Am I crazy for jumping in to GMing without getting my feet wet first?

[brodels]

I have a gaming group that gets together 3 times a week mostly for Euro-style board games and some Ameritrash mixed in here and there. About a year ago we picked up Descent and dedicated Wednesday nights to exclusively playing Descent. We've gone through a couple campaigns and have been yearning for something less restrictive and linear. After some research and discussion, we decided to try out Pathfinder (over D&D). There's 6 of us in total, and out of the group only two people have ever played any form of D&D and this was well over 10 years ago. I was the "overlord" for our Descent campaigns and love the idea of GMing, so naturally I was elected to run Pathfinder. I have ZERO experience. They have ZERO experience. I bought the CRB two months ago and have been reading it religiously since. I've gone from cover to cover at least twice, watch Twitch streams regularly, and have gone through countless YouTube How To's. I also invested in Bestiarys, the APG, the Strategy Guide, Ultimates, and a few other books (mostly unnecessary). I've seen a lot of these "first time GM" threads where people suggest the Beginner Box or some light small Modules. I ran this by the guys but they didnt seem interested, they want something that will last us months and have them grow to levels in the teens. Fine. I compromised, and this is what I came up with.

We're going to run Rise of the Runelords. I've restricted them to Races and Classes from the CRB only, but have allowed them to expand on those classes throught the APG and other books like Ultimate Magic/Combat.

I'm fairly comfortable with the rules of the game, and understand how combat works. They too have a pretty good understanding of the game at this point (its been two months). We did character creation last week, and though they mostly used sourced characters builds from these message boards, everything seemed to go pretty smoothly and the PCs seem to have a decent understanding of their characters.

I guess what I'm asking is do we seem prepared enough? Or are we going to try and start next week, run into a bunch of descrepencies, and say "screw this"? Do you think RotRL will be too tough for me to run as a first time GM?

[Secret Wizard]

Not crazy. Starting with an Adventure Path is actually the best idea.

You'll make mistakes but that's how you learn.

But avoid CRB only restriction. CRB is flawed in several ways.

My recommendations for minimum core:

- CRB
- Pathfinder Unchained (for Rogue and Monk, though I think you should also apply the Barbarian)
- Armor Master's Handbook and Weapon Master's Handbook (for Advanced Armor Training and Advanced Weapon Training respectively, so Fighters are actually a good class)
- ARG (for alternate racials to expand player options)

I'd say that's all you need to make sure the players don't have trap options all over (s!*#ty unusable Rogues, trappy Monks, suicidal Barbarians and lackluster Fighters).

With that said, avoid 15 point buy like the plague. The maths behind it are wrong, the balance behind it is wrong. Use 20 point buy.

[Leitner]

My first time GMing wasn't long after I started playing. You'll run into some scenarios you don't know the answer too(no matter how much prep time you spend) after a player tries something off the wall.

Just handle the situation with a quick rules check, if no answer is immediately apparent then give your best judgement and write down the question to check out in your free time.

You should probably be fine as long as you have the session ready and aren't trying to look up what the enemies spells do during mid combat or anything crazy.

[brodels]

Awesome, good advice, thanks. And the only limits I'm putting on them in respect to the CRB were class and race selection. I figured the core classes would be more basic and easier to follow than a swashbuckler or a warpriest. And knowing them, they would pick the most wonky classes on purpose, haha =D

We already did character creation, but we used the Roll method (roll 4, leave out the lowest). We said if characters came out s~&#ty, they could opt to use 20 point buy instead, but most everyone came out pretty beefy (as if they spent around 23 points). We also dont have a Fighter or a Rogue. It's a Cleric, Druid, Monk, Sorcerer, and Bard. The monk is loving Ultimate Combat, the cleric wanted to be a healer, the socerer wanted to cast, the bard wanted to buff, and the druid didnt know what he wanted to do so this is what everyone settled on (and I've been trying to let them get as creative as I can). I figure with five of them, they should be okay. And if theyre too squishy, I can always tone down the encounters a little, right? I have everything else you listed except Unchained, ordering now =D

[brodels]

Leitner wrote:

Just handle the situation with a quick rules check, if no answer is immediately apparent then give your best judgement and write down the question to check out in your free time.

I have each classes spells for the day written out on index cards to avoid confusion on both the PCs part and my own. Winging it is the part I'm scared of the most =X

[Secret Wizard]

brodels wrote:

Awesome, good advice, thanks. And the only limits I'm putting on them in respect to the CRB were class and race selection. I figured the core classes would be more basic and easier to follow than a swashbuckler or a warpriest. And knowing them, they would pick the most wonky classes on purpose, haha =D

We already did character creation, but we used the Roll method (roll 4, leave out the lowest). We said if characters came out s+%%ty, they could opt to use 20 point buy instead, but most everyone came out pretty beefy (as if they spent around 23 points). We also dont have a Fighter or a Rogue. It's a Cleric, Druid, Monk, Sorcerer, and Bard. The monk is loving Ultimate Combat, the cleric wanted to be a healer, the socerer wanted to cast, the bard wanted to buff, and the druid didnt know what he wanted to do so this is what everyone settled on (and I've been trying to let them get as creative as I can). I figure with five of them, they should be okay. And if theyre too squishy, I can always tone down the encounters a little, right? I have everything else you listed except Unchained, ordering now =D

That sounds like a great mix of classes actually, and your method for building sounds very reasonable, so it seems to me you got the good idea for this.

The one thing I'd mention is that the CRB Monk is one of those classes which seems straight forward but is riddled by issues - in terms of balance, math and quality of life.

If you run the Unchained Monk instead, I think he'll have a character that is not only simpler to use, but allows more versatility in different areas.

He'll have to give up some archetype access though.

Make sure he comes by my guide if he wants to know more about it!

[Valantrix1]

You'll be fine. After all, you have to start somewhere. You are more prepared than I was 30 some years ago. Now everyone goes out of their way to get into one of my games. In the beginning, always ask after each session if your players are having fun. If they are, then you have won the GM trophy. Don't worry about sticking to the printed rules if they are causing problems in your group. If it doesn't work for you or your group, change it with the consensus. Good luck, and welcome to our world!

[Lorila Sorita]

Sounds like you have done way more preparations than most GMs do. The only thing left to do is actually play the game.

[Andostre]

Re-iterating this from earlier in the thread: Accept that you'll make mistakes, and don't let them haunt you. The players usually don't care as long as you're transparent about it all.

[brodels]

Thanks guys. Wednesday is coming quick and I was starting to get a little nervous. Needed a little confidence boost :)

[GM Rednal]

I started GM'ing very soon after I started playing - although I did have the slight advantage of having made quite a few concept characters and such before I ever started to play. XD Have fun!

...And don't hesitate to come back to this forum and ask if you have literally, like, any question about the game. Chances are someone here will have an answer for you. XD

[Craglansun]

On a slightly different tangent, more tailored to the campaign you're about to run, the Rise of the Runelords Messageboard on here is possibly the most helpful forum I have ever stumbled across, and has a lot of Community Created content that can help your first session(s) run a lot smoother, and are well worth looking at - especially the Festival Games.

If you haven't already, give your players a copy/link to the RotRL Players Guide (Anniversary Edition), which is a free download and can be easily found.

And lastly, most players new to Sandpoint will want to check out "The Old Light" early on as its quite an interesting feature, and this throws a lot of new GMs. So just get a little story prepped and you'll be golden.

You all seem very well prepped for the game, so best of luck to you. RotRL is a wonderful Adventure to run through, so try and make sure you read ahead, as some plots can be easily foreshadowed by a cunning GM ;-)
Enjoy!

[Dastis]

Welcome to tabletop gaming :D

Good job on your research. Most dm's don't do that much prior to session 1

[Gulthor]

I'd like to second the suggestion for Unchained Monk - your new Monk player will have a much more enjoyable time with it.

I'm assuming by now you're already aware of all of these online resources, but *just in case*, be aware of (and make your players aware of):

Paizo.com/prd
D20PFSRD.com
Archivesofnethys.com
Pathfinderwiki.com

The first three sites have all the rules, updated fairly regularly, and the fourth has a lot of great lore about the world of Golarion. So if your monk player wants his character to be from, say, Vudra, he or she can swing over to the Vudra page and learn more about their character's culture if they're into that sort of thing.

EDIT: And no, you're not crazy at all. RotR is a great jumping off point for all of you. Have a blast with the goblins, don't fret if you mess up. Feel free to make things collaborative if that works better for you. If we hit a sticky rules spot, we'll often have two or more players look different parts up and another check the boards to see how another group resolved it, stuff like that.

[The Steel Refrain]

I agree with the others. Sounds like you're in great shape. Yeah, you might fumble through some rule decisions and maybe make some mistakes, but with a good group where everyone is new to the system, you'll be totally fine.

ROTR is a good campaign, as well, with lots of available resources to help GMs.

[Lincoln Hills]

There's a lot of good GMing advice scattered around these boards. (Unfortunately, it's scattered among a much larger quantity of bad-to-mediocre GMing advice.) You don't have to have played to GM, but here are some general tips on the difference between tabletop GMing and more linear forms:

1. Decide how you want to handle time-keeping, especially in relation to villains' actions. Some GMs run everything by 'rule of drama', so that players are always in the nick of time no matter how long it takes them to get to the villain. Others favor more plausibility and flux in their campaigns: 'the plot is resolved in 38 hours, unless the players show up earlier'. Tastes on this vary from group to group,

2. There's no such thing as a 'ruined' plot - the players always change the shape of the adventure when they play it, and you'll sometimes have to put something together out of the smashed fragments of your originally intended story, but you shouldn't feel like they've 'ruined' anything. They're involved, and they're making a difference (sometimes not a good difference, but whatever).

3. Within a computer game or board game context, violence is almost always the only solution - but you should have some idea of how to react if the players sneak around enemies, deceive them, or recruit them. Remember to grant XP for bypassing foes in these ways (the PCs are already giving up potential loot, no need to punish them further for saving their resources for later fights).

4. One area where the GM should emulate novels rather than films or board games: always have more to discover. NPCs should have motivations, locations should have secrets and histories, maps should have blank spaces at the edges... Most of these unknown details can be quite unimportant, but having them gives the game some mystique and leaves you room to expand.

[GeraintElberion]

Paizo have GMing 101 which is a decent read and has plenty of advice for first-time GMs.

I would also consider stipulating that all characters should be of Good alignment and that characters are friends and/or relatives before the game begins. It helps to ensure that characters are definitely going to get along with each other and the plot.

[tony gent]

Welcome to the world of Role Playing
Sounds like your all set to go my only advice would be don't try and use all the rule,class,race,feat options in the beginning start with the basics then bring the options in when you and your players feel ready .
And remember it's your game and no matter what other players do or how they run there game you run your game how you like.
You'll soon find out what works for your group so good luck and happy adventuring

[Turelus]

Although I had some basic casual GM'ing experience I have just run Rise of the Runelords for my group and for the first time actually learnt rules.

Honestly just failing forward as I have made me a better GM than anything else I could have done. You can get disheartened when the big boss you were excited about dies in three rounds, but you learn.

My advice would be.
- Take time to read monsters abilities/feats/spells before a session they're likely to come up, stick a post-it note on the page saying "IMMUNE TO LIGHTNING!!!" or such if it's something you feel is important, the number of times I forgot things they could/should do.

- Once they have access to regular resurrection, kill them. There is really no need to "go easy" on players as most of the time they'll wreck you any way.

- Don't be scared to admit you don't know something, just make a fair ruling on the spot (I tend to favour a player when unsure) then check after the session, let the player know the outcome.

- As corny as it sounds, have fun. You're not there to win, as long as you're enjoying what you do and your players are leaving each session with a smile you did a good job.