Key Equipment?

[Wycen]

Back when we played 2E, we came up with what we called the "idiot pack". It was basically a set you'd buy before going adventuring. It would include "the stuff only an idiot would leave behind". Now, the funny thing was, we never codified what that list was.

Because to do so, would mean potentially sometime in the future we'd prove ourselves to be idiots. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. It could have been that we didn't want to spend time arguing over what really should have been in the pack.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Depending upon the character I always start with the following:

Backpack
Cloak
Bedroll
Rope 50', hemp
2 weeks rations
2 waterskins
Knife (not a dagger - strictly utilitarian)
Tinder box (Flint & Steel)
3 candles
Whetstone
3 sewing needles
3 fish hooks
50' of Twine

If a Cleric or Mage add:
Parchment
Map Case
Pen
Vial of Ink

If a Rogue add:
3 small belt pouches
1 lb of marbles
1 lb of pepper
1 lb of caltrops
Map Case
Chalk
Charcoal
1 change of clothing (disguise)

If Fighter add:
Two man tent
Extra padded armor (sleepwear)
4 large sacks
Armor trunk (if pack animal available)

And if funds allow I add the following:
Mule w/bit and bridle and pack frame
Shovel
Pick
Hand axe
Maul or Hammer
10 Iron Spikes
3 waterskins (extra)
Cooking pot
Cooking utensils (chef's set)
Grappling hook
Crowbar
10 flasks of lantern oil
2 hooded lanterns
4 10' poles

 

[Janx]

I guess I read the OT differently. It said minimum required. Not stuff I would like to have.

[MENTION=6690083]JohnH[/MENTION] hit it close to the mark.

A weapon I can use is the minumum equipment an adventurer needs.

a monk needs his hands
a wizard needs a dagger or his spells
a fighter needs a sword or somesuch

everything else just makes the job easier.

as a note, I have played in a game where me and my brothers decanted with nothing but the slime on our backs and a monster chewing his way through the mob of groggy clones. Even weapons are a luxury...