Recently we had an item find in our campaign, that turned out to be a very power intelligent weapon. Now, the weapon was effectively useless for most of the party, save for one character. So logically that character ended up with that weapon. Then the problems started. We hadn't had a chance to sell our loot for 6 levels. Turns out we had more money then we imagined. And then the gold was distributed. Very oddly. At least one character went from no magic equipment to a +2 weapon +3 armor and 3 wondrous items. The player who ended up with the intelligent item, which no one else in the party has any interest in, nor will allow itself to be sold, got 3,000 gold. And it seems like the majority of the party is fine with that continuing at the very least past the next loot split. Their reasoning for this is 'but you have that awesome magic item from back there'. I personally feel this is not fair to the player, but i am at a loss on any alternative to keep the other players happy. I know its a long shot, but any one have an idea?
Personally, roleplaying should be the judge of who gets what, which is what it sounds like now. If all the players want to split the loot unfairly, and they have in-game reason to do so, then let it be. If one player keeps getting cut out, then perhaps he'll develop a grudge against the rest of the party. When they are in dire need of help that player will reflect on the other players previous actions towards him and choose what to do from their. Although jerkish, that's kind of a part of roleplaying. God shouldn't have to come down and be all like "NOPE" and switch everything around, unless of course a player out of game is becoming extremely unhappy.
Being mean to your BDF (which I assume it is, most other classes are not "The only one who can use" a weapon) is a good way to make sure your squishies get squished.
If the (fighter?) doesn't like the weapon, find a loophole that allows him to sell it. Then bring his wealth into alignment with the party.
If he likes the weapon-- well then he's got a very cool toy as his share of the treasure.
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I was part of a group that distributed loot the opposite way-- Whoever could use something the best got it. There was no compensating of extra gold for the players getting less.
As a Zen Archer, my character never needed anything the most. Didn't need magic armor boosts the most (mage got), didn't need weapons or armor (fighter got), didn't need save boosts (everyone else got), magic toys (mage and cleric got). My zen archer got shafted.
At 9th level the fighter had around 50K, most of the party had around 35K, and my zen archer had a +1 composite bow with a (+2 str modifier) that she'd bought herself.
When I brought up for discussion that I thought she should get more cash since items weren't dropping for her, the fighter thought I was being whiney, since I was powerful without magic items.
I felt it was extremely unbalanced, and it eventually made me unhappy enough to leave the group.
TL;DR-- Characters that don't get nifty toys, should get some cash compensation. (Now if he doesn't like his toy, and wants to buy others-- let him.)
Hey Janius, you should propose some kind of stratagem to your group such as a vow of fairness!
I said the fighter and group called *my* character whiny. (and variations on unreasonable). Did happen.
Overall I thought the group was very cool, but the rest of the group and I didn't agree on treasure distribution.
So they continued play in a way that made them happy, and I found a new group that thinks I'm a fun and valuable player and shares loot in a way that feels fair to me. Everybody wins.
To the OP, find a way to divide loot that *everyone* thinks is fair.
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Recently we had an item find in our campaign, that turned out to be a very power intelligent weapon. Now, the weapon was effectively useless for most of the party, save for one character. So logically that character ended up with that weapon. Then the problems started. We hadn't had a chance to sell our loot for 6 levels. Turns out we had more money then we imagined. And then the gold was distributed. Very oddly. At least one character went from no magic equipment to a +2 weapon +3 armor and 3 wondrous items. The player who ended up with the intelligent item, which no one else in the party has any interest in, nor will allow itself to be sold, got 3,000 gold. And it seems like the majority of the party is fine with that continuing at the very least past the next loot split. Their reasoning for this is 'but you have that awesome magic item from back there'. I personally feel this is not fair to the player, but i am at a loss on any alternative to keep the other players happy. I know its a long shot, but any one have an idea?
If the item is useful and the character wants it, all is well. If it is neither, it isn't treasure, it's a paper weight. If it's a paper weight, it shouldn't figure into his cut; just leave it on the mantle.
If the item cannot be sold and is not useful, then it's value is 0gp. It's effectively a plot item rather than treasure; treat it as such.
If it's the kind of situation where it is a high value item, and useful, but then means that the character has all of his wealth in the one item (or near approximate), the character may prefer that his wealth be spread out through items that have more utility. I think this is the kind of situation you're talking about. There are groups for which this would be fine....you get what you get. For groups that are using standard that characters choose there items via magic shoppe or customized creation, then the character isn't getting appropriate equipment for his level and this may be seen as a problem...it can be nice to have some mongo item, but high value items are really designed for high level characters, where the value isn't as much as a major part of inventory. A +5 weapon is nice, but +3 might do the job, and the additional +2 for 32k WbL has a substantial opportunity cost.
Ultimately, if it's a problem for the player due to the utility and/or opportunity cost, it sounds to me like the party should be discounting the value of the item in determining his share. If the player is fine with it...likely because the GM has a plan or the player has a longer view...no worries as is.
Since I don't know you, Junius, and whether you're the player in question, another player, or the DM, I don't know what kind of advice you want.
If you're the DM and concerned about the party strife: Intelligent items are their own characters. They're NPCs. Start running the weapon as such. Just because nobody else wants that weapon doesn't mean that that player has to use it -- maybe they just don't get along. Maybe the weapon agrees to be sold, but only to someone of its own choice. Maybe the weapon conspires to betray the party. It sucks when your players don't want the nifty toys you give them, but this gives you a chance to make the weapon a really memorable character in its own right.
If you're the player in question: The quote 'but you have that awesome magic item from back there' sounds to me like it might be "we have been underequipped for levels now while you have had that absolutely fantastic fun item. Now you have to share the spotlight." If that could be a fair assessment, talk to your other players and DM out of game. If they're worried that if you get full shares of the loot you'll continue outshining the rest of the party for the rest of the campaign, you may be able to come up with a compromise. Is this item meant to be a permanent addition to your character? In that case, maybe there could be some scaling in power -- like 3.5 legacy weapons, if you're familiar, or like the magus' black blade.