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The easiest place to begin is the Beginner's Box, and maybe seguing into Trouble in Otari. That would only take you to level 4, and is intentionally pretty basic. If you want to do a full AP, I've had good experiences with Abomination Vaults so far.
The easiest place to begin is the Beginner's Box, and maybe seguing into Trouble in Otari. That would only take you to level 4, and is intentionally pretty basic. If you want to do a full AP, I've had good experiences with Abomination Vaults so far.
...and Trouble in Otari can segue into Abomination Vaults very naturally, if you start out wanting to dip your toes in and then decide that you want to take it further with the same characters.
The easiest place to begin is the Beginner's Box, and maybe seguing into Trouble in Otari. That would only take you to level 4, and is intentionally pretty basic. If you want to do a full AP, I've had good experiences with Abomination Vaults so far....and Trouble in Otari can segue into Abomination Vaults very naturally, if you start out wanting to dip your toes in and then decide that you want to take it further with the same characters.
Yep. And Starting AV at level 2 will be a nice set of training wheels for new players too.
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I just got noticed that the first APs are not too well balanced and I play Age of Ashes and would confirm this notion, relating to my experience as a player in it so far. So I'd advise against it as a starting point.
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Abomination Vaults (optionally using the Beginner Box as an on-ramp) is the most popular option by far.
Age of Ashes, Extinction Curse, and Agents of Edgewatch have some balance issues due to coming out in the system's infancy; AoA gets the worst of this, but there's some punishing difficulty spikes in the other two. Extinction Curse also suffers some from being incoherent, as the circus elements that are all over the branding never really marry with the heroic main plot.
I'm very fond of both Quest for the Frozen Flame and Strength of Thousands, from last year. Frozen Flame is only levels 1-10, and has a lot of wilderness exploration, being a campaign where you play as scouts for a nomadic clan in a land of mammoths; it rocks if you like that flavor. Strength of Thousands casts the PCs as students (and after book 2, staff) of the oldest magical school in the setting, and is a wonderful romp across Pathfinder's vibrant West African-inspired setting with a focus on non-violent solutions to problems. If your group is big on roleplay and wants to get away from familiar faux-European locales, I can't praise it enough.
Fists of the Ruby Phoenix starts at level 11, so I don't recommend it for newcomers. Outlaws of Alkenstar was a dud for me for a number of reasons, and Blood Lords isn't finished yet, so I'd feel silly passing judgment on it. Kingmaker 2e is a little too massive and heavy on additional mechanics for me to suggest it as a first experience.
That's all of 2e's AP offerings so far - hope it helps!
As much hate as AoA gets, it's good for forcing players to learn the proper way to build/play the game. You can't just jank your way through it, you either run a good party and play well or you get buried. Not ideal for total newcomers to TTRPGs in general, but fine enough for any group willing to accept possibly losing characters early and retreating and potentially using downtime to tweak and optimize their party and/or individual builds.
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Age of Ashes is also great as an introduction to the world of Golarion if you just tone down the encounter difficulty.