My school started this RPing club, but in my school right now only 2 people know how to DM and do it effectively, including me. As the teacher running the club knows nothing about Pathfinder, it seems that I will have to get some of my friends who play Pathfinder during lunch to DM for other groups. How can I teach 3 people how to be a DM in 15 15-minute sessions?
[RPG] How to teach 5 people to be DMs
new-gmpathfinder-1e
Related Solutions
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.
Thinking of this as a one-off interdimensional travel lead me to think about a (remarkably equivalent) conceit being the center of Harry Potter and the Natural 20. In short, it tells the hilariously funny fiction of a genre-aware 3.5 wizard dropping into Hogwarts and steadfastly maintains the truth behind each universe. The imported little Munchkin, Milo, indeed works to 3.5 mechanics in the "real world."
For your thing, therefore, don't try to "merge" them. Layer the systems. Each character comes with their own system and imparts those effects on the world. Preferably as literally as possible. Treat readings of abilities as "true" rather than as mechanical abstractions designed to represent a world. Of course, use the exact same rules for the enemies. You'll want to think through the abstractions from a system specific point of view: "What does 3.5 damage mean in context of WoD, treating things literally" and so on and so forth. While this would be tedious to pull off in any kind of sustained campaign, the incongruous juxtaposition of systems could be a hilarious and fun farewell to arms.
Best Answer
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.