Essential Adventuring Equipment

[Cedric]

The 10ft pole thread got me thinking...what 'essential adventuring equipment' do people make certain they have with them?

Now, while you can obviously list certain magic items, but I was aiming more towards mundane (and maybe sometimes exotic) items that you may or may not have a specific use for, but want to make sure you have with you.

Also, just for manageability, try to list between 1 -3 so we don't get deluged with giant copy/pastes of item lists.

The more unique or interesting the better....

1. Small belt pouch full of fine, white sand.

2. Small, wax-sealed tub of grease in an oilcloth bag.

3. 50' of hemp twine.

What are yours?

[diaglo]

infinite slings. they cost nothing and weigh even less

backpack

rations

[loki44]

grappling hook
torches
flint and steel

[Lanefan]

- 50' strong light rope
- mirror
- telescope (if available)
- several canvas sacks (a.k.a. body bags)
- several rocks with Continual Light cast on them, in different colours if possible

Lanefan

[DestroyYouAlot]

Well (when I actually get a chance to play) there's a few must-haves.

Straight outta the PHB:

Chalk (marking "I was here", among other things)

Fishook (aside from the obvious use, there are a million and one things a crafty adventurer can do with this, plus they're cheap as free and weigh nothing)

A Sack (again, a million and one random uses for this, most of which you'll think of when you don't have one)

Edit: In my game, one player came up with a good one: He has a huge floppy hat (think Vampire Hunter D), with a little leather loop sewn into the peak, sized to fit a sunrod. He just snaps the ends off, sticks them in the hat, and voila - hands-free light source.

The other guys have become obsessed with continual flame items. Everything should be continual flame'd. Continual flame headbands. Continual flame weapons. The dwarf is adamant that he wants a continual flame bedroll. (Remember, no heat, just light. He's decided that creatures won't want to attack the dwarf who's fast asleep, apparently on fire.)

[Voadam]

Backpack.

And I want to kick the habit. Nothing should be essential. Backpacks are for hikers, not fantasy warriors and wizards.

[Stalker0]

50' of rope...everything else is negotiable.

[Vanye]

Bag of flour. Poor man's glitterdust , great for getting invisible foes to leave footprints in the flour, too.

[barrowwight]

10' foot pole

[Lord Zardoz]

A pry bar - Some doors you just want open, but wont.
A hammer and some nails - Some doors you just want to make sure stay closed.
Chalk - If all else fails, you can tag up the place with graffitti.
A small shovel - To clean up after myself and hide the evidence.

END COMMUNICATION

[Archade]

Great ideas, guys!

Don't forget a small metal mirror for looking around corners.

A tanglefoot bag is almost essential for taking out big bruisers at low levels such as ogres, or flying critters such as harpies or small dragons.

Every adventurer should buy a cold iron and silver dagger, just in case - they are cheap! Or, make one a light mace in case you run into pesky skeletons or the like.

Continual flame items are important for freeing up a hand. One of the better ideas was the dull gray ioun stone with continual flame cast on it. But, if your DM doesn't allow custom continual flame items that you don't make yourself, you can always try persuading your DM that sticking it in a backpack, a belt, or some other less optimal carrying method reduces the light radius by half, or some such thing.

Finally, scrolls! There is no reason a 2nd level or higher caster doesn't have a raft of scrolls for seldom-used but often-useful spells, that don't require DC saves, such as 0 level spells like detect poison, cure minor wounds, or detect undead, 1st level spells such as mount, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, endure elements, or 2nd level spells such as knock.

Another good option is for a spellcaster to splurge on a Summon Monster spell above their level to cast. Nothing helps a group of 3rd level characters like a scroll of Summon Monster IV. There's a small chance of spell failure, but the nasty critter you get will really help if you are in a tight spot.

These aren't exactly mundane equipment ideas, but they've served me and my group well over the years.

[Cedric]

This is a good start guys, but let's see some more. I know there have to be some great ideas floating out there that I never thought of including in my gear.

How about...

Flask of high proof grain alcohol

Hammock made out of net

More?

[Archade]

Flasks of oil - a popular maneuver with our group is to hit someone with a flask of alchemists fire (which burns for 2 rounds), and then every round hit the critter with a flask of oil.

Parchment and inkpens - so you can make maps and journals, and share them with your group or other NPCs.

A piece of chalk or coal or such that will let you use your parchment to make rubbings.

Buy a dog or riding dog! With a few ranks in Handle Animal, a decent Charisma check, and you can have a helpful combatant at 1st level.

Now that I'm home, I see a number of essential scrolls to buy - 0 level mending (for that raggedy map or book you found), 1st level Disguise Self, Erase, Jump, Protection from Evil, Unseen Servant (to avoid trap effects and fetch things you think are in bad places), Identify (so you don't have to bother memorizing it).

A wand of cure light wounds should be the party's first investment - remember, it can be used by Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Rangers, and Bards.

[MarkB]

A signal whistle.

Torches - I'm amazed that even halflings and humans sometimes forget to bring light sources, but if my character has reasonable strength or a handy haversack, I'll take a few even as a dwarf or half-orc. Useful for setting things on fire, useful for dropping down a deep, dark hole to see what's down there, useful for smugly handing to the more visually-challenged party members. Last use I had for one was whittling into an impromptu stake after we fought off a vampire and tracked it back to its coffin.

Flint and steel for above. Also some tindertwigs as backup.

Soap. Adventuring is a dirty business, and when you've spent the day slogging through a sewer, hacking apart gelatinous cubes and prying loot from your enemies' scorched, shattered, eviscerated corpses, you can't always rely upon getting a room at an inn with decent bathing facilities afterwards.

Sacks. There may not be specified capacities for backpacks, but it can get beyond a joke at some points, eslecially if your party is still pre dimensional-storage solutions. Plus the smugly-handing-over if a black pudding should happen to dissolve a fellow adventurer's backpack.

[MarkB]

Originally Posted by Archade

Now that I'm home, I see a number of essential scrolls to buy - 0 level mending (for that raggedy map or book you found), 1st level Disguise Self, Erase, Jump, Protection from Evil, Unseen Servant (to avoid trap effects and fetch things you think are in bad places), Identify (so you don't have to bother memorizing it).

I like endure elements in a scroll or wand, because the spell doesn't lose any effectiveness for being cast that way - and you won't need it often, but when you do, it'll last all day.

A wand of cure light wounds should be the party's first investment - remember, it can be used by Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Rangers, and Bards.

And rogues (or anyone else) with UMD. Very good point - should be on any party's list for when they make their first big haul.