What AP should a newbie GM run for a group of first timers?


Advice


Hiya everyone!
A little introduction first:I've been playing PF for some months now, but has been interested in the hobby for waaaaay more time. Unfortunately, I none of my friends were interested at the time and I had to start playong PbP.
Now I'm about to move to University in a couple of months and, lo and behold, my friends expressed interest in PF! I was a little sad at first that they said that when I was about to move away, but then I discovered the existence of Roll20 :P.

So, here I am! I'm fairly sure that 2 of my friends will surely join, but I'm pretty sure that we could make a group of 4 with someone else.
I was thinking of starting up with a couple of Modules (Hollow's last hope and that-famous-3.5 edition-one-with-the-funny-kobold-dragon-caretaker), maybe joining them together to give them an opportunity to better get their feets wet both combat and RP wise.

But then we arrive at the title of the thread:I don't know what AP to run then! I'm considering the pros and cons of them, but I can't decide. :/

(Note:I don't live in the US, but in Italy, so a lot of the books hasn't come out yet here:it's not a problem for me, but I think that my friends will prefer to have something printed(and in Italian :P)
Kingmaker:The most likely candidate. It's even published here in a single hardcover book, RotRL AE style. i was afraid tough, that all of the kingdom-building et cetera will prove too much for new players. Also, I know that Kingmaker takes a lot.
Second Darkness, Council of thieves, Carrion Crown: all published here in Italy, but I heard they're not very good, or at least that it takes a lot of times to fix them yo make them a little better(like the book swapping in CoT)and I'm not rxperienced enough to do that. :/ Also, from what I know CC is brutal.
Reign of Winter:I'm in a RoW PbP, and I'll prefer not to spoiler myself :/
Rise of the runelords anniversary edition:The second most likely candidate, and we have the hardcover here, too. I'm in a PbP of this one too, but it's so famous and the PbP I'm in so wacky(All Goblin Party) that I won't mind spoilering as much. It's a classic, but I also heard that it's a meatgrinder for new players.
Curse of the Crimson throne:I really want to play this one as a player. :/

So, any advice? Aside from RotRL and Kingmaker, what could I consider?


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I just LOVED "We be Goblins" as an introductionary module. It let's them do completely silly stuff and at the same time learn the rules.

It's also a great way to break the ice with a new group.

Here's another one that might make a good first adventure:
Crypt of the Everflame - a small, fairly straightforward dungeon crawl with some RP elements, traps, and still room for some creative thinking


Dragon's Demand is a 1-7 level mini-AP... it would let them get a feel for the system without getting into the high level rocket-tag kind of game.

Then, once they have some experience, you could go with a longer running game.

Also, the free First-Steps 1, 2 and 3 scenarios for Pathfinder Society Play are an excellent intro to all the mechanics of the game, and are built for 1st level characters.

Liberty's Edge

Dragon's Demand is a great idea for getting into the game without committing the massive amount of time to an AP. That being said, if you play it and like it, go with Rise of the Runelords. It's classic and straightforward and serves as a great intro to the game.


If you have to go with an AP i say go with RotRL, but i suggest you go with some modules first.


I would vote against Kingmaker.
The kingdom building and running can easily get over your head (diplomacy, intriques etc., especially if your player watching "Game of Thrones").
It also need a lot prep-work and Sandboxing from the DM.
So far I played Skulls&Shackels, RotRL and WotR. I also DMed Kingmaker.

From this four I would suggest RotRL as it's the most classic one.
I would also think of running a small mini campaign (like "the crown of the kobold king") or modules (e.g. crypt of everflame etc.) for newbies so they can experience the game and see what kind of paly they like.


Uhm, I see. I didn't think about Dragon's Demand!
I'm probably going to run a first session of Broken Zenith's Jacob Tower, letting my players pick from the iconics preset: that way, I could have a more practical way to explain the rules, instead of a 2 hour long info-dump. :P
Then I'll probably run Dragon's Demand before RotRL, so that they can get more familiar with the system (and I with GMing).

By the way, I have another question:I was thinking of allowing core and APG, plus Blood of Fiends, Blood of angels, ISG if one of my players wanted to play a cleric or a paladin. One of my players, tough, likes a lot stealty/ninja/assassin characters and I'm sure he'll try to build one. Problem is (while I'm not of the idea that he's completely useless) I yhink that building an efficent rogue is very difficult without extensive system mastery. So, I was thinking to add the Slayer to the classes I'll allow:it got a skill point bump in the preview, so I think it will fill the "roguey" niche nicely.
Has any of you played one? Is it fun to play?


Slayer is exactly what most (combat oriented) people want from the rogue.

I have one at level 9, and he is awesome at stealth/outdoorsy/combat situations, but does not really have the ability to be the social rogue that some people want.

If he's combat/stealth/assassin focused in his concept, slayer will be wonderful for him.

If he wants social abilities, redo the ninja fluff and have him build a combat ninja with some social skills.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / What AP should a newbie GM run for a group of first timers? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.