Dear Dovahqueen: What is your favorite Paizo Adventure Path or Module? Are there any you would recommend for new players or new GMs? — Adventure Hill

Dear Adventurer: You’re only a new player or new GM once. You’ll make mistakes and learn from them. You’ll build and perform amazing feats of wonder! Sometimes you’ll prepare the most amazing action ever to be witnessed only to have it fizzle out like a cheap sparkler that broke in half. As a new anything, play or create in a world that inspires you. Some find inspiration in an adventure path, others in the world of their own making, and newbies are going to be more confident in a world that the GM is more confident running.

An adventure path is going to take remove a lot (but not all) of the burden to spontaneously needing to create named NPC’s, monsters, and encounters at a moment’s notice. A homebrew adventure is going to remove a lot of the constraints in the story of an adventure path and allow more flexibility to the core gameplay. A new GM should consider their options and invest in whichever they feel is going to fit their beginning playstyle the best.

Nobody’s first character or game is going to run perfectly smoothly and that’s ok. You’ll have fun, you learn, and you’ll get better, but you’ll always remember your first time.