After hearing all the punitive and reactionary measures advocated here, I feel that I must reiterate that the players haven't done anything wrong. Gear taken from enemies is a staple of practically all RPGs and EotE (and FFG SW in general) is no exception.

"Gear" meaning "only the best". I was reading the D&D5 PH last night (prepping for a one-shot) and under equipment there's a specific paragraph about gear (AFB paraphrase): gear that you sell only nets you 25% of the listed price, and gear taken from monsters is rarely worth anything at all. Those economic assumptions combined with encumbrance is bound to limit looting.

After hearing all the punitive and reactionary measures advocated here, I feel that I must reiterate that the players haven't done anything wrong. Gear taken from enemies is a staple of practically all RPGs and EotE (and FFG SW in general) is no exception.

"Gear" meaning "only the best". I was reading the D&D5 PH last night (prepping for a one-shot) and under equipment there's a specific paragraph about gear (AFB paraphrase): gear that you sell only nets you 25% of the listed price, and gear taken from monsters is rarely worth anything at all. Those economic assumptions combined with encumbrance is bound to limit looting.

D&D 5e follows the paradigm altering D&D 4e such that looting is pointless. For me, as a player, it completely destroys the verisimilitude of the game. It makes absolutely no sense that equipment good enough for palace guards or militia watchmen to use during the fight in which I kill them immediately become worthless once they're dead. Gear is gear and combat damage can be (in most cases) easily repaired -- especially in a magic-heavy environment such as D&D.

That is the biggest problem I have as a player in those editions (though I, like most other old-school players, hate 4e for innumerable other reasons) and it's also the reason that I hate "structured" play. If my character can manage to safely and expeditiously acquire, transport and repair equipment taken from foes, why shouldn't he be able to mechanically benefit in the game? He's following all the rules of the system aside from one arbitrary and reality-breaking rule that prohibits exactly that kind of activity.

I'm not sure about "destroys the verisimilitude of the game"...but then my games don't revolve around gear-vending.

I think the 25% is a valid number though. You can't sell something to a merchant for the "list price". They can probably only sell it for 50% used, and need a markup themselves.

(And now for my 2,000th post)

I agree Whafrog.

Watch an episode of Comic book Men. Lots of folks walk in the store with a rare comic or toy to sell that lists a certain price on the Internet. Then when the clerk tells them exactly what he can offer, comes the inevitable look of disappointment and frustration.

Shops that resell goods expect to make a profit, and the only way they can do that is to buy low and sell high. If a brand new blaster pistol typically goes for 400 credits, don't expect them to pay that much to buy it from you.

However, you may be better off selling the goods to an actual buyer rather than a reseller. But at that point it will take time to line up a buyer and they're certain to want to negotiate. Especially if he knows the goods are hot. The Force help you if you roll a despair at any point. Ultimately, this is the best bet for both the GM and the PCs. The PCs can loot and sell, and the GM can use their looting and selling to create more story. And not just another MMO feature.

D&D 5e follows the paradigm altering D&D 4e such that looting is pointless. For me, as a player, it completely destroys the verisimilitude of the game. It makes absolutely no sense that equipment good enough for palace guards or militia watchmen to use during the fight in which I kill them immediately become worthless once they're dead. Gear is gear and combat damage can be (in most cases) easily repaired -- especially in a magic-heavy environment such as D&D.

It's not that the equipment becomes worthless it's just very difficult to extract it's retail value out of it. If your PC can use it then it's worth the full cost to purchase it but if you're trying to sell it then it's value drops because no one is going to pay retail for a looted item when they can buy a new one down the street. How much it drops depends on what it is, where you sell it, how in demand it is, who's willing to buy it and how much they are willing to pay. Thats a lot of factors that aren't easy to calculate in a RPG economy (RPG economies are notoriously screwy to begin with), so we guestimate and the going consensus is around 25% of the listed value. Now if you want a more accurate price feel free to do all the extra work figuring out individual rates of exchange in a fantasy setting but as a GM I'm fine with a base of 25% plus or minus some Adv. and Threat.

This is also exactly where Trader and Entrepreneur come in. (Classes which sadly don't exist in D&D) High negotiation and talents like Wheel & Deal represent the character's ability to do better not just because they can talk up the value of their item or press the merchant for more, but because they know how to find better buyers then the pawn shop down the road. They can work the system more quickly allowing them to accomplish some of the intermediary and storefront issues that players without similar skills and talents are essentially paying someone else to do.

And, indeed, all of these ad-hoc numbers are because economic simulations are a surprisingly large amount of work for little story gain.

Trivia note: If a character picks up both Trader and Entrepreneur, you can get up to selling at 95% list.

However, you may be better off selling the goods to an actual buyer rather than a reseller.

Absolutely...in that case, you *are* the merchant, and can probably get the "full" 50%. Obviously these percentages are just ballparks...depends on quality, danger, risk, etc...but it's a decent starting point for a Negotiation roll.

After hearing all the punitive and reactionary measures advocated here, I feel that I must reiterate that the players haven't done anything wrong. Gear taken from enemies is a staple of practically all RPGs and EotE (and FFG SW in general) is no exception.

Arguably, yes it is the exception. Lets look at the source material - the only time we've ever seen Our Hereos using gear from captured enemies was Han and Luke on the Death Star - the stormtrooper uniforms and blasters. The outfits were abandoned right after the garbage compactor and the Imperial blasters were only kept because they couldn't keep their normal weapons with them.

Oh - wait, they grabbed guns during their escape on Cloud City. One blaster each. After the Empire had taken their normal blasters. Net gain = Zero.

But the movies are so boring. Lets open the field a bit. Do we see it in The Clone Wars? No. How about Rebels - well Chopper did steal the fuel from Lando, but thats because they didn't get paid. How about the Holiday Special? Nope. Any of the books? Not that I can think of. Comics? Again, drawing a blank. There might be one or two instances here and there, but hardly the norm.

At no point in any of the 6 movies do we see someone running through the battlefields of Geonosis grabbing lightsabers from fallen Jedi to sell at 10,000 a pop.

how about the role playing games then. kotor, yes. Kotor 2, yes.

twinking and looting are part of role playingt. this is a change of mediums, and with a change of mediums comes new rules. just as adapting from a book to a movie, this is adapting from a movie to a game.

I don't really see anything wrong with what they are doing. besides for having equipment that's too powerful for where they should be. and even then, the GM should not be giving that kind of equipment to the enemies to use against his PCs. I do grant incoherence and time should play a factor they always should. if you don't like them doing it, then give reasons why beyond I don't like it. hell, help it to be character inspired and development I gave examples of how above.

I do think, too, that looted gear shouldn't be a primary means of income. that should be from missions and work, the GM could even use this. such as one body could.have a treasure map. what if one of the weapons is unique, and and his brother recognizes and and becomes the partys enemy. he could have a fleet at his disposal.

how about the role playing games then. kotor, yes. Kotor 2, yes.

twinking and looting are part of role playingt. this is a change of mediums, and with a change of mediums comes new rules. just as adapting from a book to a movie, this is adapting from a movie to a game.

Then, by that logic, my game should consist of going out and killing 14 nerfs and bringing their pickled spleens to a barkeeper who then sends you out to get 10 powdered bantha horns. And then talking to the bouncer who sends you into a dungeon to kill a monster. And then you go to Hoth to get 15 Wampa pelts.

I reject the idea that looting is an inherent part of role playing. It never happened in the GURPS or Hero games I played. It never happened in Toon. Never happened in Cyberpunk 2020. Hell, in Paranoia you want to stay as far away from loot as possible, lest it explode or melt your face - or you are branded a commie mutant traitor for not returning said loot to Friend Computer at the end of the mission. And the loot in Call of Cthulhu will make your character insane. Well, insane-er.

So no, it's pretty much just an artifact of D&D.

Even then it was more "loot the room" then "loot the monster".

So no, it's pretty much just an artifact of D&D.

1 GP = 1 XP was a huge mistake in hindsight. It forced looting to not just be a practice, but a goal. 1. Receive quest/adventure. 2. Kill bad guys. 3. Look for the inevitable treasure (random loot tables not just for the treasure room, but for each monster!). 4. Competition rolls for magic items, compute XP with the amount of gold being a large portion.

Although to be fair, back in '75, who the hell knew that they would need to worry about design issues like that. The playtesting probably consisted of smoking some weed, flipping over the Iron Butterfly LP and going "Eh, that sounds good. Okay, fire up the mimeograph machine!"

( Link for haley , who probably almost certainly never ever had the pleasure of those blue, funny smelling photocopy-ish prints that I had back in grade school)

Oh no. Hopefully Haley won't have to listen to that entire article.

They had to have been smoking something. Owl bears? Land Sharks? Dark Elves?

Land Sharks?

No ma'm, I'm a dolphin.

So no, it's pretty much just an artifact of D&D.

Also just about every video game RPG ever made.

I think the 25% is a valid number though. You can't sell something to a merchant for the "list price". They can probably only sell it for 50% used, and need a markup themselves.

Tell that to Gamestop.

/Rimshot

how about the role playing games then. kotor, yes. Kotor 2, yes.

twinking and looting are part of role playingt. this is a change of mediums, and with a change of mediums comes new rules. just as adapting from a book to a movie, this is adapting from a movie to a game.

Then, by that logic, my game should consist of going out and killing 14 nerfs and bringing their pickled spleens to a barkeeper who then sends you out to get 10 powdered bantha horns. And then talking to the bouncer who sends you into a dungeon to kill a monster. And then you go to Hoth to get 15 Wampa pelts.

I reject the idea that looting is an inherent part of role playing. It never happened in the GURPS or Hero games I played. It never happened in Toon. Never happened in Cyberpunk 2020. Hell, in Paranoia you want to stay as far away from loot as possible, lest it explode or melt your face - or you are branded a commie mutant traitor for not returning said loot to Friend Computer at the end of the mission. And the loot in Call of Cthulhu will make your character insane. Well, insane-er.

So no, it's pretty much just an artifact of D&D.

im still waiting to hear what's bad about that. I grant that this isn't how my group plays, even in dnd. but I don't see how its.bad

mostly im just saying there's really no wrong way to play

It's just a matter of different tables wanting to emphasize different styles. The OP does not want that to be a thing in their game, so we're mostly trying to address his or her concerns and come up with compromises.

true. sorry, I went off on my own tangent there. I just thought I read people.saying there's was no room for that style of play in this game, and that just didn't sir right with me.

a lot of good advise has been given and I am glad we could be of help to him

im still waiting to hear what's bad about that. I grant that this isn't how my group plays, even in dnd. but I don't see how its.bad

Mostly because it doesn't say Star Wars to me. I would much rather be fighting Prince Barin with electrowhips on a rotating platform of spikes over an abyss while an army of Hawkmen laughs at our struggle instead of throwing blasters in a duffel bag as fast as I can to sell. Star Wars is having a sword-fight on castle steps with the evil sheriff, climbing a mountain to infiltrate a enemy stronghold to steal secret plans, or getting dragged behind a repulsor-truck full of Imperials while trying to re-steal a lost artifact of unspeakable power.

Star Wars is not leveling up because you ran off with more gold than the rest of the party - at least to me.

Like I said in whats-his-faces' thread, what people do in the privacy of their own games is not my concern. Running thorough the halls of the death star with 10 blasters in each pocket makes you happy, then more power to you. But I dont feel that's the sprit of Star Wars.

im still waiting to hear what's bad about that. I grant that this isn't how my group plays, even in dnd. but I don't see how its.bad

Mostly because it doesn't say Star Wars to me. I would much rather be fighting Prince Barin with electrowhips on a rotating platform of spikes over an abyss while an army of Hawkmen laughs at our struggle instead of throwing blasters in a duffel bag as fast as I can to sell. Star Wars is having a sword-fight on castle steps with the evil sheriff, climbing a mountain to infiltrate a enemy stronghold to steal secret plans, or getting dragged behind a repulsor-truck full of Imperials while trying to re-steal a lost artifact of unspeakable power.

Star Wars is not leveling up because you ran off with more gold than the rest of the party - at least to me.

Like I said in whats-his-faces' thread, what people do in the privacy of their own games is not my concern. Running thorough the halls of the death star with 10 blasters in each pocket makes you happy, then more power to you. But I dont feel that's the sprit of Star Wars.

That pretty much sums it up.

I come to the table anticipating leading a group through an adventure. I'm seeing epic confrontations and dramatic revelations, all while hearing the John Williams score in my head.

If I leave the table feeling like I just ran an episode of Imperial Pickers, it wasn't worth my time to GM.

Well, I don't think you're going to be able to stop PCs from looting bodies, especially if they've been gamers for a while. On the other hand, I do think that you can stem the players' desire by having minions equipped with generic weapons like blaster pistols or blaster rifles, then gradually go up from there until you get to the Nemeses with their own optimized modded gear.

Looting is not always bad per say when it's not for reselling but for slowly creating a small armory. Last night my players killed a bounty hunter in a fight (was playing Crates of Krayts), and one of my players, the mechanic, looked to see if there was anything still usable. I tell him his armor is ruined, but he still has his blaster pistol. Then my player reminded me "what about his jet pack". After a moment of silence (oups, forgot about that one), the mechanic installed the jetpack onto his back, and now it's sitting in their armory with their new extra blaster pistol. Yeah I just doubled their pay basically, but they don't plan on selling it but actually using it. For the cinematic and narrative aspects a jetpack can bring to the adventure, I actually don't mind at all. I wouldn't let them carry more than 2 or 3 weapons either way, but they're not the looting type except if they find something they need or want in the long run. I guess I'm lucky!