Old-School Reduction: Starting Gear

Last time I outlined an idea for tracking inventory on 3×5" index cards. I guess now we need some stuff for the adventurers to carry if they stand any chance of surviving the first few exploration turns.

The traditional approach is to give the players a random amount of in-game money and have them buy equipment for their characters. In my mind, though, I can see the eyes of my players glazing over when they learn that the first session will be an imaginary shopping trip.

Far better, I think, that adventurers start out basically penniless—yet more incentive to go on an adventure—but with enough gear to stand at least a remote chance of staying alive for a nontrivial length of time. For this reason and others, I prefer that gear is assigned to characters semi-randomly. This certainly isn't a new idea, but I'd like to do my own take.

The nature of the game world has a direct bearing on the sort of gear the adventurers will need, so the following tables will require a certain amount of tweaking in line with the desired setting.

Essentials

Every adventurer gets a skin bottle filled with water, a backpack, a tinderbox, a week's worth of preserved rations, and a few sundry items. [25 base.]

Essential gear	Cost
- skin: water ○○	1
] backpack	5
tinderbox	3
iron rations ○○○○○○	15
sundries ○○○○	1

In addition, each adventurer carries a light source of some kind. [1 min; 5 mean; 14 max.]

1d6	Light source	Cost
1-4	torches ○○○○○○	1
5	lantern: oil ○○○○	12
6	lantern: oil ○○○○ flask: oil ○	14

They also get two items of adventuring gear (roll twice). [2 min; 3 mean; 6 max.]

1d6	Adventuring gear	Cost
1-2	rope ○○○○	1
3	10’ pole	1
4	small sack (empty)	1
5	flask: oil ○	2
6	iron spikes ○○○○○○ mallet	3

These are the barest essentials for their first foray to be something short of outright suicide. [Subtotals: 28 min; 33 mean; 45 max.]

Of course, they stand a slightly better chance if they have some means with which to defend themselves, though the specifics depend on the type of adventurer.

Fighter

Martial adventurers have access to the entire spectrum of weapons and armour. Start by determining what sort of armour they're wearing, noting the effect on AC and MV. [0 min; 30 mean; 60 max.]

1d6	Armour	AC	MV	Cost
1	(none)	9	4	—
2-3	+ helmet [ leather	7	3	20
4-5	+ helmet [ chain	5	2	40
6	+ helmet [ plate	3	2	60

Next, determine their primary armament. Carrying a shield improves AC by 1. [7 min; 10 mean; 45 max.]

1d12	Primary armament	Cost
1	> battleaxe	7
2	> polearm	7
3	< shield > javelin	11
4	< shield > axe	14
5	< shield > spear	14
6	< shield > maul	15
7	> greatsword	15
8	< shield > short sword	17
9	< shield > sword	20
10	> shortbow ○○○○ - arrows ○○○○	35
11	> crossbow ○○○○○○	40
12	> longbow ○○○○	45

Finally, determine if they have a backup weapon or two (roll twice). [0 min; 4 mean; 6 max.]

1d6	Backup weapon	Cost
1	(none)	—
2	- club	3
3	- dagger	3
4-6	- sling ○○○○	2

Thus, with a few quick die rolls, we have a reasonably well-equipped fighter ready to die horribly sally forth in search of honour and glory. [Total: 35 min; 77 mean; 156 max.]

Thief

Clandestine adventurers have more limited options for armour. Start by determining whether they're wearing leather armour or no armour, noting the effect on AC and MV. [0 min; 10 mean; 20 max.]

1d6	Armour	AC	MV	Cost
1-3	(none)	9	4	—
4-6	+ helmet [ leather	7	3	20

Whilst they can use any weapon, only a few types make sense for someone whose job involves sneaking around, climbing sheer surfaces, and so forth. [6 min; 23 mean; 50 max.]

1d6	Weapons	Cost
1	> club - dagger	6
2	> dagger - dagger	6
3	> short sword - dagger	20
4	> sword - dagger	23
5	> shortbow ○○○○ - dagger	33
6	> crossbow ○○○○○○ - quarrels ○○○○○○	50

Finally, determine what sort of specialist gear they have. [2 min; 12 mean; 25 max.]

1d6	Specialist gear	Cost
1	large sack (empty)	2
2	mirror	5
3	shovel	5
4	crowbar	10
5	grapnel	25
6	lockpicks	25

Et voilà, a suitably provisioned "specialist" ready to assist with the redistribution of other peoples' wealth. [Total: 36 min; 78 mean; 140 max.]

[EDIT: Apologies for the half-baked "muser" idea. In my rush to recreate this article after Blogger destroyed the previous version, I didn't think it through enough before hitting publish. It's tangental to my "reduction" effort so I've removed it. Perhaps I'll re-examine the idea in a future post.]

That'll do for now. Perhaps I'll examine character advancement next. (Nope, it's another look at morale instead.)