Hey all,
I'm interested in getting into being a GM and have been working on my own campaign setting; however, being that I've never actually GM'ed a campaign before I am looking to test the waters with a Paizo AP. A little background on me; I started tabletop with D&D 2E in '98 and continued onto 3E/3.5. I've been PBP since '06. I've been playing Pathfinder for several years. I've got experience with Alternity, Shadowrun, Iron Heroes, LOTR RPG, D&D 4E (meh), Star Wars, and Cortex systems (mainly FireFly).
My question is this: Which AP would be good for a new GM looking to get into things? Definitely open to suggestions from veteran GMs out there!
I'm not (yet) even close to being a verteran GM, but I find the Runelords Anniversary Edition to be a good starting point. It had like 5 years of playtest before it was released and you can't get much better than that.
That's always a promising start! Thanks
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Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is the usual choice. It's very straightforward, with a classic aesthetic. More importantly, it doesn't have any subsystems like caravan rules or kingdom building to overcomplicate things for a new GM.
Serpent's Skull might also be a good choice. I haven't played it or GMed it but I understand that it's pretty straightforward, too.
In general, I would steer you toward APs that are considered more railroady (such as Rise of the Runelords) and less sandboxy (such as Kingmaker).
I would also steer you away from the 3.5 APs (Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness). They're good, especially CoCT, but you would have to deal with conversions. You can do them yourself, but it's a lot of work; you can find ones other folks have done, but then you have to keep track of them.
I agree, Rise of the Runelords is a great intro AP, it's got all the classic elements of a great D&D campaign and a really good and immersive story. It does get really dark at some points, but I think it works really well.
One thing to keep in mind, though is that running an adventure path can be a very long and involving process, and you should expect for it to take over a year depending on how often you play and how long your sessions are. I am currently running a Runelords campaign that I started back in January and we're about 2/3 through the 3rd adventure.
If you are looking to just get a little practice GM'ing before you start your own campaign, maybe try doing one of the new modules. The new format looks really cool and it seems like it would give you a great start without the commitment of starting a whole AP.
Serpent Skull is pretty sandboxy at points and as a newish gm it can be a colossal PAIN in the ass. I prepared these encounters if you go south.
"Lets go west"
from what i gather book 3 is ALL sandbox.
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If you do start with a module series, the Crypt of the Everflame series is very good. Crypt of the Everflame is a straight-up dungeon crawl. The second module, Masks of the Living God, is a little more sandboxy and difficult to run. The third module, City of Golden Death, is pretty linear, though. They're quite fun and take a party from levels 1-5.
I like the darkmoon vale modules outside of carnival of fears.
I definitely like the idea of running a few modules to wet my whistle so to speak. I hadn't thought about how long an AP can run.
Kobold king and revenge are really well made modules.
Crypt of the Everflame, Masks of the Living God & City of Golden Death are three linked pathfinder modules. They are a good choice for a new Pathfinder GM.
For a recommendation on a first AP I would suggest Rise of the Runelords (Anniversary Edition) or Council of Thieves. Council of Thieves uses an expansive urban setting which can be a challenge for a new GM, but it was the first AP that Paizo released upon switching to the Pathfinder system and as such is the shortest of the AP's and ends at 13th level.
I'd have to politely disagree with the Carrion Crown suggestion. I'm running it right now, and enjoying it greatly, but it's a little uneven in places and it's one that takes a little finessing in places. It starts really strong, but a couple of the volumes feel like they're separate adventures only tangentially linked to the main plot.
I am +1-ing the Rise of the Runelord Anniversary Edition suggestion. And if you're not too worried about it being a sequel to an AP you haven't run yet, Shattered Star might be a good pick. It's a classic macguffin hunt with dungeon crawling goodness.
I definitely like the idea of running a few modules to wet my whistle so to speak. I hadn't thought about how long an AP can run.
If you haven't GMed at all much before, I definitely would check out a series of linked modules.
The Darkmoon Vale series starts with Hollow's Last Hope and Crown of the Kobold King, and is fairly straightforward to run.
I would recommend checking out Mask of the Living God (part 2) BEFORE starting the Price of Immortality series (which starts with Crypt of the Everflame). It's an infiltration scenario that some players might not buy into and was a challenge for me to run when I was a newbie GM.
What hasn't been mentioned yet is the Dragon's Demand module. It runs from first through sixth level and it is a linked series of dungeon crawls, which are easier to run for new GMs. I teach a class of middle schoolers and they have found it relatively straightforward and it does the job of helping them feel comfortable in the GM chair.
As popular as it is I would stay away from Kingmaker (or other sandboxy APs). And my vote is for Rise Of The Runelords AE.