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[Fauchard1520]

How do you guys deal with loot distribution? Do your roll off? Sell items and divide the gold?

Comic for illustrative how-not-to-do-it purposes.

 

[iserith]

Typically gold is distributed equally and items go to the character it most benefits.

In my current Eberron game, the party divides the gold into the party size plus one shares with the additional share going into a central "company" fund for use in adventuring expenses that impact everyone.

 

[Immortal Sun]

Typically everyone gets an equal share, though some players express preference for raw materials, gems or items over other things, and both as a player and DM, it's the party's job to work these things out. I try to ask for people to make PCs who aren't trying to screw each other over and I try to look for players who aren't trying to screw each other over.

I don't like rolling random loot because it might as well just be gold, so I include tailored weapons, or minor plot McGuffins or something interesting I may have come up.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

One thing I've noticed is that a couple of my groups have started a "petty cash" fund over the course of the campaign, for group expenses.

As for magic items, I tend to keep my nose out of it, unless they absolutely can't decide who gets an item. Most of the time, then it's a role-off.

One place that's a sore spot for me, that will likely get me is when the party rogue (or any PC, really) tries to skim treasure off the rest of the group. It's one of the places that the simulationist and gamist sides of the game hit up against each other. Sure, it might be what your character would do, but D&D is generally a co-op game. And ultimately, you're the one deciding that your character would try to essentially steal from the other PCs.

 

[Blue]

In one group I play with, regardless of campaign it's done the same way. One guy (the same guy) tracks all treasure. Every once in a while they do a split, with one share to everyone and another share to the "party fund". Magic items were excluded from that (unless being sold), they usually were distributes so everyone had something / who was best to have it. So we might see "give the magic lute to the bard, who passes on his scroll of silence to someone else who doesn't have anything".

As a side note, in one campaign that player also was playing a rogue who'd try to steal for himself - but he was scrupulously honest (as always) with the books and the rogue's thefts were not hidden from the players, just the characters. We all still trusted him.

In a group I ran they gave items to whomever they felt it was the best with, with more generically useful items getting shuffled around if there was imbalances, and amusingly cared very little for coin. I think one guy basically horded most of it except spending money and paid for anything big the others wanted, but never formally kept track of who had what still coming to them.

EDIT: Back in AD&D 2nd we had a large group with multiple character each of various levels. And +1 swords were commonplace. So items went to whomever it was a good upgrade, and all the extras (including whatever was replaced by the new items) went into the party coffers. Any of the officers of the adventuring could give these things to other members of the adventuring company unless it had a specific hold on it (like the ring with a wish we were saving for a rainy day).

So we'd have 2nd level parties going out with a collection of low level potions, scrolls and a bunch of +1 weapons and armor. Because the 13th level (OMG high in AD&D XP charts) defeated a BBEG, and all his guards had +2 weapons, which got hoovered up across several mid level groups who traded in those +1 weapons and armor we had given to the relative newbies. (Back before newbie was a word.)

 

[Shiroiken]

The group I play with seems to have a very communal view of group loot. Coins divide evenly, and items of value are assumed sold (players can "buy" them with their share). Magic items are given out based on need, with extras just "claimed" by various people. This can (and has) create a disparity of items, which has caused tension*. I'm not a big fan of it, but I'm old school and believe in dividing magic items as part of the overall treasure division, where players got less coin if they got magic items. I tried to offer suggestions in the game I DM, but was politely told to butt out.

*My character in one of our games needs to retire, as well as raise money fast, so he was going to sell his magic items and special gear. I figured I'd offer them to the party first, and the DM agreed with using DMG/PHB prices. Some of the players were upset, because they thought I was unfairly taking too much treasure out of the game (I had a lot of potions of minimal use, but high value according to the DMG). In addition, I had two books that never were given a monetary value, but another player was interested in them as well, feeling they should stay with the group. They never considered the cost or value of the items prior to this, because they still considered everything to belong to the group.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

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[Draegn]

For us it tends to be situational and is role played. A character risks death on behalf of the group but finds something, then that object is theirs. The group skips over the dead X but someone searches and finds something then it is theirs. Or like a necromonger they keep what they kill.

Mostly coin goes into the adventuring party temple fund for healing. It's when this till is dipped into that things get interesting.

 

[BookBarbarian]

For convenience we keep a group loot sheet, but whoever finds something can choose to keep it from the party.

 

[CydKnight]

Typically gold is distributed equally and items go to the character it most benefits.

In my current Eberron game, the party divides the gold into the party size plus one shares with the additional share going into a central "company" fund for use in adventuring expenses that impact everyone.

This is typically how it is done in my games as well whether I am DM or PC.

However in a recent session, I had a player (Bladelock) decide to do a search for loot while the rest of the party battled it out with a wraith. Of course, he found the shiny magic sword and decided he was keeping it without any input from the rest of the party. The blade turned out to be a sentient Moon Blade and he had a hard time attuning to it because Warlock values don't typically mesh with the pure Elvish values the Moon Blade was accustomed. On his 2nd attempt to attune he got a 21 for his total charisma roll so he was able to attune. It has been a bit of a battle for him though. This blade will not let him pocket it away in another dimension therefore he has been unable to use it as his pact weapon. They also don't see eye-to-eye on many actions. As such he has mentioned that he will likely be parting ways with the blade and hand it over to another party member that is more suited for such an item.

I guess what I am getting at with this story is that though sometimes the items aren't at first split evenly or fairly, they usually have a way of working themselves out at the table in the end.