When starting a new party, instead of using the chars you want, start with all fighters or lords.
Immediately upon starting at the beach, go and REPLACE all the fighters & lords with what chars you want. You'll be able to start out with better equipment than you'll find in lower or upper monastary this way.
For bards, you may want to buy his starting equipment (which includes the lute) or just start with the bard. Ditto for Ninja, Faeries, Samurai, etc..
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