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I'm experimenting with solo play in LOTR 5e and going through star of the mist the last few days in my spare time, and I kinda have mixed feelings about the concept of getting shadow points for taking the gold and stuff in the pantry on the other side of the ruined bridge from a player-hero perspective; good guys kill bad guys and take their stuff all the time in essentially every game and genre
Did Tolkien ever once write about any ill effects from taking the loot after defending against and then defeating an evil enemy? What is so special about the personal effects and money the Mist Brigands had that separates it from all the loot adventurers everywhere take during the course of their adventures? How is a hero supposed to eat if they spend all their time out adventuring but they can't take the loot unless they know it hasn't belonged to an innocent person who may still be alive?

Bilbo didn't know what the arkenstone was when he picked it up (in the book), but once he found out, he didn't return it to Thorin. He actually did the opposite and gave it to the Elf king ... and Gandalf praised him for it, was honorable. Thorin actually seemed affected by the Shadow by suspecting it was being kept from him, but Bilbo didn't imo. I just see a problem in the way Star of the Mist handles the whole "heroes should never take stuff they believe might have been stolen when they find it in the bad guy's lair". But I'm open to hearing more thoughts about it

I also just remembered something from a session I ran a few weeks ago taking new rpg'ers through the 5e SHIRE book adventures
In the first adventure, the heroes got all the way to the mathom house and one of the players said "Wait a minute, Bilbo wants us to steal something for him?" - kinda funny to me

The book talks about shadow effects from taking other stuff from the mathom house, but not the map- I know it belonged to his ancestor, but Bilbo had a lot of cousins, there is no mention that the map actually ever belonged to Bilbo's branch of the family

Also I gotta think if I had a ring that made me invisible, I would be able to find some way around that little dog to get the map I wanted so badly - seems like a much better plan would have been hey Hobbit wanna-be adventurers, you distract the dog while I um do something real quick

He escaped Goblin Town with Gollum and a mountain full of Goblins waiting for him but he can't get past Firework the cute little puppy?

In Tolkien, there wasn't much looting, just the troll hole treasure. Unless you count The One Ring. The Arkenstone wasn't looting, Bilbo was sent in to find it and kept it as his share, which he was free to do with as he pleased. Some might say that his betrayal of Thorin is the result of taking the Arkenstone. Taking the elven swords from the troll cache may have been detrimental. For Thorin, he had a lot of shade already, so maybe it was just a drop in the bucket. For Gandalf, maybe he suffered a little shade, but he would be highly resistant I would think. And Bilbo's Sting would have been so overshadowed (literally) by the Ring, that it would never be noticed.

Tom Bombadil took the swords that he gave to the hobbits from the Barrow Downs, but he had already shown that he was immune to shadow when he toyed with the Ring.

I can't think of much else in the way of treasure looting.

I also did the Shire adventures but I was pleased my players found another solution to stealing from the Mathom house, and if they had stolen the map I would have awarded them a shadow point. One of the players was an Elf with Cartography, so they just went to the Mathom house and asked permission to make a copy. They were flattered that an Elf would take an interest. With a magical success an Elf ought to be able to make a faithful copy of a map made by a hobbit.
As an historian, I was uncomfortable with the idea of stealing from a museum or archive anyway. My players also did not like the idea of stealing from a museum and I agreed there was no real need.
Aside from that reason, Bilbo's scheme seems tainted by shadow to me. He is being dishonest, and if he wants to see the map there is no reason he can't just go do it, unless he is beginning to become deceitful.

How is a hero supposed to eat if they spend all their time out adventuring but they can't take the loot unless they know it hasn't belonged to an innocent person who may still be alive

I give my players opportunity to get treasure that they can use - not gold though, as I've said in other posts. Silver and copper coin, and I give them opportunities to use it in charitable ways as well. like helping the folks they've saved from the bad guys get back on their feet.

Really there isn't much to spend money on and it doesn't take that much treasure to get their needs covered. If they have been helping farmers and villagers they can get things they need in return for service. They got a pony and weapons from Elrond. As jlandon said collecting loot is not the aim of the game as it was when I played D&D in the 80's. The focus is more on creating a story and pushing back against Sauron, so as the LM I give the players enough to achieve their objectives without having to focus on how they are going to be able to buy a cart.

I like the idea of an elf making a magical success copy of the map, but how many players are going to think of that? None of mine did, nor did I. Plus the whole SHIRE book is explicitly for a pre-generated Hobbit company. Allowing an Elf to be in the company and saying you'd assess a shadow point (penalty) on a group that just completes the quest, those are house rules (which is fine for LMs that want to use them).

The first paragraph in the Treasure section of the CORE book (p125) covers the loot issue (even has the phrase "loot accumulated"), I've read that chapter over and over, the tone doesn't match "heroes shouldn't loot their downed foes" but here is what it does say (no context lost) "...treasure provides the Company with a focus for their adventuring..."

All good points - I house rule lots of things. No gaming supplement survives contact with gamers. we didn't use any of the pre-generated characters actually.

Thinking about the contradiction you raise, I don't know how much the writers really pondered the moral implications of adventuring and looting, but I think that perhaps the contradictions are real and important. Taking on some shadow in pursuit of achieving goals in Middle earth is probably unavoidable.

I think that Tolkien's own wartime experience left him deeply divided about what he had participated in, though I haven't studied his personal writings if he ever wrote about that subject. But his stories are full of the sentiment that going off to participate in an "adventure" leaves a person marred by the experience, even if you think the adventure was worthwhile. The story of Turin is one of my favorites. He takes the Dragon Helm and the sword Gurthang and he strikes powerful blows against Morgoth, but Gurthang at least is a tainted object and is part of the curse that is laid on his life. His heroic efforts are futile in many ways and yet he slays Glaurung; it's just that his life is ruined in the process.
So treasure can be a key focus of an adventure, but the player may still be tainted by it and maybe without taking on that taint the quest cannot succeed.

Sorry! you got me thinking!

Yeah this whole topic has got us thinking- I empathize with JLanden in the original post, we all know how much effort goes into preparation for the LM/DM/GM of RPGs, and for that person, a differnt type of player but still a player, to not be having fun session after session- that stinks. I would feel taken for granted. Anyway, all good points, I just hope when we sit at the table, we can maximize the fun for everyone as much as possible, everyone is different so it can be hard. I bet I would enjoy reading a player's guide about how to role-play Middle-Earth properly, but sadly I can't name too many non-GM type players who I think would even try to read it.

I also did the Shire adventures but I was pleased my players found another solution to stealing from the Mathom house, and if they had stolen the map I would have awarded them a shadow point. One of the players was an Elf with Cartography, so they just went to the Mathom house and asked permission to make a copy. They were flattered that an Elf would take an interest. With a magical success an Elf ought to be able to make a faithful copy of a map made by a hobbit.
As an historian, I was uncomfortable with the idea of stealing from a museum or archive anyway. My players also did not like the idea of stealing from a museum and I agreed there was no real need.
Aside from that reason, Bilbo's scheme seems tainted by shadow to me. He is being dishonest, and if he wants to see the map there is no reason he can't just go do it, unless he is beginning to become deceitful.

Bilbo IS under the influence of The Ring at this time.
I am envious of your players.
The more I think about a roleplaying primer, the more I like it. Especially since LotRR is SO different from DnD in feel. I also think we have some great ideas on this board, and it occurred to me that a crowd-sourced effort may be the answer to the riddle. I propose that I'll write an outline and post it here, open to any editorial comment. We can see what we come up with. Not a long document, but substantive. Any ideas to include in the outline?