"New" DM Questions


Advice


Hey guys,
So, just a little bit of background. I've been DM'ing practically my entire life. I started off with D&D 3.5 back in the day, then moved from RPG to RPG. For the past . . . 3, maybe 4 years my group and I have been playing D&D 4th Edition (And yes, loving it.)
But, it's about that time to move on. We played Earthdawn for a few months, but a few of my players couldn't grasp their head around some of the concepts, so it's time for us to check out Pathfinder.
As always my players insist I DM, and as always I'm more than happy to.
That being said . . . it's been about 5+ years, if not more, since I DM'd a 3.5'ish game. With all my knowledge and experience in those years, I have many questions, but I'll just stick to a few for now:

1) A dying character in 4E was easy to deal with. If you wanted him / her to live, simple. If you wanted him / her to die, just make it so he / she has no Healing Surges left.
In the first arch of my Pathfinder story, I want an NPC to be dying to give the players their overarching quest. Unfortunately (Or fortunately?), one of my players rolled up a Half-orc Cleric. It's more than likely he could just lay down a Cure Light Wounds spell on the guy and everything is okay.
The guy is to be in 1 on 1 combat with an assassin sent to kill him. The only thing I can think of is poison laced daggers that prevent healing on the target.
What are some other good methods to "prevent healing" or "just let the guy die in an awesome way" in Pathfinder?

2) Loot: I remember 5 years ago I was *great* at handing out loot to my players. I kept them just powerful enough to survive and win the day while keeping magic items rare and intriguing enough to feel successful when they acquired them.
4th Edition had a *very specific loot system*, but I know that 3.5 / Pathfinder doesn't exactly have that.
What are some good / great rules of thumb when developing loot for an adventure?
What's the best way to incorporate the Random Loot Tables in the Gamemastery Guide?
So far all I can think of is that the game says each player should have around 1,000 gold at Level 2. That makes me immediately think I should have a pool of 4,000 gold (4 players) to toy around with, magic items included. Yay? Nay?

3) If I remember correctly, in 3.5 if you rolled up a +2 Longsword as loot, it was viable to give it to an enemy to use. Is this still happening in Pathfinder? If I roll up a +1 Chainmail on the random loot table, am I giving it to one of the skeletons my players are fighting for a bonus +1 AC?
4th Edition never really took in to account the magic items players would find afterwards, so . . . like stated, it's been a while and I need my mind refreshed.

Thanks! I'm sure more will be coming!


(1) There really aren't any other than effects that prevent or inhibit healing. If I remember the poison you are talking about, it is the best method. Some creatures have attacks that inhibit healing, but even those can be overcome with caster level checks. Other bleed effects are easily dealt with via magical healing.

(2) Pathfinder does have a WBL system.

(3) Items held by NPCs that are expected to fall into the hands of PCs should be considered part of WBL.


1. Just use a lethal poison. Save or die. Takes time for them to die. Have him fail his fort saves.

Scarab Sages

Give the assassin a nasty CON poison. Should give you enough time to talk to your PCs but a first level cleric can't cast Lesser Restoration to prevent his death.

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