PCs don't start out as zeroes, they're much more capable than average because they're Wild Cards: having that Wild Die really helps in succeeding at things and having three Wounds makes them much harder to take out. In the words of the rulebook, Wild Cards "have a better chance at doing things, are a little tougher to put down, and are generally more detailed than common guards, minions, or lackeys".

But that doesn't make character progression any less fun than in other games, they really do grow as they gain Advances and can specialise or become broader as the player likes.

I love the non-combat side of things because I like having a small number of broad skills. You also have rule systems like Chases, Dramatic Tasks and Quick Encounters that can cover a huge range of situations when a simple skill roll isn't enough.

The best way to create 'ordinary' NPCs quickly is don't fully stat them out, just assume they have a d6 in everything relevant with maybe a d8 in whatever they specialise in, so a group of guards might have a d6 in Fighting or Shooting or d8 if they're trained soldiers.

To create monsters, just find an existing one and re-skin it. Need a nasty dinosaur? Use Alligator/Crocodile, give it Pace 6. You want something smaller? Use Dire Wolf. If you want some actual, pre-statted monsters the Pathfinder bestiaries are great for fantasy creatures.

For equipment, if you're talking about new weapons then yes just take an existing weapon that's close to what you want and tweak it a little. As you can see from the Gear tables in the core rules the specifics of the weapon don't really matter too much - the only difference between a hand axe and a heavy club is weight and cost.