So I'm looking to run a prequel campaign...

[Silus]

So I got offered to run a game for a new group, but instead of redoing the campaign I finished not too long ago with another group, I'm tossing around the idea of running a prequel to the first campaign.

Campaign 1 basic premise:

Spoiler:

1000 years ago, a barrier was put up around the world, cutting off planer travel and the influence of the gods (who were being jerks). The battier was erected by a semi-mortal goddess (in that they attained an irreversible physical form) of the home and hearth named Ju'Leah who had had it with the other god's shenanigans. Her sister, a likewise semi-mortal goddess of health and wellbeing, had a "better" idea than erecting a barrier. The first sister thought the actions of her sister were too radical and exiled her to the reaches of space before throwing up the barrier. Now, an entity that the first group dubbed "Yellow Eyes" is seeking to shatter the barrier for his own purposes. If he succeeds, then the exiled sister may return with a vengeance, and with no gods left, save maybe for the goddess of the hearth, there's little hope for the mortal population.

Anyway, the prequel would take place during the time 1000 years prior to Campaign 1, dealing with rogue gods causing trouble, interplanetary and interplanar troubles and politics, and, eventually, helping Ju'Leah erect the barrier and set events in motion for Campaign 1.

So here's the problems I'm facing at the moment:

1) New players. At least one has tabletop gaming experience, the others are pretty new. I've already got some plans to go slow with simple stuff (killing wolves, dire rats, goblins, etc), but are there any tips that I ought to keep in mind for dealing with new players?

2) The world in the prequel was far more...sci-fi than Pathfinder normally is. One sorta plot point that I've been tossing around is that a coalition armada or something shows up when they're not supposed to be in the area (turns out that they're there to "keep the peace" from the rogue god's shenanigans). Anyway, with the sci-fi elements (space ships, robots, etc.) blended with typical Pathfinder fantasy (swords and sorcery), what sort of problems will I be looking at?

3) The motive. Specifically, what the Goddess of health and wellbeing (still don't have a name) wanted to do instead of distance the world from the other Gods. Currently, all I have is she wanted to construct a sort of Tarrasque-God-Slayer monster and unleash it on the pantheon until it slew all the still not-semi-mortal deities. I figure that would be a nice way to tie in Kaiju (Bestiary 4) into Campaign 1 along with a sort of Fleshwarping lab. Suggestions are appreciated.

[mkenner]

Silus wrote:

but are there any tips that I ought to keep in mind for dealing with new players?

When giving them advice instead of saying "You should do this", tell them the different options and what would be involved for each of them. It'll help them understand the game more themselves and help them learn to make choices in game.

If they don't know the rules yet, they can just tell you the idea of what they want to do and then you can translate it into rules for them. For example:
"Hey, my little guy here is going to run up towards the guy with the spear and try to knock him onto his back."
"Oh okay, well that sounds like a charge and then a trip attack, here's how you do that."

Quote:

3) Currently, all I have is she wanted to construct a sort of Tarrasque-God-Slayer monster and unleash it on the pantheon until it slew all the still not-semi-mortal deities.

Check out the Behemoths in Bestiary 3.

[Matt Thomason]

Silus wrote:

2) The world in the prequel was far more...sci-fi than Pathfinder normally is. One sorta plot point that I've been tossing around is that a coalition armada or something shows up when they're not supposed to be in the area (turns out that they're there to "keep the peace" from the rogue god's shenanigans). Anyway, with the sci-fi elements (space ships, robots, etc.) blended with typical Pathfinder fantasy (swords and sorcery), what sort of problems will I be looking at?

One thing I'd keep in mind for this is to consider borrowing from the d20 Modern rules.

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/modern/ smack/srdhome.html

[Silus]

mkenner wrote:

Quote:

3) Currently, all I have is she wanted to construct a sort of Tarrasque-God-Slayer monster and unleash it on the pantheon until it slew all the still not-semi-mortal deities.

Check out the Behemoths in Bestiary 3.

Actually, I understand that there are like 8 pages of Create-A-Kaiju rules in Bestiary 4. And I don't see the new players actually FIGHTING the thing (that's for Act 2 of Campaign 1).

Matt Thomason wrote:

Silus wrote:

2) The world in the prequel was far more...sci-fi than Pathfinder normally is. One sorta plot point that I've been tossing around is that a coalition armada or something shows up when they're not supposed to be in the area (turns out that they're there to "keep the peace" from the rogue god's shenanigans). Anyway, with the sci-fi elements (space ships, robots, etc.) blended with typical Pathfinder fantasy (swords and sorcery), what sort of problems will I be looking at?

One thing I'd keep in mind for this is to consider borrowing from the d20 Modern rules.

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/modern/ smack/srdhome.html

Maybe dip into some of the D20 Future stuff. Opinions on using some DragonMech things? Got a copy of the book and I kinda wanna use some of it.

[mkenner]

Silus wrote:

Actually, I understand that there are like 8 pages of Create-A-Kaiju rules in Bestiary 4. And I don't see the new players actually FIGHTING the thing (that's for Act 2 of Campaign 1).

I don't have bestiary 4 yet so I'm not sure. It'll be interesting to see what they do with those rules.

I'm personally quite fond of giving stats even to things that aren't meant to be fought though, just because the mechanics can often inspire RP ideas.

[Silus]

mkenner wrote:

Silus wrote:

Actually, I understand that there are like 8 pages of Create-A-Kaiju rules in Bestiary 4. And I don't see the new players actually FIGHTING the thing (that's for Act 2 of Campaign 1).

I don't have bestiary 4 yet so I'm not sure. It'll be interesting to see what they do with those rules.

I'm personally quite fond of giving stats even to things that aren't meant to be fought though, just because the mechanics can often inspire RP ideas.

True. And somehow, regardless of how dangerous and OP the thing is and how you describe it, at least one PC is gonna try to take a swing at it.

Only two things I've ever made that the PCs tried to avoid: 1) A creature I call a Herald of the Stars (Shining Child with light inverted to darkness and fire to cold) and 2) an environmental hazard called the Pink Cloud that acts like a slow acting Rusting Grasp coupled with a low-power Incendiary Cloud that...well, it never really dissipates. And all damage happens regardless of DR, each round of immersion. Stuff is a leftover of a WMD after all >.>

[Silus]

So correction, there is NO Create-a-Kaiju thing in Bestiary 4, of which I am very sad.

So I'm just gonna take a Void Dragon, give it the Kaiju and Robot subtype and the Clockwork Creature template and go wild.