has the amulet, and do they wear it, or just carry it? Is someone using the masterwork longsword, or does it just get strapped to a backpack? Who's backpack?

All choices that can be made when I give them the list, regardless of what room they happen to be standing in at the time.

How do you handle it when the looting triggers an encounter that you don't want to give away by making the players play out the looting instead of just assuming everything gets found and taken without having to even mention it?

We just do it when I give them the list. If I am waiting for them to loot for some super-game reason, I just casually mention that there is something unlooted being left behind. It can even be something as innocuous as:

"Are you going to do anything special with the unlooted bodies or just leave them in the middle of the floor."

If they choose to leave them, then at least they specified they weren't looting.

Are ALL your characters always just as lucky and/or diligent as you? Does your SOP include who takes what, what gets taken and what gets left, how it gets stored in the character's inventory, and how and when it gets IDed and appraised?

In order:
In MMOs, I have never seen anyone leave loot intentionally without good cause. If you want to talk D&D again, then sometimes it happens due to the out of sight thing, but if you scroll up, I addressed that already.

SOP doesn't have to include who gets it. The party leader doles it out as I list it off.
Me: "Boots, masterworked"
Leader: "Jigger, hold those for now"
Me: "Headband, masterworked"
Leader: "Silinu, hold those for now"
Me: "Longsword, masterworked, glowing yellow"
Leader: "I'll hold that one for now"
Me: "Battleaxe, masterworked, not glowing"
Leader: "I'll hold that one too"
Sister Mel: "I cast detect magic and look at the equipment"
Me: "The Longsword, boots and headband all detect magic."

None of what I just described required a lick about the room the treasure was picked up in. And in the odd chance anything did, I would mention it.

 

[Sigg]

All choices that can be made when I give them the list, regardless of what room they happen to be standing in at the time.



We just do it when I give them the list. If I am waiting for them to loot for some super-game reason, I just casually mention that there is something unlooted being left behind. It can even be something as innocuous as:

"Are you going to do anything special with the unlooted bodies or just leave them in the middle of the floor."

If they choose to leave them, then at least they specified they weren't looting.

When do you give them the list? Have you ever waited to give them the list until after hours had gone by in-game? If you hadn't given them the list yet, and two rooms later one of the PCs was devoured by a monster with all possessions lost, how would you decide what part of that list the PC was carrying? Do your players automatically know they are missing something when you "innocuously" ask them questions about a procedure that is normally glossed over as "SOP", thereby ruining any feeling of surprise the players can enjoy by their characters being surprised?

In order:
In MMOs, I have never seen anyone leave loot intentionally without good cause. If you want to talk D&D again, then sometimes it happens due to the out of sight thing, but if you scroll up, I addressed that already.

I never said that I forgot to loot intentionally in a MMO game. That kinda makes it not "forgetting". On the other hand I have seen a great many MMO players intentionally leave loot lying around.

SOP doesn't have to include who gets it. The party leader doles it out as I list it off.
Me: "Boots, masterworked"
Leader: "Jigger, hold those for now"
Me: "Headband, masterworked"
Leader: "Silinu, hold those for now"
Me: "Longsword, masterworked, glowing yellow"
Leader: "I'll hold that one for now"
Me: "Battleaxe, masterworked, not glowing"
Leader: "I'll hold that one too"
Sister Mel: "I cast detect magic and look at the equipment"
Me: "The Longsword, boots and headband all detect magic."

None of what I just described required a lick about the room the treasure was picked up in. And in the odd chance anything did, I would mention it.

When and where does this procedure occur? Again, has the party moved on and had subsequent encounters before this happens? Do you accumulate several lists to read off to them and do it all at once? If it's just a matter of you reading off a list at the end of a combat instead of waiting for them to say "We loot", then that's just a matter of DMing style where there is no real right and wrong as long as consistency is maintained. The OP has already stated that the usual practice in their game is to state the party is looting. In this case, the party forgot to loot because they forgot to state they were looting. They were excited they survived the fight... they were distracted by the possibility of other travellers happening by the scene of the fight... their minds were on a tankard of ale and a warm bed for the night. There are many reasons they might forget to rifle through a bunch of bloody corpses, pick one. The point is it's absolutely not wrong for the OP to not retcon the looting that the players forgot to perform just because it's not what you would do. The DM wasn't deliberately withholding the loot from the characters. In their game (and many other people's as well) looting is not assumed to be routine, so it needs to be played out.

I do agree that is was unwise to tell the players how much they left behind... that was just rubbing salt in the wound.

 

[TheEvil]

Who all is against the idea of asking the players if they are going to loot the bodies before they leave? It hasn't come up in my games, but if it did, I would at least ask the question. This of course assumes that there is none of the afformentioned reasons to rush. Mind you, when I run, it is pretty relaxed game. At least until the players leave the mapped area... :\

 

[Sigg]

Who all is against the idea of asking the players if they are going to loot the bodies before they leave? It hasn't come up in my games, but if it did, I would at least ask the question. This of course assumes that there is none of the afformentioned reasons to rush. Mind you, when I run, it is pretty relaxed game. At least until the players leave the mapped area... :\

I'm not against it, per se. I might make an int roll for the characters beforehand though, because sometimes people do forget things. One doesn't have to be rushed to be distracted.

 

[Sledge]

When do you give them the list? Have you ever waited to give them the list until after hours had gone by in-game? If you hadn't given them the list yet, and two rooms later one of the PCs was devoured by a monster with all possessions lost, how would you decide what part of that list the PC was carrying? Do your players automatically know they are missing something when you "innocuously" ask them questions about a procedure that is normally glossed over as "SOP", thereby ruining any feeling of surprise the players can enjoy by their characters being surprised?

That's why Nodwick always carries the loot. Undivvied loot should be assumed to be held by the loot bag carrier. I'm sure every party has one. Just don't let the real rogue be it.

 

[XO]

Did the DM say...

"You step over the weapons lying on the floor..."

"The armored corpses lie pell-mell on the floor..."

"The beheaded dark knight's helm has rolled all the way to the end of the corridor, leaving a bloody trail stopping at the severed head midway to that distance..."

Our descriptions are NEVER what we see in our heads : the level of detail would kill us...

The players are not the characters and are not physically there to catch the sights. A group of dead foes lying on the floor where they fell, in armor, weapons in hand (or almost) would be pretty damn obvious, no ? What do yo uthink looting would look like ? Removing their belt pouches ? Unless terminally stupid, it would involve removing all armor (long, tedious process), or at the very least torso armor, helmet, gloves, belt / girdle, jewelry, backpacks (which need emptying)... Shall we go on ?

Looting a group of enemies can be a one-hour logn affair. The ONLY time we might presume players to skip is during a quest / tournament with a stringent time allotment.

My 2 ¢ !

 

[Dracorat]

Exactly, XO. You and I agree on this matter.

 

[Sigg]

"You step over the weapons lying on the floor..."

"The armored corpses lie pell-mell on the floor..."

"The beheaded dark knight's helm has rolled all the way to the end of the corridor, leaving a bloody trail stopping at the severed head midway to that distance..."

Our descriptions are NEVER what we see in our heads : the level of detail would kill us...

The players are not the characters and are not physically there to catch the sights. A group of dead foes lying on the floor where they fell, in armor, weapons in hand (or almost) would be pretty damn obvious, no ? What do yo uthink looting would look like ? Removing their belt pouches ? Unless terminally stupid, it would involve removing all armor (long, tedious process), or at the very least torso armor, helmet, gloves, belt / girdle, jewelry, backpacks (which need emptying)... Shall we go on ?

Looting a group of enemies can be a one-hour logn affair. The ONLY time we might presume players to skip is during a quest / tournament with a stringent time allotment.

My 2 ¢ !

This rational is exactly why I require my players to state they are doing it. It IS such a significant time and effort intensive activity. Just as we players don't SEE exactly what the characters would see, we don't FEEL what the characters would feel. The PCs could be in not much better shape themselves, nauseated, tired and bleeding.... intensely thirsty... arms shaking from exertion... in shock. Very easy to forget to perform the very labor-intensive, bloody, not to mention kinda loud activity of looting a buncha hacked-up corpses when all they really want to do is get to a place to rest, heal, and refresh themselves. Perhaps they might be set-upon by reinforcements while they were injured if they stayed. I can think of just as many or more in-game reasons why it shouldn't be retconned as there are reasons it should. I also feel the reasons against are better than those for retconning, not the least of which I just wouldn't want to open that Pandora's box.