Hey guys I am about to take on the tasking of GMing and it is a little daunting. Lots of things going through my mind, such as will they like the campaign I come up with, will I be able to answer there questions. I was just wondering if you guys had any advice for someone taking the first attempt at hosting the game.
For first times I strongly recommend picking up a module and working with that. Good modules are usually fairly easy to run, and if you later decide you want to write your own adventure, it gives you a great foundation and set of ideas with which to do so.
I would agree w/ Kolokotroni. The first time I GMed I started w/ a published adventure and altered it to my tastes. Worked out very well.
Having some random names available is a good idea, as they will end up going somewhere you didn't plan for and talking to someone you didn't name yet.
My players tend to find solutions I had never considered, so be prepared to be flexible w/ your planning.
More than anything, try to make it a fun experience. In my experience, players are willing to put up w/ a lot if they are having fun. :)
Any suggestions on one I could start with? I know I could probably come up with a decent story. However if there are some good adventures, I might do that.
Crypt of the everflame is a great starting module. It also has 2 sequels if you like it and want to continue with that particular story. In terms of good adventures there are tons, its kind of what paizo does. If you decide you like running published material, the adventure paths are an amazing choice, not only because the products are great, but then you have the subforums for each AP here on these boards and you have the support of dozens of gms who ran them.
Any of the Paizo published AP's (minus the ones w/ extra rules, like Jade Regent or Kingmaker, maybe try those when you're more comfortable w/ the basic rules) would work fine. I don't run them, as I've been GMing for a couple decades, I write my own stuff now of days...
You could check out the list and see if any of them look particularly interesting to you.
http://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath
I suggest you take baby steps:
1) Beginner Box - Has everything you need to learn to play the game with a few free downloads as well.
2) Modules and/or Scenarios - Modules are adventures or series of adventures pre-written for you to take you players through and scenarios are what the Pathfinder Society uses. Both are good for beginners. Oh here's a good site for a breakdown of modules by level.
3) Adventure Paths - A pre-written campaign to take players from level 1 - 20.
4) Home-Brew - A world of your own devising and I suggest that you get some experience under your belt before you attempt to do a home-brew world as you'll have to flesh it out with everything.
I've only played a little in the adventure paths (carrion crown, second darkness, and Serpent's Skull). But it seems most are pretty well written and all of them have a FREE players guide PDF available for you to look over and see if you like their flavors. I'm sure others in the forums will give you a idea of what they think the best ones are.
+1s to everything already stated.
Not sure if you are going to be using electronics at the table as a GM resource/toolkit, but I heavily use Hero Lab and Kyle Olson's Combat Manager when I GM. Hero Lab makes character creation, upkeep, and leveling very easy. It can also answer some typical in game math questions rather quickly, including things like, "How much does that +2 Flaming Burst Longsword cost anyways?" Combat Manager makes combat much swifter, by keeping track of initiative, hit points, conditions, and etc. But that is just the beginning of that tools usefulness, it also imports characters or monsters from both PCGen and Hero Lab, and has its own customizable monster editor. Not to mention that many of the OGL monsters and NPCs are built right into the Monster Tab. Combat Manager also has a random treasure generator, and tabs to look up rules or spells. For a first time GM, if you are at all capable of having a laptop at your table, I'd highly recommend using one or both of these handy-dandy pieces of software.
Good luck, and remember the most important rule of GMing: You're job is to make sure everyone has fun (that includes yourself). :)
Edit: Forgot to mention that Hero Lab does cost money, but Combat Manager is completely free!
We are experienced Pathfinder players. We have only done homebrew games though, so an adventure path might be a nice change. We decided to give our Current GM a break and me taking over will allow him to play for once.
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"We Be Goblins" is a free and very light-hearted Paizo adventure - get it here - and the goblin characters are already pre-made. I'd begin with a few stand-alone modules to get into the swing of running games before launching into (or investing in) a full-blown campaign. You'll eventually get a feel for what is a level-appropriate challenge, both combat and non-combat.
People write guides for first-time gamemasters, but here's 5 that come to mind:
1. The game must go on. Don't be afraid to make errors and make up something on the fly; it WILL happen and you'll look up the rule after the game. Same with players, they need to know their abilities and not pause the game.
2. Communicate with your players as to what type of game they're looking for and expectations. Don't run Skulls & Shackles if your players are looking for a kingdom-builder like Kingmaker.
3. Make your NPCs and world come alive, and don't be shy about bad accents and mannerisms. While not every NPC has a lisp, they have quirks. Maybe one tavern owner likes to tell stories of when he fought off the rabid boar of Timmeran (much to the groan of the audience that has heard it many times before). Don't spend too much time describing everything, but be ready if someone asks.
4. Prep! Know your module inside and out, same with monsters. If you see an ability listed, look it up. If it's too much, make a "cheat sheet" by putting blurbs about important abilities, spells, etc., so you don't pause the game flipping through a book to find them.
5. Be flexible. Let the story build around the players. Don't say "no" when a player tries something. If they want to swing from a chandalier onto the kobolds below, and you have no clue how to rule it, just go with it. If they don't trust that NPC that wants to give them a crucial map for the adventure, maybe they get it from somewhere else, perhaps loot off a kobold that took it from the NPC when he ventured forth himself to find the treasure. You get the idea.
Lots of great advice here.
Some modules and AP recommendations
Modules:
We be goblins
Master of the fallen fortress
Both are short and cheap modules, great to cut your teeth on.
AP's:
Rise of the runelords anniversary edition has been amazing so far.
Reign of Winter we just started, but it has been quite exciting.
I've also been running Curse of the Crimson Throne, but that is a 3.5 module and it needs a certain amount of rules translating and updates to work with Pathfinder.
There's a ton of extra GM resources here on the forums for the AP's as well, check out the sub forums for each AP.
We are experienced Pathfinder players. We have only done homebrew games though, so an adventure path might be a nice change. We decided to give our Current GM a break and me taking over will allow him to play for once.
Oh okay, the way your first post was written it sounded like it was your very first time GM'ing (you mentioned how daunting it was) and perhaps even playing. So I wanted to give advice based off of that.
As an experienced player I'd go ahead and GM an AP that fits the flavor you want. I'd discuss it with the players, have everyone download all the free player's guides to look them over (that you'd be willing to run) and have them vote on what sounds the most fun. Then you can go buy the AP materials and start running the games.
I recommend that you don't strictly adhere to the AP's all the time because players always do things that are unexpected and most players don't like to be railroaded. AP's can be very railroady to me, so when I run them or modules I like to take the base themes and encounters and allow the players to go in whatever way they want. I'll give them some carrots to keep them going in the direction that the AP flows, but I never railroad them into doing what the AP says they should do.
Okay good advice. I will talk this over with them tonight. ^^
Crypt of the everflame is a great starting module. It also has 2 sequels if you like it and want to continue with that particular story.
I started GMing with Crypt of the Everflame, and things went pretty well with that. I was relatively new to gaming at the time, and I hadn't had the benefit of ever playing with a truly great GM before, so I was stumbling every step along the way, and it still turned out all right.
But I would raise a caution flag before jumping into Masks of the Living God. I really liked the module as a whole, but I had no idea how to run the module, and I really, really botched it for my players. The PCs wind up on a really strict schedule in the game, and I was completely clueless how to present this at the table, and the whole thing became a bit of a mess.
But if you've played enough to know how to handle this issue, go for it. I wish I could comment on the third module, but unfortunately my group disbanded after MotLG.
I endorse the module suggestion, but you could also create something that would take maybe two sessions of play. At the end of that you will have learned things, and see that there isn't much to be a'feared of. Then you can decide to either continue onward or have the players make new characters or reboot their existing ones.
A couple tips/tricks and reminders that I still use after 15 years of GMing:
1. Take notes of things you decide on the fly so that you'll remember them later. You WILL have to come up with a lot of stuff off the top of your head, and while that may seem daunting now, you'll probably find that it mostly comes easily to you once you get started.
However, it's also really easy to forget what you make up on the spot, later. That's why I take a moment whenever I can to jot down something, like a name or a piece of information or whatever falls out of my mouth unexpected. ^__^
At the end of each session, I also jot down some notes about what happened, in point form. It really helps to read from this at the start of the next session so that everyone recalls what happened in the session before. This works wonders; it's why almost every TV show with a plot opens with a "Previously, on [insert show name here]..."
2. As suggested above, keep a list of pre-made names for NPCs so that you can grab one on the fly. I find it easy to come up with on-the-spot descriptions for some NPC I didn't expect the group to encounter (a mean-faced captain of the guard, a grizzled shop owner who seems blind in one eye), but names are harder to come up with. Names and little descriptions can go a long way to giving the game personality and making the players feel like they're in a living, breathing world. "Uhm, his name is.. ah.. Captain Fred?" kind of shatters a little bit of that illusion. lol
Put some male and female names on the list, and maybe make separate lists appropriate to different cultures and/or races. There are name generators that you can look up online that may help you out. Once you use one, just cross it off and maybe write a little note beside it
3. Likewise, keep a list of pregenerated town and location names. You can also find generators online if you're having trouble, or if you just like to cut corners (like I often do). ^__^
4. When describing things - locations, objects, people - remember that the PCs have lots of senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and sometimes even taste come into play. There are also suborders of senses: temperature, vibration, a feeling of familiarity, a feeling of security or insecurity, and that feeling that something just isn't right. Describing a house as "big and red" is less interesting than "clean and sturdy, and smelling faintly of warm bread, but with squeaky wooden floors". Is the cavern damp and musty, or dry and windy? Is the treasure chest made of cold, solid iron, or is it rusted and hastily made?
5. Always try to suss out how your players are feeling. Are they engaged and interested? Bored? Confused? Frustrated? You can't completely control their reactions, but you can try to respond. If they're bored, maybe they need a random encounter - or fewer random encounters if you just had a bunch. If they're confused, maybe be more descriptive and find a way to remind them what they're doing, and keep it simple for a while. Frustrated is hard to solve, as it isn't always apparent why they feel that way. Sometimes the best policy is just to ask "So, how's it going so far?" and to try to get an honest answer. Be prepared for criticism: it can sting, but always remember that it's a chance to up your game.
6. Remember that your players and their characters are the stars. Let them be the focus, let them solve problems, and let them fall when they fail. However the game turns out, whether they succeed or fail, let them own it.
7. You will make mistakes. You'll give away some secret by accident, you'll mess up an encounter, realize too late that you have been totally misinterpreting a rule this whole time, or whatever. Eeeeveryone makes mistakes, and noooobody expects you to be perfect. GMing is HARD, but it's mega rewarding if you like to put smiles on faces. Be kind to yourself.
8. Abuse your power as GM to get the biggest slice of pizza. You've earned it.