Starting Gear

[Transcendence]

In our games unless a group has CS ties no top of the line CS gear(Coalition states) normally I limit them to gear they can explain why they have (I love to make them justify their gear in backstory, GM's take note you can get atheist 1-2 plot devices just from their gear. I had a glitter boy pilot say in his clan he was the best pilot that's why he got his clans glitter boy suit which gave me folks he had to look out for as well as I made a jilted cousin who would try to steal the suit often)

-Jim

[Bill]

What you can really have depends on the GM. Palladium Games titles embrace GM authority, so he or she will have veto over anything that you might want; even though there's typically a long and overly specific list at the end of every character class. I recommend that you ask your GM directly which sourcebooks you should select the majority of your gear from, what specialized gear you should look at, and what if anything you absolutely may not have.

[kaid]

For armor I usually let them pick armor appropriate to what their classes starting gear lists from either the city state they are from or "over the counter" armor like northern gun, titan industries, wellington what not. For EBA its usually not to big of a deal even if they pick a high end armor as its going to get blown to pieces soon enough.

For weapons about the same if they are from the CS or triax they can pick weapons from there otherwise they pick from whatever city state they come from or standard open market providers form the area like wilks, NG and what not.

the only really sticky issues come in potentially with robot vehicles and power armor but even there I just try to stick with the above rule of thumb and just realize the bigger and fancier the armor they pick the more they are going to have to scramble to keep it repaired. One thing I do make clear to players if you are playing new frontline CS power armor in north america expect a great deal of trouble from the CS unless you are on actively on duty with them. Same goes in europe if you are running a front line triax military unit you are not going to want to stay anywhere near the NGR or you will get gunned down.

Now with NG1 and NG2 there is a whole lot less need to pick power armors/robot vehicles from the CS which would not make much sense for a non CS military person to possess.

[Dog_O_War]

How do you pick starting gear for a PC?
What can you take and what can you not take?
What are the limits?

What other questions should i be asking and getting answered?

-Thanks

Assume nothing; just ask if there are any restrictions, then follow those restrictions as a guideline.

If you see something that you want, but are restricted from having it based upon GM or OCC, ask for it, asking for a compromise - the worst that can happen is the GM simply says 'no'.

Otherwise, I tend towards self-imposed restrictions, like only getting gear based off of where the character is from or is currently located. I personally lean towards the lower end of the spectrum for gear, with the exception of personal body armour and say, a choice item or two (and even then, those choice items aren't necessarily "the best").

[Blue_Lion]

It is realy up to the GM but I would say weapons for most non CS characters in NA would be drawn from NG, Bandito/black market, and wilks. Armor for non CS players should typically be from the core book (either Rifts role playing game or Rifts ultimate edition.), NG or Bandito. Vehicles are typically from a major NA manufacture such as NG, Golden age or bandito. (note if the gears fluff says it is rare or prototype you should not have it normally to start with.)

Unless your OCC says you start with magic items/TW items you start with none, if you do then it really comes down to a call based on the group GM.

All limits are set by the GM. (such as when I GM only mages and psi charter can use TW items.)

[Incriptus]

Like most people say it's a handshake between the GM & the Player; we don't need some fancy paper with exact numbers on it to come to an agreement.

My rule of thumb is no Naruni weapons and you should keep your equipment geographically appropriate. Also I tend to suggest the "second best" that way there is something to look forward to.

And usually (only partially as a joke) don't choose something expensive enough that you could sell and retire for the rest of your days.

[Blue_Lion]

Like most people say it's a handshake between the GM & the Player; we don't need some fancy paper with exact numbers on it to come to an agreement.

My rule of thumb is no Naruni weapons and you should keep your equipment geographically appropriate. Also I tend to suggest the "second best" that way there is something to look forward to.

And usually (only partially as a joke) don't choose something expensive enough that you could sell and retire for the rest of your days.

(umm some occ come with something like that. You could retire pretty well selling a GB as a GB pilot.)

[Shorty Lickens]

Its usually campaign specific. If the PC's are slaves or something then I say their gear is confiscated or hidden and not necessarily related to the task at hand.

If they are mercs on assignment then at least some of the gear is for their current job. Comm equipment or whatever.

Also, I try to make the players stay in character. We had one farm lady who'd grown attached to Wilks and would only use their stuff when available.