PDA

View Full Version : Equipment



Tavar
2009-11-05, 09:04 PM
Now, I tend to be very...completionist with my items. I mean, if I make a character, I put everything he had, calculating wealth and weight as needed, and I tend to get alot of mundane items, even when I don't strictly need them (for instance, multiple outfits, soap, writing materials and a journal, etc). Recently, though, in the 3600 rounds of combat game(it's in my sig, next to dwarven mcdwarvenstien), I didn't largely because it was a simple survival game, plus as a dwarf I don't need light sources or anything. Unfortunately, no one else brought light sources, and unlike me they lack darkvision. Plus, I've seen sheets that really lack anything bar the standard items. So, I was wondering, which way do you lean towards(minimalist/completionist), and is there any particular reason you do so?

Crafty Cultist
2009-11-05, 09:08 PM
At low levels I tend to stock up on varius items but at higher levels I tend to ignore minor items, since magic is more available

Gralamin
2009-11-05, 09:09 PM
Now, I tend to be very...completionist with my items. I mean, if I make a character, I put everything he had, calculating wealth and weight as needed, and I tend to get alot of mundane items, even when I don't strictly need them (for instance, multiple outfits, soap, writing materials and a journal, etc). Recently, though, in the 3600 rounds of combat game(it's in my sig, next to dwarven mcdwarvenstien), I didn't largely because it was a simple survival game, plus as a dwarf I don't need light sources or anything. Unfortunately, no one else brought light sources, and unlike me they lack darkvision. Plus, I've seen sheets that really lack anything bar the standard items. So, I was wondering, which way do you lean towards(minimalist/completionist), and is there any particular reason you do so?
Minimalist. I dislike shopping for the perfect solution, instead relying on what I have on hand. Similarly, if I have less on hand, the more awesome my plans have to become.

Chrono22
2009-11-05, 09:13 PM
Completionist.. when I can afford it.

sonofzeal
2009-11-05, 09:21 PM
Completionist at low levels (I have a standard list I use), or for Rogue-ish characters. For mid-high level guys, I mostly just ignore it.

When I DM, I assume that any given character has a bedroll, a couple days rations, a couple sets of clothes, and maybe a torch. I don't require they write these down on their sheet, but if they start getting used up then it becomes more pressing.

Glass Mouse
2009-11-05, 09:33 PM
Absolute completionist. If I don't have it on my character sheet, I don't own it.
This is mostly just for RP flavor - I like shopping through the mundane items, thinking "what would this character own?" - especially with the minor stuff (sp or cp level - where it's not really a question of power). Also, I love solving problems with any weird appliance of ordinary items (the same reason I like magic users, actually).

gibbo88
2009-11-05, 09:36 PM
I tend to be a bit of both, I go through the list and find stuff that I think I'm most likely to use and get that, then if I have gp left over at the end I'll top up on the more obscure items. eg; In the current campaign I brought s map case and parchment so I could make an actual map of the area, rather then risk returning at a later date and not being able to find our way.

starwoof
2009-11-05, 09:42 PM
Completionist. I buy crap with my silver pieces because I reckon it might come in handy. I also write specifics for all of my clothing and such - I never just have an 'explorer's outfit'. I love having loads of knick-knacks.

deuxhero
2009-11-05, 09:45 PM
plus as a dwarf I don't need light sources or anything.

You still need one to ward of Grue

JonestheSpy
2009-11-05, 09:49 PM
Chaosium's runequest had a very nice little convention - the premade "adventurer's pack" that contained a good selection of things that would be handy for anyone going on an expidition.

CockroachTeaParty
2009-11-05, 10:16 PM
I'm so completionist I look through every spell I'm able to cast just so I can mark down what material components they have in their spell component pouch. My characters accumulate bits of equipment and minor magic items, to the point that wind up with bags of potions and libraries of scrolls for every occasion, and the vast majority of them never get used.

Quite the opposite of how I operate in real life, actually. I try to own as little as possible.

Brendan
2009-11-05, 10:23 PM
Our DM gave us a set amount of GP, and I was determined to have a mere 1cp left for the slight of hand skill, which I had maxed. Thus, I spent lots of cash after I had stocked up on some magical items on typical gear. Also, some pencil and paper so I could write out a party contract. I was LN slightly verging on LE.

Ravens_cry
2009-11-05, 10:30 PM
All my melee characters have a ranged weapon, a reach, preferably bracing, weapon, and three different weapons that do the three kinds of damage (piercing, bludgeoning and slashing). Other then that I tend to be fairly standard, rope, torches, rations and waterskins. Unless of course there is a reason my character is lugging stuff. For example, my former-raven-familiar-now-halfing fighter has a signet ring, a steel mirror, a signal whistle, and a silver holy symbol. Why? Because they were shiny. It is as simple as that.

UglyPanda
2009-11-05, 10:55 PM
I just keep buying and buying. I start with fairly effective cheap stuff and move down to whatever cheap stuff can still fit into my bag of holding/handy haversack.

RandomEncounter
2009-11-05, 11:13 PM
Completionist and also a pack rat. I kept some wooden buttons once that i ended up setting on fire and killing an ooze with. that was fun.

BobVosh
2009-11-05, 11:20 PM
Pack rat, and fairly completionist. If I have it I will write it down. However I always forget some standard stuff so I tell the DM that I'm spending 20g on knick knacks. As I remember I mark it down. Any gold left over is paid for this slight privilege.

Coidzor
2009-11-06, 12:43 AM
For my lower level characters I take it as a given that they're going to have a mess kit of some sort(at the very least a knife that's almost exclusively just for eating with), a tinderbox with flint and steel, a whittling dagger(emergency weapons ftw), a backpack(external frame, enough rope and twine to secure everything to it at least, a bedroll, between 3 and a half dozen torches, and a walking stick.

If they're outdoorsy or team momish, then they'll also have a dutch oven and some rudimentary cooking tools, along with a basic kit of rope, twine, and so on. Maybe something like a crowbar which can be used to a variety of ends.

Rogueish/D.I.Y. types tend to have a fairly full kit, listening cones, a set of 2 collapsible poles with a spare for when the end gets snapped by something, extend-o-thieves tools, climbing gear, enough rope to arm a small army with monkeys' fists, I'll even bring block and tackle for heavy lifting. Occasionally I'll even have a pre-made rope ladder or grappling ladder.

As magic becomes more available, a good bit of this either gets shoved into a portable hole where everyone forgets about it about or it just gets hocked/abandoned/tossed so that new adventurers can enjoy them.

Temet Nosce
2009-11-06, 01:40 AM
Perfectionist, but less for RP reasons than "Ooo, this might come in useful.", to the point that I have on occasion needed multiple extra dimensional storage spaces. Let me put it this way, many of my characters carry catapults with them (and ammo in the form of barrels of alchemist's fire (often shrunk)).

My average character has over 50 items, and the seriously creative ones have well over 100.

Draz74
2009-11-06, 02:07 AM
I lean towards the completionist side, though how much depends on the character.

My "Factotum who thinks he's a ranger" character, in particular, is an extreme pack rat.

Shademan
2009-11-06, 03:25 AM
to put it this way: I often have to buy a mule and cart to transport all my gear

Curmudgeon
2009-11-06, 07:04 AM
If it's not on the character's sheet, it's not among their possessions.

JellyPooga
2009-11-06, 07:23 AM
I'm very much a completionist. If it's not on the sheet, the character doesn't have it. I don't assume characters have a tent, a bedroll, rations, a knife for eating, rope, rations, water, chalk, ammunition or anything else unless it's been accounted for.

I like trawling through equipment lists thinking about whether I can afford to buy a mithral grappling hook, or whether an iron one will do or whether my streetwise rogue will carry a hand-axe (a staple of my Ranger characters) which is useful for cutting branches for firewood in the wilderness.

One of the first magic items my character will buy is an Efficient Quiver (only "of Ehlonna" if the character worships her!), followed by a Handy Haversack, then a Belt of Hidden Pouches which will later be upgraded to the more expensive (and more useful) Belt of Many Pouches (unless I can persuade my GM to allow the latter to be a Waistcoat of Many Pouches, in which case I'll have both!). The amount of junk my characters end up hauling around with them is frankly phenomenal, but I always make sure that the weight and space limits of my extradimensional storage are obeyed and I always consider the 'bulk' aspect as well as the weight of items not in 'storage'...e.g. you generally won't see my characters lugging around more than one two-handed weapon because thay're just too big (that's not to say they won't have more than one in one of their extradimensional spaces though...)

Narazil
2009-11-06, 07:33 AM
I usually play Rogue-like characters, and they always carry tons and tons of "useless" items.
They almost always have: Steel Mirror, Amulets, Trinkets, Necklaces, Noblemen's Rings, Rope, 3 sets of clothes, Parchment & Pen, Paint, 50 different Holy Symbols (never know when you're going to pass as a Pelor Cleric!), Oil, Forged Documents (always handy to have!), Incense, Candles, Bedrolls, Lots of Bags and Backpacks, Flasks and Vials, Bells, Scrollcases, Flint and Steel..
And of course, it's all listed. And I never seem to get close to spending my WBL.

oxinabox
2009-11-06, 07:48 AM
...
so I'm maxed out my disguise skill,
got a couple of disguse kits,
wand of disguise self.
... what next?
Ah! cercumstance bonuses from having a apropriate set of clothing:
Peasents gear,
courter's gear: oh and the 50gp of jewels to go with it, and a signet ring (handy when i upgrade to nobles gear when i can aford)
hmm:
clerics vestiments, (never know when you want to imidatew a priest)
hmmm oh yes a holy sybol, no one will believe i'm a cleric without one of those.
...How much do these weight? negigible, Great! I'll have one of each.
I literally carry 41 holy symbols dedicated to different gods.

I have to ask the cleric to leave the room when i open my bags.
she found out eventaully: "Why do You have that?" (i'ld taken out a holy symbol of Wee Jas, traying to intimidate... The Darkness."
my PC: "Oh what? didn't i mention i'm a fully ordained cleric of the Stern Lady?"
OOC: oh sweet, a cleric without ranks in sensemotive!
BLUFF 32!
PC: Holds up holy symbol, "Darkness, Have you no respect for the Lady of the Law? let us pass,"
DM: Your Holy Symbol turns to ash in your hands
PC under breath: that was my good holy symbol, you bastard.
*takes out holy symbol deticated to vecna*
PC: How do you feel about the Lord of Secrets, then?
Cleric: umm why do you have that, then?
PC: uhhg... I'm also a priest of vecna. did i never tell you this story?
BLUFF 35
DM: You holy symbol turns to dust in your hands
PC under beath: damn it, those things arn't cheap.
*takes out a holy symbol dedicated to Nathair Sgiathach*
DM: it turns to ...
OOC: wait! Nathair Sgiathach is my patron diety, my character actually truely worships him.

Can't remember how we defeated the Darkness.

JellyPooga
2009-11-06, 07:52 AM
And I never seem to get close to spending my WBL.

If you're not spending all your WBL, then you're doing something wrong! There are hosts of mundane, alchemical and magical equipment to choose from. Aside from extradimensional storage, it's actually fairly rare for me to own items worth more than 1,500-2,000gp and few items indeed reach even those lofty heights. Even so, I always manage to overspend and have to deliberate over whether my set of 3 Mobile Braces is more important than another weeks rations or if I really need that Feather Token: Fan or third Smokestick.

Killer Angel
2009-11-06, 07:59 AM
Depending on the game system.

As a player and as a DM, in D&D i'm minimalist. Yes, of course i've got a rope 30'. Yes of course your pcs have torches. Don't bother me with standard non-magic things.

As a player in Gurps, I'm totally completionist, counting even the needles and calculating total weight.

Eldariel
2009-11-06, 08:10 AM
I'm quite completionist for real games. I always make sure the character has everything he should have (depending on the personality of said character, of course; some are very, very careful to prepare for anything while others just toss stuff together and improvise when need be) and spend probably most of my character creation time with the inventory.

On the other hand, e.g. arena characters I just whip together and tend to leave ~100-1000gp or so from the WBL to cover the mundane items; given they tend to have Haversacks anyways, storing the items is hardly an issue and the costs hardly add up so much.

Totally Guy
2009-11-06, 08:21 AM
Minimalist.

But then again I can't understand why there are locked doors in a dungeon if if we're just going to wait until someone rolls above a number for it to open.

If it's not significant I'd just say yes.

"Can lock pick the door?"
"Nothing significant is at stake, so yes you can. Click, it's open."

The Rose Dragon
2009-11-06, 08:29 AM
Minimalist.

Mostly because 1) I mainly play M&M and Exalted, and they don't have extensive equipment lists like D&D, and 2) because I rarely bother taking dots in Resources in the latter.

Though I do become completionist in AFMBE. Probably because it's a survival horror game.

Foryn Gilnith
2009-11-06, 08:33 AM
I'm so completionist I look through every spell I'm able to cast just so I can mark down what material components they have in their spell component pouch.

High-five!


Unfortunately, I tend to fudge more as my character increases in level. I get lazy and all. :(

shadow_archmagi
2009-11-06, 08:42 AM
I uh, I tend to have very few items. Like every RPG player, I'm the opposite ingame as what I am in real life, so when it comes to making a character sheet I hate doing all the math and I don't collect piles of knick-knacks.

Temet Nosce
2009-11-06, 09:05 AM
I uh, I tend to have very few items. Like every RPG player, I'm the opposite ingame as what I am in real life, so when it comes to making a character sheet I hate doing all the math and I don't collect piles of knick-knacks.

I'm a packrat in real life as well actually. It's one of the few things which carries over pretty much universally on my characters.

oxybe
2009-11-06, 10:01 AM
somewhat both. there are items i won't leave home without:

bedroll, backpack, waterskin, some provisions, crowbar, a good knife, a few flasks, lots of rope, a few repair kits (for clothing, gear & wounds), ect... enough non-magical gear that i can use in a "worst case scenario"/AMF/disjunction.

i still carry around some magical versions of those items:

restful bedrolls, handy haversacks/bag of holding, replenishing waterskins, field provision box, adamantine crowbar & dagger, that awesome spool of rope thing from MIC, eternal wand of mending, wand of Cure X wounds, ect... but a few "fallbacks" are nice to have either way.

as for having a catalog of items, no. get the essentials & pick things up as needed

JellyPooga
2009-11-06, 10:03 AM
I'm a packrat in real life as well actually. It's one of the few things which carries over pretty much universally on my characters.

Me too...I have hoards of stuff I never use but keep anyway, you know, just in case. I also tend to squirrel things away in particular places so I can remember where they are...don't get me wrong, I'm not a tidy person but there is order to the chaos. If someone comes and tidies up I really really hate it because I don't know where they've put my things. I'll chuck a hat on the corner of my wardrobe and remember that's where I put it six months later, but if someone came along and put it on a hat-stand it would throw me completely.

My characters in-game tend to be similar.

Tiki Snakes
2009-11-06, 10:10 AM
Eh, I can be pretty minimalist at times. Not all the time, but the last character I rolled up had a (4e) Adventurers kit and a grapple.

Of course, he was a Mordenkrad weilding Minotaur barbarian, so lockpick, crowbar, etc etc would have been rather redundant. ^_^

Temet Nosce
2009-11-06, 10:16 AM
Me too...I have hoards of stuff I never use but keep anyway, you know, just in case. I also tend to squirrel things away in particular places so I can remember where they are...don't get me wrong, I'm not a tidy person but there is order to the chaos. If someone comes and tidies up I really really hate it because I don't know where they've put my things. I'll chuck a hat on the corner of my wardrobe and remember that's where I put it six months later, but if someone came along and put it on a hat-stand it would throw me completely.

My characters in-game tend to be similar.

Haha, I'm exactly the same. I just started playing WC3 again, and played a map with save codes. I unhesitatingly reached under my computer, wove my hand past several other things and retrieved a single napkin I had written my save code on over a year ago.

ericgrau
2009-11-06, 10:23 AM
Shrink item on a caster level day rotating cycle (so I can shrink caster level in items per spell slot) means size is not a factor. And with marvelous pigments the sky is the limit.