How does your group split the loot?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

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In my group, I am tasked to handle all the loot we find.

Whatever method you use to split loot, consider using The Loot Divider. It is a tool that saves me a lot of time when doing this work. I do not need to search books anymore to see the price of stuff - including complex items with multiple magical abilities :)

One of the sheets allows you to see how much 'value' each player has taken from the total gold value. So if that is important to your group, you can track that with this tool.

For our group, we usually give items to whomever will make best use of it... irrelevant of his 'cut' in all the treasure found. This way, we believe we are maximizing items usage.

RiTz21
Note: It can be purchased from Paizo, and has a good user rating.

The Exchange

It varies. I hate all of them though.

Next time I GM, I might say any loot you find is gone at the end of the adventure. At lvl ups buy gear using the difference of your wbl before and after. Of course I would sprinkle some fun and powerful items to be used.

But if I'm gming I could also drop obvious loot choices and let the players fight it out for smaller things.

Idk, I might have a different opinion when I get orotund to it. In any case, mundane stuff like wool socks, boots and armor are not resellable.


In my Shattered Star campaign our GM has in many cases has specifically tailored the drops to suit specific characters, added to this we each have very distinct class restrictions/play styles that have easily decided where loot will go.

Basically if you can make use of it or need it, you can have it. In the grey area items like Rings of Protection, Cloaks of Resistance, etc we try to balance out the weaknesses of the party, potions go to people who are low in supply and so on.

In many cases we are *forced* to take items because party consensus has deemed it we should have something, as a party we consider the team's survival above all else.

Finally anything left over worth gold is turned into gold and split evenly. In the cases where we need to purchase shared treasure like healing wands, we all chip in towards the price.


The floor is lava wrote:
something I didn't read because...

oh no the floor is lava!

*jumps on chair*

- Torger


We're using a modified version of the system from BECMI D&D.

Each character takes their pick of a permanent magical item first, until they're all gone.

The rotation then continues with temporary magic items such as potions.

Cash (counting whatever any gems, etc, were sold for) is distributed in shares, with every player getting a share, plus an extra share if they didn't get a magic item at all, or an extra half-share if they got just a temporary magic item. No calculations are done on actual values of magic items.

If anyone then wants to trade anything, they're free to do so.

One of my previous groups also had an additional share of the cash go into a "group expenses account".


Magic items get divided based on who can use it most, frequently decided by a group vote if not obvious (the wizard gets a Wand of Shocking Grasp 'cause he's the only one who can use it, f'rex).

Money is then divided evenly, though most often the person who got a major magic item (not a potion or other cheap consumable) voluntarily skips his share.


Since we don't have magic items commonly available for sale or purchase and the magic items we DO tend to come across are often 1) unique and 2) obviously intended for one player or another, we really don't have problems splitting up loot. Coin and gems goes into a group fund to be spent as seems best, but since we're not buying, selling and trading magic items like bubble gum cards, we also tend not to need as much coin and gems as other groups seem to.

We think of it like this - how did the Fellowship of the Ring 'split up loot'?

It just doesn't generally suit our playstyle.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Most of the (non-PFS) groups I play in work the same way - all loot goes into the group kitty. The group treasurer (not formal or anything, but that's what it boils down to) doles out the magic items to those who need them, else converts unwanted items to cash, and keeps track of the cash in the group kitty. Anyone who wants stuff talks it over with the treasurer and the rest of the group, and the treasurer doles out any funds agreed to be spent. Most commonly, these purchases will be wands, scrolls and potions, with most actual gear upgrades coming from recovered items.


lol weird, my group does it a completely different way. For encounters the DM decides in what order people go based on common sense. Then each of us picks a body or takes an action and searches it, the items that are on that body are confidential and only know to the person that got them. Though if your perception is low enough then you may not find everything and others could possibly come over and find it after you walk away. Its up to the player whether he shares that information with others or the loot he got.

Most of us are def not greedy and just give whatever we cant use to others instead of selling it. In a recent encounter i found a +1 ring of protection, but im a sorcerer and felt it wouldnt help me as much as our monk so i gave it to her instead.

In our game its totally up to the players how much they feast/famine each other and so far we havnt run into any problems.

As for money players generally get it from selling items they have aquired. If there is a quest that rewards gold it is split evenlly among the people that participated regardless of how much they did.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Damiancrr wrote:

lol weird, my group does it a completely different way. For encounters the DM decides in what order people go based on common sense. Then each of us picks a body or takes an action and searches it, the items that are on that body are confidential and only know to the person that got them. Though if your perception is low enough then you may not find everything and others could possibly come over and find it after you walk away. Its up to the player whether he shares that information with others or the loot he got.

Most of us are def not greedy and just give whatever we cant use to others instead of selling it. In a recent encounter i found a +1 ring of protection, but im a sorcerer and felt it wouldnt help me as much as our monk so i gave it to her instead.

In our game its totally up to the players how much they feast/famine each other and so far we havnt run into any problems.

As for money players generally get it from selling items they have aquired. If there is a quest that rewards gold it is split evenlly among the people that participated regardless of how much they did.

For what sounds like a fairly equitable group, the in game looting process seems like it would take a lot of table time that could be used to advance the story?


Galnörag wrote:
Damiancrr wrote:

lol weird, my group does it a completely different way. For encounters the DM decides in what order people go based on common sense. Then each of us picks a body or takes an action and searches it, the items that are on that body are confidential and only know to the person that got them. Though if your perception is low enough then you may not find everything and others could possibly come over and find it after you walk away. Its up to the player whether he shares that information with others or the loot he got.

Most of us are def not greedy and just give whatever we cant use to others instead of selling it. In a recent encounter i found a +1 ring of protection, but im a sorcerer and felt it wouldnt help me as much as our monk so i gave it to her instead.

In our game its totally up to the players how much they feast/famine each other and so far we havnt run into any problems.

As for money players generally get it from selling items they have aquired. If there is a quest that rewards gold it is split evenlly among the people that participated regardless of how much they did.

For what sounds like a fairly equitable group, the in game looting process seems like it would take a lot of table time that could be used to advance the story?

Uhm takes about 10-min total but there is usually other stuff that is found while searching for loot that advances the story. Like we found the hide out of a Cult Group. When we entered there was only a Salamander(a type of Fire plane Outsider) and a Werewolf. After the fight we do the normal looting as usual. I went to the chest in the corner, it was filled with cloths. Using Detect magic i saw glowing beneath the chest and found a False Bottom, Inside was a lance with a bright aura. At the same time my party searched to the right and found cages were two people were being held captive, 1 dead 1 alive. Another party member investigated the alter and saw two relics, one of holyness and one of evil. The girl in the cage had a collar on and when she saw the weapon started reaching out grasping for it. She has a collar with silence cast on it and a arcane lock.

Long story short from examining the room we saved the girl who turned out to be a Wizard/Cleric, the weapon was her bonded item and the holy item was her focus. We destroyed the evil item, released her and left the body's to rot. The only actual found loot from that was the Dragonborn Fighter who found a +1 Ring of Protection on the Salamander. So while we all went to search we all also uncovered parts of the story to continue. Not all of our encounters are that light on loot and sometimes we get more, but we were all happy with the experience. Even though i nothing i was happy with what i did find and it advanced the story very nicely.


In my group we usually divvy up loot based on who can use it best/at all, keeping all gold/gems in a party pool (unless someone asks for their share).

This way can tend to leave certain characters behind on loot for several levels (usually me)

This is, of course, based on the rare occasions when we actually get loot, our DM's are really bad at giving loot.

They also are very, VERY, wary of giving me anything worth less than 1000 gold.

The things i can do with a campfire bead...


We resolve all loot division through rap battle showdowns.


When we were playing an evil party, it was first come first serve and players would hog loot wherever they could get away with it. Sharing loot with others would only happen as far as it would benefit the character if another character had that item (survival by cooperation) or as far as you could be sure not to get murdered over it by one of your colleagues.

It wasn't fair, but kinda fun.

In our new group, in which i am GM, liquid assets are mostly shared equally, unless someone passes (one player tends not to bother with gems, art and jewelry) and items are given to those who make best use of it.


Yeah, mine currently seems to be going the "equitable" route. We give the most useful items to those who can use them, and split gold/equivalents evenly. However, we do try to keep tabs on who got what when so that we can make sure everyone gets something. However, it isnt a loot-heavy campaign (it's quite low-gold), and our GM gives us magical items for completing "classes" (it's in a magical school), so in the end everyone has something. I would find the bookkeeping to be a huge hastle.

I have occasionally passed up part of my share of gold for cool "art items" though (like a crystal dragon's tail). I like collecting cool stuff. I can generally afford it too since i'm the party crafter.


This depends on one party member being present or not, with my gaming group.

If a particular member isn't around for the allocation session then the items / treasure is utilised where it serves the party best. Any sundry items are put into party treasure for sale.

However if the particular member is present then a whole session is dedicated to bookkeeping and accountancy. Equal share GP cost for everyone!!!

The most enjoyable method is the first one mentioned.
I don't want a game of Accounts & Lawyers© RPG.

The Exchange

The first one to think of kicking all the other party members in a vulnerable place, cackling madly and making a mad dash for it gets most of the loot.

No, no, just kidding. We usually split easily-cashable stuff like coin and gems evenly, assign items to whoever has the greatest interest, and don't pay much attention to making the actual GP value is even.


We don't keep anything. All loot is given to local charities. We are level 15 and have never changed gear. Ever.

No, in all actuality, the GM will only give us coins (cp, sp, gp, pp) that is equivalent to what items we would have found. We then divide that up as we see fit (usually equally), and then we can buy what we want (either by paying one of allies or going to Ye Olde Tyme Magick Shoppe)


In the current one I'm playing in we normally split items up according to want>need>whatever. Seems to work out quite easily without any problems so far. Any items leftover we just keep it in our underground base and dispose of them when we need to for cash or to use. Also some of us just take stuff that are not even loot just because we can and use them for weird purposes that makes the gm go "wtf?" so it gets a bit hard.

For cash, we split it evenly among those present (since our players come and go as they are free) unless or course, you make your own sneaky undertable deals to make more money (then its all yours but it still ends up split since I normally need one or two more party members to help me with them) I also get slightly more money compared to the rest of the party depending on what items I use in battle since I fight with consumables that sometimes goes up to 1000 gold eventhough I am crafting them myself...

Also we put money into a special party fund when we feel like it. Right now its around 8000 gold at level 8 I think and we normally use it to beef up our base.

In another game we have this Lawful Stupid paladin and we kind of got tired about arguing about items so we just don't care anymore. Except the cleric I think most of us just let both the good characters do all the work and take all the danger to teach them a lesson about why it is important that the loot gets to us. (not that it doesn't since there are some nighttime activities and intimidation rolls against npcs when they aren't around)

Shadow Lodge

Split by WBL, and give any excess away, since the WBL fairies would just take it away anyhow. Of course, that's making the ridiculous assumption that we would find any loot,which WBL doesn't allow, except when you level. And since you level in between adventures, we're back to the WBL fairies.


GeneticDrift wrote:

It varies. I hate all of them though.

Next time I GM, I might say any loot you find is gone at the end of the adventure. At lvl ups buy gear using the difference of your wbl before and after. Of course I would sprinkle some fun and powerful items to be used.

But if I'm gming I could also drop obvious loot choices and let the players fight it out for smaller things.

Idk, I might have a different opinion when I get orotund to it. In any case, mundane stuff like wool socks, boots and armor are not resellable.

I tried that once, and found it to be a bit of a trade-off. Skipping all of the troubles and gametime bog-down associated with looting was very nice, but it did feel like something was missing when we weren't exploring every nook and cranny for a couple extra coins.


Gauss wrote:

My groups do the following:

Note: Until we hit town everything is 'communal property' and it goes to whoever needs it most.

When we finally divide treasure:
Sell everything anyone doesn't want.

Add up the purchase price of all that remains. Divide by the number of players+1 (group expenses share). This is the amount of treasure each person gets.

Each player can purchase items out of that share. If he wants to purchase an item that is over his budget he has to borrow the funds from others.

Example:
A 4 player group finds 6700gp worth of items (after being sold) and a +2 Weapon that is not sold. Total value: 15,000gp. Dividing by (4+1) gives each player (and the party share) 3,000gp.

The Player that wants the 8,300gp weapon now needs to borrow 5300gp from the group in order to keep the sword.

Over the years I have found that while handling it in-character works, consistent uneven splits can also result in hard feelings between players. As a result I stick with the handle it fairly method.

Note: The party share portion is what purchases healing and various toolbox items. My group's bag of holding is usually bought out of this.

- Gauss

This. And it totally has nothing to do with the fact that it's his game, nope. ;)


I leave it up to the party to decide for themselves. They regularly split up (I sandbox) and I don't insist they tell the rest of the party what they've found. I really encourage them to act in character. Most share all of the time, and all share some of the time.

I leave loot items tailored for each character, so it's usually obvious who should get what, but it's up to them. And they can of course sell the items if they prefer the gold value, or give them away to NPCs if they want the in game karma.

I do have a problem goody goody pacifist gnome paladin. I keep leaving her wondrous items and gold in her quests but she takes none of them- they're not hers and finding is stealing- I've had to create an NPC specifically to give her loot. Ho hum.


One group have a business contract with the partners promising each other equal spare of the profits when the contract rund out in 2 years time but only my fighter(LN) is really in to it and the others just go with it to shut him up i think.
And the other group kinda but the stuff from the loot pool with the money they could get if they sold it.
But generally most players push loot to others more than go for the grap, among my friends. So yes this is home games with friends.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

We do a split typically, and keep a small chest as a group fund

Though it also depends on the actual characters, my current barbarian takes a couple of baubles and a handful of loose cash as needed, but because I've done that from day one with, the other players always let me have first pick of weapons. It wasn't discussed just happened that way.

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