Pathfinder 1E Simplifying Pathfinder for GMs

[JediSoth]

I like Pathfinder. I've played it, and I've enjoyed it. I've been reluctant to GM it, however due to its D&D 3.X roots. I GMed D&D 3.X for it's entire product cycle, stopping when D&D 4E came out (coincidence, not because a new edition was released).

Now, as the time grows near where I'll be able to put together a gaming group again, I recognize that it might be difficult to find a group on the basis of the games I prefer to GM (Star Wars D6, AD&D 2nd Edition) or I'd like to try (Hollow Earth Expedition). Based on what I see selling in the game stores around town, this is mostly a D&D/Pathfinder or White Wolf town (that's also based on what everyone who games in town that I know plays). So, I figure I'll have the easiest time finding players for Pathfinder and within that subset, looking for people who are willing to try out other games.

As I mentioned, I've been reluctant to GM Pathfinder. GMing D&D 3.X burned me out at the end of its life-cycle and I'm worried that Pathfinder will burn me out even faster since I've already been there once. I remember how LONG game prep could take in 3.X and though I could run Pathfinder APs for YEARS without duplicating materials, I like to run original stuff, too.

I'm not a very good improvisational GM, though I realize it's impossible to prep for every possible situation. So, I've been thinking of ways that I can make it easier for me to just be prepared in general, so I don't have to spend a week thinking about all the possible permutations. What ways have you found to speed up your game prep, or just make your job GMing Pathfinder easier? I don't want to dedicate all my free time to prepping for a game (as I did sometimes with 3.X), but I know I'll not be as good as I could be if I just "wing it" every session.

The GameMaster Guide's NPC section will be very useful when I need an NPC statted quickly, and I've made a little database with Sean K. Reynold's hints on how to re-dress monsters to serve as more specialized NPCs.

 

[IronWolf]

What were the specific things you found very time consuming for game prep? Was it building encounters and the critters involved? Or was it trying to make sure you had good detail on Inns/Taverns/NPCs that the party might meet that you wanted to have readily on hand in case they might encounter them? Or was it something else that seemed to consume the time?

 

[JediSoth]

It was mostly encounter building. I found the lack of electronic tools to pull together all the data very tedious. In AD&D 2E & D&D 4E, the encounter builder tools I had really helped. I hate having a monster manual open during the game so I can check stats; I prefer to have all the papers for an evening's game in a neat little stack with my desk/table clear for things like dice rolling, keeping miniatures staged, etc.

Of course, anytime I knew the PCs would encounter an NPC I thought they might try to attack, I had to have that statted up, but I think the GameMaster Guide might have solved that time-sink for me.

 

[IronWolf]

It was mostly encounter building. I found the lack of electronic tools to pull together all the data very tedious. In AD&D 2E & D&D 4E, the encounter builder tools I had really helped. I hate having a monster manual open during the game so I can check stats; I prefer to have all the papers for an evening's game in a neat little stack with my desk/table clear for things like dice rolling, keeping miniatures staged, etc.

Yeah - in the way of a full encounter builder I am not familiar with any. Maybe someone else will come along with something on that front.

Something like PC Gen or Hero Lab can make building a critter much easier and less time consuming in many cases. And then you can export the stat block to print letting you just have it on a sheet of paper instead of needing to flip through a monster book.

Even jotting things down on index cards (the larger sized ones) can help put critter stats at your fingertips instead of needing to flip through a book. Of course, sometimes the time it takes to build you index cards starts to add up as well...

 

[Systole]

In the Pathfinder Chronicles book, they have a chapter on generic Golarion NPCs -- about 20 or 30 pages' worth at 2-3 per page. Most are CR 1/2 to 2, so whenever I need a junk NPC, I can find something within about 45 seconds or so that'll be close enough for gamemaster work even though they're supposedly setting-specific. There's another resource for higher-CR NPCs, but I cannot recall what it is at the moment.

 

[pawsplay]

I made use of my computer printer to fire off copies of monsters I thought I would use. I adopted a very austere approach to NPC creation; hunting across a half-dozen books and comparing Prestige Class this or that turns out to be a big waste of time for all but the most important and interesting NPCs. Pathfinder's revised skill system has made the "pick this many skills" approach to buying skills even easier.

Another time saver is using "minions." Rather than trying to creatue a bunch of level-appropriate foes, I just stat the main opponents, and let the rest be wimps. Like, if the PCs are going to face an evil orc chief, I stat the chief and his bodyguards, maybe a cleric or something, and then the rest are just whatever orcs are printed in the rulebooks. Do I really care how many level 5 orcs would be an "appropriate" challenge? No, I do not. If the party is an average level of 6, then the orc king is level 7, his bodyguards are level 5, so is the cleric, and maybe there's an ogre. Done. Then I sprinkle some orc minis on the board when I set up, and that's how many level 1 orc warriors the PCs fight. "This many." If the party is fighting an ancient spectre, the wraith minions present are mainly there for decoration. Etc. I think a good encounter is more about flavor and variety than balance, strictly. As long as the main attraction is fairly tough, the rest can take care of itself.

Similarly, I never worry about very high CR opponents versus the PCs. If there's a dragon, I assume the players will throw everything they have at it. I honestly thought my group was headed for a TPK when they went up against a +8 CR ancient dragon, not because I forced them to, but because they kind of rushed into the situation. But they actually won, with no PC deaths. As long as the NPC doesn't have some way to totally shut down the PCs, one tough, solo creature can be pertty tough and still be beatable. Even a much weaker second creature, however, can change that.

 

[smetzger]

There is a google spreadsheet with the core pathfinder monsters.
That may help some.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr...GFBN1RBc25yU2syZU5DRktXUkpPanc&hl=en_US#gid=0

 

[Imaro]

Here's a tool I've found really useful for the Pathfinder game I am running now. It's been useful for both pre-game prep (sinc it allows me to set up and run my encounters without pencil and paper) as well as for improv-encounters (since it has searchable monster functionality which allows you to see the stats and/or quickly add it into an "encounter" to run.).

Combat Manager

 

[Azmyth]

The best recommendation I can make to you as a first time PF-GM is judge one of the 32 page Paizo modules or the first book of an adventure path.
They've done the work and it is spectacular! Your only prep time is reading it before you run it.

I ran campaigns for 20+ years and never during that time did I ever run anything 100% as written.
I would cherry-pick monsters, encounters, traps or whatever suited my fancy. Bottom line, it was my world.
Paizo is the first company to produce a setting and adventure paths that are so appealing and rich to me, that I now run a pure Golarion campaign.

Way back in episodes 01-03, we reviewed the Price of Immortality trilogy of PFRPG modules in great detail.
It's a great place to start a PF campaign!

http://www/pathfinder-podcast.com

Cheers!

 

[bouncyhead]

Another time saver is using "minions." Rather than trying to creatue a bunch of level-appropriate foes, I just stat the main opponents, and let the rest be wimps. Like, if the PCs are going to face an evil orc chief, I stat the chief and his bodyguards, maybe a cleric or something, and then the rest are just whatever orcs are printed in the rulebooks. Do I really care how many level 5 orcs would be an "appropriate" challenge? No, I do not. If the party is an average level of 6, then the orc king is level 7, his bodyguards are level 5, so is the cleric, and maybe there's an ogre. Done. Then I sprinkle some orc minis on the board when I set up, and that's how many level 1 orc warriors the PCs fight. "This many."

Thrice this.