New DM with somewhat new players?

[kbowen0188]

Hello! I haven't DMed in a very long time. I have played multiple games with friends over the years, all of which were 3.5 edition. I have recently had the itch to RP again, as has my wife, and I have found coworkers at a new job who enjoy this sort of thing. So here I am, staring at Pathfinder, and all of these modules sound very good.

I personally enjoy quite a bit of roleplay, and try to play it quick and loose with the combat and rules. If I can't remember a rule, I am the sort to come up with it on the spot (unless it is life-threatening or something) just to keep the flow of the game. The players enjoy a mix of combat and roleplay, and all of them are casual players. It will be a fairly new experience for us all. None of us have played in awhile.

Is there a particular module that is suggested? One that is considered better than the others when it comes to story and flavor? Does it come down to personal preference? I would like a campaign, but am definitely willing to consider single adventures. :)

[Fraust]

I think anyone who would get on here and say it's not personal preference at all, is...um...an idiot? I guess would be the best way to put it...

That said, I think Rise of the Runelord is a good campaign for having a mix of roleplay as well as combat. There's a variety of terrain to explore, and a variety of creatures to encounter, including several well done retakes on old favorites.

[Thorkull]

If you're interested in something light and fun, check out We Be Goblins!, which will give you a good introduction to how goblins behave in Golarion and let your players experience the craziness that are goblins firsthand. As a bonus, it's free.

Rise of the Runelords is a great introduction to the campaign setting, but as an Adventure Path (AP), you're looking at about a year to play through it (assuming meeting once a week for 4-6 hours).

Crypt of the Everflame and Master of the Fallen Fortress are good dungeon-crawl type adventures for 1st-level characters.

Murder's Mark is a more investigative style module.

[Ackbladder]

I'm in a similar boat (coming back after a 20 year absence and feeling like Encino Man), and I've been reading a lot to fill in the gaps and come up to speed.

Of the AP's I've read (RotRL, CotCT, CC and Skull and Shackles), I think RotRL would be the most noob friendly. I personally didn't like the premise of Crypt of the Everflame, and Master of the Fallen Fortress lacked any kind of real back story or plot, IMO. I do like Hollow's Last Hope, and am currently intending to use that as a kick off to a mini-campaign I'm cobbling together from Pathfinder and older 3.0/3.5 material (Forge of Fury and Red Hand of Doom - really like those modules).

Does anyone have opinions on The Dragon's Demand or Tales of the Margreve for a beginner's campaign? Both seem to go from L1 -> L7 or so, which seems like a nice balance between one-off modules and a full-blooded AP. The reviews seems good on both, I'm just not sure how well suited they are to a rusty DM and newer players.

[Lord Snow]

Rise of the Runelords is a very solid choice for a new group, and it covers all the "classic" elements of D&D - there are evil humanoids and a human wizard scheming to use them to rule the world, and the PCs are local heroes from a small, friendly town that finds itself smack in the middle of the bad guy's machinations. Very basic, but so well done that it wouldn't feel cliched or boring.

But, if you are looking for something shorter, there are great options for that, too.

There's "The Dragon's Demand" which is a sort of a mini campaign, taking PCs from levels 1 through 7, where they get to eventually slay a dragon that's terrorizing the area- I haven't read the adventure but it's getting mostly excellent reviews.

There's also the much shorter option of a Pathfinder module (the old format, a 32 pages adventure covering a level or two).

The module "The Harrowing" is one of the coolest, most unique modules Paizo ever published, where the PCs are sucked into a "harrow deck" (essentially that's just a Tarrot deck), and have an Alice-In-The-Wonderland like experience, encountering all sorts of bizzare locals that are embodiments of the cards in the deck. ]

I would not recommend Pthfinder Society Scenarios. They are a bit too short and many of them lack any serious plot and they are just a jumble of combat encounters.

[Ahlmzhad]

Lord Snow wrote:

Rise of the Runelords is a very solid choice for a new group, and it covers all the "classic" elements of D&D - there are evil humanoids and a human wizard scheming to use them to rule the world, and the PCs are local heroes from a small, friendly town that finds itself smack in the middle of the bad guy's machinations. Very basic, but so well done that it wouldn't feel cliched or boring.

But, if you are looking for something shorter, there are great options for that, too.

There's "The Dragon's Demand" which is a sort of a mini campaign, taking PCs from levels 1 through 7, where they get to eventually slay a dragon that's terrorizing the area- I haven't read the adventure but it's getting mostly excellent reviews.

There's also the much shorter option of a Pathfinder module (the old format, a 32 pages adventure covering a level or two).

The module "The Harrowing" is one of the coolest, most unique modules Paizo ever published, where the PCs are sucked into a "harrow deck" (essentially that's just a Tarrot deck), and have an Alice-In-The-Wonderland like experience, encountering all sorts of bizzare locals that are embodiments of the cards in the deck. ]

I would not recommend Pthfinder Society Scenarios. They are a bit too short and many of them lack any serious plot and they are just a jumble of combat encounters.

While PFS Encounters would not be the best way to make a campaign, they certainly can give you a good evenings worth of material if you're cobbling a campaign together from various modules and need to cover a gap, or the party goes off map for a bit, and you need something coherent for them to do. Or even as filler for an AP. They are Golarion based so they add insight and are easily melded into what you're playing. You can find them for most locations in Golarion so they can be very useful.

[Lord Snow]

Ahlmzhad wrote:

Lord Snow wrote:

Rise of the Runelords is a very solid choice for a new group, and it covers all the "classic" elements of D&D - there are evil humanoids and a human wizard scheming to use them to rule the world, and the PCs are local heroes from a small, friendly town that finds itself smack in the middle of the bad guy's machinations. Very basic, but so well done that it wouldn't feel cliched or boring.

But, if you are looking for something shorter, there are great options for that, too.

There's "The Dragon's Demand" which is a sort of a mini campaign, taking PCs from levels 1 through 7, where they get to eventually slay a dragon that's terrorizing the area- I haven't read the adventure but it's getting mostly excellent reviews.

There's also the much shorter option of a Pathfinder module (the old format, a 32 pages adventure covering a level or two).

The module "The Harrowing" is one of the coolest, most unique modules Paizo ever published, where the PCs are sucked into a "harrow deck" (essentially that's just a Tarrot deck), and have an Alice-In-The-Wonderland like experience, encountering all sorts of bizzare locals that are embodiments of the cards in the deck. ]

I would not recommend Pthfinder Society Scenarios. They are a bit too short and many of them lack any serious plot and they are just a jumble of combat encounters.

While PFS Encounters would not be the best way to make a campaign, they certainly can give you a good evenings worth of material if you're cobbling a campaign together from various modules and need to cover a gap, or the party goes off map for a bit, and you need something coherent for them to do. Or even as filler for an AP. They are Golarion based so they add insight and are easily melded into what you're playing. You can find them for most locations in Golarion so they can be very useful.

Agreed. I was talking more about my personal feeling that society scenarios are not on par with other Paizo adventures and they will mostly weaken the campaign.

[logic_poet]

Curse of the Crimson Throne is a good choice, and so can be Council of Thieves. CoT tends to finish at a lower level than most APs, which in your case could be a plus, since that's less rules to remaster. However, it does require some expectations management, in that you need to emphasize the point is to defeat a thieves' guild, not foment a revolution for the nation it's set in. The second adventure, which includes a play (with dialogue) is distinct enough that your group could find it memorable, if they can get into it.