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So I am a new GM running Hollow's Last Hope for my group and I really like Falcon's Hollow and want to continue after my group finishes D0.

So far I have managed to have my PC's meet the 5 children already as they were 'protecting' the road from bandits. It was a quick meeting, and then the children ran back to town before the group told their parents where they were. I just wanted to add something so the PC's were familiar with the children before finding them missing when they return from D0.

The end of D0 states:

If this adventure was used as an introduction to D1: Crown of the Kobold King, the characters are free to explore deeper into the ruins beneath the monastery after dealing with Graypelt.

I don't really understand this because the lower ruins are part of the D1 module where my PC's are tasked to find the missing children. I don't want my PC's heading down into the dungeon until they have to.

Now, once they kill Greypelt, they find the last ingredient they need for Laurel to make the cure for the town. I have been rolling a D4 every day they have been traveling through the Darkmoon Vale, telling them how many people died the previous day. I am hoping this gives them a sense of urgency and they will not wish to waste any time exploring a large dungeon when they have what they need.

...but I know they will want to and they might think it's important, or else it wouldn't be there.

Frankly, the transition from D0 to D1 is clunky, and I might just make the entrance in a different location, completely separating the two modules. I can't take the risk of my PC's heading into the dungeon of D1 until they've discovered the children missing.

Any tips on the best way to transition from D0 to D1?

So a group of friends and I have decided to start a Pathfinder group. They elected me the GM and honestly, it's absolutely what I want to do because I love improvisation and creativity.

So our first session is Monday night and I have already purchased the Core Rule Book and decided on playing a pre-made module. (Hollow's Last Hope)

I have never played a tabletop RPG so I am coming at this completely new. I have watched YouTube videos, read articles and I played a mini-session with two PC's a couple days ago. Well, the mini-session went great and I learned a lot that I had not thought about. (Like how much a room at my Inn costs.) I still had to stop frequently because I wasn't sure how to proceed. It seems like a lot of GM'ing isn't about concrete rules but just going with whatever the players want to do within reason. (For example, one of my PC's wanted to dissect a shocker lizard to take its heart. I didn't know if it could be used for anything official and I assumed it didn't but it might come in handy, so I let him.)

Combat was interesting, I'm still trying to figure out when attacks of opportunity's happen and what to do if my PC's run out of spells and potions halfway through a dungeon, especially when the tougher enemies are ahead.

So I have a binder of prepared material for Monday night. I've got a lot of local information memorized and the main NPC's are listed on a separate sheet. I don't have the beastiary so I just printed out all the mobs included in my module, along with a bunch of 'spare' mobs in case my PC's go off into 'La-La Land'. (I've heard they do that.) Also, I created my own little mini-quest involving a small cave and a large bear that simply loops them back around to the main module.

Oh, I almost forgot. In my mini-session, I was using the module 'The Fallen Fortress' and in one of the rooms, there is a dead dog with a jewel-encrusted collar worth 50gp. Well, it also had a name engraved on it. Well, of course my PC's would want to head back into Absalom and start asking around to find the owner of the dog. I had to make up a bunch of random NPC's on the fly and think of a rich nobleman that they find and he rewarded them with 100gp. They were so happy that they did it and it wasn't anywhere in the module.

So anyways, It's a little less than a week away and I was wondering what last-minute advice you experienced guys and gals could give a fledgling GM about to jump into a campaign with a group of equally newbish players?

Thanks!

~ Jason