No moving parts!

[JusticeZero]

This came up in another thread, but i've seen it a few times before..
Someone comes to the game. They're not there because they're an avid gamer. They don't know the system. They don't care about the system. Tactically, the only thing they're good for is walking up to the enemy and rolling some dice.
But they're having fun, and they should be effective and not a boat anchor. So i'd like to know what people have as ideas for good builds for it..

1: 3.5 or PF, but specify which and no mixing.
2: Assume that they will always do the same action every round, and that action will be some form of simple attack. No special maneuvers. This action has to be effective and useful and do damage to the enemy.
3: They have to be survivable, and minimize the resource drain from the rest of the party.
4: They have to benefit their group in some way (other than just doing damage), preferably with some kind of passive or damage-triggered ability that they don't have to track in any way.
5: Nothing that has limited uses per whatever. No moving parts! No resource management.
6: Playable 1-20.
7: No exotic races or strange concepts.

Basically, a build to hand to that one guy who just wants to munch pretzels and wade into fights rolling a d20. They can come up with personality and such on their own.

[Seerow]

A lot of these seem to contradict. Like first thing I'd recommend is a Dungeoncrasher Fighter, but that violates no special maneuvers. Similarly I might suggest a Knockdown Trip fighter or a Standstill Fighter, but again those are dipping into special actions that you have barred. I might just go for a power attacking barbarian, but now I'm not providing any of the party support you want and have limited daily resources.


Basically no resources at all is restricting you more or less to Fighter and Rogue. And while either of these can be built to contribute to a party, neither will work with your other restrictions. And of course if you want it to be survivable and playable through level 20 without draining party resources, you're going to be really hard pressed.

[weckar]

Let's see... Casters are right out. So are Barbarians, because you need to use rage effectively and keep track of it. Rogue requires a lot of positioning to be effective, so that's out. The Alignment code of a Paladin is usually an issue to players like that, so that's out. Let's not even talk about Monks. That leaves Fighters and (low level) rangers, I think?

[Seerow]

Let's see... Casters are right out. So are Barbarians, because you need to use rage effectively and keep track of it. Rogue requires a lot of positioning to be effective, so that's out. The Alignment code of a Paladin is usually an issue to players like that, so that's out. Let's not even talk about Monks. That leaves Fighters and (low level) rangers, I think?

Needs to be usable level 1-20, so Rangers are out (they get spells). Same for Paladins (spells, smites, turn undead, and lay on hand uses).

[weckar]

Ah, yes, Fighter it is, then. Probably a Pathfinder Fighter, as they work a little better. Depending on the setting, using guns, as a player like this will probably think guns are cool and the range adds survivability without sacrificing damage. Of course take a one-handed gun and rapid reload, so he needs not even think about reloading. But, ah, wait, that requires keeping track of ammo, doesn't it?

Seems ranged combat is out.

[JusticeZero]

Needs to be usable level 1-20, so Rangers are out (they get spells). Same for Paladins (spells, smites, turn undead, and lay on hand uses).
I'm thinking mainly fighter or warlock or some such thing - gear can play a part; I expect that you could also use a chassis with more abilities just as long as you assume that they are basically permanently set in one place. Go 3pp if need be.

[Vhaidara]

PF Fighter, grab a greatsword, weapon focus, weapon spec, toughness, call it a day. He won't be winning any prizes, but he'll hit things in the face and do some damage.

[Juntao112]

Make him a Marshal (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b).

[weckar]

Marshall requires deciding which aura to activate when.
Just a number-advantage Fighter like suggested by Keledrath is probably the only option. Can't use power attack because it requires an actual decision.

[Juntao112]

Marshall requires deciding which aura to activate when.

The other players decide which aura is active.

[JusticeZero]

But, ah, wait, that requires keeping track of ammo, doesn't it? Seems ranged combat is out.
Isn't there an item or property that creates ammo? If the weapon is enchanted to have unlimited ammunition, it still works.
Can't use power attack because it requires an actual decision. Just write down the Power Attack numbers and make sure they're set at a good generally effective number and it'd be fine. :)

[Telonius]

Even with Fighter, you have to keep track of Power Attack - how much you want to take away from to-hit, and how much you want to add to damage. For the absolute minimum of options, 3.5 Warlock would probably be best. An attack roll that generally doesn't change; a set number of d6's to roll for damage; no spells to keep track of; a bunch of passive, always-on bonuses; battlefield positioning is almost irrelevant; a very short list of available Invocations. The damage isn't spectacular, but it's constant. You don't even need to keep track of arrows, like a Ranger would.

[Vhaidara]

Even with Fighter, you have to keep track of Power Attack - how much you want to take away from to-hit, and how much you want to add to damage. For the absolute minimum of options, 3.5 Warlock would probably be best. An attack roll that generally doesn't change; a set number of d6's to roll for damage; no spells to keep track of; a bunch of passive, always-on bonuses; battlefield positioning is almost irrelevant; a very short list of available Invocations. The damage isn't spectacular, but it's constant. You don't even need to keep track of arrows, like a Ranger would.

I was referring to PF Fighter, meaning it would be PF PA, which is a set penalty and a set damage bonus.

[weckar]

I was referring to PF Fighter, meaning it would be PF PA, which is a set penalty and a set damage bonus.
You still have to decide whether to use it. I thought the point was to create a completely automatic build? I'm still trying to find a way to eliminate the need to pick a target...

[Hamste]

A daze boomerang fighter could also work. One attack with a boomerang with as many passive attack damage bonuses as possible. DC to resist is easy to figure out (10+damage, a monkey could probably do it or the DM if the player is particularly lazy), it dazes 1 turn so no hard tracking other than that opponent is dazed (which the DM deals with) and it is all one hundred percent passive. Just enchant the boomerang with the returning property and they should be all set.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Daring Outlaw could work. Move to flank, full attack, rinse, repeat. Nice simple concept, too.
You could do a Swift Hunter using the spell-less ranger variant. I mean, you'd take a power hit, but you'll still have decent offense and skills-- probably as good as you'll get without magic. Dip Barbarian 1 for pounce and run a TWF-melee destroyer, or pick up a Sparring Dummy of the Master for 10-ft steps.


Though I think you're selling new players short. I mean, yeah, no-one should be handing them a Druid, but I think it's a bit insulting to assume that they couldn't work out how to use something like a Warlock or Barbarian. And if all they can do is one trick, over and over again, you run the risk of boredom-repelling them. So for more general newbie-friendly classes, I recommend:

Warlock-- Simple concept, limited set of abilities, but enough options that you don't have to do the same thing over and over again. Probably a Clawlock, if you want simple+effective.
Warlock or Swordsage-- Easy concepts, hard to mess up, no worries about conserving daily resources, cool abilities.
Barbarian-- The epitome of "I just want to hit things" classes. Slap Trapkiller on there and have 'em take Track to have some out-of-combat toys.
Daring Outlaw-- simple and functional.

[Vhaidara]

Or, you know, hand them a druid as soon as you hit level 5 and tell them they are a bear with a pet bear and the ability to summon bears. Hard to mess that up.

[Telonius]

You still have to decide whether to use it. I thought the point was to create a completely automatic build? I'm still trying to find a way to eliminate the need to pick a target...

Frenzied Berserker? :smallbiggrin:

[Ravens_cry]

Or, you know, hand them a druid as soon as you hit level 5 and tell them they are a bear with a pet bear and the ability to summon bears. Hard to mess that up.
You got to be bloody kidding. :smalleek:Druids are full of moving parts. You got a two characters, one of whom can change stats, and the ability to summon more, temporary characters.
Even among full casters, druids are 'part heavy'.

[Vhaidara]

Oh, wait, you could give him a crusader, and tell him that whatever maneuver he gets each round is the one he has to use. After all, since his god gave it to him in a flash of divine insight (IIRC, that's the fluff on crusader maneuvers), then it must be the perfect one for that moment.

EDIT: @ Raven's Cry: That was a response to Grod's "Don't give them a druid". Two of my players started with druids as their first characters. They were the ones who were significantly stronger than the rest of the group, two of whom were wizards, and one of the wizards being an experienced optimizer. He was the one who threatened to break the campaign but never did. The druids broke it by accident.

[Flickerdart]

Warlock is actually the ideal character here. Behold!

The #1 thing for a new player probably isn't going to be simplicity. It's going to be failure - any round in which you do nothing is a boring round. A warlock's ranged touch attacks will land more often than not, and with Eldritch Spear he can hit pretty much anything he can see. Various Eldritch Essences apply debuffs to the opponents, which the character doesn't need to keep track of. Fell Flight and Walk Unseen keep him out of trouble. All other invocations known can be devoted to 24hr long buffs such as Dark One's Own Luck which are recorded on the character sheet as permanent bonuses.

[weckar]

Frenzied Berserker? :smallbiggrin:
If Frenzy were toggleable at will, that would be a good option.

Right now, I still don't have a build that can be played by a die-rolling machine.

[Ravens_cry]

EDIT: @ Raven's Cry: That was a response to Grod's "Don't give them a druid". Two of my players started with druids as their first characters. They were the ones who were significantly stronger than the rest of the group, two of whom were wizards, and one of the wizards being an experienced optimizer. He was the one who threatened to break the campaign but never did. The druids broke it by accident.
Oh, I see!

[Vhaidara]

As far as a die rolling machine, go Frenzied, go halfling, and get a goliath in the party. They take Fling Ally and throw you into the fight. Then the other halfling, who has a sling and a Str penalty, hits you for 1 damage, you elect to fail your save to not frenzy, and boom.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Or, you know, hand them a druid as soon as you hit level 5 and tell them they are a bear with a pet bear and the ability to summon bears. Hard to mess that up.
Depending on the player, that could be about the worst thing you could possibly do to them. Difficult to permanently mess up your build, yes, but as Ravens_cry's mentioned, a Druid is probably the single most bookeeping-intensive class out there. Preparing spells takes a long time, choosing a spell to cast takes time, wild shapes take tons of time to calculate even when you understand where all the numbers are going, summons take time and are another level of choice, your animal companion means you're playing two characters at a time...

[torrasque666]

No, in this case there's no difficulty with the druid. He's not casting spells, other than summon monster [x], he's a bear. He goes up and claws them. Pet bear? claws em. Summoned bears? claws em.

In short, HE'S A F-ING BEAR! HE DOES WHAT A BEAR DOES!

[TheIronGolem]

Nthing Warlock. I built one for a player in my campaign for precisely the purpose laid out in the OP, for exactly the same reasons already given here: effective-but-simple combat options, very small number of spells to keep track of (and no management of daily uses or slots), passive self-buffs that can be effectively counted as permanent. I took the same route with feat selection, optimizing for simplicity by taking mostly passive-bonus feats like Toughness and Weapon Focus. Worked well.

[Someonelse]

I know you said nothing strange, but I want to challenge that thought with an idea. A few years ago I had a player like that in a game. Everyone in the party was playing something from Savage Species so he made an Earth Elemental. For that matter any of the four elementals would be a good choice. All it does is make slam attacks. If the player later feels they're ready for something a little more complicated they can start using the special ability each elemental gets.

[weckar]

The other players decide which aura is active.
That does not solve the challenge's problem, as that could be done with near-any class feature.

EDIT: Also, if we made our Frenzied Friend a Swarm Creature, he wouldn't even have to make attack rolls. Just move onto creature, roll swarm damage. Move onto creature, roll swam damage.... if we could get a feat to maximize that damage we'd have a fully automatic character :smallbiggrin:

[137beth]

Well, while the ranger gets spells, you could probably just let this hypothetical player play a ranger and ignore their spells. Or, if pathfinder is allowed, the New Paths Compendium's Spell-less Ranger class would probably work.

Barring that, I'll suggest the Tarrasque. All it does is make attack rolls. Playable from 1-20? Use savage species advancement, and it is no less playable than a straight-damage fighter. It just attacks, and relies on the party to do anything else (like fly).

Actually...I think we've all missed the obvious answer: Chicken Infested. Give him a commoner with Chicken Infested. That only requires one action (pull chickens out of a pouch), is playable from 1-20, and can contribute in any situation with just one simple repeated action!

[Bakkan]

Does the single action the character take have to be exactly the same at all levels? If not, then an Idiot Crusader is likely the best way to go, as that gives you (I believe) the most powerful usable-every-round-all-day abilities in the game. Just choose an appropriate one at each level.

At level 1, take Warblade, use Punishing Stance, and never use any of your maneuvers. You're still relevant.
At level 2, become an Idiot Crusader and use Leading the Attack every round.

I'll think about this and if I can find a decent build I'll edit it in.

[137beth]

Does the single action the character take have to be exactly the same at all levels? If not, then an Idiot Crusader is likely the best way to go, as that gives you (I believe) the most powerful usable-every-round-all-day abilities in the game. Just choose an appropriate one at each level.

At level 1, take Warblade, use Punishing Stance, and never use any of your maneuvers. You're still relevant.
At level 2, become an Idiot Crusader and use Leading the Attack every round.

I'll think about this and if I can find a decent build I'll edit it in.

That's both weaker, less versatile, and more complicated than a chicken infested commoner, though.

[With a box]

Aren't they all need to select bonus feats when they level up?

[weckar]

I think we're under the assumption of a pre-made build to level through.

[Giddonihah]

Hand him a Hydra of the appropriate CR. Increase the amount of heads as you level up, hand him an amulet of mighty fists somewhere along the line. Tons of Dice rolling, highly survivable character that doesn't actually do anything fancy except attack a LOT.

Oh wait I suppose this is an 'Exotic' race. But seriously handing the guy an animal companion would work. Like a bear, everyone likes bears!

[137beth]

Hand him a Hydra of the appropriate CR. Increase the amount of heads as you level up, hand him an amulet of mighty fists somewhere along the line. Tons of Dice rolling, highly survivable character that doesn't actually do anything fancy except attack a LOT.

Oh wait I suppose this is an 'Exotic' race. But seriously handing the guy an animal companion would work.

Well, it is in the core rules, so it might not count as an 'Exotic' race. Then again, that never seems to work for core exotic weapons.

[With a box]

How about party wizard casts dominate person on it?
He rolls dice and wizard orders to it

[JusticeZero]

I'd accept a class with an aura or some other such feature, as long as there is a sensible choice for one setting that would work for general use that you could just leave on standard. Just so long as you can set up the character with an effective setup, say "When it's your turn, roll that die, add that number, and roll this for damage" with confidence that those numbers with stay fixed for an entire level barring someone else buffing or debuffing them.

[Raimun]

Isn't that kind of (more like seriously) underestimating any player? Even a new one? When I first started playing D&D, I rolled a Cleric, so I was both hitting people with a greatsword and casting spells. It's not rocket surgery.

Then again, I've heard of a group that had a couple of players that were not able to grasp the rules. Like at all. Barbarian Rage was so incomprehensible that it was not used even once. Even basic things like attack rolls went over their heads. However, no amount of simplifying will help there. Sometimes you just have run before you can walk, so you can stumble and fall to the deep end of the pool before you are able to swim. Or not.

Anyway, Fighter is the simplest class there is. Just write down the attack routines for the player, including stuff like power attack and so on: "You want accuracy? Use the upper "to hit and damage". You want damage? Use the lower "to hit and damage values."". Only take static modifier-Feats, like dodge, weapon focus, specialization, etc. Make sure the player understands the mechanics behind the character and work your way up from there. Make sure they have the access to the rules.

Most players should be able to easily learn these things very fast.

[jiriku]

Warlock, as noted, is nearly foolproof. If he's willing to get a LITTLE into it, I'd suggest warblade. You can pick his maneuvers for him at each level-up, write out what they do on index cards, and all he needs to do is hand you an index card and say "I'm using this one!" If he gives the cards to you as he activates them, and then you give them all back whenever he refreshes maneuvers, that's pretty darn simple.

Note that warlock does fall off a bit in effectiveness at higher levels, but there are certain warlock-buffing items that you could strategically place in the party's loot.

[Giddonihah]

Actually isnt it possible to make a Bards Inspire Courage effectively never end? Fill up the bard spells with healing for after battle (or homebrew spells out for now and give him fullbab and a better HD :smallwink:), and make it a THF Rocker Bard of doom. If he ever feels like doing more complicated stuff, let him spice up the spell list with something cool, perhaps give him dragonfire inspiration to guarantee party appreciation.

[DeAnno]

Maybe something like a Half-Ogre with Fighter levels into War Hulk? Not playable until 3 though. In this type of situation I think raw Strength is a pretty good way to go, in general.

[nedz]

Any kind of Archer — they're boring enough. This includes Warlock.

A Melee/Healbot Cleric, with band aid spells only. Archer/Healbot Cleric also works.

[Xerlith]

In Pathfinder, I found Monk and Paladin the easiest - That is, Zen Archer Monk and Divine Hunter Paladin. Archery is easy, and Paladin has built-in awesomeness for a new player (Detect->move->smiiite!).

In 3.5, Warlock seems easy enough, with Dragonfire Adept strictly behind. Swordsage is simple, because they don't refresh maneuvers, but need some skill in running around the battlefield. Crusader or Warblade are also quite easy, with Warblade slightly ahead thanks to less confusing refresh mechanics.
Fighters are simple - to the point of being boring. Not really a thing for a fresh player - if you don't want them to get bored.
Scout/Ranger is okay.
Surprisingly, I think Duskblade is a great way to learn how spellcasting works. You've got a martial chassis with spells on top - with small enough list not to get lost.

[kellbyb]

Isn't that kind of (more like seriously) underestimating any player? Even a new one? When I first started playing D&D, I rolled a Cleric, so I was both hitting people with a greatsword and casting spells. It's not rocket surgery.

This. Really, I do think you're selling him short on your predictions. My first character was a half-elf wizard and I had loads of fun. (that said, I did start out by reading the PHB cover-to-cover. I'm that kind of person.)

Warlock or druid both seem like good options. Yes, there are moving parts, but it's pretty hard to screw up badly on either.

[Eldan]

Actually, I'd say a ranged character rather than a fighter. Requires fewer decisions. Melee fighters still have to move up to the enemy and potentially move around intervening tanks and traps. As a ranged character, it's just point and shoot.

Warlock or dragonfire adept, then. One blast shape, one blast essence, handful of passive buffs, done.

[DarkSonic1337]

I would second dragonfire adept except that the player apparently wants to roll attack rolls (which DFAs don't really do. They point a breath weapon and the DM rolls saves :p).

[Dimcair]

I know this kind of player, we have one.

He doesn't care for the system or the rules and sometimes he even starts playing games on his iPad.
But he has fun hitting things in the face, so he plays a fighter.

Passive feats like cleave, weapon focus etc. and maybe power attack are your (his) friend.
He is assisting the party in being the BSFG.

Avoiding trip or any combat maneuvers is the right thing to do. The guy has still not looked up the rules for bullrush himself.

[weckar]

A tanking feat like Goad (if only it were passive) could also work.

[Necroticplague]

I'd go with a Feral Human Fighter. Just take all boring+number feats for your claws, with multiattack/improved multiattack when you meet the prerequisites.Run forward, claw, repeat. Fast Healing ensures that the cleric doesn't need to heal him after a battle, and his muscles are beefy enough that buffs aren't needed. The gear could similarly simply be more +numbers, or grafts if you have access to them.

[Groshuk]

My GF played with us for a while and she's pretty much useless at any game, we made her a bard, gave her a healing wand and a fancy +1 mandolin and set her loose. She'd do inspire courage, shoot stuff with her bow until someone needed a heal and ran away from anything that got close to her.

Everyone was happy with the buff and not having to worry about heals, she was content to help instead of being the hero, worked well. Once in a while she'd use another spell to spice it up a bit but all in all very simple to play.

[ElenionAncalima]

You still have to decide whether to use it. I thought the point was to create a completely automatic build?

Most of the players I have seen with Power Attack in PF just tell the DM that they are always using PA unless otherwise specified.

Give them the Furious Focus feat and they are set until they get a second attack (even then you can probably just assume PA is always on for simplicity).

[Stella]

This came up in another thread, but i've seen it a few times before..
Someone comes to the game. They're not there because they're an avid gamer. They don't know the system. They don't care about the system. Tactically, the only thing they're good for is walking up to the enemy and rolling some dice.
But they're having fun, and they should be effective and not a boat anchor. So i'd like to know what people have as ideas for good builds for it.

This is always tough, and the answer isn't as simple as handing them a character to play which you might think is simple. As with many things: It depends a lot on the particular individual.

Real Life Example, and probably one of the worst case examples there can be: The spouse of a regular player. They are also a regular player because they come together, but even though they play every 2 weeks with everyone else they never retain any knowledge of the rules in between sessions. They are playing a Bard and have to look up their spells every time they cast one, and they don't tend to remember their class abilities either. Even when they take a fairly standard action such as attacking in melee they have to be prodded into rolling the correct die type and adding their BAB to see what AC they hit against. And then prodded into rolling the correct damage dice and adding whatever bonuses may apply. No matter how patient people are some of the frustration of this constant hand-holding comes through, and that tends to make this player frustrated as well.

The playing group are all friends of many years, so no one wants to uninvite anyone. And of course as a husband and wife this would essentially be uninviting two people, one who knows the rules well and plays just fine.

On the flip side, they are a good role player and in non-combat situations and especially those which only involve talking with NPCs and not reliant on skill rolls or the like they are an active contributor. So we tend to let them take the lead in those situations in order to balance out their weakness in the more mechanical parts of the game.

There's really no pre-generated character we could hand them which would change things much if at all, although a power attacking two-handed weapon Fighter might give them a greater impact on the combats from a higher damage output and also might help ease the frustration at not having much impact with the Bard. There's a lot more fun for some people when they are actually delivering a large amount of damage and/or the killing blows instead of playing a class which has much more of a support role and not really seeing the impact of an action such as Inspire Courage.

[Slipperychicken]

A Gunslinger build could work for this, especially if we get him an advanced firearm (only 2k - 3.5k gp if crafted via Gunsmithing) and Rapid Reload, so he reloads as a free action and doesn't need to worry about his gun exploding. An ammo-pouch of continuous Abundant Ammunition (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/a/abundant-ammunition) (2k) means unlimited bullets, which would largely remove his need to worry about resources. If we set him up as a small race (goblin?) on a mount, he can gain tremendous mobility. 3 level Trench Fighter dip gets him Dex to damage and the ability to pay off feat taxes (i.e. Point blank shot, precise shot, rapid shot, deadly aim, etc etc)

[Adverb]

You could do a Swift Hunter using the spell-less ranger variant. I mean, you'd take a power hit, but you'll still have decent offense and skills-- probably as good as you'll get without magic. Dip Barbarian 1 for pounce and run a TWF-melee destroyer, or pick up a Sparring Dummy of the Master for 10-ft steps.



Swift Hunter is where I went when I read the first post, too. Warlock is a good second choice, but Swift Hunter fits the bill of "move and strike" nicely, has a good set of skills, no x-per-day to speak of, good defenses, and the skirmish-to-favored-enemy removes the part where they normally become useless for some fights.

[Gabrosin]

This is absolutely crying out for a ranged character. Ranged characters are much more survivable because they don't get close enough to the action to be in serious danger, especially at low levels. Ones with long range can stand in one place and fire at whatever they can see, all day long. Ammo tracking is not a serious issue in most cases, or you can give out infinite ammo, whatever.

We have a newbie in our current game. I built her a pure rogue that snipes with a crossbow and taught her the rules for hiding. She's happy because she contributes a lot in combat (especially when she can generate sneak attacks) but isn't in a ton of danger (because she's two feet tall and finds places to hide).

Melee is intrinsically more complicated and less survivable than ranged. Unless your party needs someone to stand in front and soak damage, don't make the newbie fill that role.

[WarKitty]

Daring Outlaw could work. Move to flank, full attack, rinse, repeat. Nice simple concept, too.
You could do a Swift Hunter using the spell-less ranger variant. I mean, you'd take a power hit, but you'll still have decent offense and skills-- probably as good as you'll get without magic. Dip Barbarian 1 for pounce and run a TWF-melee destroyer, or pick up a Sparring Dummy of the Master for 10-ft steps.


Though I think you're selling new players short. I mean, yeah, no-one should be handing them a Druid, but I think it's a bit insulting to assume that they couldn't work out how to use something like a Warlock or Barbarian. And if all they can do is one trick, over and over again, you run the risk of boredom-repelling them. So for more general newbie-friendly classes, I recommend:

Warlock-- Simple concept, limited set of abilities, but enough options that you don't have to do the same thing over and over again. Probably a Clawlock, if you want simple+effective.
Warlock or Swordsage-- Easy concepts, hard to mess up, no worries about conserving daily resources, cool abilities.
Barbarian-- The epitome of "I just want to hit things" classes. Slap Trapkiller on there and have 'em take Track to have some out-of-combat toys.
Daring Outlaw-- simple and functional.



Isn't that kind of (more like seriously) underestimating any player? Even a new one? When I first started playing D&D, I rolled a Cleric, so I was both hitting people with a greatsword and casting spells. It's not rocket surgery.

Then again, I've heard of a group that had a couple of players that were not able to grasp the rules. Like at all. Barbarian Rage was so incomprehensible that it was not used even once. Even basic things like attack rolls went over their heads. However, no amount of simplifying will help there. Sometimes you just have run before you can walk, so you can stumble and fall to the deep end of the pool before you are able to swim. Or not.

Anyway, Fighter is the simplest class there is. Just write down the attack routines for the player, including stuff like power attack and so on: "You want accuracy? Use the upper "to hit and damage". You want damage? Use the lower "to hit and damage values."". Only take static modifier-Feats, like dodge, weapon focus, specialization, etc. Make sure the player understands the mechanics behind the character and work your way up from there. Make sure they have the access to the rules.

Most players should be able to easily learn these things very fast.

If this is (as I rather suspect it is) based on my thread...it's really designed for the player that doesn't want to learn a whole lot. They're playing because their friends or SO or whatever are around and they want to eat cookies and crack jokes with their group. The actual gameplay isn't really interesting to them. It's not that they can't learn, it's that they find the process of learning the rules and selecting their actions boring. They want to be able to play the game while thinking about it as little as possible.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Swift Hunter still works. Move, (Greater) Manyshot. Rinse, repeat.

[WarKitty]

A basic bard also isn't bad. Give them DFI or something nice to play, and take all the healing spells.

[JusticeZero]

If this is (as I rather suspect it is) based on my thread...
Your thread is not in any way the first time I have encountered or heard described players almost exactly like the one you have. And yes, that's exactly what it's for - a character that is useful that you can hand some dice and say "When your turn comes up, roll these dice, add this number. and tell me what you got."

[8wGremlin]

Dragon fire adept, simple to use in combat, and can add to social encounters as well?

[Giddonihah]

DFA is only simple if you are good at defining what a cone looks like on square grids. And by 'you' I mean the player.

[Grod_The_Giant]

DFA is only simple if you are good at defining what a cone looks like on square grids. And by 'you' I mean the player.
Not to mention that the class is disappointing if you try to use it for damage. (1d6/2 levels, reflex half? Seriously?) It functions as BFC, but that takes tactical thought.

[Slipperychicken]

DFA is only simple if you are good at defining what a cone looks like on square grids. And by 'you' I mean the player.

Something like this:

http://i.imgur.com/f9JDZ.jpg

And for 10ft cones:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MK8sWA8JC8A/T35ia8ZWvmI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/ddpZlZE_DLc/s490/15%2Bfoot%2Bcone.jpg

[WarKitty]

Your thread is not in any way the first time I have encountered or heard described players almost exactly like the one you have. And yes, that's exactly what it's for - a character that is useful that you can hand some dice and say "When your turn comes up, roll these dice, add this number. and tell me what you got."

Yeah. Especially in friend groups people may want to include someone who isn't terribly into D&D. In our case he had that sense of dry humor that was quite fun to have in D&D. But in game that is exactly what he wanted to do.