Seeking advice and answers for a few questions about beginners box


Beginner Box


Background:
I played D&D 1 and 2 edition years ago. Briefly played with 3.0/3.5.
Never played Pathfinder but I enjoy reading many post and feel comfortable (from a players standpoint) with most rules.
New friend expressed interest in D&D , and I suggested Pathfinder.
She has background in Magic the gathering and World of Warcraft. I expect somewhat easy transition.

I have NEVER DMed so I will be learning to DM as she will be learning to play.

A few questions/concerns

We will be playing one player (She is only player) at least to start.
How do I adjust Beginner box so it is appropriate for ONE player character?

What are a few good simple modules (Piazo or 3rd party) that would be good after beginner box adventure. Again this probably needs to be ONE player adventure (or adjusted to that)

Tips for transitioning to Core rules after Beginner Box? (I know a few post about this, I need to spend some time reading)

Advice: I want to play a few times as solo, but considering (to give "Party" feel) having her play 2 characters and I as DM handle one NPC. Probably not the best to start this way, but considering this. Thoughts? Tips? Suggestions?

Tips for me as NEW DM? (probably many post about this, which I need to read). One area I always was baffled by (as player) was keeping track of time/turns. In combat is somewhat more clear, but just when exploring how to keep track of how long it takes? Simple easy methods for tracking turns? Time? when exploring/searching/ wandering..

ANy thoughts and tips are appreciated.
Thanks


Heck I will make first response to my OWN post
One more question

Time frame? How long can I expect to spend on game. I think we will probably just start with a pre gen character and get right into it.
How long with it take to go through adventure in box?


Shoot...... me again my own post

Any Free downloads that would be helpful?
Any free (or cheap) maps/adventures? that I could use?

Paizo Employee

Consider letting her have or find an animal to help in combat, such as a wolf or panther, while you run a tag-along NPC. I did that when I ran Black Fang for a friend's 12 year old daughter & it worked great. Her rogue rescued the panther on her way back from the Hero's Handbook adventure & she met my bard in town. It let her focus on one character but she loved the RP with the animal as well & it helped immensely in combat, with my bard providing healing and buffs.

Also there's a bunch of free downloads on the Beginner Box page (link at top left) as well as some suggestions in other threads here.


Elvis
Thanks Yes I found the free downloads
Thanks for suggestion to find animal , that with NPC should work out

Yea lots of post i just need to spend some time reading through


Bump
Heck I was hoping for a little more support/help than this
One response
Come on Pathfinder people.....

Designer, RPG Superstar Judge

Q: We will be playing one player (She is only player) at least to start. How do I adjust Beginner box so it is appropriate for ONE player character?
A: It's not really designed for that, so you'll need to make the encounters a LOT easier (most multi-monster encounters will have to be single monsters), and an allied NPC or animal companion would help.

Q: What are a few good simple modules (Piazo or 3rd party) that would be good after beginner box adventure. Again this probably needs to be ONE player adventure (or adjusted to that)
A: There is at least one 3rd party publisher doing Beginner Box-style adventures, I'm sure someone else will chip in with the name because I always forget.

Q: Tips for transitioning to Core rules after Beginner Box? (I know a few post about this, I need to spend some time reading)
A: Look at the Beginner Box Transitions document on the Beginner Box page.

Q: I want to play a few times as solo, but considering (to give "Party" feel) having her play 2 characters and I as DM handle one NPC. Probably not the best to start this way, but considering this. Thoughts? Tips? Suggestions?
A: I'd advise against this. Let her focus on one character and learn how the game works and what that character can do. Running multiple characters will be difficult for someone just starting out.

Q: One area I always was baffled by (as player) was keeping track of time/turns. In combat is somewhat more clear, but just when exploring how to keep track of how long it takes? Simple easy methods for tracking turns? Time? when exploring/searching/ wandering..
A: Honestly, you don't have to keep track of precise distances, you can just focus on travel times. If it takes "four days" to cross the Swamp of Death, then it doesn't matter if that's 60 miles, 80 miles, 100 miles, or 120 miles—it's going to take 4 days. And if it's three hours walking from town to the Cave of Doom, it doesn't matter if that's 5 miles or 10 miles—it takes an hour.
For tracking chunks of time, you may want to take a piece of graph paper and make sections for minutes, 10 minutes, hours, and days. Then if the player wants to spend 20 minutes searching a room, and it matters how much time she spends on that (like if she has a spell duration that's running out), check off two boxes in the "10 minutes" section to remember that much time has passed. And when you don't have to worry about that time any more (like if she rests and you both know the spell will run out), fill in those two checked off boxes so you don't accidentally count them later.

Biggest tips of all: have fun, be forgiving when the new player makes mistakes.


I don't know about the beginner box. (My copy is still in the mail.) But I must express an opinion on this matter:

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

Q: I want to play a few times as solo, but considering (to give "Party" feel) having her play 2 characters and I as DM handle one NPC. Probably not the best to start this way, but considering this. Thoughts? Tips? Suggestions?

A: I'd advise against this. Let her focus on one character and learn how the game works and what that character can do. Running multiple characters will be difficult for someone just starting out.

I disagree. I have a great deal of experience running RPGs one-on-one, and in most cases, the best way has proven to be to let the player play two or three PCs, while the GM plays two or three "GMPCs".

I once started a one-on-one D&D 3.0 campaign with someone who, when we were starting out, remembered so little about RPGs that he thought that a hit point and a hit die were the same thing. But we started out going the whole hog, with two PCs and two DMPCs. We had tremendous fun with that campaign for over three years.

When I started a one-on-one Basic D&D game with my four-year-old son, I decided to simplify the game by having him play only one character, while I played one DMPC. It didn't take me long to realize that more party members were needed. I moved it up to two and two, and my son had no trouble with it.

Later, at the age of 6, my son asked to play PFRPG. I don't mean the beginner box. I mean the real, whole, unexpurgated PFRPG. We started with 4 party members right away (and later added another PC). We're still playing that campaign. We just hit 5th level (using the medium advancement track).

Obviously, this isn't the ideal situation. It would be better to have more players. But playing multiple characters IS possible, even for newbs.

Designer, RPG Superstar Judge

I think Aaron's anecdote is the exception. Trying to play multiple characters at once is very challenging to a beginning player, like deciding the first meal you ever cook is going to have three dishes and a dessert, all of which have their own requirements for ingredients, cooking, and timing.


I was in the same boat as you once. When my girlfirend bought the Beginner Box we had to take things slow. My girlfriend wanted to play the characters while I wanted to be GM. But we had to make sure that we understood the characters. We just took a random monster from one of the books and let one of the pre-gen characters in the Box fight against it. This allowed us to understand the ins and outs of rounds, actions, and most importantly the character. This includes learning about damage, how weapons work, feats, special abilities, and spells. Just take it slowly and have fun!

Then slowly build up the group size to two to in order to learn group interaction. Let the two characters fight with monsters or present a puzzle. Then build it up to three and then four. By the time you start the adventure in the beginner box the player can be more confident in playing.

The same procedure can be done for a GM. As a newbie I constantly went through the boards and read the Core Rulebook. But whatever you read you should immediately put in practice. For example I was not so sure how purchasing items in a shop was accomplished. My girlfriend and I ran a scenario where a pc was shopping in a store and we just experimented to what we thought was right. For example using Diplomacy to get a discount, or judging by the highest value object the town can have you can experiment with the item tables. If there is an item that is too expensive then you can create a dialog saying that they would have to import it at the cost plus a import fee. This helped boast my confidence and I got to try it out. If your player wants to they can help develop your skills too. And while your on the adventure its okay to make mistakes. I think its more of a learning process. The more you do, the more you feel confident.

When we play as just a GM and player that has four characters we like to do something akin to "Dragon Age". She controls all the characters and rolls but she has a character that she likes to roleplay as and I do the roleplay of the other characters. Its fun and it beats the player just talking to themselves when they are in a dungeon. :)


Hmm, let me see...

My first real RPG campaign was a one-on-one, with Basic. I played 2 PCs and the DM had two DMPCs. (I must admit that the DM had experience with both Basic and Advanced. Still, he was a 6th-grader like myself, so he couldn't have had THAT much experience).

That's one anecdote.

Later, when I made my first real attempt to DM (excluding halfhearted attempts when I clearly had no idea what I was doing) I started with two players... but one player dropped out after just one session (unless you include the "create your character" session), so it quickly became a one-on-one. The remaining player created a second character, and I made two DMPCs. That campaign was a great success, lasting for many adventures, including one 64-page module.

That's two anecdotes.

Let's see, now. My next few successful campaigns had many players. There were a few one-on-ones with an experienced player, so those might not qualify. And my one-on-one Star Wars campaign only went on for a short while before real life interfered, so that one's borderline.

But then there was that 3.0 one I described above. That makes three.

Then there was my Basic / Expert game with my daughter. We explored about 85% of the Palace of the Silver Princess (a big complex comprising a 32-page module) before she got bored of it and quit. That makes four.

Then there was my son's first game, which I also described above. That makes five.

How many anecdotes does it take to cease being considered exceptions?

(I will admit that most of these exceptions involved Basic / Expert D&D. For all I know, maybe the Pathfinder Beginner Box is more complex, in which case, that would be a good counter-argument to use against me. Like I said, my Beginner Box hasn't arrived yet, so I don't know.)

Designer, RPG Superstar Judge

I'm a former teacher. As part of my teacher education training, I've studied how people learn and remember things. For most people, having to learn ONE thing is easier than having to learn SEVERAL things, and having to learn SEVERAL things is harder than having to learn ONE thing.

But I don't want to get in an argument about this.

Liberty's Edge

I have to strongly agree with Sean - stick with one character when you are first learning.

The last thing you want to do is risk confusing the new player. There's plenty of time for running multiple characters (assuming that's your thing) later once everyone is more comfortable with the game

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Plus playing more than one chara get robs a new player from a really unique part of roleplaying games: experiencing the world from the POV of a single character.

Playing an entire party becomes more boardgame, than fantasy experience. Avoid this.


WOW
Thanks everyone for the responses

Yes I agree playing multi characters is not good to start
She does have experience with Magic the gathering and World of Warcraft
Many concepts are similar

My thinking is to do Beginner box
with her having a solo character
I will add NPC and perhaps animal companion to help out.

Should we continue on, ............. probably have her play 2 characters and I will add NPC or 2......

But thanks for all the imput


Hi DBU,

Good luck with the new game.

I just bought the BB for my son and myself.

I have been playing for 25 years (!). Got a game going once a month with friends.

Just go with one PC for your new player. So much easier.à

I remember from the video with Erik Mona, that you can start playing within like 30 minutes of opening the box I think. Which is GREAT with
what I've seen of new gamers.

Bit of personal advice if I may (and this holds up after 25 years of gaming), if you come upon a situation where you need to look up a rule... Spend a couple of minutes on that, THEN if you still can't find the exact rule: Make a fair DM call and KEEP ON PLAYING!!!!

Don't get bogged down... Have fun!!!

Now I just gotta get my son to read English... :)

Patrick

PS: And let us know how it turns out!

Contributor

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

Q: What are a few good simple modules (Piazo or 3rd party) that would be good after beginner box adventure. Again this probably needs to be ONE player adventure (or adjusted to that)

A: There is at least one 3rd party publisher doing Beginner Box-style adventures, I'm sure someone else will chip in with the name because I always forget.

Basic Paths from 0one Games.


Thanks all for continued tips

David S: Thanks a lot for the third party suggestion

I just started looking into third party options and have been overwhelmed with so many.

Yes, it is very easy and quick to start the adventure straight out of the box. But we have different work schedules and finding it somewhat difficult to get time set to play. But I am sure it will happen soon

But that is fine,give me a little more prep time (not that I am doing a lot)
But this brings up a couple more questions:

I am thinking to embellish this BB adventure just a bit. A couple role playing options to start us of. Partially to give me a little practice/experience with this from DM prospective. I am thinking simple meet "town leader/elder" who sends you off to this adventure. But also sends you to NPC to assist.

NPC is needed since she is SOLO.
I am thinking 2 level NPC with animal companion. Not necessarily all the rules of animal companion, just a "pet" that goes along but also helps out. Would 2 level NPC with "pet" and Her solo 1st level character be able to get through this beginner duegeon?

Also any simple Plots hooks? Just want a couple simple suggestions/ideas to enhance this adventure somewhat. Any quick simple ideas, just to expand and enhance? Both before the BB "dungeon" and after wards.......


Sean K Reynolds wrote:

I'm a former teacher. As part of my teacher education training, I've studied how people learn and remember things. For most people, having to learn ONE thing is easier than having to learn SEVERAL things, and having to learn SEVERAL things is harder than having to learn ONE thing.

But I don't want to get in an argument about this.

Not sure why it's even a question as to whether or not learning 1 thing is easier than learning 2 things at once. It's an obvious answer. Not everyone is a savant. :P

Grand Lodge

Some gamers have a natural ability to process many different concepts at once, but forget that most folks don't - especially when all the concepts are new.


Ok all
Thanks for the input
Looks like tomorrow is game day
I will be watching some NFL football and doing a little prep work today

Still hoping for a few suggestions to embelish this just a bit

Also any simple Plots hooks? Just want a couple simple suggestions/ideas to enhance this adventure somewhat. Any quick simple ideas, just to expand and enhance? Both before the BB "dungeon" and after wards.......
\

I know the booklet gives some suggestions
Mainly I want a few ideas to get some role playing in prior to going to dungeon
Nothing elaborate, just a couple simple opportunities to role play
I am thinking role play with mayer (THink I may change mayer slightly)
Role play with merchant/shop owner where characters buy supplies
Perhaps standard tavern
Want to give some rumors and have interesting characters that characters will remember and meet again when the return to home base

The Exchange

Good plot hooks come from a character background.

I know it is her first game but try to get her to think about why the PC has become an adventurer. What motivates them to put themselves into such dangerous situations?

From there it is a lot easier to design the RP around those desires. An NPC motivated by greed might not be so interested in saving a small village if there is no reward involved, where as a PC who strives to to good in the face of an advancing evil may be better motivated by the plight on innocent farmers who cannot hope to defend themselves.

Most of all, have fun and don't get bogged down by the letter of the rules too early. If you cannot find the answer to a rules question straight away then make it up and make a note to find it later.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Paizo Products / Beginner Box / Seeking advice and answers for a few questions about beginners box All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Beginner Box