(GM advice?) Got Pathfinder for my bros and I as a gift and it's exploded through our circle of friends.


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


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Honestly, it was Descent: Journeys in the Dark's fault. We'd been campaigning since around Thanksgiving, loved the overarching storyline, the character progression and loot system (the first we'd ever seen of it in boardgame form), decided to send out internet feelers for a similar face-to-face experience, and here we are as Pathfinder newbies. Heck, we're all brand new to tabletop roleplaying in general.

So the problem is that after getting into the Beginner's Box, Core Rulebook, and Bestiary 1, we have several concurrent campaigns going on. My little brother volunteered to GM our little family group - four of us brothers, 1 as GM and the other 3 as PCs - and we can pretty much get together any time we want since I live only a couple cities away from them. He got through the main quest and engineered a couple recommended quests as detailed in the Beginner's Box, and has recently transitioned us into Rise of the Runelords. We've enjoyed this new "Tabletop RPGing" experience so much that my brother invited over a couple friends for a shot at it, to gauge interest. They arrived at 11pm a couple days ago, and both the guy and the girl stayed up 'til 4am building their character sheets and poring over the core rulebook for customization options as we explained all the rules and nuances. It was ... unexpected ... for them to get so into it. We're all avid pc gamers, fantasy novel readers (The Name of the Wind is currently my top book and has held that place for years), you know, standard nerds, but I guess it's surprising that we took to this hobby so quickly.

Anyway, long story short, I find myself the GM of two campaigns. I would MUCH appreciate feedback, maybe ideas for development, and perhaps some GM advice in general. I made up a campaign pretty much on the spot, when the two friends returned earlier today to actually play the characters they'd spent all night creating. Here's what I came up with:

(Wall of text warning)

Spoiler:

(I haven't even come up with a continent/province/world-name yet)

Player Characters:
- Orc Paladin
- Half-Elf Monk
- Human Bard
- Elven Ranger

After fleshing out their stats and starting equipment, they were clearly ready to get into the game. I tried explaining the importance of a backstory to them, noticed they were very eager to get started after spending nearly 6 hours total rolling their characters, and told them to maybe type out a page or so later. So I gave them a template to work with. Cue the improv...

Backstory:

You are four adventurers seeking entry into the Guild of Pathfinders, an organization whose aim is to "chronicle and discover new world paths." They are famous for producing some of the world's most famous and legendary explorers, and, for each your own reason, you seek to carve your place among their names in the history books.

City of Rahls

A bustling city 8,000 large, famous for housing the Main Guildhall for the Guild of Pathfinders. I had the PCs coincidentally meet in front of guildhall where they introduced themselves to each other and found out they were each seeking entry.

(Funny note: several times throughout this, the new players would pause and look at me as if expecting me to handle and place them like pieces on a boardgame. I explained that the GM merely describes the world to them as something of an impartial narrator, and that the responsibility and freedom falls on them to drive the world's events, as well as their own personal stories. They got the picture and, since then, have shown that they clearly find the freedom exhilarating.)

Now at this point something clicked in my head, since we're all new to the concept of role-playing and exploring an imaginary world that exists collectively in our heads. To give them a focal point from which to play, I decided to directly lift a guild system I saw from the anime, Fairy Tail.

Basically they eventually knocked on the guildhall door (hilarious how long it takes player characters to realize that all they need to do is knock after trying the latch) and were greeted by an NPC, 'Pathfinder' Natsu (a lvl10 Wizard focusing on fire spells with a winged blue cat familiar named Happy - for those of you who've seen the anime, this is a blatant nod to it). He proceeded to welcome them and explained the Guild's goal (chronicling and discovering new world paths, etc), as well as how the guild operates:

The Guild Ranks

E - Scout
D - Cartographer
C - Chronicler
B - World Wanderer
A - Pathfinder
S - Rift Walker (I plan to impose a limit - one member for each "plane")
M - Void Master (essentially the guild leader)

The mechanics behind the ranks and advancing in the guild involve player character pre-requisites which I'm still building. Probably a quest/rank/# requirement combined with a character level requirement. For now, I've explained that players maintain access to lodging and meals provided in the Guildhall as long as they maintain a monthly quest/gold quota. Ranks B and up may recruit new members.

Requests (essentially the quests) are sent in to the guild regularly, each also designated with a difficulty rating E thru S. The idea is that members may only attempt quests assigned difficulty ratings thru their rank level + one (e.g. a Chronicler may at most a quest designated difficulty B). These requests come with a monetary reward from which the guild takes a cut once the quest is complete. Many people all over the continent submit these requests - from ladies down the street needing help with rat problems to caravans requesting escorts to seedy sorcerers seeking to overthrow a powerful rival. This was the sample list I gave them:

(E) Ew! Rats! (50g)
(E) Farm in need of help. (150g)
(E) Goblins stole my cabbages! (100g)
(D) Hobgoblins? (250g)
(D) Caravan escort needed (300g)
(C) City guard requesting mercenary help (800g)
(B) Lost my puppy :( (1500g)

(This part was great, because the player characters noticed on the paper I scribbled out for them that the B-level quest was written in huge, ugly letters with "teardrops" (corn oil stains) dotting the paper, and that "puppy" might have been spelled wrong; they also wondered why the quest was worth 1500g. I had Natsu explain that a giant submitted the quest, and that they were known to keep Dire Wolves as pets. Heh.)

I had Natsu force them on the Ew! Rats! quest as something of a guild application. It came with a strict time deadline (1.5 hours), as the old lady who submitted the quest lived just the other street over.

On their way to her house, an older man noticed them in their adventurers' outfits and, haggled and panting, exclaimed that he was desperately in need of help- except that his farm was 45 minutes away, toward the outskirts of the city (he ran here and it took him 20 minutes; the PCs estimated the actual travel time correctly, noticing that he'd be too tired to lead them at the same pace back to his farm). A couple of the PCs were actually HESITANT to help him, and they tried to work out a system where maybe one of them could go deal with the rats while the other three would help the man at his farm. But eventually, they all agreed (eagerly or begrudgingly depending on the PC) to go lend the guy their help.

Long story short, they fought 3 tengu (I'm sick of goblins since they're EVERYWHERE in the other two campaigns we're heading) and handled them fine until they were greeted by an M Water Elemental (lvl 5) that materialized out of nowhere and nearly killed one of them, before Natsu made a random appearance, told them to get the hell back, and used lvl10 Fire Wizard magic to vaporize the elemental out of reality. He commented on the odd appearance of the water elemental, muttered to himself about sending a few guild members to look into it, and yelled at the group for wandering off.

They explained that the guy had run up to them and asked for their help. Then he grinned and welcomed them as fresh Scouts in the Guild of Pathfinders, congratulating them for taking the new path and helping out one in need, since that to him symbolizes the essence of the Guild.

I ended the session there, mostly because I was tired, partly because I wanted to really architect more content in the world before letting them have at it.

So first, if you got through all that and are willing to reply, thank you. I appreciate your time and feedback.

So,

Anyone know of a good (preferably free) map-making tool out there on the internet? I guess I could hone my skills with pencil and paper, but if the option's there...

Anything I'm doing wrong as a new GM (besides making up the game world as I go along - they clearly really wanted to start playing)? Anything I could start working on? All advice is appreciated.


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If you want to make really pretty maps, try: http://www.cartographersguild.com/forum.php


Welcome. If you're all having fun, you're doing it right.

Sounds like you're doing it pretty well. Congrats.


Donjon random generators and Hexographer are 2 that I use, but I also draw blobs on paper. Welcome to the hobby!

I like the story and world you're starting to create. Perhaps try to tie in the other quests to the water elemental, like having the old woman w/the rats be a worshipper of an elemental cult or something.

As for worldbuilding my advice would be to start small. That's always helped me in the past. Give the players just enough around the town to explore and once they get the urge to push outward then design the next hex.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Welcome to THE hobby!

I'll second the use of Donjon random generators. There's some good stuff there.

To be honest, it sounds like you've made a great start. I'd generally advise only running one campaign at a time, at least until you're more comfortable with things, but I can't honestly think of anything else to suggest: you're doing fine, having adopted a "quest-giver" mechanism for adventures.

At some point you might want to delve into what each of your player's characters want to do (their personal motivations), and the sky is the limit.

Keep up the good work!

Grand Lodge

Check out some of the fine modules and adventure paths as well.

Sounds good - I think we all have those 'moments' that make the game special, almost as if it comes alive and our interpersonal relationships become deeper, with shared abstract experiences... I feel sorry for non gamers at times.

Welcome to the hobby. In time try out some of the other game systems out there as well too. It's a new experience too.


If you are more interested in making your own scenarios than using pre-made modules, or kit bashing modules with your own side quests, i would recommend reading The Lazy GM (google it). It is a $6 eBook that has great advice on how to create instant bond between all the characters in the party BEFORE the game starts, how to devise an adventure on the fly using his step by step process, etc. It is very useful if you are wishing to run your own home-brew adventures or campaigns or one night encounters.

Welcome the hobby and remember the #1 rule - Have fun!


Fairy tail was fun. Are you planning on going full bore with rival/frenemy guilds?


Pillow Thief wrote:

Anyone know of a good (preferably free) map-making tool out there on the internet? I guess I could hone my skills with pencil and paper, but if the option's there...

Others have pointed out some useful tools. But one thing I will state, is that it is SHOCKINGLY time consuming to create a whole world from scratch. I would seriously consider looking at golarion and other settings, and even if you dont like everything, pull some things from it. In particular maps. Paizo's maps are beautiful, their pdfs cheap, and you can fill in your own details on their carefully laid out and rationally (read geographically sound) maps. And for the things you dont want to create, you can just pull it out that source material. Something like on of the city books from the campaign line can get you started.

Also, as you flesh out your world do it in a circle. Start with the town you are working on, then make a few locations outside the town. Then go from there.

Quote:

Anything I'm doing wrong as a new GM (besides making up the game world as I go along - they clearly really wanted to start playing)? Anything I could start working on? All advice is appreciated.

You have done nothing wrong. Everything seems fine. And you did well to take the 'fetch quest' and turn it into an interesting set piece instead. Who wants to grind out 20 levels killing rats over and over right?

But one thing i would say is, instead of the fetch quests, now that you have some time (and they are in the guild as entry level) make up specfic quests with specific rewards for each session. Basically, rather then a list of generic quests, each session (or every other session or twice a session depending on how long things take) their guild leader gives them an assignment to investigate something, find someone or something or to go help someone. You already have the foundation there.

If you need ideas, well, I dont know if you are aware but there is something called Pathfinder Society, its an organized play system where the players are a group very much like what you are mentioning, and each scenario is designed to play out in one session. You dont actually have to participate in organized play to use their scenarios (just skip the faction stuff, and put in your own rewards and xp as you see fit). But they are really cheap and can give you tons of ideas where to send your players.

If you want more information on the in world pathfinder society check the wiki it is alot like what you have going already, and you could adapt it directly if you want.

Either way, the scenarios would be a great tool for quick sessions if you arent prepared or need something quick (they can usually be prepared for in an hour or so, and take about 4-5 hours to play). And you can pull them apart to create your own stuff if you want to get more detailed.

Edit:

One more thing, be careful with the whole 'deus ex' npc jumps in to save the pcs situation. Dont use that very often or the players will start to feel overshadowed. In general the pcs should be the main characters of the story, and the challenges should be their to overcome. If you badass npc has to jump in to save the day too often, they will start to feel unimportant.

Dark Archive

I strongly suggest you pick up a module from Paizo. Make sure it is a Pathfinder edition module. I love their 3.5 edition modules also but as you are new, I would suggest avoiding the need to convert material at this time. You might find a shared GM prep somewhere but weather or not that person did it right is another matter.

Pick something low level so you can ease into the game. Even just a level 5 pc may.be a little much to start out with.

One problem you may have with a module though is thY you may feel like you are back.on rail road tracks. You and your party might feel like you lost that freedom you seemed to be so interested in. I would suggest you give at least one module a short.

Many of the older modules are about 32 paged long and cover about 2, maybe 3 levels worth of xp They run around $14 print or $10 PDF. I also just bought a bunch of old 3.5 edition modules at a deep discount of $2 each right here on the site! You might enjoy them at that price as just simply short fiction if you do not yet feel comfortable converting material. I would advise you stay clear.of buying an adventure path right away, see how you like Paizo's work for one or two modules first before paying the hefty cost of an AP. Though the APs are awesome.

The.more recent modules are around 64 or 96 pages and cover5, maybe 7 levels of xp but are $25 each. At least two of them begin as early.as.level one.

I think GMing two campaigns might be a bit much but how often dies each group play? If each group does a game twice a month. You might he fine. Prepping two different games a week would be serious prep time.

Welcome to the table top hobby. You might want to.try and finda PaThfinder Society Organized Play game near you. Learn a bit more through.a risk exp with some.other new and vet players and GMs.


I can tell right off the bat that you're a good writer and you have a great imagination. That is half the battle. The rest will be trial and error. Be confident, move forward, don't be afraid to make mistakes. You and your players/friends will learn from your mistakes more so than from your triumphs. It will make for better games down the road.

Couple of quick ideas to help streamline your game:
1) designate a player to keep track of initiative. I like to use a small dry-erase marker board, because initiative is constantly changing, and needs tracking every combat. (you can find a little marker board like this at any Target, Walmart, or michaels) Having a player do it frees up your time and mind to remain focused on the myriad complications of combat. OR, if you can afford it there is a great initiative tracking board/tool for sale on this website for about $20. I prefer the marker board for $5 from Target!
2)Make yourself a cheat-sheet to quickly be able to ascertain your players basic stats. I like to use a little 3x5 card that has all player NAMES, AC, HP, Saving Throws(sometimes you need to do Saves in secret, it helps to not have to ask them!). I keep this 3x5 card paperclipped to my GM screen.
3)There are some really nice Ipod/Ipad apps(and other devices)that can help with quick reference in-game. In particular I like the Spellbook type of Apps. They can organize all spells by class, level, school, etc, and you can often make a "favorites" list so you can quickly see the spell description without having to flip through your core rulebook every time.
4) Make or Buy "condition cards". There are so many conditions that will affect your NPCs, monsters, and players, and it can get tedious looking them up every time they come into play. Conditions such as Stunned, Entangled, Dazzled, Grappled, etc... It is very handy to have little premade cards with the rules on them. They can be handed around the table with ease, and are generally quicker to look up than using your Core Rulebook. Above and beyond the "conditions" I have found that making some 3x5 cards for some Spells is helpful as well. For example- the Cleric casts BLESS, but many players end up forgetting to add in that "+1 to hit" when their turn comes around, so by having a 3x5 card with "BLESS, ADD +1 TO HIT!" tossed out onto the battle grid acts as a helpful reminder to players.


Lyee wrote:

If you want to make really pretty maps, try: http://www.cartographersguild.com/forum.php

Some of these are straight works of art.

I love the detail on this one, but I think I'll start small and take my chances with freehand (pen and paper) with this style for now. Some of the artists say it took them upwards of weeks and entire days of total work to create their maps on Photoshop o.0

Mark Hoover wrote:

Donjon random generators and Hexographer are 2 that I use, but I also draw blobs on paper. Welcome to the hobby!

I like the story and world you're starting to create. Perhaps try to tie in the other quests to the water elemental, like having the old woman w/the rats be a worshipper of an elemental cult or something.

As for worldbuilding my advice would be to start small. That's always helped me in the past. Give the players just enough around the town to explore and once they get the urge to push outward then design the next hex.

The "antique" palette is perfect. Also, this set off quite the math geek in me. Fractals... mmm.....

And you're right - for now they totally need a functional city. Will be on that next.

downlobot wrote:
Fairy tail was fun. Are you planning on going full bore with rival/frenemy guilds?

The entire plotline of the anime slipped my mind until just now (it's been a while since I last saw an episode. It was getting pretty helter-skelter). But you've definitely sparked some ideas. I'm particularly interested in exploring the rival/frenemy guilds you mentioned as well as the dark guilds who functioned as antagonists. I'll try to keep it more organized than the anime did.

Kolokotroni wrote:
One more thing, be careful with the whole 'deus ex' npc jumps in to save the pcs situation. Don't use that very often or the players will start to feel overshadowed. In general the pcs should be the main characters of the story, and the challenges should be their to overcome. If you badass npc has to jump in to save the day too often, they will start to feel unimportant.

Very true. My original intent was to pass it off as something of a "scripted story event" and to give them a taste of a high level character (similar to how Megaman X gets his ass saved by Zero on the first level) as a reward for choosing the "more interesting" questline. They DID, however, joke about me being an asshat for sitting there happily as they meticulously planned out their next couple rounds before they committed to rolling initiative. Rest assured, high level characters jumping in between fights probably won't ever happen again in their campaign. Thanks also for directing me to the Pathfinder Society (wish I'd stumbled across that sooner). I'll probably be using some of their systems as a template for the GoP.

Those recommending for me to pick up a module are spot on. My brother, the other GM, won't let me read his anniversary printing of Rise of the Runelords due to spoilers, so on a whim I picked up the first module of The Shattered Star. Just read that it's a loose sequel to a couple previous adventure paths, so I may have to do more research (we're sticklers for rigorously documenting plotlines).

Zedth - the 3x5 cards idea for player names and general cheat sheets for creature status is fantastic, lol. I broke immersion too many times to ask them to repeat their character names. I downloaded the $5 app containing the Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Bestiaries 1-3, etc, and the spellbook apps sound equally useful. Will recommend to our spellcasters.

A shout and thank you to everyone who helped out and for all the encouragement! Everyone in our campaigns is definitely having a blast, and it looks like I have some work to do B-)


Pillow Thief wrote:


Zedth - the 3x5 cards idea for player names and general cheat sheets for creature status is fantastic, lol. I broke immersion too many times to ask them to repeat their character names. I downloaded the $5 app containing the Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Bestiaries 1-3, etc, and the spellbook apps sound equally useful. Will recommend to our spellcasters.

I had each of my players create a nametag that they put in front of them while we play that incorporates a picture of their character for a bonus (I give them hero points but you can give xp, or a special magic item or whatever). Some of them drew them themselves, some found artwork on the internet, some found a character from a movie, or cosplay. But it really helps in a number of ways to keep up immersion. You can see their character and what they look like when you look at the player, so you dont have to think about it. Plus it helps them get into their character a bit.

Also, for spellcasters I cant recommend enough perrams spellbook from thegm.org

It gives you printable spell cards which I prefer to the spellbook apps because they are faster to flip through AND you can cut them out, and wizards/clerics (prepared casters) can actually pull out only the cards for the spells they have prepped and have them in front of them

Quote:

A shout and thank you to everyone who helped out and for all the encouragement! Everyone in our campaigns is definitely having a blast, and it looks like I have some work to do B-)

Hope you and your friends have a blast, and happy gaming!


Kolokotroni wrote:

Also, for spellcasters I cant recommend enough perrams spellbook from thegm.org

This resource is amazing... I can already see our casters recycling our Mage Wars spell tomes (it's a boardgame that uses a physical "tome" with pages that are actually plastic sleeves for cards) to use with it. Thanks!


Kolokotroni wrote:


I had each of my players create a nametag that they put in front of them while we play that incorporates a picture of their character for a bonus (I give them hero points but you can give xp, or a special magic item or whatever). Some of them drew them themselves, some found artwork on the internet, some found a character from a movie, or cosplay. But it really helps in a number of ways to keep up immersion. You can see their character and what they look like when you look at the player, so you dont have to think about it. Plus it helps them get into their character a bit.

I can't agree more. I am a heck of a sketch artist when I get around to it, but my fiancé is remarkable. She can draw and paint so incredibly well. She has taken it upon herself to draw portraits for everyone in our gaming group.

Having a graphic helps keep up the illusion in your mind and for everyone around.
This is a 2nd hobby altogether, and technically unnecessary with all of the available pre-painted minis available, but I also really enjoy painting miniatures. The hand painted ones(particularly for the Player Characters) done at home are always better than the generic, though well done, minis found in booster packs or bought singly. If you have the gumption, I highly recommend painting your miniatures! It adds yet another layer of flavor and depth to your gaming table.


I always get a slight jealous hearing of people with SOs sharing these kinds of hobbies. Nerds are rarer than you'd think, and hard to track down to their natural habitats...

Anyway, painting minis will be a natural transition for us and sounds like something we'd enjoy. We had some Descent minis finished before we picked up Pathfinder. I guess the trouble will be finding the appropriate minis to represent our characters.

I'm thinking of picking up the Bestiary Pawns packs. The pawns included in the Beginner's Box served pretty well in our first few sessions, though now I usually just hold up the bestiary book for a quick visual if they seem to want more than my narration.


Personally, I love the bestiary pawn packs and heartily recommend them. I have Bestiary 1, 2, the rise of the runelord pawn pack, and am eagerly waiting for Bestiary 3.

WARNING: Major money sinks ahead!

I really like the Paizo face card decks. I raise the face card as I shift voice tones. It helps with the overall immersion. Most of the current ones are for the AP's. I collect all of them even though I don't GM any AP's. Faces are faces.

For immersion, another suggestion is to have your players set out table tents with their character names. Bonus: this one's free!

I absolutely despise drawing maps, but I don't like shorting my players on the experience either. I use Paizo Flip-Mats and Map Packs whenever possible. I'm trying to slowly collect these by buying 2 to 4 maps a month as I can afford them. If you REALLY want to immerse your players into the world (and don't mind spending a bunch of setup time to do it) google "Dwarven Forge." Custom built maps... in 3d.

There are a few awesome apps for the iPad that I like. Search for "Combat Manager" and "Summoner." The second one will be a bit harder to find because of the generic name, but it's an app with all of the summon monster and summon nature's ally creatures. Extremely helpful when the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) is a Druid, Summoner, or summon focused Wizard/Cleric. There's a summon monster deck available from a third party as well. EDIT: I just noticed that this blends into Zedth's recommendation from above. Hey Zedth, do you know any good iPad spellbook apps?

If you haven't already, be sure to buy Paizo's Game Mastery Guide.

Paizo has two other cool decks: condition cards and a buff deck. Check 'em out! EDIT: Ninja'd by Zedth. Doh!

I think you're doing fantastic. Got another spot at your table? ;)


Pillow Thief wrote:
I always get a slight jealous hearing of people with SOs sharing these kinds of hobbies. Nerds are rarer than you'd think, and hard to track down to their natural habitats...

I met my fiancé about a year and a half ago, and I have been waiting my whole life for her. :) Nerdy girls are the best. For years I accepted that I would probably never meet a woman that shares an attraction with me and who can get into gaming, but it turns out I'm one of the lucky ones. My fiancé is a comic and art nerd who made the easy transition into gaming. "in their natural habitats" lol, that's correct! Never give up looking!

Pillow Thief wrote:


I'm thinking of picking up the Bestiary Pawns packs. The pawns included in the Beginner's Box served pretty well in our first few sessions, though now I usually just hold up the bestiary book for a quick visual if they seem to want more than my narration.

Let me suggest a way to supplement your miniature collection. I use a bunch of recycled minis from old board games. In particular I use HeroQuest, Battle Masters, Dragonstrike. Those three games have a very nice variety of miniatures easily usable for Pathfinder. Check them out on Ebay. I owned all three of those games as a kid, but I've found incomplete boxed versions of these games on Ebay for dirt cheap.


Mystically Inclined wrote:
"Summoner."

Such a good app. It is fantastic. Saves a lot of prep work and/or referencing monsters out of the bestiary.

Mystically Inclined wrote:
I just noticed that this blends into Zedth's recommendation from above. Hey Zedth, do you know any good iPad spellbook apps?

I used "SpellbookMaster", (subtext: Petteri Kamppuri Games) for a good long while. It seems to have every spell that I want to look up and it organizes them well.

I've been using "SRD Spellbook" (subtext: Scott Atwood Reference) more lately because it has a Favorites/create your own spellbook feature which is very handy. It does seem to miss the occasional spell from PF splat books however. I'm not sure which books specifically, or if it is missing a handful of specific spells only. I haven't dug deep enough, but I have noticed once or twice that it didn't have a certain spell I was looking for. *shrugs* Still a nice app though.


Pillow Thief wrote:
Those recommending for me to pick up a module are spot on. My brother, the other GM, won't let me read his anniversary printing of Rise of the Runelords due to spoilers, so on a whim I picked up the first module of The Shattered Star. Just read that it's a loose sequel to a couple previous adventure paths, so I may have to do more research (we're sticklers for rigorously documenting plotlines).

Word of warning if you're worried about spoilers, Rise of the Runelords is one of the APs that Shattered Star is a sequel to. I haven't read the latter (my group I GM for is currently in the middle of Chapter 2 of Rise of the Runelords) but reading it and/or researching the backstory of it have a good chance of spoiling you for RotR.


Just went and bought both spell book apps. I like!

I'd recommend SRD spell book over spell book master. Master seems to have the PRD while SRD spell book has the SRD (which has more spells). Plus it seems to have a feature that let's you write your own spells, which allows you to cover any custom spells or splat book spells that get missed. On the other hand, spell book master has the core line and is a dollar compared to SRD spell book's 8 dollars.


Mystically Inclined wrote:
SRD spell book's 8 dollars.

wow, it definitely wasn't $8 when I bought it


Easy, quick, and very close to complete spell reference... for the price of a set of dice? I have NO problem with this. ;)


Instead of homebrew, I'd strongly recommend Pathfinder adventure path, modules, and even Pathfinder society scenarios to start. With the APs and modules you can still homebrew a tonne of stuff, but the campaign will have a solid basis and it will save you lots of work, especially if you are GMing 2 campaigns.

I wish I had that growing up. Yeah, we played homebrew and it was OK and no one left, but it could have been a lot better.

There's so much advice to give, but you can find a start here. There are some great links there, check them out.
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2lfah?What-makes-a-good-GM#37


I'm a homebrew guy, all the way. Jason S is correct in that following existing material will save you time, effort, and provide lots of foundation. Each to their own though, I like campaign settings but I always prefer to take my players through MY world.

I guess one caveat I should say is that I've worked on my campaign world for a long time, so there is plenty to reference from.

For a crew of "noobs" I won't say one is superior to the other. I built my world one city at a time, one map at a time, and often as the result of adventures with friends as opposed to sitting down and fleshing it out at home beforehand.

to OP, if you want to build your own world and campaign, there is certainly nothing wrong with inserting premade adventures and adventure paths into it, but don't shy away from harnessing your imagination and making your world out of your head. You and your players will start to find familiar cities, inns, NPCs, weather patterns, powers-that-be as you play your own homebrew adventures. To me one of the most satisfying aspects of being a Game Master is when a player can play off of an old adventure hook, remember that one old NPC who was in that certain town, etc.
World building is tough, but rewarding.


Something of an update after the holiday festivities:

First off, I've compiled all the advice concerning apps and online resources into my personal GM collection. The SRD Spellbook in particular and the spellcard creation tool at thegm.org have already been adopted by all of our spellcasters.

And, guys, the problem's getting worse. New Year's Eve, 6pm, in the middle of our brothers-only session through the first few chapters in Rise of the Runelords, we got texts from the two friends who joined us the previous night to have another session going after the bell drop signaling the new year. Not only that, but they went ahead and invited a few more of our friends to create fresh characters in the Guild of Pathfinders campaign I'd made up on the spot. This effectively left me with a 7-PC campaign to prospectively run later that night.

The two newbies had always been interested in the game but probably won't be able to make it to regular sessions as often - a fact I took into consideration as I attempted to re-structure the upcoming session to accomodate them. This was what I came up with:

(Warning: Mountain of Text ahead)

Spoiler:

The original group woke up the following morning (game-time), had breakfast in the guild halls, and then went to the bulletin board to re-examine the quest offerings. Natsu appeared, suggesting that *maybe* they take the rat quest, since the lady down the street still had that problem going on, but was interrupted by the entrance slamming open.

Kirya, a Rogue Chronicler, exasperatedly herded in three newbies middling outside the guild hall (the three new PCs who'd just spent nearly 3 hours creating their characters with the help of the other 5 of us). Natsu, amused by the sudden influx of new members, decided that maybe they could join via sparring out in the back courtyard: the fresh Scouts vs. the Newbies + Kirya (dumbing herself down to a lvl1 Rogue). I figured this would be a good way to dabble in PvP as a new GM, and also to introduce combat mechanics to the new players. The theme would be that the mock-battle would operate exactly the same as a "real" battle but with "dummy" weapons, blunted swords, arrows with suction-cup ends, whatever, heh (non-lethal damage where being reduced to 0 means the character is knocked out for an hour).

This actually turned out to be an excellent way to introduce the newer members to role-playing, and for the Scouts to get even more into it, since they used their IRL relationships and quirks to supplement the narrative. For example, the fresh Monk spent his free action muttering, "I'm sorry..." before rushing forward at the first round and knocking out the Bard in the very first attack... "Your uppercut to Herbert's chin sends him flying a foot upward... wow." (this was an oversight on my part as GM, admittedly. I should've given them a crude outline of the courtyard layout and allowed them to position themselves on their respective sides as they saw fit, instead of having the teams begin 30 feet away from each other). Still, it was hilarious, and definitely got the trash-talking underway. Another fun note was that I had Kirya target the only female player on the table, rogue vs. ranger, and since she's new to the group we got to see her personality really come out. Oh, the cattiness.

We ALL learned first-hand the threat an unattended Wizard can pose (he casted Color Spray on his first turn, knocking out the other half of the courtyard where most of the players were engaged, but also accidentally knocked out people on his own team. In the end, the female ranger darted from the rogue (ducking under the attack opportunity), tumbled into prone, and landed a critical on the Fighter that had just taken out the other Monk (that Fighter retained a suction-cup shaped black eye the rest of the session). But the rogue seized the opportunity, stealthed behind a tree, and landed a deadly but non-lethal ranged sneak attack on the ranger. So the newbies won.

I warded the winning team +25exp to each player, since many were wondering about the exp difference before the session (which is honestly neglibible in the long run, but players ARE meta-gamers at heart).

After everyone woke up in the guild barracks, Natsu welcomed the newcomers as fellow scouts and mentioned that with this many newbies present at the same time, he had a special level D quest in store for them, one that most of the other guild members didn't want to take since it required so many participants... and for other reasons.

(Very minor spoilers ahead for the Rise of the Runelords campaign/sidequests)

The quest turned out to be an 800g quest for an afternoon Hunting Expendition with guest appearances from the Rise of the Runelords campaign my brother was concurrently GMing: Aldrin Foxglove and my lvl2 Rogue character, Zarehl.

(All of my brothers groaned at this, including the other GM, who'd played an EXCELLENT Aldrin just earlier that day, andI requested that he play the same character for this session and he heartily agreed. Part of the shtick he pulled off so effectively was giving Aldrin the catchphrase, "oh, but I DO go on. Ho ho!")

The quest was a competition: Aldrin's team (he took a liking to the female ranger) with the original scouts, vs. Zarehl's team (the three fresh newbies). They would compete for number and quality of game in nearby hunting grounds.

It followed the same principle (for those familiar with the Runelords campaign): Aldrin would overenthusiastically work with the PCs and scare off game and reduce attack rolls, whereas Zarehl provided helpful, expert advise to the fresh players and bagged several game.

After Aldrin's team finally shot down the badger they'd been chasing the entire afternoon, Aldrin excitedly went to go pick it up and was swallowed by a Giant Frog. The PCs on that team genuinely considered letting the frog hop off before grudgingly engaging it incombat, whereas Zarehl's team handled a rampaging Gorilla.

Honestly, it was a New Year's spent excellently all the way to 6am.

The PCs spent another hour or so hanging out and poring through the rulebook and bestiary and other supplemental texts before deciding it was safe enough to take to the highways. Good stuff all around.


sounds fun! 7 players is getting rough to manage. I find the sweet spot to be somewhere between 3-5 PCs.

I remember back in high school we had a Gamers Club where geeks could meet up to play Magic cards, DnD, chess, talk about Warcraft 2, etc... We had a DnD campaign that had about 9 players and it was distracting. Luckily a handful of players dropped out and we ended up with a really nice group who turned out to be great friends in the end.

I wish you and your friends the best.

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