Game Starts

Known simply as "Game Starts", players begin the game by selecting one of the 13 Beginnings which change how the player starts their game. Each start can drastically change the equipment, skills, currency, and amount of party members that the player starts out with making the game easier or harder depending on the player's chosen start. If the default choices are no longer interesting, it is always possible to create your own game start through modding.
Full details on the characters, including both their stats and their equipment can be found on their page, accessed by clicking their name. Malnourished: True means that all characters in the squad will start with 170/300 hunger. Limitations are if there are only certain races which can do a start. Starts marked with an asterisk (*) limit the player's choice for a starting race.
== Starts ==
=== Wanderer ===
* Location: The Hub
* Money: c.1000
* Relations: Default
* Bounty: None
* Squad info: Single character with 1 in all Stats. Equipped with an Unknown quality Iron Club and a Rag Loincloth.
* Malnourished: False
* Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Default)
* Limitations: None
=== The Wandering Trader ===
* Location: Trader's Edge
* Money: c.0
* Relations: (75) with the Traders Guild.
* Bounty: None
* Squad info: A character with 1 in all Stats, wearing a Trader's Wooden Backpack, Wooden Sandals, (5% chance of ) quality Trader's Leathers and Samurai Clothpants. In their inventory is 5 Luxury Goods, 6 Hacksaws, 2 Gohan as well as 2 Standard first aid kits. They are accompanied by a teen Pack Bull who has 25 in their combat stats (Randomized by 3) equipped with a Bull Backpack.
* Malnourished: False
* Playstyle: Trading RPG (Difficulty: Easy)
* Limitations: None
* Advice: If playing with default settings you can find Riddly inside one of the two bars in Heng as a free recruit. For a nice ~c.40,000 to c.50,000 early, due to a weird interaction provided your non-animal characters are on passive and not set to defend your allies you can attack Harmothoe at the start with the bull you control and run to the Traders Guild guards nearby for assistance. You can then pick up your Bull, loot Harmothoe and swap back to the bull to take her stuff to avoid getting a bounty. Do the same with her Garru along with the items they hold.
=== The Holy Sword ===
* Location: The Hub
* Money: c.100
* Relations: (-100) with both The Holy Nation and Imperial Lords. (Imperial Lords are not actually used in game)
* Bounty: c.20,000 Wanted by The Holy Nation and United Cities.
* Squad Info: A character with 1 in all stats with 3 stat randomization. They are equipped with an Edgewalkers (Equal chance for Edge 1, 2 and 3) quality Nodachi, Black Cloth Shirt, Ninja Pants and [Shoddy] (5% Chance of [Standard]) Ninja Rags. In their inventory is a single Standard first aid kit.
* Malnourished: False
* Playstyle: Wanted Criminal (Difficulty: Harder)
* Limitations: None
* Advice: Only your starting character has a bounty and due to the fact that the Imperial Lords are not used in game you can still enter United City towns without the fear of being attacked for your bounty by the guards.
=== The Cannibal Hunters ===
*Location: Cannibal Village
*Money: c.9
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: Two characters. The first character will start with 5 in Combat Skills and a Standard first aid kit, while the second will have 2 in Combat Skills and 20 in Thievery Skills and a Standard first aid kit as well as a Splint kit. 
*Malnourished: False
*Playstyle: Action RPG (Difficulty: Dodgy)
*Limitations: None
*Advice: As you start in a Cannibal Village you'll need to escape quickly, or risk being captured and promptly killed. Taking off any armour which reduces your athletics or is encumbering you and sprinting to the nearest pool of water is your best chance at survival.
=== The Hive Exile* ===
*Location: Hive Village
*Money: c.0
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: A single character with 1 in all stats.
*Malnourished: False
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Hard)
*Limitations: Can only make a Western Hive Prince, Soldier Drone or Worker Drone.
*Advice: As a Hiveless (A Hiver who was exiled from their hive) you are unable to buy or sell from the traders in the villages. The best chance at survival for newer players is to leave Vain as soon as possible so you can get your hands on some first aid kits so you do not die from a random injury you receive. Or you could try your luck at looting some eggs from a Beak Thing nest at night and hope that you encounter a Hive Caravan which will trade with you even if you are Hiveless.
=== Son of a Captain ===
* Location: The Hub 
*Money: c.0
*Relations: (-100) relations with The Holy Nation, and (100) relations with the United Cities
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: A single character with 1 in all stats. Equipped with a [Shoddy] (5% chance of [Standard]) Leather Shirt, some Samurai Clothpants, a pair of Drifter's Boots, a (Equal chance of Catun 1, 2 and 3) Catun quality Katana, some Gohan, and a Standard first aid kit.
*Malnourished: False
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Normal)
*Limitations: None
*Advice: The Standard first aid kit has a random quality when you create the character. If it has a very small amount of charges you can sell it to a shop, close the shop, and then reopen it to buy it back at full charges. (Of course, you'll need some money to afford the charges they refilled for you)
=== The Slaves* ===
* Location: Rebirth
*Money: c.0
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: 2 Characters (Affected by Squad Size Multiplier) with 1 in all stats. Equipped with Dyed Trousers, Dyed Robes and locked Prisoner Shackles.
*Malnourished: True
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Hard)
*Limitations: You cannot start as a Skeleton with this start.
*Advice: Allow your characters to work until night. Once put into your cage (Or pole) sneak into a building if you wish to get a bite to eat and then sneak your way out of Rebirth by heading east. If you want to use some other slaves as distractions to help you get away in case you are noticed then free the ones on the poles outside as they are less likely to be watched by guards. Avoid the south and west exits as they can be guarded by units on Mounted Crossbows. After you escape you can get a lot of food by making your way to the Flotsam Safehouse (Marked as Lone Shack from far away) by looping around mountain range or swimming through Wend.
=== Rock Bottom ===
* Location: The Great Desert east of Sho-Battai 
* Money: c.0
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: A single 1 in all stats character missing their left arm.
*Malnourished: True
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Very Hard)
*Limitations: None
* Advice: As it is against the law to be starving in United Cities territory, attempting to enter a town may cause a Gate Sargeant to initiate dialogue with you and then (depending on their personality) attack you. To avoid this, you can head east to the Old Village and find a nice amount of loot to sell. Once looted you can either wander around the desert and trail behind wild Garru, Skimmers or Rebel Farmers (Bonedog) until they are knocked out to get meat to cook on a campfire, hope to find a Hive Caravan patrolling around or go north west to the Distant Hive Villages to sell your loot and purchase food.
=== Empire Citizen ===
* Location: Sho-Battai
* Money: c.750
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: A single character with 1 in all stats. They come equipped with a Rag Shirt, Halfpants (ragged) and Wooden Sandals.
*Malnourished: False
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Default)
*Limitations: None
*Advice: The United City Heros League group which spawns in the town can be attacked right away and the guards will assist you as they are classified as bandits. This can get you a nice head start on cats to help you afford a Crossbow, a backpack, bandages or whatever else you might want. If you find a Sand Ninja Jonin patrolling near the town and lure them to the guards they have a c.6,000 to c.10,000 bounty along with 2x Catun Scrapmaster grade Guardless Katanas totaling an extra c.4,722 to c.7,194 from their weapons along. A single Jonin will allow you to afford a small shack in town, the research materials to learn how to craft Bandanas and the materials to get to a profitable level of Armoursmithing. (20+ from Bandanas)
=== Holy Nation Citizen* ===
* Location: Bad Teeth or Stack
*Money: c.200
*Relations: (15) The Holy Nation
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: A single 1 all stats character. Equipped with an Unknown quality Iron Club, wearing a [Shoddy] (5% chance of [Standard]) Stout Hessian, Cloth Shirt and [Shoddy] (5% chance of [Standard]) Drifter's Boots. In your inventory will be a single The Holy Flame.
*Malnourished: False
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Default)
*Limitations: Only able to create a Human character.
*Advice: If you create a female character and are questioned by a Priest resist the urge to insult him or it will lead to an arrest followed by Rebirth. Do NOT attempt to bribe any guards or mention Narko to them. Suggested to sell your low quality armour to the boot store if you start in Stack and purchase some Wooden Sandals so you can outrun any hostiles in the area.
=== Guy with a Dog ===
* Location: Bast
*Money: c.13
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: Two characters. One is a humanoid who has 1 in all stats, a Basic First Aid Kit, wearing a Rag Loincloth and wielding an Unknown quality Iron Stick. The other character is a baby Bonedog who has 20 (randomized by 5) in their combat Stats, however due to the penalties from being a baby its Stats will seem as if they are zero. Over time the dog will age and the penalty will lessen, and eventually become a bonus.
*Malnourished: True
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Normal)
*Limitations: None
*Advice: Picking up your Bonedog may be a good idea early as they are incredibly slow early on. There are plenty of Bonedog nests nearby which are usually attacked by the Holy Nation and United City troops. If food is still difficult to come by you can enter Drin from the sides (Avoid the gate) and sell off items to the bar to purchase some cheap Dried Meat. The beds in the bar are also free to use. Funnily enough putting your Bonedog and starting character in the cages in Bast will actually fill up their hunger until it reaches 200. Just beware of cannibal patrols which can spawn in the area!
===The Freedom Seekers===
* Location: Random Waystation
*Money: c.4,000
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: Old Soldier - c.20,000 Wanted by The Holy Nation
*Squad Info: 6 characters with a total of 5 Wooden Backpacks, 20 Building Materials, 20 Iron Plates, 4 Fabrics, 10 Wheatstraw, 17 Gohan, 9 Basic First Aid Kits, a single Standard First Aid Kit, a blueprint for Wheatstraw Farming. Five of the members have a 1 in all Stats, along with Halfpants (Ragged) and Unknown quality Wakizashis. The remaining character among them is an "Old Soldier" who has around 20-25 average stats. For a more in depth list of the unit's stats check Trivia below. The Old Solider is armed with an Ancient quality Horse Chopper and is wearing [Shoddy] (5% chance of [Standard]) Leather Shirt, Samurai Clothpants and Drifter's Boots. On top of that Storm House, Storage: Wheatstraw come already researched.
*Malnourished: False
*Playstyle: Real-Time Strategy (Difficulty: Easy / Hard Combination)
*Limitations: None
=== Nobodies ===
* Location: The Hub or one the two Waystation Ruins
*Money: c.0
*Relations: Default
*Bounty: None
*Squad Info: 5 characters with 1 in all stats. Each of them are armed with an Unknown quality Iron Stick and are wearing Cargopants. They also have 2 Basic First Aid Kit in their inventory.
*Malnourished: True
*Playstyle: RPG (Difficulty: Easy)
*Limitations: None
* Advice: If you start in the Waystation Ruins in Venge quickly loot the two Skeleton Repair Kits found there and either rush west to Smugglers Bar to sell them for food or (A bit more risky) north east to the Grey Desert Waystation. If you are placed at the Waystation Ruins in Stobe's Garden do the same as with the other ruins but this time go straight north (Avoid the west (Unwanted Zone) as it is populated with Beak Thing nests) until you see a water pool. Once you reach the water head north west to arrive at Black Scratch.
== Cut starts ==
These starts were likely cut or either removed from the game. They are found in the FCS.
=== Hungover Ninja ===
* Starts with only 1 character in the stone camp southwest of Sho-Battai with no Cats. The character has 5 in basic combat Stats, 10 Assassin and Thievery, and 20 stealth. Wearing a Ninja Gi, Martial Artist Bindings, and a Basket Hat, and wielding an Ancient quality Ninja Blade.
* (Playstyle: RPG) (Difficulty: Hard)
== Trivia ==
* The Guy With a Dog start seems to be a reference to the Fallout series (The player starts with 13 cats, referencing Vault 13 and the player could also obtain a pet called Dogmeat in Fallout games 1, 2, 3 and 4). It could also be a reference to "A boy and his dog" a 1975 post-apocalyptic indie movie, or "Mad Max 2" (aka The Road Warrior) from 1981. Since "A boy and his dog" together with "Mad Max 2" inspired the creation of Fallout's Dogmeat the reference is hard to trace.
*The Guy With a Dog used to start with a baby Mountain Dog, but this was later changed to a less powerful Bonedog. 
* The Beginning "Son of a Captain" used to be called "The Retired Captain".
*The stats which the Retired Soldier has in the Freedom Seekers start are, 25 Strength/Toughness/Attack/Defense/Athletics, 20 Dexerity/Labouring/Blunt/Hackers/Heavy Weapons/Sabres, 15 Turrets, and 10 Unarmed/Medic/Katana. 
 
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