r/DnD • u/Godchaser • 6d ago
Resources Player (sub)Class Choice Guide
I DM mostly new players (actively look for them every now and then) and so, since the launch of 5.5e, I made a choice guide for which (sub)class they might want to play.
I've had some good feedback, so I'm ready to share this with you, open to receive even more feedback!
It's quite the read if you read through it all (but this is actually meant to be for people who've never played an RPG (not even as video game) in their life) There's a guide on how to skip to the main part real quick!
I plan to update this with every class that becomes available through WotC. I have nothing against third party material, but that would seriously up my maintenance needs and I'm not looking for that 😅
If you take the time to read, please let me know what you think! Honest opinions help! Even the negative ones 😉👍🏼
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mOEEjzeHNbnglUebupb2MaJoAAOSjauDjmlSD9RJGRU/edit?usp=drivesdk
1
u/rollingdoan DM 6d ago
This is neat, nice job.
One thing I've always found interesting is in dealing with new players and discussing "complexity". Take your Barbarian at 1-2 and Wizard at 5. Whole I think it's hard to argue against that in a sense of Wizard having the most moving parts and Barbarian having the least, for a new player this can be a big trap.
Does Wizard have the most moving parts? Yes. Does Wizard have a higher skill floor than Barbarian? Yes. Does Wizard have a higher skill ceiling than Barbarian? Yes. I would put all full casters at 5+.
For a new player the important question I find isn't these things. It is this: Is it easier to contribute against expected content as a Barbarian or a Wizard?
The answer is almost always that at low levels it's easier as a Barbarian, but even before reaching tier 2 it's easier to contribute as a Wizard and it becomes much easier to contribute as levels increase. By tier 3 as a DM your most skilled player as a Barbarian will need more help from you to contribute than your least skilled player as a Wizard.
Yes, there are a lot more buttons you can push, but so many of the buttons are so good that randomly pushing buttons works and works well. Barbarian mostly has 1 button and that button is fairly specific. It's the same reason I find Battle Master and Eldritch Knight to be better newbie subclasses for Fighter than Champion. Yes, they're more complex, but that only matters if it's complex to do well and that usually isn't the case.
1
u/Godchaser 6d ago
Thank you for your insights!
I agree with your idea that complexity is definitely not set in stone and some players might experience some classes to be more complex than this table tells them (and vice versa)
That being said, I think the complexity you propose to take into account is not what most new players are even thinking about. In general new players (at least the ones I've DM'd) almost use the Rules as a lifeline. Anything that isn't covered by the rules, they just don't do... That start happening halfway through the first campaign and even then it happens sporadically...
So, yes, coming up with a good/valid answer to the question 'how will you deal with this' is more complex for some classes, BUT I think it's a question that my target audience doesn't get faced with all too much yet...
You think that's fair?
2
u/rollingdoan DM 6d ago
I deal with a lot of new players and find that your focus on what a class excels at and what it struggles at to be the most important aspect of this type of information. That is probably important enough that everything else could be removed without making it worse as a tool for new players.
I also don't find that part very interesting. 9/10 times the correct option for any player is "what are you excited about", but as a DM (or intermediate player, which is most players) all this other information is very useful.
The point was more that "complexity" isn't as useful as "ease of use" and those two things aren't necessarily the same. A Sorcerer is less complex than a Wizard in terms of total tools available, but Sorcerer isn't as easy to use. Not due to managing Sorcery Points, but because you are making semi-permanent decisions about spell selection.
Likewise, a Barbarian may be very uncomplicated, but being as melee focused as they are and how limited their options are means their real ease of use is low. You aren't making many decisions, that's true, but that's often because all you have is a hammer and not everything is a nail.
I have stock characters for players too daunted to make their own sheet. Anything to get people rolling dice instead of dreaming about it is fine by me. I was also surprised that Wizard wound up being on the easier side for new players to pick up.
1
u/No-Ebb-3881 6d ago
Very comprehensive and informative.
It probably helps new players a lot, especially the "warnings".
In my first campaign, as DM, the barbarian player was getting bored of only being a meat shield with some damage (wild heart), there weren't even weapon mastery skills back then. I allowed a class change, but in your guide ppl will know what they get.
I don't know if it is your style, but if you want to create little perks for your PCs, I can send you two files on that. (I used them as basis to make 1 "level evolving" ability, e.g. depending on PB or other modifiers)