Ah the age old question! Before I get advice (and I hope I do), let me fill you crusty old veterans of adventure in with some background
1) Most of the pc's have never used Pathfinder
2) Most have never played D&D since AD&D 2nd edition
3) One player gets bored easily and has no fantasy reference (she confuses dwarfs and elves)
4) I have been accused of running Masterpiece Theater for finger painters (an observation I don't entirely disagree with)
Part of me wants to keep them localized, enter Village of Hommlet and ToEE.
Part of me wants to have them explore the beautiful Flanaess.
None of me knows what would be best.
Advice? Suggestions? Thoughts? Bueller? _________________ No one ever suspects the gnomes
Ah the age old question! Before I get advice (and I hope I do), let me fill you crusty old veterans of adventure in with some background
1) Most of the pc's have never used Pathfinder
2) Most have never played D&D since AD&D 2nd edition
3) One player gets bored easily and has no fantasy reference (she confuses dwarfs and elves)...
-I've done OD&D, Basic D&D, AD&D1, AD&D2, and now, D&D 3.5, not Pathfinder (D&D 3.75?), but some of your questions make for general philosophical fodder, so I'll take a shot.
1, 2, & 3) For hard-core role-players (as opposed to power gamers), the rules aren't the key anyway. If they know AD&D2, they still have the basic concept (I think). If they want to do a little min-maxing (e.g., decide whether to specialize with the longbow or battleaxe), lend them the book for a few days before creating their characters.
As for the player who confuses dwarves and elves (REALLY?!), any chance she's a hanger-on? Obviously she'll need help creating her PC. Let her run a human with a relatively simple character class (fighter, sorcerer or scout in D&D 3.5, assuming Pathfinder works the same way), and have her come from a relatively sheltered region where they don't see many demi-humans or the like. That way, the confusion will make sense in game...
Uptognomegood wrote:
...4) I have been accused of running Masterpiece Theater for finger painters (an observation I don't entirely disagree with)
Part of me wants to keep them localized, enter Village of Hommlet and ToEE.
Part of me wants to have them explore the beautiful Flanaess...
-I have just the thing for you!
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QUESTIONAIRE
There are no "right" or "wrong" answers. This is just a survey to help fit you into the campaign and into an adventuring group. You can change your preference at any time.
YOUR BACKGROUND:
1. Are you familiar with FRPGs?
2. Are you familiar with D&D in general?
3. Are you familiar with D&D 3.5 in particular? [Pathfinder for you, UTGG)
4. Are you familiar with the World of Greyhawk (the Flanaess)?
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...you've obviously got that part down...
Continued:
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PLAY PREFERENCES:
1. Which months, days of the week, and times of the day are best for you?
2. The Character Races which would you most/least like to play: Human; Half-Orc; Half-Elf; Half-Human Elf; High Elf; Wood Elf; Grey Elf; Rock Gnome; Hill Dwarf; Mountain Dwarf; Lightfoot Halfling; Stout Halfling; Tallfellow Halfling; Other (Ordered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for favored, with 1 the most preferred; up to five which you don't want to play, marked: X. You do not have to list any as preferred or disliked)
3. Sex you would most/least like to play: Male; Female. (up to 1 favored; up to 1 disliked. You do not have to list either as preferred or disliked)
4. The Alignments which you would most/least like to play: LG; NG; CG; LN; N; CN; LE; NE; CE. (up to 3 favored; up to 2 disliked. You do not have to list any as preferred or disliked)
5. The Class which you would most/least like to play: Fighter; Barbarian; Hexblade; Paladin; Ranger; Scout; Swashbuckler; Rogue; Bard; Sorcerer; Wizard; Cleric; Druid; Monk; Aristocrat; Expert. (up to 5 favored; up to 5 disliked. You do not have to list any as preferred or disliked)
6. The Party Organization/Employer which you would most/least like to play: Free-Lance Adventurer; Part-Time Adventurer (i.e. character has a "normal" job); Military; Police; Lord's Retinue; Temple; Wizard’s Academy; Merchant Group; Mercenary; Bounty Hunter; Bandit; Mobster (e.g., Thieves’ Guildmember); Rebel; Other. (up to 3 favored, up to 3 disliked)
7. The Activity which you would most/least like to play: Criminal Mystery; Supernatural Mystery; Politics; High Life; Mean Streets; Gladiatorial Combat; Jousting Tournaments; Archery Contests; Magic Contests; Eliminating a Bandit Lair; Eliminating a Humanoid Tribal Lair; Clearing a Crypt (Undead); Clearing a Hostile Temple; Eliminating a Castle; Frontier/Backwoods; Rural; Urban; Plains; Hills; Mountains; Woods; Jungle; Arctic; River; Highway; Coasts; High Seas; Other. (up to 5 favored; up to 3 disliked)
8. Define a "successful" character: Gaining Honors; Gaining Levels; Collecting Stuff; Rising in Position; "Mission Accomplishment"; Convincing Role Playing; Other. (optional, as many as you'd like)
9. Historical or Fictional "feel" of the setting or character you would most like to/not like to play: e.g., Perrenland= Medieval/Renaissance Swiss Confederation; Yeomanry= Merry Olde England; Geoff= Wales; Frost/Cold/Snow Barbarians= Vikings; Rovers= Northen Plains Indians; Wolf Nomads= Mongols; Hardby= Amazons etc. (optional, as many as you'd like. Please list whether these references are for the setting or the character)
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...which really just boils down to "ask them." I'm willing to bet you've got quite a few modules and DIYs saved up. One of them is bound to fit. If they don't have a preference right now, then fine. Start off with T1 (or L1, or U1, or N1, or anywhere else) and let things develop. Assuming you stick with T1, if they decide to take on the Temple, then that covers them for quite a while anyway.
I have one bit of advice with regards to Pathfinder. it inovles how Pathfinder handles channeling positive/negative energy (i.e. the pathfinder structure for Turn/Command Undead), and it is outline here:
Note the main issue that arises (and it will quickly manifest in ToEE, where the problematic set-up I describe will be encountered multiple times), and what my fix is 9which turns tha ability back into something more akin to what most people are used to from the Turn/Command Undead ability). The Pathfinder channel positive/negative energy thing completely changes the game, and not in a good way in my opinion.
The changes I implemented are working out very well, and the game now plays like it did before. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
I have one bit of advice with regards to Pathfinder. it inovles how Pathfinder handles channeling positive/negative energy (i.e. the pathfinder structure for Turn/Command Undead), and it is outline here...
-I thought Pathfinder was "D&D 3.75" or some such. Maybe not...
It is very close to that, though the Turn/Command Cleric ability was completely altered to Channel Positive/Negative energy, and it is very much not the same thing. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
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Obviously she'll need help creating her PC. 