Some questions from a new player

[Ulairi]

Hi,

I was at my local board game store tonight looking for a new game and the owner recommended Pathfinder to me because my friends and I really like playing board games like War of the Ring, Titan, etc. I have looked through the box to start to learn the rules and is the game only for four players and one game master? Right now, my board game group is six players. Is it possible to play with five players and the game master?

Also, reading through the forum it seems like the beginners box is designed for kids and young teens. I'm 29 and my friends are all around 28-32. We've played a lot of board games and card games like Fantasy Flight's Lord of the Rings or Dominion but none of us have really played a roleplaying game before.

Thanks!!!!!

[Joana]

The Beginner Box is for beginners. Although several veterans on the board are using it to introduce the game to their kids, it is also designed to be useful to people who want to learn the game and aren't familiar with the rules, so it ought to be right up your alley!

There are 4 pregens in the box, but there are also character creation rules to make up extra characters. There are rules for a 5th class, barbarian, available for free download here. There's also a free sequel to the Beginner Box adventure for the GM here.

[Nickademus42]

I agree. The Beginner Box is a small portion of the Pathfinder rules, not a small portion of the intelligence. While kids can understand and use the BB, it doesn't have the condescending tone that you would expect from a children's game.

[Mage Evolving]

I think it's a great introduction and with the right DM can be made appropriate for any age group. Also you can play with any number of players. Either use the pregens that come with the box and double up so that you have 2 fighters or clerics or something. Or you can find premade characters online with a little bit of cyber-sleuthing.

Additionally, feel free to post any questions you have about the game on boards like these. The community here is incredibly friendly and can often answer any of your questions.

[DMFTodd]

No, it's not limited to five players. I suppose 1 GM and 4 players might be the "standard", but 1 GM and 3-6 players works perfectly fine.

While the BB might be aimed slightly younger, it's a great tool for beginners (especially if the GM is a beginner). It's a good, solid, fun game that will introduce you to RPGs.

[Epic Meepo]

Ulairi,

Glad to see the boardgame crowd giving Pathfinder a try. You'll have to let us know how it goes.

A few comments:

The Beginner Box is for ages 13 and up. For comparison, Settlers of Catan is probably designed for a similar age range. The rules are written to be accessible to a younger demographic, so adults who like the game might buy it for their kids to play, but game play is nuanced enough that it can also be appreciated by older players.

And you can certainly play the game with 1 GM and 5-6 players. There will be some overlap in the classes that the player characters are using, but you can use the character creation rules and the blank character sheets in the Beginner Box to create new heroes that pick different abilities for their class. Creating a new hero only takes maybe ten or fifteen minutes, and can be done just before play starts.

Popular choices for new heroes in large groups include a second cleric (or wizard) who prepares different spells than the first cleric (or wizard); or a second fighter who fights with a different weapon than the first fighter (especially if one fighter has Weapon Focus in a melee weapon and a feat like Power Attack, for example, while the second fighter has Weapon Focus in a ranged weapon and a feat like Deadly Aim, so one of them runs up to hit the monsters while the other one hangs back and fires arrows). That way, you have two characters of the same class in the group, but each of them has their own unique way of doing what they do.

If you are the GM for a larger group like that, it sometimes helps to make the monsters a little bit more challenging, since standard combat encounters are easier for larger groups to overcome. For combats involving three or four weaker monsters, consider adding an extra monster of the same type to the fight to give the heroes more targets. For combats involving one or two powerful monsters, consider making things a little bit tougher by giving the monsters 20% more hit points.

Presumably, the heroes have gathered into such a large group because they expect to face greater challenges than those that can be handled by a group of only four heroes. So its perfectly okay for the GM to change the numbers a bit to make them fit those expectations. Adding a few weak monsters and a few extra hit points to powerful monsters in the adventure is something that can be done with ten or fifteen minutes of prep work and a few reminders written on sticky notes.

[AntediluvianXIII]

Ulairi wrote:

Hi,

I was at my local board game store tonight looking for a new game and the owner recommended Pathfinder to me because my friends and I really like playing board games like War of the Ring, Titan, etc. I have looked through the box to start to learn the rules and is the game only for four players and one game master? Right now, my board game group is six players. Is it possible to play with five players and the game master?

Also, reading through the forum it seems like the beginners box is designed for kids and young teens. I'm 29 and my friends are all around 28-32. We've played a lot of board games and card games like Fantasy Flight's Lord of the Rings or Dominion but none of us have really played a roleplaying game before.

Thanks!!!!!

LOL welcome to Pathfinder - I've been 'out the loop' for ages. the last time I played was around 2003-4, then it was 3.5. Seriously, I've had to read and re-read the core rules, especially the combat and magic chapters...Enjoy the beginners box as a nice gentle intro..then dive into Golarion with the 'Big Books' when ready.