Players misplacing PC equipment

[Quasqueton]

Say a PC dies. The party "loots" his body, buries him, and goes on. The Player passes his character sheet (with equipment list, including magic and treasure) to another Player.

Later, during a future game session, there is mention of checking the fallen PC's equipment. No one has the character sheet/equipment list. No one has a note on their character sheet about having the other PC's stuff.

Do you let the Players "reconstruct" the equipment list? Or do you say, "Well, I guess you lost it."?


In my game, a week ago, they "looted" a fallen PC. The next game session, they mention the bag of holding (that had all the fallen PC's stuff, including several magic items). But no one has the sheet the Player gave them last week, and no one has a note on their character sheet about having the bag. Without that bag, they've lost a lot of money and magic, but they are far from hurting financially or magically (they are well over the wealth guidelines). In the past couple game sessions, the PCs have been in plenty of situations where that bag could have gotten lost in the game.

As the DM, I'm fine with the loss of that bag o' money & magic. Especially since I am constantly (at least once per game session) reminding the Players to write stuff down if they plan to hold on to it.

I remember an episode of Piratecat's story hour where a couple of the PCs disappeared (in game) because the Players moved away. A couple of the remaining PCs were annoyed that one of the disappeared PCs had most of the party money.


What is your default/general ruling on this kind of situation?

Quasqueton

 

[Sammael]

For one, I'm not certain my PCs would loot the body of a fallen comrade. Sure, some of them might want to, but the two clerics in the party would probably disapprove. Most of the time they'd try to raise him ASAP (and one of the clerics is high enough in level that it's not really an issue).

My general policy is "if you don't have it written down on the character sheet, you don't have it."

 

[ThirdWizard]

First off, character wealth generally goes to next of kin, is buried with them, or some other plausable excuse for the bulk of it not to go to other players. But, beyond that difference, if they lose track of something it depends on how memorable the item was, and how much we're sure that they have it and havn't lost, sold, or otherwise parted with it in character. So, if we know a character had a bag of holding for sure, then its okay for them to keep it even if it is lost. Likewise with gold obtained. If we all know they got 5000 gp last adventure, but forgot to write it down, they can keep it.

For other things, if its a bit iffy then its gone. So, say the PC is sure that he had a longbow +1 that he hasn't used for several sessions but can't find it written down. It's gone, even if everyone knows he had it at one point. It might have been sold to cover a res or something like that, so I assume that it's missing for a reason.

I've actually had characters lose entire wealth and had to try and reconstruct it back like it was. It's not a fun thing, I assure you. Usually, for the trouble they end up with less than the had before.

Basically, I try to stay firm but fair.

 

[Mystery Man]

My general policy is "if you don't have it written down on the character sheet, you don't have it."

Yep. I haven't run into the problem of "missing PC items" in quite some time. You'd be amazed what happens when you stick to that rule. My player now write down everything.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I get severely annoyed by such things because it causes needless disruption & extra work to the game. Off hand, they'd lose everything they cannot quantify & only keep the expensive & known stuff, which is magical.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Generally we agree before the game begins that folks who die get a good viking funeral or something, with all their good stuff going to the great beyond or their families or whatever.

This lets me allow people to bring in characters with starting wealth scores, which generally saves me some time.

I usually keep some software on-hand that'll let me track everybody's cash and items, so that keeps the problem of disappearing goods out of the way. When I'm a player, I write down the stuff that I get and enter it into the computer after every session, so I know I've got a running record.

I also don't agree to keep a tally of the party loot, so when it invariably gets lost, I can yell at somebody else.

--fje

 

[Roadkill101]

I'm a firm believer in the if it's not recorded, then it's gone, policy. As a player, I'm constantly updating a running record of any items that come into my characters possesion.

 

[Zappo]

I tell the involved players to figure out what's missing, and then proceed with the game making a point not to pay much attention. Usually, they'll end up with less stuff than what they lost. They know that I know, and they know that while officially I'm not bothered much by cheaters, characters that turn up with extra equipment somehow tend to die soon afterwards.

 

[Crothian]

If you are going to loot a buddy then write it down. if you don't write it down, you don't have it. I'm willing to be nice to players on many things, but the simple act of writing something down is expected by me.

 

[the Jester]

If it's not written down, it's gone. Period.

I'm a hard-ass.