I was asked by local game store owner to start running pathfinder at his store on Saturdays. I will be running rise of the runelords anniversary. The problem is I have never DM'ed pathfinder and have only played maybe 1-2 times back when it first came out in 09'. I do have the core rule book, bestiary 1, gamemastery guide, advanced player's guide, bestiary 2, ultimate magic, ultimate combat, bestiary 3, rise of the runelords anniversary, and the inner sea world guide.(used to have subscription. My question is what books should i allow the PC's to make characters out of considering I have little to know knowledge of pathfinder past the core rules and I know for a fact the people playing have played a ton of pathfinder and like to min/max there characters.
P.S. I could possibly running this as a Pathfinder society event which I have no knowledge of.
|
As someone who GM'ed his first real game of Pathfinder two weeks ago, I sympathize.
Reccomended Reading:
Core Rules, and the adventure you will be running.
If you have more time, read ahead. When you DO have more time, definitely read ahead. This will allow you to predict what the players will do.
Don't be afraid to say "Core Rules only" until you're more comfortable with the rules.
And most importantly: Be flexible and allow everyone to have fun, and THIS INCLUDES YOU.
Good luck.
You're perfectly in your rights to ask your players to use only the Core Rule Book for now. It's what you know and, if any of your players are new to the game then it'll be what you have available to teach. I also second reading the adventure as well as the next couple to see how it all fits together. If you're running an AP its a good idea to know where you're supposed to end up even if the PCs might surprise you on how you get there.
Just remember that to keep it fair you should restrict yourself to the same sources you give your players. If you decide to customize a monster or add a side quest of your own design then you should constrain yourself to the CRB too. Obviously you'll need the bestiary but if you pick, say, a unique spell from Ultimate Magic to sub into the Dark Slayer's powers, you'll have to open that to your players as well.
|
If you want to run PFS style, the rule is generally that if the player wants to have something from another source, THEY are required to BRING a copy with them to the session. This alleviates the responsibility on the GM to own every darn book out there. It also allows people to have officially sanctioned stuff that you don't necessarily know about, but can read before you start if needed.
Also, if you have a Droid phone (or any other?) you can download the PFS PRD, which has all the core book information (the Ultimates etc too now, apparently). So that is out there and available for download and use (it appears to be a legal download...). If I am wrong about it being a legal download, please let me know. (As far as I know it is like browsing here)
The FUN part that lucky7 said is 100% mandatory. If you don't enjoy it, let the game shop find someone else to run it.
I second the core only as well. I remember when i cirst started GMing my players were DMs who had system mastery of 3.5 and found all types of classes and archetypes and whatnot that i got overwhelmed and made some bad calls (some that haunt me today thinking about it). Core will make it alot easier on you and be another thing that wont overwhelm you.
read about the classes and combat and magic chapters. Read a good portion ahead of the campaign. (Also a nice lil help would be to run the beginners box and have it lead into the campaign if you like).
Be flexible, you have a tough job that will be alot of fun as long as you are flexible in the story. Say yes if its "cool" or fun or unique, but know when to say "no". Dont always say yes.
also read up on the beastiary of the enemies you are gonna be dealing with.
Above all else, make sure you AND the group is having fun :-)
Do not just read the adventure.
Re-read it.
Then, read it again!
You need to know the adventure like the back of your hand.
Because when the players deviate from the adventure (and they will, oh, will they ever), you need to know it well enough to be able to roll with their 'off-roading' and allow their deviation to lead back to the main story through how you narrate their results.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ten tips for new GM's = http://zenithgames.blogspot.se/2013/11/7-tips-for-new-gms.html =. On top of this know your monsters, read through their stat blocks carefully, if there is something you are confused about, find it BEFORE the fight, save a bookmark to D20 or PFSRD on your phone for fast look-up. Some monsters have classes which grant them new abilities/spells/equipment that really changes how they behave or fight.
Also know your player characters, get copies of their sheets to study so you can plan accordingly.
Let your players know you are new, some will have system mastery and you can use their knowledge to help you (assistant GM's can alleviate a lot of combat issues).
If a player and you or a player and a player have a rules dispute make THEM look it up, get them in the habit of learning the rules, even the oldest most experienced players don't know all of the rules/errata out there.
And yes, if you find yourself not having fun, then why punish yourself? Find a way to have fun, or hand the game off to another, EVERYONE must have fun, including you.
Being A GM requires preparation on the GM's part.
And since your new, I would Recommend going with the Core Rule Book Only rule as you then don't need to know the other classes, races and any other crunch you don't know and not worry about a lot of the extra crunch for the Pathfinder game and keeping the game simple.
Read and Re-read the Adventure a few times til you know most of it of the top.
Don't expect the game to go like a screen play because players do the unexpected. Don't think you can wing it, as the game needs structure for the players to know what's going on the to keep things constant.