It’s been a while since this mess happened to me. 

“Hey,” said I my to my partymates. “I just realized you can pin a post to the top of Facebook groups. Let’s throw the party loot into Google Sheets and leave it up there so we can all access it.”

“Let’s not,” said our self-appointed lootsmeister.

“But it would save us a lot of trouble if you aren’t at the session. Remember last time when you had to miss and we tried to go shopping?”

“Yeah. But look, my character was a quartermaster in Elf Army in her backstory. Keeping track of the loot is part of her RP.”

“That can still be part of the story. I just think this would be more convenient for the group.”

“But I like being lootsmeister!”

And we went ’round and ’round like this for a while before the confession. Turns out our lootsmeister was skimming a straight 10% off the top of the party stash. When asked why she thought that was a cool thing to do, it was the usual business about “what my character would do.” I guess she got dishonorably discharged from Elf Army for a reason, not that the rest of us (or the GM) were privy to that information.

The secret came out in-character as well, and I was obliged to come up with some justification for my charlatan PC to not to flip out over the whole affair. As memory serves, it was some malarkey about enjoying the conman game more than the prize. And yet, even if there is a lot to object to in the “interesting roleplay” of a thieving lootsmeister, I do have a kernel of sympathy. If you’re putting in the effort to count the beans and balance the books, it makes sense to receive some sort of benefit in return. Same deal if you’re the group’s map-maker, the dude who writes in-character session summaries, or if you put in the effort to paint everyone’s mini.

And so, rather than simply condemning loot thievery (which I think we can all agree on), I pose this daily discussion question. When somebody takes on a “for the good of the order” role, what’s a suitable reward? Bonus XP? First choice of pizza toppings? Maybe a +1 on roll-offs for loot? Tell us all about your own efforts to reward good and faithful service down in the comments!

 

ADD SOME NSFW TO YOUR FANTASY! If you’ve ever been curious about that Handbook of Erotic Fantasy banner down at the bottom of the page, then you should check out the “Quest Giver” reward level over on The Handbook of Heroes Patreon. Twice a month you’ll get to see what the Handbook cast get up to when the lights go out. Adults only, 18+ years of age, etc. etc.