What classes are best suited for beginners up to veterern players.


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


There are always going to be new people coming into the Pathfinder world wither from other table tops or fresh off the block. What I like to find out is what are the classes best suited for new comers up to those with other TableTop experience.


It's less about which classes are the most complicated, but rather how complicated the characters are designed to be. You can make easy to play wizards, and challenging to play fighters.

That said, martial types tend to be easier to understand than magical types. The fewer rules a beginner needs to worry about, the better. A simple warrior build only needs to understand a part of the combat and skill rules, while a magic user also needs to understand a portion of the magic rules too.

More importantly, ask them what they want to play. A player who really likes his character concept will have more fun, and be more fun to play with, than someone who is stuck playing something they aren't interested in. You can likely build an easy to play character from whatever concept the player comes up with.


I'd say the Inquisitor, sorcerer and any full BAB archer are probably the best for beginners. It's hard to get stuck in trap options with those (not impossible, but hard) which is one of the main pitfalls of PF. Inquisitor does require a bit of discipline to deal with the fiddly bits though. Magic for spontaneous caster isn't that hard during actual play, not like they have that many spells to chose from.

Those with experience (with rule/combat heavy games) can pick whatever they want.


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It can also depend on how you present the character abilities to a new player. When my wife first started playing Pathfinder, I had to create an easy-to-read character sheet for her. She's dyslexic, so lots of lines in a row would just make the game painful and frustrating for her (not to mention that she won't read the rule books, so the general idea of each ability has to be on the character sheet).

Here's the front page of the character sheet to give you an idea of what I designed for her (which, btw, she really liked). Note that I also changed the names of some of the abilities. Link

Edit: Essentially, all the math is already calculated into all the numbers, so she wouldn't have to worry about looking at different parts of the sheet just to figure out what one ability would do or how to appropriately roll it.

Edit 2: Here's Page 2


I like to start players out with a rogue(although I always sound them out, first).

The rogue's large number, and variety, of skills mean that they always have something to do in the game; that means the player gets to do a lot, and usually comes away with a good feeling about the game.


bookrat wrote:

It can also depend on how you present the character abilities to a new player. When my wife first started playing Pathfinder, I had to create an easy-to-read character sheet for her. She's dyslexic, so lots of lines in a row would just make the game painful and frustrating for her (not to mention that she won't read the rule books, so the general idea of each ability has to be on the character sheet).

Here's the front page of the character sheet to give you an idea of what I designed for her (which, btw, she really liked). Note that I also changed the names of some of the abilities. Link

Edit: Essentially, all the math is already calculated into all the numbers, so she wouldn't have to worry about looking at different parts of the sheet just to figure out what one ability would do or how to appropriately roll it.

Edit 2: Here's Page 2

Wow. Bravo.


I tend to suggest the Ranger for learning players myself. The Ranger has several skills, good combat ability, bonus feats to reduce the chances of a poor build, and even starts to dip into spellcasting and a companion, making it a great class for learning a variety of rules. It might not be the best choice for a true beginner, but makes for a very good class for a second character.


When dealing with new players what are some of the best ways to describe each class to make them each sound interesting and not read off like stereo instructions. The most trouble I found was trying to figure out what class someone wanted to play. I sometimes use movie reference but not everyone is a LotR fan lol.


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I've taught dozens of new players, including adults and kids. Here's how I manage first time gamers.

Core Book Only - Yes, there area classes, feats, spells, etc. out of other books which are great, even for new players, but the ability to find every rule you need to play in a single book cannot be overstated. It's comforting to know all the answers are in there somewhere, they're dealing with a single index, and everything is fairly well organized. Whether they buy or borrow a copy, it's also the only book their likely to have with them at the gaming table.

Guided Character Creation - I never expect a newbie to make a character on their own. There's just too much material that's incomprehensible until you've actually played the game.

  • Step 1 - I show them the classes, and ask them to choose which one they want to try.
  • Step 2 - I offer them a choice of appropriate races for that class.
  • Step 3 - I offer them a choice of appropriate "specialties". That is, a main weapon for a melee character, sorcerer bloodline, cleric domains, etc. Depending on the maturity of the player, I either give them a short or complete list to choose from, but I always make a suggestion if they feel lost.
  • Step 4 - I help them choose skills by putting a rank in the "mandatory" skills (Stealth for a rogue, spellcraft for a caster, etc.) then offer them choices from the remaining class skills.
  • Step 5 - I fill in feats & spells for them. Depending on the character, I may offer them a couple of choices, but not the whole list!
  • Step 6 - I give them starting gold, make the first necessary purchases (armor, weapons, ammo) and tell them they can spend the rest of the money themselves.
  • Step 7 - I describe how the character works, and it's strong points. "Og the Barbiarian will want to start every fight the same way, 'Rage, Power Attack, Charge the biggest enemy!' As Og's player, you may decide he holds back sometimes, but his approach is usually right at low levels."
  • Step 8 - I let them loose with the core rulebook to determine height/weight/coloration, make up a name, buy equipment, then browse through whatever they find interesting.

Guide to Simple Options - While guiding character creation, I push for easy to use options, especially passive ones. Take a monk for example, Dodge is a great beginner feat because it just gets figured into your character sheet as a number, while Improved Grapple is a poor beginner feat because it opens up an extra ruleset.

Put Everything in Writing - As much as possible, I load their character sheet with everything they'll need during play. I'll print out spells, write down weapon attack routines, etc.


Blueluck has a solid plan for beginners. I did the something very similar for my wife. Basically, a beginner should have only a few options during play. All their abilities should be static improvements, as compared to daily abilities.

Having only a few options during game may seem boring for us more experienced players, but it helps them learn the rules without being overwhelmed. As time goes on, they can explore the rules at their own pace and gain new abilities for their characters as they become more comfortable with the base rules.


Real nice response.

Do you just read out class descriptions from book or do you construct your own flavor text that can really give new people a feel for each class. Do we need to stick with solid stereotypes for the classes or offer other options?


Warrior.

;)


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bookrat wrote:

It can also depend on how you present the character abilities to a new player. When my wife first started playing Pathfinder, I had to create an easy-to-read character sheet for her. She's dyslexic, so lots of lines in a row would just make the game painful and frustrating for her (not to mention that she won't read the rule books, so the general idea of each ability has to be on the character sheet).

Here's the front page of the character sheet to give you an idea of what I designed for her (which, btw, she really liked). Note that I also changed the names of some of the abilities. Link

Edit: Essentially, all the math is already calculated into all the numbers, so she wouldn't have to worry about looking at different parts of the sheet just to figure out what one ability would do or how to appropriately roll it.

Edit 2: Here's Page 2

That is really well done. Nice work.


The key thing for me to bring in any new player is you want them to have fun. For that reason I try not to suggest what I think are "better" or "easier" classes for beginners, unless they ask. Instead I try to get them, through basic descriptions of the classes, drawing frequently on fictional or mythical characters from literature, film or gaming to make the connections, to define what they want to play. Even people with little exposure to fantasy know who Robin Hood, Merlin, Lancelot and Conan are, for example, and most people attracted to the game know a lot more. If they are really interested in the concept, they will be more willing to do the reading necessary to bring that concept to life in the game.

You also don't want to overwhelm them with rules early on. It helps if they can find their way around the character sheet, at least, but it's not absolutely necessary. I've brought in some complete newbies by the technique of not even letting them open the rulebook, but just having them sit down and start playing. They tell me what their character wants to do, and I tell them what dice to roll (if it requires it) and either what the modifier is or where to find it on their sheet, and then I try to give as realistic and entertaining a description as I can of the results.

It's also key to have the help of the rest of the group in bringing in a newbie (unless they are all newbies, which is fun to GM). They need to keep jargon to a minimum, explain what they are doing, and have a lot of patience as the player makes mistakes and figures things out for himself. They definitely need to AVOID telling them what to do all the time or playing their character for them.

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