Working on a rules conversion got me thinking about starting equipment. The game doesn't give much. Heck even the first ever module stated that no one starts with a gun. The theory behind that is, as I understand it, that by starting the PCs so low it allows room for them to grow and it is a method of dealing with the power creep associated with the accumulation of technology.<br /><br />Seems like I remember some discussion back in the day when I played B/X D&D about giving out minor magic items like a +1 dagger or a potion to starting characters and Iron Crown's MERP rules had background points that a player spent in PC creation in a number of way. One of which was the purchase of a magic item- a +10 sword (equiv to a +2 sword in D&D). My memory is really foggy on GURPS but I think the whoel points based PC creation system may have done the same thing too. So giving away "free" magic items has been popular in the past and if nothing else we can view technology as an analog to magic in a sci fi setting.<br /><br />So here's the issue, you start with a Robotics technician character and you cannot afford a robot to start so when do you get to use your robotics skill? You have to hope that the referee throws a robot into the adventutre at some point. <br /><br />I've danced around this thought before would it be so terribly game altering or unbalancing to give a starting PC a robot, a lap top, a hover cycle or some such?<br /><br />typically the free bees in Star Frontiers go like this: a free skien suit and free tool kit for one of you skills for everyone- no body benefits more than another. I'm not talking about tallying up the cost of stuff so that we make sure that a technician character is not benefiting more than a explorer character its simply: here's some choices regardless of their cost: a robot for a robotics tech, a lap top for a computer tech, a hovercycle, an expensive screen or something else- cost is not important so much (though I'm are not trying to promote Monty Haul here). I'm not leaning toward a heavy laser or sonic devestator here either.<br /><br />I was thinking a subjective list of possible free bees a referee could hand out at his discretion or it would be an objective system of back ground points (like MERP) that can be spent in various ways (like MERP) for a free skill, ability score points, money, item, and etc. In this case make it 3 Background points and if you spent all 3 together you get a big ticket item like a hover cycle or robot.<br /><br />thoughts?
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