W E Ray |
My first thought was to run "The Confirmation" again for a 'beginner' table I'm going to be DMing at the brand new LGS at opened recently near me.
But as good a 'first adventure' / 'intro to PFS' as "The Confirmation" is, not only am I kinda tired of it, but also I never really thought it was gobsmacking fun.
And I don't want to have to make time perusing bunches and bunches of my Scenarios to try to remember the 1st level ones where I had lots of fun.
What are the funnest intro-to-PFS Scenarios -- any Season (including Zero)?
Thanks guys!
Quentin Coldwater Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht |
3-01 The Frostfur Captives is pretty straightforward, and if you can play up the Goblin's antics, it's a great romp. It's one of the first scenarios I played, and the one I probably remember the most simply because the GM made the Goblins as entertaining as possible, even if it broke some of the rules.
I liked 5-19 The Horn of Aroden, because Lander is such an incredible brat. Again, go all-out on him and you'll keep a table entertained. Do get a feel for the table though, he can get annoying fast.
I recently GMed 7-01 Between the Lines, and I loved it. The mindspace is an absolute acid trip and if you can portray it well, it's great. Again, get a feel for your players, the complaint I got was that it was just a little too confusing.
7-21 The Sun Orchid Scheme is great. It introduces new mechanics, but the players don't have to know they're playing a minigame if you roleplay it well enough (I didn't explain the mechanics about the heist to my players, and they didn't know any better). There's some cool roleplaying here, interesting skill challenges, and a nice bit of lore.
8-01 Portent's Peril is a really elegant scenario. Nothing amazing, but it just works. Fun mechanics with cards, fun challenges, all-around great time.
So many -01 scenarios, apparently Paizo likes to make strong first impressions.
Woran Venture-Captain, Netherlands |
Quentin Coldwater Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht |
Ascalaphus Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden |
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Night March of Kalkamedes is my favorite. It's the essential D&D adventure; wilderness challenges, a dungeon, dragon, damsel in distress, everything.
What I particularly like is that it doesn't really require the players to know all that much about the game rules, but rather that they need to be quick and imaginative coming up with ways to get through the wilderness problems.
Hmm Venture-Captain, Minnesota |
schattenstern Venture-Captain, Germany—Rhein Main South |
WalterGM RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8 |
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If you can read your audience, there are some great scenarios to pick from that can fit almost any situation.
W E Ray |
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I've never met any of my Players. I won't know their experiences (if any) or even their names until I see them next Wednesday night at the LGS. Right now I'm told three Players have signed up for my "beginner / novice" table.
I've printed out fifteen of the PreGen PCs, mostly Core but several Base Classes as well. I don't know if any of them will have their own PCs already made, who knows, maybe even with a Chronicle or two. But I'm going under the assumption that that's as much as it can be, otherwise they'd sign up for my "advanced / expert" table for the alternating Wednesday night.
Part of me wants to just do "The Confirmation" as an obvious intro -- but between wanting to have something really spicy to guarantee they come back, and the fact that if any have played PFS before there's a real good chance it was 5:08! -- I want to rule that out.
....Ideally I'd run a spicy Lvl 1 Scenario this Wednesday with the PreGens and then help them make their own PC, then on the next alternating Wednesday I'll run "The Confirmation" with their very own PC instead of a PreGen, kinda like the first adventure was in medias res and we're really starting PFS in our second session.
. . . .
As a result of meeting Woran and Hmm at PaizoCon a few months ago I'm drawn to their suggestions, but I'm currently taking a hard look at the "Honor's Echo" Quests because I can run them individually and have more flexibility with time. I'd really hate to prep "Portent's Peril," for example, and then spend the first half hour explaining a d20, what Society is, and going over the PreGens -- then when 8:01 takes longer than expected and we can't finish -- uh oh!
That also means that if I don't do the Quests but instead stick with a Scenario I know front and back having DMed them three or four times each (Silent Tide, Black Waters, Mists of Mwangi, Frozen Fingers of Midnight, Slave Pits of Absalom, Voice in the Void, Delirium's Tangle), I'll better know how long it'll take.
....Ultimately, I'm having more fun briefly perusing through these Scenarios trying to find the perfect choice than I thought -- I even bought four of y'all's suggestions since, holy cow, I didn't own them yet.
Ferious Thune |
I haven't played Honor's Echo yet, but I would suggest something out of the Quests line as well. Phantom Phenomena is fun and a little more cohesive of a story than Silverhex. If you suspect they may have played PFS before, choosing any non-evergreen is a risk, as you might end up with one or more of the players not being able to play. Once you meet them and have a sense of what, if any PFS they've played, then it should get easier to schedule things. If they truly are new to PFS, then it won't really matter. Start with something you enjoy running, and have fun with it.
Hmm Venture-Captain, Minnesota |
Oh, did we meet at PaizoCon? Cool! Sometimes I cannot join real person and avatar together in my head.
House of Harmonious Wisdom is in quest format and it is AWESOME for beginners.
I also recommend the lovely Phantom Phenomena over Honor's Echo, primarily because you can explain its genre pretty easily. (The other reason is that each quest is balanced with combat and RP, and the whole thing is fairly non-lethal.) Tell them they are doing adventures for a mad scientist in Ustalav, Golarian's Transylvania, and it flows quickly. For time constraint reasons I would do only 5 of the 6 quests, leaving out "monument" in favor of the ones that do more roleplay and problem solving.
With HHW, you can also explain the genre as "You're all the heroes in a Wuxia film, on a quest to return stolen artifacts and prestige to a fallen kingdom."
Hmm
Hmm Venture-Captain, Minnesota |
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If you can read your audience, there are some great scenarios to pick from that can fit almost any situation.
Want to recreate the 7 Samurai? 3-13 Defenders of Nesting Swallow. If you can, get in the other two parts first for bonus points (3-09, 3-11).
I'm taking notes. That sounds awesome, and we haven't run much Season Three at Dreamers lately. Thanks for the ideas, Walter!
Hmm
Woran Venture-Captain, Netherlands |
GM Lamplighter |
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Walter Sheppard wrote:If you can read your audience, there are some great scenarios to pick from that can fit almost any situation.
Want to recreate the 7 Samurai? 3-13 Defenders of Nesting Swallow. If you can, get in the other two parts first for bonus points (3-09, 3-11). I'm taking notes. That sounds awesome, and we haven't run much Season Three at Dreamers lately. Thanks for the ideas, Walter!
Hmm
Have you played that series? I built 3D terrain for all three parts for our RetroCon event last year, and part 1 didn't go off due to last-minute cancellations. I can do it at next JimCon if you have folks who haven't run it yet. Unless I can get to SkalCon...
Hmm Venture-Captain, Minnesota |
GeoffA |
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3-01 The Frostfur Captives is pretty straightforward, and if you can play up the Goblin's antics, it's a great romp. It's one of the first scenarios I played, and the one I probably remember the most simply because the GM made the Goblins as entertaining as possible, even if it broke some of the rules.
I have recently started running a monthly PF game for some of the teenagers at my church (and one Dad who used to play RPGs back in the day). I ran this, Sunday afternoon, based on Kwinten’s suggestion and it was a lot of fun. Much hilarity watching some relatively new role-players threaten and cajole their goblin prisoners. Giving each gobbo a name and one sentence of personality was totally prep time well spent.