[KaVir]

That's true, however even the original God Wars had only a very limited form of looting, a concept which carried over to the majority of its derivatives - and that covers a sizable percentage of the PK-focused muds currently online.

In the original God Wars, players had the ability to "claim" an item for a very small price, and could then call that item to them at any time. Players would therefore claim everything they wanted to keep, and whenever they died simply type "call all" to make their gear instantly teleport back into their inventory. Only the junk would be left, things they didn't consider important enough to claim.

There were also some very powerful magical items called artifacts which couldn't be claimed. Each was unique, and players couldn't use than one at a time. They were intended to provide an incentive for PK, although in practice it didn't work out quite as planned - many of those who obtained an artifact would spend much of their time hiding in safe locations, for fear of losing their prize.

Decapitation would also leave you with a token, as was suggested earlier in this thread. You could also crack open the severed head to get out the brain if you wished.