Looting

[elbandit]

I am curious how other DMs handle parties that insist on looting everything out of a dungeon that is not nailed down? My group has just started doing this and I am not sure how or even if I should do something to stop this trend.

To me, looting every scrap of gear (good example is the 52 spears they picked up) doesn't seem heroic.

Thought?

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

First off, if they are low level adventurers, let them do it. They need every scrap of cash they can get.

When you think they have "outgrown" it, the easiest way to wean them is to make it not worth their time and effort. Strictly enforce durations on spells, wandering monster checks, and encumbrance checks. It won't be much fun to be bent over under the load from a bundle of spears when the ogre rounds the corner.

And finally, remember the laws of supply and demand. When they get to town, the shopkeep is not likely to be interested in buying another 50 shoddy orc spears to add to the pile out back from the LAST time the "Grand Company of Looters" came through.

Maybe the old woman selling kindling will give them a copper piece or two for the lot...

Give them a reputation in town for being looters and trash-men. You're right, it's NOT heroic, and the NPCs will notice it, too.

There really are a lot of realistic ways to discourage this sort of behavior.


Wulf

 

[dazm]

To me, looting every scrap of gear (good example is the 52 spears they picked up) doesn't seem heroic

Have the characters carry all of this gear, weigh them down with encumberance. Ask them how they propose to carry 6 spears, 3 swords, 5 bows and a quartersrtaff along with 2 barrels of Dwarven ale.

Just my idea

 

[Zenon]

Encumberance, encumberance, encumberance!

Start paying close attention to the carrying limits of characters. Spot check sheets, give them the negatives for carrying medium and heavy loads.

Insist they document who is carrying what. If they use mounts to carry it, require a sheet that shows what mount is carrying what (after all, if they're going to look like a caravan, bandits will become interested...)

Also, try to find out why they got on this kick. Maybe they feel like they are not getting enough cash to do what they would like to do. It might be you who needs to re-evaluate the rewards you giving them.

Looted items are rarely able to be turned around for the cash that it is worth. Even weapons should only bring about 1/2 of their value is they are in great condition. Creature weapons can be described as low quality, poor workmanship (although the stats are still the same). Make them use Charisma and bargaining skills and TIME to convert their gains to cash.

In other words, convince them it isn't worth their time, but make sure to compensate them in other ways so they don't feel the need to do this.

Hope this helps!

 

[Teflon Billy]

Heh, that old "Kindling Woman" is gold Wulf...nice one

 

[Scarab]

My group used to stash everything that wasn't glued down just inside the entrance to the cave/dungeon/whatever. When I got annoyed at this I had some passing slitheren loot their loot.

I don't mind them selling everything they can get their hands on, but it can be taken to extremes. Like the first days I played Diablo 2: "Ooh, a wooden club! That's worth 1 gold!" *stash*

 

[KnowTheToe]

Excellent Ideas Wolf.

You can also think of cash flow. How many weapons smiths have money to buy 50 spears when it wil take him a year to sell them. The PCs may have to find mercenaries or nobles or some other type such to buy quantities that large.

 

[hong]

Players (not characters) loot bodies in-game because they want to buy things with the money. If you want to discourage looting, I'd say the best way in the long run is to remove the temptation altogether, by not having lots of things to buy. (Accumulating gold for its own sake may be the motivation for dragons and Conan, but in my experience, players tend to have a more pragmatic frame of mind.)

Not having lots of things to buy can cause balance problems later on, because the group won't have the resources to tackle the bigger monsters. To get around this, you can try better tailoring the items they find to what they need. Doing this too much strains credibility, though, so be careful.

Magic of Rokugan also contains a description of "nemuranai", which are basically items that become enchanted by being inhabited by magic spirits. Essentially, a heroic character may find that as he becomes stronger, his weapons and armour tend to become stronger as well, as they become infused with his essence. It's a way of ensuring that high-level characters always have the equipment commensurate with their level, without having to grub around for gold.

Enforcing encumbrance rules only works until they get their hands on Heward's haversacks, portable holes and bags of holding. Naturally you can remove these from your game too.

 

[Desdichado]

Hong, those same rules (or something very similar) also appeared in Dragon a few monthes ago. I much prefer the idea of weapons gaining power as a PC advances rather than the "I found a +5 sword, now I'm throwing away my 'useless' +1 sword" type of syndrome.

 

[hong]

Hong, those same rules (or something very similar) also appeared in Dragon a few monthes ago. I much prefer the idea of weapons gaining power as a PC advances rather than the "I found a +5 sword, now I'm throwing away my 'useless' +1 sword" type of syndrome.

Yep, that would be Dragon 289: the OA issue, with the monk on the cover. It's a pretty good article. It's a pretty good issue overall, actually.

We used something similar in the RttToEE campaign I was in recently. The DM felt that the XP costs in the article were too steep, so he halved them. It didn't seem to cause any problems.