Three d66/d18 Starting Equipment Tables

I like an equipment list - they can often tell you something about the setting, maybe author intentions/ obsessions, too.

For instance, I like how Tunnels & Trolls (5e, UK Corgi Edition) has Warm dry clothing & pack (5 gp) at the top of the list, implying that a) you start out naked (not disabused of this notion by the Josh Kirby illustrations) and b) that you're going to end up cold, wet, naked and separated from your goods with some frequency.

Here's a d66/d18 table of kits for new adventurers, suggested by this Prior Experience table, so you can roll or just take the equivalent result.

d66	Result
11,12	Good boots; sword; dagger; leather jack; change of clothes; rations; wineskin.
13,14	Change of clothes; good boots; dagger; poison; medicinal herbs; light crossbow; dark lantern.
15,16	Mail shirt; soldier’s coat; medicinal herbs; two-handed weapon; dagger; hand axe; heavy crossbow; trapper’s tools.
21,22	Soldier’s coat; helmet; sword; mancatcher or spear; cudgel; dagger; letter of authority/ discharge papers.
23,24	Leather jack; good boots; wineskin; rations; medicinal herbs; cudgel.
25,26	Wineskin (empty)/ drug paraphernalia; just one last hit/ drink; roll again and take one item from result (choose or randomise).
31,32	Coil of rope; hammer and pitons; bullseye lantern; flask of oil; squeezing grease; healing draught; chalk (sticks & powdered); charcoal and parchment; flask of brandy.
33,34	Fancy clothes; change of clothes; dagger; cards/ dice; fake letter of credit; fake letter of introduction.
35,36	Pick & shovel; pry bar; dark lantern; hammer & wedges; coil of rope; leather jack.
41,42	Healing salve x 3; healing draught x 3; bandages; herball (book); wineskin; flask of brandy; basic surgical tools.
43,44	Soldier’s coat; whip; sword; pistol; medicinal herbs; map; notebook & pencils; torches x 3.
45,46	Fine clothes; change of clothes; letters of introduction; dagger; sword; letters of credit.
51,52	Mask; bell; concealing robes; begging bowl.
53,54	Leather jack; sword; dagger; rations; wineskin; pistol; concealing robes.
55,56	Medicinal herbs; drug paraphernalia; flask of brandy; holy symbol; dark lantern; thieves’ tools; notebook & pencils.
61,62	Holy symbol; ceremonial vestments; holy book/ pocket liturgy.
63,64	Change of clothes; livery of noble house; dagger; shaving/ beauty kit; letter of introduction.
65,66	Dagger; cudgel; thieves’ tools; leather jack.

Even without specialist gear, every new adventurer should probably get to start out with: staff/ cudgel, knife, tinderbox/ fire-starter, travelling clothes, rain cape, backpack, belt pouch/ wallet/ purse, a few coins*.

*J.H.Brennan's paperback rpg Monster Horrorshow had a rule that what you sat down at the table with was translated into the game. So, any change becomes copper, silver or gold pieces (regardless of value).

Brennan said paper money became bits of paper, but why not make them promissory notes or debts you can call in? Go further - bank and credit cards become debts the character owes. If you don't want to share balances and limits, just say 500 for a bank card and d3x1000 for a credit card.

It works better when the players don't know this. 

I used the following table (new adventurers get d3 rolls) to equip pre-gens for the first game I ran in 20+ years. 

These are meant to have directly applicable adventuring uses. If a player needs/wants it, animals get plot armour vs. death but the player can't mechanically take advantage of that, which also means they don't take part in combat except abstracted as part of the PC's actions and rolls.

d66	Result
11,12	Alpenstock: see Weapons table below. You don't think of it as anything other than a mountaineering tool.
13,14	Lock picking tools: you could persuade people they’re just for tinkering.
15,16	Trained Bird: comes with cage & drape or gauntlet & hood, depending on whether it’s a hunting or singing bird; you need to feed it.
21,22	Hound: well-trained, obedient, with a spiked collar, but not devoted to you; comes with leash, harness and muzzle; you need to feed it.
23,24	Leather Jack & Helmet: in case of ruffians.
25,26	Decoctions of Medicinal Herbs: you know what you’ve got and what it does (3 types).
31,32	Mule with Panniers: it’s on its last legs, but should make it there and back again; you need to feed it.
33,34	Dice, Cards, Board & Pieces: games of chance and strategy, rigged or otherwise. Could include a full, incomplete or homemade set of The Game of Dungeon or The Game of Vampire.
35,36	Pick Axe, Shovel & Crowbar: for prospecting, and for breaking into tombs.
41,42	Leech’s Kit: all the cutting, prodding and tying bits for ‘healing’; jar of leeches, too. For the keen amateur and semi-professional.
43,44	Silk rope & grappling hook: 50’, light and strong, plus an improvised weapon.
45,46	Horse and Saddle: great wits wherever you go offer to buy your saddle and take the horse off your hands as a favour; you need to feed it.
51,52	Lantern and Oil: enough for the next adventure.
53,54	Telescope, Sextant, Compass & Signalling Mirror: for some reason, local authorities confiscated your star charts.
55,56	Novelty Vampire Hunter’s Kit: garlic, wolfsbane, bullet mould, wooden stake x 3, piton hammer, small silver mirror, holy symbol, miniature prayer book.
61,62	Training Sword & Buckler: martial practice kit, but you’ve sharpened the blade so it cuts well enough.
63,64	Antique Breastplate & Helmet: just like modern stuff, but old and unfashionable. Might actually be worth something, but has definitely seen action in the past.
65,66	Turnip Watch* & Barometer: also, notebooks and writing kit to take down your observations.

* Because it came up when we played, a Turnip Watch is a big old-fashioned pocket watch not a magical vegetable. I ruled it would be enough to bash someone's head in with, maybe even a Wight if it was silver-plated.

80s UK rpg Dragonroar prices Leather Armour at 10 Crowns, Chainmail 50-150 and Plate Armour 300-6,000! Despite the range, the cost makes no mechanical difference to the armour.

Characters start off with the standard 3d6x10 and loot/rewards tend to be lower than in (say) D&D. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that at least one of the designers didn't like how easy it was to get plated up in other games. 

Which is one way to try and enforce a low armour game.

This table of weapons complements the adventuring gear above, with some opportunity for doubling up. I liked the idea you might be carrying an ancient sword around, but you might not use it - because you've got guns, or bodyguards, or you're not planning on getting into that kind of trouble. 

d66	Result
11,12	Brandistock: stout cudgel from which you can shake out a blade and two prongs; bash, stab, cut or parry & disarm.
13,14	Assassin’s Dagger: treated for a dull, dark, unreflective finish, and easy to conceal in a sleeve, this weapon has a hollow handle for secret messages and packets of poison.
15,16	Short Sword: five fingers wide at the base, perfect for the cut-and-thrust of tunnel fighting.
21,22	Holy Water Sprinkler: you made this deeply intimidating spiked club yourself; there are no doubts as to its function or your intention.
23,24	Antique Sword: old, reliable, has a history; they don’t make them like this anymore - possibly cursed or haunted or belonged to the next significant undead you encounter.
25,26	Swordstick: whether simple or fancy, the main function of this is to conceal the fact you can stab someone through the heart or cut off their ear as you parade around town; parry and misdirect with the stick in your off-hand.
31,32	Bow: you’re a barbarian, a hunter, unusual specialist or an eccentric badass. You've put in your 10,000 hours on this.
33,34	Sickle, hammer, adze, pick axe etc.: your weapon is really just a tool that’s got (or going to get) someone else’s blood on it.
35,36	Ironshod Quarterstaff: you call it a ‘traveller’s friend’.
41,42	Sling: it's not taken seriously, but you've put in your 10,000 hours and it's genuinely frightening what you can do with this.
43,44	Boarding Axe & Dirk/ Tomahawk & Hunting Dagger: a combo favoured by pirates and rangers; hook, hack, throw and eviscerate.
45,46	Fancy Sword: it’s a rapier, but clearly someone paid a lot for it; d6-1 gems decorate the hilt and/or scabbard. Worth at least 10x normal, even without gems.
51,52	Cavalry Sabre: double chance of a crit when mounted, triple if charging.
53,54	Brace of Pistols: use them as cudgels once the smoke clears. Comes with enough stuff for d6 + 2 shots.
55,56	Kris: wavy-bladed and not from round here, this dagger is thought to have special properties - odds/evens, it can hit monsters immune to normal weapons/ 1 on d6 spells cast against you by L/HD 1-3 will fail (you cannot cast any spells or benefit from protective magic devices while you carry the kris).
61,62	Antique Mace: old, reliable, has a history; they don’t make them like this anymore; modern armour was not built with this kind of weapon in mind.
63,64	Alpenstock: ice axe, pick and short spear in one robust walking stick; helps with climbing, cutting handholds and checking for hidden crevasses.
65,66	Notched Heavy Cutting Blade: this axe/ cleaver is an ugly piece of work - it is clearly not for self-defence but for stomach-churning mayhem.

No stats, because most Games of Dungeon will already have them for most of these. As much as being objects for violence, they are meant to suggest something about the character's personality and background.

Because this has all been about equipment in fantasy rpgs, I'm going to round off with an example from 'the largest game-book ever printed' F.A.T.A.L (Fantasy Adventure to Adult Lechery or From Another Time, Another Land - depending on your edition):

Bowl: This is a small, hand-sized reservoir that is most often used to hold beverages or food. Bowls may be made of wood, metal, clay or a variety of materials, though wood is most common.

(p. 410, 1st edition) 

Evidence that F.A.T.A.L. was written by and/or for Mi Go infiltrators?