History Main / StarterEquipment

* Deckbuilding games (from [[FromClonesToGenre genre launcher]] ''TabletopGame/Dominion'' onward) typically have each player begin with a deck of low-powered cards and acquire more powerful cards as the game progresses.

* The deckbuilding game ''TabletopGame/HeroRealms'' has the player start with low powered Dagger and Shortsword cards, and a low-paying Ruby and a handful of Gold. Character Decks provide different Weapons based on Class. For example, the Thief has Throwing Daggers: not very useful alone, but when used with other Throwing Daggers does additional damage.

** The first game, ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', starts Shulk off with the Scrap Sword. The item's description pretty much admits it's a piece of crap he put together himself just to fend off any aggressive wildlife, and it gets replaced with the SwordOfPlotAdvancement before long.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfPenAndPaper2'': Playing the Tutorial battle gives a Carrot, but can be skipped, which exchanges that for having no damage for the first Main Quest fight.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series: In multiple games

* The claws in both of the ''VideoGame/Prototype'' games are the first ability you'll gain, and become redundant pretty much as soon as you unlock the next one. They do look cool though.

* Sometimes the character will start off completely unarmed. In this case the plot (or a handy chest) will provide the StarterEquipment. Probably during a tutorial or the NoobCave.

Compare EmergencyWeapon for an early piece of equipment that has some slight advantage (typically being [[BreakableWeapons unbreakable]] or never running out of ammo) to make it a backup rather than just a springboard to later weapons and the equally useless VendorTrash. If the hero starts out on an important quest but still gets no help with getting better equipment then this is WithThisHerring. Using it may be the aim of a SelfImposedChallenge. This can overlap with WeaponJr.

* ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' has starting equipment determined via background, but all of it is of poor quality except for the Spirited Corsair, the 2nd fastest horse obtainable (with the first being insanely expensive) being useful depending on your build.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegend]]s'' has Doran's Ring, Doran's Shield and Doran's Blade, items available at the shop for 400 or 450 - enough to start with, plus a potion or two - with stats generally helpful for magic, defense, and attack respectively. They're actually fantastic value for money, but severely hampered by the six-item limit. Some players buy nothing but Doran's items to give themselves an early edge before selling them as they get money for more effective items to take their place.

** ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheShiftingSpires'': The headgear is a Black Headband.

* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'', you get off Marcus's bus with a weapon exclusive to the class you're playing. All of them have negative prefixes like "Rusty", "Broken" or such, and [[JunkRare while unique, they're the worst you can get in their respective categories]]. The first actual starter weapon that will carry you for a little while is the BLR Swatter you're guaranteed at the first non-hidden red loot chest after the first firefight.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has Doran's Ring, Doran's Shield and Doran's Blade, items available at the shop for 400 or 450 - enough to start with, plus a potion or two - with stats generally helpful for magic, defense, and attack respectively. They're actually fantastic value for money, but severely hampered by the six-item limit. Some players buy nothing but Doran's items to give themselves an early edge before selling them as they get money for more effective items to take their place.

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' you get a [[WeaponJr BB gun]] in the tutorial. When the game starts proper you're also given a basic pistol and can pick up the aformentioned BB Gun and a baseball bat (if you prefer melee weapons) from your room before you leave.

* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games generally start a character off with their school uniform or other everyday clothes and a weak (possibly improvised) weapon scrounged up somewhere - [[WeaponJr stolen from a school club]], [[WithThisHerring provided by your mysterious benefactors]], whatever. ''VideoGame/Persona4'', for example, starts you out with a cheap golf club Yosuke picked up after the replica katana he first offered got confiscated by the cops. The original ''Videogame/{{Persona 1}}'' has the characters fight through the first dungeon using whatever they can find in a standard hospital room (aside from the one guy carrying an axe).
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' invokes this in an interesting manner -- when the characters awaken to their Personas, not only are they granted their outfits, but also their weapons of choice. The items descriptions even mention them manifesting in response to awakening their personas.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' starts Shulk off with the Scrap Sword. The item's description pretty much admits it's a piece of crap he put together himself just to fend off any aggressive wildlife, and it gets replaced with the SwordOfPlotAdvancement before long.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' starts Rex off with some rusted-out sword he uses to fend off any aggressive wildlife he manages to pull up in his salvaging attempts, and it's replaced with [[EmpathicWeapon Pyra's]] [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Aegis Sword]] before long.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' gives [[PlayerCharacter Rook]] a set of basic equipment every time he changes class out of thin air if there's nothing suitable in his inventory. This isn't worth trying to exploit, though - not only are these bottom-tier, bog-standard weapons obsolete by the end of the tutorial, they sell for so little calling them VendorTrash is an [[InsultToRocks insult to Vendor Trash]].

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', the player is dropped off the ''Normandy'' in the first level with a set of four level 1 weapons and armor for each party member. Each other recruited party member will have exactly the same equipment, regardless of their level or where they are encountered. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Shepard wakes up sans weapon and armor in a medical lab and has to grab them from a nearby locker (soon after, you also pick up your first heavy weapon, a grenade launcher); after the prologue is over, they pick up a full set of guns before the first proper mission. ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' is similar; Anderson hands you your first pistol when things go wrong at your trial, and you pick up the rest over the course of Priority: Mars. (In the latter case, it's actually possible for some of the basic guns to be [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost]], although it's not hard to find replacements.)

* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', you have to finish a quest to get your first gun, but then you get this message:
--> ''"You just moved five feet and opened a locker. Later, when you're killing skyscraper-sized monsters with a gun that shoots lightning, you'll look back on this moment and be like, 'heh.'"''

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' games generally start a character off with their school uniform or other everyday clothes and a weak (possibly improvised) weapon scrounged up somewhere - [[WeaponJr stolen from a school club]], [[WithThisHerring provided by your mysterious benefactors]], whatever. ''VideoGame/Persona4'', for example, starts you out with a cheap golf club Yosuke picked up after the replica katana he first offered got confiscated by the cops. ''Videogame/{{Persona}}'' has the characters fight through the first dungeon using whatever they can find in a standard hospital room (aside from the one guy carrying an axe).

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' you get a [[WeaponJr BB gun]] in the tutorial. When the game starts proper you're also given a basic pistol and can pick up the aformentioned BB Gun and a baseball bat (if you prefer melee weapons) from your room before you leave.
** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'' gave starting equipment based on whatever skills you had tagged; A pistol was standard, but knives for melee skills, brass knuckledusters for unarmed, medical kits for first aid, etc.
** ''VideoGame/Fallout2 sticks you with nothing but a Vault Suit, Pipboy, a spear, a knife, and a few bags of healing powder. The only thing that keeps this from being WithThisHerring is that if you take the time to look around the village, they really are giving you the best stuff they have (you can upgrade your spear, but this requires you to gather the materials needed to do so and the quest-giver will perform the upgrade for free once you've got them).

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' gives you a Security Baton for melee and the Overseer's 10mm pistol during your escape from Vault 111. You can also get your hands on a pipe-gun and a tire iron while exploring Sanctuary.

* Poor ''VideoGame/{{Diablo II}}'' characters, they don't get any armor, just a class-appropriate weapon: the Barbarian, a hand axe; the Paladin, a short sword, the Amazon, a stack of javelins, the Sorceress, a staff of +1 Fire Bolt, the Necromancer, a wand of +1 Summon Skeleton, the Assassin, a katar, and the Druid, a club. Some of them also get a buckler. It should be noted, however, that these items are flagged as being Starter items, which means they always cost exactly 1 gold to repair. Not that it helps, since you're probably gonna change them for something better before repairing them is a necessity.
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo III}}'' isn't much kinder to its Nephalem. The Barbarian starts off with a handaxe, the Demon Hunter starts off with a hand crossbow, the Crusader starts with a flail and a shield, the Monk starts off with a knuckleduster, the Wizard starts off with a wand, and the Witch Doctor starts off with a ceremonial knife. None of them start off with anything in the way of non-cosmetic armor, but thankfully, this state of affairs doesn't persist for long.

* Averted in ''{{VideoGame/Unturned}}''. You're naked and unarmed during a ZombieApocalypse. Have fun.

* ''TabletopGame/AnimaBeyondFantasy'' gives depending of your social class equipment plus more or less money, the highest ones --high nobility and burguesy, which must be purchased on character creation, offering way more gear which often include even ''very'' expensive weapons and armor and other luxurious stuff as fine clothes, thoroughbred horses, etc. Given the low emphasis of the game on magic objects, the latter is able to support a character for many levels.