Starting gear: what can you not live without at lvl 1?

[Thorin2011]

Personal I have to have a rope hemp or silk and a grappling hook. you can never tell what lvl 1 pit trap you just mist.

[Azten]

A backpack, some rations, and a water skin. If I need a weapon Clubs are free, but daggers just as common for my characters.

[Thorin2011]

all that was a given in my mind

[Jarred Henninger]

Smelling salts! Wake the unconscious cleric without the heal skill!

[The Rot Grub]

Alchemist's fire is a must to deal with swarms of tiny creatures. Normal weapons do nothing to them.

[Richard Leonhart]

a slashing weapon.
"cut the rope"
"sure ... eh" *looks at his sap*

clothes
I don't know what the charisma based skill penalty is, but this is the second most important thing. Second, not first!

With both you can get the rest provided you start in a town. Hell even with only a dagger and a dark alley you can get clothes.

If you start in the wilderness, it depends on your skills.

[Gnomezrule]

Bedroll (or hammock), blanket (or cloak), rations, dagger, flint & steel (for non-fire producers), water, and backpack (or satchel). For things I like to always have around that are not life or death necessities; rope is helpful always, if I have the strength to spare I always grab the tools like crowbar, portable ram, and shovel. Other goods like paper, chalk, empty bottles, flasks and such.

[Artanthos]

Richard Leonhart wrote:

clothes

I don't know what the charisma based skill penalty is, but this is the second most important thing. Second, not first!

Clothing and weapons are both optional when you have scales and claws.

I showed up at a game once with a character that had absolutely no gear. Not even clothes.

Eschew materials helped some as well.

[Harrison]

Masterwork Artisan Tools or Masterwork Thief's Tools for the "Rogue" of the group.

I normally always pick up a set of Masterwork Artisan Tools for any character I play, simply because for a few skill points that I may not have put into anywhere directly helpful to my character, I can collect some money on the side to go towards whatever I'm trying to buy. It's not a whole lot of money, but it's still better than not getting anything.

[BltzKrg242]

Light source of some type. I'm a fan of a clutch of sun rods but lanterns or torches will do in a pinch.
Or go the route of my Paladin and get Continual flame cast on your weapon.

[Thorin2011]

thank you all; FYI unless stated otherwise all characters have 1 set of travels cloths.

Will

[hogarth]

Jarred Henninger wrote:

Smelling salts! Wake the unconscious cleric without the heal skill!

...or wake the unconscious bad guy for questioning without wasting a healing spell.

(You beat me to it.)

[Ultradan]

A hammer and ten iron spikes...

And a ten-foot pole...

Ultradan

[Thorin2011]

Ultradan wrote:

A hammer and ten iron spikes...

And a ten-foot pole...

Ultradan

????? Why?

[seiken]

I see people mention sun rods all over the place, but I can't find them in my books or in the SRD. Where do you get them, and where can I find more info?

BltzKrg242 wrote:

Light source of some type. I'm a fan of a clutch of sun rods but lanterns or torches will do in a pinch.

Or go the route of my Paladin and get Continual flame cast on your weapon.

[Selgard]

Sunrod: This 1-foot-long, gold-tipped, iron rod glows brightly when struck as a standard action. It sheds normal light in a 30-foot radius and increases the light level by one step for an additional 30 feet beyond that area (darkness becomes dim light and dim light becomes normal light). A sunrod does not increase the light level in normal light or bright light. It glows for 6 hours, after which the gold tip is burned out and worthless.

From the PRD, equipment section:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/equipment.html

:)

-S

[Ultradan]

Thorin2011 wrote:

Ultradan wrote:

A hammer and ten iron spikes...

And a ten-foot pole...

Ultradan

????? Why?

Hammer + Iron Spikes: Wedge a door shut, climb a wall with no hand-holds, secure a rope, there's a zillion ways you can use those.

As for the 10-foot pole: You just can't go adventuring without a 10-foot pole.

Ultradan

[Thorin2011]

okay, well I am not touching that with a ten foot pole.

[seiken]

Selgard wrote:

Sunrod: This 1-foot-long, gold-tipped, iron rod glows brightly when struck as a standard action. It sheds normal light in a 30-foot radius and increases the light level by one step for an additional 30 feet beyond that area (darkness becomes dim light and dim light becomes normal light). A sunrod does not increase the light level in normal light or bright light. It glows for 6 hours, after which the gold tip is burned out and worthless.

From the PRD, equipment section:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/equipment.html

:)

-S

Thank you! I guess since we are in the BB forum, I thought this would be in the Hero's Handbook or Game Master's Guide somewhere. Also, searching for "sunrod" on the SRD doesn't return the best results. You really have to already know which section of the Core book it is in.

[BlueEyedDevil]

I think this question is really "What's the best cheap, non-magical equipment?" (who stays first level for longer than the first floor of the dungeon?)

A GM of mine once, as a reward for helping a besieged town, allowed our party access to the stock of a general store whose owner had been killed. I then spent the rest of that campaign MacGyvering the heck out of everything he'd allowed us to take.

A few suggestions:
Rope.
At early levels, don't bother with Alchemist's Fire, just get lamp oil. You can do most of the things you wanted to do with AF with oil, though you have to be a little more creative. Even after you can easily afford AF, keep a lot of oil around: you can't do the 'let's see how long it takes the monsters to notice they're ankle deep in flammable oil' trick with AF. Also, you can't lubricate rusty things with AF.
Rope.
Spikes/pitons: Wedge doors, climb, create pulley systems and tripwires.
Crowbar.
Rope.
Block and Tackle: no-one has yet, in 3, 3.5. or PF, given mechanics for in-game operation of this, so it depends on the GM, but actual real-world equations for the lifting and pulling power of a B&T exist.
Wire.
A sack of flour: every time a character of mine ends up going through an abandoned kitchen in some stronghold (there always is one) he grabs a small sack of flour. As a thrown weapon, it's a mundane Invisibility Purge, spread on the floor, it can be used to either track invisible creatures, or left in place as a time record to see if things have come or gone since you've been there last. Depending on how adventurous your GM is, a large sack of flour can be used to make a bomb. (Look up flour bomb on Youtube if you don't understand.)
Also, you can make pancakes.

Grease or lard in large amounts can be used to make traps and mimic the effects of the Grease spell.

Handsaw: you don't need Craft:Trapmaking to saw 3/4 of the way through the stringers on a set of stairs.

[BlueEyedDevil]

Something that actually happened in a campaign:

GM: the stone slab slides into place, sealing the hole in the floor. You're going to have to go to the entrance on the other side of the mountain.
Me: How heavy is this slab?
GM: You estimate five tons.
Me: Can I get a rope around it?
GM: Yes.
Me: [pointing to map] is this pillar stable?
GM: Yes.
Me: And the floor is smooth?
GM: [beginning to look nervous] That's how I described it.
Me: Okay. I'm going to anchor the block-and-tackle at the pillar, loop rope around the slab, lubricate the floor with oil and grease, then have the barbarian and the cleric pull on the rope while I lever the slab with my crowbar. Once it's out of the way, we'll wedge a couple of metal spikes under it to keep it from sliding back. Will that work?
GM: [blinks] It'll take ten minutes.
Me: That's shorter than going to the other side of the mountain.
GM: I should have never let you raid that store.

[hogarth]

Oops, missed that this is the Beginner Box forum. Cancel the smelling salts, then. :-)

[Thorin2011]

lol Awesome, thanks for the input You did nail the idea I had. True I could have said How creatively can use make none magical ideas at low levels?

I had a friend use the crowbar to make a sliding attack on ice. we keep falling down when we tried to walk on the stuff. He jammed the crowbar in the ice and used it as leverage to slide to were he wanted to be.

[shadow_of_doom]

the adventurers kit, grappling hook, holy symbol(i usually play cleric), cleric weapon, light armor, a simple weapon(the range type that my cleric weapon doesnt cover), more trail rations, matches. usually in the order (most needed to least).

[Selgard]

I didn't even know there /was/ a beginner box forum.

-S

[The Rot Grub]

Thorin2011 wrote:

Ultradan wrote:

A hammer and ten iron spikes...

And a ten-foot pole...

Ultradan

????? Why?

Not everybody uses a ten-foot pole nowadays, though it used to be mandatory in the early days of D&D, when falling down a pit trap could kill you. You could also use it to touch what-might-be-cursed altars from a distance, or anything else for that matter.

[Krensky]

I don't have my BB books handy, so forgive me if any of this stuff isn't listed. This is also my modern D&D/PF list, my 1e and 2e had more stuff.

Chalk. Never leave home without it. Especially if caves or mazes will be involved. Even urban mazes.
Twine. Ditto.
Notebook, pen and ink or pencils (which are better, but may not be available). I always played literate sorts. Plus I learned under GMs who wouldn't let you make maps if the PCs didn't have stuff to do so with.
A few sheets of paper or parchment. How else are you going to leave notes or use Urchin Express securely?
Candles. Orten overlooked in favor of lanterns or sunrods, but if you're playing a species with low light vision these are a good way to counter darkness without helping non low light vision opponents. Plus they're damn useful as a source of fire starting, lubrication, or incindiaries in a pinch. Not to mention sealing letters and such for delivery by Urchin Express.
A knife or dagger. Everyone should have one unless they have a good reason not too. Too gosh damn useful.

[shadow_of_doom]

the reason i didnt pick a lantern or candle or torch, is because you should always have a cleric with you, who is able to make things emit light as an orison ability.

[Thorin2011]

The Rot Grub wrote:

Thorin2011 wrote:

Ultradan wrote:

And a ten-foot pole...

????? Why?

Not everybody uses a ten-foot pole nowadays, though it used to be mandatory in the early days of D&D, when falling down a pit trap could kill you. You could also use it to touch what-might-be-cursed altars from a distance, or anything else for that matter.

Again not touching it with.....

[BltzKrg242]

Marbles. A bag can be used as an impromptu trip attack but they also make great sling stones, they can detect slope on a smooth floor, can be used to distract guards (by rolling or tossing past), can be used in slight of hand to juggle or play hide the Pea to make money.
Marbles are awesome.

[Sir_Wulf]

shadow_of_doom wrote:

The reason I didn't pick a lantern, candle, or torch is because you should always have a cleric with you who is able to make things emit light as an orison ability.

That's dangerous thinking. Unless your party is entirely made up of dwarves, you should never depend on one character as your only source of light. What happens if he's eaten by a monster, falls down a chute, puts on a cursed helmet, or is charmed by an enemy? Your party could find itself in a dungeon without any light.

Every character should be able to make their own light, fight things their main attacks can't hurt, and find ways to handle strange situations (such as invisible enemies).

[Sir_Wulf]

There are over 101 Uses for an Iron Spike.

[Thorin2011]

new list Iron Spikes, Rope, Iron Spikes, grappling hook, and IRON SPIKES!!!! and maybe the crowbar.

[Mr Dice Guy]

Small steel mirror anyone?
No joke, I always take one. It is super small (diminutive even?) so depending on the DM the enemy may take (effectively) a -12 on their perception to spot you as you peek around corners.
Real game application even faced a Medusa with it. I was not first level at the time, but you should have seen the look on the DM's face when I said, "OK, so I down the potion of invisibility and use my small steel mirror to sneak up on the Medusa." He didn't believe me until I showed him my character sheet...and my previous one... and the one before that. But after he saw it was written down on all of them he admitted defeat.
I had also cast truestrike on myself... ah the glories of one level of caster... and then used my mace two handed, rolled a nat 20, so the truestrike just negated my miss chance... at that point I had my eyes closed, after all, can't swing a mace two handed AND hold a small steel mirror, and I wasn't takin' any chances... and backed up the crit to almost...not quite... one shot the medusa.
One of my most epic moments in gaming... all due to a small steel mirror. :)

[Cuchulainn]

Caltrops are often under-utilized. Every adventurer should carry some.

[BlueEyedDevil]

Again, I must extoll the virtues of the wondrous flour sack, it costs something like five copper. The only expense is in weight. The old rules for use as a mundane Invisibility Purge were in Dungeonscape, I think.

[Thorin2011]

Fine add a small pouch of flour to the list. and a mirror. Maybe We should write out a adventures check list for mundane items.

Truly I now I wound use it. and As a DM I could see a creative shop owner setting up a sale on the one stop back pack for monster hunting or dungenering.

Will

[The Bald Man]

I always have some chalk.
Mark trail through the dungeon so you don't get lost
Leave a note

heck, might be able to crush it up and get a +1 to a climb check.

[wargamer]

Rope, a dagger and a flask of alchemists fire. After that it all depends on what class you're playing.

[KenderKin]

ammunition?

[Thorin2011]

KenderKin wrote:

ammunition?

not just a few sling blots or even 1 quiver not enough

[DeathMvp]

Here is something that I laways have to remind my players to carry at level 1. GOLD!!!! I have had my players spend every copper they have when fist making new toons (not just in the box set) and forget that you sometimes need a few coins on you in the beging to maby pay for the inn or something.

[Buddah668]

Backpack, bedroll, wineskin, flint and steel, hemp rope, 1 week of rations, dagger and a hand axe.

[Lokie]

A Quarterstaff, Empty Sacks, Hemp Rope, Daggers, Flint and Steel, Tinder Twigs, Torches, and Flasks of Oil.

There is allot you can do with these items. Cut up the sacks, soak 'em in oil, or use them as bandaging. The torches can be used as improvised clubs, firewood, or sharpened into stakes. Flasks of oil can be "fused" with sack material or rope, lit, and turned into flame bombs. Oil can be used for rusty items, used to grease the ground, or used as fuel. Rope and Sacks can be used to pull food up into the trees or to submerge and hide items in water. Rope, Tinder Twigs, and Oil can be used to set up an incendiary trap. A dagger, rope, and a quarterstaff can make you a improvised spear.

[logic_poet]

There are a lot of suggestions above that I agree with, and one I didn't see listed. I always take a signal whistle, because sooner or later, somebody on watch is going to need to wake folks up.

[BYC]

Light sources are important, even for characters with darkvision. Darkvision only goes up to 60 feet usually, so the party and/or characters can still be surprised by things beyond that point.

Weapon
Backup weapon
Splash weapon x1
Armor
Light sources
Waterskin
Rope
Backpack

Those are usually my starting gear.

[KenderKin]

Back-up weapons!

dagger
sling
morningstar

"meat-shield"
and "back-up meat-shield"

[Thorin2011]

meat shield??

[Lokie]

Thorin2011 wrote:

meat shield??

A body encased in armor that stands between you and damage.

[roguerouge]

Waterskin, chalk, marbles, flour, rope, bedroll, caltrops... and I love having outfits, for some reason.