First timer

[D20ragon]

any ideas for easy first timer class? My stepbrother is 7-8 and is playing barbarian. Wee bit chaotic for me trying to run savage tide.

[Barsoom]

Any class is 'wee bit chaotic' when played by a 7-year-old. If he's fine with barbarian, let him.

[Urpriest]

Yeah, Barbarian really is the best new player class, especially for someone who is unlikely to want to memorize anything. Beyond that, maybe Dragonfire Adept? You breathe fire, repeat, with the occasional other magical ability?

[LTwerewolf]

Fighter, barbarian, or other such class where there's little to it other than smack smack.

[Lightlawbliss]

one trick ponies do great with first timers. Easy to build, easy to understand, and BIG NUMBERS.

[ArcturusV]

I'll be a dissenting opinion. I'm going to say Rogue, for reasons as follows:

1) It encourages Roleplaying and naturally draws people in, as a class.

Rogues are all about skill use. So you have to think about the environment, and how to interact with it. Sneaking, traps, locks, picking pockets, etc. It changes the game from "Roll dice to hit, roll damage" as the basis of play, to a more integrated sort of problem solving. Plus you're not really a combat beast (Though in low optimization parties Sneak Attack damage tends to look like it), so you naturally want to look for ways to use your skills and your cunning to overcome an enemy rather than brute force it.

2) Mundane.

Simple enough point. Rogues are mundane. It's not a psychic rogue, or a spell thief, etc. That means most of your learning is going to be basic stuff everyone needs, like how skills work, movement and such. And you can do your thing all day so you won't ever have to tell your newbie that he's out of Rages, or Spells, etc, and is thus quite weakened.

3) Makes him feel important.

Until you get to the level where "A wizard" is the answer to every problem, playing the Rogue will make a new player feel like he's a valued member of the team. Combat beasts might be valued, but in the end the Barbarian could be removed and just have the Cleric go bash faces in, etc. The Rogue though is easy to make it feel needed, especially at lower levels. You can seemlessly put in a lot of situations where the easy answer is "Ask the rogue to..."

4) Stealing is Fun.

Grand Theft Auto, etc, proves that. Kids like the idea of being able to do the "bad" thing without being Evil necessarily, kicking puppies and eating babies. Some minor larceny and burglary has a certain excitement I find is easy to attract a newbie. Plus, go ahead and let them break WBL with their criminal enterprises. They're new, so it's not like they'll know how to use the wealth to break the game. Usually I find they'll burn it on "wasteful" stuff like bar wenches, shinies, getting land/a home.

[D20ragon]

Thanks.:smallsmile:Rogue is my favorite class,personally.starting when I was 6,had no idea what d&d was,but found an d8 on the ground ,and wanted to know what it was for.

[BowStreetRunner]

Thanks.:smallsmile:Rogue is my favorite class,personally.starting when I was 6,had no idea what d&d was,but found an d8 on the ground ,and wanted to know what it was for.

Really? Kids start playing D&D at this age? Hmmmmm... I think I'm going to be teaching my kids how to play a lot sooner than I expected! Yay! :smallbiggrin:

[Person_Man]

Wizard.

Here me out.

Pick his spells for him. Make sure that they're dirt simple and fun. Fireball, lightning bolt, magic missile, etc.

Put each of them on a note card. My 7 year cousin can easily defeat me at Pokemon. So I'm guessing your step brother can probably handle it as well. Don't bother explaining the underlying rules (spell level, spell resistance, etc). Just put the effects. Fireball: Deal 6d6 damage to all enemies in a 20 circle.

Also, the fact that he can only use each card one makes him think strategically, but in a very simple and structured way.

[D20ragon]

Smart. I wouldn't usually think of wizard,but you're right.he's just read the hobbit,and is starting Harry potter,so the wizard thing should work no problem.

[Beardbarian]

I'm for the big-sword-big-damage thing.

The Fighter is the simpliest character. Use this to teach the basics
Then Rogue for skills and optional rules. He'll learn how to role and how to use his brain.
Third step is for Cleric. The half-way between Fighter and Wizard.
Oviously Wizard is the last step. Now he is a complete player.

[Arc_knight25]

I'm not sure about your DM or other players. But if you want something simple 4e is great for beginners. All of the abilities can be placed on cards. Every class gets the same HP every level, all defenses scale with level.

If he gets the hang of 4e, teach him 3.5, which is more advanced and has alot more options and mechanics within it.

[D20ragon]

True.I prefer 3.5(first way I ever played),but what can you do.

[Sylthia]

Barbarian is good. Fighter and rogue are also nice starter classes. My first 3.5 character was a fighter way back when. I had 2nd ed experience, but wanted to try something with minimal bookkeeping.

[kreenlover]

Anything beatstick is easy. But, do not fall for that trap! If you think that he can handle the harder things like spllcasting (especially if you use the cards system) then it can be ok for that too.

Heck, throw a swordsage at him. The kid will love the mystical powers, will love being a ninja, and if you put them on cards, then it lets him know that he can only use it once per fight. You can even take them from him each time he uses it, and give it back at the beginning of the next fight.
Swordsage also lets you do some skillmonkeying, letting you be useful out of combat. And, I am sorry, but the flavour is really the best thing to a little kid. Its like Avatar, and every other Ninja/Oriental themed action movie ever rolled into one class. And that class can outfight fighters, rogues, paladins, and basically any other melee class.

[Maginomicon]

Generic Warrior (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/genericClasses.htm) is even simpler than fighter or barbarian. They are dirt simple and only as complex as you choose to make them.

Also, what little he does need to know about his character should be written out on-paper, preferably in language similar to how the "Simple English" Wikipedia site does its articles.

[kreenlover]

Generic Warrior (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/genericClasses.htm) is even simpler than fighter or barbarian. They are dirt simple and only as complex as you choose to make them.

Generic classes only work if EVERYONE is using generic classes. Or, at the very least he cannot later on take any non-generic levels. So, you may want to limit the access to generic classes.

[D20ragon]

Yeah.im kind of intrigued by the generic classes,so maybe I run a generic campaign.being a wizard with evasion would be cool