Hi all!
(this may belong in a GM-specific sub-forum somewhere, if so please let me know)
I've got about 3 years worth(bi-weekly) of PnP RPG experience behind me, 2 years of that is 3/3.5 I've played 8? PFS games, but that's about all the Pathfinder experience I've got.
I ran Beginner Box yesterday for some friends, and that went pretty well. The Players include two guys who have played Pathfinder for a while, one of which seems a bit Encylopedic about what he reads. They'll be my initial "Rules Lawyers"
I gave the players the option between Rise of the Runelords, Reign of Winter and Shattered Star for me to run and they picked Shattered Star.
At GenCon I attended the GM 101 class, and I've spent some hours reading on how to GM on the web. I've read up on some of what has been suggested on how to prepare for AP games in the Paizo forums that I found via Google.
Despite all this, I'm still intimidated when I'm reading the beginning of the first book of the AP. So many things to know and remember that it would slow down the adventure so much if I have to reference them. It almost feels like I need to make an extremely detailed outline of everything just to be sure I don't miss anything. I can definitely highlight or underline(once I get my own copy), but that still involves needing to read a bunch during the AP, especially the RP-heavy sections.
Fights may end up a bit easier. Print out/copy down the stats for a mob, paper clip them together with a piece of paper noting room and quantity of each.
There's about a month before our first actual session, so I've got some time to read all 6 books and maybe borrow the City guide from a friend, and maybe even some of the Inner Sea guide too.
I worry a bunch that Reading the whole AP now, each book again before we start them, and then what I expect to get through each week with detailed notes or outline(total 3 times) is going to be enough and that I'll slow down the game a lot.
Any Advice is appreciated.