Calling All Seekers!

Monday, March 14, 2016

The Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild has produced a huge number of great adventures over the years, but few can compare to series Eyes of the Ten, a four-part extravaganza of high-level play and dire revelations about the Society and its enemies. Just ask any veteran of the campaign. When Eyes of the Ten survivors meet up at conventions, they excitedly swap stories of "Here's how we handled this faction mission," "We saved that NPC by doing this," and "Yeah, that monster nearly ended us—twice." A lot of that excitement comes from the powerful story and wild destinations, but a big share of the exhilaration comes from something we do all too rarely in Pathfinder Society: play high-level characters. In fact, nearly 5 years have passed since the last installment of Eyes of the Ten released. In that time the campaign has included a few higher-level opportunities in interactive specials and sanctioned high-level printed adventures, but the organized play program hasn't really published more high-level content that it can call its own.

In Season 7 we want to change that. We've assembled an all-star team of writers for our new three-part Seeker arc All for Immortality, which debuts this April. As in Eyes of the Ten, this new story takes the PCs to exciting new locations, many of which I've always wanted to visit but could never justify in a lower-level adventure. Likewise, you'll clash with powerful villains we dared not face before and deal a powerful blow to some of the Society's oldest enemies. The action begins in Thuvia with Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-20: All for Immortality, Part 1: First Taste of Eternity by veteran organized play author Thurston Hillman. Now that the secret's out, you'll see the product page appear soon.

Let's talk some numbers. First, this is a three-part series, and we're not going to make you wait a whole season to experience the story; expect #7-26 (Part 2) in June and #7-29 (Part 3) in July, following a brief hiatus to manage PaizoCon releases in May. Second, we're aware that it can be tough to schedule Eyes of the Ten because it requires PCs to have exactly 33 XP. That's a necessary restriction for a series written with only one character level in mind, but it would be so much easier for players and organizers if we treated this more like standard scenarios, right? After all, I imagine many players would love to play both Seeker arcs with the same character. With that in mind, I'm happy to announce that all three All for Immortality adventures are Tier 12-15 (Subtiers 12-13 and 14-15).

Finally, there's one additional date that you should remember: April 6th! That Wednesday, Tonya and I will be joining Ryan and Perram on the Know Direction Podcast to discuss this—including the other adventures' titles, authors, and destinations—share news about upcoming conventions, and answer your questions. Join us!

Also, check back here next week for some long-anticipated sanctioned material for the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild.

John Compton
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Pathfinder Society Pathfinder Society Scenarios
101 to 150 of 150 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
Dataphiles 3/5

I've listened to several Know Direction Podcasts, but never when they were on air. Is there a specific time they usually do them? If not, perhaps John knows when we should tune in?

4/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Jason Avery wrote:
Kristjan Justesen wrote:
Very interesting, I might have to find a group for my Venture-Captain Holy Vindicator. ** spoiler omitted **
That's not entirely true K-Ris. Mickey never signed a contract with any devil or demon. :P

True, Mickey's caravan visiting once in a while to his hidden Lodge in Dalun is probably the only friendly face he sees while trying to search for a way to deal with Fey's End and prevent the twisting of the Fey who raised him.

Silver Crusade

How wonderful! How glorious! How beautiful! I shall have to see about procurring another elixir for Auntie. She's gotten so much use out of that last one!

The Exchange 2/5

"Exquisite. First, I shall seek the attention of the Eyes of the Ten... then I shall pursue immortality."

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

1 person marked this as a favorite.

For more information about Know Direction check their facebook page HERE or their WEBPAGE

Dataphiles 3/5

Thanks Bob. I actually already did that, and was just coming back to let anyone else who wanted to know that it sounds like it will be at 8:30 PST.

4/5 ** Venture-Agent, Missouri—St. Louis

Now placing bets on who will be the first to go off task and drink the first dose of Sun Orchid Elixir that shows up. Further betting available for whether or not the scenarios take this into account beyond autofailure!

Grand Lodge 4/5

Alex Blaes wrote:
Now placing bets on who will be the first to go off task and drink the first dose of Sun Orchid Elixir that shows up. Further betting available for whether or not the scenarios take this into account beyond autofailure!

I suspect that being a Dwarf would be of assistance if you do that. Martial type or Cleric would help, as well. Of course, since the DC is 42 (tribute to Douglas Adams), even that might not be enough.

4/5

hmmm... will doppleganger VCs be able to play?

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ***

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Alex Blaes wrote:
Now placing bets on who will be the first to go off task and drink the first dose of Sun Orchid Elixir that shows up. Further betting available for whether or not the scenarios take this into account beyond autofailure!

I really want that to be the actual plot of the adventure - the PCs drinking the Sun Orchid Elixir!

Grand Lodge 5/5

James McTeague wrote:
Alex Blaes wrote:
Now placing bets on who will be the first to go off task and drink the first dose of Sun Orchid Elixir that shows up. Further betting available for whether or not the scenarios take this into account beyond autofailure!
I really want that to be the actual plot of the adventure - the PCs drinking the Sun Orchid Elixir!

Unless I'm mixing up the Sun Elixir with something else, it wouldn't benefit (or really harm) PCs unless they sold it for the gold value - not to mention getting enough for a party would be quite a coup.

Sun Elixir:
Doesn't it just revert your age to early adulthood? Which all PCs are or a are close enough to they aren't getting aging penalties. Though the value is indeterminate I remember them auction for 50k+ gp.

Dark Archive 4/5 *** Venture-Agent, Finland—Tampere

It would harm them in "You just drunk a really expensive and sought-after artifact that every rich person wants. You are so dead" way <_<

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

Since Orchid's Drop is legal, presumably the components are available...

Shadow Lodge 4/5

My tiefling is about to hit the last age bracket and part of his story is that outsider blood acts like cellular regeneration's on hyper speed: too much bone, too much keratin, etc. He's crooked and bent over and has so many teeth that opening and closing his jaws is painful. And it's been an ongoing process for the last 50 years.

Hope the elixir's available AND drinking it gloriously complicates the drinker's life. I'd like nothing better.

Sovereign Court 4/5 * Organized Play Coordinator

4 people marked this as a favorite.

So glad the news is being met with happy feelings.

Yes, 29 scenarios in a season is a massive amount. My hats off to John and Linda for shepherding them through the development process.

See everyone on the 6th, when we chat more about the new arc and Pathfinder Society in general.

Until then...don't forget...

Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Grand Lodge 3/5

*feints*

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Agent, Georgia—Atlanta

1 person marked this as a favorite.
nogoodscallywag wrote:
*feints*

Or do you mean *faints*?

The Exchange 3/5

2 people marked this as a favorite.
The Masked Ferret wrote:
nogoodscallywag wrote:
*feints*
Or do you mean *faints*?

I think it worked guys.

4/5 *

Kinevon PC wrote:

Heh. Saved the Decemvirate, bid on some sort of weird key at VC Sheila's request, solved a few issues in various places. Now I am too high level to go on this adventure. :(

Kinevon (multi-Captain: ship, Eagle Knight, Venture)
Fighter (Polearm Master) 15/Unchained Rogue 1
Have fauchard, will trip and disarm

Hmm, maybe you can get energy drained to qualify?

4/5

I'm wondering if the members of the decemvirate will be personally giving my character his briefing. Cause I know a few of their identities. Would be a nice touch for an epic cause...

Paizo Employee 5/5 Contributor—Canadian Maplecakes

1 person marked this as a favorite.
June Soler wrote:
I'm wondering if the members of the decemvirate will be personally giving my character his briefing. Cause I know a few of their identities. Would be a nice touch for an epic cause...

*bites tongue like I've never bitten my tongue before on a project*

Writing the briefing for this scenario has been the most rewarding part of this scenario so far—and there's a whole lot of amazing stuff in this scenario. When I figured out how I wanted to do it, it worked on a variety of levels.

I think veteran and 'newer' (subjective for seekers) players alike will approve.*

*Assuming John doesn't change everything I've done. ;)

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Thurston Hillman wrote:
*Assuming John doesn't change everything I've done. ;)

Yeah, but that only happened one time, right?

The Exchange 4/5

Would this be offered at GenCon sometime, maybe.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Captain, Texas—Waco

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Zach Davis wrote:
Thanks Bob. I actually already did that, and was just coming back to let anyone else who wanted to know that it sounds like it will be at 8:30 PST.

Given that Ryan is in Montreal and Perram in Kentucky, I'm pretty sure the start time will be 8:30pm EST, 5:30pm PST. The replay usually gets posted to YouTube pretty quickly, too, before the audio gets edited and posted as the podcast. If you can't watch it live, there are ways to watch or listen later!

The Know Direction YouTube Channel to watch it over and over...

Liberty's Edge 4/5

GM Lamplighter wrote:
Kinevon PC wrote:

Heh. Saved the Decemvirate, bid on some sort of weird key at VC Sheila's request, solved a few issues in various places. Now I am too high level to go on this adventure. :(

Kinevon (multi-Captain: ship, Eagle Knight, Venture)
Fighter (Polearm Master) 15/Unchained Rogue 1
Have fauchard, will trip and disarm

Hmm, maybe you can get energy drained to qualify?

I think I have to find an LG game to find the right kind of energy drain, then, don't I?

I don't think Pathfinder permanent negative levels would let me qualify...

5/5 5/55/55/5

The Masked Ferret wrote:
nogoodscallywag wrote:
*feints*
Or do you mean *faints*?

Possum style. Its both

Liberty's Edge 3/5

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Dan Simons wrote:
Zach Davis wrote:
Thanks Bob. I actually already did that, and was just coming back to let anyone else who wanted to know that it sounds like it will be at 8:30 PST.

Given that Ryan is in Montreal and Perram in Kentucky, I'm pretty sure the start time will be 8:30pm EST, 5:30pm PST. The replay usually gets posted to YouTube pretty quickly, too, before the audio gets edited and posted as the podcast. If you can't watch it live, there are ways to watch or listen later!

The Know Direction YouTube Channel to watch it over and over...

Dan is correct. We go live as of 8:30 pm Eastern, 5:30 pm Pacific. We will start with the interview, which traditionally runs for an hour (although the PFS episodes have a tradition of their own, running 1.5 hours) and taking questions throughout.

We've created an event page as a reminder.

John Compton wrote:
Sounds like a good thing to ask about during the interview!

Anyone who can't make the live interview, feel free to post your PFS questions here or on our forums.

And thanks again to Tonya and John for this opportunity.

Dataphiles 3/5

Ah thanks. Sorry To create in any confusion. Sounds like I'll be watching it on Youtube.

5/5 **

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
The Masked Ferret wrote:
nogoodscallywag wrote:
*feints*
Or do you mean *faints*?
Possum style. Its both

Possum Style (Prerequisite: Prehensile tail)

Grand Lodge 3/5

Ragoz wrote:
The Masked Ferret wrote:
nogoodscallywag wrote:
*feints*
Or do you mean *faints*?
I think it worked guys.

YES! Thought it would take a shorter time to get that one.

4/5

Kinevon PC wrote:
GM Lamplighter wrote:
Hmm, maybe you can get energy drained to qualify?

I think I have to find an LG game to find the right kind of energy drain, then, don't I?

I don't think Pathfinder permanent negative levels would let me qualify...

Yeah, and it causes weird wealth problems too, am I right? :p

Grand Lodge 4/5

Andrew Roberts wrote:
Kinevon PC wrote:
GM Lamplighter wrote:
Hmm, maybe you can get energy drained to qualify?

I think I have to find an LG game to find the right kind of energy drain, then, don't I?

I don't think Pathfinder permanent negative levels would let me qualify...

Yeah, and it causes weird wealth problems too, am I right? :p

Heh. No, that was all the crafting that caused that. All my primary LG PC's death did was get him back onto the correct amount of wealth, as the overcap in that scenario could have covered a Resurrection, instead of just the Raise Dead he got... Oh, and his Leadership feat, and the follower using an unlocked Wizard variant....

Gods. Overcap. Leadership. And crafting. All in one post. <<_>>_<< Did the world end, yet?

Liberty's Edge 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Martinsville

I think I can play Krawford on this one, kaw. To see if he can truly be of actual use in a game instead of a liability, kaw. And hopefully not die this time, kaw.

Grand Lodge 4/5

I'm delighted with this news - I'm really excited for these new high level adventures. Thanks all!

2/5 *

I also think this is awesome, despite the fact that they will likely only be played by a relative minority of players.

5/5

So pleased, and so pleased that Eyes is being given it's proper respect.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Melbourne

I have a character that played Eyes of the Ten and then played 2 modules, putting her 1 xp away from 16th level. Is it possible for her to play this entire trilogy?

The Exchange 5/5

trollbill wrote:
I have a character that played Eyes of the Ten and then played 2 modules, putting her 1 xp away from 16th level. Is it possible for her to play this entire trilogy?

Since all three scenarios in the trilogy are 12-15, there is no way to get that character through the entire thing. Even on slow track you'll only get 2/3 done before leveling past the level 15 cap.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Unfortunately, no. You would be able to slow track the first two, but then level out before the last scenario.

3/5 5/5

That's a shame -- I wonder if an exception could be made for characters who were already at 15.2 when this was announced; perhaps let them delay applying the final xp until after finishing the arc?

5/5 *****

1 person marked this as a favorite.

You could look at whether you could apply the last module chronicle on slow. If you haven't played the character since then I cannot really see the harm in it.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Melbourne

andreww wrote:
You could look at whether you could apply the last module chronicle on slow. If you haven't played the character since then I cannot really see the harm in it.

Hmmmm... I might just do that.

The Exchange 3/5

To John and the development team:

Do you expect each of these new scenarios can be completed in a regular convention slot of 5 hours maximum duration?

My experience so far with higher level adventures is that it takes more time for players and GMs to figure out what to do with the many options accumulated at those levels.

I am excited about this and thinking about offering the arc at a convention this fall - but I want to make sure we slot enough time to do it right.

Any guidance on that?

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

I can verify that Part 1 did not take longer than 5 hours for my team. As with all high level content, party experience and player interactions will factor into playtime.

Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

Peter Kies wrote:

To John and the development team:

Do you expect each of these new scenarios can be completed in a regular convention slot of 5 hours maximum duration?

My experience so far with higher level adventures is that it takes more time for players and GMs to figure out what to do with the many options accumulated at those levels.

I am excited about this and thinking about offering the arc at a convention this fall - but I want to make sure we slot enough time to do it right.

Any guidance on that?

The feedback I've received so far suggests that #7–20 was playable in somewhere between 4–6 hours, depending on the GM and group; many of the GMs commenting also remarked that they saw good ways to make the next rendition more streamlined, so I'm feeling confident that #7–20 can reliably fit in a 5-hour slot. Just be sure to start on time and remind players to re-familiarize themselves with their characters. Even a short game at high level can last many extra hours if players don't remember how their characters work.

#7–26 and #7–29 are both designed to also last one typical slot (~4.5–5 hours).

The Exchange 3/5

Thanks for the lightning fast responses!

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/5 **

John Compton wrote:


#7–26 and #7–29 are both designed to also last one typical slot (~4.5–5 hours).

I thought you'd finally accepted that 4.5 - 5 hours is NOT a typical slot. Have you officially gone back to the fiction that a 5 hour slot is the norm?

Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Paul Jackson wrote:
John Compton wrote:


#7–26 and #7–29 are both designed to also last one typical slot (~4.5–5 hours).

I thought you'd finally accepted that 4.5 - 5 hours is NOT a typical slot. Have you officially gone back to the fiction that a 5 hour slot is the norm?

Paul, we still aim for ~4 hours for season 7 scenarios. When it comes to certain experiences (e.g. interactive specials, pregenerated character specials in which players need extra time in order to review characters, and seeker-level adventures), I'm aiming for under 5 hours. Although Serpents' Ire proved a little too long (we're tinkering with that before Gen Con), even then the target for these special events is closer to 4.5 hours.

Why? It's because shooting for 4 hours or less in a seeker adventure means either having only two substantive combat encounters or cutting much of the context, story, and roleplay that helps distinguish high-level play and make it a special experience—not a good way to kick off the first dedicated seeker-level adventures in five years. I also recognize that although I'm very familiar with how long a Tier 1–5 scenario will run, I'm still getting a feel for how long it takes to play through Tier 12+ adventures in an organized play setting. The more of these adventures we do, the more confident I'll be in providing the maximum content in a limited timespan.

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/5 **

John Compton wrote:
Paul Jackson wrote:
John Compton wrote:


#7–26 and #7–29 are both designed to also last one typical slot (~4.5–5 hours).

I thought you'd finally accepted that 4.5 - 5 hours is NOT a typical slot. Have you officially gone back to the fiction that a 5 hour slot is the norm?

Paul, we still aim for ~4 hours for season 7 scenarios. When it comes to certain experiences (e.g. interactive specials, pregenerated character specials in which players need extra time in order to review characters, and seeker-level adventures), I'm aiming for under 5 hours. Although Serpents' Ire proved a little too long (we're tinkering with that before Gen Con), even then the target for these special events is closer to 4.5 hours.

Why? It's because shooting for 4 hours or less in a seeker adventure means either having only two substantive combat encounters or cutting much of the context, story, and roleplay that helps distinguish high-level play and make it a special experience—not a good way to kick off the first dedicated seeker-level adventures in five years. I also recognize that although I'm very familiar with how long a Tier 1–5 scenario will run, I'm still getting a feel for how long it takes to play through Tier 12+ adventures in an organized play setting. The more of these adventures we do, the more confident I'll be in providing the maximum content in a limited timespan.

That all makes sense to me.

I'm sorry if I came across as abrupt. It wasn't my intention. Its late here and I'm fighting a cold. Which, while no excuse, hopefully at least acts as a mitigating factor :-)

1 to 50 of 150 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Organized Play / Pathfinder Society / Paizo Blog: Calling All Seekers! All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.