Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General NEW player needing some help!

Hey everyone! I must've been hiding under a rock my entire life, but only this evening I decided to look into this game, and WOW! How and why haven't I played this sooner, I'm so excited for launch!

To cut to the chase, I'm a massive Lord of the Rings fan (mildly obsessed), and can't wait to create a halfling; I'm also massively into role-playing, so I was wondering how do I create a character like Samwise Gamgee? Not in terms of character looks (although that's going to take me ages haha), but in general (classes and ways to play, kind of a pacifist maybe?). I'm new to CRPGs, literally no idea what I'm doing! xD

Thank you all so much in advance!

Cleric.

There is no Hobbit Gardener class, so I guess Halfling Ranger will do, where Halfling is a Race and Ranger is a Class, just to be clear.

I'd say Halfling Rogue or Bard.

I'd dump strength and constitution and prioritize dexterity and charisma. You want to take rogue or bard, and do whatever you can to avoid combat, so using stealth or persuasion/deception. Sprinkle some stat points in wisdom and intelligence for some observational abilities. Make sure you take stealth, persuasion, and deception. Whatever makes you sneaky or able to get out of a fight is what you want.

Samwise should be poster boy for "stout" Hobbit and CON should not be his dumpstat.
Not very Charismatic, though.
Dexterous, Wise.
STR decent or average - he is a robust, well fed peasant, after all.
So it seems that INT and CHA would be the dumpstats.

Ranger seems OK (probably better than my suggested Cleric) and Rogue - after I recalled what Bilbo (a member of the Gentry, BTW) was hired for - too, I'd guess. Here Samwise could wear the Pilfering Peasant badge with Pride.

What about background? I don't know them all off the top of my head, but there's like the naturey one, that would likely be in the right direction

Also, OP, you're in for a lot of fun! Given we're only weeks away from release, and your early access progress won't carry over, you might consider playing very unconventionally for now, trying lots of things, spending a lot of time in the character creator to find what you like, and aim for breadth rather than depth when you play - play for an hour or so, then scrap that build and start a new one... etc.

Rather than pouring it all into a single playthrough you'll lose in a few weeks

Nature or Life, I'd say.

Sam was a gardener who was able to resist the ring better than anyone but Frodo. I would peg him for a Druid (a wisdom/nature class) with the folk hero or acolyte background. Folk Hero is where his heart is, regardless if he has the renown yet, or as an acolyte of nature. For race, definitely strongheart halfling.

If you want a full build suggestion:
Samwise
Folk Hero
Strongheart Halfling
Druid (Land)
Str 12
Con 16
Dex 16*
Int 8
Wis 14*
Cha 8
*The caveat here would be to swap Dex and Wis if we can switch racial bonuses

Folk Hero's skills fit really well, Animal Handling and Survival are both flavorful and wisdom based.
Additional skills: Perception and Insight(seeing through Gollum's BS).
You could even out the strength and intelligence to 10 each and pick up Nature instead if you want to capture how LOTR treats hobbits as much weaker than humans in general.

For cantrips I'd suggest guidance (he is always laying down the folksy inspiration) and produce flame (since he is in charge of the campfires). Produce flame isn't really optimal, I would go with thornwhip if you care more about combat efficacy.

For prepped spells theme wise, animal friendship/speak with animals (to represent his relationship with good ol' Bill the Pony), and goodberry for the scavenging (and a little nod to Goldberry). Again, not combat optimal though, so I'd probably go with thunderwave, healing word, and either faerie fire or entangle as your concentration spell.

Weapon wise a dagger/scimitar would play to the halflings dex, especially if you start with a 16.

Finally, it's a bit of a stretch, but you can blame the wildshape on some long forgotten relation to Beorn.

Take a look here: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/#toc3 Far Traveler could also fit, if implemented at all by Larian.

@benbaxter - very nice disertation
Sam need not shapeshift at all.
Also - Ranger does cover many of those angles.

Wow, you're all so very kind! I've just woken up to loads of amazing answers, thank you all so much! This is the most wonderful community I've ever experienced. ❤️

I was just thinking, can I play quite weak at the start and rely on my group, and slowly become more brave/ experienced? Just how Sam eventually fights Shelob!

You sure can, but are we talking some game limitations here? Because you are free to play how you want tbh, may be invest a bit more in your non-combat attributes, like Wisdom, Charisma and Intelligence. You'll have an opportunity to add some combat-related attributes like Strength and Dexterity later on, at level 4. But please consider raising your main class-related attribute (is marked with a star icon in character creation) to at least 14. Otherwise, the game may seem a bit too difficult for you.

Yes.
As to Shelob - there is a "Multieyed Monster Slaying" weapon in the game
"Multieyed" as in "more than two".

This is all sounding so exciting, September can't come soon enough! So much to learn, but very very excited! 😊 I've just watched the start of the game, and with our character being abducted at the very start, does it mean I can just create any backstory before this event? Or does the game make you have one later in the game?

You missed the game being brought forward to 3.VIII

I am not sure about your question. But feel free to make a story for a random Hobbit snatched by evul! Illithids from his Master's garden when weeding potatoes.
Personally I make up my own background stories. This is RPG and it is MY character.

I think you are being offered help due to novelty of your request. At least I am - I've never seen anybody wish to play an ORDINARY TOLKIEN HOBBIT before.

Have fun:
https://chicken-dinner.com/5e/5e-po...mp;9&4&4&4&4&4&4

So I've been trying to write a backstory for my character (kinda similar to Bilbo or Samwise), but include lore of D&D; are there any official lore sites and places to help me? I'm struggling with the dates and history that this game's based haha! Thank you all so much again for your help!