Equipment Packs
Equipment Packs by Class
Barbarian Pack v1.0 Bard Pack v1.0 Cleric Pack v1.0 Druid Pack v1.0 Fighter Pack v1.0 Monk Pack v1.0 Paladin Pack v1.0 Ranger Pack v1.0 Rogue Pack v1.0
I’ve never quite understood the whole concept of starting equipment packs. By that, I don’t mean how the straps on the pack work. I get that your character gets a backpack, or chest in the case of a diplomat’s pack, and it is filled with a variety of items that your new character needs when they go down into that dungeon or enter the dark forest to slay the dragon, please don’t try that at 1st level. What I mean is why you get the items you get in each of the packs. Let’s take the Dungeoneer’s pack as an example. In this pack, you get the following items to start your grand adventure with a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, 10 torches, a tinderbox, 10 days of rations, a waterskin, and 50 feet of rope attached to the side of it. Not a bad starting inventory, but the whole concept of an equipment pack is flawed, in my opinion, mainly because the items they get don’t match up with most of the packs the player would receive.
Here’s a list of the equipment packs, per the Players Handbook
Burglar’s Pack (16 gp). Includes a backpack, a bag of 1,000 ball bearings, 10 feet of string, a bell, 5 candles, a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, a hooded lantern, 2 flasks of oil, 5 days rations, a tinderbox, and a waterskin. The pack also has 50 feet of hempen rope strapped to the side of it.
Diplomat's Pack (39 gp). Includes a chest, 2 cases for maps and scrolls, a set of fine clothes, a bottle of ink, an ink pen, a lamp, 2 flasks o f oil, 5 sheets of paper, a vial of perfume, sealing wax, and soap.
Dungeoneer’s Pack (12 gp). Includes a backpack, a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, 10 torches, a tinderbox, 10 days of rations, and a waterskin. The pack also has 50 feet of hempen rope strapped to the side of it.
Entertainer’s Pack (40 gp). Includes a backpack, a bedroll, 2 costumes, 5 candles, 5 days of rations, a waterskin, and a disguise kit.
Explorer’s Pack (10 gp). Includes a backpack, a bedroll, a mess kit, a tinderbox, 10 torches, 10 days of rations, and a waterskin. The pack also has 50 feet of hempen rope strapped to the side of it.
Priest’s Pack (19 gp). Includes a backpack, a blanket, 10 candles, a tinderbox, an alms box, 2 blocks of incense, a censer, vestments, 2 days of rations, and a waterskin.
Scholar’s Pack (40 gp). Includes a backpack, a book of lore, a bottle of ink, an ink pen, 10 sheets of parchment, a little bag of sand, and a small knife.
First, let’s start with how you fit all this stuff into the backpack. An average backpack is approximately 11” X 17” X 6”, and the PHB says that a backpack is 1 cubic foot and has a carrying capacity of 30 lbs. (See the picture to the left? There is no way all that is fitting into that backpack.) To get an idea of the size of a standard backpack, think about what most people use when traveling on a plane or carrying your laptop around in at school. If you say that the average torch is 2 1/2 feet tall and 6 inches wide, you’ve filled up almost 1/2 of your pack with three-plus rows of torches, which will stick out of your backpack. Closing the backpack will be impossible, no matter how you try putting them there. Once you get your remaining items stuffed into your pack, it will be quite full, but you can probably make it work. I’m sure those rations aren’t that big, and who has time to eat anyways when you’re in the depths of some evil wizard’s dungeon?
Now let’s talk about the 50ft of rope. That’s a shitload of rope to carry around on the side of your backpack. It will be wound pretty tightly, and even then, it will protrude from the side of the pack a good way. A hempen rope is 1/2 an inch thick, so unless you want it hanging off the side of the pack down to your knees, it will stick out.
You could always say that the pack is a standard military pack. Now we are talking about a much bigger backpack (20” X 11” X 10”) that you can easily fit all your starting equipment in with room for all the other cool stuff you find along the way. Most of these packs can hold between 1500-2000 pounds, so heavy items aren’t a problem if you have the space. What is a problem is that it will cost a lot more, and you’ll quickly be encumbered if you try to fill it up. No player wants that.
Art Credit - Ben Guldemond
Two other things stand out to me about the packs. First, even a smaller backpack would seem to hinder your ability to swing a sword during battle, and a larger military-style pack would be a nightmare in a fight. If the straps are on nice and tight so it sits on your back correctly, your arm mobility will be reduced. If it’s not on correctly, it could impact your dexterity checks and may even come flying off in the middle of combat. If you are jumped by a Xorn and swinging your sword is nearly impossible, now you’ll have expended an action to take it off. Second, when have you ever seen a picture of any character in D&D wearing a backpack? Your majestic paladin, wearing his shiny, full plate, NEVER has a backpack on. Based on 95% of the pictures and character portraits I’ve seen, you’d think that no one ever had a pack. This probably bothers me the most. No one wants to have their beautiful hero wearing a bulky backpack. Almost everyone has a pack of some sort at the beginning, but no one considers it except when they want to put something inside it.
I guess the answer is that everyone has a bag of holding these days, but in reality, they surely don’t. A bag of holding is an uncommon wondrous item. Most people forget the whole wondrous part and think a bag of holding should only cost between 101-500 gp. Based on the Sane Magic Items Prices list that we use, a bag of holding costs 4000 gp. That’s a lot of gold for any player, let alone a lower-level one. 5th Edition is primarily a lower magic item game (although no actual rules prevent a DM from giving out magic items as they see fit), so finding a bag of holding isn’t as easy as walking into your local general store and grabbing one off the shelf.
So how do we get around this problem? It can be argued that some adventurers don’t need to solve this problem, but I feel like most do. There are a few ways around this problem, but first, we need to look at what is in these packs and determine if they are even worth being in there. Some items can fit on a belt, others may be in a small satchel that the character slings over his shoulder (which is easily dropped when combat starts), and some of the items aren’t needed at all. To be able to determine this, I’m going to approach starting equipment on a class-by-class basis. There are certain items that all heroes need, but specific classes sometimes need specific gear.
Here are the links to each of the equipment pack articles by class. Once there, you can find the pack information in both PDF format and on GM Binder.
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