My lady puts on her GM's hat...

[Azmyth]

This is her first go running PF. She's been gaming for years, but I think one of the WW platforms was the only system she's ever judged. She's taken a serious liking to the Serpent's Skull AP and has decided to take it on!

I'm looking for GM's who have (or are) running SS, who can offer non-spoiler advice or pointers to help her game. She's done a ton of homework and we've run a few 'encounter' style combat sessions to help her get the swing of round management.

Any tid-bitz of Wisdom that you can offer her, would be greatly appreciated!

 

[tlantl]

Go to it, and have fun!

Give her as much support as you can. Game mastering is stressful sometimes.

 

[Philosopher]

In my experience, the best thing for a new GM is having players who are understanding. It sounds like you're supportive, and if the rest of the group is the same, then that's covered.

 

[Shisumo]

With only Souls for Smuggler's Shiv to look at so far, I can't speak to the whole AP, but I have to agree that it looks like a ton of fun. I also think it will be challenging for a new GM, though. SfSS is a fairly open, sandbox-y style adventure, with a lot of decision-making in the players' hands, so my strongest recommendation would actually be for you, Azmyth (assuming you're playing!): be ready to go out and do some adventuring! The mod will give her pretty much everything she'll need to respond to your decisions, but it's not easy for a GM to push things forward if the party isn't interested in taking some proactive moves.

The other thing I would say (and this bit is actually for her): work hard on characterizations for the major NPCs. They're extremely important, and a lot will ride on making them both individual people and memorable characters (whether they wind up friends or not). Really try to get into their heads, read through the info on pgs 59-63 a bunch of times, and do what you can to make those Morale and Diplomacy checks actually show up in how you are playing them!

Good luck to both of you!

 

[T-Bone]

One bit of advice to any new DM/GM that seems to be sometimes overlooked is how the beginning of combat encounters are initiated. Distance, line of sight, perception checks etc. Each encounter you (the GM) should be prepared to understand at what distance and under what conditions the encounter occurs. When is initiative rolled? Who has a chance for a surprise round. How are you handling perception checks (passive or active), do you ask the player to roll perception checks in the open and know that if he rolled low and you tell him he sees nothing that it is not reliable?

 

[TheAuldGrump]

For some reason that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

The Auld Grump, who doesn't do all warm and fuzzy....

 

[CherryPie]

Why thank you!

I look forward to this adventure and your kind words are appreciated.

 

[AkodoHarubi]

Don't worry, sweet Cherry Pie will have those boys under control in no time!

(Psst, this is SirGuido!)

 

[Meowzebub]

One thing that can definitely help is have her take a peek at the several Play by Post games of Smuggler's Shiv that are on-going on the Paizo boards. Seeing how others have handled the AP in a step by step format, I found to be very helpful.

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/community/gaming/playByPost

There is also a DMs only thread for each AP module that has DMs and designers discussing questions that arise in each AP...very insightful.

paizo.com - Paizo / Messageboards / Paizo Publishing / Pathfinder® / Pathfinder Adventure Paths / Serpent's Skull

And finally a poster over on the Paizo boards (Stormrazer2000) created an EXTREMELY helpful, one page chart of all the various weather/disease/wandering monster/morale/ checks the DM needs to keep track of. This has been a lifesaver for me! This will make her life easier!

paizo.com - Paizo / Messageboards / Paizo Publishing / Pathfinder® / Pathfinder Adventure Paths / Serpent's Skull / Environmental Hazards on Smuggler's Shiv

As mentioned previously, the module is very sandboxy, but I found the npcs provide some direction in the early days, before certain things become more clear. I have had fun with the npcs in providing lots of roleplaying interaction with the group, so it pays to be comfortable with their story backgrounds.

Hope this helps!

 

[Saint Mac]

Awesome idea with the viewing of Play by Post for a new DM/GM!