Thursday, February 2, 2012

Equipment Packs for Faster Chargen

One of the ideas I've seen around the boards is to use "Equipment Packs" at character generation to speed up that process.  It seems as if picking out all your gear is what slows down chargen, and with something as simple as S&W, I wanted to move things along.  These are likely most useful for pick-up games or introducing new players to the game.  I imagine more experienced players can get set up quickly enough just picking their gear from the limited lists available in WhiteBox.

The packs detailed below as primarily based on "Equipment Packs: A Basic Fantasy Supplement" by Shayne Power, available at basicfantasy.org. I've tweaked them for WhiteBox, and added a Bard option as well. Bear in mind this is still subject to change...


Equipment “Fast Packs”
In order to speed the character creation process for new players, all characters start with the Basic Pack and a class-based pack of their choice. They may also spend their additional gold on the bonus packs, on items from the normal equipment list or to upgrade weapons or armor in their class pack. With the referee's approval, a character may swap a given weapon for one of similar power (e.g. a Battle Axe in place of a Long Sword).

Basic Pack
Backpack; Torches (6); Flint and steel; Waterskin; Bedroll; Rations, dried (7 days); Sack, large; Sacks, small (2); d6x10 gold pieces.

Cleric
Pack 1: Leather armor; Shield; Holy Symbol; Holy water (1 vial); Mace.
Pack 2: Leather armor; Club; Holy water (2 vial); Holy Symbol; Sling; Sling bullets (30).

Fighter
Pack 1: Chain Mail; Shield; Long sword.
Pack 2: Chain Mail; Pole arm.
Pack 3: Leather armor; Long sword; Short bow; Quiver; 20 arrows.

Magic-User
Pack 1: 1 scroll with a random first level spell; Daggers (2); Staff.
Pack 2: Daggers (2); Staff; 50gp.

Thief
Pack 1: Leather armor; Thieves' tools; Short sword; Daggers (2); Rope, silk (50’).

Bard
Pack 1: Leather armor; Daggers(2); Musical instrument of choice.

Bonus Pack 1 (20gp)
Chalk, small bag of pieces; Grappling hook; Rope, hemp (2x50'); Lantern, hooded; Oil (3 flasks); Tent, small (one man).

Bonus Pack 2 – Ready for Anything (10gp)
Glass bottle; Iron Spikes (12); Pole, 10' wooden; Map or scroll case; Mirror (small), steel.


OGL Section 15 Addendum:

Equipment Packs: A Basic Fantasy Supplement Copyright 2009, Shayne Power.
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Posted by Reese Laundry at 11:00 PM
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2 comments:

  1. NecropraxisFebruary 3, 2012 at 10:17 AM

    I created a few tables for initial equipment:

    http://untimately.blogspot.com/2012/01/starting-equipment.html

    These make a few assumptions based on my house rules, but I think rolling is more fun than picking.

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  2. Reese LaundryFebruary 3, 2012 at 2:36 PM

    Hmm. It's an interesting experiment - though probably not something I'd use in my own game. The character creation process in B/X is enough of a crap-shoot, I think, so rolling for starting equipment seems a bit much IMO. Still, curious how it works in play.

    I'm mostly interested in speeding up the process for new players so we can get right to the game, and class-specific kits seem to work best for us. A couple of choices, if you are new to the whole thing. Old hands will be able to just buy what they want quickly enough.

    Thanks!

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