I'm curious as to what other GM's allow their players to start with and/or what other GM's recommend allowing players to start with gear wise.
Does your rogue get studded leather?
Paladin get Half Plate, or Fighter get full?
Is that overpowered for Adventure Paths?
I've always done a basic armor, basic weapon deal for classes. And the rest of their gear is picked up with gold.
One of my players is going to start running soon and came to me, which is when I asked myself "Hmmm, I haven't PLAYED in a PF game before, only ran. I wonder how other people do it".
So then, what do you give your players... and why?
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Depends on what level I have them start at.
First level? They roll their starting gold, and buy their armor/weapons/sleeping bags/ect. from that. Sometimes I just provide maximum starting gold to everyone.
What that means is that your fighter probably isn't walking out of his family's hovel with full-plate armor, a heavy steel shield, and a dozen weapons.
Likely he's deciding between one medium armor or another, two or three weapons to cover damage types, and a sling. What? He'll get a bow off of some poor fools corpse soon enough.
Generally speaking, if you're not going to rush through the low levels, then finally picking up that set of full plate armor can be a *big* reward for a player.
We generally follow the "average treasure" guidelines and pretty much let the players choose what they want that they can afford.
In my last campaign I gave everyone 1/2 to spend on their own, and 1/2 all lumped into a "party fund" to spend on anything that they wanted that would be too much for one character to afford.
They never could agree on what to spend the party fund on, so I split it back up and gave them the other half.
Even though this is the way we do it, I don't like the results. It seems like every character ends up with virtually identical gear to every other member of that class. We frequently start at around level 6 and it seems every party ends up with wands of healing, pearls of power, at least one flaming weapon, +1 ROPs....
I know this is all factored into the game balance now, but I do wish there was a bit more variety in the characters gear. But I haven't come up with a better way that everyone agrees with, and in the end starting gear, and gear in general, shouldn't be an important part of the game, so I try not to worry about it.
Starting gold by level, they can buy whatever with it. After that, they get whatever I thought fit the theme for the bad guy I threw at them. (sometimes its an item out of a monsters belly that would have been useless against that monster, probably why the last guy died)
Our group got the standard 1st level starting wealth. The only other limits were the availability of certain items (for fluff reasons): no heavy armor, no two-handed weapons, no strength bows. Not sure how he's going to run this after 1st level.
So do you guys feel that allowing a level 1 character (for an adventure path) have basic armor and a basic 1H weapon for their class is too much, or perhaps overpowered?
I'm trying to get a scope of how other people run gamers and the mechanics they house rule, as my players are starting to want to run games now (and I'm kind of Big Brothering for them).
So do you guys feel that allowing a level 1 character (for an adventure path) have basic armor and a basic 1H weapon for their class is too much, or perhaps overpowered?
I'm trying to get a scope of how other people run gamers and the mechanics they house rule, as my players are starting to want to run games now (and I'm kind of Big Brothering for them).
It depends on the characters. Giving specific gear I dont think is appropriate. Use the starting gold guidelines, thats what I do.
Saying you start with x armor and x weapons isnt really a fair assesemnt. What if the rogue wants a bunch of alchemist fires and thunderstones and isnt so concerned with his weapon? As opposed to maybe the fighter who si very concerned, and the sorceror who doesnt care about either.
I'm a goofball, but I've been known to start people out with a weapon that's -1 hit/damage and a set of clothes. Technically, that was in 3.5 and not PF, but as long as you, the GM, are setting challenges in line with their situation, the players will have fun. And it's fun (at least once) to make getting to a normal weapon as cool as getting to a +1 weapon. YMMV - know your players. Some groups will love it, and others will hate it.
I typically use the WBL chart when players start above 1st level, and give maximum gold value for their class when players start at 1st level.
Does your rogue get studded leather?Paladin get Half Plate, or Fighter get full?
Is that overpowered for Adventure Paths?
...
So then, what do you give your players... and why?
For me, there's no easy way to answer this. It depends on the setting, the character classes, the players, etc. My only general rule is that I'd rather have gear defficient characters than characters with too much money/gear. I'll tell you two stories.
1. I was running a campaign and let my players buy whatever they wanted with their money (starting level 10). I had planned out an intricate ordeal involving a rebel leader in an opressed village that was troubling some local officials. This rebel leader was in good standing with the local populace, but for various reasons was a bad person that needed to go away. So, I spent a week creating NPCs and guards and encounters with mobs and rolling on loot tables just to find out that my players had outwitted me. A half-orc sorc 3/rogue 8 with the assistance of an elf sorc flew, improved invisibled, silenced, into town during the night. He one-shotted the rebel leader (lvl 7 cleric, lvl 5 fighter) and threw his body into a bag of holding, with all his gear and bedroll. 1 hour after we started the job was done, payment accepted and my players were expecting more. They were so well geared, had so many scrolls and magic items that I couldn't give them a real challenge.
2. I had some characters that fought a rather nasty golem. They were level 5 and the golem was eating their lunch. I quickly sized up the fight and realized that they weren't going to be able to win this thing. So, I turned the tables a bit and gave them a perception check to notice some shoddy stonework on a ledge nearby. The player immediately took the hint and lured the golem to the ledge where it tumbled to its doom.
The lesson is, starving your characters for gear and then throwing your punches builds moral. The other extreme is that you are left unprepared or that the game loses it's challenge.
I hope this was informative.
I usually start them off with either random starting gold based on class or I let them choose the average. They then have to buy the things they need. I use traits, so if someone wants to start with Rich Parents they can.
I also have a rule that you can have ONE item you can make for yourself if you have the craft skill or feat. They still have to pay to make the item but the dice roll is assumed to be a 20. Time is not factored in. (This lets a wizard start with a scroll, and a fighter with either a weapon or armor they made for themselves. It may also allow a single poison, acid flask, holy water, etc.)
It works well, but they are not going to be starting with full plate or anything majorly magical.
I'm starting a new campaign, and I'm letting them start with one +1 weapon or armor and a potion of cure moderate wounds. It's my first time running a game tho, so that's to offset the fact that I might kill them otherwise. It's only two players, going through a kobold lair, so I think it'll be helpful.
As I am the Archnemesis of anything random at character creation or advancement, I have fixed amounts:
You get 500gp - no matter what class you are. You can buy whatever you want with that money.
In addition, you get standard equipment. That means stuff costing less than, say, 10gp, in reasonable amounts. You don't have to itemise that stuff, either. It is assumed the characters get the necessary standard stuff.
I never had a problem with this. The increased starting money will be meaningless soon enough.
I'm curious as to what other GM's allow their players to start with and/or what other GM's recommend allowing players to start with gear wise.
Does your rogue get studded leather?
Paladin get Half Plate, or Fighter get full?
Is that overpowered for Adventure Paths?
I've always done a basic armor, basic weapon deal for classes. And the rest of their gear is picked up with gold.
One of my players is going to start running soon and came to me, which is when I asked myself "Hmmm, I haven't PLAYED in a PF game before, only ran. I wonder how other people do it".
So then, what do you give your players... and why?
I generally begin my games at 1st level, so my players get the average starting cash for their class (that's about 175 gp for Fighters, IIRC). They can purchase anything they can afford. I also allow traits, so Rich Parents is sometimes a popular choice (+900 gp to starting cash), and ancestral weapon (begin play with a masterwork weapon that you get an extra +1 to hit with).
If I'm beginning a game at a higher level than usual, I use standard wealth by level, with a limit on the % of that wealth that can be spent on equipment, as appropriate.
As for being overpowered in adventure paths, maybe. For the most part, if you give a 1st level fighter full-plate armor, he will be overpowered. At that level, the fighter will probably be wearing medium armor like scale, splint, or chain, unless they took Rich Parents, in which case they could reach half-plate.
The enemies in adventure paths generally will generally not be able to hit them. However, if enemies have alchemical items, nets, touch attacks, and similar options, then it's really not that bad. In fact, it might even be a hindrance if they find themselves on a slick floor and have to make Acrobatics checks to stand or whatever.
I'm starting a new campaign, and I'm letting them start with one +1 weapon or armor and a potion of cure moderate wounds. It's my first time running a game tho, so that's to offset the fact that I might kill them otherwise. It's only two players, going through a kobold lair, so I think it'll be helpful.
I think that's perfectly fine for a small group. If no one else joins you any time soon, you could fudge the WBL, too. 2 players= 2 actions per round. Playable, but they can get overwhelmed, particularly if one of them gets immobilized or something. TPKs are no fun for anyone.
As long as everyone's having fun, you're doing it right.
Usually my groups are small at 3-4 people.
I give them the following...
1/2 charged magic missile wand for arcane types
1/2 charged wand of CLW for divine types
masterwork weapon or composite bow or masterwork armor (of the armor they can afford) for martial types with a single potion of healing.
It kind of works out to around 375gp value per pc. The above kit allows for more survivability at level 1 and frees up the healer to not have all of his spell slots anchored to just healing.
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Depends on the group. When I run it, PF anyways, it is 200g regardless of class, and their primary weapon is free. Occasionally I have included a free shield if I felt it was fitting.
If abused, they find themselves fighting for copper pieces until that fancy "Masterwork blah blah" is paid for a few times.
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I'm starting a new campaign, and I'm letting them start with one +1 weapon or armor and a potion of cure moderate wounds. It's my first time running a game tho, so that's to offset the fact that I might kill them otherwise. It's only two players, going through a kobold lair, so I think it'll be helpful.
For just a couple players I might do the same, but alternately, couldn't you just reduce the AC on a majority of the beasties by one to the same effect, but without the "Oh and here is a magical toy"?
Honest question asked only out of curiousity.
I'm curious as to what other GM's allow their players to start with and/or what other GM's recommend allowing players to start with gear wise.
Does your rogue get studded leather?
Paladin get Half Plate, or Fighter get full?
Is that overpowered for Adventure Paths?
I've always done a basic armor, basic weapon deal for classes. And the rest of their gear is picked up with gold.
One of my players is going to start running soon and came to me, which is when I asked myself "Hmmm, I haven't PLAYED in a PF game before, only ran. I wonder how other people do it".
So then, what do you give your players... and why?
If first level: Players roll the starting wealth normally.
If above 1st: I let them buy items totaling half the value of the wealth by level table. Additionally I'll roll some random treasure pool from which they can have a pick.
I'm starting a new campaign, and I'm letting them start with one +1 weapon or armor and a potion of cure moderate wounds. It's my first time running a game tho, so that's to offset the fact that I might kill them otherwise. It's only two players, going through a kobold lair, so I think it'll be helpful.For just a couple players I might do the same, but alternately, couldn't you just reduce the AC on a majority of the beasties by one to the same effect, but without the "Oh and here is a magical toy"?
Honest question asked only out of curiousity.
Yes, I could.
But giving them magic items is more awesome.