Saul, I haven't used the Beginner Box so I'm not sure what you mean by "the board" and "the pieces." I assume it comes with a battle grid and some miniatures or tokens to represent heroes and monsters.
I've always created my own game scenarios from scratch anyway.
But to try to address your questions...
Usually the game is started by gathering together a group of heroes to play. Usually that means at least four players with you as a fifth "player" or GameMaster. The roles traditionally have been "tank", "healer", "skill-monkey" and "blaster."
Tanks absorb and dish out melee damage. Healers heal. Skill-monkeys take care of all the outside of combat things like opening locks, climbing walls, disabling traps, etc. Blasters do significant damage to multiple targets or severe damage to a single target. The traditional roles are filled by the following classes:
tank - "fighter"
healer - "cleric"
skill-monkey - "rogue"
blaster - "wizard"
But there are other ways to fill those roles, and you can build parties with hybrid characters who fill different aspects of multiple roles.
Creating those characters is short-circuited in the BB I think with some canned characters that you are supposed to use.
Once you have the characters together, then they go off on whatever adventure you, as the GM, decide to provide for them. I assume the BB has some standard dungeon crawls or goblin encounters or something.
Most games seem to start with the assembly of the party in a frontier town that is dealing with some sort of problem, such as goblin raids or undead roaming the streets.
The party will get some clues and go off to investigate. Eventually they will "encounter" some bad guys and have to fight them. That's when the battlegrid comes in. The "pieces" are placed on the battle grid wherever they would be when the encounter begins and everyone will "roll initiative" and then each character or monster will take their turn in initiative order until one side or the other is killed or flees.
Then the party gathers the loot the monsters dropped and move on to the next challenge.
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Well, I think I can help.
As materials go:
1. The pieces start where the characters were when the battle started, If the Fighter was looking at the painting, put him on the wall near where the painting is. If your players or yourself decide that they want an order to adventure in, then they would be in said order. A common order is Fighter Cleric Wizard Rogue. Fighter up front to stop almost everyone, Cleric to heal him, Wizard to blast from the back, Rogue to stop ambushes. You could even swap the Rogue and the Fighter for if you want to search for traps.
As for Gameplay:
2a. Your characters race dictates what size they are. Humans, Half elfs, Elfs, Dwarfs, and Half Orcs are medium while Halflings and Gnomes are small. If your character is a medium creature, then they move at a base of 30 feet, or 6 squares. Small creatures move at 20 feet, or 4 squares. Dwarfes and Goblins are exceptions, because even though Dwarfes are medium, they move at 20 feet/4 squares and Goblins, even though Goblins are small, move at 30 feet/6 squares. Goblins are not character races, but are common enemies. Movement is affected by armor.
2b. When Combat starts, you must roll for Initiative. Most of the time, that will be your Dexterity modifier, or DEX mod. To find your DEX mod, take your score, subtract 10, then divide by two. In other words, if your score is 16, then your mod is 3, since 16-10=6 and 6/2=3.
2c. You have a Standard action and a Move action every turn. You can turn a Standard action into a Move action, but not the other way around. You can attack an enemy as a Standard action. You can move your Move Speed every Move action, or do a 5-foot-step. A 5-foot-step is moving 1 square and not provoke Attacks of Oppritunity. Moving otherwise does.
2d. You chose dice for each weapon, and they should be marked for each character. A classic Longsword uses 1d8 for damage, and uses the Strenght modifier, or STR mod, as a bonus to damage. Fighters should have anywhere between 12-18 STR. If you have a STR mod of 16, and you hit with a Longsword, then you do 1d8+3 damage. You also roll 1d20 for most skills and abilities. If you are trying to hit someone, you add your Base Attacks Bonus, BAB, and your STR mod to whatever you roll with your d20. An example is that your 1sst level Fighter has 1 BAB, 3 STR, and rolls an 11, you see if 15 will hit your opponent.
2e. Experiance, or Xp, is gained after the fight. At the top of your enemies information, there is a Challenge Rating, or CR, and a number followed by xp. If your average party level, or APL, is equal to the CR, the fight will be nice and easy... for the most part. You add the Xp together and divide by the number of players. If you have 4 Players, and the fight gave you 1200 Xp, then each player gains 300. Level up is defined when you create your character.
2f. Different Armor gives you different strengths and abilities. To get your Armor Class, or AC, you add 10 plus your Armor Bonus and your DEX mod and any other modifiers. All armors give a Max DEX bonus, and you can only gain that much DEX for that Armor. Studded Leather armor gives a +3 to AC, and have a +5 Max Dex. If your Rogue has 16 Dex, then your AC while wearing Studded Leather is 16. Feats can grant more AC, such as Dodge. While wearing Medium or Heavy armor, your speed is reduced. If you move at 30 feet, then it is reduced to 20 feet. If you move at 20 feet, then you move ate 15 feet.
The most important thing to remeber is to have fun. After all, it is just a game.
Welcome to the boards!
A few things that have already been said actually are about the FULL rules in the Core Rulebook, which aren't necessary for the Beginner Box.
No, you do not need the Core Rulebook to play a "real" PF game -- everything you need for Level 1-5 characters is in the Beginner Box. Certain rules in the CRB are not included -- don't worry, nothing you'll learn in the Beginner Box is incompatible. You only need the CRB if you want to try out the 7 other classes outside the basic four that come with the Box. Also, there are 4 additional races and many more options (feats and skills and spells) for characters, and characters in the CRB can go up to Level 20. There are other rules for special situations, like disarming foes or what happens if you try to cast a spell while standing next to a monster.
If you're trying to get a general sense of how a tabletop RPG works, I suggest reading the sample adventure at the beginning of the Gamemaster's Guide, in tandem with the 4 pregenerated character sheets. The first encounter explains how to run a combat. (To see how attack rolls and saving throws work, look at the Solo Adventure in the Hero's Handbook.) The character sheets explain what every number means.
Your question about armoring up is only important once you start creating your own characters. For that, take a blank character sheet and start filling out the various sections -- each section corresponds with a section of the Hero's Handbook. At one point, you'll pick your class -- the Hero's Handbook tells you what kinds of armor your character class can wear. Then when you buy equipment, each type of armor is listed along with its price and AC bonus.
There are no surprises with XP -- just add the XP from all the monsters and traps encountered, then divide it by the number of characters.
Not to sound like a jerk, but if you really did READ the Hero's Handbook and the GM guide, all of your questions would be answered. The GM guide tells you pretty much word for word what to do for session.
I just want to encourage you to not give up. You are brave to be a GM right out of the box (no pun intended). The Beginners box leads you by the nose a bit, but only because it is teaching you the mechanics. It is a well made product that sacrifices the amazing flexibility of the system in order to make it simpler.
This is more of a hobby than a game, it took me a good year and a half to get real solid handle on the rules. A long learning curve, but a REAL fun one!
The adventure in the box is pre-published one, meaning the writers came up with the adventure for you. It tries to take into account every possibility and usually they do a pretty good job. But one thing you will learn about Tabletop Gaming, expect the unexpected. You may have to wing it a bit, especially when you run for other players. So don't be afraid to make a decision on your own. If you can't figure out where to start your characters, then just start them where ever makes sense to you. Don't be afraid to just make a decision and go with it, it is your world after all.
...That beind said, I suggest reading the material again, perhaps another read through will make things clearer. When I run a pre-published adventure (which I hardly ever do, part of the fun for me is making a world from scratch, rules for how to do this are in the CRB) I usually end up reading it 2 or 3 times, with a highlighter in my hand to mark points that I want to remember during gameplay.
A final suggestion is to find a group of friends who are playing, or want to play. Visit gaming stores near you or heck, even go to Pathfinder Society events. If you are lucky enough to find a group that is already established you will a learn a LOT from watching, and playing with those GM's.
If you have any specific questions you can always ask here, If you like the game you will want to get at minimum get a CRB and a Bestiary as a GM. You only need a CRB if you are a player, eventually you will want at LEAST these two books though.
Not to sound like a jerk, but if you really did READ the Hero's Handbook and the GM guide, all of your questions would be answered. The GM guide tells you pretty much word for word what to do for session.
Seconded, Paizo did a really, really great job in laying everything out in those books. The Hero Handbook will get you acquainted with the basics of character creation. What the stats mean, what are skills, what are feats, how do i attack, what can i do other than attack, how does magic work. Stuff that you should know as a player is in this book.
The GM Guide will tell you how to plan an adventure. Leading you though the Pre-made dungeon crawl it gives you examples of how a typical encounter is laid out, what information you should have together for an encounter. Then the book will explain what your job is as the GM, Pay close attention to this section as it, more then any other section, explains "what is role-playing." In fact I would skip right to this and read it now if you haven't already.
The rest of the guide will give you advice on creating your own campaign, adventures and encounters.
Think of it this way, the TV series analogy:
Encounters are the individual scenes, everything from talking to the street performer on the corner, to chasing a robber after he has stolen something, to the epic battle with your arch-nemesis.
Adventures are the "episodes." A single adventure consists of several encounters all building to some small to mid scale goal. Perhaps it is to just go down into the dungeon and kill all the monsters, or maybe there is some item that you need down there. Or maybe you need to travel to the capitol city and convince the king of something. Or someone needs to be rescued. An adventure usually starts with a "hook" something that you tell your players, or your players discover, that gives them the motivation to go do "something" (that "something" being your adventure). Adventures can last one, two or several sessions, it is possible to even have more than one adventure goal active at once (though you probably want to start slow).
A Campaign is the "season." A campaign would consist of several adventures, strung together with a large or difficult goal in mind. Each of the adventures you go on contributes something to the larger plot while resolving the smaller individual plots. The players may not even know about the end goal of the campaign, with details being revealed to them over the course of their adventures. Campaigns can last months to years, it is all in your control as GM.
The Paizo Adventure Paths are a perfect representation of this 3-tier concept. Each AP is a Campaign released in 6 books, each book being an Adventure containing multiple encounters.
Sorry if this wasn't your question, but I hope it wasn't entirely useless.
As for the mechanics and rules, yes there is a steep learning curve to them, even in beginner box format. But the rules can be fudged, especially in your first games. Know your dice, know your modifiers, and know your actions. And if you come to something in game that you are not sure of you have 2 options:
a) grab your book and look it up
b) if you cant find it, or you don't want to look. Think about how the situation might really look like, try to figure out what makes sense, and make a ruling. Take a note of the rule so you can look it up later, or come post it on the forums if you cant find the answer. Just be sure to tell your players at the next game so they know if something is actually works differently than you ruled it before.
RPG's are also famous for "house rules" it is your right as a GM to change the rules as you see fit. So if there is a rule that doesn't make sense to you and you think it should work differently, so be it! (these rules have been thoroughly tested and balanced, so i dont recommend going hog-wild and changing things all over the place, but the pages have not been handed down from Mt Olympus and you won't be struck down by a great bolt as a heretic if you don't follow them to the letter.) As long as you have fun, and your players have fun, you are doing it right!
I decided to try to answer your specific questions. These are short and sweet crash course type answers. I encourage you again to read the booklets that came with your box as these concepts should be more fully explained in them.
is there a specific way to set up pieces around the board?
...The books that came with the box should tell you this, it may not tell exactly which square but it should tell you which room.
do i need markers to put down map symbols?
...I do not own the beginner box, but i BELIEVE it comes with a battlemat with 1x1 grids and use you can use any kind of wet-erase marker to write on this. Usually GMs will draw rooms and use marks to represent treasure chests, doors ect.
and do i need the core rule book to play?
...Not yet, but if you even slightly enjoy the game, you will want one.
does my character start in a general area or is placed anywhere on the map?
...The Game Masters Guide should give guidance on this. It may just say something like "the players start somewhere in room 1". Read it again and see if it makes more sense.
how does movement/combat/commands work
...Movement is handled by squares on the battlemat. Each character has a certain speed or number of squares it can move pre turn. These square represent 5 sq. feet of space in "real life". See the character sheets. Think of this as a constant (this can be changed, but that gets into advanced rules like running, charging, double-moves ect)
...Combat is by far the most complex part of pathfinger. A character will attempt an attack by rolling a D20 (20 sided dice). To the result a character will add his/her attack bonus. (The attack bonus should be on the character sheet in the weapon section and may be different for each weapon) If this total number beats the AC or armor class of the monster you are trying to hit, then you hit and do damamge, if it does NOT beat the AC, then you miss and no damage is done that turn.
If you hit, you roll the damage die, and add the damage bonus if any, for that weapon. This should be in the same section as the attack bonus it will look something like this (1d8 +3). In this case it means you will roll 1 8-sided die and add 3 to the result. Then you subtract that total from the total hit points of the monster you are attacking. Once the monster is reduced to zero hit points it is dead (actually unconcious, but lets keep it simple for now).
Some weapons may only be used when you are in a square that is adjacent to the monster you are attacking. These are called melee weapons (longswords, axes, warhammers ect). Others can be used from the relative safety of a square further away from the enemy, These are called ranged weapons (longbows, shortbows, slings, ect). If a weapon is ranged it should say on the character sheet how many squares away it can be used.
...I'm not sure what you mean by commands. Players do whatever action they wish within the rules during their turn in a round.
do i use a specific die for each one?
...You will always use a d20 to attack, in fact you will use a d20 for most actions you take in the game. Different weapons do different damage as explained above.
how does Xp and armoring up work?
...Everytime you "beat" an encounter (this usually means kill a monster, defeat a trap, or solve a puzzle) you gain XP. After you gain enough XP you gain a level. It should say in the books somewhere how much XP you need to level up. The level up process should also be covered in the materials.
...As you adventure and defeat monsters you should gain rewards, this could be new armor, weapons, or just good old fashioned gold pieces. You use these items to "armor up" by purchashing better armor from a shopkeep or simply putting on the armor or weapons you find. (the pre-made characters in the box should already have pretty good armor, once you get into replacing gear with better gear, you are looking at getting a Core Rulebook).
A final word for you, compared to video games, you will find that tabletop gaming is painfully slow paced. The trade-of is the incredible flexibility of the game (if you can imagine it, you can do it!) and the social aspect (Lots of good times and laughs at the gaming table with your buds) it's a blast, and a really fun affordable hobby.
I want to echo that it's awesome that you've decided to take it upon yourself to be a GM for some future, lucky players. It was similar for me when I bought (my parents bought) the D&D Red Box when I was 6. I spent much of my childhood running myself through modules before trying them out on friends. That's just how I roll :o)
Since you sound brand-spanking-new to all this stuff, here are my recommendations:
1) Try out the one-person adventure in the beginning of the Hero's Handbook. Take your time with it and try to absorb the lessons of each encounter. The similar adventure in the Red Box was very handy for getting me on my way, and the HH one is just as important for being introduced to some important rules.
2) Do not make your own characters just yet. Save that for after you have a few adventures of GMing under your belt.
3) Read through the Blank Fang adventure before playing it. It's not meant to be a one-person adventure, so it may be more confusing to you if you play it that way.
4) If you are like me (meticulous and a bit obsessive :o) run all 4 pre-gen characters through Black Fang dungeon. If you aren't, then take one or two (pick Valeros first for his overall toughness, then maybe Kyra for the healing). Walk the character tokens through the adventure just as if you are playing a computer game. Only allow them to transition into another area/room together.
5) Come here frequently to ask questions! Please don't be afraid share your progress with us, too! I'm a bit jealous of you being able to experience all this just like I experience the Red Box :o)
- Niilo
