Greetings!
My family has gotten into Pathfinder, and after the beginner box we rapidly got some basics - Core Rulebook and Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. This is the first real RPG experience for everyone.
We're all excited about PF, and would like to do Rise of the Runelords soon, but no one really wants to be the GM for the whole months-long campaign. There are three of us that could effectively GM out of a group of 5 (2 adults and children).
I'd like some advice on the following points. Please feel free to link to other resources or threads if some of these have been addressed before - but my searching has been futile thus far.
1) In RotR, would a rotating GM be an issue? We understand the challenges of player knowledge/character knowledge. Is there a lot of knowledge scenario to scenario that carries over that one player might be end up knowing too much?
2) Should the GM play their character when GM'ing (perhaps in a subdued role) or should that party member be absent for some in-game reason?
Any other advice, pointers, suggestions or just referring us to existing resources would be appreciated.
I strongly recommend against it. You NEED a DM who's willing to host at least 4 to 6 games in a row to keep 'the feeling' there. If you want to minimize the amount of sessions any given DM has to host in a row, go for custom adventures and put it in a setting in which it makes sense :)
The easiest is a more modern variant: a group of super heroes that respond to emergencies. But you get the idea.
The adventure paths that Paizo puts out require a dedicated DM, there's no other way about it.
Thanks, this is just the kind of input I needed. I've grabbed the free RPG day modules, so we can start trying some of them, or ones like Crypt of the Everflame.
I also grabbed the Unbound Adventures PDF for us to practice some random GM-less adventures. Maybe after that some of us will be confident enough to run some custom adventures.
The Rise of the Runelords hardcover was a great deal, but maybe we need to table that for now. Er, I mean shelf it.
Yea long adventure path type adventures dont really work with rotating gms. You pretty much have to have one gm through the whole hting, because they need to know what is going to happen later to manage what is going on now (paizos adventures really rely on the dm to understand the situation and adapt rather then laying out every word they should say and every die they should roll like some older style adventures).
Like others have said, if you in getting used to the game want to rotate gming duties, I recommend the shorter modules line. Like crpyt of the everflame you can find a wealth of such adventures by paizo and other companies. And they resolve in a couple sessions and hte next dm could pick up from there.
My recommendation, everyone has a pc (including the dms), the dm runs their pc in their adventure as a dmnpc, to keep the group coherent, and you switch dms every module (which will usually last about 2-3 sessions depending on how long you play and how quickly you move through it each time).
I picked up rise of the runelords also, and plan to run it. It seems like an amazing adventure and if you or someone else decides to run it, make sure you check out the rise of the runelords subforum here on these boards here and gain the adventage of all the work and commnetary and advice of hundreds of gms having run it before. But really it needs one dedicated dm for the whole story, which ofcourse requires alot of dedication from the dm (months if not years of play).
I'd also recommend "We Be Goblins". It's a free download here on the paizo site. Great family fun.
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I picked up rise of the runelords also, and plan to run it. It seems like an amazing adventure and if you or someone else decides to run it, make sure you check out the rise of the runelords subforum here on these boards here and gain the adventage of all the work and commnetary and advice of hundreds of gms having run it before. But really it needs one dedicated dm for the whole story, which ofcourse requires alot of dedication from the dm (months if not years of play).
A very good piece of advice here.
I too think you need to stick to a "one GM for the whole AP" policy. It makes it easier and more fun for everyone.
What we do in our group is that we alternate APs (and GMs). Our "main" GM manages the RotRL AP (and some sidequests he wants us to play) and when he needs a rest from GMing, our "back-up" GM leads us through the Serpent Skull AP.
This is a great way to avoid GM burnout.
You could do the same with interjecting some modules between RotRL sessions. However, I think you should use only 2 sets of characters : 1 for RotRL and 1 for the interlude sessions. More than that can get really complicated to play and roleplay right.
On a sidenote, be aware that the RotRL AP has some outright disgusting elements in it and is probably not a good AP to play with children unless the GM spends long time in preparation to edit out all the gory and gross details.
I think the only thing worse than rotating GMs in an RPG is a DMPC.
Never use a DMPC--ever. It is never ok. Dozens of people will respond to me and say that they ran a DMPC and the group liked it. This is incorrect--cognitive bias and all. It is possible to include an NPC in the party, but it will never work to have a DMPC. Seriously.
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I think the only thing worse than rotating GMs in an RPG is a DMPC.
Never use a DMPC--ever. It is never ok. Dozens of people will respond to me and say that they ran a DMPC and the group liked it. This is incorrect--cognitive bias and all. It is possible to include an NPC in the party, but it will never work to have a DMPC. Seriously.
What does that even mean. If an NPC is a permanent member of the party it IS a dmpc. I have to assume you have had some bad experiences with dms going overboard, but especially in a rotating dm game you have to have dmpcs otherwise you mess with continuity and the development of character relationships as the dms' pcs disappear every few sessions.
What does that even mean. If an NPC is a permanent member of the party it IS a dmpc.
That is absolutely not true.
Rather than clutter this with quotes, let me just link to previous threads in which I explained the difference.
A GMPC and an NPC are not the same thing.
I have to assume you have had some bad experiences with dms going overboard
Nope, but I've heard some things, man. Generally, I actually run the games (probably 95% of the time), and while the party sometimes contains NPCs, it has never contained a GMPC.
, but especially in a rotating dm game you have to have dmpcs otherwise you mess with continuity and the development of character relationships as the dms' pcs disappear every few sessions.
Hence why I said not to rotate GMs, either. But if rotating was non-negotiable, I'd rather have the current GM's PC just guard camp or something asinine like that and break continuity than have the GM control is PC while he's also running the game.
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Also, the Rise of the Runelords is not exactly "family-friendly" as written. There are sections that are positively mature in a very a dark way. The GM can easily tone some of it down, but RotRL would not be my first choice to run with kids. If you wanted to rotate GMs, I think the Shattered Star would work well. Each module is er...fairly modular (basically each module you are finding another piece of an artifact) with not a lot of overlap between each section in terms of plot that could be spoiled. Also, it is much more PG-13 in nature as well.
What we did with my AP group is trade off modules in the AP. I DMed one module in the AP and my brother DMed the other.