My Current starting template for a blank HTML project. This template uses pure HTML CSS and JavaScript. I have made a few choices that might not align with everyone's idea of a starter template but it suits me well. It uses web components to build the modular parts of the page and is easy to add additional components as needed. Look in script.js to find where to add additional components. Each component has it's own html/css file and can be set up however is needed for the individual site.
The CSS has a lot of pre-built variables. The colors are all in HSLA format so the darker and lighter colors can be easily calculated. I didn't include any color palettes or calculations to generate a palette. That for me is better to be done on a site by site basis.
The font sizing is pretty easy to follow. Just set the base font scaling and the rest are taken care of using CSS variables.
There is a small amount of default layout and customization in the template but these are easy to remove when ready to build a site from the template. They are there just to help understand how the template functions.