Thanks a bunch for checking out the game!
The choices you make in the intro sequence are what determines your starter, and making some choices or skipping the intro can randomize the starter as well
For the battle items situation, the Bloody Wounds status will reduce efficacy of HP/MP restoring items used by the afflicted user to 0. Originally it was intended to make it so basically users cannot heal or recover HP/MP via items but in this version it SHOULD work if another character uses said items on that user instead.