Minor Loot (or¸ What's In This Guy's Pockets?)
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The battle had been short but intense¸ with a cloud of flying lead marking a no-man's-land between us and the pirates we had tracked down. The girl the outlaws had kidnapped was nowhere to be seen¸ however.
"What now¸ boss?" Berlin asked¸ holstering his pistol.
"Now¸" The Colonel replied¸ "We see if any of these varuuds has a clue as to where they might've taken that girl. Everyone pick a body and check the pockets. Remember¸ we don't find that kid¸ we don't get paid."
Plus¸ I thought¸ making for the nearest foe¸ maybe they've got some cash on ‘em…
It's a trope as old as the Original Role-Playing Game published in the 1970s: kill an enemy¸ go through his pockets or his stash and see what he was carrying. It might be just junk…or it might be something valuable.
For the Referee¸ such behavior can represent a chance to improvise…or it can be a big hassle. And parties aren't going to continually accept the answer "Uh¸ well…you don't find anything." For the Ref whose improvisational skills may not be quite up to the task of coming up with interesting pocket/pouch contents on the spur of the moment¸ Minor Loot (or¸ What's In This Guy's Pockets?) can help. Rather than a long list of possible items that other publications offer¸ we'll mate the flexibility of 2D6 with the Referee's imagination to create a few spurs that (s)he can use on the fly¸ or to help in prepping for a game.
Avoid the major hassle of stuffing NPCs' pockets with Minor Loot.