| shadow_of_doom |
Hey, I'm planning on starting a Pathfinder group with some friends in a week or so. I currently have the Beginner Box, PDF Core RB, PDF Bestiary, and any free resources. I am confident in my ability to run free modules and maps. However I am curious on how I should be running character creation GMing and other things using the PDFs. I do have a touch screen laptop and a large enough table to accommodate such things.
The main reason I have the PDFs is that I'm a high-schooler so my financial resources are limited. I am in search of a job however, so i'll have money for resources. My gaming group will probably be a 3-4 times a month on Saturday thing.
I currently intend to purchase the following once I can afford them and if the first session goes well.
1. Bestiary Box
2. Cheap modules or Adventure path sets(likely RotRL or Skulls and Shackles)
3. Pawn set for said Adventure path
If anyone has suggestions to make PDF navigation easier that would help. Also any good ideas for early adventures would be nice as well.
| Odraude |
Laptop should do nicely. Index cards are also the greatest thing for a GM. Use them to track initiative (each card has a person, then you put them in descending order), grab stats on them, etc. Best 99 cents you'll ever spend.
I saved up money for a Kindle and in the last two years, it has done me well for PDFs.
| Scythia |
My best advice: expect the unexpected.
If you give players a choice, be prepared for them to do something you didn't plan for. Be ready to think on the fly when you need to.
Although you can have games where the plot is spoon-fed and the path is well lit and clear, you'll still have someone who wants to do something unusual sooner or later. Maybe it'll be a unique combat tactic, maybe they'll want to climb a wall instead of finding the gate, maybe they'll try to cause a cave-in to block off a spooky cave. The important thing is not to freeze up when the unexpected happens. Either try to roll with it, or let them know that you can't work with it.
Good luck, and have fun. :)
Ascalaphus
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Starting with a straightforward dungeoncrawl is nice. It whets players' appetite for loot, has an inherent story structure (going from room to room) that's not obviously railroading, but does make it easier on the GM.
I tend to discourage players from having lots of electronics at the table because they can be distracting (people playing with their phone). As a GM though, a laptop makes for a nice combination of GM screen and fast lookup of game stuff (PDF & Ctrl+F is your friend).
If you have CRB, that's good to have at the table for the players to leaf through. If you don't have it, let them have laptops.
When using web resources, remember that although d20pfsrd.com has a nicer user interface, the PRD is more up to date with regards to errata.
When making characters, go through it step by step; that's the way the book is organized, but if you use web resources you might lose sight of it.
| Itchy |
Instead of starting with an Adventure Path, I recommend starting with a module.
Crypt of the Everflame is the first Pathfinder module that Paizo published. It's a dungeon crawl, so it's pretty straightforward for players and GM. Since it's the first one they published they highlight all the changes that they made from 3.5 D&D, so you get to run encounters with a lot of different elements (combat manuevers, etc). This can be a great learning experience for GM and players.
By running a module, you are not locked into a long term adventure, so changes are easy to make after the fact. If one of the players thought that Wizard sounded really cool, but finds that he doesn't like playing a wizard, it's an easy change for him. If another player thought that Ranger was the bees knees, and she really enjoyed playing that class, she can continue to do so in other adventures.
We Be Goblins is free, and it's a lot of fun. But, you are playing Goblin PC's so there's not too many places you can go from there (except maybe to We Be Goblins Too). Our group had a BLAST playing the first. We have not had a chance to play the second yet.
| The Shaman |
I'm not sure dungeon crawls are that great for a start, a friend of mine often DMs for new people and he avoids dungeons like the plague. You cna run Crypt of the Everflame for a warmup, but actually I think Rise of the Runelords starts in a pretty newbie-friendly manner. Do mind some of the latter encounters, though.
| Matt Thomason |
Be sure to do the thing that prevents 99% of all known game issues.
Talk to your group before you start playing, and have a discussion about expectations.
Talk about the mix of combat and RP you (the group) are interested in having. Talk about whether you'll be playing strictly by the rulebook or with a lot of latitude for the GM to make judgement calls. Talk about whether you're allowing everything in the book, or whether you want to simplify the first game by sticking to certain classes and/or races. If you don't feel you know enough to make a decision, that's fine, you can come back to it after trying out a few games.
Then when you've played your first session or two, talk about it again taking into account what you've learned from those games.
Obviously you can't predict every problem, but have a browse through the forums for the type of issues other groups have had, and think about whether they may occur in your game, and how you can head those problems off at the pass before they happen.
| Mark Hoover |
Hey, welcome to the game! Let's see, stuff to buy for a GM on a budget...
- index cards
- graph/hex paper: big sheets for battle maps, small for visuals
- Master of the Fallen Fortress, Hollow's Last Hope or other free PDF adventures
My advice would be not to run an AP but start with a module and see where it goes. Could be your players really get into it, could be they're bored. The key is for you to be enthusiastic. As the GM you set the tone.
For me I enjoy starting out brand new campaigns with a character gen session or at the very least a "mission zero" where all the PCs come together. When your game takes off these adventurers will be spending a lot of time together so the players should understand who the other characters are, what they can do and how they all fit together as a group.
For that first adventure before the first adventure maybe look at John Four's 5 Room Dungeons for inspiration. Then try your hand at designing one. A "dungeon" in this instance doesn't need to be a creepy, underground tunnel system. The five "rooms" just need to be scenes that the players can work through.
Scene 1: the characters are in a town when suddenly dire rats attack
Scene 2: the rats have gnawed away supports for a second story chamber of a building; there are people trapped both in the rubble below and up above
Scene 3: the rats come back for round 2; a mysterious figure directs them from a nearby alley then flees into the shadows
Scene 4: screams from the alleyway - the mysterious figure is a kobold Adept 6 holding a bunch of hostages and about to flee into the sewers; he's also got some kobold warrior 1 troops in the alley hidden. This is the final fight
Scene 5: depending on the outcome of the fight this is the guard captain of the town either congratulating the PCs or lamenting the loss. You might also include either some loot from the fallen or some kind of compensation from the town.