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I am going to run one of the adventure paths, but am unsure which one to purchase. This will be my first time running Pathfinder. I am completely new to the game, as will be the players I run the game with.
I was wondering which if any of the adventure paths focus more on combat encounters or are more structured.
Which one if any, would be better off for a new GM, and new players?
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None of the above, imo.
I would not start off as a GM with an Adventure Path. They take a fair bit of exeprience to pull off. This is also view which is shared by James Jacobs on the latest episode of Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast, I might add.
I would start with a smaller story arc. The Price of Immortality Trilogy is ideal. That module trilogy is Crypt of the Everflame, Masks of the Living God, and City of Golden Death. We cover it in episodes #01, #02 and #03 of the podcast. (The review of the module is reasonably informative, but please ignore the balance of episode #01 of our noob podcast please-and-thank-you :))
Starting from the Council of Thieves AP (as the rest are 3.5E and you would have to do conversions), Id say the Council of Thieves for a first time GM of Pathfinder.
Kingmaker is excellent but rules heavy if you go with all the kingdom-building.
Serpent Skull is a 2nd choice, but GM'ing and juggling 5 different NPC regulars constantly, and the recordkeeping in the first module (climate, base camps, NPC reactions,etc) might be abit much for you in the beginning as well.
Whichever one you choose, check some threads out in their specific forums here @ Paizo. Theres some great tips/advice in them.
I am going to run one of the adventure paths, but am unsure which one to purchase. This will be my first time running Pathfinder. I am completely new to the game, as will be the players I run the game with.
I was wondering which if any of the adventure paths focus more on combat encounters or are more structured.
Which one if any, would be better off for a new GM, and new players?
Just to clarify -- you've never played Pathfinder but you have played/DMed D&D?
I'd get the Guide to Darkmoon Vale and go for Carnival of Tears and the other modules in that series :)
Council of Thieves is meh. It's not as bad as Second Darkness, but it's light years behind the other APs.
Second Darkness is the worst AP yet. Council of Thieves has - at least - one of the best modules in it: The Sixfold Trial.
I would recommend Serpent´s Skull. Not my favourite AP, but it´s straightforward and seems to be fun.
If the original poster has no experience in DMing any system, ever, then I would agree that an adventure path is a bad place to start.
If he has experience in DMing 3.5E D&D, I'd recommend buying Shackled City, on the grounds that it's dead cheap for the amount of ideas it provides. Then the group can ease its way into playing Pathfinder (from 3.5E D&D) by making a few changes at a time.
If you are unfamiliar with DMing in general, I think SW has the right idea. If you are familiar with DMing, then just go with whatever AP has a theme that you and your players will enjoy.
Cheers!
Yeah, this will be my first time dming or even playing at all for that matter.
I think I will go for the Crypt of the ever flame module first and then the other two.
A very good choice. Have fun!