I just got the game over the weekend and haven't had much time to really get into it (mostly character creation), but I have found that my parties always start fully equipped and I don't go straight to bartering for equipment with 500 gp as stated in the manual. I downloaded the patch from the official website that says it is supposed to fix this bug in Ironman mode, but I seem to have the same problem in both game modes.

However, last night I did find that when I started in Ironman and visited the Leatherworker in Hommlet and began the barter mechanism, I mysteriously gained 500 gp. Is this how it is supposed to work? I just pictured clicking on the begin adventuring button and being taken straight to a barter screen with no starting equipment.

Thanks.

Normally, you will get some basic equipment as per your character class and feat choices. Your party then gets 500 GP "spending money" for use as they see fit.