Looking Back on Four Years of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Hard to think it has already been so long already.

May it continue for 4x4 more!

I still recall playing the demo for Rise of the Runelords at my first Paizocon, running Skull and Shackles in 2014 (along with a marathon run of the Rise of the Runelords set), and 2015 with the Wrath of the Righteous demos with the Season of the Righteous kickoff. I am looking forward to what surprises are in store for Paizocon 2016 when I volunteer for the ACG.

Time sure does fly!!

Mike, what are the class deck "waves"?

Like this?
Wave 1: The first seven (RotR base set)
Wave 2: The 4 from the RotR character add-on
Wave 3: Oracle, Alchemist, Inquisitor, Witch
Wave 4: Goblins Fight and Goblins Burn
Wave 5: #19 and #20

When we work on the class decks at Lone Shark, we work on multiple at the same time; we design, develop, test them all together, then hand them off to Paizo. It's a bit less visible to you guys, because they then get put on a monthly schedule.

Amazing that's been so long already!

What is in wave 6?

Hard to think it has already been so long already.

It is hard to believe. I remember hoping the Rise of the Runelords box would arrive in time for us to play it with MD on Labor Day weekend, 2012. I sleeved them all in penny sleeves that first time. Hope the game keeps going and getting better for years to come.

Being blind, I have never played the card game, but I always wish it well! Good luck to many more expansions!

What is in wave 6?

I think they said #21, #22, #23 and possibly #24.

Mike, what are the class deck "waves"?

The waves are the groups in which we write the decks. From the design team's perspective, the waves are thus:

Turns out Gunslinger will follow the Goblins decks, but that's the order in which we designed them.

Being blind, I have never played the card game, but I always wish it well! Good luck to many more expansions!

If you are ever at a convention I'm at, let me know and I'll teach you how to play. No reason you shouldn't be able to join the fun.

Myfly wrote:

What is in wave 6?

I think they said #21, #22, #23 and possibly #24.

SPOILERS!

Wow! it has been that long already?

I hope for the PACG line to continue, grow, and improve for more years to come. I'm one of those guys who would dedicate a whole wall of shelves full of just PACG stuff. Granted I earn the money to do so first.

My PACG collection is not nearly up to date with what's already released, but it's definitely in my budget plans.

My bet on why PACG blew up is because it filled an otherwise empty niche. It's this niche that I, and my group of friends, found this game to fill. That niche is a middle-ground between board (or card) game and full-blown pen & paper RPG. As experienced gamers (of all types) we've played Dominion, Catan, etc, and wanted something a little more complex, but no one wanted to invest (time or money) into a D&D or Paranoia that required serious dedication as well as a DM/GM.

Although there are other attempts at making "shorter, card-based D&D" with games like Thunderstone, they all lacked the impetus of serialization (i.e. continuous stories / campaigns) that kept peoples interest.

Considering how long it took us to finish the Runelords campaign (note: very long), this level of required dedication is perfect for us while maintaining our interest because of developing individual characters.

I purchased PACG when it first came out looking exactly for that "shorter, card-based D&D" that Gwyns mentions. And looking through the cards and the first three adventures, I really thought I had found nirvana. :) I played it solo and took a couple times to get past the bandits and then couldn't get past the Poison traps and realized that the game just didn't click with me. It didn't really tell a story like my D&D sessions of old had. It sat on the shelf for quite awhile - I think until S&S came out - even though I had purchased AD2,3 and 4. Then my oldest son and daughter tried playing it with me and eventually my youngest son and, armed with the RotR hardcover book, suddenly I could see the story. And suddenly there was a great game here.

We have since played S&S as a family (well, my youngest only played a couple of scenarios). My daughter and I played the first set of WoTR OP scenarios with our local group. And I'm currently running two online sessions - Season of the Shackles and WOTR - here on the forums. To me, now that I can see past some of the warts of the game's mechanics, there really is a story and it really is a "shorter, card-based D&D".

Thank you very much Mike and team!

And I'm currently running two online sessions - Season of the Shackles and WOTR - here on the forums.

Woo!

When my wife and I were engaged, and dating before that, we facilitated a game night for our friends. Something to provide a safe, fun environment for people to meet and have fun between her friends and mine. I had a gift card for Barnes and Noble. Now, I've never liked their pricing strategy especially when I used to have Border down the road and eventually Amazon. But I had the card so I went shopping May two years ago.

One friend had been talking about running Pathfinder and had loaned us books to build our characters (since I begged him because I like to learn before I do). So naturally I looked at those books first at the store. But then I saw PACG. I had been trying to decide between the main Player's Guide and maybe a board game and just off to the side were these in between things. It was a knee jerk decision but I picked up just the base set to try it out as an alternative between Catan, Hero Quest, and the promise of a Pathfinder game.

Well, two years later, we had been married that June (Friday the Thirteenth with a full moon and all!), we still have game night with the same core group plus or minus some new folks, and we've been subscribing to PACG ever since! My wife and I decided not long after the first game together that we wanted to keep playing this game and make it our regular game. Actually, she didn't let us play anything else until after 2015 started!

So thank you guys. You have given us almost 2 years of fun and camaraderie which has gone from a tiny one bedroom apartment with strange people making strange background noises, zero space so we were crawling over each other and the cats were too, and super hot summers to our new house where we have a nice kitchen for keeping our food off the table (and cards...), I can put the leaves in the table for larger groups and games, there's space for the cats to run around and not even be in the same room let alone all over the table, and we foresee many more years of PACG enjoyment together with each other, our group, and all of you :-)

Haha, just as an extra, last year at our one year anniversary the only thing that worked out was getting together with one of our bridesmaids to go through the first few scenarios of Season of the Shackles! :D

And for super extra bonus points, we've extended this into my other game night with a group of guys Fridays where one of them liked it so much he bought and soloed Shackles. Our bridesmaid went and got her own copies of Runelords and Shackles for when she moved down south briefly (and she got us into the OP from her time there). And I've even had -another- session with family.

The moral of the story is? Don't get PACG... or it'll get you...

crafty, historical, just a little insane

Is that Mummy's Mask? or Liz?

I was glad when they announced the breather between APs, but I'm ready for some new content now - I know we've got a while until Mummy's Mask arrives, but I look forward to hearing something soon [Hint, Hint]

Mike Selinker wrote:

crafty, historical, just a little insane

Is that Mummy's Mask? or Liz?

Pointing out for the record that I said "just a little."

If you check the community use registry here on Paizo.com you'll find links to Adventure Guides for Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and Wrath of the Righteous. Each guide has an introduction and conclusion for every scenario in the PACG games and provides the complete Adventure Path story. Enjoy!

I pictured Mike dropping the mic and walking off stage as he casually finished with "More soon, I promise, including what we hope will be Keith's set in 2017."

Season of the Shackles was Tanis's "set": adventurous, clever, mildly strange

This is the second-nicest thing Mike has ever said about me.

Mike wrote:

Season of the Shackles was Tanis's "set": adventurous, clever, mildly strange

This is the second-nicest thing Mike has ever said about me.

Nope, just the second-nicest you're aware of.

My husband and I just got into this recently, but we love it! Two organized play sessions and once through the base 3 scenarios in Rise of the Runelords and we are HOOKED! Thanks so much for making this game. Got excited shuffling in the Adventure Deck 1 cards for more RotR this weekend :)

It's a good solo game, thanks.

I walked into GAMA 2012 with a wine box containing a humble prototype called "Saints" under my arm.

I thought it was called "Snints."

Mike Selinker wrote:

I walked into GAMA 2012 with a wine box containing a humble prototype called "Saints" under my arm.

I thought it was called "Snints."

Vic is referring to this ambigrammatic logo.

So, any chance that 'soon' is near and we will get to know more about MM and the possible projects beyond? :)

(I hope it's Jade Regent - bring on all the Samurai and Ninja I can take!)

So, any chance that 'soon' is near and we will get to know more about MM and the possible projects beyond? :)

(I hope it's Jade Regent - bring on all the Samurai and Ninja I can take!)

I hope it's Jade Regent too! My sister-in-law loves things with an Asian flair, so I think it'd be easier to get her to play a Jade Regent set.

Jade Regent would be fun - I hope for either that or Iron Gods, so we could have some laser pistols and robots action.

For the MM preview, not until we send it to the printer.

In mid 2006 my roommate and I took a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a new game to play. We ended up picking up Heroscape. By 2012, I had every expansion and promo figure with multiple base sets (for the land). This game became my core group of friends go-to game. Once a month 3-6 of us would sit down and dominate.

I met my wife in 2009, married in 2013, and soon moved halfway (Kansas) across the country (work).

My wife was uninterested in playing a game that expands across all space and time...

So... there sits at least one copy of every Heroscape piece... on the shelf.

Months passed as she and myself attempted to get adjusted to a new city with new people. All of our loved ones 800+ miles away. My monthly gaming group of 8 years gone...

I had grown bored and started trolling around websites looking for "great solo play tabletop games". I stumbled upon DC Deckbuilding game. I watched a few "let's plays" on youtube and it seemed enjoyable enough.

There on the sidebar (recommended) was Grey Elephant Gaming doing a Let's Play of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. I had played Pathfinder RPG, but only played a few games as I was not excited about having to have a GM.

I watched the Let's Play and soon did hours of research (watched videos and reviews). Tom Vassel from Dice Tower sold me after his review.
I begged the wife for the base set, and she eventually said "yes."

Oh, I played through the base box and adventure one with every character. Soon I was buying the second adventure Skinsaw Murders. And this continued through the fourth adventure.

Then it happened.
A storm.
A nasty storm that blew the power to my apartment complex.
A storm so nasty, my fireplace leaked.
A storm so nasty and fierce... my wife looked over to me and said "Hey babe (it's pretty cute), I'm bored, (I was playing PACG by candle light [do it, it's awesome]) will you teach me to play?"

Over 18 months later:
We now own a home.
Have 2 base sets with all expansions.
Have 3 games currently running in our basement (1 RotR, 1 SotRL, 1 S&S)with a mix of friends (we didn't have friends before)
Have successfully completed multiple runs through RotR.
And my wife still enjoys playing (Ranzak) so I do not have to play alone (I still do anyway).

So, to wrap this all up.

Mike and company, thank you. Thank you for your creative ideas, hard work, dedication, optimism, open ears (community), and commitment to excel. This game did more than just become a game on the shelf for my wife and I. It helped bridge a difficult time in our lives. It helped her and I gain a mutual interest, helped us pave new friendships and have something to do on any day of the week.

Again, from both her and I, Thank You.

For the MM preview, not until we send it to the printer.

Got it. And what about the possible projects beyond?

Mike and company, thank you. Thank you for your creative ideas, hard work, dedication, optimism, open ears (community), and commitment to excel. This game did more than just become a game on the shelf for my wife and I. It helped bridge a difficult time in our lives. It helped her and I gain a mutual interest, helped us pave new friendships and have something to do on any day of the week.

Again, from both her and I, Thank You.

You're both welcome.

During the last 4 years, PACG got more play time at my home that any RPG, collaborative game (incl. Captain is Dead or Zombicide) or competitive game (incl. Ticket to Ride or Lemmings Mafia). It even got more play time than Tarot (I'm French... remember?).
But wait...
During the last 4 years, PACG cards got more sorting time than Pathfinder minis.

What can I add to that?

Yes just one thing: Apocrypha or Ninth World are great but you are totally forbidden to waste any time on those vs building the PACG set after the next PACG test. I know it's unfair, but there you have it.

Hope to have the opportunity to shake hands one day Mike.