🎒 Starting kit

The rule of plausible kit

Equipment doesn't draw from your point budget, so it's tempting to load up. Tables that play well keep one simple rule in mind: your sheet has to justify what's on your sheet.

If you can point at a skill, a background, or an advantage that explains an item, it belongs. If you can't, expect a polite "where did you get that?" from the GM — and a better answer than "the equipment list said I could".

Quick test: read your kit list out loud as a short backstory paragraph. If it tells a coherent story, you're done.

Weapons match your weapon skills

Every weapon is governed by a specific weapon skill — Sword, Axe, Bow, Crossbow, Spear, Staff, Sling, Knife, and so on. Owning a fancy weapon you have no skill in is mostly an expensive paperweight: you'll roll against your base stat with a penalty, while the trained foe across from you rolls against skill + stat.

• Carry the weapon(s) your skill points actually paid for.
• A cheap back-up of the same type is usually wiser than a flashy second weapon in a school you don't know.
• Throwing knives or a sling are reasonable side-arms for almost anyone — but they still hit harder with a trained hand.

Costs vary wildly by quality — see Sample prices for the table, and Combat for how weapon skills, reach, and initiative interact.

Armor: pick what your purse and concept can carry

Armor protects, but heavy armor also has a price tag, a weight penalty, and a social cost ("Why is the priest in full plate?"). For most starting heroes the sweet spot is somewhere between sturdy travel clothes and a serviceable mail shirt — not the legendary suit of a king's champion.

• Front-line fighters can justify mail or scale; expect to look like a soldier wherever you go.
• Scouts, rogues, and casters usually pick lighter gear — quieter, cheaper, and friendlier to Stealth and Climbing.
• If you want plate, your sheet should explain how a starting adventurer affords and maintains it: Rich, Aristocrat/Noble, Membership of Military Order, or a Powerful or Influential Friend(s) are the usual answers.

Price gatekeeping and full tables: Sample prices. What each tier soaks: Damage and armor.

Shields are a learned skill

Shield is its own weapon skill — without it, that big round piece of oak is mostly something to drop when the fight gets serious. If you've invested in Shield, take one to match (and remember to equip it before combat starts; you can't strap a shield on mid-swing).

No Shield skill? Save the weight and the buckler money for arrows, rations, or a second waterskin.

Tools follow your trade

The General Equipment list is long on purpose — pick what your skills imply you'd carry. A few common pairings:

• Tracking / Hunting or Survival / Bush-craft → snares, fishing line, flint and steel, skinning knife, oil and rags.
• Lock-picking or Traps → picks, probes, small mirror, a few wedges. (See the next section before you give these to the temple's chosen one.)
• Medic / Herbalist → clean bandages, needle and thread, a small herb pouch, a stoppered flask or two.
• Blacksmithing, Artistry, Forgery, Musician → the craft tools or instrument the skill obviously needs. Tools do take space and weight.
• Navigation → maps for your environment, a compass at sea, a sextant if your GM's setting has them.
• Alchemy → reagents, a folding burner, glass vials. Practical alchemy starts heavy.

Tools enable the skill but don't replace it. A perfect lockpick set won't open anything if your Lock-picking is level 0.

Mounts and familiars need a reason

The Mounts & Familiars panel is a checkbox, a type, and a description — no point cost. That's exactly why the GM will look at it twice. A starting adventurer isn't entitled to a trained warhorse any more than to a suit of plate.

• A mundane mount (pony, mule, riding horse) usually wants the Riding skill and a sensible background — farm hand, courier, caravan guard.
• A warhorse raises the bar. Expect to lean on Aristocrat/Noble, Membership of Military Order, or Rich — and you should still have the Riding skill if you ever want to use the beast in a fight.
• An exotic mount (warhound, riding lizard, the GM's favourite oddity) is a conversation, not a checkbox. Bring a story.
• A familiar is normally tied to a power, a pact, or Animal Empathy — and to a clear answer for "what does it do for you, and what would it not?"

A warhorse doesn't appear by wishing — your sheet has to explain how you got one, and who keeps feeding it.

Riding horse vs destrier price bands: Sample prices.

A coin or two

Starting money is modest by default: enough for the kit you've justified, a few nights' lodging, and a small reserve. The Money panel tracks each coin type separately because weight matters — a sack of copper is heavier than the same value in silver.

Everyday lodging and meals are cheap; a single gold marks you out as worth robbing. Anchors from ale to warhorse: Sample prices.

• Rich obviously raises the ceiling — agree the rough amount with the GM, not the player to your left.
• Aristocrat/Noble often means access to credit rather than a heavy purse: a signet ring opens shops, not strongboxes.
• Membership of a Professional Organization or Membership of a Religious Order can mean room, board, and tools instead of coin.

The GM's coherence check

When in doubt, the GM gets the last word — not to be mean, but to keep the world believable for everyone. The questions usually sound like:

• "Where did you learn to use that?" — points back at your weapon skills.
• "How does a starting adventurer afford this?" — points at Rich, Aristocrat/Noble, or a friend who owes you.
• "Does your faith / order / code allow this?" — a sworn priest with a roll of lockpicks should have a very good story, or no lockpicks.
• "Who keeps it fed / oiled / sharpened?" — true for warhorses, familiars, and fragile alchemy gear alike.

None of these are "no" by default. They're an invitation to make your character more interesting in two sentences.

See it in action

The sample characters show kit that fits their skills and traits without anyone having to write it down as a rule:

• The ex-soldier — weapons, armor, and a soldier's pack that match Military Order and combat skills.
• The borderland scout — bow, light gear, and wilderness tools that earn their place via Tracking, Survival, and Stealth.
• The cleric — modest arms, a holy symbol, and a herb pouch; a Religious Order pays for the rest.

See also

• Skills — what your kit needs to back up.
• Advantages & disadvantages — the usual justification for unusual gear.
• Combat — how weapons, shields, and armor play out in a fight.
• Damage and armor — what your armor actually does for you.
• Sample prices — what coin actually buys, from ale to warhorse.

Ready to pack the bag?

Once the table has agreed on concept and skills, enter the kit in the app's Inventory panel — Armor / Weapons / General / Money / Mounts & Familiars are each one tap away on the character edit page.

Edit Player Character (app)