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So i've been quite heavily invested into the pathfinder lore for a while now and i love characters who really fit into the setting of the world they are in. Non-adventurers. i was thinking of running short campaigns that would last 3-4 sessions each. Players would have to make a new character for each campaign that would fit in with each group. there would be required reading for every campaign so the players would have to put in more effort than normal campaigns. All required reading would come from my own materials i have purchased and can share though i would also highly encourage you to support paizo and buy your own copy. The focus would to build specialized characters with those feats you never would want otherwise. most campaigns would take place between levels 3-8, mostly because anything higher would be a stress to build characters so frequently at such a high level but also i find those levels the most fun to play at.

Here's an example:

This next campaign you will be playing as Ninth battalion, You must play a dwarf. you will be a part of a special forces battalion and/or a victim of an attack by the dark elves and have been roped into said battalion for reasons. Expect tight spaces, dim lights and drow.

Required reading: Inner sea world guide, all sections related to dwarves and the underground. Pathfinder Companion: Dwarves of Golarion. as well as Pathfinder Chronicles: Faction Guide, "Ninth battalion" section.

Recommended reading (not provided): [insert list of optional paizo products or 3rd party blogs about underground caves and dungeoneering]

All traits, feats and spells introduced in these books are legal.

---------------------------------------------

Obviously i would put more effort into a full description. anyone with an ongoing subscription to pathfinder material would finally be able to use the full library in their campaigns. Not all campaigns would be good, some would be evil, and though your characters would be staying in a single setting through out most of their play time as a player you could experience the vast and expansive world of Golarion in small campaigns. We would NOT be a PbP We would be using roll20 or D20pro most likely. Is there any interest for this?

So i've always had this mild problem with bluff, if I as the game master tell the players a lie, i must make secret roles to see if they are convinced of the lie or i must have them roll. If i don't make these bluff checks the players know what to believe and what not to believe. Beyond that, because bluff is a skill it forces characters who don't have skill points in bluff to be truthful, even when they have evidence it can be damning to lie. It detracts from roleplay in a way that is difficult to circumvent. so i've thought of changing the rules of bluff a little bit.

I believe it would be easier to label this term as "convince" for these reasons:

When no counter evidence is present, Convince is not rolled.
Example: you and your armored companions are walking down the road carrying a banner for the royal guard. You are not a part of the royal guard but unless anyone could tell otherwise (say an officer of the guard) everyone would believe that you are a Guard
example 2: You don't trust the king, and after he sent you on a mission to kill Bobby you return and tell him he is dead. In truth you smuggled Bobby out of the kingdom.

When you are telling the truth but counter evidence is presented against you, convince is rolled against opposing convince check.
Example: You return to tell the king that your mission is complete, but he received a message earlier that informed him you had betrayed him.

When telling the truth but a character doesn't believe you for some reason other than a lie told by another. Roll convince check opposed by sense motive, where sense motive is subtracted from the roll instead of added.
Example: You disguise as beggars and leave all your possessions behind, but you need the help of an allied guardsmen who doesn't know you personally, you must convince him that you are a his ally and not some beggar off the street.

These rules can work for disguise as well, by clever planning and avoiding being exposed the players can avoid rolls which otherwise inhibit them from roleplaying as effectively as they would want.

This would also work for NPCs. You can implant a spy into the players ranks without the fear of losing a bluff check. This has the added bonus of allowing the players to be as paranoid or trusting as they want. If you have 6 players and they all pass a bluff check they would feel more comfortable with that player as an ally but if they never are allowed to make that check then they would be more paranoid- possibly snoop through the personal lives of their NPC allies in order to see if they are who they say they are. this would add an enormous amount of depth to roleplay in my opinion.

I feel that this is a way that many GMs are subcontiously running bluff but i wanted to hammer out some more clear rules for my players so that they. Do these rules look like they would work? And do you have any suggestions?

Hey i had this idea recently about stories that were run by the players and no-prep GMs having to improve a lot. I Wanted to take it to a new level to give myself a challenge and also give the players a chance to drive the story in a somewhat random way where they create the clues and it is up to the GM to tie all of the clues together. Essentially the players can create a fact about a setting or clue that they are given. These facts are not intended for combat advantages. You can create one fact every few encounters with the exception of "clues" which the GM will decide how many facts you can assign to any given clue. Here is an example:

GM: *The GM Hands player 1 a blank map of korvosa* On the corpse of the Aristocrat you find a map of Korvosa and the surrounding area with multiple notes scribbled in the margin and points circled. You may each create one to two clues.
Player 1: "I've found a map of Korvosa, it seems to be old. at least 15 years, this district was demolished a long time ago"
Player 2: "What is this line extending out from the Academae?"
Player 3: "I Don't know but it probably has to do with this 'Count Whimble Daerik' its circled with a number 5468"
Player 4: Can i roll Knowledge Nobility on the Count?
GM: Sure
Player 4 rolls 18
GM: You have heard of the Daerik line but you don't recall a specific Whimble
Player 4: "I think i've heard of the Daerik family, they are a Andoran Nobility. Currently they employ a large fleet of textile traders."
Player 3: "There's also blood on the map, dried but not 15 years old"

After all of this the GM has to piece together the clues to form a somewhat comprehensive story. It would obviously require a roleplay heavy enviroment. The players and GM would have to be very knowledgeable about the Golarion. But i think it would be great fun as a GM and allow the players to put in lore from around the world that they want to see. Player 2 would like to learn more about the Academae while player 4 would like to know more about Andoran.

Has anyone done anything like this? And do you think it would work at all?

Hey, i'm pretty new to GMing and i've never made my own campaign before. But it is something i am very interested in. I've been looking through products that were designed to help with that, and just wanted some opinions on what to get.

I was looking at Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs because adding memorable NPCs sounds amazing. But are there any more cheap alternatives that i could browse? Maybe ones that also have stat blocks? I've noticed a number of books with only 10-15 NPCs but at a more expensive cost per-npc.

Also i was looking at Complete KOBOLD Guide to Game Design just to see if that would help my game designs. Has anyone used this resource?

What other things do you use frequently to help you create your games or be a better GM?

Hey, i just had a quick question. If a cleric were to take the artifice domain and use the domain power:

Artificer's Touch (Sp): You can cast mending at will, using your cleric level as the caster level to repair damaged objects. In addition, you can cause damage to objects and construct creatures by striking them with a melee touch attack. Objects and constructs take 1d6 points of damage +1 for every two cleric levels you possess. This attack bypasses an amount of damage reduction and hardness equal to your cleric level. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

Would this provoke an attack of opportunity if used to attack a weapon? Therefore needing Improved sunder. Also would the domain power Metal fists, would it provoke attacks of opportunity to attack a weapon? i would assume so on this one but just making sure:

Metal Fist (Su): As a swift action, you can turn your fists into metal for 1 round, allowing you to make unarmed strikes that deal 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage plus your Strength modifier. These unarmed strikes do not provoke attacks of opportunity, but attacking with both uses the two-weapon fighting rules as normal. In addition, these unarmed strikes ignore the hardness of items with a hardness of 10 or less. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

With the group of people I play with, we are using a pfs like campaign set up to allow players to jump in and it of games with some simple rewards systems for simplicity. Players get flat exp and money based on the cr of the encounter and item buys at discounted prices at the end of the campaign. Everyone is first or second level and I am struggling to make challenging encounters with only a cr1 limit. I had one session where most encounters were cr2 and the players were over leveled by the end of the session.

Basically, what are some challenging low cr encounters you can make? What are some inventive traps? pit falls are a cr1and still relatively easy to spot out. I've triedKobold crossbowmen in tight corridors with alchemists fire already.

I've heard this argument before but not until recently has it bugged me. How does one by the rules do this? By the rules you can not wield two weapons at the same time, but you can "hold" a weapon. But there is not physical difference between wielding and holding when it comes to gauntlets, so in theory you are wielding them at all times. as well as it is utterly ludicrous to imagine a person trying to fire a bow while wearing metal gloves.

If a character were to attack with a two handed weapon what is to stop him from using his free action to then hold the two handed weapon in one hand and make another off handed attack with an unarmed strike?

Also, according to the Gauntlet description- all that it does is cause your unarmed strikes to deal lethal as opposed to non-lethal damage. so if someone was going to use the Gauntlet to make an attack of opportunity would they then provoke a second AOO while making their AOO? and can you make an AOO while charging? provided that they don't have improved unarmed strike

What is the Duration for this feat? It implies infinite based on "Intelligent undead can attempt a new saving throw each day" but it also says "As control undead" which has a duration of 1 minute. Secondly does this effect end if the cleric is incapacitated? or is death the only thing that stops this?

Also, more of advice: As a GM running an undead campaign, how do i stop this from being broken? Considering the cleric can steal half of the undead on the map and then use them as shields while the rest of the party casually cleans everything up. What can i do about this?

Feinting generally only works with melee attacks as per the rules, but the teamwork feat "Feint Partner" says "Whenever an ally who also has this feat successfully feints an opponent, that opponent also loses his Dexterity bonus to AC against the next attack you make against him before the end of the feinting ally’s next turn."

Key words being "Next attack". Myself and a friend were planning on PFS, one of us a two-weapon ranger the other an archery rogue. we were trying to find more ways to allow sneak attacks for the rogue- and this one seemed to be very helpful. Would it be allowed in PFS? Or is that just a miss wording of the feat?

Hey, i have always really loved rogues and alchemists- but what i have never tried is using poisons consistently with them. Especially at lower levels poisons are VERY expensive, a minimum of 50gp (25 if crafted) I could play a grippli or vishkanyan but i really wanted a gnome for flavor. My questions are this, 1) is there any cheap way to get poisons? even if they are somewhat weak, 2) is there any way to increase the effectiveness of poisons? feats or spells? i know of the alchemists discovery to combine two poisons to increase its potency. Finally 3) are there any poisons that have an instant sleep affect? i thought it would be a lot of fun to have a gnome with relatively high stealth running around scouting and knocking people out with a blow gun.

Hey, im new to PFS though i've been playing pathfinder for a good year at least now. I just moved to Valdosta, GA, and there are no PFS events anywhere near me and haven't been any for the past few months. So I'm here to ask for help: How do i start a PFS chapter in my area? I've seen the regional coordinator position and would have loved to volunteer but because I'm in the military i can't commit that much time, not to mention my times of absence. I've been to the nearby game shops and a few of them run pathfinder games, but no PFS. And, if worse comes to worst, where do you look for PFS players in an online game?

For the sake of simplicity, i will describe a hypothetical situation similar to the one that played out in my campaign. I was playing as Chaotic Good Rogue with a group of other good characters that shared similar morals, very Robin Hood style. We come across a known merchant who was known to cheat on his trades, and we felt 100% justified in stealing from him- but not killing of course. I Started the fight pulling out my sap to deal non-lethal damage. I thought the plan was to just knock him out, steal his things and run. But then, the cleric of Milani pulls out her morning star and bashes the mans head in, dealing lethal damage to disable him. Myself and my character are originally shocked and immediately go to check to see if he is okay, Then the cleric casts stabilize on him. We loot the things, leave him on a relatively well traveled path and leave.

The player's logic (as well as his characters) is this: "In a world where there is magical healing, nearly killing someone is vastly different than killing someone and shouldn't be considered an immoral thing to do"

I had problems with this, but Metagame wise it made sense. I still disagree with this, but what are your opinions on the matter?

Hey guys, I wanted to ask some questions and get some ideas for the campaign i'm making. firstly, is there a pathfinder companion that describes Azlant? I read the wiki entry and didn't get everything I wanted out of it. let me set the stage:

Cheliax, Rahadoum, and the red mantis have all discovered information relating to the relic that caused Earthfall. The players are pirates and slowly see the mounting war for information and power as Cheliax and Rahadoum fight. The red mantis is much more subtle of course. Through looting or political maneuvers the pirates gain possession of the coveted information and eventually gain control of the artifact to either control the world or save it, the choice is there's. The campaign runs from level 5 to 12 ish,

The questions I need to know : which gods did the Azlant worship? If they were the pantheon now, who was the sun god? Also, what modifiers should I give the Azlant people? Let's say a few are still alive. Finally I want to create a monster that throws my party for a loop. They like to focus fire and take out enemies one at a time. what are some effects I can throw out there to confuse them at first then once they figure it out, encourage then todestroy them all at once. I was thinking bonuses to AC saves attacks damage or a delayed explosion on death. But I don't know how big of buffs these have to be to be noticeable but not TPK threat.

Also, this was typed on My phone, please forgive spelling errors

Hey i really need some help with this... I don't know what to do! My party seems to be trouncing on every CR encounter i give them. Just this last weekend i set up one of my best dungeons yet in my opinion, (to me who has only been playing pen and papers for a year) It was a watery cave with multiple paths to take through the entire encounter, and our merfolk anti-paladin was happy to be able to use a mixture of water and land to traverse the entire dungeon (They are pirates). Shut up! i thought it was clever!

I'll tell you the party and then the encounters and id like to ask how i could have improved it.

The party: (all 5th level)
1) Anti paladin (Two handed, Sunder specialized)
2) Fighter (TWF, Disarm specialized)
3) Rogue (unoptimized, skill monkey, her weapons are a cutlass and a pistol, Duel wielded at the same time ish)
4) Bard (Net and Trident, Support)
5) Alchemist (Stink bomb)
6) Ranger (Sable Company Marine, Musket and flying mount)

its safe to say, my party has A LOT of control options against weapons and anyone who gets too close, and stink bomb keeps ranged foes at bay and separates melee combatants in early initiative. They have a lot of team work which i LOVE seeing in a party, but its so strong! i want to give them a challenge so i thought i would send them against some "higher CR encounters" which they trounced.

APL is 5 + 1 for having 6 players, then an additional +1 for challenging. So i was looking at CR 7 at a minimum for these encounters.

Encounters:

First encounter
4 Advanced Troglodytes (CR 2)
1 Troglodyte (Druid 3) (CR 4)
So in total this was a CR 10 fight, i thought it would have been a pretty epic fight- but the players won initiative and took out 2 troglodytes before they could attack, the other 2 missed nearly all of their full attacks (with a +4 they didn't have that great chances of hitting anyway) and the druid troglodyte only got a chance to cast Burning disarm on the ranger, Heat metal on the fighters armor and Soften earth and stone (causing a small cave in). The fighter dipped pretty low in health but the bards happy sticks (wand of cure light wounds) kept him healthy after the fight

Second Encounter:
3 Bat swarm (CR 2)
I had assumed that the party would find swarms hard because of their lack of magical damage output, too late did i remember the alchemist when he 2 shot all three of the swarms in the crowded cave, passing his saves to not be distracted.

Third encounter:
2 executioners hood (Cr 2)
1 Gelatinous Cube (Cr 3)
The point of the encounter would have been for the players to stumble onto the hoods in a dead end, then the gelatinous cube would walk in from behind, his large body cutting off any escape. This was probably the most successful of the encounters, as it caused a good amount of confusion and some funny RP moments.

Fourth Encounter:
2 Advanced Troglodyte (CR 2)
1 minotaur skeleton (CR 5)
The minotaur was a nerfed version of "Scarwall Guard" i thought DR 10 and 2 attacks was a little much, but then the minotaur was disarmed and had nothing to fall back too except his claws.

Fifth encounter:
1 Troglodyte 6th level cleric (CR 7)
4 Skeletal Troglodytes (Cr 1)
Honestly making the troglodytes skeletal nerfed them, going from 18 constitution and better HD they lost a lot of health for just a little DR. The cleric got one channel negative energy out and then his divine focus was sundered. He cast enough to incap the warrior, but the whole dungeon had been a beating for him anyway. while the rest of the party was relatively safe.

Sixth encounter: Final encounter
1 Dark Naga (CR 8)
This was the one time the party was actually somewhat scared. They couldn't identify the naga and were crazed when it started pin pointing their weakest targets (Namely the fighter, using its detect thoughts) casting lighting bolt after lighting bolt. He incapped two of the players and set another to sleep with its poison, but was taken out by the consistent touch attack damage of the alchemist and ranger.

I think the dungeon went really well and showed me a bit, but it brings me to my point- CR?! every single encounter was above their CR (Save the bats) but it took multiple high level CRs to even dent the confidence of my players. But it seems that CRs don't really mean... anything to them. Maybe i'm just playing the NPCs badly or i have too much of a soft spot and don't want to kill my players (Such as AOEs on incapped players) but over all i can't get a balance of challenging and fun without running the risk of TPKing my party.

Hey i wanted to build a skill monkey type rogue for PFS- but had a few questions before hand since i've never been to a PFS meet before. First off, how do most GMs play stealth out? i've heard the argument that you can only stealth behind cover and the second you step out you are seen no matter what. i mean seriously, how would you sneak up on anything if you can't get closer than the rock you are standing at 200 feet away. though i disagree wholeheartedly with this, i'm not the GM and i can't argue.

Secondly, How often do traps come into play? As well as interesting things you can do with climb/acrobatics? AKA: How linear is everything? If you understand what i mean.

Finally, how often do interesting non-combat encounters come up? im okay with being vastly subpar in combat as long as i can do something out of combat. but if its just "Go here and get this relic" for every encounter, im not sure id want to run a skill rogue.

Hey guys, i've been looking around through Virtual table tops for some time now to see if there is anything better out there for my Pathfinder group. We have so far been using MapTools to varying success but Macros can be a hassle when they don't work properly and dynamically changing the maps in MapTools is a little lack luster with only a few tools to add textures. I've been looking into D20pro but i'm not sure how to work it very well and i don't like the fog of war system, Maptools is much more comprehensive on that. Just wondering what you guys use!

Hey, i have a campaign that i am going to be running. It was originally intended to be a roleplay/storyline driven campaign where the PCs are Shackles pirates. The story evolves into a global conflict between Rahadoum and Cheliax in search of an ancient civilization with the pirates skirting the edge of the fighting, searching the underworld and the high seas for clues to end goal. Now my problem comes up with my summoner. we start the campaign at 5th level and he completely dumped his str and dex which makes me feel he is unbalanced enough because he still has 22 str and 16 dex, but he picked up the "skilled" evolution for his eidlon and now has +22 to diplomacy. i find that its hard enough for me to create NPC reactions to his ghostly visage but how do i handle this in my campaign? I'm about to just ban summoners because i've had them in my campaign and they have done nothing but cause trouble and ruin the fun for other players.

You may say that synthesist eidlons can't get skills which i tried but according to this

http://paizo.com/products/btpy8k8r/faq?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate -Magic#v5748eaic9obb

he can.

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=414580

This is his character sheet, and i can't help but feel he will ruin the game for everyone. Also on another note, he wants to build a STR based snake eidlon, so he wants to go with a tail and tail slap instead of legs. But i don't want to give him that because its another attack. Also if the eidlons base speed is 20, does the synthesist also have a base speed twenty? thanks!

Hello, i'm rolling a druid and was wondering just how natural attacks worked. I read through the rules and it just seems off, but the wording did get a little heavy. An example would be really nice on primary and secondary weapon use. When you do a full attack, say a bite and 2 claws. All primary. Do you take any negatives when you attack like this? as if attacking with two weapon fighting? do you have one primary and the other attacks become secondary? How does this work?

I was Gming for my party recently and some issues came up- i am a new Gm and i would just like a few points clarified. Most particularly Steath and flying.

When a suprise round happens the combatants roll perception then the ambushers and the perceptive ambushed take either a move or standard action in the suprise round. in this scenario there are archers on buildings lets say, the archers pop up, fire their shots (within 30 feet dealing sneak attack damage) then drop back down. They are now behind cover and roll to stealth, assuming that the enemy doesn't see them. On their next turn they jump out and attack again, do they roll stealth a second time before they attack? or are the enemies considered flat footed still because they were unaware?

Can this also work with spring attack? if they hid behind a wall? Basically, do you roll 2 stealth checks (1 to become stealthed and the second to maintain stealth before the attack) or just roll 1?

The second question is, the Witch in the group is using the hex Fly, most of the fights take place in an area where she can hover 30 feet above the ground safe from most all enemies at this point in the game. She may also be using the fly spell to lift up the sorcerer every once in a while. my first question is Do they have to make any type of concentration check while flying? i've mostly been making them take "Vigorous motion" DCs just to make things somewhat fair for being in a near to completely safe spot. My other question was, If a player is flying with a spell like this, are they given any AC penalties or denied a dex bonus?

I realize that i could just throw in ranged enemies to snipe at the flying players, but for the times when there are none it just seems too safe. Oh and final question, Does it make any logical sense for a monk to grapple a Gray Ooze and not take any damage? lol, i let him get away with it on hilarity value alone but i was just wondering if it sounded right to you guys.

Hey i am a new DM and my players know this, they have been very patient with me for most things. But i really wanted to get your advice on how to run non-combat encounters. Could any of you run me through an example of what you might do for an RP encounter? or someplace that might have game write ups? Also how do you handle general non-story important NPCs? do you just throw them in there? most of my PCs are just playing this as a video game, "On to the next spot" and if they come up with a problem they always blaze to who they think is the important NPC without ever talking to non story important NPCs. How can i help encourage my PCs to make 'friends' with other NPCs just for more immersion purposes and how do you guys even play those out? ... i really just need to find some examples lol, that would help the most.

Also i wanted some to know how you guys implement Maps in your games? i've recently been running players through the "Crimson Throne" Adventure path, and there is this beautiful city map, i bought the city guide and have been using that as supplement to try to immerse the players. But so far i have been failing. If they need to go from the very north of the city to say the south, how would you handle this? do you make them choose their path on the map? i don't really see its use other than "This is what the city looks like" I really want to use every resource i can but it may not be helpful.

Hey guys, i'm new to DMing (and pen and paper in general) but picked up DMing for a group of friends and i have enjoyed myself a lot so far. I as my first Adventure pack i picked up "Kingmaker" Adventure path, it has been a hilariously fun time, but i have run into a dilemma. The module was meant for 4 players. i'm running with 7 players and have so far boosted up the encounter too be hard enough for them, they have just Hit level 3 and i've noticed that i haven't boosted up the loot at all for them. Beyond that i find that its so hard for me to even give them items because they seem mostly item independent. In my party i have a Full support Cleric, Two Fighters (Archer Archetype), a Mind-alchemist, a charisma sorcerer, a Monk, and a standard Rogue.

I was thinking of them just encountering a huge group of bandits that raided a few wizards, i would throw in a ring of protection and maybe a wand or two as well as some randomized potions. But what in the way of actual equipment? The archers already have +2str Composite long bows, i have no idea what would help the Cleric or Mind-Alchemist or sorcerer. I'm not sure if my monk wants to roleplay with weapons, he is using snake style and some other modifiers that boost his unarmed damage, would giving him some type of fist weapon negate those?

The only magical item these guys have so far is a Ring of Swimming (Quest given) Not all that helpful... A Wand of burning hand... and i think thats it. They bought a potion of invisibility for a scheme to try and cheese through the "Final boss" (Which i have a plan to make things much more interesting) these guys just hit level 3 and have about 1/3rd the wealth that they SHOULD have according to the books.

Any idea of what i should let them find?

Okay, i'm brand new to Pen and Paper games but i'm trying to be a DM for the first time and for a new group and was just thinking of adventures i might set up in the future, and i came up with one idea that might not be completely original but i feel that it could work if implemented correctly. The reason i need help is because there are a lot of spells out there and i don't nearly know enough of them to see if this idea is viable. But here goes!

"Perception is reality" this is the theme that i wanted to go with, imagine a dungeon or building what have you that is run by a very powerful wizard and taunts your PCs saying "Perception is reality" before they enter said dungeon. in the beginning it starts off somewhat standard with the rogue scouting ahead for traps or however these types of scenarios tend to happen. this is where it gets tricky to explain and probably even more tricky to pull off. The dungeon needs to be filled with monsters and traps, the CR level for this should be much higher than the heroes could normally accomplish on their own. Keeping this in mind, all these monsters and traps are hidden until they are "Perceived".

All PCs will be making checks whether this is done by the Player or done secretly by the GM. for ever major check that a character FAILS he gains stats, +1 to everything possibly. For every check that they PASS they then Perceive the threat (Be it monster or trap or what have you) and have to deal with it accordingly. Now this will very quickly make your PCs very over powered very quickly, but keep in mind that you have filled the dungeon with WAAAY more than the characters should be able to handle before. Also- with higher stats (Higher perception) they will be facing more and more and more obstacles! because they continually percieve more. and they could 'accidentally' perceive more in a battle and become overrun.

Now heres how you tone it down. every few rooms you have a small room with blind wizard enemies. they are chained or other wise restrained to their "Position" and they can only do one thing. Drain the stats of your PCs and they will continue to drain their stats until the PCs either kill the wizards or move out of their range. This gives the players a choice, Be overpowered but run the risk of dealing with too many enemies too quickly? or try to stay status quo and bypass as many of the denizens to make it to the final boss. The players might not even recognize these enemy wizards as a benefit and kill them off too quickly.

If i'm not making sense let me know and i will try to clarify. Keep in mind that i'm really new to P&P games and have just thought of this on a whim. i would love your advice on this subject! or any glaring flaws that i haven't seen yet (or wouldn't know)

Hello, i'm new to this forums and also to Pen and paper games as a whole, so forgive me if my terminology is off. just a couple weeks ago some online friends invited me to play in an online campaign in Pathfinders, i said why not and had a ton of fun the last two meets. i've been reading up on the rules in my spare time for the past few weeks and when i told my Real Life friends about it they were interested in starting a Pen and Paper group, all of us (with the exception of one) are completely new to Pen and paper and being that its going to be an actual sit down thing as opposed to internet we have no idea where to begin. But i volunteered to be the DM (or GM whichever its called in pathfinder).

I personally own the Pathfinders Core rule book as well as a couple sets of dice, but i'm a little too short on cash to buy the dungeon masters guide or beastiary until my next pay check so i decided i would just use online resources until i could get them. All the same- i don't know where to begin and have a couple questions that might really narrow down and could use some help answering.

Firstly, Other than bought maps- What do you use as a map for battles? do you just get one of the large grid boards and draw on them? how much is left up to imagination in most of your games? while playing online we have a great DM who (if we decide to go somewhere he doesn't expect) will take give us a ten minute break to draw up a simple but quick map.

on that note, what do you do when your characters like to hijack your story? especially if its a dangerous place that you have to fill in with monsters. from what i saw it looks like it takes time to actually fill up a challenging map with the correct amount of EXP.

also, how do you successfully START a story? i realize that it depends on the story- but how do characters normally meet if they have never met before? put them in a tavern? let them figure it out themselfs?

Finally, are there any good and cheap premade campaigns for levels 1-5ish that you would recommend? i have some ideas but things i need to hammer out and probably need more DMing experience to do