So I have recently done three things: made a character for OSE, made three characters for 5e, and held a session zero for my latest group using OSE. I can definitively say this: making a character in 5e is not fun. It’s quite literally an ordeal where you labor over minutiae of choices for feats and application of allotment of small numbers. Old School Essentials, on the other hand, is damn near perfect. You roll and assign, choose a class and you’re off to the races just about.
That is, until you have to buy your adventuring gear.
5e’s take on adventuring gear with starter packet options is brilliant, and I love it. It’s damn near the only thing it does right. I watched six newbie players share my one OSE book for three hours at a session zero where they insisted on spending every damn coin they rolled for. It was horrendous, mostly because I hate shopping in books almost as much as I hate shopping in malls. The tedium eats me alive. Nobody should get into a thirty minute convo about whether or not they should choose a mace or a Warhammer: they’re both d6 blunt.
So, long story short is, I took the average roll of OSE’s starting gold and “bought” a few starter set options for my players to expedite this process in the future.
Adventuring Packs for OSE
Basic Pack
Backpack
Rope
Water skin
Rations 7
Torches 6
10 foot pole
Tinderbox
Total cost ~20 gold
In addition, take the following supplies for your class:
Fighter
Chainmail
Shield
Sword
Handaxe
Javelins x5
Or
Chainmail
Shortbow
Two handed sword
Quiver of 20 arrows
Or
Leather Armor
Longbow
Quiver of 20 arrows
Polearm
Dagger
~75 to 80 gold
Cleric
Chainmail
Warhammer
Holy symbol
Wolfsbane
Sling
Or
Plate Armor
Mace
Garlic
Holywater
Stakes and a mallet
Or
Leather armor
Holy Symbol
Oil Flask x2
Wolfsbane
Staff
Sling
~ 80 gold
Thief
Leather Armor
Thieves’ Tools
Grappling Hook
Iron spikes
Small hammer
Steel mirror
Dagger
Sling
Or
Leather Armor
Thieves’ Tools
Short Sword
Sling
Lantern
Oil x2
Large sack
Small sack
Crowbar
Or
Leather armor
Thieves’ Tools
Shortbow
Quiver of 20 arrows
~70 to 80 gold
Magic User
A Spellbook
A staff
A scroll of Detect Magic
Long, flowy robes
Or
A small animal possessed by a Familiar Spirit (acts as Spellbook)
A dagger
A potion of Sleep
A tall pointy hat
Or
A Spellbook
Oil Flask x2
A potion of Fire Breathing
A velvet cloak
~ ?
* * *
Obviously this isn’t perfect nor is it exhaustive, but it will get your level ones into the dungeon faster rather than slower. I couldn’t calculate the final price on wizard gear, and I realize that part of this is because magic users aren’t as gear intensive as fighter or thieves, but also because there aren’t prices for magical items. Also, yes, I know wizards aren’t proficient with staves, but wizards with staffs look cool and make great airbrush artwork on the side of vans, so there.
No comments:
Post a Comment