Advice for a D&D Noob
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Aug. 6, 2015, 2:54 p.m. by MindAblaze
So my magic group is looking to get back into D&D, and I'm considering getting into it green. They play 3.5, and from any preliminary research I've been doing I'm completely confused as to what I should be doing or whether I should play at all.
I think I'm interested, but I want a combat oriented caster that kind of reflects my Grixis Mage tendencies. Pirates, warlocks, battle mages...they all sound interesting...but I don't know. I ask for some guidance.
5e is a bit better balanced and is the edition I am most familiar with.
Good combat spell casters in 5e are druids, bards, and clerics or paladins. I have not played 3.5e so I do not know if those classes exist and how balanced they are in that edition but I know that in 5e at least they are all capable fighters that can also cast.
I have heard that wizards and other hardcore spell casters in 3.5 are just literally strictly better than any other class.
August 6, 2015 3:35 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #4
My early digging had me wanting to play a monk in 5e, but I've been told they have all the resources to play 3.5 and we live in the boonies so it's not as easy as pick up and play to change. Apparently monk sucks pre 5e though...but I found an interesting primer on dndtools.pw
August 6, 2015 6:10 p.m.
MindAblaze - I play a Monk in my 5e campaign, and it's pretty cool. I chose a poor race for Monk though, so it's a bit rough on my end (Tiefling's don't give you a Dex boost). But I would play whatever suits you best. Your friends might also have an opinion, so ask them for advice. Remember, ultimately it's your decision.
August 6, 2015 6:14 p.m.
trollslayer says... #6
do cleric, they use magic to have there combat powers get bigger.i do 4.5, and it seems the simplest so far.
August 6, 2015 6:35 p.m.
jandrobard says... #7
3.5? Play a caster. Regular wizards are fine and offer a lot of versatility (even more so at high levels), dread necromancers are cool if you want to go full on ZOMBEHS! And there are plenty of other ways to go. If you're worried about gimping your character during character creation, you can always google: D&D 3.5 (insert class name) optimization, or just ask your friends for help.
JWiley129 says... #2
The closest you'll probably get is the Bard character. Bards can be half-and-half combat/magic. You probably won't contribute too much to combat, but you can also inspire and buff your teammates.
Or you can try and multi-class to get all of what you wanted to.
EDIT - I will say that I started D&D with 5e, and it is much easier to "get" than 3.5. But I'm sure your friends will help you out should you have questions.
August 6, 2015 3:03 p.m. Edited.