Hillock

The best advice here is to just not buy new. You can get a refurbished laptop from trusted sellers that will definitely exceed the requirements for under $200. If you are willing to spend up to $300 then there is literally no concerns.

For example here is a DELL Latitude 7490 Laptop Intel Core i5 8th Gen 8250U (1.60GHz) 16GB Memory 256 GB SSD Intel UHD Graphics 620 14.0" Windows 10 Pro for $192 on Newegg.

https://www.newegg.com/dell-latitude-7490-work-business/p/N82E16834833592?item=N82E16834833592

If you don’t like Newegg there are tons of other stores that offer refurbished laptops. I assume you are in the USA and stores you can consider are Target, Walmart, Best buy.

There is very little risk with refurbished laptops. They are usually tested before being shipped out and if you buy from a legit company they usually offer some kind of store warranty. Walmart for example offers a 90 day return policy for any reason.

It’s hard to make suggestions on which laptop to get since availability plays a bigger role here. So just look around at your desired budget and pick what you think your kid needs.

If you think your kid won’t accept a laptop that has a scratch, simply look for “As New”. Then there usually aren’t any visible damages. But if you are fine with some cosmetic damage you can get real bargains.

I haven’t played a Paladin yet, so I am not sure how the mechanic is implemented. But the oathbreaker subclass exist in BG3 and you can’t choose it on character creation. So there is some way of becoming one.

I don’t think it matters nearly as much as the article makes it sound. Especially since multiclassing is super viable in 5E and BG3 removed all kinds of requirements for multiclassing and even allows you to respec. Meaning even multiclass combos that struggle if played out at level 1 can just be recreated later. And that means you can recreate the toolkit of a Bard fairly easily and focus more on the aspect you actually enjoy.

I think any class with ritual casting is going to feel very rewarding in your first playthrough, assuming you don’t forget to utilize it. So you have Bard, Cleric, Druid, and Wizard, and Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight. But even any class with just cantrips are already going to give you a lot you might not be used to from other RPGs.

The only class I wouldn’t recommend for the first playthrough might be Paladin. The oath just limits your choices in certain situations. And while you could break your oath and become an “Oathbreaker”, I personally don’t feel this is the best for the first time playing. I think being able to explore all options available without having to consider your oaths makes for a better first-time-playing experience. But Paladin is on the list for my second round.

Edit: I forgot that BG3 made changes to Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight, they can both also ritual cast. In general, there are a lot of changes made that make the game way more open and allows you things to make it fun.

As a man I never considered pants to be uncomfortable. They are the perfect mix of range of motion, hiding the private parts. and support. Dresses, skirts, and robes seem like a nightmare to wear. You either restrict your range of motion or have to constantly worry about showing your underwear. And I would wear boxer briefs underneath by choice anyhow, so I still end up wearing pants.

I think the bigger issue is that most of us men are too lazy to look for different kinds of pants and end up wearing the same stuff year-round. Which can indeed become uncomfortable due to changes in temperature. But that issue wouldn’t be fixed by having access to dresses or robes. As again, some would either be too cold or too hot.