I wondering what scenarios people would recommend getting to start off your collection. I guess I'm looking for scenarios that are fun to GM, that people want to play, and that I'll be able to get a lot of use out of.
There's 5 seasons of these things, and then a bunch of still-legal ones from 3.5. I'm not sure whether I should start near the beginning, buy the most recent ones, or try to find a gem somewhere in the middle.
Look for the 4.5 and 5 star reviews of the modules working through each season.
I'd go a bit lighter on Season 0 and 1 and 2 however unless your area and friends doesn't have PFS running simply because a lot of ppl have played these before.
So newer modules are probably preferable since less people have had a chance to play them? That makes a lot of sense.
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We Be Goblins and First Steps 1 are free and fun. There are a couple of other freebies, too, but I don't remember them all offhand. Master of the Fallen Fortress is another decent freebie.
Of the non-free, I really like running The Disappeared, Frostfur Captives, Sewer Dragons of Absalom, Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible, the Quest for Perfection trilogy, and Storming the Diamond Gate.
I'd heard of We Be Goblins but didn't know it was free, that's awesome. I'm all about free.
I've heard from several people that specifically part 1 of First Steps is free, but it looks like the whole trilogy is free, in case anyone was unaware.
I didn't have Master of the Fallen Fortress though. There's quite a goodly number of free modules it seems.
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It depends what you and your group find as fun. Listed some I've enjoyed and why and other notes.
Season 0 can be less fleshed out than later seasons, but if you put some GM elbow grease in you can make most scenarios enjoyable.
We Be Goblins (FREE/Low Level Module) - Brilliant crazy fun since ... you're playing as goblins. Can have some fun RP opportunities. Combat at the end can be fierce.
We Be Goblins Too (FREE/Mid Low Tier) - Have not had a chance to run. Looks fun, but not quite as light hearted and zany as the original.
Rise of the Goblin Guild (Low Level) - Capture a goblin thief and use her to track back to her group. If the initial goblin is played right it can be an awesome fun RP experience with hilarity.
Frostfur Captives (Low Level) - You're transporting some goblin "informants" from Irrisen to the Land of the Linnorm Kings. Craziness insues.
Quest for Perfection Trilogy (Low Level) - Oriental Kung Fu/Samurai type flavor
Edge of Heaven - Seek a Martial Arts artifact in an abandoned monk monastery
On Hostile Waters - Travel by boat to reach someone who can power the artifact. Often regarded as the weakest of the 3.
Defenders of Nesting Swallow - Get your inner Assassin on (13 Assassins) and prepare to defend a village of peasants from a gang of Tengu bandits. Great RP opportunities and ability to use use defense tactics.
Way of the Kirin (Low Mid Tier) - Spiritually similar to Defenders of Nesting Swallow. Fortify an old lodge to withstand an assault by the Aspis Consortium's new brutal ally.
Haunting of Hinojai (Upper Mid Tier) - If you good at creating a creepy atmosphere (Asian horror scenario) this can be fun to run. Must be comfortable with haunts with players that are also familiar with them. Requires a bit more prep than a lot of scnearios.
Rats of Round Mountain Pair (Upper Tier) - For challenging scenarios in the dark. Make sure you understand your lighting rules and how they work with magical darkness and light.
The Frozen Fingers of Midnight (Low Tier) - Ulfen (Viking) fun. Remove a curse from a friend of the Society. Study up on Ulfen (Land of the Linnorm) customs and such to get a better feel for how the RP'ing should be. Season 0 so you'll need to flesh it out a bit.
Fingerprints of the Fiend (High Tier) - Battle the Aspis Consortium and engage the enemy on an Indiana Jones mine cart chase. Like many Season 0's, read through and FLESH IT OUT. Requires more prep than usual to make it enjoyable.
The reason people did not mention First Steps 2 and 3 is because they can not be played for credit any longer. They have been retired. Obviously you can always play them for fun.
Not sure if you're playing for PFS or just standalone fun, but in PFS you can only get credit for a scenario once as a player and once as a GM.
Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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I've heard from several people that specifically part 1 of First Steps is free, but it looks like the whole trilogy is free, in case anyone was unaware.
I'm sure everyone is aware. But part 2 & 3 have been retired when season 5 started, so nobody mentions them because you wouldn't be able to run them for credit.
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#3-21: The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment is a classic... but probably not best attempted as a PC's first scenario, as it can be quite tough.
My group got our butts kicked in that one. Probably one of the worst examples of late season 3 and season 4 overcompensating for the earlier seasons being too easy. Fun RP, but the combats were over the top.
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Season 4's Severing Ties is my favorite go-to backup scenario. I'll also vouch for Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment and Mist of Mwangi.
I'd also like to suggest #2-01 and #2-02: Before the Dawn pts 1 and 2. Pt1 is a great RP/stealth mission in a jungle pirate town while Pt2 is great for those that want to bash a lot of heads in and *spoiler omitted*.
I'm sure everyone is aware. But part 2 & 3 have been retired when season 5 started, so nobody mentions them because you wouldn't be able to run them for credit.
Aaaw really? I really liked that series and concept of choosing your faction after meeting all the heads.
So you just run it normally, with factions already picked, and give XP/Prestige like a regular module?
Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Martinsville
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If you don't mind a little prep work to adjust undead from 3.5 to PF, then Black Waters is a good little scenario to run. I would still hand out the faction missions, as they give some clues and have some very good back stories.
I also love the fact that it is an unusual calm visit briefing at Drendle Drange's home instead of the late night summons he usually begins with in latter scenarios. The first time I GMed it, I had a bowl of M&M's out on the table as he had the character introduce themselves as they arrived for the briefing.
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The Stolen Heir does require quite a bit of study about Andoran/Taldan/Galtan history to really make it shine. You're right the RP opportunities are great in there. But it'll take a lot of prepwork to get all of the NPCs properly 'fleshed' out to make the RP shine like it should, otherwise it's a bit of a lackluster scenario as the combats are fairly tame except for the foolhardy.
A better alternative would be The Horn of Aroden; somewhat similar in premise, but much of the focus is on only 2 NPCs, 3 perhaps if you wish to give the quest giver her time. Like Stolen Heir, if you don't flesh out the NPCs, the scenario may look bleak, but the primary NPC is easier to work with I think as the scenario sorta falls into some familiar tropes.