So i'm starting up a new group this sunday.
The group are mostly newbies, with only one player having any experience with pen and papir rp.
The plan was after the characters were done, to run a homebrew or a free 1st level module to let them get a feel for the concept and rules before starting them on the reign of winter adventure path.
Question is, what module if any should i start with?
Will i be able to run a weekly game off the monthly instalments of row?
Is it at all a good idea to cut a groups teeth on a sprawling adventure path, when they lack the basic knowlege of tropes and tactical thinking that serve as a baseline for more experienced rp'ers?
I'm thinking of introducing a gmpc to help the group if they get totaly lost, even if i normaly frown on such tools.
And i'm currently leaning on using the hollow's last hope module as a intro adventure.
The only adventure path i've previously played through is shackled city, so i dont have what might be considered basic knowlege of any differences the pathfinder adventure paths might hold.
I hope the community might aid in assisting me in making this as smooth an experience as possible for everyone involved
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I wouldn't play a GM PC unless you have fewer than 4 players, and even then I probably let the experienced person run 2 instead.
Let them play some of the pregens to get a feel for the game in the intro mod, THEN let them make their own PCs. That gives them a trial run with a class, if they like it they can stick with it. If not they can go another route.
If they have a hard time grasping the game as you progress, maybe go rules-lite with them. OR if you have it, run the Beginner's Box for them to get their feet wet first. I did this with a group consisting of 2 middle school kids and another "dad". By the time we finished the BB, they were reading the CRB and it was obvious they wanted to "Know More" (sorry, Starship Troopers on the brain).
Make sure they have some sense of who the heck Baba Yaga is. Such an iconic protagonist should be appreciated by everyone! I'm so stoked she is being featured.
Now if we could find that Sword formerly owned by some guy named Kas and his side-kick, Vecna, that would be awesome!
I play Dm NPCs a lot. Usually because the group doesn't have a meat shield or a healer. We hardly ever are lacking for rogues or spell casters, lol.
My impression from reading the first mod is you can certainly play a weekly game with RoW. While I would definitely try to do something introductory to get them used to the rules*, my impression is the first couple acts will be pretty straight-forward in terms of it'll be clear what the PCs need to do. I think that's really important, especially for beginners, so I think this will be a good choice, better than say, Kingmaker, where there's so much freedom it may be harder for less experienced players.
* Personally, I've introduced people to the rules by not even bothering with a mod. I just give them very basic situations -- you're fighting a couple skeletons; then a couple skeletons that can shoot fireballs; then an obstacle; then a trap ... so they learn about combat rolls and saves and skill checks. Of course, this is more for teaching the mechanics, focusing on the roll-playing more than the role-playing. I figure I can get to that later. That said, I would assume most of the free introductory mods on this site, like Master of the Fallen Fortress, are good options for introducing players to the game.
There's an NPC introduced in the second half of Snows of Summer that you could easily add in as your DMPC -- we know she plays a decent role through the second module -- if you find it's necessary.