PhoenixPhyre
2019-04-07, 07:16 AM
I'm going to be running a 2-3 hour one-shot at a charity gaming event in a few weeks. I have no idea who the players will be, but expect that many if not most will be completely unfamiliar with TTRPGs in general. I may get some of my old stalwarts, but can't count on more than 1 or 2 of those. This is at a school, so middle school (12-14 year olds) and high school (14-18 year olds) students as my players.
The other issue is that the table size may be anywhere from 3 to 6 (my personal cap) people. This means I need to create a set of pregen characters (because character creation won't work in this time frame, especially with new players) that can mesh at a variety of party sizes. A complication is that I want to set it in my own world, which modifies some choices.
The scenario is mixed. Some combat (or none if they take a very particular route, but I don't expect that), some exploration, some social. It's in a wilderness area in the mountain forest. The NPCs are goblins* and dragonborn*.
not inherently evil or good due to setting elements.
Available races: Anything from the PHB except gnomes and drow. Hobgoblins, aasimar, and yuan-ti purebloods from Volo's. Orcs (but they use half-orc stat blocks instead).
They'll be level 3. I've found that's the sweet spot for these--high enough that you have sub-classes and aren't super squishy, low enough that it's not too complicated (at least with pre-gens and spell cards).
My thoughts:
3 people: Champion fighter (SnB), Valor Bard (ranged skills/face), Life Cleric (support)
4 people: add Hunter Ranger (ranged exploration)
5 people: ??
6 people: ?????????
I'm leaning away from rogue due to the scenario (not much use for stealth; scouting can be done better in this case by a ranger).
Any ideas for the best parties of various sizes for an outdoor scenario with new people in a constrained time format?
The other issue is that the table size may be anywhere from 3 to 6 (my personal cap) people. This means I need to create a set of pregen characters (because character creation won't work in this time frame, especially with new players) that can mesh at a variety of party sizes. A complication is that I want to set it in my own world, which modifies some choices.
The scenario is mixed. Some combat (or none if they take a very particular route, but I don't expect that), some exploration, some social. It's in a wilderness area in the mountain forest. The NPCs are goblins* and dragonborn*.
not inherently evil or good due to setting elements.
Available races: Anything from the PHB except gnomes and drow. Hobgoblins, aasimar, and yuan-ti purebloods from Volo's. Orcs (but they use half-orc stat blocks instead).
They'll be level 3. I've found that's the sweet spot for these--high enough that you have sub-classes and aren't super squishy, low enough that it's not too complicated (at least with pre-gens and spell cards).
My thoughts:
3 people: Champion fighter (SnB), Valor Bard (ranged skills/face), Life Cleric (support)
4 people: add Hunter Ranger (ranged exploration)
5 people: ??
6 people: ?????????
I'm leaning away from rogue due to the scenario (not much use for stealth; scouting can be done better in this case by a ranger).
Any ideas for the best parties of various sizes for an outdoor scenario with new people in a constrained time format?