Too little: Tool stuff is generally pretty worthless IME, and the most commonly useful one (Thieves' Tools) is going away in 5.5e AIUI.
Skills convey important flavor, representing that the character is particularly good at something.
In my experience, skills and tools are pervasively useful. I rely on them to adjudicate ANYTHING that my players imagine that seems might work but requires effort.
Mechanically, the tool sets are strictly useful, because they add an advantage to skill checks.
As DM, I use tool checks for the use of the tool, but also for anything relating to a tool set. For example, any character that knows how to implement Blacksmith tools, will generally be knowledgeable about metallurgy, including where metals come from and where to get them, mining, social checks to haggle for prices, and so on.
Where skills represent breadth of knowledge, tools sets represent depth of knowledge, and specialization.
Magic Initiate for the class you're already going to play is pretty terrible all things considered--very flavorful but mechanically wasteful. And apart from lucky, a single spell, and a cantrip...you have pretty much nothing.
I prefer the rules explicitly allow characters to swap out feats while leveling. I understand it can sometimes be awkward or tangled. But for cases like these, swaps improve the happiness of leveling. That said.
Here, the Magic Initiate feat refers to "Arcane", which doesnt exist anymore, and presumably refers to any spellcaster class. Ideally, the feat allows the character to pick any class spell list, and the extra spells from it. Swapping which class the feat gains spells from can easily happen while leveling.
The Sorcerer class has painfully few prepared spells. So, the extra slot 1 spell from the Magic Initiate feat helps during the low levels of the class. The Sorcerer has enough cantrips, but there are many good cantrips, and the two extra cantrips from the feat allow a diverse mix of combat and utility.
A couple skills, I guess? I'm massively underwhelmed; I know what 5e skills are supposed to be, but in practice I've literally never seen it, they're run like the extremely narrow and limited skills of 3e (no surprise, considering how 5e is structured).
Skills are 100% dependent on the DM gaming style.
If the skills matter to the DM, the skills will matter to the players.
In my games, skills are vital.
Too much: Two feats? Full set of equipment? Multiple spells? For someone who wants a blank slate, this is already half a character at least, if not more. It's nowhere close enough to being a "zero" for many folks who want a Z2H experience. Even the two skills might be two too many.
To me, those mechanics seem more like an 8 year old character.
It is easy enough to jot down a minimalist statblock with only: a Standard Array, speed, hit points and AC. And thats it. There seems no need for rules to explain how to do this.
Even a pet has mechanics that are more complex.
Which was sort of my core argument. Yes, you can make something that is less than a full 1st level character. But it's going to be a real thin experience for most people that aren't actively seeking a Z2H story, and far too meaty for most that are seeking that.
Level 0 is opt in for the players who enjoy the zero-to-hero campaign.
That's why I advocate for real, serious rules for this. Stuff that defines the absolute bare minimum baseline for a functioning character, e.g. 6 HP + Con mod, ability scores (possibly without racial bonuses!), no skills, no saves, no feats, few to no racial features
because you need to grow into them (e.g. a tortle's shell isn't innately hard enough to withstand blows, a dragonborn's breath needs practice to work, etc.) And then, once you have that baseline, rules for how these truly "level 0" characters gain the features to become a 1st-level character. Ideally, said rules would then be applicable for every future level as well. 13th Age's "incremental advance" rules would be a good place to start, but they can't just be ported over simply, because 13A doesn't permit à la carte multiclassing and that makes things far, FAR more complicated.
As mentioned earlier, that startup mechanics feels too minimizing.
At the same time, I am open to the idea of adding features one at a time. For example, having a level 0 character with the background features, and adding level 1 class features one at a time. To add the individual class features in an ad-hoc way is more complex, and needs a more in depth treatment in the DMs Guide or future supplement.
The benefit of the original post approach for level 0 is, all of the rules (except for hit points) already exist. Simple. The 2024 Players Handbook can refer to the "Character Origins" as the "Level Zero Character". Done.
