Let's Burn Up a Character

Wait you're right. let's think about this.. what adds up to 12 cleanly.. although, I'm actually kind of serious about having tons of Traveling Gear.

So let's see..

no, nothing really adds up to 12 cleanly. I'm going back to my original offer of Animal plus 4 packs of gear.

Wait you're right. let's think about this.. what adds up to 12 cleanly.. although, I'm actually kind of serious about having tons of Traveling Gear.

So let's see..

no, nothing really adds up to 12 cleanly. I'm going back to my original offer of Animal plus 4 packs of gear.

I actually thought of this, too.

Wait you're right. let's think about this.. what adds up to 12 cleanly..

Traveling gear (1)
For travel.

Shoddy crossbow (6)
For bandits.

Shoddy tools (5)
For crossbow repair. (Actually, what do tools consist of?)

Multiple traveling gears is redundant. "Traveling gear" just means "Yeah, you have all that junk like rope and bedrolls and pocket knives and handkerchiefs and stuff, don't worry about it." There are no discrete quantities implied.

Tools are for skills that require them. So, you could get a set of mending tools for Mending, or a big brass horn for Links.
A crossbow might be unwise, since he has no skill for it - he could threaten the bandits, but if he actually had to shoot them, he'd probably miss. (And earn a point toward learning the skill, but meanwhile, those bandits have seen he's helpless and decided to attack!) He does, however, have some skill in using hammers as weapons.

If you guys end up with spare resource points, you could spend one point to buy a weapon spike, or gambeson greaves or leggings - as silly as it might seem to only wear arm or leg armor rather than torso armor, it's still useful. Or it could get moved over to affiliations/reputations or relationships.

Dwarven tools (tinkering), traveling gear, random bit of armor
We use the tools to make some dough and buy better stuff down the road. If we meet bandits, we'll likely just pay them off or try to menace them with our more dangerous tools. I'm sure the tools would include a small hammer or mallet of some variety.

Unless tinkering tools doesn't make any sense? In which case whatever subset of tinkering is most economically viable, according to our Dwarven experience.

>get a battle hammer(5) and some tools(5) (for tinkering), leave the remaining point as spare cash.

I'd assume tinkering tools = mending tools, so that makes sense to me. I'm not convinced that any hammer or mallet included in such a set would be worth jack squat in a violent confrontation, though. If you want a weapon, it'll have to be bought separately.
Not having a weapon is perfectly valid. Burning Wheel has combat mechanics, but it is not tied to them the way D&D is.

EDIT: Resource points only exist in the context of character creation, and any that remain unspent are lost. Spare cash costs 6 resource points, and that's from the Man gear list, not the Dwarf gear list.

okay get the crossbow we can sell it later

In that case I stand by some good, worthwhile Dwarven tools (10) that are worth their weight with traveling gear (1) and a piece of armor (1).

We can park at a settlement and try to rustle up some business for a tinkering Dorf to adequately prepare ourselves for wanderings. I assume provisions aren't included in travel gear anyway.

Actually, they probably are!
But it seems we have two main competing notions here, so let's have a quickie vote-off.
Should we buy
A) 1 shoddy tinkering toolkit, 1 shoddy battle hammer, traveling gear and a bit of armor.
B) 1 good, proper Dwarven tinkering toolkit, traveling gear and a bit of armor.

Our lad doesn't seem particularly combative, even for a soldier. I'll throw in a vote for the latter option; he's always got his fists.

SpoilerShow

Five minutes in, his hands get chopped off, calling it now

Our dorf does seem to be the craftsman type rather than a fighter. On the other hand though, he'd probably be reluctant to use his hands in a fight as a result. But I don't think he would settle for shoddy tools.

going B!

BBBBB

Yup, B is the way to go.

That's 4 Bs. I don't think 5 people are likely to show up and vote A, so I'm calling it. He'll go with the good tools at the expense of having a hammer.

Next, Reputations and Affiliations. Reputations are things the character is known for, and Affiliations are groups they're, uh, affiliated with. Both help the character find people.

A local or minor reputation (the fastest kid on the street, the town drunk) costs 7 points.
An affiliation with a small, local or specialized group (a group of bandits, a large family) costs 10 points.
A regional or notable reputation (an old war hero, a religious figurehead) costs 25 points.
An affiliation with a large, regional or expansive group (a trade guild, a pirate fleet) costs 25 points.

We have exactly 25 points to work with. So, that's either one notable reputation, one affiliation with a large group, or two local reputations and an affiliation with a small group (plus one point left over.)
Rather than voting between those options, let's hear you guys propose some stuff. What sorts of reputations might he have? What groups might he be affiliated with?

Grand Affiliation with that Grand Guild of Tinkering and stuff (25 points)

Why, that's that one horncaller that happened to be immortalized in that iconic sculpture in recognition of that military victory.

That's the dude who jacked the Krundlhorn! And then lost it to bandits! What the fuck dude?!

The quirky traveler with loads of good bar stories.

The dwarf who's mind-blowingly good in the sack

Veteran member of the Horncallers Association, for the standardization of horncalling practices and for the betterment of the art of horncalling. Joined up in the army, like most horncallers do.

Notable Reputation.

.. not sure what of though..

An omen of the apocalypse.

.. yeah, okay.

I don't see him as being particularly famous? Or particularly special or noticeable, to be honest. Maybe he just has two small affiliations, one with the local band of tinkers, and one with his extended family? Does he even talk to his family?

Big Affiliations:
A: Member of the Grand Guild of Tinkering

Small Affiliations:
B: Member of the Horncaller's association
C: Local band of tinkers
D: His extended family

Big Reputations:
E: The horncaller represented in that statue commemorating that military victory
F: The dwarf who stole the Krundlhorn, then lost it to bandits
G: An omen of the apocalypse (Intriguing notion. Depending on what this means, though, I think it might qualify as a 3 die, 50 point major reputation, and therefore outside of our price range.)

Small Reputations:
H: The quirky traveler with loads of good bar stories
I: Mind-blowingly good in the sack

This is what we've got.
So, go ahead and vote for your 3 favorites, and I'll figure out how to allocate points to best fit the results.

A
or
E
or
CHI

F
B
H

E
DB
F

I'm leaning CHI

Then CD

Then E