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Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is in the wrong section! I would just like to know who the artist is behind the artwork featured in the City Guard entry in the Game Master's Guide (and on the male Human Fighter cardboard pawn) in the Beginner Box. Also, if anyone can find the artwork online, would you be able to post a link here please (assuming that doesn't break any copyrights or other rules)? I have tried Google searching for the image with every variant of "human fighter" I can think of. Also tried searching DeviantArt and the Pathfinder wiki for it, and even tried searching for each credited artist in the book, but still no luck.

Thanks and cheers!

Thanks for all the help guys, I've been meaning to write a follow-up post since the event but it's been a very busy week! The beginner box adventure was a huge success, I invited four people to play, one of which had played D&D briefly before, another (my girlfriend) who had expressed interest in tabletop RPG's, and two other guys that had only heard about tabletop RPG's and never learnt much about them. Everyone got right into it though and had a great time, and afterwards all four of them expressed interest in continuing the adventure.

Spell Slingin' Steve, I used most of your suggestions in the adventure, changing the dragon to a manticore was definitely the right move as everyone was very satisfied at being able to actually slay the "final boss" of the dungeon. I actually powered up the talisman even further because the game was dragging on a little (not that anyone was bored, mind!) and even still, the players thought that the fight was challenging and satisfying enough. I ended up not having any issues with getting them to find the talisman, nor with getting them to try the diplomatic approach with the goblins (they basically walked straight into the room and I started talking in character as the goblin king as soon as he noticed them, so they were never under the impression it was a combat encounter at all).

From here we're looking into virtual tabletop programs (especially Roll20) to continue the adventure, as two of the players live quite a distance away and will soon be moving even further away. I've also decided the pre-generated adventure was a "prologue" to the actual adventure, as all players expressed an interest in making their own characters, so I wanted them to be able to do that without feeling like they've lost progress.

Once again, thanks for your help everyone!

Thanks for the replies so far everyone! I'm going to be running the adventure from the Game Master's Guide this Saturday, hopefully all goes well. I've read through the Hero's Handbook plus the adventure in the GMG, and will be reading the GM'ing guidelines before the day. However after reading through the adventure (and reading this review: http://gfbrobot.com/2012/02/14/role-playing-game-review-pathfinder-beginner -box/ ) I have a few more questions.

For starters, the review above states that the ending to the adventure feels lacklustre, with the dragon just flying away. I want to remedy this by letting the PC's kill the dragon, while still allowing for progression after the adventure, and to not make the downloadable adventure useless. My idea for a fix is to have the dragon only be the "child", explaining the weaker stat block, and then the rest of the adventure is tracking down the "parent". Does this sound feasible?

In a similar vein, the review also states the shortcomings of the dragonbane longsword. I want to use the example it gave of changing it to a talisman that weakens the dragon, allowing everyone to contribute. I decided the talisman reduces the dragon's AC by 2 and gives a -2 penalty on all its saving throws for 10 turns. Does this sound balanced? Overpowered? Underpowered? I'd rather err on the side of overpowered since I want the PC's to fight the dragon to the death. Should I also make it reduce the dragon's damage in this case? Also, if the PC's are going to be hunting the "parent" dragon afterwards, I'm considering having th talisman be "rechargeable", which the PC's can discover if they use detect magic or try and sell it once its power has been used. Does this sound reasonable?

Another encounter that I think could be problematic is the goblin king. I want my players to know there is a diplomatic outcome without having to directly tell them. My first thought is to have the king and his lackeys surrounded by a stasis or force field spell that the PC's can't penetrate until the king chooses to disable it, which he will if the PC's fail their diplomacy checks, or bring the toy, but I think this feels a bit forced. Is this a good solution? Any suggestions if it's not?

Finally, I also want the PC's to discover the dragonbane longsword/talisman without fail. I'm considering having the goblin king tell the PC's of the mage that hid the treasure on the island if they try and go to the dragon's cave without it. But if the PC's kill the goblin king, what alternative can I use?

Thanks in advance, cheers.

It's either one or the other. Usually you can't exclude your allies from the channel (I'm not sure if the Beginner Box includes the feat that lets you do that.)

So say the PC's are fighting some bandits, and they've all taken some damage. If the cleric channels her energy for healing, do the bandits get healed as well, since it doesn't specify "friendly" or "allied" living creatures? And, if by a freak turn of events, one of the PC's or their allies becomes undead, would the harm undead channel injure them too?

Power attack isn't an action at all, it's an option you can use when you attack.

Therefore it functions exactly like a regular attack, except that it gets +3 damage for -1 attack bonus?

Stowing a carried weapon is, IIRC, it's own move action, but the fighter could drop it as a free action.

Okay, so if a character wanted to switch weapons completely they have to take a full round doing so, or drop their previous weapon to the ground to retain a standard move. On that note, can a standard action be swapped for a move action?

Thanks for the answers guys! I've ordered the box and it's on its way.

I've downloaded the free character sheets to familiarize myself with the characters before I see the box, and a few things are jumping out at me.

The pregen cleric, Kyra, has the channel energy feature. It says it can heal living creatures within the 30-foot radius, or harm undead within the radius. Can both be used at once? Or does the cleric have to decide before channeling that they're going to EITHER heal OR harm. Also, if there are living enemies or undead allies, do they still get healed/harmed respectively?

In a similar vein, does the wizard's burning hands spell affect allies in the area of effect (i.e. any allies caught in the fire have to make a reflex save or take damage as well)? Or is it presumed that the wizard can manipulate the fire past them/miss them otherwise?

EDIT: Is a power attack a full-round action? Or am I confusing it with another action? Also, the fighter can draw a weapon as a move action, I presume that means he sheathed/stowed any weapons he already had equipped, correct? Can he then proceed to use that weapon that turn, if he still has his standard action? Likewise, can he attack with a standard action then switch weapons?

Hey everyone, I'm hoping to start up a Pathfinder group in my local area, using the beginner box as a starting point, but before I do so I just have a few questions. If anyone could answer them, it'd be greatly appreciated.

1. How many players make up an "ideal" party? The box comes with 4 pre-gen characters but the standard for D&D is/was (I believe) 5?

2. I noticed in a video preview that the "Hero's Handbook" has a walk-through solo adventure, used to teach the rules. Will I need to get all my players to run through that? If so, should I do that individually or take them all through at once (since I believe it's a linear adventure, as opposed to D&D's choose-your-own)?

3. How long does character creation take? Is it recommended to play with the pre-gen characters first, due to them having the character sheets with explanations?

I'll add any more questions as I think of them, but any input would be great, thanks