Let me preface this by saying that I'm new to table top roleplaying games in general, so forgive me for my rookie mistakes.

I'm GM for my group and there is one player that seems obsessed with collecting everything that's not nailed down. Games get extended unduly because he insists on checking every locker, every box, every body, and picking up everything that he can carry, and then tries to debate how expensive or how useful the stuff is. There's actually a running joke about the line "you find nothing of value". While it's great for a laugh at first, most of the people in the group have gotten pretty tired of it, since it's not really a loot-drop based game, but I don't really know how to go about fixing the issue without making someone mad.

I ain't too concerned about hurt feelings, but I also don't want to start a fight if I don't have to, so what do you experienced GM's do to keep a leash on these kinds of players? Is there something I can do to alleviate the problem?

Big thanks from a mega noob!

Talk with that player, inform him that he will indeed get cool loot but usually it's when appropriate. He isn't going to find a rocket launcher in a men's locker room at the local swim club. Explain that the constant searching is disruptive and stalls the game out, that you will be implementing rules on how often he (and others) can check for loot if the behavior continues.

As far as how that would go, if they look about the place regardless of searching for loot, lump in a description of any loot they might find or specify that they found no loot while also searching the room for clues regarding the mystery they are unraveling or some such. Allow for only a single perception/loot check per player per encounter and don't allow it in narrative play unless appropriate (searching for loot in a crowded bar isn't going to find much whereas pickpocketting with skullduggery might help more). If the player insists on continuing to search every new room they enter, make it an impossible check (minimum 5 difficulty, requires the player to spend a destiny point to do it). If they succeed, great, they either find whatever you tell them they find or they find nothing because nothing was there. If they fail, they will never know... Either way, they are limited by the destiny pool and the rest of the group will basically start telling them to knock it off because they are wasting a group resource.

On 3/10/2018 at 11:23 AM, evo454 said:

While it's great for a laugh at first, most of the people in the group have gotten pretty tired of it

Your cue to address it out of game. One player is negatively affecting everyone else -- not only looting, but haggling and slowing the game? That's inconsiderate.

You can meet the player halfway by including scores or treasure hunts here and there (coordinates to a stash, abandoned and puzzle-filled sites). Otherwise, he's not being reasonable.

Golem is dead on. Talk to the guy and make it clear he's not going to find a +12 lightsaber of hand remova l on a freshly killed runyip. Likewise Stormtroopers aren't going to drop piles of credits (heck probably nobody is going to drop any more than the 20-40c in their wallet anyway) and so on.

He's probably just used to other games where loot is more important.

If you need mechanics... Start tracking Encumbrance, and tell him the value of garbage up front. "The Stormtroopers Armor is 4 enc, and it's not worth anything on the open market. Anyone who isn't a Stormtrooper caught wearing it can be summarily executed under Imperial law, and possession of it is punishable with up to 5 years hard labor. If you really want it, it's easy to get, so you'll have an easier time buying on the black market than selling."

Don't forget, average sale price of most items is 1/4 it's value. Most things just plain aren't worth their weight...

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 8:23 AM, evo454 said:

Let me preface this by saying that I'm new to table top roleplaying games in general, so forgive me for my rookie mistakes.

I'm GM for my group and there is one player that seems obsessed with collecting everything that's not nailed down. Games get extended unduly because he insists on checking every locker, every box, every body, and picking up everything that he can carry, and then tries to debate how expensive or how useful the stuff is. There's actually a running joke about the line "you find nothing of value". While it's great for a laugh at first, most of the people in the group have gotten pretty tired of it, since it's not really a loot-drop based game, but I don't really know how to go about fixing the issue without making someone mad.

I ain't too concerned about hurt feelings, but I also don't want to start a fight if I don't have to, so what do you experienced GM's do to keep a leash on these kinds of players? Is there something I can do to alleviate the problem?

Big thanks from a mega noob!

One of the coolest things about Tabletop RPGs to my mind is that you can interact with everything in the game world as long as it conforms to the physics of that game world. Your player probably is reveling in that freedom in addition to acting like it's a computer game where gathering resources and loot is the meaning of life. Some solutions:

• Use the Encumbrance rules in the game to their fullest. Make sure you don't allow the character to act as if he has a Bag of Holding where he can magically carry a household with him without penalty.
• Controlling the pacing of the game depends on your ability to keep a sense of urgency in the game as much as possible, and to end scenes when necessary, known in this game as the screenwipe. Try to have something going on that requires the players to hurry, either fear of discovery by guards, or a comm scrambler that only works for so long, or needing to get to a pick up in time. If there is nothing else to do in a scene then end it deliberately and explain to the players that the game needs to move on.
• Start having stuff he loots belong to someone and make that bite him in the ***. There is ownership very often in these situations, and most creatures will not be happy to let their stuff be taken. If they kill the NPCs who had the stuff, make the person who originally owned it see them with it and ask where they got it. You can have a lot of great things happen just from complications from the players doing business as usual (looting everything).
• Try to have interesting things going on so that looting is by comparison boring.
• Talk about the issue openly and fairly. Let it be known that you are not really having fun playing Hardware Wars, and you would prefer to tone down the looting. Explain to the players that this is more of an experience than a traditional game, and that time is finite in each session.
• Don't take it personally if someone gets mad. It will happen in my experience, and the more calm and fair you are when that happens the better it will go. Also remind the players that all that loot isn't real, and shouldn't motivate people to real anger.

On 3/10/2018 at 10:23 AM, evo454 said:

Let me preface this by saying that I'm new to table top roleplaying games in general, so forgive me for my rookie mistakes.

I'm GM for my group and there is one player that seems obsessed with collecting everything that's not nailed down. Games get extended unduly because he insists on checking every locker, every box, every body, and picking up everything that he can carry, and then tries to debate how expensive or how useful the stuff is. There's actually a running joke about the line "you find nothing of value". While it's great for a laugh at first, most of the people in the group have gotten pretty tired of it, since it's not really a loot-drop based game, but I don't really know how to go about fixing the issue without making someone mad.

I ain't too concerned about hurt feelings, but I also don't want to start a fight if I don't have to, so what do you experienced GM's do to keep a leash on these kinds of players? Is there something I can do to alleviate the problem?

Big thanks from a mega noob!

If everyone is tired of it have everyone discuss it next time you are sitting at the table. Ask flat out why the player is slowing the game down trying to loot every nook and cranny of the game. If it is a role playing thing, ask/tell him to change the character to keep him from slowing the game. If it is a player thing, then like everyone else said, point out that you arent playing a video game, so there isnt going to be the ultra-rare super unique game breaking weapon hidden in a chest in the toilet.

I dont think that I would use a strict interpretation of the rules to try to fix the issue. That is more likely to compound the problem than fix it. Be straight forward and ask the player why he is doing what he is doing.

On the other hand, maybe the player just likes loot. Try to meet him half way in that case. Occasionally have an armory to loot, a payroll to steal, or a fancy gizmo on a defeated foe, but make it clear that searching under every bed and in every closet wont get them more.

I agree, talk to them about it out of game. I just let my player know that when gear shows up i want them to have it will be obvious. But also stress in game that actions have consequences. Sure they can steal that starship, but maybe it was already stolen and the original owner is now coming after them. Below is an example of the tone I usually try to set.

Game session one:

Player: "I want to loot the storm-troopers"

Me: "Each has a com link, E-11 blaster carbine, and Laminate storm trooper armor"

Player: "Okay" *starts writing it down*

Me: "So how are you going to carry 6 blasters and 6 sets of armor?"

Player "Oh, uh okay i just take a comlink and 2 blasters"

Cut to 2 sessions later at vendor...

Player: "I'd like to sell these blasters"

Me as upstanding NPC vendor: "What is this? Model E-11 huh? Isn't that standard imperial issue? No thanks i'm not interested in buying potentially hot items"

1 session later

Me: "Player A, you notice the rodian bounty hunter you just killed is wearing Laminate armor of good quality and almost of perfect size for your bothan frame"

I don't know how much my players keep track of it, but I do have one player in particular whose character always seems to want to spend actions searching for loot even when there is imminent threat. The most extreme case led to them getting to their ship one round later, taking off one round later, and losing one round of shooting at the tie fighters ripping their ship apart. Net gain, 2 stimpacks, net loss about 15 hull threshold. I did make it very clear that he was slowing them down if he stopped to look.

I like to mix Encumbrance and time. Searching and stowing everything takes time. Lots of time. Even a highly-experienced party is likely to falter with back-to-back strain-draining shootouts.

However, this problem doesn't seem like it's an in-game problem and it's hard to solve meta-problems in the game. Could you pull the player aside, privately, and just level with them? Rest assured, this is not an uncommon problem and friendly conversations can usually convey that it's spoiling the moment, the momentum, and The Good Time™.

Thanks to all for the responses. I talked to him outside of the game and managed to work some of it out, but he still got greedy last session.

A man walked into the room with a bad*** sword and laminate armor (setting up a nemesis to be a returning character) and he decided to "relieve" him of it despite him being a droid with no use for either. This resulted in the nemesis cleaving off one of his arms (which was the result of a critical injury roll), so I think he's learned his lesson!

Thanks again!

On 3/12/2018 at 11:14 AM, Ghostofman said:

heck probably nobody is going to drop any more than the 20-40c in their wallet anyway

Full disclosure time: my brand new character with 9 credits to her name? She totally patted down the thugs in the alley they whupped and stole his wallet. Sure he only had 20 bucks, but that means I now have pizza money and bus fare!

On 3/12/2018 at 11:14 AM, Ghostofman said:

Don't forget, average sale price of most items is 1/4 it's value.

On the other hand, the average price of turning in a traitor who is trying to sell stolen imperial merchandise can net the merchant a tidy sum. Or you know, he just lives up to his civic duty, being a good imperial citizen.

Mines, Traps, and Reinforcements, oh my!

Place a live grenade in every 4th locker. They should get the message.

1 hour ago, Dayham said:

Mines, Traps, and Reinforcements, oh my!

Place a live grenade in every 4th locker. They should get the message.

I look forward to the explanation of why every 4th locker in a stormtrooper barracks is boobytrapped against theft.

1 hour ago, themensch said:

I look forward to the explanation of why every 4th locker in a stormtrooper barracks is boobytrapped against theft.

EOD traning

They take April Fools VERY seriously?

Stormtrooper graduation pranks are rough .

On 3/14/2018 at 8:27 AM, themensch said:

I look forward to the explanation of why every 4th locker in a stormtrooper barracks is boobytrapped against theft.

'Cause trooper TJ-2188 is a thieving scion of a bantha, and everybody in the company knows it, and is tired of it, that's why. The LT made it clear, without saying it outright, that thermal detonators were out of bounds, but nobody was going to miss a couple of regular old frags, and LT hates filling out those ISDP-477s (the squad discipline problem forms)... the ADS-244s (accidental detonation, aboard ship) are much simpler.

It wasnt really accidental

1 hour ago, coyote6 said:

'Cause trooper TJ-2188 is a thieving scion of a bantha, and everybody in the company knows it, and is tired of it, that's why. The LT made it clear, without saying it outright, that thermal detonators were out of bounds, but nobody was going to miss a couple of regular old frags, and LT hates filling out those ISDP-477s (the squad discipline problem forms)... the ADS-244s (accidental detonation, aboard ship) are much simpler.

I see. I guess when dooknobs haven't been invented in your galaxy, you can't beat someone with a sack of them.

On 3/15/2018 at 9:59 PM, themensch said:

I see. I guess when dooknobs haven't been invented in your galaxy, you can't beat someone with a sack of them.

And here I thought it was a bar of soap in a sock.

1 hour ago, EliasWindrider said:

And here I thought it was a bar of soap in a sock.

A man of discretion. I like that.

On 3/12/2018 at 3:52 PM, ThreeAM said:

Game session one:

Player: "I want to loot the storm-troopers"

Cut to 2 sessions later at vendor...

Player: "I'd like to sell these blasters"

Me as upstanding NPC vendor: "What is this? Model E-11 huh? Isn't that standard imperial issue? No thanks i'm not interested in buying potentially hot items"

I actually did this to my group. They made the mistake of selling looted blasters on the black market on Coruscant. The guy they sold them to made a ton of money ratting them out to the Empire. It very quickly stopped a lot of looting as the thought of rotting away in an Imperial prison wasn't worth the money.

As for everything else I do like the idea of exploding crates.

Golem is right.

And if talking to the player won't change his mind, discuss it with the other players and suggest that you will now make long and intricate descriptions of all the small useless trinkets he finds until he stops doing this.

Describe, in great detail, what that little toy he finds in a locker looks like, how it smells and what noises it makes when he handles it.
Just, basically shower him with useless (and valueless) stuff that will fill up his character sheet and eventually he'll grow tired of it too.

If he keeps on looting every once in awhile let some npc/security catch him in the act. In the end the other players will start not liking that every time this guy is looting it just brings trouble to them. Of course making that decision might make the players angry at you not him, but it's still a thought.