A point of mild contention in my current game (Worlds Without Number) is the players managing which character is carrying what gold, which gold has been split amongst the party, which gold hasn’t been divvyed up amongst the retainers, etc.
WWN uses a slot encumbrance system, and 100 coins takes up one slot. A lot of time is spent at the table figuring how to shuffle around the party’s held gold between the 3 player characters and the 3 hired retainers, and by the time they get back to town, there’s always some confusion as to how much coin they left town with, how much they’re bringing back, what coin did the retainers already get paid out, how much were they just holding on to to get back to town with?
They keep a running total of how much gold was found during the adventure, but that doesn’t help them figure out who exactly is carrying that gold. Any thoughts on how the players could organize this better?
Here’s what my group’s been doing. The official divvying up of gold (for purposes of XP, wages, etc.) happens in town. The only thing that they need to do is separate pocket money and treasure money and then, with the treasure money, figure out how to haul it out. My groups have also purchased vehicles (wagons) early so the main concern is hauling stuff out of the dungeon to wherever they’ve camped. Once they’re at camp, the loot goes in the wagon so no individual is hauling it around.
I wonder if utilizing containers would make sense: chests, strongboxes, even sacks. You could determine how much fits in a sack and then, once they’ve boxed or bagged it full of loot and hauled it out, they have these units of treasure. Sacks might be able to be carried but they’d obviously need transport for chests.
Another option could be to use items rather than money. Instead of finding loose coinage, they’re finding chalices and candlesticks, tapestries and jewelry, figurines and bolts of fine fabrics, etc.
Some confusion could probably be averted just by marking personal money separately from found treasure money. Once you get back to town and settle everything, the treasure money converts over. Maybe you could use an item like a coin purse that could be filled with up to some value in coins without affecting encumbrance (or handled separately)? That way, they could have some money on hand and only track treasure with inventory slots.