New GM looking for advice

[Loreforged]

Hello, everyone! I'm not sure if this falls under this board, but I didn't see a better place to ask. I've longed to get into tabletop games for years now, but the area I live in doesn't exactly have many play groups and I'm not what you'd call a social butterfly. The past few months, I've been working sixty hour weeks at my full-time job, while trying to balance that with home and what few extracurriculars I can, so it hasn't been easy to look for groups.

My fiance, however, saw a piece on the History channel about D&D and expressed an interest, so I viewed that as my best place to start. I picked up the Core Rulebook, GameMastery Guide, and Bestiary and have been perusing them this weekend. As someone who has never played a game, let alone GM'd, it's all a bit daunting. I know the basic rules and concepts, but I have no idea how to make our first game an enjoyable experience that'll make her want to play on a regular basis.

I'm aware that using a published adventure would be a great start, but I was in the FLGS and perused the Rise of the Runelords book, and Burnt Offerings seems very...in-depth. I loved what I read but wasn't sure that, even with ample prep time, I could do it justice.

What would more experienced players and GM's recommend in this situation?

[Psion-Psycho]

Id try and figure out what she wants to play. Some people like killing things and tossing dice and others like RPing over that. Figure what she is then u can figure what kind of game u want to play. After figuring that out find a Module/Adventure that fits or make ur own. Once u have the bones of the game figured out with initial bad guys and decent understanding of what u and ur player(s) want from the game it self u will be ready as u can be. When ur ready id suggest a pbp (post by post) online game. Another big help is if u join an online game with her to see how the game rolls out from a players perspective and see how she reacts to certain situations so u can have some expectations of what ur gonna get ur self into as a new GM.

[Calex]

I sorta think you might be jumping into the deep end a little early. The core rules might be a bit much for a novice. A more rules-light option like the Pathfinder Beginners Box set is another possible way to go. Welcome to our hobby and I hope you get as many years of fun out of it as I have.

[White Direwolf]

Welcome to gaming, Loreforged! I also think that the Pathfinder Beginner Box is a brilliant way to get started without being crushed by all the rules of the Core Rulebook. If you want start without purchasing more stuff right away, I'd also recommend looking at the free introductory adventure to Pathfinder Society In Service to Lore. It is designed for new players and can of course be played without all the "official" PFS background.

[Ishmell]

I second what the wolf said.

[White Direwolf]

Oh, and you might also want to look at this advice thread:
So you want to play Pathfinder RPG: A comprehensive guide for Dungeon Masters and Players

[Lincoln Hills]

Don't worry too much about the complexity of PF. Although it has a lot of subtleties, the beauty of the system is that about nine-tenths of the actual mechanics follow the same general pattern - a d20 is rolled, modifiers are applied, and success or failure are determined by the target number.

Finances permitting, I encourage you as a brand-new GM to buy Rise of the Runelords. It may be a long time before you feel confident enough to run the adventure path itself, but by looking at how it's put together you'll learn a lot about building your own adventures. "How difficult should traps be to find in a low-level dungeon?" "What are the most important things a GM should write down about major non-player characters?" "What do I do if the players wander off the edge of the map?" Instead of providing you with a dry FAQ list, you can get the answers out of the RotRL book by seeing how they did it - and it's a pretty good resource for finding ideas you can convert into other adventures. You can also start a sort of scrapbook, noting down things you like about the setting and things you don't, so that when you decide to design your own campaign world (about nine-tenths of GMs do, eventually) you can look back at your notes and put together a world that contains plausible ecologies, economics, etc.

Enjoy the game.

[Loreforged]

Thanks to everyone for their input! I'm giving both options Wolf posted a peruse and if I have any, more specific, questions, I'll post back here. I'll also look into the Beginner Box, as I know that my FLGS has it, but due to money constraints over the next two weeks, I may or may not pick it up.

[D_GENNEXT]

Look into whether you local gaming store hosts PFS. Organized play may not be for everyone, but it is a great way to get a feel for the system before diving into the deep end of the pool.

[Mark Hoover]

Simplest way to get started: Someone in a bar steps up to one of the PCs and says they don't like the character's face. Seriously, that's it. Just set the scene (describing the environment, action around the party, etc.) then have some person of your own devising make this disparaging remark.

Maybe they go Luke Skywalker, act meek and humble and try to avoid conflict so you do some intensive roleplaying. Maybe instead they instantly take offense and a brawl breaks out, in which case you get a crash course in combat. Of course maybe its a combo of the 2, in which case you've got a lot of gaming ahead of you.

LF, don't feel intimidated, or if you do know that we've all been there with you buddy. Intro adventures are a great way to start. I recommend Master of the Fallen Fortress myself. It's got a good, open-ended plot, a fairly straight-forward plot and plenty of action. It also leaves the potential for more gaming after the main action is done.

I also second D to the Next; audit a PFS game or just a few rounds of tabletopping in general at your local haunt. I learned just after the earth cooled when my brothers taught me, but I learned to GM by WATCHING them and doing what they did. The same lesson works for any new GM.

Lastly, find the part of the game that's fun and doesn't feel like work (since you obviously have enough of that going on lately) then focus in on that for your own enjoyment. If you're a tactics guy, make a bunch of encounters on your lunchbreak; if you're a short story writer make up an elaborate background for a townsperson and try and work it into gaming.

Oh, and one other thing I'd suggest is: draw from any other RPG sources in your life. If you've played Final Fantasy, run your game like that; if instead you're a fan of Diablo go that route. Maybe you've played a few rounds of Descent by Fantasy Flight Games - in that case sketch a map with a few locales and some side treks between them.

Don't be afraid. Fear is a feeling (30 min in) and it can't kill you, so don't sweat it.

[Secane]

I really was able to step up my GMing after reading this GM 101. It is for Pathfinder Society, but the tips on GMing works for any game.
Its free! And it really gives you great tips on what to look out for and how to make your games more interesting!

Hope this helps!

[Pan]

Start here. Adventure paths are awesome but I recommend getting your feet went first. Establish a good gaming a group then swing for the fences.