I'm starting my Desolation campaign at the start of the year, and I wanted some feedback. Based on the post-apocalyptic setting, how do you handle starting equipment?

I was thinking of having my players compose a list of what their characters would have based on their MPH, and making rulings based on that. What would you suggest?

Sounds good to me. I'm thinking of doing very much the same thing for any game I run; allow players to come up with a list of equipment subject to line-item GM veto.

Don't forget to keep Condition for weapons and armor (if any) in mind. Some items, especially the ones to have been heavily used, will likely be worn.

That sounds great, Emu. I think having the players do that would give them a more realistic feel considering the setting. In fact, when I am ready to actually start writing down my notes for the campaign I'm going to be running, I will need to make sure to have my players do that.

Hullo, Shrieking Emu,



That pretty much goes along with the way I handled the equipment side of things for my own campaign, and the GM veto element is one that you'll need to consider based on the DIF listed with each piece of equipment and so forth. Also remember to take into account the Condition of equipment, particularly weapons, as that is something that can easily be forgotten. The more often a weapon is used the more worn it's likely to be. Besides, the more equipment and stuff they walk around and travel with, the higher the chance that they'll fall prey to bandits and the like.

I think you all have the right idea. We are going to have a couple of different options for how to handle starting equipment in the new book that we are currently hard at work on.

In the past, we've taken the approach you've all mentioned - basically the common sense, what would the character have appoach. You want them to be able to succeed, but also to struggle. You know you have the proper amount of fear in a player when they refuse to ask for chainmail because they know it will just get stolen.

My unwritten rules were: Only 1 weapon in good shape, take the amount of arrows asked for and make half of them worn, give them something personal that reminds them their past (in the Before) somehow, special items (like lock picks, good armor, etc.) were worn, only 3 days worth of food/water (at best).

Hullo, Matt,



Aww, c'mon, we want some hints, something to discuss here!



I rather like the Unwritten rules that you mention above, and incorporated something along those lines in my own campaign. The wear and tear on items, both that the characters have and that characters acquire, is an important consideration in a game such as this, where equipment and the like are hard to come by, and desired by a lot of people.