Second time GMing. Would like some advice on RotR

[SlightlyAmused]

So I have played the beginner box once as a PC, and ran it twice as a GM. I'll admit the first time I ran it I made a few mistakes that I felt could have taught some really bad game habits. However, the second time I ran the Blank Fang quest all my PC's said they loved it and couldn't wait for more. That gave me the drive to keep going.

My question is in regards to running Rise of the Runelords. I have the newest edition and I must say that it is really daunting. While the beginner box and beginner brawl missions are all easy to read and laid out to run from point A-B-C, it feels like RotR is just giving me a basic idea of how to run the AP. So I want to know how do I (you) prep to run an AP of this nature? What are some good materials to have in front of me while the group plays? The most important thing to me is that my PC's have a fun time playing, everything else comes second.

Likewise, what should I tell my players before I start this? There is six of them and they have all agreed that these characters we are using now will transfer into the AP when it begins.

[Cult of Vorg]

There's a players guide for every adventure path, good for players and GM to get up to speed on what they should know about the AP and it's starting region.

Pre-drawing or copying area and battle maps is a great help, as well as making copies of stuff from the AP for player handouts. Getting appropriate miniatures or tokens handy for upcoming encounters can save trouble too.

Having a cheatsheet of useful PC data can be helpful. Languages known, perception and sense motive skills, ac, and unusual abilities that shouldn't be forgotten.

[Oops_I_Crit_My_Pants]

Cult of Vorg wrote:

There's a players guide for every adventure path, good for players and GM to get up to speed on what they should know about the AP and it's starting region.

Pre-drawing or copying area and battle maps is a great help, as well as making copies of stuff from the AP for player handouts. Getting appropriate miniatures or tokens handy for upcoming encounters can save trouble too.

Having a cheatsheet of useful PC data can be helpful. Languages known, perception and sense motive skills, ac, and unusual abilities that shouldn't be forgotten.

Pick a new AP, because RotR will take you into very high levels (17th to 18th level) that offer rules and technical complexity you are probably not ready for as a 2nd time GM. Run one of the AP's that caps around 11th or 13th level. Or maybe run some stand-alone adventures and just string them together based on what your players want to do.

Running a full AP as a 2nd time DM is a pretty difficult learning curve, and it will be even more challenging if any of the players know the rules better than you.

[Greg Wasson]

Ignore the xp track.

Level the PC's as they reach certain sections of the AP. This way, you can enjoy more of the side quests. And take time to enjoy Sandpoint, as well as other locales later on in the story.

Greg

[SlightlyAmused]

Thanks so far. I guess I can keep running these one-shots and just stringing them all together for right now. Ill look into getting into a game as a player so I can get a feel for things that I am missing, as everyone at the table is brand new to these types of games.