Running First Game

[tyrunn]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice running a Pathfinder campaign.

Like many people, I picked up the Pathfinder Humble Bundle a few months back and it looks like I'll finally be able to get some people together for a game soon, but I need some advice on some aspects of the game.

There will be three PCs, (I'll be GM), two of the PCs are old hats at most versions of D&D, the third is a tabletop gamer with little experience of D&D, I've not run anything as a GM before other than the quickstart campaign in the Beginners Box.

The campaign that came with the bundle is Adventure Path #97–102: Hell's Rebels which seems fun, but doesn't seem like the best fit for a first run through.

I was wondering if anyone had run through the campaign and what they thought of it, or if there was any consensus on a good starting Adventure Path for Pathfinder.

Many thanks in advance!

[MindTheGap97]

Alright, I played Hell's Rebels, the beginning can be a little bit clunky, make sure to find a way to have the PCs meet soon, also, this game runs through in-game weeks, discourage characters focused on crafting stuff, it can get pretty abusive. Also, between weeks very little seems to happen, you should add your narration to keep the players entertained. Also, silver weapons are really important, if you see that your players aren't buying any make sure to let them find some as part of the loot

[tyrunn]

That's great - I'd read that you needed to push the players towards silver.

I was worried the length of in game time, plus the whole rebellion mechanic might be awkward for our set-up; thankfully no one is playing a crafting class, it'll most likely be a Barbarian, Rogue and Wizard.

[Calthropstu]

That's great - I'd read that you needed to push the players towards silver.

I was worried the length of in game time, plus the whole rebellion mechanic might be awkward for our set-up; thankfully no one is playing a crafting class, it'll most likely be a Barbarian, Rogue and Wizard.

Wizards are a crafting class.

I assume you have played pathfinder before? If not, make a solid read through the core rulebook. I know MANY people, including the former pathfinder society venture captain for Phoenix, who still make 3.5 vs PF rules mistakes after years of playing pathfinder. Constructs and undead not being immune to crits and sneak attack are the most common mistake, but there's a lot of minor changes like that which the gm needs to be aware of.

I have not played that, so have little advice on the campaign itself. But with only 3 players, I recommend sending a dmpc along until you get a 4th.
Then kill the dmpc in a most heartwrenching fashion.

[tyrunn]

Cheers for the advice - it'll be my first time GMing so I've gone through the rule books a few times already and will do so a few more times.

[Fri]

General advice I can get is this, have fun, and make sure everyone are having fun.

A more specific idea is, always confirm what you want the game to be and if everyone are in the same general idea. Like, mention first if you're going to have "Everyone could die with random bad dice roll" or "This is going to have an actual story, don't play a chaotic murder hobo."

Second, have a summary cheatsheet on various rules for you and your players, and have a cheatsheet on your player's characters.

And finally, generally it's me, but usually it's better for my games to wing things up rather than holding the game. So for example, if you can't be sure about a ruling, rather than holding the game for 30 minutes to look for it to the book, just say "I'm going to wing it and say you roll acrobatics for this" or something in that line. Mention that you're going to use this kind of things before though.

Also, try to just wing on what your players do. If they do something really unexpected, you could say "this is unexpected, give me 10 minutes to think" though.

Remember, rules in the book is just as arbitrary as any rules you make up your own. A human being made it, tested it a bit, and decide it's fun, so they include it in the book, it's not something given to him by the RPG god from above. Sure he might have more experience or tested it first, but it's still infallible, as various arguments in this forum can attest. So don't be afraid to make up some rulings.

Hope you have fun!

[Psyren]

My only advice is that if you're ever not sure about how something should work (or your players aren't), there are quite a number of rules gurus here on this subforum. Feel free to use our stickied Pathfinder Q&A thread at the top of the page for questions that seem minor/straightforward, and make individual threads for anything you think would be more involved or subjective.

Also, see if you can run their characters through PCGen for a quick audit. (HeroLab is better but PCGen is free.)

[CharonsHelper]

Since silver weapons are important - you might note that one of the Pathfinder changes was that mithril weapons count as silver for DR, and without the -1 damage penalty. It's too expensive for larger weapons, but for lighter weapons getting mithril is only a bit more expensive than steel masterwork (and mithril is inherently masterwork). I almost always go mithril for weapons which are 2lbs or less.

Of note though - the weight cost (500gp per pound) has been FAQ'd at the weight of the weapon when steel, not when mithril (important since mithril weighs 1/2 as much). Though amusingly enough, technically daggers for a Halfling or other small character are still actually cheaper when made of mithril than when masterwork steel. (masterwork adds 300gp cost while small daggers only weigh 1/2 lb, and therefore cost 250gp plus weapon cost)

The other big Pathfinder DR change is how +3 weapons overcome both silver & cold iron DR, +4 overcomes adamantine DR, and +5 overcomes alignment DR (lawful/evil etc.).


In addition - make sure that your buddy playing a Rogue builds an Unchained Rogue (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/rogue-unchained). The base Rogue is pretty weak, and the Unchained Rogue was basically an upgrade to make them a solid class. The base Rogue is all sorts of weak-sauce. (The Ninja (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/alternate-classes/ninja) alternative class of the base Rogue is also a viable choice, but it has a rather different feel to it rather than just being a better version.)

[Psyren]

The other big Pathfinder DR change is how +3 weapons overcome both silver & cold iron DR, +4 overcomes adamantine DR, and +5 overcomes alignment DR (lawful/evil etc.).


Note however that the Greater Magic Weapon spell specifically does not grant these bypasses, so keep an eye out for that as well.

[tyrunn]

Thanks so much to everyone who has replied!

Has anyone got any doubts that the campaign wouldn't be suitable for a first run through at all?

[MindTheGap97]

Thanks so much to everyone who has replied!

Has anyone got any doubts that the campaign wouldn't be suitable for a first run through at all?

It is a really good campaign, I had a lot fun playing it, if I recall correctly I played a Charlatan Rogue, making full use of Rumormonger, we had a pair of new players and it was the GM's first time mastering a campaign but all went smoothly

[tyrunn]

That's encouraging to know!