Good evening,

My 10-year-old son is getting Pathfinder for Christmas. Although I've been on hiatus for several years now, but I used to game regularly. I see this as a great opportunity to guide him into the hobby.

Anyhow, I'm starting from scratch in terms of setting and campaign. Any advice? If there's a free "standard Pathfinder" setting available that anyone would recommend, I'd appreciate it.

(I know that there are tons of settings out there, but as often as not they are junk. I can also make my own, but time is not on my side at the moment...)

Thanks,
Alan

To be honest, I'd recommend getting him the Beginner Box over the core rulebooks to start. The entire box is set in Sandpoint and while Golarion is a pretty big mixed bag of different subsettings, there's nothing saying you have to jump right into the rest of the setting once you've reached the upper levels of the Beginner Box.

You might also think about getting the Pathfinder comics as they're set in Sandpoint and the close environs and most have some useful material including battle maps.

Worse case scenario, if you have the old BECMI D&D sets - or the Basic and Expert sets at least, just use the setting of Threshold and the other info presented as the setting with either the Beginner Box or the core books.

Welcome to The RPG Site, Alan!

Later!

Harl

The first proper RPG I ran for my kids (as opposed to DnD board games, heroquest etc) was Pathfinder.

I grabbed the Pathfinder core rules and the first "Rise of the Runelords" Scenario, which is set in Golarion.

There ARE Golarion world books and stuff, but to get a start, the "Rise of the Runelords" scenario is great.

I agree with the comment that getting the beginner box is probably better, as it comes with everything you need to get a start in RPGs, but if you already have the Pathfinder core rules, then just grab "Rise of the Runelords" and you're good to go.

Let me echo that if you don't have a ton of time Paizo has probably 15 adventurer paths (sets of modules that are meant to be run in order for a full campaign) that can easily fill up a year of playing and don't take a lot of time to prep.

They're all set in Paizo's default world but the "grab bag" nature of Golarion means you can pretty much find an adventurer path that corresponds to whatever specific kind of setting you want to run.

Personally, I'd avoid the beginner box. If you're planning on gaming with your son, just go straight to the core rulebook and the Bestiary. For accessories, I'd go with the Bestiary token set and the starter flip mat set.

Have you played PF or 3.5?

Oh, and while "Rise of the Runelords" is a pretty nice adventure path it may not be age appropriate for a ten year old.

There's some pretty grisly stuff (at least in RPG terms) in some of the modules, especially three.

Quote from: tanstaafl48;715126Oh, and while "Rise of the Runelords" is a pretty nice adventure path it may not be age appropriate for a ten year old.

There's some pretty grisly stuff (at least in RPG terms) in some of the modules, especially three.

Yeah, Legacy of Fire is probably the most kid-safe AP of the bunch, but it was written under 3.5 rules and would need conversion.  

Mummy's Mask might be similarly friendly.  It'll be PF-rules right out of the gate and will probably start coming out around February or March.  Jade Regent seems fairly safe too.

Going down the list and off of memory:

SPOILERS

3.5 years

Rise of the Runelords : Gore, serial killings, hillbilly rapist ogres, incestuous succubus and her daughters, etc.

Curse of the Crimson Throne : The sado-masochistic church of Zon-Kuthon plays a big part, PCs may likely wind up killing a bunch of brainwashed victims of the BBEG, great campaign that can easily be tweaked for taste

Second Darkness : Starts in a den of pirates with all that that entails, drow get played up for horror, could be easy to adapt, but this AP is admitted to have more problems in the middle with bad transitions between chapters and unfortunately unsympathetic allies.  It's going to need work.

Legacy of Fire : Can't recall any possible sticking points.  Too dungeon heavy for some that expected more desert-trekking adventure.

Pathfinder years

Council of Thieves : Starts as rebellion in decadent devil-worship country.  Winds up being about saving your city from another threat.  Geared towards more social characters, urban campaign, lots of pervading darkness but plenty to be invested in.  I can't recall the semi-"snuff" stage play PCs can perform in being particularly bad.

Kingmaker - Dark fairy tale violence is the roughest bit I remember for certain here.  I think rape might have turned up in a backstory, but this is easily excised.  Might actually be the best choice, come to think of it. Sanboxy.

Serpent's Skull - race through the jungle to find a lost city.  Actually pretty safe too, though there's some racial strife that can drop in and out awkwardly if you don't lead into it and set the stage.  Lot of people didn't like how it turned into an aimless crawl in the second half, though this could be used to turn reclaiming that city into Jungle Kingmaker.

Jade Regent - Trek across the world and war to save a country.  Actually fairly safe I think.  Strong all the way through, though you may want to drop the caravan rules.

Carrion Crown - Gothic horror.  Dips into superdark from time to time, but it could be tweaked to spookhouse levels.  The "Lovecraft" chapter might piss players off with the sanity check crap though.

Skull and Shackles - Pirates, ranging from Johnny Depp to gritty.  The worst bits are easy to adjust, with the biggest "holy shit, no" elements being in book 5.

Reign of Winter - Batshit insane.  Dark fairy tale violence and tons of child endangerment.  And one chapter is set during WWI Russia where you fight Rasputin to save Princess Anastasia.  So that might take some explaining.

Wrath of the Righteous - Unambiguously heroic AP, but it uses an extra set of rules and is coated in elements that are dark as fuck.  It's simultaneously the brightest and darkest AP of the bunch.  For point of reference: Redemption is a major theme.  There's also a type of demon whose schtick is molesting animal companions and mounts.

So Legacy of Fire, Kingmaker, Jade Regent, and Serpent's Skull seem like the easiest to adapt.  Kingmaker and Jade Regent both have subsystems that may overcomplicate things though.(kingdom rules and mass combat for Kingmaker certainly, hexploration not so much)

Quote from: worldeater;715089My 10-year-old son is getting Pathfinder for Christmas.

How bad was your kid this year? A lump of coal has more potential for fun.

You could always go with just building a small village with a dungeon nearby, or a small island, etc. and only design the setting as needed. Or use whatever older settings you're familiar with.

Quote from: tanstaafl48;715126Oh, and while "Rise of the Runelords" is a pretty nice adventure path it may not be age appropriate for a ten year old.

There's some pretty grisly stuff (at least in RPG terms) in some of the modules, especially three.

I just toned down parts as appropriate. I think I changed the bit where the Goblin was capturing kids and eating them or something. Can't remember much of the details now, but it's pretty obvious what needs changing, which isn't a lot really.

It's easy enough to do and there's some hilarious moments in it for kids as well.
The first adventure is a goblin attack on a town, which is choreographed in a humorous way.

I have to second the advice for starting with the Beginner Box. It's much more accessible than the bloated hardcover.

And I also have to second this advice:

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;715138You could always go with just building a small village with a dungeon nearby, or a small island, etc. and only design the setting as needed. Or use whatever older settings you're familiar with.

Building one's own setting is part of the fascination of GMing, and you don't need a fully detailed setting for the first handful of sessions. Start small, and expand. Everything else comes from play.

Useful links:
http://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Microlite_Campaign
http://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2009-12-02_Hexcrawl (with more links to detailed procedures from, among others, RPGsite regular poster Estar)
http://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-02-24_Trying_To_Run_Wilderness_Like_A_Dungeon

Good luck with your game!

Quote from: Spinachcat;715137How bad was your kid this year? A lump of coal has more potential for fun.

Sorry for liking something that you don't like.

Quote from: Chairman Meow;715113Personally, I'd avoid the beginner box. If you're planning on gaming with your son, just go straight to the core rulebook and the Bestiary. For accessories, I'd go with the Bestiary token set and the starter flip mat set.

Have you played PF or 3.5?

The book is already wrapped and under the tree, but even if it wasn't I think I'd skip the box set. It's a fine idea, but I have plenty of RPG experience so I can provide the same sort of guidance that an intro set would.

I've played DnD from 2nd to 3.5 and have tinkered with PF a little bit. It's been 5 years since I played anything, so I'm a bit rusty.

Thanks everyone for all the resources and links and whatnot. I'm sure that he and I will have fun. I can probably get my daughter as well - Santa's got three sets of dice to put under the tree this year.

First off, that's really cool. I hope your son has a wonderful time with Pathfinder!

Have you checked out the Kingdoms of Legend setting from IPG? I've flipped through it, and it seems pretty cool, and largely age-appropriate, I think.

http://www.interactionpoint.com/kingdoms-of-legend

Merry Christmas!

P.S.--Dice under the tree are always a good thing! Fun!

Quote from: worldeater;715161The book is already wrapped and under the tree, but even if it wasn't I think I'd skip the box set. It's a fine idea, but I have plenty of RPG experience so I can provide the same sort of guidance that an intro set would.

Fair enough. The boxed set does have stand-up cardboard figures, but you can get those in spades with the pawns boxed set if you choose later on.

QuoteI've played DnD from 2nd to 3.5 and have tinkered with PF a little bit. It's been 5 years since I played anything, so I'm a bit rusty.

It's always good to oil up the wheels from time to time.

QuoteThanks everyone for all the resources and links and whatnot. I'm sure that he and I will have fun. I can probably get my daughter as well - Santa's got three sets of dice to put under the tree this year.

Glad to be of help. Sounds like you're set for some awesome adventures together.

Later!

Harl