Rope
A light source (even if you have darkvision, your friends do not)
1 potion of clw
A label for said potion of CLW so your friends know what to pour down your throat.
A sack (generally useful)
A shovel and or pick
If Oregon Trail taught me anything, you always need 99lbs of bacon.
But seriously, +1 to BNW above me, as well as the following.
paper
charcoal
knife (or a dagger generally works)
Holy Water
Wand of Cure Light Wounds to hand to the cleric (if there is one) to keep him from using all of his spells on you.
Weather appropriate clothing or potion/wand/scroll of endure elements.
For senerios above Teir 1-5
an emergency scroll/potion kit for dealing with darkness, flying opponents, invisible opponents, disease, poison, and ability damage.
Weapons, ammo, or weapon blanches for overcoming DR silver, adamantine, and cold iron.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Actually for me, nosig has a point.
If you're playing/using something not in the core book, bring that book (or at least the material photocopied). I don't know everything about Witches or Gunslingers or monk archtypes. If something sounds 'weird' to me, I'll want to see it. In your stuff. Sure I can take the time to hunt it down in my PDFs (I bring my mini when I game) but you, the player, has to have the stuff (and the PRD doesn't count).
if you're going away to play .. deodrant and clean underroos ... and if you're not taking a change of clothing (oh please do tho) some sort of mild body spray
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Absalom Express Card. (Someone had to go there)
Dude, you got it all wrong. Pathfinders would almost certainly use Discover...
(waits for groans to stop)
List seems pretty good above. Baked goods for judge bribing definitely
(though at my games if they're not chocolate you'll just get attacked more :) ). And the Wand of CLW (aka "happy stick") is a big one not just for practicality but it's kind of an etiquette thing.
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I know PFS scenarios tend not to be too difficult, can I get away with being more utilitarian with my item purchases or do I need to be devoting the majority of my cash to my primary weapon, armor, and items like that?
If you're looking at convention play and lots of different folks to game with, the utilitarian purposes should be anything faction-specific you think you might need for YOUR missions (unless you're playing the "Keep me alive and I'll do your Knowledge: Geography and Diplomacy missions for you with ease!" bard.) Tier 1-5's, you should be okay with just a +1 weapon. After you get into 5-9's, however, you're gonna start getting stuck on DR/(magic or more) a LOT. Unless you're the spellcaster whose melee is worthless and/or the aforementioned bard, chances are you should start working on beefing up your combat gear.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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For overcoming material or alignment based DR, is it more cost effective to carry around extra weapons or consumables?
For materials and damage types, carry extra weapons. A cold iron morningstar costs next to nothing (don't bother enchanting it, or even getting a masterwork version). Wear a silver cestus (still fairly cheap), which keeps you armed and threatening at all times and also covers two damage types (though when possible you want to use bludgeoning on that one, to avoid the -1 damage). Once you can afford it, replace your primary weapon with an adamantine one.
For instance, my Eldritch Knight just hit 7th level. He has a recently-purchased adamantine longsword (his primary weapon), a non-masterwork cold-iron morningstar, and a non-masterwork silver cestus. This gives him access to all three damage types, all three special materials, he's always armed, and he can bypass hardness on objects if need be.
As for alignment-based, you'll want to use consumables, as the appropriate enchantements are way too expensive. Carry oils of bless weapon.
I know PFS scenarios tend not to be too difficult, can I get away with being more utilitarian with my item purchases or do I need to be devoting the majority of my cash to my primary weapon, armor, and items like that?
One way of looking at it is to sort everything you'll ever buy according to price, and just buy things in order from cheapest to most expensive. That is, first you buy basic gear, then some consumables, then masterwork armor, then masterwork weapons, then the first +1 on your armor (followed by shield if applicable), then a cloak of resistance +1, then a ring of protection/amulet of natural armor +1, then a +1 on your weapon, then upgrade armor/shield/cloak to +2 each, then.... you get the picture. You don't need to stick strictly to that, but I find it's a fantastic rule of thumb.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Tier 1-5's, you should be okay with just a +1 weapon.
More like, you should be okay with a masterwork weapon and a scroll or oil of magic weapon for if you encounter DR/magic. Buying a +1 weapon isn't really a priority until like, 5th-6th level or so.
... (and the PRD doesn't count).
But doesn't the new guide actually point out specifically that the PRD does work now?
Absalom Express Card. (Someone had to go there)
Dude, you got it all wrong. Pathfinders would almost certainly use Discover...
(waits for groans to stop)
I saw an old episode of futurama yesterday where Fry was trying to buy underwear. It went something like this,
Fry: Do you take Visa?
Clerk: Visa hasn't extisted for the last 500 years.
Fry: Mastercard?
Clerk: 600 years.
Fry: Discover?
Clerk: Sorry, we don't take discover.
if you're going away to play .. deodrant and clean underroos ... and if you're not taking a change of clothing (oh please do tho) some sort of mild body spray
I submit that there is no such thing as "mild" body spray.
chalk - to mark the path
small mirror - to look around objects very sneakily like
1 pound flour - to find invisible guys, to throw in the eyes of the bad guys, to make bread
1 cast iron pot - cooking and beating the crap out things with it.
Portable ram. Always have a portable ram. If you are playing a witch, and rolling stats and you have a 4 strength, you still need a portable ram. This goes for each member of the party. Just because the 22 strength orc barbarian has one does not mean that you can do you out. You need a portable ram.
Crowbar: Who needs Disable Device? (Oh, yeah! Traps)
You do not need a crowbar is you have a portable ram.
As many trail rations as you can carry.
Rope
Torches, even if you have another light source.
Backpack
Secondary wepaon
Sack
If Oregon Trail taught me anything, you always need 99lbs of bacon.
Oregon Trail taught me all you need are 100lbs of powder, 10k bullets, 10 rifles and the oxen and cart to pull them. Then you make your own bacon.
Never bought em.
Depends on GM. Some dont make you do things like cook, catch food, drink water, etc. If yours does, water, food, flint/steel.
Masterwork backpack until Handy Haversack.
Always bring a Haversack. Always.
1 Dagger, 1 Rope (Silken then Spider when you can afford), 5 days rations, 1 Tent, 1 Bedroll, 1 Blanket, 2 Explorers Outfit, Chalk, 2 Spools of String, 1 Pouch of Adventuring Powder (or flour), 1 Potion of Cure Light Wounds, 1 Lamp, 1 Pint of Lamp Oil (many uses besides as fuel for lamp), 1 Vial of Alchemists Fire (also useful with lamp oil), Spell Component Pouch, Wand of Cure Light Wounds, 1 Journal, 1 Pen, and 1 Vial of Ink so you can make notes, draw maps, or build a bestiary.
For my characters, apart from the many suggestions above, I usually equipe them with a bag of flour to detect invisible people, and a crowbar or portable ram.
See. Portable ram.
Since you rarely play with the same characters every scenario, what is the must have equipment? I'm not asking about weapons or armor necessarily but rather about mundane equipment or minor magic items that are useful if you're group is lacking in a certain area.
A slave.
A slave is normally only 50 to 75 gp, but half that for an old one.
An old lady to follow me around, carry my stuff, and cook my meals? That's worth 25 gp even at first level. And I feel quite safe even with only two day's rations.
(More seriously, I have seen the 75 gp price used as the "fair price" for a necromancer-to-be who wanted to start with a minion controlled by the Command Undead feat.)
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Since this started on a PFS thread - the below is for PFS play only, really:
I notice no one yet mentioned a Wayfinder. Now, some people will say that it's not a useful item, but playing with a 4-star GM today on the Cyphermage Dilema, we hit a point where we realized that none of us had anything to ID our characters as Pathfinders at a mission-critical moment where having such would have saved us a bit of a headache.
Being able to have an Ioun stone without having it whizzing around your head is nice, so is the nearly-unlimited-light-source... and it's half price (250gp) for Pathfinder PCs.
So, that's on my "take with me" list, as well as many of the things above.
In general?
A Cestus. Cestus can be worn with just about anything and helps you not be unarmed if you get otherwise disarmed.
Good thread, by the by!
