My question then is how should loot (and ransoms) get divvied up?
Here's a section from Book of Warlords
which used to be Book of Barons, which has been bumped ahead in time.
Uther's reign is very different, and necessary as a frame upon which to build Arthur's

Dividing Loot
The standard for dividing up loot is the “thirds.” After a battle or pillage each baron brings all of his follower’s loot together and its value calculated, and it is then divided.
1/3 goes to the sponsor
1/3 goes to the field commander
1/3 goes to the men, divided by shares, knight = 5 shares, a cavalryman = 2, and infantryman = 1. Thus an eschille has 15 shares for 5 knights +2 shares for eschille sub-commander, +10 shares for 5 cavalrymen +1 share cavalry sub-commander +20 shares for infantry +2 infantry sub-commanders = 50

I think the marshal gets 1/3 of everything and passes a third of that up to Lady Ellen...or something along those lines.

NT

Do you have 'Savage Mountains'? There's some stuff in there about how loot gets collected and then distributed.

I'm away from my books right now, but if nobody chips in by Friday I'll post a summary of the relevant section.

Regards
Luke

Thanks to Luke for pointing out the relevant reference...

1. The Leader of the Raid gets half, the rest is divided between the men in the army, with knights getting double share.
2. The Leader is expected to distribute at least one third of his share (1/6th of the total) to his allies and followers. Less is Selfish, twice that amount is Generous.

Note that this is in the Cambrian context, where being a knight is swell, but not that much higher than a warrior of the hill tribes. I would expect the knight's 'weight' to be more than double in the more feudal context. One way would be to tie it to the knight-value, with each 1 KV being 1 (full) Share.

I also seem to recall that I was musing about a potential 'kick-back' system here on the forum, once upon a time... I will see if I manage to find it again, and post a link here.

EDIT: My search-fu was lacking and I couldn't find it. Re: the original question, if the Countess of Salisbury was providing most of the men, I would certainly expect that she gets a chunk of the loot, for example 1/6th. Hence, the division would go: half to be shared 'equally', 1/6th to be shared as largesse to knights (and the Countess of Rydychan if they want), 1/6th to the Countess of Salisbury to keep her sweet, 1/6th to the Leader personally.

Interesting stuff. I must track down a copy of Savage Mountains.

The marshal has an Amor for the Countess Rydychan so will likely cut her in. 1/6th to him, her and Countess Ellen with the rest divided between the raiders by Knight Value is simple enough. I'll probably give a double share to the other two unit commanders and the other officer to reflect their seniority.

Thanks all.

GPC Spoilers below


We are in 497 and the PKs have decided to aid the deposed Countess of Rydychan against the Wallingford brothers. Their aim is to restore her to her lands, install loyal knights on her manors and gain a strong ally for Salisbury as well as to defend the rights of the grandson of Earl Bledri whose position is not so dissimilar to the young Earl Robert's. Two PKs have also developed an Amor for the Countess and are competing for her favour.

One PK is the Marshal of the county (and very powerful at court) and he has convinced Lady Ellen of Salisbury of the wisdom of throwing in with Rydychan. However she allowed him to take a force of only twenty knights and fifty footmen and even that was under protest. Lady Ellen hoped that a smaller force would both limit Salisbury's risk in the enterprise and restrict her Marshal to raiding thus allowing for the possibility of some financial gain for the county to offset the tributes currently flowing to the Saxon kingdoms. She did not count on her Marshal's brashness, nor his battle skill of 29 (pretty much all of his glory bonus points for 12 years went into it).

Adroit diplomacy with Silchester and several skilled hunting rolls allowed the raiding force to approach Shirburn with little warning. Sir Bege, anxious to prove his mettle to his older brothers, rashly decided to meet them in battle and a large skirmish ensued. It was a close run thing with the county Marshal being reduced to 1 hp above unconsciousness (he is not very good at fighting - just at strategy :)) by a pictish mercenary but clever tactics and strong swordarms saw Sir Bege cut down by another player knight and his best sword, Sir Tyburn, captured along with several knights and many footmen. There was also considerable plunder in the form of chargers, arms and armour.

The warband moved swiftly to seize Shirburn but found it manned by a dozen archers commanded by Sir Bege's young (and very pregnant) wife. The pictish mercenary leader had offered to betray the castle to the Salisbury knights in exchange for his freedom but they refused his offer as base and ignoble. They attempted to get her to surrender the castle, citing Sir Bege's grave wounds and his urgent need for medical care. She refused and offered to ransom her husband for £25. This was also rejected. The PKs knew that at this stage the other Wallingfords would be on the way to aid their young brother. They lacked the force to oppose them in the open field and had no time to assault the castle. They decided to withdraw to Salisbury with their loot and prisoners. With Bege in Sarum's dungeon then perhaps a negotiated solution could be reached with the usurpers. Sir Bege's wife was aware of the PKs chivalric reputation and while she could not surrender her husband's castle without his command she asked permission to accompany him and tend his wounds. The PKs agreed and she rode out, carrying her husband's ransom with her, in the hope that her pleas in Sarum do not fall on deaf ears.

My question then is how should loot (and ransoms) get divvied up? Is there a guideline for the percentage that should go to the Lady Ellen who supplied all of the men? I presume she gets the lion's share. How much should the Marshal and other unit commanders receive? I presume that foot troops would generally receive only what they can nick themselves but should some go to the vassal and household knights of Salisbury who fought so valiantly? I doubt that the Countess of Rydychan would feature in any such calculations but it would be generous and chivalric to offer her some share of the plunder taken from her lands.


Here is an extract from the Book of Warlords.
Which was formerly BoBarons, but that one is bumped ahead to Arthur's reign. Uther's is quite different, and needed to create the frame for Arthur's.

Dividing Loot
The standard for dividing up loot is the “thirds.” After a battle or pillage each baron brings all of his follower’s loot together and its value calculated, and it is then divided.
1/3 goes to the sponsor
1/3 goes to the field commander
1/3 goes to the men, divided by shares, knight = 5 shares, a cavalryman = 2, and infantryman = 1. Thus an eschille has 15 shares for 5 knights +2 shares for eschille sub-commander, +10 shares for 5 cavalrymen +1 share cavalry sub-commander +20 shares for infantry +2 infantry sub-commanders = 50