The Adventure Card Game Subscription will get you the adventure paths (Base Set + Character Add-on Deck + Adventure Decks). The Class Deck Subscription will get you the Class Decks, which you can use in any adventure path or for organized play.
As for where to start, that is up to you. You don't have to play one adventure path before playing another. So, you could go with theme if you wanted. Or you might want to pick up Rise of the Runelords, since as the first published it will probably be the first to become unavailable.
But really, the choice is yours.
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You definitely need to start with a base set.
The first Base Set that was released is Rise of the Runelords. This is a good place to start because there are a fair number of rules to learn, and this is the one that doesn't have any "extra" mechanics (Ships and plunder in Skull & Shackles, Cohorts and Mythic Stuff in Wrath of the Righteous).
Each Base Set comes with a Base Adventure (it only complicates things if you call it "Basic", 'cause that term comes up a lot meaning something different), which is not officially part of the Adventure Path, as well as the first Adventure which IS part of the Adventure path, and seven Characters. This is enough stuff to play four characters at once.
You can additionally purchase a Character Add-on deck, which includes four more characters, and more stuff to pad the box so that you can play up to six characters. (If you're sticking to fewer than four characters in a game, this expansion isn't necessary.)
If you enjoy that, the first Adventure in the Adventure Path, you can purchase (individually) the remaining 5 adventures, to complete the Path.
The Class Decks provide 3 or 4 new characters in the given class that you can play in any set. (In theory, all characters are good for all sets, but some lend themselves to the particular banes and boons you'll encounter in a given set...) There is also around 100 more boons that you can use to pad your base set to make it a little more likely you'll run into something particularly useful to YOUR character. The Class Decks are ALSO used in Open Play (See the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild). There are 14 Class Decks currently available.
There is a subscription for the Card Game, which will not get you anything until October when the next new Base Set comes out: Mummy's Mask. The Character Add-on will, I believe, come at the same time, and you'll get some promo cards that you may or may not be able to get elsewhere.
There is also a subscription for the Class Decks. If you pick up that Subscription, they may offer to start you with the Inquisitor Deck (most recently released) or the Witch Deck (next release). They have a release schedule for Class decks through October(?), with two special ones in Early August (Goblins!!!) (You can also purchase two Goblin characters here on the website, one designed for Skull & Shackles, and one for Wrath of the Righteous.)
Lastly, there are GOBS of accessories to make your game more fun and easy to play. I love the Character mats, which help organize your individual play areas, and the Adventure Mat that organizes your shared play space (which is currently backordered).
G'luck!
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To play the game at home, you'll first want to pick up one of the base boxes. There are ones for Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and Wrath of the Righteous, and in October we'll have one for Mummy's Mask. I personally don't recommend Wrath of the Righteous for new players, and RotR and S&S are both great. RotR is a bit simpler/easier than S&S, but feel free to pick based on whether you'd rather fight pirates or goblins. The base box will come with 3-5 intro scenarios and the first part of the adventure path. To play the rest of the adventure path, you'll need to get the other 5 adventure decks. The base set will come with 7 characters and can be played with up to 4 players. There is a character addon deck if you want more characters, or if you want to play with 5 or 6 players. This is all covered under the Adventure card game subscription, which will start up again with Mummy's Mask in October.
The other subscription is for the class decks, which are not necessary to play and are not games on their own. They exist for two reasons: 1. If you want to play the base sets with EVEN MOAR CHARACTERS or 2. They are required for organized play. So if you want to do organized play (which is a great way to try the game!), you will need a class deck.
EDIT: Whoa, double ninja'd by Hawkmoon and James. The sneak attack burns!
Chief Technical Officer
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Sweet, thanks for that guys! I'll wait for the next rotation to start my subscription and just pick up the individual stuff for now
Actually, if you want your main line sub to start with Mummy's Mask, you can subscribe right now, as even though it isn't out until October, it is the next thing to ship in that line. (You won't be charged until it ships.)