Hey all. I'm a new GM for Pathfinder. I've run RPGs before, but not 3.5 or Pathfinder. I have friends I will be playing with online.
Because of this I was looking towards a Virtual Table Top. I'm leaning towards d20Pro because it seems to have a lot of Pathfinder intergration. It also seems to be the preferred VTT to run Pathfinder. I've seen some say they run Fantasy Grounds 2, but that's a little much for our budget. MapTools seems like another option and free, but not sure about the support and I'm kind of looking for something easier to use.
On the character gen front I think we will be using PC gen because of budget reasons for Herolab. I would love my players to use that though. It seems awesome.
I have the Core Book, The Inner World Sea Guide and Bestiary 1.
I would like to get an Adventure Path PDF. I was wondering if I could take the maps inside the PDF and use them on the Virtual Table Top. I notice that there's some products that Pazio offers for VTT for maps and such. Do any of these need to be bought as well for the Adventure Path or does the Adventure Path include everything you need?
Also, if someone could explain briefly how Adventure Paths work and if it's intended to take you from level 1 - level w/e.
Also is everything based on the one campaign The Inner Sea Guide?
Any info you guys could give would be greatly appreciated. I think I might have a bit of an issue thinking outside the box as far as campaign settings go, thanks to my previous experience with other RPGs. Is all the campaign stuff based off one world?
Anyways, this game looks awesome and so excited to run this with my friends.
I just started playing pathfinder about a year and a half ago. Taking a huge liking to the game. I have just started GMing an adventure path. Skulls and shackles. It is a very fun game so far for the two online groups I have going. They take you from level 1 to X and there is room for GM shenanigans. For someone new like me it is great it gives room to do my own thing but, also gives events to help their plot along.
I have other AP's (adventure paths) but, skulls and shackles is the first I have run.
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My friends and I have all used Maptools for our gaming sessions (admittedly not the best, but getting these people to change to anything new is harder than bathing a cat) and Hamachi to help with connectivity.
I'm pretty sure Adventure Paths are, indeed, meant to be run through from 1st level up to whatever final level they hit. If you want to run an Adventure Path but you're cautious about how it might go, I recommend the Price of Immortality trilogy:
http://paizo.com/products/btpy89c9?Pathfinder-Module-Crypt-of-the-Everflame
http://paizo.com/products/btpy8bal?Pathfinder-Module-Masks-of-the-Living-Go d
http://paizo.com/products/btpy8dmj?Pathfinder-Module-City-of-Golden-Death
They're not as complex or as big as a full Adventure Path, but it's one overall story that connects the three together. It'll give you kind of an idea of how an Adventure Path runs.
I've never used them, but the published Adventure Paths are designed for specific levels, they'll typically say "A horror-mystery adventure designed for 5th level characters" or "A fighting tournament adventure designed for 8th level characters" etc.
If you want to stick with the published APs, no problem. It should be a lot of fun, and an easy start, since most of the planning work is already done for you.
If you want to come up with your own campaign world and adventures, I've found it's best to build something around the player's classes than to come up with an adventure and railroad your party into it. If your party has an Inquisitor, have your adventures involve tracking down evil doers in hiding. If you have a Druid, maybe said evildoers causing wide-spread famine and decay in the kingdom, which a Druid would be greatly concerned with. When I first started running Pathfinder, I had no preconceived notions about setting or plot and just built it all up as I went.
Thanks for the info!
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I also highly suggest that you find out what your players want! You can run a great game, but it won't be enjoyable for anybody if it's not what the players want.
Send a brief questionnaire out to all your players to figure out what they want. Trust me.
I also highly suggest that you find out what your players want! You can run a great game, but it won't be enjoyable for anybody if it's not what the players want.
Send a brief questionnaire out to all your players to figure out what they want. Trust me.
This plus keep it simple....players have a tendency to much everything up.