Teaching pathfinder basics

[Zhentarim]

I am considering starting an IRL series of gaming sessions of Wrath of the Righteous on the 2nd floor of the Noel Memorial Library at LSUS. It dawned on me, however, that some of the people I recruit may not be too familiar with pathfinder. How might I best explain the most important rules without getting too bogged down with them? Pathfinder is a fairly rule-heavy system, and I expect to spend my first sunday or two explaining these rules.

[Frosty]

Here's what I suggest: DO NOT USE A MYTHIC ADVENTURE PATH IF YOU HAVE PEIPLE WHO HAVENT PLAYED BEDORE!

Trust me, normal is complicated enough as is.

[Hunter Noventa]

Here's what I suggest: DO NOT USE A MYTHIC ADVENTURE PATH IF YOU HAVE PEIPLE WHO HAVENT PLAYED BEDORE!

Trust me, normal is complicated enough as is.

Yeah, if you're getting new people, stay away from Mythic, or non-Core material for that matter.

Other than that, the biggest thing to impress upon them is that the d20 is the default die. It's used for everything but hit points, basically. I know one person who's been playing for quite a while and is still unsure which die to roll when. If you can impress how important the d20 is, and how nearly every roll is d20+modifier, you'll be off to a good start.

[Zhentarim]

Here's what I suggest: DO NOT USE A MYTHIC ADVENTURE PATH IF YOU HAVE PEIPLE WHO HAVENT PLAYED BEDORE!

Trust me, normal is complicated enough as is.

Kingmaker may be better, then.

Which printouts of the rules should I use?

[Florian]

Kingmaker may be better, then.

Which printouts of the rules should I use?

kingmaker is actually not very beginner friendly. Consider Jade Regent or Giantslayer, as the tropes of the long treck, getting to know a fantasy world and teamplay feature heavily into it.

Also keep in mind that a shared character building session where people help each other is a good way to get them up to speed at grasping the basic rules and also getting to know some of the details and fiddly bits.

[Serafina]

Actually - non-core material is better than core material.
At least in term of classes, it's a good idea to start people off with the ubiquotous medium BAB non-main spellcasters. (Alchemist, Bard, Hunter, Inquisitor, Investigator, Magus, Mesmerist, Skald, Spiritualist, Warpriest)

Sure, they're a bit more complicated than just a straight Barbarian, Fighter or Rogue.
But explaining their main mechanics is usually not complicated. And more importantly, they tend to give players a bunch of viable options - so even if a player messes up, it won't be too bad. Certainly not as much as with non-casters, and by excluding main casters you also reduce the importance of spells, which helps.

[Sayt]

One thing to consider is that pathfinder has a much acclaimed beginners box, which may fit your purposes.

[Bucky]

Consider playing with the open monster manual variant: PCs automatically pass Knowledge checks to identify enemies and Spellcraft checks to identify spells cast in combat.

Make it clear that this is just to get them used to the system and they'll need to invest skill ranks for the same hints later.

If you don't want houserules, consider giving them a Knowledge-bot NPC Expert 9 as an advisor.

[Zhentarim]

One thing to consider is that pathfinder has a much acclaimed beginners box, which may fit your purposes.

Beginners box is PERFECT! I just looked over their hero's handbook and it should set me up nicely. I put on my flyer that we start on 12 March 2017.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

I've run a couple games using the Beginner Box, and I'll vouch for it.

[Frosty]

Is beginners box a different set of rules? Or just a really
Good simple adventure to learn from?

[Zhentarim]

Is beginners box a different set of rules? Or just a really
Good simple adventure to learn from?

A really good simple adventure. It runs to level 5, and the plot revolves around clearing skeletons out of a temple of Desna.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

What? It's a simplified system, with rules for taking a simplified version of clerics, wizards, fighters, and rogues (plus barbarian with a web supplement) up to level 5. The included module is a dungeon where they take on a black dragon.

[Zhentarim]

What? It's a simplified system, with rules for taking a simplified version of clerics, wizards, fighters, and rogues (plus barbarian with a web supplement) up to level 5. The included module is a dungeon where they take on a black dragon.

What about the one I just read about the skeleton king?

[Kurald Galain]

What about the one I just read about the skeleton king?

That would be the solo adventure in the player's guide to the beginners box.

You can go to a full adventure path afterwards... but if you prefer some shorter sessions first, I recommend looking into PFS adventures. They're cheap PDFs that play for four to five hours each, can easily fit into a home campaign, and come with a player rating (so anything with 4 to 5 stars is recommended).