Easy and Fun Classes 3.5

[Regis_is_a_bro]

My friend doesn't put a lot of time into dnd when not playing, and doesn't really know much about dnd. I've tried to give him a few fun, easy classes to play, but he wasn't really into any of them.
Hence my question:
What are some fun, easy classes to play?

[bekeleven]

Sorcerer is a reliable one. You can limit the damage lack of knowledge can do if you help with basic spell selection during level-ups.

Crusader is also good, if you make cards (seriously, make cards) and (again) help with maneuver selection during level-up. It's hard to screw up a crusader too badly, unlike spells which have a lot of duds.

Beguiler and Warmage have spontaneous casting from their whole list. It's mostly just point at a thing, and that thing happens. Maybe help with feats and expanded knowledge, but that's it.

You could always build a class with decent power but few options, something like Dragon Shaman 1/Marshal X, pulling in to tier 4.

[Palanan]

Depending on what he likes, basic rogue could be simple and fun.

If he's more interested in spellcasting, than the beguiler is a great choice. The only downside is that it might be a long list of spells for a new player to manage.

Or, you know, dwarven axe barbarian.

:smalltongue:

[kpumphre]

Warlock's are fun, Not a ton of choices for out of game, and you can change your selections up as you level up.

[Telonius]

I'd second Warlock. Bear in mind they're kind of under-powered if you don't know what you're doing, so be sure to throw some nice loot his way.

[erikun]

Warlocks and Barbarians are generally easy to put together and run. A Wildshape Ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) can be a lot of fun as long as you have the different animal stats handy with a convenient way to just apply the character's bonuses to them.

If they don't mind a magical class, then psionics is generally very good. As long as they remember the "don't spend more PP than your level" rule, then shouldn't have too much trouble figuring out which of the half-dozen powers to use in a situation for an attack. (Recommend Psychic Warrior if you don't think they'll conserve PP with a Psion.) Index cards with the spells on them would also be a good idea, especially so they can organize them as they'd like.

[Kelb_Panthera]

One more vote for barbarian, warlock, and rogue. All fairly simple, all fun to play if you don't mind the lack of complexity.

Don't let fighter fool you. It looks simple but feat selection is a pain in the butt unless you know what you're doing.

[Dienekes]

Barbarian, Warblade, or Crusader.

Personally, I prefer Warblade or Crusader. They're in that nice little niche spot where they're simple enough for a new player to understand with a little help from a GM and a practice battle or two, with just enough complexity to get them ready for things to come.

They're also awesome.

[Particle_Man]

I would third (fourth?) Warlock, the "no paperwork" magic-user. It is a "point and shoot" blaster. The only thing your player would have to remember is to max out UMD and to take some kind of crafting feat by level 12 (for simplicity, staff would be a good choice).

Heck, you could even "theme" it up with some heritage feats like the fey or fiendish line in Complete Mage. If it is a human warlock, that takes care of his feats through level 9, then craft staff at level 12. Easy peasy.

And if it gets too weak later on, well that is where UMD comes in, and an understanding DM that throws something cool to the Warlock.

[Chronos]

What books are available? Many of the best choices for this sort of thing, like beguiler and warmage, are not found in the core rulebooks.

[Sam K]

One more for crusader and warblade. Several advantages:

Easy to build: warblade 20 or crusader 20 are both viable without any dips. Str to hit stuff and con to not die when hit. Dex if you dual wield, otherwise dont max it if you're planning to wear heavy armor.
Hard to screw up: you can essentially roll your manouvers randomly and still end up with a useable character. You also get to change them out as you go, so if you end up picking something that seemed cool but really wasn't, you can get rid of it fairly soon. The only dead end is to only pick stone dragon stances.
Single book dependant: you need to understand ToB to play one. Other books are optional.
Fun: this is the big one. You get skill points and a wide enough skill selection that you can put them to use. And you get to do cool, cinematic stuff in combat: percision strikes through weak spots in the armor, leaping into the air and crashing down on your opponents, stunning them with mighty blows, and leading the charge of your party, boosting everyone around you.

I'm surprised cleric hasn't been mentioned yet. Cleric 20, while not optimal, is fully viable. Very solid chassis (less risk being killed by a single stray arrow or failed save), full spell access every level, and if you are good you can ALWAYS carry your weight by converting useless spells you prepared "just because" into healing.

Granted, single class cleric that heals is extremely far from optimal, but it's still somewhat useful, and as the player learns more about the game, it's easy to expand the characters options by trying out new spells and looking into other splatbooks. However, if he doesn't want to do that, he can still be a useful party member just by healing, buffing and acting as a meat shield in combat.

[kpumphre]

As I said earlier warlock I find them to have good amount of power if you play them right. Best class to be if your a talker +6 and cha is important so 10 on to your ranks.

However for different Flavor Dragon Fire Adept DFA just a bit more complex in game but less work out of game.

[Draz74]

Dragonfire Adept is pretty darn simple in-game, especially if you mostly choose Invocations that are 24-hour buffs.

And it's a lot harder to screw up than a Warlock. Sturdier, with more of a clear role other than "deal mediocre damage." It gets my top vote for this kind of question.

Psion, Beguiler, Barbarian, and Warlock are runners-up. All pretty easy to play and have fun with.

Sorcerers might become runners-up, too, but only if you're playing at Level 8+ or so. Low-level Sorcerers take a lot of skill to play without sucking or becoming boring.

[Prime32]

Dragonfire Adept is pretty darn simple in-game, especially if you mostly choose Invocations that are 24-hour buffs.

And it's a lot harder to screw up than a Warlock. Sturdier, with more of a clear role other than "deal mediocre damage." It gets my top vote for this kind of question.Just remember to take the Entangling Exhalation feat. If you don't want to worry about catching allies in your breath weapon, take the Endure Exposure invocation and cast it every day.

[Blackhawk748]

I *whatever number we are on* the Barbarian.

"Heres a big stick, now scream Rage! and go charge that thing over there"

nice and simple

Edit: though if he is willing to try a ToB class, gods know i didnt get it for awhile, i suggest the Warblade, not a ton of maneuvers known or readied, but really easy to get them back.

"Ok you open with Mountain Hammer, then use Insightful Strike, then Sapphire Nightmare Blade." "Then what" "Then you smack someone and yell RESET!"

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Beguiler, in PH2. Have him go Gray Elf, Beguiler 5/ Mindbender 1/ Beguiler 14, Versatile Spellcaster, Obtain Familiar, Improved Familiar, Mindsight, Darkstalker, and whatever else at 15 and 18. Ability scores should go Int > Con > Dex > Cha > Wis > Str. Versatile Spellcaster may look complicated, but it's really just marking off two spell slots of one level lower instead of one of the spell's level.

Search online for a printable Beguiler class spell list with spell descriptions. His Advanced Learning spells should be Ray of Stupidity, Shadow Form, Greater Shadow Conjuration or Rebuke, Final or Solipsism, Superior Invisibility, and Greater Shadow Evocation or Mindrape from BoVD. Compile a list of useful/versatile choices for Greater Shadow Evocation/Conjuration if he gets either. Possibly even use an assortment of highlighters to mark spells combat-offense, combat-party buffs/help, and noncombat-utility.

Items should include the necessary magic item effects (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851) that he can't get from spell buffs, maybe Shax's Indispensable Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101) though it may overcomplicate things, anything useful for someone filling the role of a Rogue in the party (Arcane Thieves' Tools, Chronocharm of the Laughing Rogue, MIC), Eternal Wands (MIC) of useful spells like Web, etc.

For his skills, he'll have 4+Int or 5+Int favorite skills that he always has max ranks in. His remaining skill points should be spent on the prerequisites for Mindbender, synergy ranks, skill tricks, languages, etc.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd actually avoid Warlock. Easy, yes, but they're really not that fun to play at mid-to-high levels, when the damage becomes pitifully small and you don't have anything to do besides plink away at things. Dragonfire Adept is marginally better, as long as you make it clear that it's a control class and not a damage dealer... but you're not even rolling attacks with it, so...

I'd probably go Barbarian or Rogue for a mundane character-- they're straightforwards, can deal plenty of damage, and don't require much in the way of out-of-game reading. A fixed list caster is the best magic-y choice, although you still have to be familiar with a bunch of spells.

[Person_Man]

I'm going to second (third?) Sorcerer, with high Constitution, magic bracers/amulet/cloak, high Charisma, Social Skills, and a DM selected spell list of fun and easy spells.

Think about it.

Hard to kill.

Successful when he wants to roleplay.

Short list of awesome effects that can more or less be used at will (unless you're doing a marathon number of combats per game day). Blow stuff up! Fly! Become Invisible! Dominate your enemy! And did I mention blowing stuff up.

Avoid complicated spells - Summons, Polymorph, battlefield control, etc. Yes they're more powerful. But they're too much work for a newb.

A Swordsage, Warblade, or Binder would similarly work, assuming the DM selects the maneuvers or vestiges.

I'm also going to go against the popular consensus and suggest that he not play a "simple" class like Rogue, Fighter, Barbarian, or a low level Warlock or Dragonfire Adept. (Though high level on the last two would admittedly be fine). Those classes can be very BORING if you don't know what you're doing. You basically have 1-3ish real options, which you repeat over and over again.

I would also avoid any classes with heavy book keeping requirements. Crusader (Furious Counterstrike, Stone Power, etc), Totemist, Incarnate, Wizard, etc. Nothing turns off new players like the tedium of paperwork.

[nyjastul69]

I'll give another nod to Warlock, Barbarian and Sorcerer.

[Sception]

I'm a fan of ranger for new players. Relatively straight forward to play, a strong thematic concept that is easy to grok, and you get to try out pretty much all the major aspects of the game (basic combat, feats, skill use, minions, spells), a few large and easily grasped choices (two weapon vs. archer, etc) rather than a thousand little choices all the time, and the whole packaged is introduced in a managed way instead of throwing everything at you up front.

Unfortunately, rangers are pretty weak, so sending some nice equipment his way (magic weapons & light armors that are maybe a step ahead of what you would otherwise be giving out; maybe let them take a animal companions that are a bit more advanced than the progression technicaly allows), as well as looking through some of the extra spell sources to suggest a few decent spells to him once he's far enough along to start bothering with them (spell compendium has a few good choices, iirc).

Again, though, while it's not a strong class, it is a strong concept, with clear options, that plays easily, and touches on a wide variety of aspects of the game, so I do recommend it for new players and players who want something interesting without haven't to micromanage too much in their build or day to day play.


Other good choices are the theme casters (particularly beguiler), Warblade (the oher tome of battle classes are good, but can be a bit much to manage), Warlock, and Rogue (the latter two already discussed, though again they are kind of weak so may require a bit of DM favoritism in item drops as with the Ranger).

I don't recommend Fighter (too many feats, can be difficult to pick ones that will come together into a functional fighting style without a fair bit of game mastery), Wizard/Cleric/Druid (too many individual spells to manage), Sorcerer (unless he'll let you suggest spells for him, and you can pick out a decent selection that will also come together into an easily grokked theme).


Having an easily grasped conceptual hook and abilities that make sense with that concept is a key aspect for a user-friendly class, sometimes even more so than straight mechanical simplicity. A sorcerer is more mechanically simple than a beguiler, but I've found new players take to the latter a bit more easily because there's that over-riding theme informing the abilities and helping them make sense with each other and with the character being role played, where as a player can lose track of the character behind a sorcerer and end up seeing just a collection of unrelated powers, which can make it harder to maintain focus & sustain interest session to session.

[kbpb90]

Kensai from complete warrior is fun and simple

[Grod_The_Giant]

Oh, key point that we've been forgetting: What kind of character does HE want to play? You said he's tried a few things and hasn't really been grabbed by any of them-- what's been eliminated? What didn't he like about 'em?

[Draz74]

Just remember to take the Entangling Exhalation feat. If you don't want to worry about catching allies in your breath weapon, take the Endure Exposure invocation and cast it every day.
Entangling Exhalation is pretty crucial if you're starting at low levels, yes. If you're starting at Level 5+, it's actually pretty optional (but still not a bad choice).

Endure Exposure ... Honestly, I've not played without it enough to know whether it becomes a problem; but my instinct says it depends on the group.


I'd actually avoid Warlock. Easy, yes, but they're really not that fun to play at mid-to-high levels, when the damage becomes pitifully small and you don't have anything to do besides plink away at things.
Eh, just Eldritch Glaive alone makes the damage respectable for a typical non-GitP-style playgroup. One where Fighters actually contribute just fine.


Dragonfire Adept is marginally better, as long as you make it clear that it's a control class and not a damage dealer...

Yes, that is a good point; DFA would be rather frustrating if you thought dealing lots of damage was supposed to be your niche.

[The Trickster]

One more vote for barbarian, warlock, and rogue. All fairly simple, all fun to play if you don't mind the lack of complexity.

Don't let fighter fool you. It looks simple but feat selection is a pain in the butt unless you know what you're doing.

I pretty much second this. If you pick the wrong feats, it can be a pain in the booty.

Druids would be another interesting choice, if he is unsure of what kind of character he wanta to be. Druids pretty much do everything anyway. He can try all the classic archtypes out (beatstick, spellcaster, scout, etc) all at once. When he finds one he likes, he can just start to specialize his druid in that one thing.

[Abithrios]

A few comments on classes already mentioned:

Dragon Fire Adept: This class requires relatively little optimization to be useful. I had fun when I played one. It can be quite rewarding to roast half a dozen mooks at once. Compared to other characters, DFA often trades power for consistency. For example, slowing breath has a shorter duration than the slow spell, but the breath effect still works on a successful save.

Crusader: Make cards!!! I have not played much with a crusader, but I can say that it is not too hard to manage at the table, with the help of maneuver cards. The important things I can think of would be picking maneuvers, remembering to print cards of them, picking feats, having maneuver cards, following this link (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20061225a), and having maneuver cards on hand.

There is one other thing I almost forgot to mention: Print maneuver cards.

Whatever class is chosen, there probably is a handbook for it floating around. The DM should read the handbook, not just the player. Some rules interpretations on the Internet are controversial. It would best if a player checks with the DM before building a character around something that is begging for a ban, nerf, or saner interpretation.

[(Un)Inspired]

I'm gonna say psion. They're just like sorcerers only way more cool thematically and built to be spontaneous casters from the ground up instead of just being vancian workarounds.

The augmenting mechanic is incredibly simple and he'll have more skills to work with than a sorcerer would.

It's never too early to introduce a player to the awesome world of psionics.

[Sam K]

I would say that any character that requires other people to pick your progression, your feats, your skills or your spells, or that requires the DM to throw in extra loot just to keep you viable, isn't "easy" or "fun". Ideally, you should let inexperienced players make their own choices as much as possible; if someone else "helps them with the build" and "explains how they should play in combat", is it really the new players character anymore?

Barbarian is good. It's a class that is very easy to "get": you get mad and hit things. As long as you put points in str and con, and dont try to dual wield, you cant really mess it up too badly. Only REQUIRED feat is power attack. Ranger is iconic and simple but people may be tempted to try and "pull a Legolas", which the ranger class really isn't capable of doing out-of-the-box.

Sorcerer is a big no-no in my book. It's so easy to mess up your spell selection and your feats (especially when you start thinking about meta magic), and you're quite squishy even if you luck into 18 con. Just go cleric if he wants a caster - more room to experiment with spells, and like I said previously, if the spells he picks turn out to suck, he can always convert them to heals.
Edit: Psion is probably better than sorc as well. Fewer powers to keep track of, less bad ones, and honestly, unless you were raised with the D&D spells-per-day concept, points make more sense anyway. Also no spell failure for armor!

Rogue is another one I'd stay away from. New players get stuck with rogue because they can just search for traps and open locks, and they still kind of pull their weight. But how much fun is that? Rogues CAN do more than that, but then you're talking about a very high risk character. Scouting with a rogue is dangerous, and in combat they are squishy and have limitations that may not be obvious ("What do you mean I dont get to sneak attack the zombie?"). They can also get MAD pretty fast.

Warlock is low on book keeping, but quite weak. Squishy, not much armor. Initially you do poor damage. Then you do poor damage as you reach the mid levels. In the end game, you do poor damage. You can get warlocks pretty decent with the right builds and tricks, but I wouldn't consider them newbie friendly.

[Hurnn]

Barb, Sorc, Warlock, Cleric

[kpumphre]

Well Regis when he chooses let us know or let us know your opinion on it :). What classes did he say no to beforehand cause you probably thought of half these things off the top of your head

[Zharradan Marr]

Dragonfire Adept is probably the easiest class to play. You get your breath weapon and a handful of invocations, that's it. Still can be pretty darn efficient.

[KorbeltheReader]

Should be seeing a pattern in the comments by this point. Barbarian, Cleric, Dragonfire Adept, Warlock, Sorcerer, Warblade, Crusader, Beguiler.

When I've seen new players roll barbarian, they've loved it from 1-6 and started looking for a way out around 7-8 (seems to coincide with other characters catching up damage-wise). When they've rolled beguiler, they were a little uncomfortable from 1-2 and loved it from 3 on.

Cleric fulfills an obvious role, is virtually impossible to screw up, and can be as complicated or as simple as you want. Can be boring if the player envisions it as "healer."

Dragonfire Adept is easy AS LONG AS they take Endure Exposure. Otherwise it can get awkward trying to breathe around other PCs.

I agree with Sam that sorcerers are squishy enough and feat/spell selection complicated enough, that I'm not sure this is a great choice. If the dude wants a caster, I might see if you can funnel him to beguiler or warmage.

Martial adepts are fun, easy, and feel really powerful. Great choices.

[Regis_is_a_bro]

Thanks for all the options. I believe he'll pick a Warblade or a Scout.

[Grod_The_Giant]

If he does go scout, I recommend trying to steer him towards a Swift Hunter build. It's not that complicated, and brings a lot of neat new stuff to the table.