Since I don't have much opportunity to play RPGs in the weekend currently because my usual group is busy with various real-life things for at least the next few months, I'm toying with the idea of polling my colleagues about their interest in an after work game.
Geeks abound at my workplace (electronics company) - ours is a fairly small company with a flat hierarchy, no strict boss-employee relations and contact with my colleagues is very social and familiar. I know of at least one colleague with past RPG experience; others have passing familiarity through me. So, before I turn my toy idea into gauging the interest of my peers, I'd like to know what to expect, thus I turn to you:
What I'm looking for is some general experience / tips of others. What has been your experiences in hosting after-work games? What are specific do's, don'ts, or just things to keep in mind?
I myself have a fair amount of GM experience, lots of player experience, and expect to have space in my agenda for the required preptime.
Start with pregenerated characters for everyone, and encourage players to make their own. Until you have a good idea of the longevity of this work game, keep the adventures episodic. What I mean by that is that each quest or adventure is relatively short and will not suffer greatly if the gaming group doesn't keep the same players. A player who joins in a few months shouldn't be lost due to not knowing the entire back story. Each new "episode" can flow into the next one, but don't get an over arching storyline for now.
One thing you might consider is running pre-written modules or scenarios. That way, you don't end up with so many "You put that monster in just because you hate me" issues.
Sounds like the perfect storm for PFS-like play: short modules tailored for newer players, streamlined recordkeeping, easy drop-in/drop-out as word spreads and people want to join, or people realize tabletop isn't for them, continuity and themes without a strict storyline.
The more important question, in my mind, is do you want to spend more time with these people, or are you just taking advantage of a convenient, semi-captive audience? I've worked with some great people who I've been very social and familiar with, but would not want to put in more time with on my own hours.
Using pre-gens is a good idea, and since all players are new to Pathfinder, starting light is very much needed. I've had good experience with tables of (almost) all new players before and feel confident I could teach them the ropes. I usually keep campaigns light-hearted and would definitely not do heavy, dark themes here.
For my sessions I've been using APs of late to save time; I've never used the short PFS modules before, but they look interesting - definitely taking a close look at them.
As for using a convenient audience: that is partly true. However, quite a few colleagues already have fair amounts of out-of-work interaction with one another (including myself), and years back there was a regular video gaming evening, so there is precedent for something similar. It is part of the reason I'm ruminating on this first, and I'd start with carefully probing interest before formally setting something up.
You could also go with an 'open table' approach, where at the end of every evening, the PC's get back to the nearby town. That way, you can start off doing whatever, based on who's available that week.
But PFS would also work very well. If you're interested, Emerald Spire might also do very well. It's very straight forward, explore the dungeon, but it's not so simple that it's dull.
I'm digging the combined idea of a noncommital open table approach with short introduction adventures to gauge interest. I think Emerald Spire might be a bit too hard on new players; from what I've gathered it can be quite tough in parts.
Thanks, I'll take a look at the First Steps PFS scenarios and see how things go from there.