Best Character For A New Player?

[Jack99]

Cleric. A class that good is hard to screw up. Even if you make a poor choice of spells, you can always convert them to healing and still make a difference.

 

[YourSwordIsMine]

As the old Mantra goes

"I want to be a Human Fighter"


It might be boring but you cant go wrong with Improved Initiative, Power Attack and Cleave with a 2-handed Sword.

 

[Xath]

If he's really set on a cleric-type, I'd suggest a Favored Soul. Starting at level 1, it's not as big of a deal, but Cleric certainly isn't the easiest class to play.

 

[ivocaliban]

Another vote for Vanilla, the Human Fighter. Grab your feats, spend you pathetic excuse for skill points, buy some gear and you're ready to go.

Whatever you do, don't try and entice a new player who happens to be an art student by telling them about the Bard. It's definitely in the running for worst class for a new player.

 

[Mechnomancer]

I think that the Warlock is good, but the Warmage is better. Especially in the the shackled city, a good blaster will go a long way. Think Keep on the Borderlands on crack. It's a meat grinder. The set spell list is easy to understand and seriously, who does not like to blow sh-t up?

 

[moritheil]

In general, no humans for new players. It's a pain to get skill points right.

In your case, starting at level 1 does mitigate that drawback considerably.

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

I'm of the KISS mentality for newbs. I'd go with a Fighter with very simple feats and weapons. The rogue is also a great choice because it gives them a lot of ability options that aren't that complex to use - just max out a niched skill set (Hide, Move Silently, Climb, Balance or Open Lock, Disable Device, Search, stuff like that) based on the players preference of the kind of rogue archetype he's interested in playing.

Spellcasters and characters with complex abilities like barbarians with their rage, spellcasters with their... uh... spells, and paladins with their ethical and moral baggage are no-no's, IMO.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Are you allowing Divine Feats? I hope so, as they will probably prove more useful than simply x turn attempts per day, blah.

There are a few very good options there, some of which could literally end up being the difference between life and death, especially at low levels (starting at 1st, right?) I don't know the adventures in question though, so. . . maybe not.

Just a thought.

 

[moritheil]

Are you allowing Divine Feats? I hope so, as they will probably prove more useful than simply x turn attempts per day, blah.

There are a few very good options there, some of which could literally end up being the difference between life and death, especially at low levels (starting at 1st, right?) I don't know the adventures in question though, so. . . maybe not.

Just a thought.

While that provides more power, it also provides more options and thus more complexity.

Didn't the OP want as little complexity as possible?

 

[Aus_Snow]

While that provides more power, it also provides more options and thus more complexity.

Didn't the OP want as little complexity as possible?

One of the OP's players is the person in question - and he or she settled on Cleric, whatever the advice might have been.

Besides, if they just take one Divine Feat at first (or for a while, or even ever,) they could use that instead of bothering with actual turning. Yes, it's another resource to use or not at any stage, but given that the effects of the simple ones are extremely, well, simple. . . I dunno, it might serve - apart from anything else - as a great intro for those higher level spells with (more complex) effects that serve rather similar purposes. Then, just keep lower level spells for healing, mainly. And that's pretty simple to manage, too.

I guess it depends on the build, but if it's anything even slightly like a 'CoDzilla death machine', Divine Feats sure won't harm their prospects.