Today my friend excitedly rolled up a psyker in anticipation of our new game. Because he wants to play a sort of tribal mystic, he made a Feral Outcast Mystic. The issue with this is, because Background determines ALL equipment, he was left with a lot of gear that frankly makes no sense.

An injector, drugs, and high tech weaponry. None of that really suits the concept, at all. I can see this being an issue with a lot of other more non-conventional character concepts, too.

How should this be rectified? Should gear be tied to each stage of creation, rather than just background? Or should more choices of "<X item> or <Y item>" be implemented?

Or, potentially, could there be a system where you can trade in your background gear for more fitting stuff, probably at at least a slight loss.

Thoughts?

Or, potentially, could there be a system where you can trade in your background gear for more fitting stuff, probably at at least a slight loss.

Thoughts?

This is the approach we've taken in our character generation. Basically trade 1 item in for an extra Influence item.

E.g. I traded my flak armour in for 'hive leathers' to fit my desperado's image better. And traded the grappling hood for a medikit.

As long as you stick to the Avail -10 limit you should be OK.

It is an issue though. Currently no PCs start with clothing for example...

Perhaps just allow PCs to select 6 + (IF/10) items down to Avail -10?

It's probably worth just including a line stating that all PCs start with basic clothing befitting their background/homeworld, and two magazines worth of ammunition for any weapons they have.

It's probably worth just including a line stating that all PCs start with basic clothing befitting their background/homeworld, and two magazines worth of ammunition for any weapons they have.

How much do ammo clips* weight do you think?

Given that encumbrance (with all its current flaws) appears to be part of the core rules (to the point that it's the Imperial Guard special ability), it'd be useful to know.

Personally i rather like some sort of system that enforces carry limits (have done since those early days of D&D Dungeon crawling), but the current system proposed needs some work. Personally i'd break the link between encumbrance and item weight. A large but light item like a mattress is extremely encumbering. A small, but heavy item less so.

But yes, starting equipment is flawed (as is 'Armoury' in general). I guess these issues will be hammered into shape for the final release. Accepting that the final cut will continue with 'influence acquisition' rather than 'money acquisition' the starting gear available will need a bit of work to get right.

* Which is the wrong term really. No such thing as 'ammo clips' (there are stripper clips though); they should be called magazines.