"Lucky Bastard"
Description: You wake up tied to a pole in the middle of the fog, your legs absolutely destroyed by cannibals. Lucky for you a wandering mercenary squad spotted you and killed them off, but you know damn well there's always more fogmen. One of the mercs tells you about a safe haven called Mongrel, time to get moving.
-1 (non-Skeleton) character, legs at -200. Stats are 20 all combat stats. Fully naked, little to no money.
-Mercenary Guild squad bodyguards for 2 days (or set to bail on you when you leave the fog or reach mongrel)
-Surrounded by a mixture of mercenary and fogmen corpses at the start
The sheer terror of being left along in the fog I feel would make a great survivor start, and those mercenaries don't last as well as you'd think against the fogmen.
"Disgraced Ronin"
Description: Outed by your clan and branded as a traitor, you are left with nothing but your trusty blade and your own cunning to survive in a hostile world. If you can't make your mark on the world as a leader, you can damn well cut a bloody swath through it.
-1 character, wearing Martial Arts set of armor with leather vest. Carries a Catun 4 Slim Katana.
*50 Strength, Dexterity, Toughness. 75 Katana skill. High Mass Combat skill when it becomes available.
-Hated by sand ninjas, bandits, Holy Nation, etc., just about everyone. Your only friends are the more desperate factions like Mongrel, Holy Nation Outlaws, etc, with the main guilds neutral to you.
Basically the one man army style of play, prey on the weak to survive in a world where you're hated most. This guy is meant to be able to take on anything that isn't a paladin squad on his own, and barely scrape by with food and other survival needs.
"The Bounty Hunters"
Description: You gambled it all on this, and your hard work has paid off. They were a tough fight, but if you can get this bounty back to town, you'll be sitting pretty for a LONG time.
-5 characters, wielding blunt weapons and decent armor. Various levels of moderate, non-crippling injury. No money.
*Skills floating around 20s combat stats, with a medic in the party.
-Start a decent distance from the Holy City with each member carrying various bandits with 5000 bounties, with one having a 20,000 bounty.
"The Great Escape"
Description: You and your comrades have been toiling in the mines for longer than you can remember, plotting your escape with a passion. Your men have secretly stolen everything they need to escape, it's just a matter of finding the perfect moment...
-8 characters, all enslaved at a Holy Mine. Each is carrying a hacksaw and club in their inventory
*Decent stats reflecting a long time in the mines
-Other slaves at the mine that can be freed and convinced to join you
-Confiscated items chest in the mines will have a smattering of decent gear for when either you escape or you manage to sneak someone to it.
Something more on the exciting side for a starter, and a good sized squad to begin with.
"Prototype Parts"
Description: After losing your good arm and building a new one from scrap, something feels....different. Something in that scrap pile was made for war, and now you are its harbinger. There's no chance you're the only one interested in your new parts, better keep a wide berth around those junker types.
-1 character, Skeleton only. Wearing shoddy mercenary armor, carrying a rusty plank.
*3x attack speed multiplier. All weapon skills at 1. Robotics skill at 50. Attack 10, Defense 10, Toughness 10
*Right arm health at 50 recovering back to full
-Hated by Tech Hunters and any other scrapper/technology focused factions
Something to have fun with more crazy modifiers, having a clear head honcho character in a party tends to make things pretty interesting to me.