Unseasonably Warm?

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

If you haven't heard the stereotypes, Seattle has a rather dreary reputation for being constantly cloudy, rainy, chilly, and damp. That's only about 80% true; our summers (starting a little before PaizoCon) are quite beautiful and warm. However, it's around late February that I'm rather desperate for the feel direct sunlight and warmth. Apparently this month's scenarios got the memo, and both involve a swelteringly welcome break from the northern hemisphere's winter.

In the first, author Nicholas Wasko takes us down to the rough-and-tumble port of Bloodcove, the heart of Aspis Consortium activity in the Mwangi Expanse. Pathfinder Society Scenario #9–15: The Bloodcove Blockade is a Tier 3–7 scenario that continues an ongoing storyline that began in Season 8. The Consortium's up to its usual tricks of exploiting the Mwangi Expanse's mineral and cultural resources, but lately the organization's taken an interest to a particular site in the Kaava Lands. The catch? Much like how tree roots anchor the soil, these ruins and the surrounding jungle have kept a powerful fiend locked away. As a result, the Society's trying to shut down the Consortium's imminent strip-mining scheme for more than just ecological conservation. That means sneaking into Bloodcove to sabotage the operation, and the Exchange faction's itching to leverage its economic muscles to blockade the port and strangle out the Consortium's dangerous plans. Naturally, Exchange faction PCs have a special opportunity here, courtesy of Guaril Karela.

Nicholas Wasko's done a nice job with this adventure, which involves lots of urban danger, a dash of intrigue, and a lot of dealing with fun NPCs. What I really appreciate here is his attention to detail in portraying Bloodcove, which straddles the silt-choked Vanji River and is built atop an extensive grove of mangrove trees. Not only does the mangroves' flavor play an important part in several encounters—such as with the illustrated Erwyn Harvacus, leader of a druid circle who keeps the ever-growing mangroves from swallowing the city—but it's also beautifully depicted in the scenario's custom map by Robert Lazzaretti.

Illustration by Maja Djeke

Of course, it's no surprise when traveling toward the equator leads to warmer weather. We're playing a fantasy RPG, aren't we? Where's the supernatural weather? Where's the ritual to inject the sweet relief of spring into winter's cold clutches? Look no further than Pathfinder Society Scenario #9–14: Down the Verdant Path, a Tier 1–5 scenario by Scott Sharplin. Ever since Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–15: The Overflow Archives, we've known that Scott has a special talent for telling stories with whimsical themes, and #9–14 is no exception. Down the Verdant Path takes the PCs to Andoran, where they must untangle the secrets behind a strange weather phenomenon: in the middle of winter, there's a verdant explosion of summer weather! The PCs' journey takes them into the depths of the Verduran Forest and beyond, introducing them to a host of "colorful" characters like the gnome Azure (pictured here).

What else is special about Down the Verdant Path? It's the first ever adventure to include a Concordance of Elements (i.e. "the Concordance") special faction opportunity! Back in December we announced the new Concordance faction, dedicated to maintaining the elemental balance of the cosmos, studying the multiverse's natural complexity, and calming areas of elemental instability. For the Concordance's debut, we wanted to reinforce that the faction's more than just a "nature faction" eager to hug pixies and high-five druids. No, this organization recognizes that even natural forces can grow wildly out of control and require intervention, and that's just what you get to do in this scenario. We're excited to see how the faction grows and what you think of it.

Illustration by Sebastian Rodriguez

Guide and Faction Journal Cards

An updated version of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide is now available on the website. Not only has Linda Zayas-Palmer put in a lot of work updating several major sections (including the spell hierarchy for buying scrolls and the retraining class synergies), but there's also now a faction entry for the Concordance, complete with five new faction traits. We've also updated the Season 9 Faction Journal Cards with a Concordance card. Thanks, Linda!

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Maja Djeke Organized Play Pathfinder Society Pathfinder Society Scenarios Sebastian Rodriguez
51 to 77 of 77 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>
Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, Minnesota

It’s kind of a bummer, actually, that psychics are no longer primary crafters. It made sense to me that psychics would make wands.

Hmm

Dark Archive 3/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

***...Lanliss, please fetch me a wand of enhance water at the market...I am busy discussing the properties of the Runecarved Key with Eadie's celestial rhino acquaintance in the city of Axis...***

Who needs wands when you can cast 40 spells per day? :)

Liberty's Edge 2/5

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Candi plays happily with Donna* (her new viper emissary bloodline familiar) in the baths of the Pleasure Salon of Calistria in Absalom.

*Named after her favorite singer, Donna Summer.

Thanks very much for the expanded retraining rules.

Splash, splash, splash, ...

4/5 **

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Here's my question: since I'm a slave to swag, can we expect a faction pin for The Concordance and a list of favored skills added to the Product Incentives?

Grand Lodge 5/5 *

Joe Bouchard wrote:
Here's my question: since I'm a slave to swag, can we expect a faction pin for The Concordance and a list of favored skills added to the Product Incentives?

This question came up in my household, and my /purely/ speculative answer to this, given that it didn't make it into the guide list, is that the earliest we will see a pin is Gencon, and likely it will be seen there, and since that would coincide with Guide 10, that's where it would get published for official use.

I will reiterate that this is purely my own speculation, but I think it's fairly likely.

Paizo Employee 4/5 Organized Play Lead Developer

24 people marked this as a favorite.
Alex Wreschnig wrote:

Thank you for getting this out there! I'm looking forward to both, but I know there are a lot of people especially looking forward to the new faction.

I'm jumping through some hoops to download the new files since the download page seems to be misbehaving--so I might have missed something somewhere. Do you have any more information on how the free change to the Concordance will work? (Or is it covered in the Guide?) For example:

- Do you keep your existing faction journal card bonuses?

- Are characters able to switch for the duration of the season or do they need to change faction immediately prior to the next time they're played?

(etc?)

Sorry for the delay!

The following apply to those switching to the Concordance faction:

  • This change costs no Prestige Points.
  • You keep any benefits earned on your previous faction's Faction Journal Card, but after changing factions, you are no longer able to fulfill goals on the previous faction's cards.
  • You keep any faction-specific boons earned on Chronicle sheet as part of your previous faction.
  • If you have a faction trait for your former faction, you have two choices: either keep the trait or replace it with any one of the Concordance faction traits.
  • You lose access to any purchased faction-specific vanities.
  • You should perform this change either by August 2nd, 2018 or at the beginning of the next adventure the character plays, whichever occurs last. If during this time you play a scenario that includes a Concordance faction-specific objective and reward, you may switch to this faction at the end of the scenario and potentially earn that reward. This allows a PC to experience what the Concordance values firsthand, make an informed choice, and switch to the faction without missing out on the reward.

  • The Concordance 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ****

    2 people marked this as a favorite.

    A little gnome leaps for joy as she slips on her Concordance pin.

    “Zarta gave me her blessing!”

    Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5

    Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

    Thanks, John--that's excellent to hear and it should really help with the faction recruiting!

    Dataphiles 3/5

    Excellent news. Thanks John!

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

    3 people marked this as a favorite.
    John Compton wrote:
  • You lose access to any purchased faction-specific vanities.
  • I'm assuming that if you have to give up Risen Guard they don't put you back in the ground?

    1/5

    John Compton wrote:


    The following apply to those switching to the Concordance faction:
  • You lose access to any purchased faction-specific vanities.
  • Do former Scarab Sages escaping the faction's semi-retirement keep their vanities (Risen Guard, for instance)?

    This blog post and Guide 9.1 (page 28) say the PC "can retain any faction-based benefits", so I would assume so, but thought I should ask.

    Scarab Sages 5/5 5/55/55/5

    3 people marked this as a favorite.
    Lau Bannenberg wrote:
    John Compton wrote:
  • You lose access to any purchased faction-specific vanities.
  • I'm assuming that if you have to give up Risen Guard they don't put you back in the ground?

    "Oh thanks guys, a going away golden shovel! That'll be handy for archeology "

    3/5

    Can we switch now or just on August 2nd?

    Grand Lodge 4/5

    Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

    By August 2nd, not on August 2nd.

    3/5

    Ah, thank you. So anytime between now and August 2nd, or after August 2nd if the character's next adventure is after that date (i.e. inactive characters are on 'PAUSE' and not penalized - neat)

    Grand Lodge 4/5

    Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

    Precisely. :)

    Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5

    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

    For people just joining this conversation who might be confused, remember that this is a separate faction change from the Scarab Sages faction change. If you're leaving the Scarab Sages, you get the special perk of keeping all those nifty faction vanities.

    Scarab Sages 4/5

    Alex Wreschnig wrote:
    For people just joining this conversation who might be confused, remember that this is a separate faction change from the Scarab Sages faction change. If you're leaving the Scarab Sages, you get the special perk of keeping all those nifty faction vanities.

    If you are leaving Scarab Sages, you can also switch to any faction, not just The Concordance of Elements.

    Sovereign Court 4/5 * Organized Play Manager

    3 people marked this as a favorite.
    Joe Bouchard wrote:
    Here's my question: since I'm a slave to swag, can we expect a faction pin for The Concordance and a list of favored skills added to the Product Incentives?

    I think this is a reasonable expectation.

    Sovereign Court 4/5 * Organized Play Manager

    12 people marked this as a favorite.
    Cup wrote:

    A little gnome tugs on John Compton’s pants leg. “Um, hello. My name is Cup. I would like to transfer over to the Concordance. How do I submit my paperwork please?”

    Concordance is not selectable as a radio button on the site curently.

    Ambrus Valsin hurries down the hall of Skyreach, listing tasks and ticking them off on his fingers. The clerk at his elbow hastily takes notes. "Update the records to reflect the Pathfinder Society's new alliance with the Concordance!"

    "Yes, sir," the clerk exclaims, "Right away!"

    "Thank you, Gamir. I appreciate your assistance."

    Concordance is now active for active selection by characters and reporting

    4/5

    The young girl slips up and clears her throat, seeing as a major change was made to reporting, "Ummm...I'm not sure, maybe it was cleared up somewhere...or maybe I'm not able to find it...the library around here has gotten a little disturbed of late...but..." she pauses and looks about, "Will we be seeing any additional resources coming our way anytime soon? We haven't had a resupply in over three months...and I know a lot of us are getting rather...ummm...hungry..."

    Grand Lodge 3/5

    Can we get a similar clarification for people using their free change faction option?
    The latest Blog post I know of says we're not retiring Scarab Sages, but everyone gets a free faction change. It seems pretty clear we should still follow the faction retriment rules on Page 28 of the guide, but it would be better if it was explicit.

    Thank you for the retraining clarifications. Is there *any* chance we can add PFS specific rulings for starting Traits and Favored Class?
    "You can retrain both starting feats in 5 days."
    "You may change which class you selected as your favored class with 5 days of retraining."
    I've got a couple of characters that have started multiclassing and enjoyed the new class more than their original, and couple of others that would really like to change traits.

    Sovereign Court 4/5 * Organized Play Manager

    Markov Spiked Chain wrote:

    Can we get a similar clarification for people using their free change faction option?

    The latest Blog post I know of says we're not retiring Scarab Sages, but everyone gets a free faction change. It seems pretty clear we should still follow the faction retriment rules on Page 28 of the guide, but it would be better if it was explicit.

    I'm not sure what clarification your post refers to. Could you please expand on your request?

    Grand Lodge 3/5

    Something like:
    Leaving the Scarab Sages faction is similar to leaving a faction when it retires:
    * This change costs no Prestige Points.
    * You keep any benefits earned on your Scarab Sage's Faction Journal Cards, but after changing factions, you are no longer able to fulfill new goals.
    * You keep any Scarab Sage-specific boons earned on Chronicle sheets.
    * You retain any Scarab Sages faction trait.
    * You keep access to any purchased Scarab Sage-specific vanities.
    * You can perform this change whenever you would like, but cannot return to the Scarab Sage faction once you've done so.

    As things currently stand, even though changing from Scarab Sages costs 0 prestige, you'd have to follow the rules at the bottom of the first column of page 28, and lose all Scarab Sage prestige awards.

    5/5

    Anyone have a copy of the Season 9 Concordance faction sheet? It was live for such a short time I missed snagging a copy.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    I rise!

    5/5

    2 people marked this as a favorite.

    Pfft, a mere 6 years. Don't even need true resurrection for that.

    51 to 77 of 77 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>
    Community / Forums / Organized Play / Pathfinder Society / Paizo Blog: Unseasonably Warm? All Messageboards

    Want to post a reply? Sign in.
    Recent threads in Pathfinder Society