The Rise of The Runelords adventure path starts at level 1. It is however very good so don't worry about having to remake characters.
Welcome to Pathfinder!
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Obligatory Intro:
Hey guys, so in the past I've been more of a board gamer/video gamer but about a year ago my buddies and I started dabbling in another table top RPG. We get together and play a session maybe 5 times in the 18 months. However, I just stumbled on to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and fell in love with it. I've haven't even owned it a week but I already want to dive deeper into this world. So I immediately started eyeballing the beginner's box. One of the problems we have is my previous GM always tries to write his own adventure for us but that is what leads to the long droughts between play sessions.
This is a fairly common issue in gaming groups. Luckily pathfinder has the solution. Paizo makes the best published adventures in the industry. Thier modules and especially their adventure paths are as good as it gets in my opinion. No need to write your own stuff (unless you want to). And now we have quite a variety to choose from for new groups like yours. It still takes time to prep mind you, but you are just preping (reading things over, familiarizing yourself with the story) not creating it from scratch.
I want to take the reins of the GM in the Pathfinder Universe so my question is, will the beginner's box work for someone like me who has never GMed before? I read that it will get us to level 5 before we have to branch out into the core books. For the price that value seems amazing. It's also my understanding the PACG uses many of the PRPG locations, storylines, etc which is quite exciting because I plan on playing a solo and co-op path of the card game. So I imagine playing the RPG will only add to my the card game experience.
I am not as talented as my previous GM and I like the idea of having encounters already written up for us making it much easier for all of us to get together (which is why I was drawn to the PACG). However, I also need some flexibility to be able to keep my group interested. Lets just say our play sessions are very much 18+ and the crazier and vulgar they are the more fun we have. We've started a tradition that every session starts with us getting kicked out of the local inn before the adventure.
Well, one of the best things about the adventure paths is they dont just spoon feed everything to you. They give you backgrounds, motivations, descriptions, locations, etc. Other then describing locations and occassional speeches, there isnt any box text. Most of what they give you is background informations from which you can derive how things will play out.
Also, some adventures are more adult then others. I think rise of the runlords might be great for your group as its primarily set in the town of sandpoint. With a great deal of description of the characters and locations. So it would give you the tools you need to improvise when your players go off the rails. There also are some really useful aids created by users over in the rise of the runelords forums, including an illustrated npc guide which I love.
Final questions, so the PACG starts with the Rise of the Runelords and I would love to follow the same path in the RPG. Can anyone give me an idea what level that story arc starts at? Will I be able to go from the box to the RotR path?
It starts at level 1, ends at about level 18. But something you could do, is JUST play the introductory adventure in the begginer box, and then move on directly to rise of the runelords, without using xp. What I mean is, all pathfinder adventures tell you roughly what level the players should be at different points in the story. Just follow that and dont use xp directly. Saves on math, but also, means there wont be any effects of starting higher then level one after the first part of the adventure. If you are level 2 or 3 the early encounters will be easy, but that might not be a bad thing for a new group, and you would just not have the party level up until the adventure said they should go to a higher level. Dont go all the way to 5 before you go into the ap though, that would be a bit much I think. If you started at levels 2 or 3 I think you would be fine.
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My favorite part of using paizo adventure paths is the support they get. Besides all the cool stuff paizo offers, you have what I like to call the 1000 man gm army. The Adventure Path section of the forums is really active, and there is a seperate subforum for each AP. You can find all sorts of things useful to running rise of the runelords there. I use it myself for my current game. And of special note are all the player created resources. Everything from games to make the swallow tail festivul (at the start of the adventure) more interesting, to handouts, to useful guides to sandpoints npcs, to maps, optional encounters, and just about everything else you could want. Its really impressive.
And if you arent sure about something, or if you run into a problem, you can post in that section of the forums and have a dozen knowledgable gms (including often paizo staff) offering suggestions and advice. Its kind of fantastic.
Just to second one thing Kolokotroni said: don't bother with XP.
As someone who came here from video games, this may irk you, Naturalist. XP = everything, right?
But as someone who came here from board games, you will appreciate that playing a GM like the banker in MONOPOLY is probably not very fun.
Just placed an order for the BB. Can't wait to become more active in the Pathfinder community.
Glad to help, and welcome to pathfinder! I hope you find it as fun and rewarding as I do. I look forward to hearing more about how your game goes. And feel free to ask any more questions. We are here to help.
Welcome, Naturalist! :)
Welcome Naturalist!
Rise of the Runelords is a great Adventure Path! With that said, no matter how well written, there will always be some issues that come up. One of the best things about Paizo* is that they provide a forum for people who play that Adventure Path:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/adventurePa th/runelords
Note: While it is not a rule, it is probably best for the GM, rather then the players to read that part of the messageboards as spoilers abound!
In that forum you will find discussions with the authors and editors, some amazing creative writings, GMs posting their experiences, and my dirty pleasure, the obituaries of PCs who died in the adventure. Skimming these obits and various thread titles will tip you off to some of the most lethal or troublesome parts of the Adventure Path. You can also visit the Play by Post section of the forums to see how other GMs and players are handling things. Finally there are also some great podcasts and online videos, although I can't find a link at the moment.
*Another great thing about Paizo; the designers, developers, authors, editors, tech folks, etc. are on the boards here, and if you have questions, there is a good chance that the guy who wrote the rule or designed the encounter can help you understand things better. For example, the guy who posted above designed the game... it doesn't get much better then that!
One final note about Rise of the Runelords: The original was released for the D&D 3.5 rule system before Pathfinder existed. While the two systems are very similar, it is best to stick with the updated Pathfinder version until you get the hang of the rules.
Have Fun!
Fergie
For now, I'd stick to the Beginner Box. There's a book in it that talks about transitioning from it to the core rules, and you'll want to read that before buying anything else.
Welcome to the boards Naturalist
Go with Sean's Advice, and stick to the BB for now til you feel like you have gotten a slight feeling of having mastered a good chunk of it.
Then CRB (Core Rule Book) and Bestiary will hold the Base Rules and monsters
The GM Mastery Guide will give you good advice on GMing a game.
A new book called Strategy Guide is coming out for beginning players and GMs some time in June.
Any never be afraid to ask for advice as the folks here, almost always give a hand.
The free Player Pack download also includes the barbarian class, so that's another option for your players. Let us know how it goes!
Edited to add: The Pathfinder wiki is a great resource for learning more about our campaign setting!
Aside from rules and adventures, there are a ton of sourcebooks that focus solely on the game setting of Golarion, ranging from general world info to individual cities and countries. If you like the locations and storylines implied in the card game, then friend, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
The free Player Pack download also includes the barbarian class, so that's another option for your players. Let us know how it goes!
Edited to add: The Pathfinder wiki is a great resource for learning more about our campaign setting!
Theres's also the GM Kit which includes more monters, items and another adventure.
or the
Beginner Box Bash Demos which are 4 mini adventures.
The latest issue of WAYFINDER (http://paizo.com/products/btpy94b3?Wayfinder-10) also includes some Beginner Box-style content.
