Party of 3 character creation

[Master O'Laughs]

I am about to start DMing for 2 friends and one of their 9 year old sons. I plan on running LMoP into SKT. The 2 friends are long time 3.5 players with one of them having some 5e experience.

Due to 3.5, I was thinking of rolling for attributes with a minimum of +5 total bonus so no one is weak.

Another idea I had was to not allow feats, but hand them out for free to reward the different characters at certain points, but I have two thoughts and need help on what might be best.

Option A) Roll for attributes and allow feats instead of ASIs

Option B) Point buy but no feats and I hand them out at certain times to buff their power level as needed.

Option C) something better I haven't thought of.

[Frogreaver]

Ask your players which option they prefer. They may even want to experience the system as is before going through big changes.

Just be aware 5e isn’t a super challenging game for the most part (obviously you can force it to be so). So adding in more pc power May make things feel to easy and whatever you have to do to artificially compensate might make things feel worse.

But really, ask your players.

[Psyren]

Personally I'd go for Option B, as it eliminates both the potential for high variance in rolls between characters, and high variance in their optimization ability by knowing which ASIs to trade for feats on which character since there's no tradeoff. Depending on their experience level, I would consider limiting the pool of feats they have access to when you hand out a boon rather than sending them out to book-dive.

[J-H]

I would go with point buy - let them use an electronic calculator for this.

Feats as rewards or as options when you take an ASI. Totally featless is fine, too.

[Psyren]

You don't even need a calculator for 5e's point buy - it's very easy, 5e is just horrendously bad at explaining it.

Start all your stats at 8 and you get 27 points. Every increase costs one point, 14 and 15 cost two points. You can't go over 15 before race/background. That's it!

[ReallySeamus]

If your friends and the kiddo are new(ish) to 5e, I'd probably just have them do the standard array and let them choose ASI or feats as it comes up for their class/race, sticking to the PHB to keep it simple. I think you're better off nerfing the encounters a bit as you go versus giving the PCs extra power (aside from more frequent healing potions, perhaps). That's pretty easy to do on the fly while it's harder to make encounters more difficult if the PCs end up being more powerful than you expected.

I've been running a campaign for just two PCs - a sorcerer and a bard - and so far they've made it through adventures without too many issues. I reduced a bugbear's HP and damage output a bit when they were at first level and given them some extra latitude in finding creative non-combat solutions, but otherwise really haven't had to do too much tinkering to make the encounters appropriately difficult. It's not the hardest game unless the DM really wants it to be.

[Master O'Laughs]

Thanks, this is helpful!

[Kurt Kurageous]

If your friends and the kiddo are new(ish) to 5e, I'd probably just have them do the standard array and let them choose ASI or feats as it comes up for their class/race, sticking to the PHB to keep it simple.

I totally agree. I realised that the game is designed around standard array, and Standard array is a total of +6 in ability modifiers.

I give free feats at level 1 because it makes for interesting builds and capable if squishy characters at 1st level. They will at least be very good at ONE THING (their feat), and half-feats give them a way to even out odd ability scores. 3.5 rewarded min/maxing. You can't go below an 8, so that's out of the question in 5e.

For new players LMoP came with pregens. Look them over. The builds are not exciting or even optimized in my opinion, but they can play right away.

[Master O'Laughs]

My two adult friends definitely want to create their own characters and enjoy learning the system.

The idea is to have my friend's son pick his class first and then the other two will complement what he chooses. I plan on helping him as much as he wants so he has fun playing his character.

[da newt]

Start at level 2. (level 1 is just too easy to kill a PC by accident)

Use point buy or standard array. Let them choose to ASI or Feat as per normal. If you 'd like them to feel extra cool let them pick one extra feat at creation (but I'd cull PAM / GWM / SS etc).

[TyGuy]

I am about to start DMing for 2 friends and one of their 9 year old sons. I plan on running LMoP into SKT. The 2 friends are long time 3.5 players with one of them having some 5e experience.

Due to 3.5, I was thinking of rolling for attributes with a minimum of +5 total bonus so no one is weak.

Another idea I had was to not allow feats, but hand them out for free to reward the different characters at certain points, but I have two thoughts and need help on what might be best.

Option A) Roll for attributes and allow feats instead of ASIs

Option B) Point buy but no feats and I hand them out at certain times to buff their power level as needed.

Option C) something better I haven't thought of.

C) Point buy and a free feat at every tier. I.e. levels 1, 5, 11, 17

[CTurbo]

I agree with starting at level 2. I'd allow a free feat at character creation considering that's what me and my groups have always done.

I recommend having all 3 players roll 4d6 drop lowest, and then allowing them to choose from any of the 3 sets. I've found this method always has every player happy with what they end up with.

If you want them to start just ahead of the curve, you could always do point-by with a +2 at the end so they could potentially start with one 18. I've seen this work.

I'd allow feats/ASIs as normal. Not sure why you'd want to limit feats as the option. Feats do make the game more fun even if I personally lean towards boosting my main stat.

[Master O'Laughs]

I agree with starting at level 2. I'd allow a free feat at character creation considering that's what me and my groups have always done.

I recommend having all 3 players roll 4d6 drop lowest, and then allowing them to choose from any of the 3 sets. I've found this method always has every player happy with what they end up with.

If you want them to start just ahead of the curve, you could always do point-by with a +2 at the end so they could potentially start with one 18. I've seen this work.

I'd allow feats/ASIs as normal. Not sure why you'd want to limit feats as the option. Feats do make the game more fun even if I personally lean towards boosting my main stat.

The idea of limiting feats would be to make it less overwhelming for the 9 year old. Apply it across the board would be so there wouldn't be stark power differences (GWM or SS as an example).

[KorvinStarmast]

If your friends and the kiddo are new(ish) to 5e, I'd probably just have them do the standard array Standard array is the worst of three options. I'd suggest all three rolling their dice, and then anyone can choose any set. (Basically, they can all use the best rolled array).

I'd recommend against a free feat; if they want a feat have them choose vHuman. :smalltongue:

[ReallySeamus]

Standard array is the worst of three options. I'd suggest all three rolling their dice, and then anyone can choose any set. (Basically, they can all use the best rolled array).

I'd recommend against a free feat; if they want a feat have them choose vHuman. :smalltongue:

I agree on not handing out a free feat at 1st level, but I don't see the issue with standard array. It's what the game balance is built around, so for new(ish) players hewing close to the typical experience seems sound. There's a decent chance the best set of rolls wouldn't have any negatives, for instance, and character weaknesses are part of what makes the collaborative part of the game shine through. I say this as somebody who likes rolling ability scores - I just wouldn't recommend it for a first character.

[Master O'Laughs]

I think I have settled on Point Buy/Standard Array (if they really want it like that).

I like the idea of a free feat at different tiers, but I am thinking on basing it off of a tier list I found online, so only weaker feats at lvl 1, and steadily progress the power level of the feats as they increase in tiers.

Earliest I would consider handing something out like GWM/SS would be tier 3.

[Master O'Laughs]

So my party is shaping up to be comprised of a Barbarian/Fighter focusing on grappling, a wizard, and a bard (player mentioned wanting to go college of creation).

I plan on giving each player a free feat at first level from the C tier on arcaneeye.com tier list. Which comprises of:

Actor
Defensive Duelist
Dragon Hide
Durable
Dwarven Fortitude
Elemental Adept
Fighting Initiate
Healer
Heavily Armored
Keen Mind
Lightly Armored
Martial Adept
Medium Armor Master
Mounted Combatant
Second Chance
Skilled
Skulker
Slasher
Spell Sniper
Tavern Brawler

Of those, I have already decided to give the grappler Tavern Brawler.

The wizard (played by the kid) I was contemplating Dragon Hide if he goes dragonborn or Keen Mind so I can always just give him the information his wizard would had remembered removing the need for him to take notes if he doesn't want to.

The bard I am thinking either Skilled (though that would limit effectiveness of Jack of all Trades) or Spell Sniper and recommend Eldritch Blast for a good resourceless damage option.

What are y'alls thoughts?

[TyGuy]

So my party is shaping up to be comprised of a Barbarian/Fighter focusing on grappling, a wizard, and a bard (player mentioned wanting to go college of creation).

I plan on giving each player a free feat at first level from the C tier on arcaneeye.com tier list. Which comprises of:

Actor
Defensive Duelist
Dragon Hide
Durable
Dwarven Fortitude
Elemental Adept
Fighting Initiate
Healer
Heavily Armored
Keen Mind
Lightly Armored
Martial Adept
Medium Armor Master
Mounted Combatant
Second Chance
Skilled
Skulker
Slasher
Spell Sniper
Tavern Brawler

Of those, I have already decided to give the grappler Tavern Brawler.

The wizard (played by the kid) I was contemplating Dragon Hide if he goes dragonborn or Keen Mind so I can always just give him the information his wizard would had remembered removing the need for him to take notes if he doesn't want to.

The bard I am thinking either Skilled (though that would limit effectiveness of Jack of all Trades) or Spell Sniper and recommend Eldritch Blast for a good resourceless damage option.

What are y'alls thoughts?

Provide the list, give a suggestion, and let the players choose. Let them build their character how they like imo.

[Greywander]

How set are you on using something from that list? Inspiring Leader would be a good flavorful feat for the bard, but might be stronger than what you're wanting to give them. Linguist could be another option as they will likely be the party face. Maybe Chef or Healer?

What you could do is give each player a list of three feats to choose from. That way, they don't get overwhelmed by the number of options, and you can also restrict the list to feats that aren't too strong.

[ReallySeamus]

I agree that the players should get to choose their feat from a list that you approve. I would just let them choose from those in the PHB, but the list you've got is also fine. If you don't think they're up to choosing it themselves, you should probably just shelve the idea of a free feat altogether.

Each of those character types can be tough for first-timers - I wish them the best of luck!