What would you all say is the best 1st level adventure Paizo has to introduce a new player (age 14) to D&D?

While we are on the subject, can someone actually name all of Paizo's 1st level modules?

Thanks!

You can't beat Hollow's Last Hope for that. And it's a free download.

The others would be TC1: Into the Haunted Forest (which can be bought separately from the boxed set I believe) and U2: Hangman's Noose.

The others would be TC1: Into the Haunted Forest (which can be bought separately from the boxed set I believe) and U2: Hangman's Noose.

I ran Hangman's Noose recently, the players really liked it.

I ran Hangman's Noose recently, the players really liked it.

The cover really kind put me off it. Glad to hear it's the goodness.

Interesting...

I haven't run Hangman's Noose, but I highly recommend both Hollow's Last Hope and TC1: Into the Haunted Forest, as well.

I seems to me that, even if you're not running them as part of the organized play, the PFS Scenarios are pretty good starter adventures, too.

Heh, I was going to ask this very question too. I've got three new players to introduce to D&D.

So I'll ask another question. How long did it take to play through Hangman's Noose & Hollow's Last Hope?

Two short sessions for me to run Hangman's Noose. I think it could be done in one long session, and I'd recommend trying it that way.

Hollow's Last Hope? Ummm...over a year...but that's Play-by-Post and includes individual character starts.

I think you could do it in two sessions, easy. It's about 9 or 10 encounters, depending on how you run things.

Don't forget that "Hollow's Last Hope" continues on into "Crown of the Kobold King" and "Revenge of the Kobold King".

Don't forget that "Hollow's Last Hope" continues on into "Crown of the Kobold King" and "Revenge of the Kobold King".

If you want short mods the Pathfinder Society mods are great as well great ideas that easily be the launch for a campaign. At least the first 2 I played.

I was thinking of using the PFS modules as is though. Actually having my group take part in the society. Just didn't want to use one of them as an introductory adventure.

I'll stick with Hollow's Last Hope. It seems to be pretty good! And I think I can do it in one small session.

Though, if Hangman's Noose can be run in one session, I'll be more then happy!

I'm planning to use D0 and D1 to introduce some new players to the game, using the PFRPG Beta rules. I know I may have to tone down D1 in parts, since some of it seems really tough (especially if I'm running it for inexperienced players). I was wondering if anyone had run these with the iconic characters from the back of the modules? I want to avoid forcing new people to sit down and go through the process of making a character until they've gotten familiar with the game, so I want to either use these guys (fighter, wizard, rogue, cleric and one other, possibly the barbarian or ranger) or make up some of my own.

Heh, I was going to ask this very question too. I've got three new players to introduce to D&D.

So I'll ask another question. How long did it take to play through Hangman's Noose & Hollow's Last Hope?

I love Hangman's Noose. We haven't finished it yet but they are about 90% done now. This is after 10 real time hours. I admit our current group is pretty slow; they are quite thorough and I tend to provide detailed descriptions of rooms and combat. Something that I realized, which may have sped up the adventure, is that they shouldn't have to go through the whole courthouse before Alister Wade and Judge Trabe show up at midnight. However I've also saved a lot of time because I didn't throw every monster at them; so it's a wash really. I bet we have another 2 - 5 hours real time left to finish it up.

This is easily one of the best adventures I've ever participated in; very fun module. Great mix of hack'n slash with indepth and dynamic roleplaying. Lots of NPCs to run though; also it's a very complicated and convoluted module for the DM to run.

Hangman's noose is my absolute favorite first level adventure ever. However, I'm not sure I'd recommend it to new players (and definitely wouldnt recommend it to new DMs).

Although it depends on the group, of course, nonetheless I think it's relatively easy to kill a PC (especially if they're not good at working out what they can handle and what they can't). In my experience, early PC deaths can leave new players thinking "I went to all that effort to roll up a character then I hardly got to play before I died and have to start again!"

As I say - I love the adventure, just not as an introduction to the game.

I would go with "Hollow's Last Hope" for Players who've never played. It's the more traditional experience and if they like it there's easily some campaign-leading sequels.

"Hangman's Noose" is easily the better adventure -- something that more experienced Players would get more out of than the less experienced. It features many elements that aren't tropes to the "typical" D&D session; that's why it's so good. Let your guys get used to D&D first; at beginning-play even a combat against a goblin or troll is new and cool -- with no templates or anything.

Then, after they've been gaming for a while, when they've fought a number of monsters and leveled a few times -- and they're ready to go back to 1st level, give 'em "Hangman's Noose" and really Wow 'em with a strong adventure outside the box.

-W. E. Ray

If you can get ahold of it, the Treasure Chest / Into the Haunted Woods is a great intro scenario. My players loved it and the fact that the Treasure Chest contained all of the props (flip Map, Inns Map, Critical Hit Cards, Module, Item Cards) really made it into a participatory game for them.