What AP should I run for new players?

[Salazzar Slaan]

I've been asked to run a Pathfinder game by my wife's friend who is interested in picking up the hobby. The current plan is to start next weekend.

Myself and one of the players have several years of experience, two others played 3.5 back in the day, and the last two haven't played tabletops at all.

I'd like to run something low-level that will get them introduced to the rules that they can then continue playing once everyone is comfortable.

I have all the Core books (APG, UC, etc) and the Rise of the Runelords hardcopy and a lot of other material available in PDF form.

I haven't read too deeply into Runelords, but as I'm already playing a Kingmaker game with another group it seemed that would be good exposure to a lot of elements of the game and provide a lot of freeform decisions.

Are either of these APs a good idea? Anyone have any other suggestions for what to start everyone on?

I will also have one or two spectator friends who have never played. I'm considering giving them enough information to play enemy mooks during some encounters just for kicks.

[Theconiel]

I have had good results running the First Steps series. It is designed for first-level characters. It has a nice mix of combat and role playing out of combat.

[Dabies]

I am currently running rise of the runelords and have to say it is great. It has something for everyone IMHO. I would defiantly recommend this AP. Cannot speak for kingmaker though.

[Velos]

Would definitely recommend ” we be goblins” as its a level one, gets the basics and lots of humor to show the players how fun it can be, AP wise. runelords is great add well as the legacy (green books can't remember actual name has ameiko kaijitsu on cover) worked for me.

[Yora]

My favorites are Kingmaker, Jade Regend, and Serpent Skull. Though I would say of those Serpent Skull is probably by far the most beginner-friendly. Kingmaker has the whole kingmaking business, and I think one of the key elements of Jade Regent is doing an expedition into a foreign land, which isn't that meaningful if you are not actually familiar with the land you are starting from.
Serpent Skull is a bit bland in the middle, but I think it works quite well to introduce players to the different elements of a campaign while still being relatively straightforward.

[ciretose]

Rise of the Runelords. If you pick up the Anniversary Edition it is also the cheapest.

[Craig Mercer]

I have to agree with others that if you have the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, run that.
It is one of the better PAs, set up for Pathfinder (the earliest PA are for 3.5 and need translating into pathfinder), and there are plenty of player produced ideas, hints, and extras to go with it.

Rise of the Runelords also is basic Fantasy; fights against goblins (fun little buggers), giants, dragons, and evil wizards; saving good folk from evil; travel to far off dungeons; etc.

And Rise of the Runelords does have a fairly easy to follow plotline for the most part. While not being a railroad adventure (since there are many ways to deal with how to go about things), it does follow a fairly straight plot, with the bad guys manking moves that the players will have to deal with. And there is still plenty of places where the players can take time out and do their own things (and a GM can insert his own adventures in). The area around Sandpoint has a fair amount of adventuring possiblities in it, and Sandpoint itself has a lot of detail for players to interact with.

[Mathius]

As GM I am kinda kicking myself for not reading the entire AP first and going over the forums on how to foreshadow later stuff in the early books. In order to give yourself this time you could run The crytp of the everflame followed by mask of the living gods and the Island of golden death. I find the third one a little weak but it is not bad. This will give you a great feel as to how to play the game and provide several months of play. I have found that an AP can take more then a year and upwards of 2 to run with weekly play and you might not want that kind of commitment right away.

[Salazzar Slaan]

I'm definitely leaning toward Runelords now, especially since I can read it during downtime at work (you can have physical books but not pdfs).

Now to find out if there are any good guides about running it...

[Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan]

Another recommendation for Runelords.