Hi there, I'm entirely new to Pathfinder and tabletop rpgs in all. Got interested in pathfinder at the local MTG ect. shop and now I'm hooked. I have the Core Rulebook, Bestiary, Bonus Bestiary, Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, Rise of the Runelords Pawn Collection, and The Inner Sea World Guide. A few friends of mine are down to play (just need to set a date) and I'm going to GM. This addiction of mine all started with the Beginner Box and I ran 2 of the 4 friends through it one night. Had a great fun and didnt have any problems learning as we went. But I have been having trouble finding a good fourm, blog, or website for tips and all that. been reading through the Piazo website but it's all a little over whelming when you a brand new PC/GM. Any suggestions or tips are vary much welcomed!
THANKS,
and "Get That Treasure For That Hoard!"
After numerous years of gaming, post it notes on key pages of the core rulebook are still my best friend. You don't need all the rules at all times. I'd recommend bookmarking the start of the spells section and weapon damage, special attacks (trip, grapple, ect) and, unfortunately, the rules for stabilization and death. I have my characters jot down what their feats and magic items do on the character sheet to save time flipping through books (ie. Potion of cure serious wounds heal 3d8+5).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As long as everyone is okay with the learning process...let mistakes happen from time to time. If you are flat stumped on how to move the game forward then hit the index at the back of the Core Rule-book. But if you have a modifier or rule on the tip of your tongue and the action is flowing, characters are being entertainingly role-played and the night is getting late? Let it ride "I can't remember at the moment guys...why don't you just give me a DC [Fill in the blank] check or [type] saving throw." It's okay to flub over things like reach, attacks of opportunity, lighting/environment modifiers, and critical hit damage. But when you get to those points where you are winging it to keep the game moving, write yourself a note or make a mental one to check back during your next snack/meal break. We've all had those moments where a tense bit of GM arbitration goes down, everyone moves on grudgingly/happily/etc and then later on the GM comes back from a bathroom break going, "oh man I totally hosed you Terry...your character could totally have done [that thing]." Rather than agonizing over it, use those situations to better your game. After each session take a few minutes to do some post-game chat with your players (especially if you are all new to the game) so that you can come up with rules confusions, gripes, or other notable topics. That way you can maintain the process of learning the game together. Afterward you'll have some idea of what sorts of questions to ask or look for answers to on the forums
TLDR; Learning the game can be part of the game too.
Put little post-it sticky tabs on the bestiary pages you will need, or use a digital rules interface if you have one. Train your brain to pick out the relevant information in a stat-block for an NPC or monster at a glance to minimize "I'm going to...uh...hit...uh..wait...oh that's cool...I'm going to uh...oh man that's kinda lame...uh...I'm gonna smite you Terry!"
As far as RotRL in particular (or any pre-written adventure arc), I recommend reading the adventure module you will be running...twice. Prior to doing any prep for any sessions I'd recommend at least skimming the whole adventure path to get a feel for how it's going to progress.
Have your players read the Players' Guide. Then sit down and talk out character concepts as a group if you can. You want to make sure you fill out the classic personalities and functional roles of a [Fill in your favorite fictional team of characters]. If everyone shows up wanting to be the haunted anti-hero...it's going to be hard on you to motivate them with the adventure as written. And functionally, a party composed entirely of fighters or rogues is going to have some issues completing certain challenges along the way. The group is going to be playing together for a long time, they may as well coordinate at the outset to make sure their concepts and character types don't stomp all over each other or the adventure path at hand "we all want to be monks, and our dearest dream is to burn Sandpoint to the ground!..".
Swing by the RotRL forums and check out the individual stickied adventure module threads. They have a LOT of compiled suggestions, workarounds, horror stories, success stories, customized/revised encounters, and other golden tidbits in them. There are even MP3's of delightful nerds singing goblin songs...gold I tells ya!
Well, you know the monsters that are going to appear in the adventure. I always take notes on the monsters. Like if a monster has poison, I make sure to have the rule for poison written down on a note on the monster entry. This works with any other special attack, defense, etc. If I know the PCs are gonna be fighting in a dark cave, I always have the rules of darkness handy. Fighting underwater? Rules for that. Etc. In short: you know what they are gonna face so have the rules ready.
Read the posts in this forum of Rise of the Runelords. Some people talk about their campaigns and give advice on certain parts. I really like reading some of their stories :)
If you have a lot of time on your hands: read the whole adventure before you GM it. Take some notes or write down ideas. Sometimes you can add a few things here and there to make it more interesting for your party.
This piece of advice is great for the first part of the adventure: read about Sandpoint and get all your PCs character sheets/background stories before playing. I recommend you read about the different places in Sandpoint and try to help it come alive. Let the PCs explore the town. Think of places or people in Sandpoint that would interest these PCs the most. It really helps the PCs feel like they want to save the town if they like the people in it. But of course they don't have to like everyone. There's people they'll hate too! It's what makes it fun. If you don't mind the extra work, don't be afraid to make the PCs from Sandpoint (of course they'll probably know a lot about the town so you, as the GM, will have to too).
thanks everyone for the great advise! i have a week off of work so maybe get the campaign started then!!