Best three player team

[Redhood101]

So I have a crew of new players that want me to pregenerate characters for them. What would be a good set of characters for new players? What three would work together really well?

[Keravath]

I don't think there is a "best" three player combination. In many ways it depends on what challenges you need to be able to deal with. A three player party significantly limits the range of actions the party can take.

My first suggestion would be paladin, cleric and bard. The cleric and paladin can melee while the bard supplies spell support and crowd control. You could make them all variant human with the resilient constitution feat so that their spells stand a much better chance of surviving concentration checks. If you choose lore bard, the bard then also becomes the skill monkey and party spokesperson.

You could fine tune this with multiclassing and spell choices.

e.g.
paladin 6/ divine soul sorcerer X
cleric 1/ wizard X
bard X/hexblade warlock 2

The multiclassing spreads the healing around as well as giving each party member decent offensive and defensive spell abilities. Either the divine soul or bard could cover some of the higher level healing spells ... though both their spell choices are pretty limited. The wizard provides AoE as well as ritual casting and spell variety ... plus they can always run bless during combat.

However, that is probably getting a lot more detailed than you were looking for .. :)

In the end though, most 3 character parties can work as long as at least two of them have access to the healing word spell. Healing word is essential for keeping party members alive when something bad happens ... it is a 60' bonus action heal that will get a downed character back in the fight. With a party of 3 ... it is essential to be able to get folks back up with the least action cost possible.

[Gydian]

Since you know what type of game they are playing you can customize the team better than just working well.

Dungeon delving?
rogue
druid
fighter

urban intrigue?
bard
rogue
wizard

Outdoor adventure?
Druid
Ranger
warlock

these are not absolutely the best, its more of an idea or a perspective to consider.

[Greywander]

Are these new players? Do they have a good understanding of the system? Are they prepared to play a complex class, or do they want something simple to introduce them to the game while they learn the rules?

This guy asserts that monks are the easiest class to play (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olwr9rPZ9cw). You punch stuff. They don't need to worry about weapons, armor, shields, maneuvers, spells, etc. They just punch stuff. You can track their ki, and gradually introduce them to their basic ki abilities as they get comfortable. But for starters, they get to punch two or three times on their turn. That's all they need to worry about. Let them know when they're out of ki and can only punch twice per turn.

Rogue is also pretty simple, perhaps moreso than fighter. Similar to above, they stab stuff, or shoot stuff. Assume they Disengage when they move out of melee, and tell them they can hide before/after attacking. If they haven't used their bonus action, ask them if they want to move again (Dash). Basically help them manage that bonus action, while they focus on the stabby-stab.

As for spellcasters, none of them are simple, but my vote would go for cleric as the "easiest" caster to work with. Medium armor and shields means the game is a bit more forgiving if you find yourself in a bad spot. Simple weapons provides an ample supply of weapons to choose from while locking them out of some of the more esoteric options. They don't have to worry about managing a spellbook, nor are they stuck with their spell choices forever, being able to pick new spells every time they rest. I'd pick their spells for them at first, though, and make sure they understand those spells first. As they get comfortable, then when they take a long rest you might suggest a new spell that could be useful to them for the next adventuring day.

Might not be a bad idea to make them all human, too. Or, at least stick to conventional and easy to understand races without complex racial abilities.

The above party is lacking a dedicated tank, so I would plan accordingly. Buff up their CON, and start with low-damage enemies that won't drop any of them in one hit. Or go with something different than what I've suggested (they were more ideas for the individual players, rather than party composition).

Finally, I would make sure to start them at 1st level, and avoid multiclass builds. If they're just learning, you don't need to throw them in the deep end.

[CTurbo]

Bard
Cleric
Paladin

[SleepIncarnate]

If they're experienced players, I'd make an argument for Bard, Druid, Paladin. All three are very versatile and can adapt to what is needed in the moment. If the druid is a moon druid, then you have two people who can tank or do decent DPR, all three can heal, the bard will have ultimate crowd control and support, but the other two can do some as well, two of them will have decent charisma for face stuff, the bard serves as the skill monkey (lore or not)... They really are an adaptable party.

[Vexacia]

in no particular order:

a big stupid fighter (barbarian, strength fighter, paladin, moon druid) - nothing fancy here, just ye olde frontline.

a sneak (rogue, ranger, dexterity fighter, bard, monk, moon druid) - this character should have thieves' tools from their background if it's not a rogue.

a utility belt spellcaster (wizard, sorcerer, cleric, bard, any druid) - this character should be loaded up with utility, buffs, debuffs, control, support, etc. damage is a secondary concern to all other preceding functions. they don't have to heal, and in even if they can heal they probably shouldn't most of the time.

there are additional options for each of the above but those start to become unusual or unorthodox and i wouldn't recommend using them for pregens.

probably balance it so you have one dude with decent intelligence, one dude with decent wisdom, and one dude with decent charisma. not mandatory, just nice to have a balance there so all your bases are covered.

someone should probably be the party face, but this can be done by any of the above as a secondary role if necessary. just make sure there's at least 1 dude with a solid secondary charisma stat and proficiency in persuasion.

[Vorpalchicken]

Mystic
Coffeelock
Nameless King

[MeimuHakurei]

Generally, there's no objective "easiest class to play" because some classes have different aspects that make them easier to handle whose relevance depends on the campaign/DM.

Fighter - The classic "noob class" is mainly easy in the sense that its resource management is fairly trivial (assuming Champion) as its only core resources (Second Wind/Action Surge) are binary. Plus, its fighting style for the most part is just a binary bonus. However, it is not an easy class for a more complex module with diverse challenges, as its lack of noncombat options will leave it stuck a lot of the time without proper planning.

Cleric - Most people would not consider a caster class to be easy, but Clerics can easily make any kind of stat investment work and they skip the known/prepared spell divide a Wizard has. While learning about spells and spell slots can take a while, this class is very forgiving about picking up wrong/undesired spells as you can just repick them the next day.

Druid - The things I said about the Cleric being easy can also be said about the Druid, easily replacing unwanted spells. Moon Druids in particular can do decently well with just their wild shape alone. However, wild shape can be pretty middling at mid levels if it's relied on too much and the class traits are fairly unusual, too.

Paladin - This class, particularly the Oath of Devotion, already presents a very classic hero archetype and a clear image of what that person is probably like, so it's fairly easy to make a character concept based on that. Paladins also have a small introduction to spellcasting as a mechanic with Divine Smite being a way to opt out of using spells. It does share a bit of the Fighter's and the Cleric's weaknesses, however.

Monk - Similar to the fighter, your only concern is hitting people in combat. You do have a resource management system, but it's fairly basic as it all runs from the same pool. Still, the monk may also struggle in noncombat challenges, but not as much as the fighter due to their mobility, but the main concern is that they're much frailer, so the monk can easily drop if their high movement and ki abilities aren't used properly.

[Greywander]

Mystic
Coffeelock
Sorcerer King
We can go deeper.

All three players have one level in every class. Every class. (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/5e_Classes)


in no particular order: [...]a big stupid fighter [...] a sneak [...] a utility belt spellcaster
probably balance it so you have one dude with decent intelligence, one dude with decent wisdom, and one dude with decent charisma. [...] someone should probably be the party face
This is all pretty solid. OP hasn't responded yet, so I'm still wondering if his "new players" are completely new like they don't even know what 6d9 means or if they've just never played at his table specifically.

If they're relatively new, I'd shy away from classes like druid (two words: Wild Shape), and generally opt for classes that have less bookkeeping and fewer moving parts. Champion fighters, Thief or Assassin rogues, Open Hand monks, Totem barbarians, these types of things.

Spellcasters are necessarily going to be more complex, you don't need one but if you want to throw one in there I'm going to stand behind my earlier suggestion of cleric. Personally, I like the Knowledge domain, but pretty much any cleric domain will work, Light or Life would make for something a little more generic, Nature has that nice reaction feature at 6th level. If you think they're up to play a wizard, I would go Divination wizard, as the Diviner is extremely flexible and doesn't shoehorn you into a specific playstyle.


Moon Druids in particular
You're going to ask a new player to keep track of all of their Wild Shape stats? Or volunteer to keep the stats handy for literally any animal they might even think about turning into, which may or may not be in the books. Druid and cleric are similar, and Wild Shape, especially on a Moon druid, is why I would infinitely recommend a cleric over a druid for new players.

Moon druid is a terrific class to play, and a wonderful addition to any team. It's just not very friendly to those without experience.

[KillingTime]

One of the games I'm currently playing in started life as a 3-player game. We're all experienced players, but as a challenge we all rolled up our characters in secret (just the DM in the know), so we were forced to pick versatility over specialism.

We ended up with a high elf eldritch knight, a dwarf life cleric and a tiefling celestial chainlock.
It turned out pretty well. Tanking, damage dealing, healing, some control.
Turns out that in a three character party, having loads of healing is really important. You absolutely can't afford for anyone to drop or else you'll be quickly overwhelmed.

[Randomthom]

Hard to answer without any context (player experience, setting, campaign type, starting level) but I'd probably plump for the following;

Paladin (Devotion or Ancients)
Rogue (Arcane Trickster)
Sorceror (Draconic)

Each get a little bit of spellcasting but none too-much. Be generous with potions of healing or similar and make sure to teach them about spending HD on short rests. Sorceror is a good spellcasting class as you don't have a bajillion spells to learn about (as with Cleric/Druid), it's just "these are your spells". Sorcery points and metamagic complicate things a little bit so give this to your most mentally agile player!

As previously stated, the Rogue will need to be helped with the concept of bonus actions, as will the Paladin when it comes to smite.

[Vexacia]

You're going to ask a new player to keep track of all of their Wild Shape stats? Or volunteer to keep the stats handy for literally any animal they might even think about turning into, which may or may not be in the books. Druid and cleric are similar, and Wild Shape, especially on a Moon druid, is why I would infinitely recommend a cleric over a druid for new players.

Moon druid is a terrific class to play, and a wonderful addition to any team. It's just not very friendly to those without experience.

frankly this is a real good point and you're absolutely correct. Moon Druid can be a very overwhelming experience to new players.

[Kaibis]

frankly this is a real good point and you're absolutely correct. Moon Druid can be a very overwhelming experience to new players.

My first character was a moon druid. I had a small list of viable beasts (Dire Wold, Brown Bear, and a cat), that was more than enough.

As a DM early on I ran a home game and most of my players needed me to pregen characters for them. My honest experience was... well I won't kill your thread with that conversation. :D

[CTurbo]

I've played long 3 player campaigns a couple times and honestly I can see just about any 3 character combo working out in 5e.

I was a Barbarian in a party with a Cleric and a Sorcerer, and the only struggles we had were player related moreso than anything else. Otherwise we were great even though the Barbarian is extremely limited in small parties.

I was a Monk in a party with a Warlock and Cleric and we were great too. We didn't have any issues even though the Monk is probably the second worse class in outside of combat stuff.

Really as long as you have at least one high Cha character, one high Wis character, one tanky character, one stealthy character, and one character capable of healing you'll be fine.


I still think that a Bard, Cleric, and Paladin would be the best 3 character team possible. I'd probably go-

Lore Bard - face, stealth, skills, utility, control, debuffing, healing
Tempest Cleric - healing, buffing, blasting, control, off-tank
Ancients Paladin - tank, melee, healing, buffing, face

[Greywander]

I've played long 3 player campaigns a couple times and honestly I can see just about any 3 character combo working out in 5e.
Heck, you could literally do three Champion fighters and just ask the players, "Do you want the swordsman, the archer, or the wrestler?" That's how flexible 5e is.

[Daphne]

I'd build around 5 or 6 characters and let them choose from the options available.

Is the game starting at 1st level? If so you don't have to worry about archetypes and can let them choose them themselves (for most classes)

Here are what I'd build:
Human Fighter, Duelist style
Half-Orc Barbarian, wielding a great axe
Hill Dwarf Life Cleric
Dragonborn Paladin, player can choose Fighting Style when he/she reaches 2nd level
Wood Elf Ranger, same as Paladin
High Elf Rogue

I'd avoid making Sorcerers, Druids and Wizards because of their complexity.

[Qworp]

So I have a crew of new players that want me to pregenerate characters for them. What would be a good set of characters for new players? What three would work together really well?

To be honest I would do the old

1 Dps
1 Tank
1 Healer

I would ask them what type of roles they want to play as you don't want to be giving a person who wants to play dps a healer role or etc. After that pick classes you think they would like.

[Digimike]

I'd say Paladin, Druid, Bard.

You have 3 healers, two tanks (Wild Shape), two scouts, two strong magic users with the best spell lists in the game, and all bring very strong party buffs and enemy debuffs.

Hell even a bard can be made tankey with a few options.

If druid is too overwhelming for a new player i'd go with a tempest cleric.

[Wildarm]

Essential for small party team:

Paladin - Tank. You need to stay together and get those bonuses to saves. Grab Sentinel to keep enemies away from your more squishy friends

Bard - Face, Utility, Control and a bit of healing. Get Thief Tool proficiency. Half-Elf or Warforged Envoy is a great race choice for this character

3rd player can be whatever you wish but I'd probably lean towards something like Knowledge Cleric 1/Wizard X - Gives a lot of ritual utility, more spellcasting(AOE in particular) and 2 or more really high knowledge skills. Expertise in Arcana/Nature is my general preference for identifying enemies and figuring passing on tactical info to your team. History can also be very useful depending on your DM.

[Misterwhisper]

Envoy Warforged Ancients Paladin

Half Elf Lore bard

High Elf Eldritch knight archer