Having read through Gamma World 1st Edition three times now, I still can’t find any place where they indicate what kind of equipment a character might start out with. Since there’s somewhat of an emphasis on Pure Strain Humans, I can’t imagine that characters start out completely naked (even if that makes a bit of sense for Mutated Animals and Mutated Plants). Other editions weren’t much better. For that matter, a lot of RPGs don’t deal with it. I recently went through the same routine for an ftf Traveller game we were starting, and came up with a working solution.
As opposed to giving each character a fist full of domars and telling you to spend it as if you were at the mall (yes, I know that’s not what the rules are saying, but more often than not they make it sound like that), here’s my take on what a Gamma World character can reasonably start out with.
You have
Basic Equipment that everyone can have. These represent things that you’ve acquired over the years as you grew up, whether the item was a birthday present, something you traded for at the local store, earned while doing chores for someone in the town, or perhaps just found laying on the road or in a field.
Then you have
Bonus Equipment. You can choose two items from this category that will, hopefully, make your character different from the others.
Next you have
Freebie Equipment. You can choose as many of these as you want, but remember they add to your encumbrance.
And finally there’s the
Advanced Equipment. You can only choose one of these items (up to 3) by exchanging it for one of your Basic Equipment items. Clearly, some of these items won’t be useful or usable to all characters.
| BASIC (STARTING) EQUIPMENT |
|---|
| QTY | EQUIPMENT | NOTES | WT | COST |
|---|
| 1 | Bedroll | Pillow is sewn in | 4 | 40 |
| 1 | Canteen | Either aluminum or collapsible plastic; holds 2 liters | 1 | 12 |
| 1 | Clothes, sturdy outdoor | most likely hand-me-down synthetics as previous owner outgrew them; Ancient relic | 2 | 70 |
| 1 | Day pack | Standard student book bag | 2 | 30 |
| 1 | Gloves (pair) | Work gloves | 1 | 20 |
| 1 | Hat | Your choice: boonie, baseball, fedora, safari, etc. | 1 | 20 |
| 1 | Knife | Steel, single edge, not good for throwing | 2 | 30 |
| 1 | Shoes, walking | Durable and comfortable; Ancient relic; may have been in the family for 2-3 generations | 2 | 40 |
| 1 | Staff | Free; just find a tree and cut off a suitable branch | 3 | 0 |
| BONUS EQUIPMENT (CHOOSE 2) |
|---|
| QTY | EQUIPMENT | NOTES | WT | COST |
|---|
| 1 | Binoculars | Folding ones that can go into a pocket | 2 | 60 |
| 1 | Camera, digital | An Ancient artifact; never needs recharging | .5 | 100 |
| 5 | Chem-light sticks | Each provides dim light for 6 hours | 1 | 5 |
| 1 | Climbing gear | Rope, carabineers, belaying rings, spikes | 10 | 150 |
| 1 | Compass | Small, 2 inches in diameter | .5 | 40 |
| 4 | Duct tape | 4 rolls of assorted colors | 2 | 5 |
| 1 | Pen light | Never runs out of power | .5 | 12 |
| 1 | Pen knife | 3 blades; small, concealable | .5 | 10 |
| 1 | Safari vest | Lots of pockets | 2 | 90 |
| 1 | Sunglasses | Rayban or Oakley, tactical | 1 | 60 |
| 1 | Tool belt | Convenient for holding tools | 2 | 40 |
| 1 | Walking stick | Quality hardwood with a heavy knob/handle; suitable to use as a club | 2 | 20 |
| 25 | Zip ties | 12” long each; black, white or assorted colors | .5 | 40 |
| FREEBIE EQUIPMENT |
|---|
| QTY | EQUIPMENT | NOTES | WT | COST |
|---|
| 1 | Beer skin | Holds 2 liters (weight when full) | 4 | 10 |
| 1 | Candle | Burns for 2 hours | .5 | 1 |
| 1 | Hammer, small rock | | 2 | 5 |
| 1 | Lantern | | 2 | 10 |
| 1 | Matches | Small pack of 20 | 0 | 10 |
| 1 | Oil, pint | Mainly for use in a lantern; 1 pint is good for 4 hours | 1 | 10 |
| 1 | Sack, leather, large | | 2 | 10 |
| 1 | Sack, leather, small | | 1 | 5 |
| 1 | Shovel, collapsible | Metal blade, synthetic handle | 2 | 30 |
| 1 | Steel mirror | 4” in diameter | 1 | 20 |
| 1 | Striker | Flint and steel in spring tongs | 1 | 40 |
| 1 | Tinder box | Flint and steel in small wooden box | .5 | 20 |
| 1 | Torch | | 2 | 2 |
| 1 | Water skin | Holds 2 quarts (weight when full) | 4 | 10 |
| 1 | Wine skin | Holds 2 liters (weight when full) | 4 | 10 |
| ADVANCED EQUIPMENT |
|---|
| QTY | EQUIPMENT | NOTES | WT | COST |
|---|
| 1 | Bandolier with 6 pouches | Typical web belt with eyelets for fastening pouches to it | 3 | 70 |
| 1 | Camp stove | Cobbled together from pieces of scavenged metal | 1 | 50 |
| 1 | Electrical tool kit | While not advanced, the tools in it are better than what we have today | 5 | 350 |
| 1 | First aid kit | Not a pre-packaged one but one that someone put together | 3 | 30 |
| 1 | Flashlight | Long-handled heavy duty one; suitable for use as a club; never runs out of energy; hollow handle stores wires so it can be used to charge other items | 2 | 20 |
| 1 | Gas mask | Looks more like swimming mask with a rebreather; good for 10 uses before filter needs to be purged, rinsed, cleaned, replaced, whatever | 2 | 200 |
| 1 | Igniter | Electric spark generator; won’t run out of charges | 1 | 200 |
| 1 | Mechanical tool kit | While not advance, the tools in it are better than what we have today | 10 | 275 |
| 1 | Multi-tool | Larger, more functions | 2 | 100 |
| 1 | New clothes | Made locally, made of cotton, linen or wool | 4 | 200 |
| 1 | Night vision goggles | Look more like swimming goggles | 3 | 900 |
| 1 | Sturdy hiking boots | Higher than shoes, give ankle support | 3 | 90 |
| 1 | Survival knife | Hollow handle, saw-tooth back blade, floats, fishing line and hooks in handle, needle and thread; 6 water purification tablets | 1 | 40 |
