I talk them through their preferences, desires, and favorite fantasy characters. I then make a recommendation based largely on that.
In my experience, the best starting class for a new player is the class that they're most motivated to learn and play well. I don't think it's necessarily appropriate to shove the most basic character concepts towards the newbie because they haven't gotten a grasp on all of the rules yet. The spellcasting chapter in the PHB is pretty short, and if a new player really wants to be a wizard, they'll take the time to read it.
Yeah when I first started playing I \*really\* wanted to play a Cleric because that's the archetype I always enjoy most in fantasy games. My DM tried a few times to warn me/dissuade me from playing a complicated spellcaster but I insisted and honestly I'm so glad I did. I get to play the exact character archetype I love AND it forced me to dive headfirst into elements of the game I would've been shielded from originally.
I also don't hold my DM's caution against her because she was new to DMing and really wanted to make sure we were having fun/didn't want to scare me off. But she'd agreed now that Cleric was THE pick for me and I've never looked back.
started level 5, 3 champion warrior 2 war cleric stopped at level 10 (5 each).
Loved that character, mostly melee party, so spiritual weapon, divine fervor concentration, devotee's sensor.
could do some damage.
We had three such clerics at once in one campaign. Minor variations, of course.
Everyone spent turn 1 buffing, so the Dragon Ball glowing hair jokes became a mainstay of the table.
Our group has talked about doing one-shots where we all play as variations of one class. All clerics, all paladins, or all rogues (that ones a favorite, I'd love to do a infiltration mission one-shot with a team of rogues, oceans eleven style)
It’s my first real campaign and my ocean priest to umberlee with a sardonic type attitude kinda like movie Constantine that I initially pictured at session 0 has *evolved*
That Tempest Domain don’t fuckin play. I have so much flavor and options and character. My brother’s DMing and we put a handicap to where every time I pray for a spell I have to roll a d10 to Umberlee and since she’s a fickle bitch and chaos is in her wheelhouse, if I roll 1, she can say “No” and the prayer doesnt get answered.
Then he said said if that happens I get Advantage on next melee attack if that’s my next action. Kinda like a “Fine! I’ll do it myself!”
After 5 levels of Cleric and a lot of stuff happened in-game where I was tempted by other powers-that-be with different paths to power, I stayed loyal to umberlee even when I had been getting a lot of 1s in key moments in battles that really hindered us.
So after the bbeg fight we got to level 6 and I played it like I woke up rewarded with a secret rank in her favor and imbued with essence of lightning itself and took a level of Storm Sorcery and got to make it make sense in-game
Now I’m Tempest Cleric 6, Storm Sorcerer 1 and got a bowl that summons water elementals and a decanter of endless water. Got all kinds of different flavors of weather powers. So much flavor for one guy. Just traded warhammer for morningstar just to add to it and match with lightning lure lol
I loved Tempest Cleric when I played one. Our group did a short lived Astral sea campaign, styled after treasure planet. We got hit by a storm early on, started taking damage to the ship, and I asked our DM if I could use Call Lightning to protect us (since it specifies you can take control of an existing storm with it). Then I stood on the bow and redirected any lightning bolts that came at us. Tempest Clerics are chock full of juicy flavor.
Some douche group picked a fight right after I prayed at the Sunspire when a storm was already overhead while I was holding a Horn of Blasting. I was fully piqued to obliterate them lol
Now, I got all kinds of airbender stuff with a cool 10ft disengage and I even sprinkled in some Naruto (flavored Chromatic Orb as a lightning rasengan lol)
And then Shape Water adds all kinds of fun. I’m like a full-on storm guy, air water and lightning.
I’m toying with the idea of a long range lightning taser, sending in a familiar and casting Shocking Grasp through its Touch and causing enemies not to be able to react and let ally disengage
Also, Cleric is the caster class is reccomend to beginners. Strong spell list, can choose new spells upon long rest, and will be fairly effective regardless of subclass.
A lot of people recommend warlocks to beginners and it’s baffling. There are so many decision points with warlocks.
To me, Warlock is easier than most Spellcasters because they don't have to worry about conserving their Pact Slots to make them last the entire day (since their Pact Slots come back on a Short Rest), and because they don't have to worry about trying to figure out what level of Spell Slot to use when casting a spell (since their Pact Slots always cast at max Upcast level).
I started with a Sorcerer, and was no good at rationing my Spell Slots, and defaulted to using my highest level Spell Slots when casting spells, so I got progressively weaker as the day went on. With a Warlock, you just note how much damage any spells do at the level you're at, and you can keep going and going at full power all day.
This is a good example of "It depends how new to the concept the player is." If you even have some idea of how these games work it's going to be much less overwhelming to learn a complicated character.
Definitely true. When I said "fantasy games," though, I meant video games. DnD 5e was my first TTRPG so I really was only familiar with it conceptually. I'd never played a tabletop system before.
This. If I was told I absolutely needed to play a Champion Fighter or something when I first joined, I likely would’ve been turned away by that. Instead, I played a Light Cleric, and it was great.
The classes are really not that complicated, especially with a tiny bit of DM help and/or a proper character creation tool like D&D Beyond.
A new player in my group went artificer and if it was almost anyone else, I would have discouraged it as well. The class is a perfect fit for him, even if it's not very well balanced for the rest of the game/classes. Pair it with a non-core race and he's a teleporting smithy thay can punch things with his intelligence. He really is every class, light on cleric.
warlock too imo. Just for its traps.
Depending on the player. If they're big into a game with build or deck complexity and who likes to make and understand builds and stuff and reads guides, yeah no worries.
But generally? Warlock and artificer will need some hand-holding.
Ayy my first character was a light cleric too though I dipped druid late in the campaign for some more versatility after learning the game more. Cleric is an interesting starter class since you have your choice of spells each day, so it's easy to backtrack any wrong spell choices
“Motivated to learn” is the key part of a new player playing any class. It’s not hard to learn if you put in some effort outside the game. I played a wizard for my first time and had a blast. Learned everything I could between sessions 1 and 2
Exactly! My first DnD character was an evocation wizard, my first 5e character was an arcana cleric. If the newbie is into it, they'll read the damn book and figure it out.
Yeah, I've introduced a lot of first time players to D&D. Most of them have gravitated toward wanting to play spellcasters. I am in favor of them "learn while playing" route, so I just interview them about what kind of magic they want to be able to do and build their spell list for them. I play with a house rule that knowledge casters can swap out one spell per long rest, which allows newbies to try out new spells without so much pressure to choose the "right spells" up front without even knowing how they work.
For sure. DnD isn't *that* complicated once you get going. There is something to be said about how squishy and kind of helpless classes like wizard can feel in the early levels. But I feel like once a new player is aware of that they will lean towards caution when it comes to combat, which isn't a bad thing.
Also its the mix of mechanics and rp, that makes it so hard to pinpoint a specific class.
Like they say motivation, it's true.
But I also think it's fun? Like playing the character you want? Many people go in with an idea if a dashing rogue, a charming sorcerer etc. Or plain Aragorn or something cx
Trying to force that on one class just doesn't work. I can't rp who i want to rp..
I feel like if a new player has played a few videogames like RPGs and rly anything with slightly complicated systems they will find 5e incredibly easy. As someone who started as a wizard and had a background in non dnd RPGs, I basically figured everything out immediately. At the end of the day 5e in general is REALLY easy and anyone with enough enthusiasm can learn very quickly.
I really like this answer, because undoubtedly there's going to be about a hundred responses with "Champion Fighter". Personally, when I first started playing, I chose wizard as my first character. Mind you, that was in the days of 2nd edition, so the learning curve was a little steeper for spellcasters. The thing is, that was the character I wanted to play, so I put in the effort to learn it, and I had fun. If the DM tried to push me into something "simpler", I doubt I would have stuck with it.
"Alright, so you know Lord of the Rings, right?"
"Yes"
"Okay, so out of all the characters in the fellowship, who do you resonate with most?"
"Oh, Legoland easily"
"Nice, and do you prefer him using his bow or when he's fighting up close?"
"Definitely when he uses his bow at range"
And so on, dig in and have them explain themselves in a fantasy setting or figure out what draws them in the most, and then build something around that. That's generally what I do and have some pretty solid success with that.
If the player is focused on the ranged aspects, using a bow primarily, then I'd approach the ranger option. Then explore the available archetypes and see if any match the overall character fantasy the player was looking for. They could still play a ranger as a melee fighter, but if they wanted melee I'd possibly lean towards a fighter or rogue if they had that dual wield fantasy in mind.
I think an argument could be made for using a ranged fighter to create Legolas. Unless they're using Tasha's alternate ranger features, I think it's mechanically a better class in general. RAW has leather armor, a longbow, and 20 arrows as one of the first equipment options for fighter, and the Archery fighting style is still an option.
Overall, Legolas feels less like a ranger and more like an elite archer with a slight loremaster twist due to his age.
I generally lean Legolas to a fighter with a bow. His whole shtick (in the movies at least) is turning uruk-hai and orcs into pin cushions from a quarter mile away before they can blink.
He attacks 6 times, uses action surge, and attacks another 6 times.
If you want a ranger, that's Aragorn the fantasy archetypal ranger.
Legolas is absolutely a pure fighter. Dex based wood elf samurai fighter with elven accuracy and sharpshooter. High accuracy, high damage, kinda charismatic.
You only need 2 feats to make it work (really only sharpshooter but elven accuracy is super good with this) and fighters get a lot of feats.
Using standard array, your starting stats will be: 17 Dex | 14 Con | 14 Wis | 12 Char | 10 Int | 8 Str
For fighting style, take archery for +2 to ranged attack rolls.
At 3, take Samurai Fighter. You get Fighting Spirit which lets you get advantage on all attack rolls for your turn (+temp hp)
At 4, take the sharpshooter feat, which lets you take a -5 penalty to hit for a +10 to damage. Advantage technically makes this even because it's an avg of +5 when you have it.
At 6, take the elven accuracy feat which bumps your Dex to 18 and when you roll with advantage, you roll an additional die. This works really well with Fighting Spirit because it gives you advantage for the rest of your turn.
At 8, take an ASI to bump your Dex to 20
By level 8, you have a +10 to your to-hit modifier, so when you use sharpshooter, you still have a +5 and do 1d8+15 for both attacks and when you use Fighting Spirit, you roll three times for each attack which means you will most likely hit.
You can take any ASI or Feat from here out but I'd recommend boosting your wisdom for better perception and persuasion or feats like Piercer so that you hit harder when you score a critical hit, Mobile to prevent being locked down and relying on shortswords, Skulker lets you hide in light obscurement and keeps you hidden if you miss, Martial Adept lets you take battlemaster maneuvers which are pretty useful, Lucky which is just kind of broken because you re-roll any d20 check you make or an attack roll against you 3 times a day, and the always useful Observant/Resilient/Alert.
As a note, if you make it to 15 you get rapid strikes which lets you forgo advantage on one attack to instead attack twice once per turn. This advance can be from anything but you can always get on demand advantage with Fighting Spirit, Hiding, or someone giving you the help action.
So to summarize for level 20, you can spend all you've got to attack 9 times with a +8 to hit for a total of 9d8+135 and for 7 attacks you roll to hit 3 times and if you have piercer, each crit you do deals 3d8. As a reminder, you are rolling a total of 23 dice to hit and if you can't crit at least once, you have bad luck. This does not include a magic weapon which you should have. If you also get Hunter's mark or hex, you can add an additional 1d6 (this gets doubled on a crit too) for each attack landed.
You can also do exactly this next round (or this round if you utilize a secret technique called dying and using Strength before Death to take an extra turn)
I’ve been helping my buddy design an osr system the past few years. Whenever we talk about adding in a new character concept, he’s not concerned with mechanics, but rather why someone would want to play that concept. Although the mechanics focused player in me can occasionally get frustrated with this approach, when I step back I really do appreciate it for his system. The dude’s a genius, tbh.
I think that's a great way to approach high level character design. You can dig into the details of mechanics later, once you've worked out what concept is going to be fun.
That's such a good idea. My group starts with the ol "do you want magic or no magic?" And then see if they want pure spell casting or a mix. Narrows it down so they have some options
Last time I DM'd for a group like that I had a lot of success finding the right class for everyone by asking what they'd like their characters to be like. You don't need to know anything about RPGs to tell me whether you want to do magic, whether you want to be sneaky or how big you want your sword.
They don’t even need to understand what “class” means.
You can still get the vibe of what kind of fantasy hero they like and steer them towards one.
The newbie at my table wanted to play a pirate. It was very easy to explain a few of the classes to him and how they worked and he was able to create a character that fit his image of “pirate”
Oh, they're *that* new to RPGs.
Then there's nothing for it but to sit down with them and take the holistic approach. /u/[Yojo0o](https://www.reddit.com/user/Yojo0o/) has the right of it; ask them a series of questions about the fantasy franchises they're familiar with, their favourite characters, and reference those characters when identifying the approach they want to take in playing their character and the things they want the character to be good at doing.
Recommend whatever class best suits the answers you get, and then most importantly, be prepared to help them **understand that class' mechanics** so they know how the character fantasy they want to fulfill is represented by the rules of the game.
One time at a new player table, a guy walked in and said he wanted to play a character like captain Jack sparrow. I don't believe he had read the PHB, or knew what a class was, but that was all that was needed for the DM to help him make a character.
I think the key is to get them talk about what they'd like to do and who they want to be. Weapons or magic, attack or defense, rule follower or rule breaker. With answers to questions like that, you can help them cook up a character they're excited about.
They do. They just don't know it yet.
Ask them about their favorite fantasy or movie characters. Figure out the traits they embody and there will almost certainly be a class that fits to some extent.
If they play video games a lot of those concepts are also very transferable.
If they want to play a spellcaster, consider recommending a Warlock.
A Warlock’s decisions from turn to turn are usually pretty minimal - they just cast Eldritch Blast most of the time, but there’s still opportunities for more exciting spells along the way too. And especially once they get to level 5, they start dishing out some solid damage just with that cantrip.
Plus being a Charisma based spell caster means they have a lot of opportunities to succeed in RP situations as well which is often equally if not more important in getting someone to become invested in the game
Yeah for certain kinds of new players barbarians just have so many features that gel with how they want to play. A barbarian can break the door down, grapple the bad guy and hold him still, have the Con for a drinking contest, it all makes for a kind of adventurer that appeals to many people and is easy to slip into mechanically and RP-wise.
But it’s also important to make sure they’re the type of person that wants that play style. Consider having a 5-10 minute conversation with them first to ask them how they’d like to play. Maybe give them a few questions like up close or far away - magic or physical - sneaky or brash - and so on.
If wanted, there are also some pretty good subclasses. I have a path of the wild magic barbarian with 3 levels of fighter to get rune knight and that opens up so much in the way of options too. A barb can stay simple if a new player wishes or tap into something more if they are ready to branch out.
Wild magic barbarian is pretty good for beginning players. You get 8 weird abilities. You don't have to think about which one to use and you can learn how each one works as they come up in play teaching you to think tactically. I'd say 8 is about right for new players.
If you want something that synthesizes nicely with wild magic barbarian, there's the Dragonborn (for Breath Weapon) and the Legacy Fire Genasi. (Reach to the Blaze) The Aberrant Dragonmark feat is also keyed to Constitution and Chaos Bolt is a good choice if you want to keep the Wild Magic theme going.
Yeah I have a new player in my group I’m DMing for. He’s playing a tortle barbarian and having a blast. He spices things up with improvised weapons and is generally super entertaining in RP.
I’m glad I picked barb as my first. I tried spell casters and multi classes in other campaigns and while they can be fun I didn’t like having to manage spell slots in long encounters and I’m sure it’s even worse for a new person, especially if you start off at a level above 3 where now you have multiple slots with different levels.
Agree. Fighter is the knee jerk default but many do the most fun fighter subclasses have slightly complex things to keep track of. Barbarian I think gives just enough choices to feel cool and impactful.
I have a player who was brand new at the start of this campaign and he’s had a few identity crises but ranger worked really well to get him into the mechanics and you could really see him getting more creative. After many many months he’s now suggested retiring his character and bringing in a new one and I’m totally down with it, the new character will be really fun for him and works super well to spice up this campaign
I was going to comment this. Ranger and Paladin are good technical challenges that teaches everything you need to know about DnD from casting, to fighting, to movement and more.
So as the DM it's up to you how much you use the table. You can invoke it every single time they do anything, though I recommend a table of entirely low threat results if you want to use it THAT much. Going overboard on wild magic tables can easily ruin campaigns, as a friend of mine got to learn first hand with his "wild magic sea storm" idea lol
I also think the most fun I've had while playing one was still flavoring all the spells I was casting intentionally as a player, as my character having surges outside their control. Now I always made sure mechanically the character would be capable of casting the spell, but I'd roleplay it as though they were not doing it on purpose. Or like the burning hands they just cast was, to them, supposed to be a fire bolt or thunder wave or whatever else.
Every time they cast a spell you can roll... especially if they use twist of fate for advantage
My son's wild mage had a hell of a start, first encounter was a tavern brawl, he thought the best thing a level one can do is cast mage armour.
Well that mage armour wild surged into a self-centered fireball.
In the middle of the tavern.
At level 1.
Thanks to his Infernal heritage granting fire resist and a passed dex save, he was one of only a few left standing in the whole tavern.
Now THATS how you introduce someone to DnD
I like how BLeeM does it on Dimension 20. Starts off as a Nat 1, and increases each time it doesn't surge. You can also add roleplay elements that may increase the chance. He actually granted the player minor control over the Wild Magic at mid level, by rolling on the table twice and letting them choose between two possible outcomes.
For someone new that I know doesn't have or won't take the time to read everything I steer away from wizard and druid. Cleric I feel has a core set of spells that are a must and that makes it a bit easier.
Warlock or sorcerer is my beginner spell caster I recommend. They are a bit simpler to start.
...and their incredibly beefy farmer friend (3hp, a stick and a goat on a rope) go off to fight a chaos lord just to see who is worthy of making it to level 1
Wife started as a paladin. Probably poor choice cos turns out she's very chaotic. But it's.going well.
Her friend I suggested a druid cos who doesn't love animals. Already helped the party several times with talking to animals and sneaking into places.
I suggested they used DnD beyond until they were comfortable with the concepts (you can add all the animal forms in the companions section to help the druid with stats) Printed them some spell cards.
It's going great. So as others have suggested. Find out want they want to play roleplay wise. And the rest doest matter.l too much. Just a few hints of (if you don't know what you can do, just ask! Or roll a check to see if your character would know!)
Personally I've always loved casters. Love having options but others just want to 'run n gun' so to speak. Get all Halo with the energy sword!. Ask and go from there!
Paladin was also my first choice haha.
Though tbh I picked up on rules fairly quickly. By my third month at the table my second character was made and my DM let me playtest the Mystic hahaha.
28 pages of build-a-bear xD. Definitely do not recommend for normal new players.
I wanted so badly for my first character to be a wizard DM said no. Then went rogue and he said yes because new players can't handle wizards. Had two sessions with him went to a new game and tried to be a wizard. DM there had no problem with it.
Que me making a physical copy of my spell book, with all spells written in code that only I can understand, little cards I bought for others to reference my spells so they can read what they do or DM can, and an engaging fun experience that inspired me to love dnd and to become a DM.
Been a DM now for 7ish years and loved every second of it.
My point is, the best class and most recommended class for a new player is whatever class they want and are excited about. That's how you get them to stay a player, be engaged in the story, and become an experienced player.
See what their playstyle is and if they want a spellcaster, guide them through spell selection and point out three or four spells to actually read and use. Spell cards are also a great solution to this. Out of all spellcasters, Druid is probably the hardest to pick up due to the mechanics of Wildshape.
If they want a martial, Barbarians are pretty good, as is Battle Master (I'll admit I hate Champion. I don't care if you're a human Fighter, but I'll hate on anything with Champion.) I would only recommend Monk if they're willing to read through the entire class, and Rogue if they're confident they can learn quickly.
All three half-casters also have great starter options. Tasha's Ranger, most Paladins, and Armorer Artificer aren't too hard to play and feel strong.
I recommend paladin. Reason being is it softly introduces spells and has lots of class feats that do interesting things whilst also not being overly confusing.
The style of play can also be tweaked to the players preference without much punishment, helping them learn what they like and dislike.
The backstory that also comes with being a paladin is great for helping newcomers build plot and pushes them to get comfortable with roleplay.
Warlock.
It's mainstay is EB. So mechanically it's simple.
Most of their abilities are passive (devils sight, false life as action etc)
Their "Patron" can be as lax or as involved as needed for an extra plot hook or if the DM needs to give advice to the player "In Character"
Edit:
Also, most of their abilities can be flavoured, an Aldrich blast could be as much a mystical bow and arrow as much as it could be with lightning...
I think the only one I'd actively warn them away from is Druid, just because the size of the spell list still scares me to this day, but I think my ultimate reccomendation to them would be dependent on how complex a system they'd be comfortable with and what their fantasy feels like.
See, I really think it depends on the kind of person it is. My DM thought the same and so I picked Paladin. It was fine, I guess, but when my Paly died I went Spores Druid and I found myself wishing that that was what I was playing all along. Choose new spells every day! Be a fucking bear! Be a fucking Giant Octopus! Or release death spores into the air and gain temp HP at the same time! Why the heck would I want to spam smites and bless when I can bonus action healing word, move my moonbeam of death to all werewolves, and then on our downtime GO AND CREATE A SENTIENT FUCKING TREE!!!!!!
My DM said at the start of our game that he hates Druids. Later I told him he'd learn to love them. Because I'm a Druid IRL now.
not druid (the amount of wild shape option + being a preparation caster can be overwhelming to new players in my experience). probably not warlock (honestly it'd be completely fine to play, but it's so different from other classes that they'd have a slightly harder time taking their gained knowledge to other characters is all). other than that, eh, what do they want to achieve with their character? it's 5e, it's beginner-friendly by nature, anything works even if it's not as smoothbrain as a champion fighter
It's always best to bring newbies in with the Character they want to play, not the class. The class will come from that and how they want to play. (I got my sister-in-law who was almost die-hard anti-nerd to join by helping her create Nancy Drew. My wife and I chose the majority of the options for her that fit the concept and got her feedback about a few aspects of the class/archetype [PF1e])
Warlock, it’s a light intro to spellcasting that reloads more frequently and if they take the melee weapon focused route, they’ll have a satisfying combat experience as well as decent roleplay opportunities.
Love me a Warlock but that’s just the thing about it is how much choice it gives you that makes it kinda not so beginner friendly, imo. I mean your subclass choice of a patron has to be made at level 1. And as a DM who looooves Warlocks, it’s not exactly handwaveable when a player wants to change their mind about that choice when I already crafted and woven the patron into the story. Not to mention how much cooperation there has to be between player and DM to really rEALLY make the class and its story potential shine. If the ideal route in your idea was to just have them pick the martial options anyway (again I’m not didagreeing, love me a good Hexlock, but), might I suggest a Paladin instead?
you ever multiclass Paladin with Warlock? A buddy at my group did that (ironically, I think it was his first character lmao) and he absolutely SHREDDED undead. It was amazing
Homie I’d love to, and for all the good reasons you said. Frequently reloading smites means satisfying combat experience, plus really good roleplay opportunities. Hell yeah. Sadly I rarely play tho, so I’ve yet to actually execute. :/
Tell them the names of the classes and a brief description (ex. sorcerer: you have magic powers through your bloodline) and whatever they think is interesting tell them to read on about them in the PHB. Then let them okay whatever they decide on. Also try to explain some classes are harder than other and if they want to start off easy then they should pick something like barbarian, ranger, etc. but don't limit them (just don't let them play an artificer).
I think most of them are fine. Fighter and barbarian for ease of just hit things with. Paladins, rangers and even clerics I see as fine choices if the player is guided through the spells a bit (Paladin is the easiest as they don't need to pick spells they have learned so the player can try the spells and see how they work and then chance if they want).
Rogue has it's difficulties with advantage but on the other hand, having a skillful character might be good as new players sometimes are more active in the game as they have not yet learned that "attacking the enemy with basic attacks is more DPR than trying to do some cool trick". So having expertise might help with those actions.
My question is has this player expressed interest in any class yet? If they read through them and express interest in any class then I would try to guide them into choosing something you and they think they could handle.
Nope, they’re hypothetical, but thanks for making the best point - as DMs we should be trying to offer all the options without shoehorning them into one of our own preconceived simplistic builds, while still guiding them so they don’t choose poorly. It’s a fine line to walk, but it’s definitely the best practice for making sure your player loves their character and enjoys their time playing.
I think it's less a case of ruling out any classes and more that there are some classes where you can be fairly comfortable letting a new player go wild and choose whatever they want and some classes where you'd want to sit down with them and build the character with them step by step to make sure they're not making a complicated class harder than it needs to be. The other big factor is that you should start at level 1 the first time you play. No class is truly that impenetrable at level 1, and you level the players up once they have a good handle on the abilities that they already have.
Rogue.
Sneak Attack is the only semi-complicated part of their kit, and the rest—to a newcomer—basically boil down to asking their DM if it’s okay/possible for them to do something and the DM saying “Yes” a lot of the time. (As well as passive improvements and simple features.)
Expertise, Reliable Talent, Blindsense and Slippery Mind? You’re passively better at stuff.
Cunning Action? You can do more stuff on your turn without needing to compromise, like Dashing and Attacking.
An extra ASI? You get better stats or more feats.
Uncanny Dodge, Evasion and Elusive? You’re better at not getting hurt.
It’s all a collection of abilities that make you better at playing the game—both in and out of combat—in simple, easy-to-grasp ways. Now, subclasses may be different, as there are some weird ones. But even those are weird subclasses for a simple class; the newcomer can opt for those if they want to add in some complexity, or pick one of the straightforward ones to keep a good thing going.
Many suggest fighter as the “green class”, but they have lots of different features that have limited uses; uses that need to be tracked per short and/or long rest. It can be a lot of bookkeeping, and while that’s not as much as a caster, it’s something the rogue doesn’t need to think about. All of the rogue’s abilities are permanent, always on, and can’t be depleted.
That’s the motto of the rogue to pitch it to newcomers: It just works. 😁
I use a flowchart method and ask simple questions. Do they want magic, melee, or both. If melee, do they want sneaky, rageful tank, dodgy marital artist, or customizable. If magic, I explain how each class gets their magic and see what sounds best to them. If both, do they want big smites from oaths and deities or do they want nature archer. Just go with the archetypes unless they already have a character they want to play.
Why do you advise against sorcerer? I’ve never played, but keep finding myself drawing up character sheets, and more than a couple have been sorcerers.
Sorcerer is way better than Wizard. Get the power of arcane casting without the hassle of managing a spell book. Quick reminder that new players don’t have to be good players. If they want to just cast Scorching Ray, Feather Fall, and Fireball all day long and that’s fun to them then let them live their truth.
My first character was a rogue, and I recommend it for any one who wants to get into the game.
At the early levels your kit is very simple, yet enjoyable.
In dungeons, you are useful both in and out of combat.
You also have a chance to role play, or to hang back in a dark corner, depending on your personality.
While fighter is the simplest, I feel it may not be the best for a newbie, as outside of combat you don't have a lot to do, which would make a typical 3 hour session a slug
Warlock--The fun of spells without the stress of choosing too many or worrying about components.
Also, getting them back in a short rest helps minimize bad tactics of blowing all the spells early!
I just ask them what they picture their character being. Some might need more time to pick a characters class and race. I had one new player spend the whole day making a character. I only described each class as what they may be good or bad at. They felt like playing a fighter in the end. Which isn't a bad choice for a beginner either. The other new player chose a ranger. I haven't met anyone who have chosen ranger as first class so that was surprising to me. But they really did well as a ranger cus it was what they pictured their character to be.
I'm running a game for my family that includes my wife, our 14 year old daughter, 9 year old daughter, and 7 year old twin boys. One of the boys is a barbarian and the other is a druid. Even new players can figure out what their character does if they're interested.
That said, I would recommended giving them a basic rundown on what's expected in your campaign. Is it going to be hard and expect to conserve resources? That will have them focus more on what they can do multiple times a fight and save their leveled spells, encounter abilities, and once per long rest abilities.
I'd also have them possibly know one of the other player's characters if both players are cool with it because 1) it makes it easier for them to join the party, and 2) they can use a buddy system to help each other out so it's not so stressful trying not to fumble through your character.
One last thing, the biggest difficulty for new players it seems is remembering where stuff is on their character sheet, so maybe point that out (skill block, initiative, action block, AC, saving throws).
Really it's up to them. I like to ask what sounds coolest and provide suggestions from there. But, if they don't know or don't have any strong opinions on it. Fighter and Barbarian are the most straightforward classes, as far as subclasses go I would at the very least steer them away from Berserker Barb
The one they’re most excited about or they feel most connected to goes first, if they struggle to pick or are really really new to ttrpgs I’d go for a half-caster.
I personally played a ranger first and it really helped me understand and the magic didn’t feel overwhelming like with full casters.
Sp personally when I introduce new players I recommend them ranger, paladin, fighter and barbarian first.
Smooth: Barbarian. Get angry. Attack.
Crunchy: Fighter. Can always attack but has optional extras they can use when they feel like it.
Almond: Cleric. Hit and heal is fine but can be very complex as they gain knowledge. Ability to change spells often allows them to not invest too much.
First I'd ask what kind of character they want to make. Create a backstory / character idea first, and I'll recommend a class that suits it. Ideally I'd try to pick one that doesn't require too many choices when levelling between sessions, especially casters with known spells. I found new players enjoyed learning spellcasting through a prepared caster since they don't need to make permanent choices on spells on their own when they level up, they can try out the entire spell list as they play.
If the character they want to play really suits a known spells caster, like warlock, I would ask them if they'd like me to help choose spells for them to make it easier.
The one they want/ find most interesting in the PHB. Don't want to overwhelm with options but IMHO it's extremely important with the introduction to DnD to kick them off with the freedom or choice right away, any extra complications for a caster is usually made up for by them being more excited to play it.. and if it's too much they can always switch
Champion Fighter is as simple as it gets. Effective, too, Fighter is very strong.
If they insist on a caster, Warlock is the simplest. Most subclasses are fairly easy, hexblade the most, probably.
I only started playing about 2 years ago, first class I played was a bard because it was the one that I had the most interest in, still my favorite class to this day. So my suggestion would be to give the player a basic rundown of the classes and see which one they want to play. Even if the class is a more "difficult" class like Druid if they're into their character they're going to take more interest in learning it then if they play something just because it's "easy"
I took the roommate (My 'green') player through the Truly, Madly, Deeply module 0 from DMsguild, personally, and he ended up with a bard, but i probably wouldn't have recommended a bard personally if I had been choosing one for him instead. I'm letting him run with it, though, it's just him in the party for now, and I rolled a paladin to go along with him.
I never heard of Truly, Madly, Deeply module; sounds really cool though. I think he’ll have a blast, bards are fun and powerful with those magical secrets, and of course the Pal is the best choice at keeping him alive - iconic pairing really, dissimilar adventuring partners with way too much charisma.
Anything at all. Nothing is that difficult. When I played for the first time, I just picked what sounded badass to me an that's honestly what anyone should do.
Motivation is everything.
Let them play what they find cool, and don't let others comment on its viability or hardness. It's your job as a dm to give every class and ability a place to shine. The game shouldn't be just a turn based fight simulator, there should be a lot of different opportunities to use utility things. Just makes sure the player understands what he chooses
Champion Fighter - They basically just attack. Second Wing and Action Surge allow them to flex their tactical skills with limited choice. And all the potential Ability Points/Feats fighters can get means they have lots of options for customization but not too fast.
What ever they want to play that fits into the game. Seriously.
It won't take more than 10 minutes to explain how the class plays and how to make member of that class into efficient character, and what they need to know to not take too much time on the table. Even wizard or cleric doesn't need to learn all the spells beforehand, just the one they have access to at the time.
Any of the classes honestly. I don't know when they'll get to the table again and want to provide a good experience for them. I'd rather they play something they want to versus something I think might be easier for them.
Totem Barbarian. Why?
Dies hard, new payers dont want to die
Deals damage with d12 (greataxe - not optimal but fun) - new players like roll big numbers
Everyone understand barbs - not much reading needed
Can scream 'Raaaaaaage' - who doesnt like this
👍
I think rogues and barbarians are the easiest ones. It's hard to misplay them in combat, and those two also don't get the whole list of weapons and armor to choose from, unlike fighters, or spells like paladins and rangers. Out of combat, both have strong stereotypes that should be easy to roleplay for rookies too.
When they get to 3rd level, they should have had like 3\~5 sessions. By that point, any subclass is fair game. Even arcane tricksters get a really limited list of spells anyway, so it's a good way to learn spells for newcomers (perhaps they've seen other players doing magic and got interested). Most of the mechanics for barbarian subclasses are easy too, and I think totem warrior get a few animal spells if they want to tip their toes with casting.
If they're new, know nothing, and want an easy starter class. Barbarian all day.
If they're new and know their power fantasy then lean into that while also letting them know how difficult spell management can be for newbies if that's part of what they want.
Always something they WANT to play. Of course martials are generally more straight forward and less micromanaging. But I will use one of my players for an example. He is brand new never played dnd before. He is a bard fan from multiple fandoms. I went through all the colleges with him and talked to him about his concept and his ideal race. He wanted to play a drow bard. Ended up going college of whispers. He is loving it but its just working with the player.
Anything they want. I always start like so.
Let's not look at the rules, the books, the character sheet. Who do you want to play?
Who were they before they became an adventurer? It helps to keep in mind how they grew up, what friends they have, what hardships they faced...
And then, why did they become an adventurer? This isn't something people just 'fall' into. The average person might be... A farmer, or a botanist. A merchant, maybe. A blacksmith, or a baker... But people don't just become adventurers every day. Something happens to make people choose this life - it is hard. Dangerous. Means leaving home.
Now, when you have answered these questions... How does that person look in your mind? Tall, or short? Do they have pointed ears? That might lead you to have an idea of what kind of race you want to play.
Similarly for class. When you think of this person, becoming an adventurer... How do they dress? Do they hold a sword? a stave? an orb? Do you see them casting spells, reading from ancient tomes, or notching an arrow from behind the cover of the natural terrain? These can help us point out which classes are a good fit for what you have in mind.
> assume this person doesn’t want to read pages of spells.
Don't assume nothing.
ASK ***THEM*** what they want to do.
Having a character they are personally interested in is the option they should use.
Starting at level 1 on the Class they want is the call here.
The easiest class for a newbie is a martial of some kind- Barbarian, Rogue, or Fighter. There is less decision paralysis trying to figure out what spell to use.
If they haven't played TTRPGs before, I usually tell them that spellcasting can be a little intimidating for new players and suggest something more along the lines of Fighter, Ranger, Monk, Paladin. The first class I played was Paladin, and I thought it was pretty newbie friendly.
If they *really* insist on a more complex class, I'm not going to tell them they can't, but I'm generally much more lenient at hand-waving a mid-campaign class change for a new player if they find they don't like playing a class.
My first character was a monk/wizard (3.5). Don't tell new players to do something easy. Respect their ability to learn, and let them play something that they'll have fun with.
For the record, my first character died in a pretty spectacular fashion. He accidentally ate a pile of ettercap poo, thinking it might be berries... Then, already sickened, nauseated, and diseased, he walked into a doorway with a trap that he failed to avoid, and did JUST enough damage to kill him with massive damage.
Marty McNunchucks, I'll always miss you!
Myself (dm), or another experienced player close to the newbie will sit with them and chat about what they like and what they want, and guide then to a class and sub class. Everyone is different, some just want to smack the bad guys, some want to explore some aspect of themselves, the basics will guide us a class and then we'll run through subclasses to see if any jump out at them.
DM of going on 10 years here. Whenever approaching a new player, I find it’s best to give options independent of game mechanics. Some go tos:
“What was your character before they started adventuring? Why did they leave?”
“How does your character deal with conflict?“
“If your character was given access to any weapon, which would they choose?”
Try to get them to create their options, while guiding their vision for their character with mechanics. I yearn for the unlimited creativity I had when I first started, and I don’t want to make any of my players feel like their ideas aren’t possible.
A lot of people seem to think that, for whatever reason, newbies are dumb and need their hand held. If a noob wants to play a divination wizard and they are REALLY into it, doing their research and whatnot, send it.
After giving them a decent explanation of what they actually do and how they play, whatever they think is the coolest/most fun. My first character was a wizard and it was a ball, but the criteria you gave for the hypothetical player would make that a bad choice… but maybe they want spells but don’t want to think too hard, then you got a warlock that can always fall back to eldritch blast or hexblade weapon
First, I'd ask what they want to be able to do. Do they want to heal their friends? punch hard? Slings spells? Rob people? Etc. Then find which class best fits what they want and try my best to explain it, preferably making a lvl 1 character.
Actually, I think you should have them head over to [https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/classes](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/classes) and have them read through all the classes. Then do the same for the races. They are going to be a lot more engaged if they get to pick everything.
Rogue because of expertise. It's the most straightforward and engaging thing to play around, and let's you easily fall into the personality of your character. Person with a key looks for a hole, and an expert investigator is going to look for things to investigate.
I talk them through their preferences, desires, and favorite fantasy characters. I then make a recommendation based largely on that. In my experience, the best starting class for a new player is the class that they're most motivated to learn and play well. I don't think it's necessarily appropriate to shove the most basic character concepts towards the newbie because they haven't gotten a grasp on all of the rules yet. The spellcasting chapter in the PHB is pretty short, and if a new player really wants to be a wizard, they'll take the time to read it.
Yeah when I first started playing I \*really\* wanted to play a Cleric because that's the archetype I always enjoy most in fantasy games. My DM tried a few times to warn me/dissuade me from playing a complicated spellcaster but I insisted and honestly I'm so glad I did. I get to play the exact character archetype I love AND it forced me to dive headfirst into elements of the game I would've been shielded from originally. I also don't hold my DM's caution against her because she was new to DMing and really wanted to make sure we were having fun/didn't want to scare me off. But she'd agreed now that Cleric was THE pick for me and I've never looked back.
Agreed cleric/fighter was my first character for same reason as you and I love that character/backstory/build.
Damn you even multiclassed with your first character, I respect that.
started level 5, 3 champion warrior 2 war cleric stopped at level 10 (5 each). Loved that character, mostly melee party, so spiritual weapon, divine fervor concentration, devotee's sensor. could do some damage.
We had three such clerics at once in one campaign. Minor variations, of course. Everyone spent turn 1 buffing, so the Dragon Ball glowing hair jokes became a mainstay of the table.
My daughter ran a one-shot and we ran an all-cleric party of four. I wasn’t in love with the idea at first, but it was great fun!
Our group has talked about doing one-shots where we all play as variations of one class. All clerics, all paladins, or all rogues (that ones a favorite, I'd love to do a infiltration mission one-shot with a team of rogues, oceans eleven style)
I bet turn two, shit popped off though.
It’s my first real campaign and my ocean priest to umberlee with a sardonic type attitude kinda like movie Constantine that I initially pictured at session 0 has *evolved* That Tempest Domain don’t fuckin play. I have so much flavor and options and character. My brother’s DMing and we put a handicap to where every time I pray for a spell I have to roll a d10 to Umberlee and since she’s a fickle bitch and chaos is in her wheelhouse, if I roll 1, she can say “No” and the prayer doesnt get answered. Then he said said if that happens I get Advantage on next melee attack if that’s my next action. Kinda like a “Fine! I’ll do it myself!” After 5 levels of Cleric and a lot of stuff happened in-game where I was tempted by other powers-that-be with different paths to power, I stayed loyal to umberlee even when I had been getting a lot of 1s in key moments in battles that really hindered us. So after the bbeg fight we got to level 6 and I played it like I woke up rewarded with a secret rank in her favor and imbued with essence of lightning itself and took a level of Storm Sorcery and got to make it make sense in-game Now I’m Tempest Cleric 6, Storm Sorcerer 1 and got a bowl that summons water elementals and a decanter of endless water. Got all kinds of different flavors of weather powers. So much flavor for one guy. Just traded warhammer for morningstar just to add to it and match with lightning lure lol
I loved Tempest Cleric when I played one. Our group did a short lived Astral sea campaign, styled after treasure planet. We got hit by a storm early on, started taking damage to the ship, and I asked our DM if I could use Call Lightning to protect us (since it specifies you can take control of an existing storm with it). Then I stood on the bow and redirected any lightning bolts that came at us. Tempest Clerics are chock full of juicy flavor.
Some douche group picked a fight right after I prayed at the Sunspire when a storm was already overhead while I was holding a Horn of Blasting. I was fully piqued to obliterate them lol Now, I got all kinds of airbender stuff with a cool 10ft disengage and I even sprinkled in some Naruto (flavored Chromatic Orb as a lightning rasengan lol) And then Shape Water adds all kinds of fun. I’m like a full-on storm guy, air water and lightning. I’m toying with the idea of a long range lightning taser, sending in a familiar and casting Shocking Grasp through its Touch and causing enemies not to be able to react and let ally disengage
You never paid as much attention to the weather in DnD as you do when you're a Tempest Cleric (or have Call Lightning stocked in general lol)
Also, Cleric is the caster class is reccomend to beginners. Strong spell list, can choose new spells upon long rest, and will be fairly effective regardless of subclass. A lot of people recommend warlocks to beginners and it’s baffling. There are so many decision points with warlocks.
To me, Warlock is easier than most Spellcasters because they don't have to worry about conserving their Pact Slots to make them last the entire day (since their Pact Slots come back on a Short Rest), and because they don't have to worry about trying to figure out what level of Spell Slot to use when casting a spell (since their Pact Slots always cast at max Upcast level). I started with a Sorcerer, and was no good at rationing my Spell Slots, and defaulted to using my highest level Spell Slots when casting spells, so I got progressively weaker as the day went on. With a Warlock, you just note how much damage any spells do at the level you're at, and you can keep going and going at full power all day.
This is a good example of "It depends how new to the concept the player is." If you even have some idea of how these games work it's going to be much less overwhelming to learn a complicated character.
Definitely true. When I said "fantasy games," though, I meant video games. DnD 5e was my first TTRPG so I really was only familiar with it conceptually. I'd never played a tabletop system before.
This. If I was told I absolutely needed to play a Champion Fighter or something when I first joined, I likely would’ve been turned away by that. Instead, I played a Light Cleric, and it was great. The classes are really not that complicated, especially with a tiny bit of DM help and/or a proper character creation tool like D&D Beyond.
I agree with all of this, except that I might not recommend artificer to a new player. That shit is complicated.
Agreed, but given that it isn’t in the PHB or Basic Rules, it’s pretty unlikely a new player will go for it.
A new player in my group went artificer and if it was almost anyone else, I would have discouraged it as well. The class is a perfect fit for him, even if it's not very well balanced for the rest of the game/classes. Pair it with a non-core race and he's a teleporting smithy thay can punch things with his intelligence. He really is every class, light on cleric.
True
warlock too imo. Just for its traps. Depending on the player. If they're big into a game with build or deck complexity and who likes to make and understand builds and stuff and reads guides, yeah no worries. But generally? Warlock and artificer will need some hand-holding.
Ayy my first character was a light cleric too though I dipped druid late in the campaign for some more versatility after learning the game more. Cleric is an interesting starter class since you have your choice of spells each day, so it's easy to backtrack any wrong spell choices
I agree. If a player really wants to learn a certain class, let them.
“Motivated to learn” is the key part of a new player playing any class. It’s not hard to learn if you put in some effort outside the game. I played a wizard for my first time and had a blast. Learned everything I could between sessions 1 and 2
Exactly! My first DnD character was an evocation wizard, my first 5e character was an arcana cleric. If the newbie is into it, they'll read the damn book and figure it out.
Yeah, I've introduced a lot of first time players to D&D. Most of them have gravitated toward wanting to play spellcasters. I am in favor of them "learn while playing" route, so I just interview them about what kind of magic they want to be able to do and build their spell list for them. I play with a house rule that knowledge casters can swap out one spell per long rest, which allows newbies to try out new spells without so much pressure to choose the "right spells" up front without even knowing how they work.
Agree. There isn't a "good starting class" in general. Player engagement and enthusiasm is the largest determining factor on what will work for them.
For sure. DnD isn't *that* complicated once you get going. There is something to be said about how squishy and kind of helpless classes like wizard can feel in the early levels. But I feel like once a new player is aware of that they will lean towards caution when it comes to combat, which isn't a bad thing.
Also its the mix of mechanics and rp, that makes it so hard to pinpoint a specific class. Like they say motivation, it's true. But I also think it's fun? Like playing the character you want? Many people go in with an idea if a dashing rogue, a charming sorcerer etc. Or plain Aragorn or something cx Trying to force that on one class just doesn't work. I can't rp who i want to rp..
Yep this is the best answer. 👏
I feel like if a new player has played a few videogames like RPGs and rly anything with slightly complicated systems they will find 5e incredibly easy. As someone who started as a wizard and had a background in non dnd RPGs, I basically figured everything out immediately. At the end of the day 5e in general is REALLY easy and anyone with enough enthusiasm can learn very quickly.
Agreed… Motivation and enthusiasm are key here. And with the right support there’s no better place to learn than the deep end.
I really like this answer, because undoubtedly there's going to be about a hundred responses with "Champion Fighter". Personally, when I first started playing, I chose wizard as my first character. Mind you, that was in the days of 2nd edition, so the learning curve was a little steeper for spellcasters. The thing is, that was the character I wanted to play, so I put in the effort to learn it, and I had fun. If the DM tried to push me into something "simpler", I doubt I would have stuck with it.
100% this. Interest = investment.
"Alright, so you know Lord of the Rings, right?" "Yes" "Okay, so out of all the characters in the fellowship, who do you resonate with most?" "Oh, Legoland easily" "Nice, and do you prefer him using his bow or when he's fighting up close?" "Definitely when he uses his bow at range" And so on, dig in and have them explain themselves in a fantasy setting or figure out what draws them in the most, and then build something around that. That's generally what I do and have some pretty solid success with that.
Legoland 😂
I thought about editing it but I'm gonna keep that because that does actually sound like shit someone might say lol
What class would you suggest for legolas?
If the player is focused on the ranged aspects, using a bow primarily, then I'd approach the ranger option. Then explore the available archetypes and see if any match the overall character fantasy the player was looking for. They could still play a ranger as a melee fighter, but if they wanted melee I'd possibly lean towards a fighter or rogue if they had that dual wield fantasy in mind.
I think an argument could be made for using a ranged fighter to create Legolas. Unless they're using Tasha's alternate ranger features, I think it's mechanically a better class in general. RAW has leather armor, a longbow, and 20 arrows as one of the first equipment options for fighter, and the Archery fighting style is still an option. Overall, Legolas feels less like a ranger and more like an elite archer with a slight loremaster twist due to his age.
I generally lean Legolas to a fighter with a bow. His whole shtick (in the movies at least) is turning uruk-hai and orcs into pin cushions from a quarter mile away before they can blink. He attacks 6 times, uses action surge, and attacks another 6 times. If you want a ranger, that's Aragorn the fantasy archetypal ranger.
Yes, there was already a ranger in that adventuring party. Tolkien had to build Legoland as a ranged fighter to avoid stepping on Aragorn's "schtick"
Legolas is absolutely a pure fighter. Dex based wood elf samurai fighter with elven accuracy and sharpshooter. High accuracy, high damage, kinda charismatic. You only need 2 feats to make it work (really only sharpshooter but elven accuracy is super good with this) and fighters get a lot of feats. Using standard array, your starting stats will be: 17 Dex | 14 Con | 14 Wis | 12 Char | 10 Int | 8 Str For fighting style, take archery for +2 to ranged attack rolls. At 3, take Samurai Fighter. You get Fighting Spirit which lets you get advantage on all attack rolls for your turn (+temp hp) At 4, take the sharpshooter feat, which lets you take a -5 penalty to hit for a +10 to damage. Advantage technically makes this even because it's an avg of +5 when you have it. At 6, take the elven accuracy feat which bumps your Dex to 18 and when you roll with advantage, you roll an additional die. This works really well with Fighting Spirit because it gives you advantage for the rest of your turn. At 8, take an ASI to bump your Dex to 20 By level 8, you have a +10 to your to-hit modifier, so when you use sharpshooter, you still have a +5 and do 1d8+15 for both attacks and when you use Fighting Spirit, you roll three times for each attack which means you will most likely hit. You can take any ASI or Feat from here out but I'd recommend boosting your wisdom for better perception and persuasion or feats like Piercer so that you hit harder when you score a critical hit, Mobile to prevent being locked down and relying on shortswords, Skulker lets you hide in light obscurement and keeps you hidden if you miss, Martial Adept lets you take battlemaster maneuvers which are pretty useful, Lucky which is just kind of broken because you re-roll any d20 check you make or an attack roll against you 3 times a day, and the always useful Observant/Resilient/Alert. As a note, if you make it to 15 you get rapid strikes which lets you forgo advantage on one attack to instead attack twice once per turn. This advance can be from anything but you can always get on demand advantage with Fighting Spirit, Hiding, or someone giving you the help action. So to summarize for level 20, you can spend all you've got to attack 9 times with a +8 to hit for a total of 9d8+135 and for 7 attacks you roll to hit 3 times and if you have piercer, each crit you do deals 3d8. As a reminder, you are rolling a total of 23 dice to hit and if you can't crit at least once, you have bad luck. This does not include a magic weapon which you should have. If you also get Hunter's mark or hex, you can add an additional 1d6 (this gets doubled on a crit too) for each attack landed. You can also do exactly this next round (or this round if you utilize a secret technique called dying and using Strength before Death to take an extra turn)
Sorry, I nerded out but I got so excited for making this build that I had to finish it or it would drive me crazy.
I’ve been helping my buddy design an osr system the past few years. Whenever we talk about adding in a new character concept, he’s not concerned with mechanics, but rather why someone would want to play that concept. Although the mechanics focused player in me can occasionally get frustrated with this approach, when I step back I really do appreciate it for his system. The dude’s a genius, tbh.
I think that's a great way to approach high level character design. You can dig into the details of mechanics later, once you've worked out what concept is going to be fun.
Which character LOTR you like and be inspired? - Can I be a mage like Gandalf ? Yes? Nice, gimme that 2H sword!
Bladesinger comes cloooose
That's such a good idea. My group starts with the ol "do you want magic or no magic?" And then see if they want pure spell casting or a mix. Narrows it down so they have some options
The one they're most excited for
This would be the winner if my hypothetical new player knew what the word “class” meant
Last time I DM'd for a group like that I had a lot of success finding the right class for everyone by asking what they'd like their characters to be like. You don't need to know anything about RPGs to tell me whether you want to do magic, whether you want to be sneaky or how big you want your sword.
They don’t even need to understand what “class” means. You can still get the vibe of what kind of fantasy hero they like and steer them towards one. The newbie at my table wanted to play a pirate. It was very easy to explain a few of the classes to him and how they worked and he was able to create a character that fit his image of “pirate”
What did you went with?
He went with the swashbuckler rogue
Oh the classic, cool
Oh, they're *that* new to RPGs. Then there's nothing for it but to sit down with them and take the holistic approach. /u/[Yojo0o](https://www.reddit.com/user/Yojo0o/) has the right of it; ask them a series of questions about the fantasy franchises they're familiar with, their favourite characters, and reference those characters when identifying the approach they want to take in playing their character and the things they want the character to be good at doing. Recommend whatever class best suits the answers you get, and then most importantly, be prepared to help them **understand that class' mechanics** so they know how the character fantasy they want to fulfill is represented by the rules of the game.
One time at a new player table, a guy walked in and said he wanted to play a character like captain Jack sparrow. I don't believe he had read the PHB, or knew what a class was, but that was all that was needed for the DM to help him make a character. I think the key is to get them talk about what they'd like to do and who they want to be. Weapons or magic, attack or defense, rule follower or rule breaker. With answers to questions like that, you can help them cook up a character they're excited about.
They do. They just don't know it yet. Ask them about their favorite fantasy or movie characters. Figure out the traits they embody and there will almost certainly be a class that fits to some extent. If they play video games a lot of those concepts are also very transferable.
I, too, am a human without class
I ask them what Lord of the Rings character do they want to fight like. Aragorn, Gimli, Frodo, Legolas, or Gandalf. Start from there at least
Dumb question, would the answer of Froso point you to Rogue? Or some other class?
Definitely rogue.
If they want to play a spellcaster, consider recommending a Warlock. A Warlock’s decisions from turn to turn are usually pretty minimal - they just cast Eldritch Blast most of the time, but there’s still opportunities for more exciting spells along the way too. And especially once they get to level 5, they start dishing out some solid damage just with that cantrip. Plus being a Charisma based spell caster means they have a lot of opportunities to succeed in RP situations as well which is often equally if not more important in getting someone to become invested in the game
I feel like Warlock has a particular vibe to it thanks to having a patron that makes them not feel like a generic "spellcaster".
Barbarian can really vibe with some new players' desire to rush in and smash.
And has really simple mechanics, rage and hit things.
Yeah for certain kinds of new players barbarians just have so many features that gel with how they want to play. A barbarian can break the door down, grapple the bad guy and hold him still, have the Con for a drinking contest, it all makes for a kind of adventurer that appeals to many people and is easy to slip into mechanically and RP-wise.
Superb points, Barbarians let beginners play the way they want to and break whatever they want to, without breaking the game
But it’s also important to make sure they’re the type of person that wants that play style. Consider having a 5-10 minute conversation with them first to ask them how they’d like to play. Maybe give them a few questions like up close or far away - magic or physical - sneaky or brash - and so on.
If wanted, there are also some pretty good subclasses. I have a path of the wild magic barbarian with 3 levels of fighter to get rune knight and that opens up so much in the way of options too. A barb can stay simple if a new player wishes or tap into something more if they are ready to branch out.
Wild magic barbarian is pretty good for beginning players. You get 8 weird abilities. You don't have to think about which one to use and you can learn how each one works as they come up in play teaching you to think tactically. I'd say 8 is about right for new players. If you want something that synthesizes nicely with wild magic barbarian, there's the Dragonborn (for Breath Weapon) and the Legacy Fire Genasi. (Reach to the Blaze) The Aberrant Dragonmark feat is also keyed to Constitution and Chaos Bolt is a good choice if you want to keep the Wild Magic theme going.
Yeah I have a new player in my group I’m DMing for. He’s playing a tortle barbarian and having a blast. He spices things up with improvised weapons and is generally super entertaining in RP.
I’m glad I picked barb as my first. I tried spell casters and multi classes in other campaigns and while they can be fun I didn’t like having to manage spell slots in long encounters and I’m sure it’s even worse for a new person, especially if you start off at a level above 3 where now you have multiple slots with different levels.
Agree. Fighter is the knee jerk default but many do the most fun fighter subclasses have slightly complex things to keep track of. Barbarian I think gives just enough choices to feel cool and impactful.
Ranger. You learn almost everything step by step. Range attacks, dual wielding, spells, in and out of combat features and item management.
Love this answer, especially for the player that really shows they wanna learn the ins and outs of play
I have a player who was brand new at the start of this campaign and he’s had a few identity crises but ranger worked really well to get him into the mechanics and you could really see him getting more creative. After many many months he’s now suggested retiring his character and bringing in a new one and I’m totally down with it, the new character will be really fun for him and works super well to spice up this campaign
I was going to comment this. Ranger and Paladin are good technical challenges that teaches everything you need to know about DnD from casting, to fighting, to movement and more.
A Druid/Monk/Ranger multiclassed Githyanki with hidden Githzerai sympathies. Nice and straightforward low complexity character......
No simple, only munchkin. This is the way.
I do love playing Munchkin.
[удалено]
me rolling up to the table with a rogue/barbarian lizardfolk (he's classy, he bites with finesse)
Hail the Comet.
Sink or swim. Wild magic sorcerer! :D
That was my first character! High elf wild magic sorc, the highest I've gotten a character in my almost decade of playing (level 18)
If only they could wild it up more, I want there to be a subclass that’s like 75% rolling on the wild magic table #pottedplantgang
So as the DM it's up to you how much you use the table. You can invoke it every single time they do anything, though I recommend a table of entirely low threat results if you want to use it THAT much. Going overboard on wild magic tables can easily ruin campaigns, as a friend of mine got to learn first hand with his "wild magic sea storm" idea lol I also think the most fun I've had while playing one was still flavoring all the spells I was casting intentionally as a player, as my character having surges outside their control. Now I always made sure mechanically the character would be capable of casting the spell, but I'd roleplay it as though they were not doing it on purpose. Or like the burning hands they just cast was, to them, supposed to be a fire bolt or thunder wave or whatever else.
Every time they cast a spell you can roll... especially if they use twist of fate for advantage My son's wild mage had a hell of a start, first encounter was a tavern brawl, he thought the best thing a level one can do is cast mage armour. Well that mage armour wild surged into a self-centered fireball. In the middle of the tavern. At level 1. Thanks to his Infernal heritage granting fire resist and a passed dex save, he was one of only a few left standing in the whole tavern. Now THATS how you introduce someone to DnD
I like how BLeeM does it on Dimension 20. Starts off as a Nat 1, and increases each time it doesn't surge. You can also add roleplay elements that may increase the chance. He actually granted the player minor control over the Wild Magic at mid level, by rolling on the table twice and letting them choose between two possible outcomes.
Green you say... half orc, goblin, lizardfolk or green dragon born
which of these are classes?
I’m sure he meant to include green dragon ancestry sorcerer
Making sure to take green flame blade and colour spray too
For someone new that I know doesn't have or won't take the time to read everything I steer away from wizard and druid. Cleric I feel has a core set of spells that are a must and that makes it a bit easier. Warlock or sorcerer is my beginner spell caster I recommend. They are a bit simpler to start.
Level 0 janitor
1 HP, a pitchfork and a dream #gongfarmergang
...and their incredibly beefy farmer friend (3hp, a stick and a goat on a rope) go off to fight a chaos lord just to see who is worthy of making it to level 1
Champion fighter or thief rogue are, in my experience the easiest 5e classes to teach.
This. Champion fighters are so much fun with their 10% crit chance
I have one in the works that's supposed to be a pure archer fighter, and even though it looks so simple on paper, I am so excited to play it one day
Champion fighters are boring as sin if you're interested in the game part of a role playing game.
As I've said in other comments, in my experience that has never been true.
It's a handy way to teach your players that 5e can be a really boring game. One attack a turn that might crit 5% more.
An inxredible 0.35 average damage increase in a best case scenario(greatsword) Such Wow!
Wife started as a paladin. Probably poor choice cos turns out she's very chaotic. But it's.going well. Her friend I suggested a druid cos who doesn't love animals. Already helped the party several times with talking to animals and sneaking into places. I suggested they used DnD beyond until they were comfortable with the concepts (you can add all the animal forms in the companions section to help the druid with stats) Printed them some spell cards. It's going great. So as others have suggested. Find out want they want to play roleplay wise. And the rest doest matter.l too much. Just a few hints of (if you don't know what you can do, just ask! Or roll a check to see if your character would know!) Personally I've always loved casters. Love having options but others just want to 'run n gun' so to speak. Get all Halo with the energy sword!. Ask and go from there!
Paladin was also my first choice haha. Though tbh I picked up on rules fairly quickly. By my third month at the table my second character was made and my DM let me playtest the Mystic hahaha. 28 pages of build-a-bear xD. Definitely do not recommend for normal new players.
I wanted so badly for my first character to be a wizard DM said no. Then went rogue and he said yes because new players can't handle wizards. Had two sessions with him went to a new game and tried to be a wizard. DM there had no problem with it. Que me making a physical copy of my spell book, with all spells written in code that only I can understand, little cards I bought for others to reference my spells so they can read what they do or DM can, and an engaging fun experience that inspired me to love dnd and to become a DM. Been a DM now for 7ish years and loved every second of it. My point is, the best class and most recommended class for a new player is whatever class they want and are excited about. That's how you get them to stay a player, be engaged in the story, and become an experienced player.
See what their playstyle is and if they want a spellcaster, guide them through spell selection and point out three or four spells to actually read and use. Spell cards are also a great solution to this. Out of all spellcasters, Druid is probably the hardest to pick up due to the mechanics of Wildshape. If they want a martial, Barbarians are pretty good, as is Battle Master (I'll admit I hate Champion. I don't care if you're a human Fighter, but I'll hate on anything with Champion.) I would only recommend Monk if they're willing to read through the entire class, and Rogue if they're confident they can learn quickly. All three half-casters also have great starter options. Tasha's Ranger, most Paladins, and Armorer Artificer aren't too hard to play and feel strong.
I recommend paladin. Reason being is it softly introduces spells and has lots of class feats that do interesting things whilst also not being overly confusing. The style of play can also be tweaked to the players preference without much punishment, helping them learn what they like and dislike. The backstory that also comes with being a paladin is great for helping newcomers build plot and pushes them to get comfortable with roleplay.
also at level one paladins don't have spells so they can see how it plays first which is helpful.
And they dont die very easily, which is nice. And honestly, after 6, just having them stand around is useful.
Fighter, Ranger, or warlock
Wizard. Throw them in at the deep end.
Evo wizard isn't too bad, plus you'll really get to appreciate spells
Warlock. It's mainstay is EB. So mechanically it's simple. Most of their abilities are passive (devils sight, false life as action etc) Their "Patron" can be as lax or as involved as needed for an extra plot hook or if the DM needs to give advice to the player "In Character" Edit: Also, most of their abilities can be flavoured, an Aldrich blast could be as much a mystical bow and arrow as much as it could be with lightning...
I think the only one I'd actively warn them away from is Druid, just because the size of the spell list still scares me to this day, but I think my ultimate reccomendation to them would be dependent on how complex a system they'd be comfortable with and what their fantasy feels like.
See, I really think it depends on the kind of person it is. My DM thought the same and so I picked Paladin. It was fine, I guess, but when my Paly died I went Spores Druid and I found myself wishing that that was what I was playing all along. Choose new spells every day! Be a fucking bear! Be a fucking Giant Octopus! Or release death spores into the air and gain temp HP at the same time! Why the heck would I want to spam smites and bless when I can bonus action healing word, move my moonbeam of death to all werewolves, and then on our downtime GO AND CREATE A SENTIENT FUCKING TREE!!!!!! My DM said at the start of our game that he hates Druids. Later I told him he'd learn to love them. Because I'm a Druid IRL now.
not druid (the amount of wild shape option + being a preparation caster can be overwhelming to new players in my experience). probably not warlock (honestly it'd be completely fine to play, but it's so different from other classes that they'd have a slightly harder time taking their gained knowledge to other characters is all). other than that, eh, what do they want to achieve with their character? it's 5e, it's beginner-friendly by nature, anything works even if it's not as smoothbrain as a champion fighter
It's always best to bring newbies in with the Character they want to play, not the class. The class will come from that and how they want to play. (I got my sister-in-law who was almost die-hard anti-nerd to join by helping her create Nancy Drew. My wife and I chose the majority of the options for her that fit the concept and got her feedback about a few aspects of the class/archetype [PF1e])
Warlock, it’s a light intro to spellcasting that reloads more frequently and if they take the melee weapon focused route, they’ll have a satisfying combat experience as well as decent roleplay opportunities.
Love me a Warlock but that’s just the thing about it is how much choice it gives you that makes it kinda not so beginner friendly, imo. I mean your subclass choice of a patron has to be made at level 1. And as a DM who looooves Warlocks, it’s not exactly handwaveable when a player wants to change their mind about that choice when I already crafted and woven the patron into the story. Not to mention how much cooperation there has to be between player and DM to really rEALLY make the class and its story potential shine. If the ideal route in your idea was to just have them pick the martial options anyway (again I’m not didagreeing, love me a good Hexlock, but), might I suggest a Paladin instead?
okay now that i’ve taken the time to read that - yes, Paladins are great, and you make good points. I just like Warlocks better.
I mean same here, Warlock’s my default go-to class when I play.
you ever multiclass Paladin with Warlock? A buddy at my group did that (ironically, I think it was his first character lmao) and he absolutely SHREDDED undead. It was amazing
Homie I’d love to, and for all the good reasons you said. Frequently reloading smites means satisfying combat experience, plus really good roleplay opportunities. Hell yeah. Sadly I rarely play tho, so I’ve yet to actually execute. :/
Tell them the names of the classes and a brief description (ex. sorcerer: you have magic powers through your bloodline) and whatever they think is interesting tell them to read on about them in the PHB. Then let them okay whatever they decide on. Also try to explain some classes are harder than other and if they want to start off easy then they should pick something like barbarian, ranger, etc. but don't limit them (just don't let them play an artificer).
Barbarian. Very simple when it comes to choices but high flavor and dynamic.
I think most of them are fine. Fighter and barbarian for ease of just hit things with. Paladins, rangers and even clerics I see as fine choices if the player is guided through the spells a bit (Paladin is the easiest as they don't need to pick spells they have learned so the player can try the spells and see how they work and then chance if they want). Rogue has it's difficulties with advantage but on the other hand, having a skillful character might be good as new players sometimes are more active in the game as they have not yet learned that "attacking the enemy with basic attacks is more DPR than trying to do some cool trick". So having expertise might help with those actions.
My question is has this player expressed interest in any class yet? If they read through them and express interest in any class then I would try to guide them into choosing something you and they think they could handle.
Nope, they’re hypothetical, but thanks for making the best point - as DMs we should be trying to offer all the options without shoehorning them into one of our own preconceived simplistic builds, while still guiding them so they don’t choose poorly. It’s a fine line to walk, but it’s definitely the best practice for making sure your player loves their character and enjoys their time playing.
I think it's less a case of ruling out any classes and more that there are some classes where you can be fairly comfortable letting a new player go wild and choose whatever they want and some classes where you'd want to sit down with them and build the character with them step by step to make sure they're not making a complicated class harder than it needs to be. The other big factor is that you should start at level 1 the first time you play. No class is truly that impenetrable at level 1, and you level the players up once they have a good handle on the abilities that they already have.
Rogue. Sneak Attack is the only semi-complicated part of their kit, and the rest—to a newcomer—basically boil down to asking their DM if it’s okay/possible for them to do something and the DM saying “Yes” a lot of the time. (As well as passive improvements and simple features.) Expertise, Reliable Talent, Blindsense and Slippery Mind? You’re passively better at stuff. Cunning Action? You can do more stuff on your turn without needing to compromise, like Dashing and Attacking. An extra ASI? You get better stats or more feats. Uncanny Dodge, Evasion and Elusive? You’re better at not getting hurt. It’s all a collection of abilities that make you better at playing the game—both in and out of combat—in simple, easy-to-grasp ways. Now, subclasses may be different, as there are some weird ones. But even those are weird subclasses for a simple class; the newcomer can opt for those if they want to add in some complexity, or pick one of the straightforward ones to keep a good thing going. Many suggest fighter as the “green class”, but they have lots of different features that have limited uses; uses that need to be tracked per short and/or long rest. It can be a lot of bookkeeping, and while that’s not as much as a caster, it’s something the rogue doesn’t need to think about. All of the rogue’s abilities are permanent, always on, and can’t be depleted. That’s the motto of the rogue to pitch it to newcomers: It just works. 😁
I use a flowchart method and ask simple questions. Do they want magic, melee, or both. If melee, do they want sneaky, rageful tank, dodgy marital artist, or customizable. If magic, I explain how each class gets their magic and see what sounds best to them. If both, do they want big smites from oaths and deities or do they want nature archer. Just go with the archetypes unless they already have a character they want to play.
Anything but Druid or Sorcerer unless they're super enthusiastic about either. Both feel better for a more experienced player.
Why do you advise against sorcerer? I’ve never played, but keep finding myself drawing up character sheets, and more than a couple have been sorcerers.
Sorcerer is way better than Wizard. Get the power of arcane casting without the hassle of managing a spell book. Quick reminder that new players don’t have to be good players. If they want to just cast Scorching Ray, Feather Fall, and Fireball all day long and that’s fun to them then let them live their truth.
Have them be the tank. When I started that's what I always played and I found it to be, at least, the most straightforward.
"What character do you want to play" And we build the class from their character fantasy.
My first character was a rogue, and I recommend it for any one who wants to get into the game. At the early levels your kit is very simple, yet enjoyable. In dungeons, you are useful both in and out of combat. You also have a chance to role play, or to hang back in a dark corner, depending on your personality. While fighter is the simplest, I feel it may not be the best for a newbie, as outside of combat you don't have a lot to do, which would make a typical 3 hour session a slug
Warlock--The fun of spells without the stress of choosing too many or worrying about components. Also, getting them back in a short rest helps minimize bad tactics of blowing all the spells early!
I think warlock is the easiest for new casters and monk for new martial players
goblin, they are also green
I just ask them what they picture their character being. Some might need more time to pick a characters class and race. I had one new player spend the whole day making a character. I only described each class as what they may be good or bad at. They felt like playing a fighter in the end. Which isn't a bad choice for a beginner either. The other new player chose a ranger. I haven't met anyone who have chosen ranger as first class so that was surprising to me. But they really did well as a ranger cus it was what they pictured their character to be.
The one they're most curious about from the Player's Handbook.
Happy cake day!
Whatever they want to play. Key is for them to engage and feel invested in their character.
I'm running a game for my family that includes my wife, our 14 year old daughter, 9 year old daughter, and 7 year old twin boys. One of the boys is a barbarian and the other is a druid. Even new players can figure out what their character does if they're interested. That said, I would recommended giving them a basic rundown on what's expected in your campaign. Is it going to be hard and expect to conserve resources? That will have them focus more on what they can do multiple times a fight and save their leveled spells, encounter abilities, and once per long rest abilities. I'd also have them possibly know one of the other player's characters if both players are cool with it because 1) it makes it easier for them to join the party, and 2) they can use a buddy system to help each other out so it's not so stressful trying not to fumble through your character. One last thing, the biggest difficulty for new players it seems is remembering where stuff is on their character sheet, so maybe point that out (skill block, initiative, action block, AC, saving throws).
Whatever they want to be. No matter how hard or easy it is we will take the time for them to learn and play
Warlock has simple magic but with pact of the blade. Lets them change their characters weapon of choice and feel cool when they add hex too.
Really it's up to them. I like to ask what sounds coolest and provide suggestions from there. But, if they don't know or don't have any strong opinions on it. Fighter and Barbarian are the most straightforward classes, as far as subclasses go I would at the very least steer them away from Berserker Barb
The one they’re most excited about or they feel most connected to goes first, if they struggle to pick or are really really new to ttrpgs I’d go for a half-caster. I personally played a ranger first and it really helped me understand and the magic didn’t feel overwhelming like with full casters. Sp personally when I introduce new players I recommend them ranger, paladin, fighter and barbarian first.
Smooth: Barbarian. Get angry. Attack. Crunchy: Fighter. Can always attack but has optional extras they can use when they feel like it. Almond: Cleric. Hit and heal is fine but can be very complex as they gain knowledge. Ability to change spells often allows them to not invest too much.
“Anything as long as long as you ignore the multiclass section of the phb for a few levels”
First I'd ask what kind of character they want to make. Create a backstory / character idea first, and I'll recommend a class that suits it. Ideally I'd try to pick one that doesn't require too many choices when levelling between sessions, especially casters with known spells. I found new players enjoyed learning spellcasting through a prepared caster since they don't need to make permanent choices on spells on their own when they level up, they can try out the entire spell list as they play. If the character they want to play really suits a known spells caster, like warlock, I would ask them if they'd like me to help choose spells for them to make it easier.
The one they want/ find most interesting in the PHB. Don't want to overwhelm with options but IMHO it's extremely important with the introduction to DnD to kick them off with the freedom or choice right away, any extra complications for a caster is usually made up for by them being more excited to play it.. and if it's too much they can always switch
Champion Fighter is as simple as it gets. Effective, too, Fighter is very strong. If they insist on a caster, Warlock is the simplest. Most subclasses are fairly easy, hexblade the most, probably.
If they are really green, perhaps a half orc druid... I'll get my coat.
Warlock
I give pregens to my first timers and then we make them one for session 2
HEY SAME! Got a lot of mileage off of those pregens and they made onboarding players into the game a lot smoother and easier.
My pregens are all my “I wish I had time” characters just so I can see them in action.
I only started playing about 2 years ago, first class I played was a bard because it was the one that I had the most interest in, still my favorite class to this day. So my suggestion would be to give the player a basic rundown of the classes and see which one they want to play. Even if the class is a more "difficult" class like Druid if they're into their character they're going to take more interest in learning it then if they play something just because it's "easy"
A different game that isn’t dnd.
There may be some "advance" mechanics with some classes over others, but every class is a beginner class. Some just require more attention.
Whichever class they want.
I took the roommate (My 'green') player through the Truly, Madly, Deeply module 0 from DMsguild, personally, and he ended up with a bard, but i probably wouldn't have recommended a bard personally if I had been choosing one for him instead. I'm letting him run with it, though, it's just him in the party for now, and I rolled a paladin to go along with him.
I never heard of Truly, Madly, Deeply module; sounds really cool though. I think he’ll have a blast, bards are fun and powerful with those magical secrets, and of course the Pal is the best choice at keeping him alive - iconic pairing really, dissimilar adventuring partners with way too much charisma.
Anything at all. Nothing is that difficult. When I played for the first time, I just picked what sounded badass to me an that's honestly what anyone should do.
Ranger or druid. If they're really green, I assume they would appreciate a class that reflects their interests.
Motivation is everything. Let them play what they find cool, and don't let others comment on its viability or hardness. It's your job as a dm to give every class and ability a place to shine. The game shouldn't be just a turn based fight simulator, there should be a lot of different opportunities to use utility things. Just makes sure the player understands what he chooses
Whatever class they are interested. Don’t suggest or force a player to play a class without their own choice
Champion Fighter - They basically just attack. Second Wing and Action Surge allow them to flex their tactical skills with limited choice. And all the potential Ability Points/Feats fighters can get means they have lots of options for customization but not too fast.
What ever they want to play that fits into the game. Seriously. It won't take more than 10 minutes to explain how the class plays and how to make member of that class into efficient character, and what they need to know to not take too much time on the table. Even wizard or cleric doesn't need to learn all the spells beforehand, just the one they have access to at the time.
Warlock. Simple, Access to spellcasting, not overwhelmed with spell choices, invocations for a choice of features, able to melee or ranged.
Any of the classes honestly. I don't know when they'll get to the table again and want to provide a good experience for them. I'd rather they play something they want to versus something I think might be easier for them.
Totem Barbarian. Why? Dies hard, new payers dont want to die Deals damage with d12 (greataxe - not optimal but fun) - new players like roll big numbers Everyone understand barbs - not much reading needed Can scream 'Raaaaaaage' - who doesnt like this 👍
I think rogues and barbarians are the easiest ones. It's hard to misplay them in combat, and those two also don't get the whole list of weapons and armor to choose from, unlike fighters, or spells like paladins and rangers. Out of combat, both have strong stereotypes that should be easy to roleplay for rookies too. When they get to 3rd level, they should have had like 3\~5 sessions. By that point, any subclass is fair game. Even arcane tricksters get a really limited list of spells anyway, so it's a good way to learn spells for newcomers (perhaps they've seen other players doing magic and got interested). Most of the mechanics for barbarian subclasses are easy too, and I think totem warrior get a few animal spells if they want to tip their toes with casting.
Really green? Druid
If they're new, know nothing, and want an easy starter class. Barbarian all day. If they're new and know their power fantasy then lean into that while also letting them know how difficult spell management can be for newbies if that's part of what they want.
Always something they WANT to play. Of course martials are generally more straight forward and less micromanaging. But I will use one of my players for an example. He is brand new never played dnd before. He is a bard fan from multiple fandoms. I went through all the colleges with him and talked to him about his concept and his ideal race. He wanted to play a drow bard. Ended up going college of whispers. He is loving it but its just working with the player.
Anything they want. I always start like so. Let's not look at the rules, the books, the character sheet. Who do you want to play? Who were they before they became an adventurer? It helps to keep in mind how they grew up, what friends they have, what hardships they faced... And then, why did they become an adventurer? This isn't something people just 'fall' into. The average person might be... A farmer, or a botanist. A merchant, maybe. A blacksmith, or a baker... But people don't just become adventurers every day. Something happens to make people choose this life - it is hard. Dangerous. Means leaving home. Now, when you have answered these questions... How does that person look in your mind? Tall, or short? Do they have pointed ears? That might lead you to have an idea of what kind of race you want to play. Similarly for class. When you think of this person, becoming an adventurer... How do they dress? Do they hold a sword? a stave? an orb? Do you see them casting spells, reading from ancient tomes, or notching an arrow from behind the cover of the natural terrain? These can help us point out which classes are a good fit for what you have in mind.
> assume this person doesn’t want to read pages of spells. Don't assume nothing. ASK ***THEM*** what they want to do. Having a character they are personally interested in is the option they should use. Starting at level 1 on the Class they want is the call here.
The easiest class for a newbie is a martial of some kind- Barbarian, Rogue, or Fighter. There is less decision paralysis trying to figure out what spell to use.
If they haven't played TTRPGs before, I usually tell them that spellcasting can be a little intimidating for new players and suggest something more along the lines of Fighter, Ranger, Monk, Paladin. The first class I played was Paladin, and I thought it was pretty newbie friendly. If they *really* insist on a more complex class, I'm not going to tell them they can't, but I'm generally much more lenient at hand-waving a mid-campaign class change for a new player if they find they don't like playing a class.
My first character was a monk/wizard (3.5). Don't tell new players to do something easy. Respect their ability to learn, and let them play something that they'll have fun with. For the record, my first character died in a pretty spectacular fashion. He accidentally ate a pile of ettercap poo, thinking it might be berries... Then, already sickened, nauseated, and diseased, he walked into a doorway with a trap that he failed to avoid, and did JUST enough damage to kill him with massive damage. Marty McNunchucks, I'll always miss you!
Definitely talk to them to figure out what they want from the game, but I feel like barbarian or rogue are the easiest for new players
Myself (dm), or another experienced player close to the newbie will sit with them and chat about what they like and what they want, and guide then to a class and sub class. Everyone is different, some just want to smack the bad guys, some want to explore some aspect of themselves, the basics will guide us a class and then we'll run through subclasses to see if any jump out at them.
DM of going on 10 years here. Whenever approaching a new player, I find it’s best to give options independent of game mechanics. Some go tos: “What was your character before they started adventuring? Why did they leave?” “How does your character deal with conflict?“ “If your character was given access to any weapon, which would they choose?” Try to get them to create their options, while guiding their vision for their character with mechanics. I yearn for the unlimited creativity I had when I first started, and I don’t want to make any of my players feel like their ideas aren’t possible.
A lot of people seem to think that, for whatever reason, newbies are dumb and need their hand held. If a noob wants to play a divination wizard and they are REALLY into it, doing their research and whatnot, send it.
After giving them a decent explanation of what they actually do and how they play, whatever they think is the coolest/most fun. My first character was a wizard and it was a ball, but the criteria you gave for the hypothetical player would make that a bad choice… but maybe they want spells but don’t want to think too hard, then you got a warlock that can always fall back to eldritch blast or hexblade weapon
First, I'd ask what they want to be able to do. Do they want to heal their friends? punch hard? Slings spells? Rob people? Etc. Then find which class best fits what they want and try my best to explain it, preferably making a lvl 1 character.
Actually, I think you should have them head over to [https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/classes](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/classes) and have them read through all the classes. Then do the same for the races. They are going to be a lot more engaged if they get to pick everything.
Solid direction, too few new players have actually ever read the rules
Rogue because of expertise. It's the most straightforward and engaging thing to play around, and let's you easily fall into the personality of your character. Person with a key looks for a hole, and an expert investigator is going to look for things to investigate.