Hello everyone!
I would love to start playing Pathfinder, but none of my friend are interested. The only person I know that would play is my wife.
With that being said, would it be worth buying the beginner box if it's just going to be the both of us? Is this even possible?
Both of us have no experience playing RPGs and we certainly don't have 4 hours since we are parents. I was just wondering if this would be a viable option for our Pathfinder fix? I have the card game and we do play that, but we are looking for a bit more story and interaction.
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It is possible. Its not easy, perticularly with 2 new players.
My recommendation. Buy the begginer box to familiarize yourself with the game. A good way to start off is to have which ever one of you is dming also run one of the pcs, and have the other person run 2 pcs. With 3 people in your party you should be able to get through that adventure in the begginer box.
Once you are a little more familiar with the rules you have a couple options to proceed that I would recommend.
The first is to use published adventures specifically designed for one on one play. expeditious Retreat Press has a series of adventures specifically desgined for 1 pc. Those could work, and give you are starting point to see how to create adventures for a single character.
The second is how my girlfriend and I ran a short campaign just the two of us. I dmed and had a dmpc, and we used a set of rules for 3.5 called gestalt. Essentially this allows you to have 2 character classes and choose the best from each. This allows you to cover a greater variety of abilities. We also made sure to use classes that had 'pets' namely the druid and summoner as part of our characters in order to ensure we have the right number of 'bodies'. With that we were able to get through several published adventure without any undue difficulty. But it does make for a fairly complex character creation process so may not be a good solution untill you are more familiar with the game.
I actually really like 1 on 1 play, as it leaves alot of room for roleplay, story and specific character developement. And its a great opportunity to have some fun with your wife in your free time. I wish you well, and hope things go well. If you have any other questions, please post.
Have you considered Play by Post, OP?
I have considered PbP, but I just don't know where to begin. You're speaking to a complete noob here... LOL. I don't even have a character.
Honestly, if it's just the two of you, going the route Kolokotroni mentioned sounds good, but I think you'll find that you're going to want more.
Personally, I think you'd be also just as well off saving your money and familiarizing yourself with the rules of the game via the PRD and d20pfsrd.
Checking out the Online Campaigns section of the forum here would be a good start, as well.
I really hope that you buy the Beginner Box--there is nothing like having the high-quality glossy books, flip-map, dice and cardboard tokens to inspire your imagination.
As Lamontius suggested, if you want to get a feel for the rules before making a purchase you can check out the free resources that are available.
I've actually put together a site for the Beginner Box rules @www.pfbeginner.com that eases players into Pathfinder as opposed to the PRD or d20pfsrd, which is sometimes overwhelming for newcomers. Once you feel comfortable with the basics, then you can add new rules and material as you see fit.
Good luck!
Welcome to the game! Just as a quick note, I would like to mention that there is a subforum on these boards that could help you find other players.
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RPGs offer an incredible return for your entertainment dollar.
Buy the box. Even if you only get around to it two years from now, it'll keep.
At some point, you can get the kids to play. The educational payload in this hobby is enormous.
Seriously, though, I learned to play by unearthing my mother's unopened red box from the closet twenty years ago. Even if you don't play, have it in your home.
Wow! What a great community. Thanks for all of the advice!
Hello hc 1980! A few months ago I was like you, a complete noob who had never touched dice before. On top of that, I was moving around alot, so having a group was far from obvious. Thankfully I discovered app.roll20.net . It's basically a PnP tabletop online where there are people playing everywhere, all the time, in all imaginable systems. It allowed me to meet more experienced players, have some fun, and now I have a more long-term gaming group online. While it can be hit-or miss depending on who you find to play with, it's a great way to play when you cant find anyone.
Very cool. Thanks!
I think the biggest problem I have with joining a group is that I can't commit to 4 hour gaming sessions once a week. If I buy the beginner box, at least my wife and I can dictatae how long each session will be. Maybe then I can start looking to join a Pathfinder Society game online which seems to be much less of a commitment.
Yeah, Beginner Box will allow you and your wife to learn the very basics. The Core Rulebook then essentially takes what is in the beginner box and vastly expands on it, adding new rules and options around the basics from the beginner box.
Also, for Play-by-Post and such, one of the nice things about it for time-strapped folks is that there really is no "session" involved. You post when you can, usually in an order or rough sequence dictated by the GM and the other players.
While some PbP's are quite active, most generally only require one post or so per day.
Now, the rules/etiquette of PbP are a bit separate from the actual game rules, so yeah, getting a bit of experience with the beginner box and the two websites I shared earlier will really help, before you (possibly) delve into PbP.
Also, I know there is an etiquette/rules thread for PbP that I perused when I first started doing some PbP on the side, but I can't seem to find it...I'll keep looking, but maybe some other forumer in meantime can post it if they know what I'm talking about...
Thanks everyone! I just procured a copy and will be looking it over tonight with the wife.
Definitely check out the PbP forums on this website. It's a good way to get exposed to the game - whoever you play with will be happy to answer all your questions as you go, and you have time to think things through and look them up since you generally only have to post once or so a day. The games move slow, but can be a lot of fun and it's a great way to scratch the itch when you have limited time.
Thanks everyone! I just procured a copy and will be looking it over tonight with the wife.
Have fun and let us know how it goes!
I played it solo with my nephew last year and it was a blast!
I definitely have groups that meet once a month, but that's mainly because we stagger so many campaigns in parallel.
Is there a gaming store where you live? Post a notice saying you are new to the game and are looking to start a group.
@HC1980 Looks like you had your question answered. Welcome to the Community!
Just wanted to say I've been playing dnd a long time and Pathfinder is my favorite RPG rules set. Try and find a local gaming store and ask around about players, we are really lucky in south Mississippi and have a huge community of gamers. (South Mississippi Gamers aka SMG)
Thanks for all of the advice. I'm going to be running the first adventure tonight. We are going to use the pregens and my wife will be using two PC's. I'm thinking about giving both characters a healing potion each and maybe probably reduce the amount of enemies she will need to face.
If all goes well, would it be possible to take those pregens and start running an adventure path i.e. Rise of Runelords?
Ive been gaming on and off for over 35 years and have to admit some of the most rewarding games Ive participated in were one on one affairs. Ive GMd a buddy from time to time, my wife (er, two different ones now that I think about it) and my children on a few occasions. What you miss in the way of player interaction you more than make up for in story depth and immersion.
The only problem Ive ever had is the inclusion of lots of NPCs. Typically I run the NPCs, which is kind of daunting but if you let your player take control of a whole party they tend to lose their character in the mix.
Good luck to you! You guys have fun!