Hi all,
Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I've played Pathfinder for a couple of years now, and my playing partner and I are trying to get some mutual friends in on the fun. We have a whole vacation weekend set aside for two nights of epic adventure.
I will be GMing, and while I have experience running other systems, I've never GMed Pathfinder before. Part of the reason I volunteered to GM for the weekend is that it gives me an excuse to learn some of the finer points of the system. Anyway, I need some advice on which module (as a new GM, I will be relying heavily on published material) to run and which level you think I should set the PCs at. Here's some of the pertinent info:
- Five PCs total. One player has extensive experience with Pathfinder, and is playing a fast barbarian wielding a greatsword. The other four have minimal to no experience, and will be playing a Celestial sorcerer, TWF, Gunslinger, and Magus.
- The characters will have been created prior to the first session, so we won't waste a lot of time with character creation. Realistically, we're talking 12+ hours of actual play, but it will be a little stop-and-go as people get acclimated to the system during the first few hours. I would like to reach some sort of satisfactory conclusion to the adventure by the end of that, as we aren't planning to turn this into a long-term campaign nor will we likely be able to get everyone together again for a while.
- I'd like the starting level to be high enough that the players have access to some of their characters' cooler class features, like the magus arcana (level 3) or gun training (level 5). But I also don't want to go to high, as the combat options at such levels might be confusing to new players. My inclination is somewhere in the 5-7 range, but I'm open to suggestions or any opinions someone might have about that.
- I'd like a decent mix of exploration, interaction, and combat. I'm a big fan of sessions that balance those out, rather than epic dungeon crawls. A couple of these new players are writers, and one's an actor--they'll enjoy roleplaying as much or more than the combat.
TL;DR - 12-hour one-off session with 5 PCs (1 vet, 4 new), need suggestions about level and adventure modules; good mix of exploration, interaction, and combat preferred.
Thanks, everyone!
EDIT: In case it matters, the entire team (with maybe one exception) is Chaotic Good.