My school just started a Pathfinder club at the school after I got a petition to the principal. Because it is in the voluntary "activity block" of our schedules, it will mean that some people unfamiliar to Pathfinder will be there. As I am one of only 2 people in my school who has a good enough grip on the rules to actually DM, that will mean that I will have to get everybody there to "loosen up" to Pathfinder, and to ease them into playing it. How can I do that? The other DM and I will have to teach everybody there Pathfinder, and not scare them away, all in 3 45-minute sessions. There will be about 20 other people in the group. So how can I do that effectively?
Pathfinder 1e – How to Introduce Others to Pathfinder
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Related Solutions
Assign homework and use a "flipped classroom" approach.
No, really. Have them use the various recorded play examples (some referenced here), and use the sessions to answer questions. (Technically speaking, this is called a "flipped classroom" and is an actual pedigogical approach.)
Once they have consumed the actual play examples, then spend time inculcating system mastery by assigning problems in system mastery. (Here's this situation, how would you adjudicate it? Why?) and spending the 15 minute sessions in discussion of the answers of the last homework.
It's also critical that they learn a rounded game. For a "midterm", have each of them run a game for the others. Each GM must make characters for the group and explain those characters and their mechanics to the group.
Once they've demonstrated system mastery and a familiarity with the literature. for Pathfinder, they can start learning how to DM. In many ways, I would teach them how to DM Pathfinder using different systems, both to break them of the "one system rules all" mentality that... is just a horrible habit, and to teach them the fundamental insights of these games. For this, the latter half of the course, I would explore Apocalypse World, Mouseguard, and Paranoia. (With them finding resources and listening to those resources on their own time. If anyone fails three weeks in a row to have done the prep, ask them to leave.) For Apocalypse World, the fundamental rules of storytelling are just super-super important, in terms of framing, pacing, and visualising scenes. For Mouseguard, the mechanic of yes/yes-complication is crucial: it will help your Pathfinder DMs not require umpteen hundred stealth checks for no-reason and will (hopefully) teach them that every roll must be important. And finally, Paranoia, because there is no better book to teach a DM how to handle Players. For their final exam, have them run the game of those three (or similar) that they like the most.
Start with pre-made Characters
By which I don't mean generic characters that could be in any fantasy story, but by creating a character specifically for each of your children. These characters should be based around the characters from movies and TV shows they each seem to be drawn most toward. It's not the perfect fit that character creation is, but it can let you leap over the hurdles that character creation presents to a new player and let your children get right into the game. Your child's statement about it feeling exactly like a movie is what you want to most emulate.
Use essentials classes only, specifically MBA focused ones
Essentials classes (the Knight, the Slayer, the Warpriest for example) are built around having strong class features (always on) vs. making choices between how to use encounter and daily powers to most benefit the party. They work best in Heroic Tier (levels 1-10) and are strong classes that do not require as much optimization as the AEDU classes do. more importantly they focus on what are iconic archetypes both within and without of D&D. The Knight and the Slayer for example are both actually sub-classes of the traditional fighter. The first wears heavy armor and is all about protecting his friends while the second is about dealing as much damage as possible to monsters.
Use inherent bonuses
One of the best rules options you can take advantage of is inherent bonuses. Found in Dungeon Master's Guide 2, p. 138. as well as the Dark Sun Campaign Guide Book, p. 209 (where it was expanded) inherent bonuses take the place of magic items for the purposes of system math. At set levels the characters will gain +1, +2 etc. to their to hit rolls, damage rolls, and their defense stats. Magic items are still compatible in that their properties, item attacks, and bonuses to crit damage remain, but their mathematical bonus does not stack with inherent bonuses. Whichever bonus is largest is used.
Focus on the story and the adventure, adjudicate their actions to fit
If you were playing 4e with adults I would wholly say to depend upon the use of the powers their characters have and play the system as-is. However this may be a difficult pill for your children to swallow all at once (there are plenty of adults on the internet that can't handle 4e's separation of fluff, the descriptions and lore, from crunch, the hard rules themselves). When your children's turns in combat come up or they are making decisions out of combat ask them what they want their character to do and then based on their answer formulate what their character would do mechanically and then walk them through what their character does. This way you can introduce and have them take over parts of the rules at 1 piece at a time.
Best Answer
Strip down most of Pathfinder
Only introduce a handful of classes and mechanics. You can then introduce them at a later date, but for a first session, if you simply prepare a handful of fighters, rogues, sorcerers and clerics - or something with that sort of spread - you can give people an idea of the 'flavour' of Pathfinder and Fantasy RPGs in general.
More complicated concepts like Vancian casting or less vital parts like skills can be avoided for now, or mentioned in passing then glossed over. It's easiest when teaching a new system to a new player to cover the basics ("This is how you attack", "You've taken damage - subtract 5 from your hp", "You cast a fire spell and kill a goblin") that the players can understand quite easily from video games, then focus on the strengths of PnP RPGs - the interactivity and roleplaying aspects.
Later on, if your players come back for more, you can introduce more classes, add skills, flesh out other subsystems you've mostly ignored, and generally expand the game over time until it's 'proper' Pathfinder, assuming you want to! The group (or you) might enjoy the easier version as much as, or more than, the full version, in which case it's easiest to just leave it as is.
I have had personal experience with running a (lunchtime) RPG club at school. We used 2nd edition D&D, with the only experienced player being a cleric, and then adding a Ranger, Thief, Paladin and Invoker. We only played from level 1 to level 2, but it worked well. We ignored non-weapon proficiencies, I made all the characters beforehand with the other veteran helping me, and a good time was had by all. We never needed to add more of the system later on, because the stripped-down version was quicker (very important with shorter play sessions), and I learned a lot about keeping play moving for a group with players that don't all get on well.