New to the System Begging for help.

[sometimescursed]

Hey there Playground. As i says above, I am totally new to DnD in general, and am trying to get into 3.5. I know there are a lot of threads about the details bu is there any list of solid things to know?

Basically, good classes, good spells, good feats d good combo's are what i am looking for. I only have the MM, PHB and DMG at the moment, so keeping to that would be great, at least for now.

Thanks!

[kardar233]

Immutable rules of D&D:

Any full spellcaster is gamebreakingly awesome with just a few good spell choices.
Melee characters are tougher to build. The biggest issue with melee is mobility, as you can't get your best damage if you're spending actions moving.
Anything is better with a Cleric 1 dip.
LA is usually not worth it.
Full spellcasters can be better at doing damage than anyone else, but why go to so much trouble if you can win the game with Colour Spray?
Full spellcasters (particularly the Cleric and Druid) are often better at melee than actual melee people.
Healing while in combat is generally useless except for saving a dying character.
Before you decide that a class is really good, look at its synergies. Lots of attacks don't help if you can't make all of them because you have to run to your opponent, for example. This is known as "Monk Syndrome".
Just because it says "Cleric" it doesn't mean it has to be a holy man. Just because it says "Barbarian" you don't have to be a frothing madman.
Play what you want to play; if you need help making it better, come here.
All glory to the Tome of Battle. Worship the Tome of Battle. Maketh the Tome of Battle thine deity.

I think that covers it.

~EDIT~ Oh yes, I forgot. When you ask the collective consciousness of the forum a question, there are two things to remember:
1. Be specific. Tell us everything about the situation. If your DM has banned psionics, say so; or there'll probably be plenty of suggestions including it. Is the most effective character in the game a sword+shield fighter? Then we probably shouldn't make you too much better than him.
2. Tell us what you want. Far too many people make the mistake of thinking that the one way that they're asking help for is the only way. Don't lock yourself into "I need to play a Monk", ask "What's a good way to play a guy focused on punching things?". I guarantee the second will give you more constructive responses.

[Godskook]

The base class tiers:
Tier 1: Fullcasters with full list access, plus Artificer.

Tier 2: Fullcasters with full list selection, but limited access(sorcerer and psion are good examples).

Tier 3: Most late-print base classes(ToB and MoI, minus soulborn, which is bad), and the better limited use casters, such as Bard, Psychic Warrior, DN and Beguiler.

Tier 4: A few early-print base classes(rogue, scout, ranger) and Warmage.

Tier 5: Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Healer.

Tier 6: CW Samurai, Warrior, Commoner, etc.

After that, just remember, that everything other than dealing damage tends to be a better option, especially if you can deal damage doing it. For example, you can grab a spiked chain, get up to huge size, and be able to trip anyone within a 15x15 square grid. Improved Trip allows you to hurt these people while you do so. With a decent dex score, you're basically 'owning' those squares, allowing squishy types to stand behind or within your threatened area and use crossbows, reserve feats, or whatever to bring down your opponents.

[Yora]

When you are starting the game, there are only a few things that are actually important.
Most stuff you'll see discussed on this forum or others are really only relevant for the 10% of players who play at the upper limit of what a character could possibly do. In normal groups, those things rarely show up.
However, there are some things that are good to note:

- Monks don't work. They look cool on paper and some people have great fun with them, but chances are very good that with a monk, you simply can't do anything useful in a fight.
- Barbarians are very easy for beginners. Rangers and rogues are also not that difficult.
- Druid and cleric are really good classes. A bit more complicated than others, but you can't really go wrong with them.
- Wizards and bards can be really good characters, but they require some experience with the game and magic. They are not good ideas for beginners.

And that's about it, I guess. There's not much else that's super important.

[sirpercival]

Another note is that I would suggest that you're approaching the question wrong. The best class to play is the one that fits the character concept the best, and lets you do want you want to be able to do during a game.

Now, some character concepts are more effective than others at different (or all) scenarios, so that's something you could pay attention to; however, the most effective characters are the most versatile, and require the largest investment of time into system mastery.

A big guideline is that the iconic fantasy characters -- fighters that wield a sword and shield, priests that spend their time in fights healing their allies, wizards that fling fireballs at everything -- are not necessarily as effective as other strategies, though they can absolutely be fun to play anyway.

And finally, the second most important thing (after figuring out what kind of character you want to play) is to pay attention to the playstyle and party makeup of the rest of your group.

[Heatwizard]

If you want to play a melee fighter, see if you can wrap your hands around Tome of Battle at some point. You can do without it, mind, and you might have to; a lot of DMs tend to be more scared of it then they really should be. But if it's allowed, it'll make life easier.