Newb Looking for Advice

Yo!

My friends and I are getting ready to play our first game using the Pony Tales system. The thing is, this is literally our first game; none of us have ever played a tabletop game before. As such, we're pretty much just 'eyeballing it'.


I downloaded both handbooks, plus some expansions and a virtual dice-roller, and I'm pretty sure we're well set on the character creation. What I need advice on in particular is, how do we pick a PH from a group of novices? Is there a way we could take it in shifts, or should we focus on just one person in charge?

Edit: This all seems like pretty sound advice, but I neglected to mention something about my friends. None of them really have great attention spans, and they get bored/frustrated/pissy really easily when it comes to decision-making. Of course, I suppose I could just leave them out of the decision altogether and just pick one. They'd all probably be fine as players, but maybe a short look at each will help.

Ahji isn't really patient at all, but he's alright with storytelling and making interesting characters. He tends to either be an overpowered Marty Stu in his stories though.

Kell is also a decent writer, but I can't say one way or another about her patience or managerial skills. She does tend to be rather flowery in her prose, but that's not really a problem (usually).

Eric's stories tend to be a long-winded clusterflank of run-on sentences, but he can make interesting (if often silly) characters. He's patient as far as the rest of the group is able to keep our heads out of our plots.

Joe is under no circumstances allowed to make a setting or backstory, due to his inability to form a coherent narrative. His characters are alright, if he's supervised closely, and he's pretty patient, but he sucks at managing things.

As for myself, I can't really make an unbiased judgment about my skills. That said, I do enjoy world-building and coming up with engaging characters.

Well, one idea would just to be rotate the GM position around until everyone has done a short one shot campaign and then pick from there (based on who did the best job or seems to want to do more the most).

My other piece of advice would be for the GM to not play a PC character. During their turn to GM their PC should probably be busy doing something else for the entire session. When you pick a permanent GM, they should either relegate that character to just normal NPC status or something. Also long as they don't have their old PC following the group around all game being a GMPC because those tend to cause problems. Especially in a group of new players/GMs.

Edit: If you don't want to spent the time taking turns for a GMing trial run, then just stick with one person as the GM for the whole thing. Permanent GM rotation games are pretty tricky to pull off well.

1st, is there anyone in your group who really really wants to be PH while the rest of you are neutral-to-negative on the prospect? If so, then the choice is obvious: let the one who wants to do it. The game's more about fun than being correct; even if they're not serving as the "best possible" PH in this scenario you are maximizing the fun your group can have.
2nd: Is one of your group a particularly good storyteller, or has some ideas they want you all to explore? If so, and they are neutral-to-positive on the idea of PHing, they should probably be the ones to do it. An effective story told by an effective storyteller (mostly; you shall be writing your own character's actions and dialogue of course) is fun for everyone involved, including the storyteller.
3rd) If neither of these methods work with the current atmosphere of people in your group (And from what little I can gather it doesn't sound like either of them really do) then a potential option is to go ahead and have everyone PH one gaming session (Same characters minus of course the current PH, different setting and storyline...or the same setting and storyline, whichever works) in turn and see whether you all like the variety this provides. If so, then great! You've found the solution: a rotating carousel of PHing! If not, then it's time to choose which person's PHing style the group likes best. But be careful - this method is an easy way to hurt feelings or incite jealously if somebody decides they really wanted to be PH or simply really wanted the party's approval of their storytelling techniques.
4ld: Host a quiz show and ask each "contestant" how they would respond to certain scenarios such as a character forcing the campaign off the rails, a player being upset out-of-game, a mathematical error that changes the past two or three hours of storyline, etc. etc. Make sure everybody answers the same questions, and all of the questions at that. The one who provides the best answers gets to be PH. This one is probably the "silliest" option that isn't just random selection, but it is arguably effective.
Q: Random selection. Or, if you prefer guided selection and believe in the concepts of Divination and/or a higher being willing to answer your prayers, go that method. Either way, you'll be rolling the dice, which is perfect considering what you're about to get into!

...those are my suggestions. The first three are probably your best bets, to be honest.

EDIT: Ramsus's advice about the PH not playing a character is sound. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but those tend to come up only when you absolutely need at least three people to play the game and only two have any interest in showing up. He also technically gave the advice I did in number 3rth first, but I go into more detail just in case you were at all confused (doubtful, but possible), so there you go.

I'd agree with the above; especially the "round robin" to try and see who would work the best. That way everyone can have a hand at PHing and get their feelings about the whole affair.


Also, I suggest against PHplayer unless you have two people PHing in which case one PH just takes on the role playing a solo-Npc (which can give that NPC more of a personality if pulled off right.) My group does that but that's because Me, Kindulas and Staric all DM.