First off: Welcome to the fold, Pathfinder!
Congratulations on making the jump. You are about to dive into a hobby that is going to keep you entertained for the rest of your life.
Secondly: Prepare for a massive amount of information being thrown your way by the very helpful community here.
There will be plenty of suggestions and advice in this thread within few hours but to be completely honest, all you really need is the Core Rulebook and this adventure, which was specifically made with beginning GMs like yourself in mind.
So my advice would be to go and have fun with the Beginner Box (which is a great way to start) and then jump over to the Core Rulebook and Crypt of the Everflame.
Once you have played that, you will have a much better idea of what you like and what you want and you can return here to ask for more specific advice on how to continue.
The Beginner Box has an adventure that you can run included in it, and I believe there are a couple of other free adventures made for the Beginner's Box ruleset which you can find here:
Beyond that, look at the Game Master's Guide included in the beginner's box for advice on what you need to do in order to GM a game. The Hero's Guide in the box should also give some solid advice for Player Characters (PCs).
When you're ready to move on from the beginner's box, look into the Strategy Guide, which is geared towards players just beginning the game. You may want to even pick that up even if you're doing just the beginner's box for now, as it may help explain a couple of concepts better. Just be aware that if you do, the ruleset included with the beginner's box is a watered down/streamlined version of those found in the Core Rulebook and other books for the full RPG, and the strategy guide is geared towards the latter. Beyond that, a number of resources for the full RPG are available for free online at various sites, there's the official Pathfinder Reference Document, and also third-party sites like d20pfsrd and Archives of Nethys. These online resources don't contain all of the information from the specific books (settings-specific stuff like deity lists are excluded), so you still may want to pick up at least the Core Rulebook on top of that. If you are running a game and want to have a good core set of books in physical form on hand, also grab the Bestiary and GameMastery Guide.
Once you graduate to the full RPG ruleset, there are a lot of adventures you can run, which vary from simple one-shot modules that may take a couple of sessions to run to adventure paths which are entire campaigns that can span months of playing. You can also create your own adventures instead of using published material, and your imagination is the limit for that.
Firstly, welcome aboard!
Second, ah, maps. You may find yourself well served snagging a Flip-mat and some dry-erase markers from you local stationers. These allow you to draw any maps you need. Also, there's a huge selection of other maps which have been drawn by professional cartographers and are just so beautiful and perfect for any game and I really want to buy some more now...
Sorry about that.
I don't tend to buy modules and adventures, instead choosing to create my own adventures (we call that "homebrew"), so I can't speak for whether the maps available are suitable for particular adventures, but the basic mat can be used for anything, and as long as you can draw a straightish line on a pre-printed grid, you're good to go.
Edit: also, I'm flagging the original post for wrong forum - this should belong in either Pathfinder General Discussion, Advice, or Beginner Box.
For maps/tilesets, they aren't required. You can simply get yourself a whiteboard and draw the grid on that or some graph paper with a 1" grid. That said, the flip mats are quite excellent products and you can get the generic ones for not all that much and then draw your own maps on top of them. If you want things more illustrated than that, you can look at the flip mats and map packs available here (flip mats are premade maps, whereas map packs give you a bunch of map tiles you can arrange yourself), or you can hit up sites like drivethrurpg for a lot of other maps/tilesets -- many of those are in pdf form so you'd download, print, and cut them out before using them. You can even forego maps entirely and just have people generally describe where they are and what they're doing, although you'll need to make a lot of tweaks to the combat system if you go that route since combat generally assumes you have a grid that everyone is on.
For building your own character, it's helpful to have an idea of what you want to play (e.g. have a concept). You can fill out all the fiddly bits once you know what you want them to generally look like. The Strategy Guide I linked earlier has some help in that regard, but once you have a concept you can also just post here and you'll get a lot of good advice and tips for how to build a character that fits that concept.
Welcome! I hope you enjoy the game. :-)
I'll echo skizzerz's tips above for what you should start off with. Beginner Box provides a good entry point. As for characters, do what you feel comfortable with. Running with pre-generated characters gives you a chance to figure out the system and some experience with the rules before having to figure out how to make a character, so it's not a bad idea. But if you want to jump in and start creating your own, the Strategy Guide has some good tips for beginner character building.
Basically, you want a character concept (i.e. what your character is like, basic personality, etc.) and an idea of the class and race you want to play. Picking a class is a good starting point. I suggest sticking with the ones in the Core Rulebook if you're new to tabletop, just so you don't have to deal with tons of options right away.
As for starting a campaign, do you have friends in your area who you're already planning to play with? If not, there are plenty of ways to find a group online (either for online or in-person play).
Once you feel comfortable enough with the rules, there are a variety of published adventure paths and modules you can run. I'd suggest starting off with a first-level module, just to get the hang of the system before jumping into a full campaign.
A module is a short, pre-written adventure, generally for a particular character level range.
A campaign setting is a pre-written world (or portion of a world) in which adventures take place. Paizo write their adventure paths (a series of adventures that start at 1st level and take the characters through a single story up to level 15+) and modules as set in the official Pathfinder campaign setting, which is the fantasy world of Golarion. Golarion is something of a "kitchen sink" setting, where almost every fantasy trope you can think of is present somewhere in the setting, and is therefore suitable for the majority of adventures you might be able to think of.
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There are a number of different product lines that Paizo produces. There are Player Companions and Campaign Setting books, which are usually smaller books with player options and GM options that usually follow a theme. Some of the Campaign Setting books can be a bit larger though, like the Inner Sea World Guide, which is a great book if you plan on running a campaign in the default Paizo setting of Golarion. Then you have the different kinds of adventures, mostly consisting of Quests, PFS Scenarios, standalone Modules, and Advenure Paths. The quests and scenarios are short adventures designed for the Pathfinder Society organized play, but they can easily be adapted into larger campaigns. They're designed to be played in a single 4-5 hour session, or for quests, in a number of 1 hour slots. Modules are longer adventures that may take 2-3 sessions to complete, and adventure paths are entire campaigns consisting of 6 Modules that form an entire campaign, usually going from level 1 to 15-16.
EDIT- Ninja'd, well at least it wasn't a double ninja.
Modules are short pre-written adventures, designed to be run in just a few play sessions. It's a nice way to have an adventure to play quickly and easily, although the GM taking some time to prepare can make them even better.
The campaign setting is the world Paizo has created as their default place to play Pathfinder - it details races and ethnicities, gods, geography, politics, flora and fauna, history, and much, much more on a planet called Golarion, focusing on what's called the Inner Sea Region. You don't have to play Pathfinder in the Golarion setting, but it's a very nice way to do it - it gives a good starting point for everyone to build off of, and it's very rich and detailed.
Welcome to the wonderful world of rpgs!
You are getting excellent advice from everyone here already but I'll just add in a few thoughts of my own.
First with respect to modules/campaigns/campaign settings.
As Chemlak states, a module is a pre-written adventure. It comes with everything (more or less) the GM needs to run a game session (or often several sessions). It describes the encounters the heroes will face, and the types of monsters/enemies, etc. It will usually also provide maps of the combat areas, though usually not on a large enough scale to place on the table and use your figures/pawns on. Think of the journey Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin took to get to Rivendell as a module.
A campaign is a series of adventures that are tied together with an overarching story (usually, though not necessarily) that take the characters from their earliest stages to the end of their careers. Think of the entire Lord of the Rings and the quest to destroy the One Ring as a Campaign. Note too that Paizo also has Adventure Paths, which are the same thing.
A campaign setting is simply the world in which the adventures take place. Using the Lord of the Rings analogy, Middle Earth would be the Campaign Setting.
As for maps, mats, flip mats, etc. I would actually suggest simply starting with a blank dry or wet erase mat. Chessex makes great ones that use wet erase markers. They are usually roughly poster sized and have grids printed on them that you can then draw on and erase. These are great because as long as you take care of your mat, you will be able to use it with almost any adventure, module, campaign, etc. One of these will likely be a little more expensive in the short run than a flip mat or map pack, but will be usable in pretty much every game session you run. A flip map of a castle for instance, won't help you much in a desert setting just as an example. Those map packs/flip mats are still good to pick up in the future as they can be good time savers and provide more realism, but not necessary right away.
With regard to characters, I'll echo the sentiments of starting small (probably even with pre-gens for your first few sessions to help you get a feel for the rules). Then you can expand to the Strategy Guide and Core Rulebook. I personally wouldn't move beyond the Core Rulebook for some time. The main reason for this is because a) each additional book adds another layer of complexity and b) makes your decisions that much harder. The cool thing with RPGs is that you can, in theory, play just about any kind of character you want. The bad thing is that you could find yourself paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of choices available to you.
Finally, it was asked earlier, but I don't see a response. Do you have a group of friends that you are currently playing with? I ask because RPGs are infinitely more entertaining if you can find a good group of friends to play with. Your local game store can probably help out and there are also a multitude of online sites that will advertise looking for gamers. Most groups will also be especially welcoming and understanding, of new players. Tell them you are new to RPGs and wanting to learn the ropes and you should, hopefully, be able to find a good group if you don't have one already.
Again, welcome aboard and enjoy the ride. RPGs have brought me countless hours of fun over the years and should hopefully continue to bring the fun for years to come. Its a great way to relax and an awesome way to hang out with friends!
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Another welcome to tabletop rpgs.
If you are going to GM, I would recommend using a module, preferably the one in the Beginner Box since its written for those rules. I would also recommend that if you are going to GM, try to get a good grasp of the rules before you and your group play.
As to rules, there is one rule that must be followed in every Pathfinder session, without exception:
Everyone gets to have fun.
Every other rule, whether in the Core Rulebook or the many fine supplements sold by Paizo or other publishers is optional and/or subject to whatever modification is necessary to satisfy the having fun rule.
Now Paizo has done a good job with the rules and you probably won't need to modify or creatively interpret them much, if at all. Just remember they are guidelines designed to enable you and the people you are playing with to have fun together.
You do not need to have a comprehensive understanding of the rules before you start playing. Reading the rules is important, but the playing the game is the best (and most enjoyable) way to figure out what's happening.
Any questions you may have about the rules, how to play, or what to do can be answered here. The members of this message board are very knowledgeable and friendly, particularly to new players.
Good luck and good gaming.
A very good suggestion - I'm in the middle of playing through Rise of the Runelords right now and it's a neat story. Rise of the Runelords is also one of the more cost-effective Adventure Paths to buy, since its Anniversary Edition lets you buy all six books bound together rather than individually, which makes it cheaper per section.
If you think there's a good chance you'll want the Core Rulebook someday, it might not hurt to check out the Humble Bundle initiative Paizo is running right now - for less than you'd spend on that one book, you can pick up digital versions of twenty books and just as many brief game scenarios from the Organized Play program. It's a great deal - check it out here or through the link in the sidebar.
So a coworker of mine recommended the rise of the rune lords and the core rule book once I got comfortable. Is that a good suggestion or should I avoid that? What is a good list of thing to pick up in order of importance??
Everyone's probably going to have a different opinion on that one. But I think the most important next purchase after the Beginner Box, if you're really interested in exploring the wider world of Pathfinder, is the Core Rulebook.
After that, check out the info here on the Paizo web store or thumb through them at a local game store, and see what catches your fancy. Rise of the Runelords is a good option for extended adventures as it's all published in one volume and so is very convenient and a good way to get an idea how some people write adventures.
As far as buying other materials, think about the format you prefer. I like physical books but am lately finding myself reading electronic formats more often. They're really convenient on my iPad. If you're OK with electronic formats, definitely look at Paizo's rulebooks. They price them to make it easy for people to not pirate them at only $9.99. That's a LOT cheaper than the physical books.
And, even better, right now they've got the Humble Bundle going on in which you can get a ton of the rulebooks on PDF, name your own price, and the proceeds can be directed to a charity of your choice (on their fairly long list). So, whether you knew it or not, right now is a very lucky time to be thinking about getting into the Pathfinder game. Just be prepared to spend a bit of time downloading - their servers are a little strained by the demand.
I second Bill Dunn's recommendation of the Humble Bundle!
An amazing bargain at 17.06$ for over 300$'s of PDFs.
It is worth it just for the art.
Remember though the Bundle only runs until 03/09!
Welcome and hope you have a great time.
The Core Rulebook certainly is a good first step after the Beginner's Box. I will also recommend the Humble Bundle as it will get you a host of PDFs that will keep you sated for quite a while. That said, if you do get the Humble Bundle, I would also recommend keeping most of those books on the "virtual shelf" so to speak until you have become pretty well acquainted with the core rules -- especially if you are looking to GM because as the GM, you'll have to be familiar with all of the rules and the more books you incorporate, the more complex the rules, and their interactions become.
As for Rise of the Runelords, it is an excellent adventure path and certainly not a bad place to look for your first full fledged campaign. That said, I would probably recommend running running several modules and/or adventures before running a full fledged campaign. Campaigns are, by their very nature, more complex. You may have characters that the party encounters in their first session come up in their last and many times in between. As the GM, you'll literally be running an entire world of people when you run a campaign and what happens one session could very likely have an impact 7 sessions later. But as others have said, Runelords is an excellent adventure path and a lot of fun to both run and play in. There is also a really good subforum dedicated to Rise of the Runelords here on the paizo site where you can get all kinds of great advice for running it.
I should clarify just a bit. The Humble Bundle deal is amazing if you don't mind PDFs (and far more convenient than books if you have a laptop/tablet). I would clarify though that in addition to the Core Rulebook, you'll also want to read the Game Mastery Guide that comes in the Humble Bundle pretty quickly if you are planning on GM'ing. It is chock full of amazing information, especially for beginner GMs. Heck, I've been GM'ing for 16 years or so and I still find it helpful to thumb through from time to time just to remind myself of things.
I definitely recommend getting the Humble Bundle - the price can't be beat and it's good to have backup digital copies whether or not you get physical copies as well. As for whether to get physical copies, it's really a matter of preference - I like having physical copies if I can, and they do tend to be easier for reference since you can turn lots of pages at once easier, but not everyone likes or can spare the expense. Or the weight - my bag for gaming weighs a ton and I don't have anywhere near all the books with me.
It really depends on what's best for you. I like PDFs because I can buy the book once, and via a private server or similar, everyone in my group can access it independently. Some people prefer to be "old school", of course, and like a physical book to leaf through. But either way, I recommend the Humble Bundle. It's a great deal for all the stuff you're getting, and you get to help out a good cause.
Here are some of my suggestions for new gamers on a budget:
1) For minis, you can absolutely use cardboard or cardstock miniatures. You can buy some from Paizo which are rather high quality (search for "Pathfinder Pawns") or you can google "rpg paper minis" and get both pictures and places to download sheets you can print onto a hardy cardstock.
2) For maps, I would STRONGLY suggest buying Target wrapping paper, preferably right after holidays. The back of it is a perfect 1"x1" grid. Then, you can draw and color up your own reusable maps. I've had great success using just basic Crayola Crayons and Sharpie markers to color in the base then using other items to add detail.
3) If you want to take the next step, I like using papercraft houses, walls, etc. (google "papercraft castle" to get a good start) They're easy to make and can be reused. You can buy simple pasterns rather cheaply that you can print out and then have some really cool 3D items.
4) If you're starting to really get into the whole do-it-yourself arena, look up the 2.5D miniature method. Basically, you're using cardboard to give your maps a bit more depth. You can get some REALLY cool looks this way.
5) If you want cheap, pre-painted 3D miniatures, look into old Mage Knight minis. They come on a hex but with an X-acto knife and some patience, you can remove the hex and then remount them with super glue onto a base. I've gotten some really cool ones for less than $0.30 each.
Oh, and one additional item - the rules are all governed by the Open Game License meaning that the rules are all freely available online. If you google "pathfinder system reference document" then you'll find a couple really good online summaries of the rules (one here on paizo.com) in a few different formats.
So would you all recommend getting the humble bundle and continuing or should the core rule book be in a physical copy?? Are Pdf's better to use for these things? I personally like the art styles but not a fan of the pricing in store.
That's completely up to personal preference. Do you prefer owning physical books or digital copies? As MeanMutton mentions, the rules are all available for free online (the sites I usually use are the PRD on Paizo's website, d20psfrd.com, and Archives of Nethys), which can serve the purpose of a quick searchable reference if you prefer owning physical copies to digital. But if you don't care about owning physical copies, the Humble Bundle is a great deal and you get a lot of stuff with it.
Another relatively cheap idea for map grids is to get some appropriately sized grid paper at an office store and have it laminated at a copy shop. Then you can write on it with wet or dry erase markers. Shouldn't cost too much and I've found it to be more durable than just using paper.
So would you all recommend getting the humble bundle and continuing or should the core rule book be in a physical copy?? Are Pdf's better to use for these things? I personally like the art styles but not a fan of the pricing in store.
As others have said, its really a matter of personal preference. Personally, I find it hard to beat the Humble Bundle deal. If you are comfortable with a laptop or tablet, then PDFs can be pretty easy to use, but as others have stated its a little harder to flip through a pdf. However, as mentioned, if you have a wifi connection where you game, you can always use the PRD or d20pfsrd.com to look up rules a little more quickly than you might be able to in a pdf document. I personally almost exclusively use pdfs for Pathfinder, and they have the added benefit of not being lost, damaged, etc. I mean, you can accidentally delete them, or lose your computer etc., but you can then always re-download the pdf for no extra charge. Leave a physical book on a bus or spill beer on it, etc., and you'll have to pay to replace it. But in the end it all comes down to your own personal comfort level.