New and excited

[Mister_E]

So I'm new to dnd. So new I'm working on my character as we speak. Every Friday my friends and I play board games. then we made a new friend of a friend and they convinced us to play dnd. So here I am. This Friday will hopefully be our first session. I found a class that sounds way but I don't know if it's a base class or a sub class of something.
dandwiki. com/wiki/Arcane_Archer_(5e_Class)#Arcane_Archer_Spell_List

I would like to try this as my first character. From what I understand if this is a main class, then multiclassing into fight to get action surge could be a good idea?

Any tips are very much appreciated
And sorry for the wall of text.

[Coretex]

Firstly: Welcome!

Secondly: That was the shortest wall of text I've ever seen someone apologize for. More like the short fence of text. Curb of text. Speedbump of text.

And now the meat :)

The Arcane Archer that you linked would probably gain quite a lot from Fighter 2 (especially as you get 2 archery fighting styles). That said; DandDwiki tends to be less trusted for balanced classes and a lot of DMs won't allow classes from it. For a similar class that comes from a more official source try https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/UA-RevisedSubclasses.pdf
Not all DMs let you use Unearthed Arcana (periodically released playtest material by the creators of D&D) but its source is more official so its much more likely and probably more balanced. That class will also be in the official book Xanathar's guide to Everything released 21st November.

If that is also out might I suggest the Bladesinger. Basically a wizard that uses martial weapons. Or a Warlock: Pact of the Blade with a bow. Or an Fighter: Eldritch knight.

[mephnick]

I would really suggest sticking to the actual books for your first character. That class you linked isn't official and although it's actually sane for a dndwiki class, a lot of DMs do not trust the site (for good reason). There are lots of great official classes and a bunch of new subclasses coming out in a couple weeks in a new book. I'd definitely learn the system better before trying out any homebrew.

[Kane0]

There is an official arcane archer just around the corner in an upcoming book actually, that starts off as fighter.

You can find the original 'draft' version of it here (https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/UA-RevisedSubclasses.pdf).

[lunaticfringe]

Rangers are Half casting Archers. All the good Archery spells are on their list.

I will point you to Battlemaster Fighter. Fighters are slick dps machines and BM will give you trick shots.

Warlocks shoot magic bullets that rival many bow shots and you can add a nifty rider while getting access to additional Ranged friendly features(Fey Pact stuff, Devils Sight) & Arcane spells

[Toadkiller]

Most of all - welcome to the game.

But yeah, sticking to official stuff is a good idea at least till you learn the game. Xanather’s guide is out soon as they say above. If you are starting at first level you could just go fighter and wait for the official arcane archer class. It’s likely going to be better balanced and just fit into the game better.

Fighter isn’t a bad place to start in any case. It’s a class that has been around since the beginning and while it starts very simple it’s a very solid choice.

Have fun!

[Honest Tiefling]

Greetings! I could also chime in on not using homebrew, but I think other people have it covered and I feel lazy.

A piece of advice: Write your spells down on cards. Doing such will make it easier to learn and reduce the amount of time flipping through books.

Also! The tiefling race is superb and always highly reccomended. I recommend a tiefling warlock for all of your shooty needs.

[Mister_E]

Thanks so much guys for the help. And I'm excited for the xanathar's guide. Cuz samurai.

[IronMike]

Mister_E, your post has inspired me to post as well. I called it (Semi-) New and (also) excited. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Mister_E]

Your welcome. It was fun.

So just did my first session on friday. After I got used to the flow, it was really I see it as "skyrim the board game" because you can walk around do what you want. Then when you encounter an enemy, it becomes like classic final fantasy. It was really. I'm 100xp away from unlocking the arcane archer. This Friday I hope I can kill somethings. So I'm a high elf fighter cuz it fits the background I made. But I stared with blade ward was my starting cantrip. Super useful. Attacked by kenku i think that's how it's spelled. Then by like 15 goblins and a chieftain. Excites to continue our adventures.

[KorvinStarmast]

Glad to have you on board, it's a fun game. Great to hear you are having fun.

Just to let you know, dndwiki has a poor reputation for pretty good reasons (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/q/109306/22566).

do you have the Players Handbook? If not, fine, you can get most of the game basics by reading the free basic rules (http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PlayerBasicRulesV03.pdf).

While the character creation bits you have already figured out, the details about how to use the various tools are a handy reference.

Insofar as the action economy is concerned, on a given turn you can:
Move
Take an action
Take a bonus action (if you have one)
Take a reaction (if you have one, an opportunity attack is a reaction)
Make a free interaction with an object.

Best wishes.