1st Time GM advice

[Klladdy]

Hello all,
With the recent sale of Pathfinder content via the humblebundle, I finally got into the game. I've had some interest in role playing for a while and the sale pushed me to finally start. I'm going to be playing with a group of friends, who are also new to role playing, and I'll be GMing.

I need a bit of advice for building my first session, which will probably be a one-shot. I had preordered the beginner box, but it does not look like it will be able to make it before the end of school, so that option is out. I plan on making this as simple as possible for new comers (I am one myself).

This is what I was planning on (setting is not Golarion):
My heroes are transported from our gaming table to another plane, where they find themselves in new bodies with new memories; they are incarnate as the shells of heroes previously long dead (I'll be pregenerating a few characters for them to play with based upon their preferences). They were summoned by a short, doping looking wizard with an over-sized head. He proclaims them his heroes . . . and sends them downstairs to the "wine cellar" to fetch some drinks to celebrate their rebirth.

This wizard is actually a goblin wizard who incarnated them on a whim and casting "goblin vision" on them using magic given to him by more powerful wizards who empower other creatures for their own amusement. (perhaps a wizard equivalent to reality tv).

In the cellar, the see a bunch of strange things that they cannot really understand: jail cells filled with happy creatures laughing, restrained creatures being tickled with feathers, formal tea times with gnomish creatures, etc. Once the reach a the actual wine cellar, they encounter a group of rats (dire rats, rat swarms, rats, and a level one ratman summoner/ratman bard with pipe of the sewers in a couple of separate encounters) who had burrowed into the cellar. They fight them, but as the reach the boss, the boss warns them that it is not as it appears. They can either listen to him or kill him. He has a scroll of greater dispel magic which breaks "goblin vision". They realize where they are and can either side with the ratman (who was on a mission to scout an opening) to flee or to fight the wizard; if they killed the ratman, they can leave (through the hole), or they can fight the wizard.
I still need to build out the specifics, but what do you all think?

My current line of heroes are:
Cognak the Barbarian (dwarf barbarian)
Pinacola'adda (drow rogue)
Mar the Teeny (halfing/gnome cavalier, w/ his house-trained pony of many colors)
Jhin N'Tonnikk (human wizard)
Grog (half-orc cleric of Leona* (War & Strength))

*Leona is the goddess of glorious battle and righteous war (war, strength, glory, protection, repose (a good death), and nobility) and her weapon is the warhammer. I have not yet assigned her subdomains.

[Ectar]

How open do you want the session to be?
Often I've found that when I try to give my players two options, they'll think of a third and sometimes a fourth. You can try to make the options REALLY obvious, prepare for a few contingencies, or roll with what they decide.

Also, the plot seems kind of odd. Especially for a first-ever game. I'd suggest trying something a little more regular for the inaugural game; see if the players (and you!) enjoy the game itself. If so, I highly recommend talking with the players about the type/feel/style of game they'd want to be in. Go for something that appeals to everyone's sensibilities, if possible.
Having a pre-game talk about the world and possible character can be huge when starting a game. Really helps get everyone on the same page before starting.
EDIT:
PS-Love the PC names!

[Klladdy]

I can see what you mean. I had most of the details in my head so as I reread the post I realized that I would need to rework things.

Instead, I'm going to make the wizard disconnect from reality--specifically in that his tower is in rather immediate danger without him really grasping the situation. They part will be summoned into a tower currently under assault by rats lead by goblins.

The party will descend into the "wine cellar" which would be rest of the tower. There they will fight off groups of goblins and rats, retrieve the wine, and return to the wizard, who was completely unaware of the danger, but he will extravagantly reward them for their valor (for retrieving the wine).

[CrystalSeas]

Even if you don't have the physical box, you still have all the downloads available on your download page.

You can run everything that's in the Beginner Box right now. You'll just need to supply some of the physical bits like dice and a map and things to place on the map to show where the monsters are.

The Beginner Box has premade character sheets you can print out.
It has PDF copies of the Game Master Guide and the Player Handbook.
It has an adventure with a map you can either print or draw on your own map sheet.

You may want to take a minute to download the Beginner Box file and read through all the material that's available for you with just a few clicks.

[Klladdy]

Thanks for pointing that out. I've looked over the box and will definitely keep that in mind. I felt like the box was suitable for the beginnings of longer thing as opposed to a one shot. Am I wrong about that?

[CrystalSeas]

Klladdy wrote:

Thanks for pointing that out. I've looked over the box and will definitely keep that in mind. I felt like the box was suitable for the beginnings of longer thing as opposed to a one shot. Am I wrong about that?

The box scenario can be used either way. You can run it independently, or you can follow it up with a more extensive adventure. The Game Master Guide pdf will give you some suggestions about how to create a further adventure. The alternate side of the map can be used for your own adventure.

Or, you can use the town (Sandpoint) as a connector to some of the other Pathfinder adventures
Both "Rise Of The Runelords" and "Jade Regent" adventure paths start in Sandpoint.

[Galadryel]

Or, you can use the town (Sandpoint) as a connector to some of the other Pathfinder adventures

Both "Rise Of The Runelords" and "Jade Regent" adventure paths start in Sandpoint.

Little note:

Rise of the Runelords is your typical heroic quest while Jade regent is great for Role-playing.
Depending of your group.

[SmiloDan]

During the first game, you want to find the biggest, baddest player and beat them up to show them who is boss!!!

Just kidding!

Try to keep the first adventure kind of simple. Layering different levels of reality like "eXistenZ" or "Inception" is going to add way too much complexity for your first scenario.

I would really suggest a traditional dungeon crawl for your first session, just to work the kinks out. You can include roleplaying social encounters in a dungeon.

Once you have a little bit of experience, then you can do your amazing idea.

But also make sure you're running an adventure you are excited about.

[Klladdy]

Thanks for the advice. I went with a few modifications on the beginner box. Namely, I built characters for people based upon the kind of character they wanted to play and that they are working for a high level wizard who sent them on a fetch quest. It worked out great, but they only managed to make it into the first room (barely); it was rather fun and everyone was have a great time.

Again, thanks for the suggestion. Keeping it a dungeon crawl is keeping it pretty simple.

[SmiloDan]

Awesome! Glad everyone is having fun!

[Matt2VK]

Just a suggestion since it sound like this might not be happening right away -

Take a look at the PFS (Pathfinder Society) boards and see/ask if there's a local group around where you live and when/where they play. Most groups are very helpful and like to see new members joining them.
Over-all, home games are usually a lot better as the characters usually have a background and a story that flows with the playing. PFS is limited to 4 hours of play and most stories have to be completed in that time frame.