So, here's the situation :
I've gamed a bit over the years, some 3.0, 3.5, Cthulhu, various other systems. I've run some games over the years and I'm currently playing Shadowrun with a few friends, which is fun, but I'm craving a bit of Swords and Sorcery.
I've got some friends who are into fantasy and gaming, specifically WoW, board games, but haven't actually roleplayed before. I'd like to try to get them into some roleplaying, and given the options, I think pathfinder is the way to go about it.
So, given all that, I'm looking for some advice on how to get started with Pathfinder.
The first move is to pick up the Core Rulebook, but after that I'm not sure where to go with it.
Over the years I've purchased a few books, with the intention of getting into them, but not managed to get a game started. Foremost on this list would be the Dresden Files, a great universe, but a bit of a esoteric system. I'd like to avoid that happening with Pathfinder.
Just do it!
All you really need is the core book which you have and some dice which I'm going to assume you have as well.
You can download a free introductory adventure Here
Then you just need a few friends about about 4 hours of gaming time or so.
Don't worry about getting the rules perfect. We've been playing pathfinder since it came out and 3.5 long before that and we're still finding rules we don't play quite right. The main thing is for everyone to have fun.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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+1 to the advice above.
I would also be involved in the character creation of the PCs. Doing so will let you as a DM better learn about the PCs and the rules. Two heads are also better then one, so the process will be less confusing and alien to the players.
I picked up the core rulebook today, and so far I'm really impressed.
In that vein, how much would you recommend the Dungeon Master Guide and the Advanced Character Options? I flipped through the Guide, and it looked like it had some really solid advice and some interesting tables.
It looks like that adventure is $5, and I might actually have a copy of it in my stack from Free RPG Day last year.
Nevermind, I was wrong, I can download it. Awesome.
I picked up the core rulebook today, and so far I'm really impressed.
In that vein, how much would you recommend the Dungeon Master Guide and the Advanced Character Options? I flipped through the Guide, and it looked like it had some really solid advice and some interesting tables.
It looks like that adventure is $5, and I might actually have a copy of it in my stack from Free RPG Day last year.
Nevermind, I was wrong, I can download it. Awesome.
That's where I got mine, and you can get the PDF for free.
here.
I plan to get the bestiary when I get the money, but until then...
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I picked up the core rulebook today, and so far I'm really impressed.
In that vein, how much would you recommend the Dungeon Master Guide and the Advanced Character Options? I flipped through the Guide, and it looked like it had some really solid advice and some interesting tables.
It looks like that adventure is $5, and I might actually have a copy of it in my stack from Free RPG Day last year.
Nevermind, I was wrong, I can download it. Awesome.
The Game Masters Guide is more helpful to someone new to GMing. It has a lot of charts and a few other things that are really nice for anyone. But most of the advice is just good for new GM's. I would recommend it cause no matter what you would get something useful for it. Especially if you go the PDF route which is 10 bucks. The Advanced Players Guide adds some new classes, a few PrC's and a lot of character options and spells. You don't need either one but I think they would both enhance your game. I think I would get the bestiary first though, it never hurts to have a monster book handy. Also keep in mind all the hardback books are 10 bucks for the PDF versions, if money is tight.
Good advice, all around. I'm fairly new to Pathfinder myself, so I guess I can spare some.
The Core Rulebook and Bestiary are all you really need to get things started, especially since certain parts of the former reference the latter. The Advanced Player's Guide provides many excellent ways to enhance the game, but as its title suggests, it also makes things a tad more complex. You might be better running a game with the first two books first.
I haven't looked through the Game Mastery Guide much myself, but as said above, it's best for people new at GMing. It apparently has a ton of useful reference charts in it though.
Lastly, the Bestiary 2 is purely supplemental. I love it to death, but you can easily make due with the first one alone.
While I've been very impressed with the PF books so far and would recommend getting any of them, really all you need is the Core Rulebook. Especially if you have one or more 3E monster manuals already - the game is close enough you could probably just run from the old stat blocks with minimal tweaking - things like the CMB/CMD. I believe there is a 3E to PF conversion guide available in PDF for free which could help with that process. Also, there's the online PF system resource which includes stat blocks for monsters as well if I'm not mistaken.
Once you get in some play time, or find yourself with some spare cash, then I'd start to pick up the other books in the series.
L