I usually just ask them what they want to do well. Usually the answer is something like "hit stuff", or "do damage", or occasionally something like "Sneak around".
And then suggest stuff from there. Usual candidates are stuff like toughness, weapon focus, skill focus, power attack, etc.
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I wholly disagree. New players will make lots of mistakes when in combat and in character design. In the lower levels, PC's are really fragile, so plugging up those holes in their defenses helps a lot.
So, what I do as GM is make the PC according to their wishes in every area except in character traits and feats. Then, I have a chat with the player, and point out the weaknesses that are dangerous to the PC's continued survival.
For example, lots of times Rogues have crappy Will saves. Since most players absolutely hate losing control of their characters, I usually poke new players into taking Iron Will and Indomitable Faith for their Rogues. Or taking Toughness for a Sorcerer.
Doing so has the consequence of keeping the PC alive long enough for the player to learn what they want to do with it, and even keeps them more interested in the game itself. Coincidentally, this also doesn't even remotely overwhelm the players with choices. The philosophy I follow when helping a player make a character is, ask them what they want, then create that using wise choices. Where there are multiple options, like picking a race, I show the player what are usually picked by veterans.
For example, when a player picks out a Rogue, I then get them to assign attributes, pointing out why Dexterity and Intelligence seem to be picked by most, and Strength is normally a dump stat. Ultimately the choice is with the player. Then I show them races that work well with Rogues, like humans, tieflings, halflings, goblins. They pick what they want.
Oh, and all of the class and skill choices are NOT done in a vacuum as so many online prefer. Instead, they are picked with an eye not to compete with the rest of the PC's, and to fill in the gaps that haven't been filled in a balanced party (I as GM like to run APs, and note they normally have a variety of challenges so balance is needed).
Been doing this sort of thing for upwards of 20 years now. Normally when I get a group together, it lasts for several years at least, unlike the ones most people seem to have that last a few months.
I do the same as Piccolo, recommend feats that help with survival at 1st level - stuff like Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Combat Casting, Toughness, Improved Initiative, etc. The only exception is if a player has expressed a strong desire to play a style of fighting that's feat intensive - archery for example. They need to get started on feat trees right away.
I normally let players rebuild at 3rd and 5th, too. Well, technically I'd let them rebuild whenever as long as it's not disruptive, but I specifically offer at 3rd and 5th. New players make mistakes. You should let them make mistakes and let them correct their mistakes.
GM Rednal's advice is what I do for later levels. There's a metric ton of feats, and it's not just the 1st level feat that's overwhelming. You should read up on your player's classes and if you're doing APs and the like, you should read up on the sort of stuff your players will be facing.
In no particular order....
* I intensely dislike Toughness taken early: 1) It's boring. 2) +3hp is peanuts, even if it is a decent percentage gain at 1st level. (It reminds me of the denunciation of the 55mph speed-limit in "The Gumball Rally": "...fast enough to kill ya; slow enough to make ya think you're safe!" --Toughness doesn't make you safe; it merely deludes you into thinking you are.) Feats should not be a low-level character's secondary line of defense; animals should be. Let your guard dog(s) soak it up while you're learning how to avoid melee if you're not built for it.
* On the offensive side, teach your melee-oriented players the importance of avoiding AoOs by showing them the power of making 'em. I.e., instead of dull Power Attack with a greatsword at 1st level, suggest a polearm with Combat Reflexes and, oh look!, there's a free potion of Enlarge Person in that crate.
* Everybody must have a ranged weapon. (Slings and rocks are free.)
* Speaking of which, Quick Draw is a better feat at 1st level than Power Attack (in fact, it's better than most feats). If you grow to dislike that choice later on....
* Use the retraining rules in your campaign. They'll let players gradually alter their characters in less than jarring lurches. Ease up on the monetary requirements some.
* Use point-buy with some recommendations for standard arrays that work well.
The philosophy I follow when helping a player make a character is, ask them what they want, then create that using wise choices. Where there are multiple options, like picking a race, I show the player what are usually picked by veterans.
This is good advice, and tends to speed things up. Whenever I'm a noob in a new system, I'd rather just say what concept I'd like to play, and be given a pre-fab GM-built character and jump right in and figure it out as I go.
* I intensely dislike Toughness taken early: 1) It's boring. 2) +3hp is peanuts, even if it is a decent percentage gain at 1st level. (It reminds me of the denunciation of the 55mph speed-limit in "The Gumball Rally": "...fast enough to kill ya; slow enough to make ya think you're safe!" --Toughness doesn't make you safe; it merely deludes you into thinking you are.) Feats should not be a low-level character's secondary line of defense; animals should be. Let your guard dog(s) soak it up while you're learning how to avoid melee if you're not built for it.
Yup, it's boring. But it grants a mite more durability to a class like Sorcerer/Wizard that starts out with a d6. Helps a lot in campaigns where the first book in the AP features an endurance test: lots of encounters with very little chance to rest in between.
The party Cleric decided to take that very feat in my Skull & Shackles campaign because the 3rd part of the first book has the party exploring a island with lots of fights in a limited timeframe: the party was told that they'd be picked up in 2 days and if they aren't there they'd get left behind. Reality is that the boss will just be waiting to kill them, and so can wait quite a while but the PC's don't know that.
Oh, and you can't buy trained fighting animals in that campaign, ESPECIALLY starting out.
I intensely dislike Toughness taken early: 1) It's boring. 2) +3hp is peanuts, even if it is a decent percentage gain at 1st level. (It reminds me of the denunciation of the 55mph speed-limit in "The Gumball Rally": "...fast enough to kill ya; slow enough to make ya think you're safe!" --Toughness doesn't make you safe; it merely deludes you into thinking you are.) Feats should not be a low-level character's secondary line of defense; animals should be. Let your guard dog(s) soak it up while you're learning how to avoid melee if you're not built for it.
Handle Animal is a whole extra rules set to drop on someone and teaching someone to spend their move actions on ordering a dog around isn't going to help them avoid melee.
I don't think I've encountered a single player who thinks 10 HP is suddenly safe enough to dance around in combat when 7 wasn't. It does bring you out of the range of a stray crossbow bolt knocking you out, though. Toughness isn't the cream of the crop but it sucks a lot for a new player to die 1st thing. I'm advocating for it with the caveat that I let people trade it out if they don't like it later, so YMMV.
Everybody must have a ranged weapon. (Slings and rocks are free.)
This, however, is great advice. Plus a club to smack those low-level skeletons who laugh at your fancy sword. Really, everyone should grab the free weapons if they've got carrying capacity for them and it's not hard to convince new players that free stuff is good.
Speaking of which, Quick Draw is a better feat at 1st level than Power Attack (in fact, it's better than most feats).
Care to expand on that? Every class can draw a weapon as part of movement by level 2 and conserving your move action isn't very important until you can full attack, so I don't feel like it's that important at 1st.
Handle Animal is a whole extra rules set to drop on someone and teaching someone to spend their move actions on ordering a dog around isn't going to help them avoid melee.The GM roleplays the guard dog -- and it lets him help your 1st-level weakling without being too Deus ex Mechina about it. He's probably not going to be a rule nazi about Handle Animal until you're a little more experienced and attempt directing your critter offensively.
I don't think I've encountered a single player who thinks 10 HP is suddenly safe enough to dance around in combat when 7 wasn't. It does bring you out of the range of a stray crossbow bolt knocking you out, though. Toughness isn't the cream of the crop but it sucks a lot for a new player to die 1st thing. I'm advocating for it with the caveat that I let people trade it out if they don't like it later, so YMMV.-1hp is usually more survivable at 1st level than +1hp, because that often leads to -7hp. (And, if your GM is going to wreck you at 1st level, he's going to do it regardless of your feats.)
Speaking of which, Quick Draw is a better feat at 1st level than Power Attack (in fact, it's better than most feats).Care to expand on that? Every class can draw a weapon as part of movement by level 2 and conserving your move action isn't very important until you can full attack, so I don't feel like it's that important at 1st.
Power Attack: if you're a two-handed weapon martial, you're going to splatter 90/95% of the things you hit at 1st level in a single smack. If you're not a two-hander, you're probably also not a barbarian, and so your attack bonus needs all the help it can get prior to your BAB, feats, and magic piling up. 3rd or 4th is a better time to pick up PA unless you're specifically pursuing a needs-every-feat-to-work concept (and those sorts of builds inexperienced players should probably shy away from).
Quick Draw: it drags the player away from a one-trick-pony swing-the-biggest-sword mindset and opens up tactical possibilities that are otherwise unavailable, such as taking a full move to close ground still short of the opponent, chucking a ranged weapon, then deploying a polearm to take AoOs off-turn (in such situation, not only do you avoid nerfing yourself by charging and putting yourself in a position of being surrounded and flanked for -4 to AC, but you've parlayed your feat into potentially multiple attacks). Also, "part of movement" isn't RAW text identical to "move action", and there may be table-variation as to whether or not, say, you could draw a weapon while simultaneously retrieving a stored item, using Accelerated Drinker to chug a potion, control a frightened mount, or other task that requires hands-on fumbling around rather than pure leg-mobile.
Uhm, as GM, I have enough to do running all the NPCs and gameworld itself. I really don't want to run a PC animal or PC if I can at all help it.
On top of that, I can get accused of altering the results of the enemy actions if I have a conflict of interest, using the animal to fight for the player. And it's boring to have a combat or conversation with myself while the players watch.
Toughness tends to save PC lives starting out especially. Remember, you die when you are negative your Constitution, and you bleed out while in negative hp. Even just a single hp is handy, especially when you have a primary spellcaster for PC, you have crap for Con score, and you are first level. The fact that Toughness also helps later on in levels by granting extra hp of 1 per level is great, since I find that when I as GM score a critical hit, every single hp counts in trying to survive.
Taudis, nobody is saying a feat would somehow make you safe. All it's meant to do is reduce the likelihood of death in this case from a single critical hit. Maybe give the party healer time to get to your butt while you bleed to death.
Oh, and I wouldn't recommend Power Attack at first level. You take a negative to hit in order to get more damage. Most PC's have trouble hitting at all in low levels anyway, and I'd rather have a player take something they'd use no matter what, like Weapon Focus for warriors, Improved Initiative for high Strength types that use 2 handed weapons, or Toughness for spellcaster types that have a low hit die.
[On top of that, I can get accused of altering the results of the enemy actions if I have a conflict of interest, using the animal to fight for the player. And it's boring to have a combat or conversation with myself while the players watch.
There's no conflict of interest when the literal book entry name of the thing is "Guard Dog". And, if it's an intro game, it let's you easily demonstrate many tactical problems that the players need to be aware of:
- If the dog moves away from an opponent, it will trigger an AoO.
- If if runs toward something with reach, it will trigger an AoO.
- If it charges or flanks, its attack-bonus is improved.
- If it charges or is flanked, its AC will be diminished.
- It will be reluctant to attack certains creatures.
- How do they smuggle the dog into this area?
Oh, and how the tears will flow when the poor thing dies after being the total hero that saves the day. --Not only are dogs great low-level teaching aids, they bring out the RP.
Uhm, if I am the one controlling both the monsters and the guard dog, doesn't that make it easy for me to control the outcome of combat?
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Different strokes for different folks, but in games I run deciding to not worry about defense because you have bought an animal you have no means of controlling and assuming that the GM will choose to have it work in an optimal way to keep you alive isn't going to work well.
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Only if you fudge rolls.
Sometimes the dog wins initiative and crits in a charge, tearing out the throat of one of the enemies. Other times the dog gets a serious cut in its side and tries to retreat, only to be cut down from an AoO.
I like the idea of having a guard dog used as a teaching tool. Let players know that it IS meant to be used as a teaching tool, and there shouldn't be any problem with accusations of altering the events. Also, if they really are newbies they're not going to call you out on that in the first place.
Last thought: having a sort of narrative that may mean fudging or altering event in order to be a teaching tool isn't inherently a bad thing. Just as long as it's not always the case; just until the table is able to learn the rules.
Different strokes for different folks, but in games I run deciding to not worry about defense because you have bought an animal you have no means of controlling and assuming that the GM will choose to have it work in an optimal way to keep you alive isn't going to work well.
Most animal NPC allies tend to be speed bumps in the long run anyway. All they do is drag out combat with the PCs, and they usually die fast.