A friend of mine............. [Archive] - Wizards Community

A friend of mine............. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Baron Von Chaos
07-15-05, 03:47 PM .....has never, ever played D&D before, to someone that has absolutely no knowledge what would be the best/easiest character to play? He will be with 5 experienced players so help is not a problem but what class should he take? He's starting at level 6 (300xp from lvl 7)

Thanks in advance.
Warchicken
07-15-05, 03:57 PM The best starting class would be for him to play a Fighter. Its pretty simple to begin with, he can choose if he's going to be melee guy or if he's going ranged. There isn't much to remember.

Alternately, if he wants to play around with magic, Sorcerer is a good class since he would know all of his spells and doesn't have to preparer them every morning like a Wizard or Cleric or even a Druid.

If you have access to the the Complete Books, Warmage is pretty easy to use, much like a Sorcerer, but he would need to know upfront that he would only be a blaster.

Warlock is also a fun class, but I'm a bit biased in that regard :D
Cymraegmorgan
07-15-05, 03:57 PM Human Cleric. This will give him a chance to experience casting as well as being reasonably efficient in combat.
celtredleg
07-15-05, 03:57 PM Fighter, with feats that does things you dont have figutre out during the game. Things like weapon focus and specialization. Any magic should be weapon and armor, not things with uses per day.
Callista
07-15-05, 04:00 PM I second the Sorcerer option. It was my first character, and I didn't have much problem learning at all.
LCD2YOU
07-15-05, 04:13 PM Wind 'em up and put 'em on the board.
TJMHPH
07-15-05, 04:52 PM first learned 3.0/3.5 as a cleric of pelor.
first learned 1st ed as a mage.
first learned 2nd ed as a fighter thief.

cleric was easy just stick to utility spells and curing and should be fine.
Necron99
07-15-05, 05:00 PM I usually steer new players towards Ranger. Fighting and basic combat to start, then spells later, giving the noob a good look at both ways of fighting.

Also, there are a lot of ranger archetypes from literature, so the player has a good idea about what role the Ranger should take in the party (Aragorn, Hawkeye, Davy Crockett, etc.)
tennesseefats
07-15-05, 05:38 PM I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest rogue. Rogue has combat ability, the DM can involve them in game via all manner of skill checks (something that is more difficult with fighters and their whopping 2+ points) and social interaction. The rogue's special abilities are intuitive (moreso than many classes such as smite or favored enemy) -find a trap, sneak up on someone, jump out of the way, etc..

Also...although experienced players hate these characters, ask them what fantasy character they like and try to find a class similar (i.e. a young lady joined our party. She thinks Legolas was awesome, so she made a ranged fighter. Eventually she had a voice, a backstory and a really kick-ass character - all unique, although it started off based on a fantasy 'stereotype').

Bottom line: Getting them involved as a character is a better rationale than 'what is easiest mechanically'.
braindead345
07-15-05, 09:21 PM I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest rogue. Rogue has combat ability, the DM can involve them in game via all manner of skill checks (something that is more difficult with fighters and their whopping 2+ points) and social interaction. The rogue's special abilities are intuitive (moreso than many classes such as smite or favored enemy) -find a trap, sneak up on someone, jump out of the way, etc..

I second tennesee's suggestion for starting with a rogue. Skills are a lot easier to understand than all those feats that fighters start with. Also, people can understand the concepts of rogues, especially if you tell them to think of James Bond (or Catwoman) in the Middle Ages.

Another optimal class for beginers is barbarians; however the rage class feat might cause confusion.
Dippiey
07-15-05, 09:29 PM Find out what he wants. Let him read the descriptions and see which one appeals to him the most. See what his favorite fictional character is.

And if worst comes to worst, Have him take the test.
Siduakal
07-15-05, 09:36 PM I agree with the others. Have him read it and see what he likes.. But I'd say no Paladins, hardcore goody good is a harder thing to play than a lot of people think.. There's a fine line between "Fanatic" and "Not Too Good" that the Paladin balances on.
Pryrates
07-15-05, 10:15 PM I would say the best thing for you friend to do is to limit his choices down to either Fighter, Rouge, or Perhaps sorcerer. Although by no means is this completely neccessary some people are more then capable of playing their first time out as a wizard or paladin. although i would recomend that his first time out he shy away from PrCs or multi-classing. As for a race to choose from id recomend that he play a human just because its the easiest for a new player to understand since obviously he is a human.
ErikPSO
07-15-05, 10:24 PM I have to second ranger if he wishes to see all bits of the game.

As Necron99 said fighting, skills, magic, and a companion. It may be a bit though to take in all at once, but ranger will show him everything he needs to learn.

If he just wishes to jump in fighter is probably the best bet.

Sorcerer is a great way to introduce spellcasting. The great amount of spells per day really can make someone feel useful and the player can instantly see the effects of his actions through most spells.

I would recommend against Druid (wildshaping and choosing spells), wizard (choosing spells), Bard (too versatile), cleric (choosing spells), and anything not PHB unless the DM thinks the new guy can handle it.
ashcat_lt
07-17-05, 01:21 AM and anything not PHB unless the DM thinks the new guy can handle it.

I have to disagree with this in the case of classes. Seems to me that the Favored Soul is about the same thing as the Sorceror, he just gets his spells from a different list. Swashbuckler and Samurai both make good subs for fighter. Easier to figure out rather than having to pick through an ever-growing list of feats every two levels from fighter. Another good thing about these last two is that they are pretty easy to point out examples from history and fantasy. I think somebody already pointed out the Warmage and Warlock. Ninja has some complicated special abilities, but do have the recognition factor.

I might, however, insist that a brand new player choose spells from only one or two books (rather than having to dig through every book anybody he knows owns). Maybe restrict feats in this way as well.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Baron Von Chaos 07-15-05, 03:47 PM	.....has never, ever played D&D before, to someone that has absolutely no knowledge what would be the best/easiest character to play? He will be with 5 experienced players so help is not a problem but what class should he take? He's starting at level 6 (300xp from lvl 7) Thanks in advance.
Warchicken 07-15-05, 03:57 PM	The best starting class would be for him to play a Fighter. Its pretty simple to begin with, he can choose if he's going to be melee guy or if he's going ranged. There isn't much to remember. Alternately, if he wants to play around with magic, Sorcerer is a good class since he would know all of his spells and doesn't have to preparer them every morning like a Wizard or Cleric or even a Druid. If you have access to the the Complete Books, Warmage is pretty easy to use, much like a Sorcerer, but he would need to know upfront that he would only be a blaster. Warlock is also a fun class, but I'm a bit biased in that regard :D
Cymraegmorgan 07-15-05, 03:57 PM	Human Cleric. This will give him a chance to experience casting as well as being reasonably efficient in combat.
celtredleg 07-15-05, 03:57 PM	Fighter, with feats that does things you dont have figutre out during the game. Things like weapon focus and specialization. Any magic should be weapon and armor, not things with uses per day.
Callista 07-15-05, 04:00 PM	I second the Sorcerer option. It was my first character, and I didn't have much problem learning at all.
LCD2YOU 07-15-05, 04:13 PM	Wind 'em up and put 'em on the board.
TJMHPH 07-15-05, 04:52 PM	first learned 3.0/3.5 as a cleric of pelor. first learned 1st ed as a mage. first learned 2nd ed as a fighter thief. cleric was easy just stick to utility spells and curing and should be fine.
Necron99 07-15-05, 05:00 PM	I usually steer new players towards Ranger. Fighting and basic combat to start, then spells later, giving the noob a good look at both ways of fighting. Also, there are a lot of ranger archetypes from literature, so the player has a good idea about what role the Ranger should take in the party (Aragorn, Hawkeye, Davy Crockett, etc.)
tennesseefats 07-15-05, 05:38 PM	I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest rogue. Rogue has combat ability, the DM can involve them in game via all manner of skill checks (something that is more difficult with fighters and their whopping 2+ points) and social interaction. The rogue's special abilities are intuitive (moreso than many classes such as smite or favored enemy) -find a trap, sneak up on someone, jump out of the way, etc.. Also...although experienced players hate these characters, ask them what fantasy character they like and try to find a class similar (i.e. a young lady joined our party. She thinks Legolas was awesome, so she made a ranged fighter. Eventually she had a voice, a backstory and a really kick-ass character - all unique, although it started off based on a fantasy 'stereotype'). Bottom line: Getting them involved as a character is a better rationale than 'what is easiest mechanically'.
braindead345 07-15-05, 09:21 PM	I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest rogue. Rogue has combat ability, the DM can involve them in game via all manner of skill checks (something that is more difficult with fighters and their whopping 2+ points) and social interaction. The rogue's special abilities are intuitive (moreso than many classes such as smite or favored enemy) -find a trap, sneak up on someone, jump out of the way, etc.. I second tennesee's suggestion for starting with a rogue. Skills are a lot easier to understand than all those feats that fighters start with. Also, people can understand the concepts of rogues, especially if you tell them to think of James Bond (or Catwoman) in the Middle Ages. Another optimal class for beginers is barbarians; however the rage class feat might cause confusion.
Dippiey 07-15-05, 09:29 PM	Find out what he wants. Let him read the descriptions and see which one appeals to him the most. See what his favorite fictional character is. And if worst comes to worst, Have him take the test.
Siduakal 07-15-05, 09:36 PM	I agree with the others. Have him read it and see what he likes.. But I'd say no Paladins, hardcore goody good is a harder thing to play than a lot of people think.. There's a fine line between "Fanatic" and "Not Too Good" that the Paladin balances on.
Pryrates 07-15-05, 10:15 PM	I would say the best thing for you friend to do is to limit his choices down to either Fighter, Rouge, or Perhaps sorcerer. Although by no means is this completely neccessary some people are more then capable of playing their first time out as a wizard or paladin. although i would recomend that his first time out he shy away from PrCs or multi-classing. As for a race to choose from id recomend that he play a human just because its the easiest for a new player to understand since obviously he is a human.
ErikPSO 07-15-05, 10:24 PM	I have to second ranger if he wishes to see all bits of the game. As Necron99 said fighting, skills, magic, and a companion. It may be a bit though to take in all at once, but ranger will show him everything he needs to learn. If he just wishes to jump in fighter is probably the best bet. Sorcerer is a great way to introduce spellcasting. The great amount of spells per day really can make someone feel useful and the player can instantly see the effects of his actions through most spells. I would recommend against Druid (wildshaping and choosing spells), wizard (choosing spells), Bard (too versatile), cleric (choosing spells), and anything not PHB unless the DM thinks the new guy can handle it.
ashcat_lt 07-17-05, 01:21 AM	and anything not PHB unless the DM thinks the new guy can handle it. I have to disagree with this in the case of classes. Seems to me that the Favored Soul is about the same thing as the Sorceror, he just gets his spells from a different list. Swashbuckler and Samurai both make good subs for fighter. Easier to figure out rather than having to pick through an ever-growing list of feats every two levels from fighter. Another good thing about these last two is that they are pretty easy to point out examples from history and fantasy. I think somebody already pointed out the Warmage and Warlock. Ninja has some complicated special abilities, but do have the recognition factor. I might, however, insist that a brand new player choose spells from only one or two books (rather than having to dig through every book anybody he knows owns). Maybe restrict feats in this way as well.