RPG Starting Gear- Do you give them what they want?

I recently encountered a Reddit thread where a GM was asking for some advice. Their player wanted to be a Mandalorian with armor and jetpack. There were a few good suggestions, such as comparing to Din Djarin gaining his gear throughout his season 1 campaign. But I was really surprised by the number of “No, they need to earn it. It’s too powerful” comments. While, on one hand, those two responses might seem similar, they are in fact very different.

The first, is about the journey. Making the game revolve around this character leveling up their gear and fun adventures. The second is about making the player do work. It’s also about limiting players because the GM thinks they’ll be too powerful.

The answer should almost always be “Yes, and…” The first one is about yes and-ing. Especially in a variation where the player starts with the armor and jetpack, but they are worn out and need upgrades to resemble full stats. For the Mandalorian Armor, let’s be honest, the stats aren’t that unusual. 2 Soak, 1 defense. There are cheaper armors with similar stats. But if it is too high for a newbie, have it be degraded and needs repair. Remove the defense or one Soak until repaired at like 1-2k in funds.

The big bonus, and mechanical appeal, is 5 Hardpoints. This is where the player spends her game money buying and upgrading. That’s the fun part. That can still be the quest and the journey.

Now, for the jetpack, there were a lot of people who say “No, it’s too powerful, make them earn it,” “The players will just cheese it by flying in, shooting and flying away.” These are shitty GMs. Any item is only as powerful as you, the GM, let it be. If a player starts cheesing encounters by zooming in, shooting and zooming out, there are ways to deal with that.

You could implement the Genesys modified vehicle rules, so that a Speed 2 Jetpack won’t be moving to Extreme Range in one maneuver. Also, they will move forward whether they want to or not unless they spend a maneuver to stop. They can lead to fun situations where there is the side of a building nearby.

You can also tailor encounters with the jetpack in mind. Lots of things happen in doors. I mean, like, barfights are a staple of RPGs and those are entirely indoors. No jetpack cheese there. Also makes sense for bad guys to retreat indoors in the face of air power. Or to bring their own if they are familiar with the players and know about the jetpack. Or to just ignore Jetpack Lady and shoot the more vulnerable Face character who Jetpack Lady left unprotected.

Another good option is to let the dice have their fun. Give them the jetpack with the understanding that they need to spend a maneuver stabilizing themselves if they want to shoot. Otherwise, there are upgrades on the difficulty of their attack based on speed. They fly in at speed 2 and want to still have a maneuver to fly out again. Now they’re rolling two red dice. Rolled a Despair? Now we get to have fun. A flock of mynocks just got in your path. Or a crane swung around from a construction site and clipped her. Or the bad guys got off a lucky shot and the jetpack is sparking.

This can be played for more fun when she is getting shot. Enemy rolls a Triumph? Now fuel is leaking or the pack ignites and flies her off in the wrong direction. I mean, you’re wearing a can of jet fuel on your back. That’s dangerous.

The important thing is don’t make this adversarial. She has a character vision, help her make it happen. Nothing kills a player’s fun faster than having to wait 10+ sessions to get an item and have the campaign end or it prove lackluster. That doesn’t mean the players get everything they want. But it does mean they get everything they want AND MORE (evil laugh). You will all have more fun with the player starting happy and dealing with the consequences of that than having to “earn” a pretend toy.