Rating Classes by Ease of Play

[Driddle]

Ranger might actually go to the top of my list. Then,

Fighter
Rogue
Sorcerer
Cleric

After those four, the special abilities and mechanics rules start to get more complicated for the newbie.

The ranger has few complicated character choices at the beginning of his career -- no spells or animal companion, for example, until several levels pass. And his special weapon choice (ranged vs. two-weapon) is very much an either/or matter. Until a couple of adventures pass, he's like a fighter without the feat decisions to make.

The fighter, unfortunately, still forces a new player to slog through a list of feats to pick. But aside from that, he's very straightforward, too.

The rogue likewise involves elaboarate skill choices between levels, but he loses also on forcing a newbie to learn how to apply those skills in various manners as well as mastering sneak attack mechanics.

As spell-casting goes, at least the sorcerer doesn't have to struggle with second-guessing which spells to study each game day -- just load your gun once, and you're ready to go. Still, though, each spell includes special circumstances and rules inherent with its casting.

Cleric tops the wizard next because the full divine spell book (so to speak) is open to you instead of just a few spells.

 

[Driddle]

I mostly sorta agree with Airy in this sense: The fewer choices, the better. And the fewer "special cases" to consider during the adventure, the better.

In other words, learning which spells to learn is a no-no, as is learning which spells to memorize after you've learned them to your personal spellbook.

Raging is a no-no because it requires tracking the rage itself as well as second-guessing the best time to use it.

Bards and paladins look too intimidating from the git-go. The music and mount and spells and smiting, for example, are all special-case abilities.

Clerics rise to the top because aside from having to second-guess which spells to pick in the morning, at least he's got utility throughout -- fight for a while, and then feel important when people need to be healed. Still, though, the spell choices...

 

[KingCrab]

The difficulty levels depend on if you want to know which classes are easy to play adequately, or which classes are easy to play really well.

I think Cleric is the easiest to play adequately. Nice armor, healing, fights okay, not too many skills. However, the spell list is limited only to what books you have, and to use one to the best of their ability is difficult.

 

[Timandre]

I know this isn't your question, but I highly recommend using pregenerated characters for D&D players first game.

I've actually looked into pre-gen characters, and the groups played around with them. But the major downside to pre-generated charecters is that they are pre-generated. The players weren't engaged, and we all kinda felt like we were playing some old boxed board game (" 9. Ok, I move my top hat to park avenue and attack the kobold.")

I'm hoping that if they create there charecters then when we start to play they will have some familiarity with the game and won't get overwhelmed. I imagine that if they can accomplish their first charecter creation then they won't be so intimidated by the rest of the rules.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I don't have much to add, just be careful that the group has the four basics covered. For myself, I'd agree with Fighter, Cleric, Rogue and Sorcerer for that.

 

[blargney the second]

I think Swashbuckler is the simplest base class I've ever seen.

 

[Glyfair]

Raging is a no-no because it requires tracking the rage itself as well as second-guessing the best time to use it.

This isn't that bad if the paperwork is done in advance. I had a new player that I created a number of characters for in my campaign who had only played in one game. The barbarian option I created had two character sheets - raging and non-raging.

 

[Mitchbones]

You might look into buying The Basic Game, its only $20 and has simplified rules.
If your new to D&D/DMing you might stop by the chatroom there is always a game you could join (helped me out, im a new DM also)

 

[Goblyn]

I feel like a retard in not having thought of making a thread like this when I started my game o' noobs. Coulda' used it. D'Oh.

Anyway, I don't really have anything useful to add beyond what's already been posted, so I'll just congradulate myself on successfully wasting the time of all who read this.