Starting the whole Pathfinder RPG experience

[BlahC]

Greetings.
I need some advice on how to start a new Pathfinder Campaign with a group of people who are veteran roleplayers but are somewhat allergic to trying out anything new (comes with the age I guess) and who aren't too keen on D20 systems. It has taken me quite a while to convince them to finally give it a try (the Adventure Card game helped a lot during board game night) and now I want to do it in style, so we will keep playing this for a long time and not get back to the boredom that is Ars Magica.
I have plenty of experience in AD&D 2nd edition, some with 3rd edition and I bought the Pathfinder Core book a few years ago, so I know the basic rules by now, thus character creation and the like should not be a problem. But when I look at all the fancy products that Paizo has to offer, I wonder what a starting group really needs. Pawns and maps are important, it seems, so what should I buy in that aspect? And what about source books and adventures?
With my local store having most Pathfinder things on sale right now, I am eager to get a good start setup and make this a succees, it has been too long since d20s rolled in our club home.

tldr: New to Pathfinder with wary group, need a list of basic and recommended books/boxes to buy to get the show on the road in style. (Core Rulebook and Inner Sea World Guide already present)

[Kalindlara]

I'd get the Advanced Player's Guide as well, rulebook-wise.

For adventures, I'd suggest the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, plus some of its corollary products. It's a nice classic tale. If you want something way more exotic, look into Reign of Winter.

The basic boxes of Bestiary Pawns are probably fine, plus the pawns for whatever Adventure Path you might get.

For other sourcebooks, again, whatever's right for the adventure. They might be wary of too many books. So get Varisia, Birthplace of Legends for Rise, or People of the North for Reign of Winter. There's a lot of other good ones, but not off the top of my head (especially for a group that's new to the rules set).

That should be a good starting point. ^_^

[BlahC]

Thanks for the quick answer! Advanced Player's Guide sounds good.
I'm not too sure I want to start with the Runelords, we still have to play half of that via the Adventure Card game, plus they do not like pre-made adventures too much.
So I guess I'll get the first Bestiary and the pawn box for it? What about player character pawns or npc pawns, is there some sort of basic box that covers all that for those who choose not to use an adventure path? Would suck if only the monsters get proper representation and I really don't want a second gummy bear war. Oh and what about battlefield maps?

[kinevon]

For PCs, you could probably get by with the NPC Codex pawn box.
For maps, probably the basic starter pack is good, just remember to get a set of wet erase markers to go with it.

Specific map packs or flip-mats depend on the adventure you are running, other than the blank square maps, like the starer pack.

Source books, as mentioned, will depend on where you are having the group adventure. There are plenty of choices.

Depending on the group's tastes, there may be some good pre-made adventures.
The Dragon's Demand is a module designed to take new PCs form 1st to (about) 7th level in a cohesive adventure, going from "What happened, and why?" through dealing with that which caused the situation that started the PCs on the path they took.

Kingmaker is an AP, adventure path, designed to take PCs form 1st to about 16th or 17th level, and is very sandboxy, free-form, in play. The adventure takes a gang of new PCs to an area in anarchy with the goal to found their own kingdom there.

[Professor]

I would get the Advanced Class Guide and I would also start the players off with the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. It is a fantastic adventure path and they should have a ball. May I also recommend purchasing a megamat by Chessex with a package of colored expo wet erasers for your mapping and displays. It can make for awesome eye candy while you're playing. Have fun!

[N. Jolly]

If anyone in the group needs help making a character, check out my guide for character building, which should help make the experience easier for those looking to build their first PF character.

[Coffee Demon]

A lot depends on what your group enjoys in a RPG experience. Why are they wary? What are their expectations? Why don't they like the idea of a D20 game? Have they played D20 games before? What RPGs do they enjoy? What play styles do they enjoy?

My feeling is that PF combat can seem unwieldy and overly tactical compared to other RPGs. Also the rules might tend to make some people think that, during battle, they can only do what is on their character sheet.

Knowing nothing about Ars Magica, I think the biggest challenge in PF would be to know the important rules inside-out so the players don't have to worry about it. Character creation (and especially Feat selection) might induce paralysis at the wealth of options. But it's totally dependant on what your players like. You gotta work with them do make it an experience they'll enjoy.

Would love to hear some answers to my questions above to maybe help out a little more.

[Astral Wanderer]

BlahC wrote:

Pawns and maps are important, it seems, so what should I buy in that aspect? And what about source books and adventures?

With my local store having most Pathfinder things on sale right now, I am eager to get a good start setup and make this a succees, it has been too long since d20s rolled in our club home.

tldr: New to Pathfinder with wary group, need a list of basic and recommended books/boxes to buy to get the show on the road in style. (Core Rulebook and Inner Sea World Guide already present)

If you have money to burn, good. But pawns and maps aren't important. Beyond Core Rulebook and Bestiary, not a single product is "important", you can play with no maps, and if you feel the need you can always take a paper sheet and track squares on it and use anything as tokens (who said Lego puppets?). I repeat, if spending money isn't a problem, go on, the pawns and maps are nice, but you don't actually need them (especially if there's a risk that your group might not like Pathfinder and never go beyond a few sessions).

Also, for a group that's just starting, I would avoid the books that add unnecessary options. They haven't even barely sifted through the basic ones yet, who alone offer countless possibilities...
Rather, I'd encourage you to give a look at fluff material. You already have The Inner Sea World Guide, and if you've chosen where to set your campaign, you might want to buy the books related to that region (unless you picked one of the few that don't have any book yet).
Also, an adventure path set in that region might be nice, but that's if your group agrees in running published adventures (aka being railroaded in a good measure).
Beyond that, you might want books like Ultimate Campaign to handle downtime and other things, NPC Codex (though if you prepare stuff in advance you can just go online on the PRD and copy the NPCs you need), and the Game Mastery Guide, which, apart from GM advice, has a number of nice tables and stuff, including common and less common NPCs.

[Ciaran Barnes]

Figure out when your turn to GM a game is coming up. Let them know a couple of weeks beforehand that you will be running Pathfinder. If buying or sharing a CRB is not possible for one of them, point them to one of the online sources.

[BlahC]

Coffee Demon: The group consists of people who mostly see D20 as generic monster slaying, even though they have hardly ever played it. They have been mostly playing Rolemaster and Spacemaster, with some Shadowrun and Ars Magica. As for the playstyle, we often have mostly roleplaying with the occasional combat (in our SR group), in the other groups, the so called meta game is what is most important to them, like having a base of operations and doing all kinds of things like crafting and building with making maximum use of what the rules allow (which is kind of annoying at times).
What I want with Pathfinder is to bring the RPG feeling of old back, going on actual quests rather than satisfying personal hunger for power or need for parts. Being on the road for days and weeks, not hiding in a big castle/space ship/company, and explore the world instead of exploring more tables in a book. Heck, even saving a princess from a dragon would be a change...
I think the guys will be fine with the feats and other things that Pathfinder has to offer, it's certainly a bit complex but nothing that cannot be dealt with.
As for Adventure Paths, I might look into it. Will have a talk with the group after Christmas and poke them for what they would prefer. Initially I wanted to start with some self made stuff just to see if it's fun, but I guess it could also work the other way around.

Astral Wanderer: You are probably right, more options will only lead to more confusion. That's why I am going to keep things basic in our first campaign, which I aim to keep relatively short, perhaps half a year. But I do want to get some of the more advanced things as well, for one because I really love to read all that stuff and want to be prepared but also to make sure my friends know that there are many more options available if they keep playing. This might sound a bit silly, but that usually keeps them interested.
So I will get a basic setup of mats, pawns and maybe an adventure path to start and some of the other suggested stuff for myself for now and for us all to play for later. And yea, right now I have a little money to burn, it's better spent that way than what I usually would do with the money :D

---

As an overview, I got the following things on my list now:
Basics:
Bestiary I + Pawn Box
Bigger Basics mats
NPC Codex Pawn Box

Optional stuff for later use (and for me to read when I get them):
Advanced Players Guide
Advanced Class Guide
Gamemaster Guide

Depending on the talk next weekend, I will probably also get
Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition + Pawn Box
Varisia, Birthplace of legends (would have been my choice of places to start anyways, it looked quite interesting in the Inner Sea World Guide)

[Cycada]

I would also like to suggest the Pathfinder Unchained book as well. For those who like to customize how their game plays in drastic ways, it has a lot of good options.

Few examples:

1. The base class rogue, barbarian, monk, and summoner got reworked to fix some flaws in the power, playstyle, or balance/clarity of each class. Definitely suggest using these classes as a straight up replacement of the like-named ones found in the PHB or hte Advanced Player's Guide.

2. Alternative rules that remove the Big 6 magic items from the game in exchange for static bonuses that grow as your characters do. This helps mitigate the feeling of magic item oversaturation. (And it opens up slots, like shoulder, to be used with otherwise never-purchased items!)

3. Repeat of 1, but if anyone in your group intends on playing a rogue, I highly HIGHLY suggest you use the Unchained Rogue instead. It solidifies the class as a dexterity based trickster that can both inflict damage and give all kinds of 'status conditions' every round.

Good luck with that new group, sounds like you have your work cut out for you, haha.