Hello all. Been playing video games for a long time and thought I'd try something different. I've never played a roleplaying game before with a bunch of people at a table. I've heard of Dungeons & Dragons and by way of that I found out that Pathfinder was its spiritual successor. So I've gone ahead and went to my local game store and picked up the Core Rulebook, Bestiary, Game Mastery Guide, GMs Screen and Gazetteer.
I ran into a group that was seeking to replace their current Pathfinder GM and after talking to them for about 40 minutes, they wrangled me into doing it. So I need advice on handle this as I've never played nor GMed Pathfinder or any other rpg for that matter. I also need some suggestions for modules that are easy on first time GMs.
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I would really recommend playing a PC first before jumping right into the GM's chair, but if you've RP-ed online before, depending on the venue, you might already have a leg up on that hurdle. It's just going to be a lot to pick up coming into it completely fresh.
That said, for stuff made specifically for PF rules, Crypt of the Everflame is an easy, classic style adventure to get you started. The sequel adventure is VERY non-linear though, which is going to require either a lot of improv and/or a lot of preparation in order to keep up with the players.
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Hello and welcome to the forums. Lilith should be around with cookies shortly.
1. Take a deep breath. Relax.
2. Grab a good starter adventure. I would recommend either Citadel of Everflame or the (free!) Master of the Fallen Fortress.
3. Take the Cheat Sheet (found in the GameMastery Guide), familiarize yourself with it and use it as base for learning new rules. Take it easy, step by step.
4. If you have any questions, ask us here. We're a friendly bunch, really ;)
but if you've RP-ed online before, depending on the venue, you might already have a leg up on that hurdle.
Only Video/Pc games. Currently loving Dragon Age: Origins.
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Welcome Trees in the Mist. Sounds like you’re jumping into the deep end!
Obviously try to familiarise yourself with the basic mechanics of the game before you start, but don’t feel that you need to know every page of the rulebook by heart before you start. Read the adventure you choose to start with (Crypt of the Everflame sounds like a good suggestion), look at what abilities, feats and spells your players have listed on their character sheets and read up on the rules you need to run that adventure with those characters. There will be plenty of time to learn the rest of the rules as you go on.
If you are GMing for more experienced players, listen to their advice, but don’t let them bully you. Run the game and introduce new rules and options at your own pace. I would recommend that for your first game you have everyone create new, first level characters only using material from the Core Rulebook. That way, you may (at least in part) avoid issues of power creep and having to know options from a whole bunch of additional sources off the bat.
Some good advice already. Even if this group doesnt have a dm, see if you can sit in on another game just to get a feel for things. It's con season so if there is a comic convention, or better yet a gaming convention in your area, check and see if they have any pathfinder tables. If they do see if you can make it and get in on or at least observe a game. I think it will be difficult to dm completely cold, so getting some idea of what it's like will help the transition.
In terms of actually running a game, crypt of the everflame is a good start you can find it in paizo's store here. Its relatively simple and a good starting point for someone new to pathfinder.
Next, you have a homework assignment. Read the gamemastering section of the core rules and the gamemasters guides. You dont have to commit it to memmory, but having some of that information in mind will help fill in where you dont have personal knowledge. The combined knowledge of generations of gamers are in those tomes. Very little any of us can tell you (besides personal experience) is not in those books. Read them carefully, and it will help alot.
Aside from that, get to know your players and their characters. What kind of game do they like? Everflame, run it as is, but after you get the hang of things you will have to decide where to go from their. Understanding what kind of game your group is interested in will help you with a direction. Do they want dark horror game set in the shadow of the castle of a powerful vampire? Do they want a classic dungeon crawl with kick in the door action? Do they want a political game, with espianage and intrigue? There are lots of directions to take any game. As gm you are sort of host of the party, you should know what your guests like before setting out the party games.
Also get to know your player's characters. Know what they can do. If player x is a wizard who knows a dozen teleportation based spells, a wide pit makes very little difference to the party and wont be the exciting tense moment you might have wanted it to be. If one of your players is an expert archer, the encounter where the enemy is out of reach will be very different then if everyone was melee focused. Things like this can help you make sure your game stays fun and exciting, and isnt either to hard or too easy.
This last bit is personal opinion, but I think it is fairly well founded in game. Dont use single monster/enemy encounters. Ever. If a module has a single enemy, add minions. Always add minions. If the fight is too hard with minions, power down the main guy and add others. Single enemies are very, very, VERY hard to get right. Either the party overwhelms them with multiple actions, or they are individually too powerful and could accidently kill a player in a single turn. Not only as a new dm, but as you gain experience, avoid single enemy encounters like the plague.
All that aside, welcome to the game and to the boards. Feel free to post about specific issues, questions etc you have as you go on. And dont be afraid to make mistakes or ask questions, either here or at your table. We all make mistakes or dont know stuff, even those of us playing for decades. So ask away, and happy gaming.
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I started as a GM (though it was Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay) and so I can feel some sympathy.
One piece of advice I could give would be to buy the Pathfinder version of SORD it is basically a crib sheet for the combat rules of Pathfinder. I use the version for D&D3.5 and it is invaluable.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=81817
Trees in the Mist,
You've got your work cut out for you, I'm afraid, but its a good thing too. Since you've never done any GMing before, I would advise you to keep your first adventure very simple, or better yet find a good friend to play test one with you so that you can see how it plays out.
Linear is better in this case, as it is more important that you grasp the fundimentals of the game before you add more complexity, and when it comes to non-linear games, they get pretty "seat of your pants" sometimes.
Definitely read the adventure, maybe several times, although not all the way through, brush up on certain parts that you dont feel sure about. Take notes if you need to, as anything that will help you remember things will always be good.
Keep in mind you're somewhat of an entertainer when you GM, so keeping things moving is probably one of the most important aspects of the game. Its common to have an issue with a rule or how something would play out. Don't be afraid to make a call on the spot, but reserve the right to change or discuss the ruling after the adventure session to make sure that everyone feels that the ruling is fair.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. It can be stressful, but your players should know that the GM's seat is the toughest seat at the table, so hopefully they'll show you respect and accept that you're new to the game.
GMing is like any other skill, it comes in stages. Take the time to hone your craft. This does take extra effort on your part, but its well worth it.
Hope this helps, post when you've run the adventure, I'm curious to hear how it turned out. Good luck :)
Crypt of the Everflame is an excellent introductory adventure for players, but for a first time GM, I'd recommend Master of the Fallen Fortress for 2 reasons: One, it's shorter, and two, you don't have to worry about backstories and NPC interactions; it starts the players outside the "dungeon" with no random encounters, and you can just stick with the text of the adventure, no improvisation required. If you get through with that comfortably, you can always move on to Everflame or something else; on the other hand, if you feel overwhelmed, at least it will be over quickly. :) Crypt of the Everflame took my group 8-9 hours to play through over 2 sessions.
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I ran into a group that was seeking to replace their current Pathfinder GM and after talking to them for about 40 minutes, they wrangled me into doing it. So I need advice on handle this as I've never played nor GMed Pathfinder or any other rpg for that matter. I also need some suggestions for modules that are easy on first time GMs.
Hey Trees. I can relate. When I first got into Roleplaying, I had been DMing for a solid 2 years before I got the opportunity to play the game as a player (I still usually end up GMing).
Try to do something simple first if you can. My first game was D&D3.0's Sunless Citadel. I allowed monster races in my first game, before there were mechanics to support most monster races. It was a tough call and I don't think I knew the game well enough to do it well at the time.The cheat sheet will be a big help to you. You might want to go out and get the GM Screen as well for some of the quick reference tables on the inside. Not everyone uses them, but they can be useful.
Skim through the core rulebook, have a feel for WHERE the rules are, don't try to memorize them. Feel free to ad those page tabs you can buy to the sections so you can quickly flip to them, or bookmarks. Don't highlight your rulebook, you'll regret it later. :P
Give a good read through the GM guide. it'll give lots of solid advice about running a game. stuff that will be very helpful for you if you've never GMed before.
Finally, don't be shy about using online resources when needed. The d20 PFSRD Site has collected alot of the core rules, and it's easily searchable. You can grab character classes, monsters, etc, on there, and see the web page.
If you scroll to the bottom there is a link to make the page print-friendly, and then you can print out things to reduce how often you need to reference the book. Feel free to print out character classes, or the monsters you think will come up in a session. It could save you a mountain of time.
The Archives of Nethys is a site that collects the non-core options Paizo has published for player use. It's a great reference tool as well.
Pathfinder DB is a great collection of player made options. Some of them are good, some are crap, but people rate them as they view the site in a number of categories. The ones worth adding to your game tend to have higher ratings. Sometimes there are helpful GM things in there too like quick sheets, an alternate character sheet, or whatever.
If you want some other good free materials, there are some great things in the conversions board on this forum, in the house rules forum, and there are some great usable things on Enworld.org Here.
If you're looking for more stuff you can buy, there are some good third party publishers that support Pathfinder. you can buy some of the game books here on the site, and you can buy more on DriveThruRPG.com or RPGNow.com.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I've decided to allow the players make 1st level characters for a one-shot combat encouter so that I can get a feel for what combat will be like. Gonna throw some orcs and goblins at them.
I spent some time with the core rulebook today. Seriously considering buying the PDF so that I can print out important pages for quick reference. The GM Screen is pretty handy too.
I called the game store to check if they have Crypt in stock, and they're going to hold a copy for me.
One other thing: how imporatnat is it to Pathfinder that characters have traits? It isn't mentioned in the Core Rulebook, but I'm not sure about it.
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One other thing: how imporatnat is it to Pathfinder that characters have traits? It isn't mentioned in the Core Rulebook, but I'm not sure about it.
It’s not that important. If you give the characters two traits each, it’s about equivalent to giving them each a bonus feat. It’s really up to you (and / or your players) as to whether you want to do this. Traits can help to flesh out a bit of background info for the characters too, which is nice but not essential.
Some of the Adventure Paths use campaign traits, traits specific to that campaign which are designed to tie character’s background to the campaign and give bonuses that will be useful for that campaign. If you end up playing such an Adventure Path, I’d say traits become a little more important.