If you help him build the sorcerer than the sorcerer is by far easier.
Sorcerer is a commonly recommended first class for a new player. I think he'll have lots of fun with it!
The consensus tends to be that spontaneous casters are easier to manage. But tbh I don't think there's much in it as it really comes down to the player. The first character I ever played was a prepared caster and took to it quickly, yet there are people I play with who still struggle a bit with characters they've been playing for a while. Since his first inclination was to go for the wizard I'd say go for it; the greater his interest in the character, the greater his motivation to learn about it. So sorcerers have the benefit of being easier to manage day to day but a problem that came up when a complete newbie joined with a sorcerer was being stuck with a poor spell (and feat) selection; the GM was happy to let him retcon elements of his character (we have a general rule of thumb that is something hasn't come up in game e.g. a feat that hasn't been used or spell that's never been cast, then you're usually good just to change it) and fortunately the second time around he ignored the advice of the other players and game to me to work through his character.
Now the wizard is a bit harder to manage day to day but prepared casting has the advantage of enabling players to experiment with their spells. I suppose I take the approach that you should just dive in head first with whatever takes your fancy, presumed difficulty be damned. Instead of either/or you could just play both with the arcanist.
Whatever the choice just make sure you're there to provide necessary support and guidance. The most helpful thing I find with any spellcaster is to put together a spellcaster cheat-sheet i.e. one page with basic info on rules with any maths already worked out for things such as touch attack/range touch attack, concentration checks, aoo/casting defensively, spell DC, SR and caster level checks.
a problem that came up when a complete newbie joined with a sorcerer was being stuck with a poor spell (and feat) selection
Sorcerer is easier if they have well-chosen spells that allow them to contribute in a variety of situations.
The advantage of the spontaneous caster is that there is less for the player to learn, and most of the decisions about the character are made at creation. With a prepared caster they have to learn more and make decisions about the character on a daily basis. It also requires a lot more strategic planning to figure out what they are going to memorize. The only drawback to a spontaneous caster is that the player may make bad decisions on his spells known. As long as he has help choosing his spells both at creation and when he levels up he should be fine with a sorcerer.
Just make sure he fully understands what each of his spells can do. Also make sure he learns about any rules that pertain to his spells. For example if he takes Color Spray he should know what the rules are for the conditions it can impose. If he takes Silent Image he needs to know the rules for figments.
Give a friendly warning to the player and let him know that Wizards and Sorcerers are not at the front lines of battle, they are usually a support type, leaning back, casting fireballs and trying not to get hit because of their low hp. Also, they can run out of spells quickly if the battle continues longer than expected. And because they rely on spells so heavily, their base attack bonus is the lowest, so using any type of weapon after spell depletion might be useless and leave the player frustrated.
My recommendation for a beginning player would be to play a class that has a balanced use of spells and martial stability, such as a Ranger, Magus, Warpriest, or Bloodrager.
Good point. The player may have said they want to be a wizard, but being unfamiliar with the system maybe they meant "badass spellcasting dude", so it's hard to say whether Sorcerer or Wizard fits his wish better.
The Arcanist might be a good compromise. The player still has to choose in advance which spells he wants to be able to cast on any given day, but he doesn't have to decide in advance how often he can cast each spell.
Perhaps he can take a look at the Ancient Lorekeeper Oracle Elf racial class.
- It's base attack bonus is a step above a traditional 9th level caster (which is unheard of), so he can use a weapon and be good at it.
- It's treated as a divine caster: similar to sorcerer (not worrying about preparing spells)
- Can choose all the important arcane spells, like color spray, invisibility, haste, wish, etc. Or such go offensive mage with magic missle, fireball, etc.
- Can heal and ressurect, and have access to a wide range of useful divine spells.
- And is pretty much the low key all in one caster.
I would say no Arcanist. Spell management is a skill and Arcanists have to master it. I vote sorcerer. Wizards are great for playing around with alot of spells but novice wizards typically stick to the prepared list you give them. Meanwhile they will take full advantage of spontaneous casting
There used to be a free app for android phones (I don't know about iPhones) called Pathfinder OGL that had at least most of the spells listed. It made it easy to create a list of spells known / desired and provided the description of the spells with a quick tap.
It might help your player to create a short list of the spells they use. Otherwise I would suggest creating a word document that they can print out so they aren't flipping through various rulebooks to find the description of specific spells whenever they need to remember the details.
Going to argue for the arcanist. It looks like a wizard, but doesn't have to make the hard choices that wizards and sorcerers do. The wizard is stuck picking what to prepare for a day. And the sorcerer is stuck with its spells known. But the arcanist has freedom to change its mind.
I would say that it really depends more on personality than experience.
If this is the sort of person that is really going to get into the minutia of the game, read all the spells, want to try out new things and use difference tactics then wizard is a good choice.
If on the other hand they want to play the game, but don't want to spend a lot of time with 'the system' then sorcerer and someone to help them pick their spells etc. is the better choice.
Unless this is going to be a really short campaign (only a few sessions) starting mastery of the system is not really going to be as big a factor and personality and play style.
I would think that a wizard with a spell list that a more experienced player helps them make would be about as easy to play as a sorcerer with spells known that a more experienced player helps them choose.
Some people strongly favor prepared or spontaneous casting as a style though, I'd imagine that such a preference would only come through game play, but some may just find the mechanics of one to be more to their liking (to wrap their head around on how it makes sense in character I guess).
At higher levels wizards can gain flexibility though things like fast study.
Last Christmas, I ran a game for 3 completely new players (family), none of whom had ever played RPGs of any sort (nothing closer than Settlers of Catan, if you see what I mean) aged 36, 30 and 9. The 9-year-old decided to be a paladin, the 30-year-old a barbarian and the 36-year-old wanted to be a wizard and "cast magic spells".
He was extremely frustrated by the experience.
The other two guys were running around smashing things right and left with +7 or more to hit, and the wizard of course only had +0 with a dagger or staff, or +1 with a light crossbow. And his "cast magic spells" aspect seemed to him to be profoundly underwhelming, having only a handful of zero-level and first-level spells at his disposal.
So I would agree with most of the above advice, a sorcerer is easier for raw newbes, but a wizard isn't really that much harder, as long as the player has time to ease into this role (starting at 1st level helps) but what you really need to watch out for is managing the players' expectations.
And you really, really, really want to make sure to design something in the session that only the new spellcaster player can feasably deal with, using some part of his magic powers. So as to make him feel useful, at least at some point in the evening's game.
I would suggest the sorcerer BUT also pick the archetype that makes it int based. That way he can play like a wizard, being smart and having lots of skill points.
Can I really recommend (the pdf at least) the Strategy guide?
http://paizo.com/products/btpy99sk?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Strategy-Gui de
Seriously at 10 bucks - this is the *best* way to get a new player into the game.
Are any of the builds a contender for best build ever? No. They are all playable, and fun, and give new players a framework and *all viable choices* - that is they always recommend solid 'you won't regret having picked this' options.
The biggest thing I see from new players is they get 1) overwhelmed by choices, and 2) fall into timmy traps that frankly get in the way of a new player having fun. The guide fixes both of those things by giving the player choices but less of them and more focused - and the choices are all avoiding timmy traps.
For those who are skipped ahead: the new player in question is now dead set on a wizard.
For those who are skipped ahead: the new player in question is now dead set on a wizard.
Maybe, but the arcanist is basically just an unchained version of the wizard. They have the same flavor. They just differ in a few mechanics. The sorcerer has totally different flavor, which the new player probably didn't want.
In case the new player is familiar with D&D 5E: In that game, pretty much all of the "prepared" spellcasters use the same style for readying and casting spells as the Pathfinder Arcanist.
Rich parent trait and many scrolls will help him a lot and will provide more firepower than a low level sorcerer.
The wizard can be fun, but stack the deck slightly for the new player.
No sending an Enchanter Wizard against vermin or other things immune to mind effects, or a band of elves when the wizard took sleep. Make sure the spells he selects are all things that are likely to be useful the first few sessions.