New Pathfinder DM, buncha houserules, want advice.

[Sun Elemental]

I'm going to be starting a new Pathfinder campaign in a week or two when college starts. I've read a lot of D&D material online, but I've only ever DMed 2 campaigns. One was years ago as a newb, and one failed because I didn't know how to run a mystery campaign.
Any general advice is welcomed, but I have a few specific questions:

1) The players are starting at lvl2, and it's an Epic8 game. They're ok with that. Are there any pitfalls to EpicX games? Are some monsters taboo because they need a lvl5 spell to deal with? Is fighting an army of lvl1 orcs a legitimate encounter?

2) I made a bunch of houserules. Some to help mundanes, some to compensate for the level cap.
Dex to ranged damage. Full attack on a standard action. A feat every level. Living things die at (-max HP), not (-Con). Trade in a feat for 2 +1 attribute bonuses. (The players are new, and feat lists are intimidatingly long.) Are these unbalanced?

3) I'm using the Recharge Magic rule from 3.5 UA, and right now I have 2 Druids and a ported Dread Necromancer, all lvl2. What's the worst that could happen? Is this a terrible idea and I should just implement mana/spellpoints?

4) Players can research 5-9th lvl spells, but the research will be an expensive and dangerous quest, and the spell will requires additional components. This is mainly to make Resurrection meaningful. Any ideas for components or requirements?

5) I hate randomized loot. When I roll a magical Frost Longsword, I turn it into a magical scabbard that can hold any pierce/slashing weapon, and gives the weapon Frost. After a month of looting, everyone in the party could have a scabbard/quiver with a magical enhancement. Is that bad?

[dascarletm]

I'm going to be starting a new Pathfinder campaign in a week or two when college starts. I've read a lot of D&D material online, but I've only ever DMed 2 campaigns. One was years ago as a newb, and one failed because I didn't know how to run a mystery campaign.
Any general advice is welcomed, but I have a few specific questions:
Welcome! My general advice is, nothing is really wrong if it promotes a fun game. :smallbiggrin:



1) The players are starting at lvl2, and it's an Epic8 game. They're ok with that. Are there any pitfalls to EpicX games? Are some monsters taboo because they need a lvl5 spell to deal with? Is fighting an army of lvl1 orcs a legitimate encounter?
The only pitfall is that you have to keep in mind the characters' abilities when presenting challenges. Also when I worldbuild I need to take into account for the lack of high level characters. This in my opinion is easier, since the lower you get on EpicX the closer you get to real life.

The only problem with large armies is that some characters will be more useless than others. Some who focus solely on single target damage would be left in the cold. I usually feature some bigger monsters within the army. Example: and army of orcs + some ogres, and an orc with levels in shaman.
Also large army battles can be slow, and if you are not careful they can get monotonous. This is partially alleviated with what I said above, but you should also add another element. Example: instead of just killing an entire army, you need to fight off the army while escorting helpless civilians into a safe area. Try to make sure interesting things happen throughout the fight, this may involve breaking out of turn-based combat every now and again. For an idea on this watch your favorite fantasy movies with large battles like the last installment in The Hobbit or the battle of Helms Deep in LotR. Directors in cinematography know how to keep an audiences interest, so learn from them.



2) I made a bunch of houserules. Some to help mundanes, some to compensate for the level cap.
Dex to ranged damage. Full attack on a standard action. A feat every level. Living things die at (-max HP), not (-Con). Trade in a feat for 2 +1 attribute bonuses. (The players are new, and feat lists are intimidatingly long.) Are these unbalanced?

When I break this down, basically:
1. combat is more mobile. This is good. Include battles that utilize moving around.
2. ranged fighters get a damage boost. The only problem I can see arising from this is classes like gunslingers or the fighter variant that gives dex to damage. Do they get a new ability to compensate, or do they get dex x2? Also how does this work with composite bows?
3. Lots of feats isn't terribly unbalancing. However, it does diminish the feats you get after turning level 8 somewhat. I would include more custom, past level 8 feats, for players to work towards.
4. Trading feats for two ability points. I would personally reserve this for after they hit level 8. All it does is provide bigger numbers, and it should be needed. It also could lead to large # differences between the party. That makes balancing monsters against the group harder. I would instead make a list of feats that could be interesting for each character.

EDIT: Specifically I would make a post-8 feat that lets you add +1 to any one ability score. It can only be taken 7 times for each ability score. (then I would remove the ability to wish for higher ability scores)



3) I'm using the Recharge Magic rule from 3.5 UA, and right now I have 2 Druids and a ported Dread Necromancer, all lvl2. What's the worst that could happen? Is this a terrible idea and I should just implement mana/spellpoints?

It is really up to your DM style. How often do you plan to run them without opportunity to rest? I personally don't see a problem with either. Though it is more complicated for newbies which is a concern.



4) Players can research 5-9th lvl spells, but the research will be an expensive and dangerous quest, and the spell will requires additional components. This is mainly to make Resurrection meaningful. Any ideas for components or requirements?

I would make the ability to obtain level 5 spells be tied to post lvl 8 feats; Each caster can only learn a couple and it would be their signature ability in a way. You could model epic casting from 3.5 for levels 6-9?



5) I hate randomized loot. When I roll a magical Frost Longsword, I turn it into a magical scabbard that can hold any pierce/slashing weapon, and gives the weapon Frost. After a month of looting, everyone in the party could have a scabbard/quiver with a magical enhancement. Is that bad?

I think the scabbards are a cool idea. I would suggest having magic weapons be unique and special items that people can find. For example you would find a +4 frostburst longsword, you would find Frostfang a +4 frostburst longsword with the special ability to use the spell fimbulwinter 1/week. This could be a way to give the martial types a way to use higher level magic. Especially since the other players may get access to it.