Hi all, just new to these boards and not exactly sure where to post what, there's a lot of different places to post stuff here. :)
I'm going to be delving heavily into becoming a GM for Pathfinder in the near future, my first time in like... years, in running any kind of game and I'm nervous. I know what to do, but after playing 4e for a while, and other games, going back to 3.5, I mean going to Pathfinder, its sort of like going back home but its a change.
So, without further adoo, here's some questions.
Is there any good map making software that is cheap (free is good) that would be good for designing dungeons and wilderness settings and towns? What do you recommend? I want to do maps like i see in paizo's adventures...what do they use?
For those who know more of the optional products that Paizo has created, which ones are the best? I know of the Critical hits deck, Critical Fumble deck, the Plot Twist decks, the Item decks...how well do they work, are they fun to use, and is there anything else that would make for a great game?
Oh, did I post this in the right page? There's so many different places to post on here, its like nerve wracking for a new-to-the-paizo-forums girl like me. :)
Thank you for reading this...hope to hear from some of you soon.
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Welcome to the boards. I think this is probably about as good a section as any to post these sort of questions in. Don’t stress too much about that sort of thing, I’m sure someone will step in and (kindly) suggest the right forum if they think you have got it wrong. And you can request site admin to move the thread if you like.
I’ll let others chime in on the mapping software, I don’t really use any (free or otherwise) myself. I’m sure there have been a couple of threads on the subject here and there, maybe someone can dig them up and post a link?
Of the sort of optional products you mention, the only ones that our group uses sometimes are the critical hit and critical fumble decks and the flip mats.
Although in the long run using critical hit and critical fumble rules such as these probably disadvantages player characters more than bad guys (as PCs will take far more hits over the course of their careers than any single enemy will, and will have to deal with some of the longer lasting effects) ... we find these two a LOT of fun to play with. There are some cool effects, drawing a card and seeing what you will get is usually much more fun than simply applying double damage, and it can really help with a ‘descriptive’ approach to combat.
We don’t use the flip mats that much, but they are well illustrated, there are some interesting locales and they are good if you use miniatures a lot in your game (we tend not to).
RUN AWAY WHILE YOU CAN!
Hi all, just new to these boards and not exactly sure where to post what, there's a lot of different places to post stuff here. :)
I'm going to be delving heavily into becoming a GM for Pathfinder in the near future, my first time in like... years, in running any kind of game and I'm nervous.
Welcome to the boards! While I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer your particular questions, (although I predict you'll soon get tons of helpful answers; the Paizo messageboard community is awesome, as you'll soon see) I would say this: Don't be nervous. If your players want to play, they'll play. When I started on 3.X, I made tons of mistakes, and continued to make at least one major mistake in practically every game session since, even after years of practice. Good players will be forgiving.
Oh, did I post this in the right page? There's so many different places to post on here, its like nerve wracking for a new-to-the-paizo-forums girl like me. :)
Again, relax. This community is forgiving as well. Once Lilith comes by with her virtual cookies, it will all be all right. It worked for me.
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Welcome to the boards.
Our group uses the Critical Hits and Critical Fumbles. Like Mothman, they may not be incredibnly balanced, but they do make things fun. I'd recommend using both if you do so. The look of terror on a player's face when he rolls a one now does my black DM's heart proud.
We also use the Plot Twist cards, although their effectiveness varies. Some of my players are inventive enough to come up with practically anything and fit it to a card, but they add a lot more DM complexity so if you're nervous, I'd recommend against them until you're sure of your DM-fu.
Finally, we use the Gamemastery Combat Pad. This has really herlped with speeding up our combats, especialyl as one of the players has volunteered to refgularly run the board so I can concentrate on making the combat fun.
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Welcome to the Paizo boards!
For maps I just use a gaming mat with 1" squares and draw my own maps using markers. I use the pathfinder adventure paths and modules which means I'm just copying their maps.
I really like the critical hit deck and plot twist decks. I just got these for Christmas and they work very well. As far as balance and NPC's go, I just use the critical hit deck for the players and the big bad evil villian, not for the minions.
All you really need to start is the core rule book and bestiary (although I highly recommend the bestiary 2 also).
Finally, the PRD and PFSRD are two useful online tools.
Have fun and post away. This is a great community!
First off, welcome and congrats for taking up the GM mantle! Running a game for the first time, or coming back to GM'ing after a long hiatus, can be daunting for many people.
I have no input on the mapping front - I'm an oldskool graph paper kinda guy. But as far as additional products...
For those who know more of the optional products that Paizo has created, which ones are the best? I know of the Critical hits deck, Critical Fumble deck, the Plot Twist decks, the Item decks...how well do they work, are they fun to use, and is there anything else that would make for a great game?
I regularly use the Critical Fumble deck, but not the Critical Hit deck. Main reason for this is that I don't like the idea of a player being able to, for example, automatically decapitate and kill an enemy. Plus, generally speaking, players do enough damage on a crit that the absence of the CritHit deck doesn't matter anyway. Fumbles are more fun to me - there is usually a humorous element to the card that adds a good dimension to the game in terms of both role playing and tactics. So, we usually auto-confirm natural 20s (nothing lower than that, though) and draw from the fumble deck on a natural 1.
Flip mats can also be useful if they very closely match a location you intend to introduce. My players fight in lots of churches and temples, so I'm considering getting the cathedral flip mat. My wife is running Burnt Offerings (part 1 of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path) at the moment and has gotten a lot of use out of the city market flip mat for when goblins decide to randomly raid Sandpoint. The maps are laminated, so you can use dry erase markers on them. If you play with miniatures, I definitely recommend having a basic "blank" flip mat if nothing else, so you can draw out your maps with dry erase.
Speaking of miniatures, if you want good quality, bargain-priced minis that you don't have to paint yourself, I recommend Reaper's plastic line. D&D brand miniatures are good too, but due to their collectible nature, their secondary market value is rather high - and if you buy boosters, the figs inside will be totally random (except for the packs that show you one large figure through the plastic). Stick with Reaper stuff at first if you want to save cash, and if you really want the D&D stuff later, you can always look for collectors who are dumping their minis through Craigslist, eBay, or the bulletin board at your FLGS.
Beyond these things, I haven't had experience with any game aids I would describe as essential. Aids should always add to your game, but are by no means essential to play - and different GMs will want different things.
Above all, don't feel as though you need to spend a bunch of money on game aids right off the bat - start slowly, run a session or two, and then ask yourself, "What would make this game better?"
Index cards are a GM's best friend. I use them for everything combat related; each maneuver/unusual movement/etc gets its own card with mechanics laid out in equation format. This makes combat a breeze to run.
Cookies for you!
Map making software - All the cartographers that work for Paizo generally use Photoshop to create their maps, but for a beginner, I would suggest a combination of Dundjinni, GIMP and/or Hexographer. Campaign Cartographer 3 is also available, but has a higher learning curve. It's a matter of taste, preference and time, I've found, to find the right software.
Optional products - The Combat Pad is your friend. I would also highly recommend a copy of the upcoming Condition Cards.
If you're new to GMing (or are feeling a bit rusty), the GameMastery Guide is recommended.
And yes, you posted in the right forum. :)
Hi all, just new to these boards and not exactly sure where to post what, there's a lot of different places to post stuff here. :)...
...Thank you for reading this...hope to hear from some of you soon.
Where to begin?
Welcome to the Paizo messageboards. Please be careful of how you use the word 'smurf'. It awards you an image of a random smurf as an avatar if you use it in a post (like it has done to me for this post) unless you happen to be Kobold Cleaver or Sebastian. (There are long stories there...) The random smurf thing gets you even if it's part of someone else's post which you're quoting verbatim in your own.
Current Paizo staff members (whether they're posting under alias or not) have a little paizo golem adjacent to their name (or alias). (For example at the time of my posting this, I can see by the little golem next to the alias of the preceding poster, 'Lilith', that that is a Paizo member of staff.) Most of them lurk around various parts of the boards, keeping an eye on things. Failing anything else, if you have a question about the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, you can always ask James Jacobs about it down in a thread where people ask him stuff in the Off Topic Discussion Forum. For that matter you can ask him about other stuff too, like who is favourite demon lord is, what his worst ever movie of all time is, and how his plans to obtain a pet lizard are progressing...
Don't forget to check the store for the playtest downloads for Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat (which are free) and for various other stuff which is also free. Off the top of my head, I think there are free downloads for Paizo's recent Free RPG day modules, for the introductory booklet for each adventure path for players, and for the fan magazine called 'Wayfinder'. There's probably more, which slips my attention right now.
Wednesday is currently web fiction day when there's an installment on the blog of whatever the current serial is (or occasionally preview of a book), Tuesday night, 20:00 PST (give or take half an hour depending on office duties) James Jacobs shows up for a session in the unofficial Paizo chatroom (see Lilith's profile for a link) and this coming June they're holding the fourth annual PaizoCon event (for the US) in Seattle, whilst over here in the UK, we're holding our third annual PaizoCon in Birmingham in July.
There's a lot of stuff going on that's varying degrees of crazy, grouchy, happy, or downright weird. Email the Postmonster General or Ross if the boards seem to be going wrong. It may be that the latest FAWTL thread down in off-topic has at last imploded under its own weight of posts... (FAWTL stands for Forums Are Way Too Long, and that's another loooong story.)
Oh, there's an official Erik Mona day at some point in the calendar when some posters used to adopt Erik Mona's avatar of the time for the day as a mark of respect/admiration for him. I'm not sure what they'll do when it next comes around, as Erik has a unique avatar these days...
Anyway, as I said, welcome aboard.