So me and the fellow players have been hashing out how we are going to handle loot. One of the things we really wanted to avoid for this campaign was a major accounting system. The system had to be simple, easy to use and fair. I thought I'd pass on what we came up with as I'm really impressed with it and wanted to share. Most of what follows are a fellow players ideas. My main contribution was complaining until my concerns were addressed.
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*DIBS 2.0*
Every time we get treasure, we divide up the magic items and the
gp-equivalents.
*MAGIC ITEMS*
Everyone adds up the total levels of all the magic items they have acquired via picks (but excluding any bought items). We establish a 'dibs' order based on this, with the person with the least total levels in magic picking first and the the person with the most picking last. Ties (which I think will become increasingly rare over time) are broken by a simple die roll.
We pass around the pile of magic items, and the person who picks first can either pick one or pass the pile. Same for the second person, and so on. We keep going around the order until either all the items are picked, or everyone passes on the pile without picking an item. If there are any items that get passed on by everyone, they get sold and their gp gets added to the gp-equivalent pile.
*GP AND EQUIVALENTS*
Divided evenly among everyone who participated in an adventure. People can spend their share on whatever they wish, and magic items bought this way don't count for establishing dibs order. An adventure, in this case is defined as a single module of the Scales of War AP. Any player that participates in any part of an adventure is entitled to a share of the loot. If you miss so many sessions that you don't make it to any session of an adventure you do not get a share of the loot. The DM has agreed to tell us when we begin a new adventure if its not clearly obvious.
*NOTES AND CORNER CASES*
If there are any utility items that don't directly benefit anyone but benefit everyone (many or most wonderous items appear to fall in this category). A Utility item is an item that everyone or almost everyone in the party can use. If an item falls into this category and its passed over by everyone then it goes around again but is considered to have only half its value (players might balk at being the bearer of an item that really helps everyone in the party if its treated as having its full value)
If someone has an item from a drop that they are replacing or no longer using, then the old item should go back into the dibs pool, and be treated like any other found item (i.e. it goes around the dibs order until someone picks it or everyone passes on it, in which case it gets sold for cash and the cash is divided equally among everyone).
If an item drops that would clearly be good for someone who is not present (a magical axe drops and Tim is not there), if everyone passes on it we hold it aside until the next session that the missing player is present. If they want it, they can have it, otherwise it gets sold like any other item that everyone has passed on.
Potions and other charged items only count toward your dib total for one adventure.
We have been using something similar, except we have been totaling gp values instead of item levels. At low levels, it doesn't make much difference, but at paragon and epic levels several low-level items quickly add up, while the sum of their gp values would be quite low.
We have been using something similar, except we have been totaling gp values instead of item levels. At low levels, it doesn't make much difference, but at paragon and epic levels several low-level items quickly add up, while the sum of their gp values would be quite low.
I'll keep that in mind. We can change how we rank items if our system does not seem to be working over the long haul.