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You’re kinda working backwards here a bit - the board isn’t like a modular case and isn’t necessary immediately. Grab a multifx, maybe a couple drive pedals, and get to work - you can pick a board later, they’re not necessarily expensive.

The pedal rabbithole is vaaaaaast, and as a partially-recovering pedal addict, I have some experience-based recommendations:

  1. Identify what you need first - what you think you might want doesn’t always end up being useful.
  2. Start cheap and work up - there’s some really great stuff available for €20-40 new (I like Mosky stuff a lot, to the point where I prefer some of theirs to boutique stuff I also own). There’s a number of benefits to this, aside from just cost, as even if you bump them off the board, they’re there for a small rig for travel/jams or to use with synths etc.
  3. Multifx are great for a number of reasons as others have said, not least for helping you choose other fx - you might particularly like a certain delay type, so you now have a goal. Zoom MS70 series are really good and will be useful even if you get better stuff.
  4. Some pedals are set and forget - you do one thing at one setting and that’s fine, others are more versatile but that can be an issue too, which is where MIDI comes in.
  5. Routing is something to consider - are you using them with guitar, synth, etc, will you what to change the order of them, mix in the dry signal, etc. There’s a lot of utility pedals out there for this, don’t overlook them - a Boss LS2 will always find a use, for example. You can get pedals for tap tempo or expression pedal to multiple devices at once and these are a godsend.
  6. A cheap pedal you know well is far more useful than an expensive one you don’t.
  7. Dirt pedals are a rabbithole by themselves - but you’ll always find use for a Rat, be it original, clone, or derivative.
  8. Not all pedals work in every context - some fuzz really need to be very first in the chain, some pedals (analogue delays etc) don’t like anything that isn’t guitar level and/or impedance - research your use case before buying.
  9. Flangers can do a whole lot - Chorus, univibe, jet flange, etc - a decent flanger is a safe bet for first modulation pedal, and the one that needs probably the most understanding and time, but it pays off, trust me!
  10. Start with a quality power supply, or at least early in the process as others say - it’ll save a lot of tears down the road, and use quality cables from the start. A cable tester is cheap, too.
  11. You’ll rarely go wrong with Boss!
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