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Hi @all,
1)I wanted to ask if there are actually any unique rewards (Items, bonuses, special titles, maybe a customized prestige class) for Pathfinder Society games?
2)And would it be technically possible to write that stuff in?
PFS is pretty cool and superior to other living campaigns, but the generic aspect makes it less enjoyable.
In Living Greyhawk for example you could get pretty imaginative stuff in specials (and in certain regionals) that gave the whole thing a special touch.
I am not looking for powergaming tools but for flavour.
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Some adventures have special stuff on the chronicles, such as being regarded as a hero in a particular region for helping save the area in that adventure. Mechanically, this gives a bonus to diplomacy or whatever if you're ever in that area of the world again.
Also, there are special boons and stuff you can purchase with your prestige points from your faction in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide. I just picked this up and started looking at stuff my characters would want. For instance, Taldor faction characters can get noble titles once they have enough fame and spend a couple of PA.
There are also convention boons, which are special rewards that a small number of people get just for showing up to a big event. These occasionally include the much coveted race boons that let you make a character of a race not normally allowed in PFS. For instance, I have a friend with a tiefling character.
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Hi @all,
1)I wanted to ask if there are actually any unique rewards (Items, bonuses, special titles, maybe a customized prestige class) for Pathfinder Society games?
There really isn't anything that's truly unique, as far as I know, except for one Boon Chronicle that's passed from Campaign Coordinator to Campaign Coordinator. Mike Brock has it now, and when he leaves his position, he'll pass it on to his successor.
2)And would it be technically possible to write that stuff in?
While technically possible, with the kibosh on PvP there'd be no way to transfer these items from player to player. The amount of work involved in keeping those items in circulation would be immense, particularly from a programming and organizational standpoint, even if PvP was an option.
PFS is pretty cool and superior to other living campaigns, but the generic aspect makes it less enjoyable.
In Living Greyhawk for example you could get pretty imaginative stuff in specials (and in certain regionals) that gave the whole thing a special touch.
I am not looking for powergaming tools but for flavour.
I'm sure Mike, Mark and … uh … that other guy who rarely comes around … and the rest of the campaign staff have considered this as much as—or more than—some of us. Their IT team is pretty swamped with some big changes coming up, as we've been told, though I bet they've been consulted, too. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it's pretty unfeasible for them to implement this. At least for now.
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Ahh ok,
it is not as bad as I thought.
Also, there are special boons and stuff you can purchase with your prestige points from your faction in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide. I just picked this up and started looking at stuff my characters would want. For instance, Taldor faction characters can get noble titles once they have enough fame and spend a couple of PA.
That is exactly what I would call generic. There is nothing special about it when every one can get it. Even worse, it is unrelated to any event and it has no impact on the course of the campaign at all.
There are also convention boons, which are special rewards that a small number of people get just for showing up to a big event. These occasionally include the much coveted race boons that let you make a character of a race not normally allowed in PFS. For instance, I have a friend with a tiefling character.
This on the other hand is more like it. If only a certain amount of people have access to it, it has more value than a generic title for 5pp.
There's been unique intelligent items on chronicles before.. Is that special enough?
That is also pretty cool ;).
I would also like to see a handfull of unique adventures/interactives that actually shape/impact the gaming world.
I understand that this is much more difficult since PFS does not have regions. Maybe only on big conventions like PaizoCon, Origins or GenCOn.
While technically possible, with the kibosh on PvP there'd be no way to transfer these items from player to player. The amount of work involved in keeping those items in circulation would be immense, particularly from a programming and organizational standpoint, even if PvP was an option.
I am not sure if I understand that. Why would you transfer anything from player to player?
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While it may seem pretty generic for their to be stuff in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide that anyone can get, it's actually not as common as you think. Hardly anyone I know has that book, and only members of a particular faction can pick up a particular boon.
I've never seen a PC with a noble title in PFS before, even though any Taldor faction member with 16 fame can do it, so I'm looking forward to my sorcerer getting enough fame to do it, because I do think it would make him special. Especially since he's the type of guy who doesn't care about titles and would just picking it up to thumb his nose at the Taldor establishment. "Can you believe they made ME a baron? Those guys will give titles to ANYONE?"
While it may seem pretty generic for their to be stuff in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide that anyone can get, it's actually not as common as you think. Hardly anyone I know has that book
Wait, Isn't that a part of The Core Assumption?
Like the books every player has to have?
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While it may seem pretty generic for their to be stuff in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide that anyone can get, it's actually not as common as you think. Hardly anyone I know has that bookWait, Isn't that a part of The Core Assumption?
Like the books every player has to have?
Core Assumption is what every GM has to have.
Venture-Captain, Massachusetts—Central & West
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Core Assumption is what every GM has to have.
From the Guide to Organized Play, Page 3:
The Core Assumption
Pathfinder Society Organized Play assumes that every player has the following.
• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
• Pathfinder Society Field Guide
• Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play (this document)
Unless noted otherwise in this guide, everything contained in the Core Rulebook and Pathfinder Society Field Guide is legal for Pathfinder Society play. Game Masters and players whose characters utilize creatures from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary are required to have that reference at the table.
Core Assumption is what every GM has to have.While it may seem pretty generic for their to be stuff in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide that anyone can get, it's actually not as common as you think. Hardly anyone I know has that bookWait, Isn't that a part of The Core Assumption?
Like the books every player has to have?
Fair enough, thanks for the clarification.
Tho I do wonder why a player would not have it.
It's like 20$ and has a ton of great info.
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The Core Assumptions are the books the players are assumed to have access to such that the GM does not need to check to see if the player owns the book when using feats, classes, spells, equipment, or otherwise from those sources.
And the writers can use feats, classes, spells, equipment, or otherwise from those sources by just listing them and not having to provide details (saving on word count).
Core Assumption is what every GM has to have.From the Guide to Organized Play, Page 3:
The Core Assumption
Pathfinder Society Organized Play assumes that every player has the following.
• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
• Pathfinder Society Field Guide
• Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play (this document)
Unless noted otherwise in this guide, everything contained in the Core Rulebook and Pathfinder Society Field Guide is legal for Pathfinder Society play. Game Masters and players whose characters utilize creatures from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary are required to have that reference at the table.
Ok, this is what I thought the rule was.
I should have gone to look myself.
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That doesn't change the fact that hardly anyone actually owns the book. My local PFS group has existed for over 6 months, and I only just bought this book, making me the first in our group to have it, as far as I know. I've attended two conventions this year so far to play PFS, and I've seen exactly one copy of that book at a convention table.
And as far as I know, outside of discussion on these forums, I've never seen a character that actually has any of the stuff available in that book, which brings me back to my earlier point about it being unusual enough to qualify for the topic of this thread.
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Venture-Captain, Massachusetts—Central & West
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It may be a regional variation then. Quite a few PCs where I play at use it. Be it the rogue who gets making Sleight of Hand as a Day Job roll, several people having a Porter or even characters joining the temple.
It is more for people who enjoy the RP aspect more. Some people will rebel against spending PP on "useless" titles. Though some of the titles come with some skill bonuses.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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That doesn't change the fact that hardly anyone actually owns the book. My local PFS group has existed for over 6 months, and I only just bought this book, making me the first in our group to have it, as far as I know. I've attended two conventions this year so far to play PFS, and I've seen exactly one copy of that book at a convention table.
And as far as I know, outside of discussion on these forums, I've never seen a character that actually has any of the stuff available in that book, which brings me back to my earlier point about it being unusual enough to qualify for the topic of this thread.
I've seen multiple porters, a few Agile weapons, and I encourage everyone I meet to get air crystals.
I own the PDF, though I confess that I also suspect most local players don't have it.
Not only is my Ulfen "bard-barian" officially a Huscarl, my Silver Crusade cleric has a Shining Wayfinder Holy Symbol, and a guy in my group has a caravan and is saving up for Trapspringer Gloves. And we only play PFS at Gen Con and maybe 1-2 other times a year, so it's definately regional.
As for unique items, my cleric has access to a Sword of Station...
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Personally, I can say that I believe that there's a lot of players I've met that don't uwas the Field Guide. I was recently on hiatus from gaming for about a year, and I'd always had a big question about what I really wanted to o with PP. I dint realize for a long time that I didn't need to save up all of the PP for a True Resurrection, since being raised in PFS is different.
I am the only person that I know who's used vanities.
I played in LG as well, an I loved the regional nature of it, and the rewards that actually made a player feel like they got to be unique in the settting. Since I've used my Craft(weaving) since Season 0, I am fairly confient that my Osirion fabrics/carpet merchant is the only one like mine. I have an Artisan's shop, and both a trade caravan and sailing ship to transport my wares. Additionally, I have two seneschals, a prsonal porter and various background workers at my shop, sailors on my ship, and traders on my caravan.
Oh! And I carry the Pharoah's Crook of Order, a specific gift from the Ruby Prince himself. (it's an actual weapon from a faction mission reward. NEVER seen or heard of anyone else with it.)
... And soon, I am certain that I shall die, and be able to take the title "the Risen" with Resurrection for only 8PP. (any takers? Kyle?)
So, yes, I feel there's plenty of unique things in PFS. And with our higher ups promising a more interactive environment in Season 4, I can only it will get better.
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Maybe copies of the Field Guide should be included in convention swag.Most conventions I've sent product prize support to since October have received multiple copies in their package.
So what you're saying is that I might actually have to go to a few conventions to see what swag is included before opening my mouth? hmm. Interesting concept you present.
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I've seen multiple porters, a few Agile weapons, and I encourage everyone I meet to get air crystals.
My Varisian pirate (rogue archetype) just got her ship via prestige points (from what local players tell me, there are several other PC-owned ships in our area), and will likely be getting an Agile weapon when she can afford it.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I've seen multiple porters, a few Agile weapons, and I encourage everyone I meet to get air crystals.My Varisian pirate (rogue archetype) just got her ship via prestige points (from what local players tell me, there are several other PC-owned ships in our area), and will likely be getting an Agile weapon when she can afford it.
My fighter has a bakery (Tavern vanity) in Absalom, and hired a general manager (seneschal vanity) to run it while he's away on missions. I've now decided to make a new PC out of said general manager, who will eventually get the Caravan vanity to ship Cledwyn's baked goods to a broader market! :D
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That doesn't change the fact that hardly anyone actually owns the book. My local PFS group has existed for over 6 months, and I only just bought this book, making me the first in our group to have it, as far as I know. I've attended two conventions this year so far to play PFS, and I've seen exactly one copy of that book at a convention table.
And as far as I know, outside of discussion on these forums, I've never seen a character that actually has any of the stuff available in that book, which brings me back to my earlier point about it being unusual enough to qualify for the topic of this thread.
Regional Differences amaze me sometimes...
The Field Guide was a Prize given to me by Mike to give out during out local convention, and I had problems drawing a name of someone that did not own it already. One player even yelled out that "isn't everyone supposed to own that?". Until I drew a name of a player that played their first PFS game at the convention that I was able to give it away.
It is also one of the more popular books my local players use for items and boons.
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While technically possible, with the kibosh on PvP there'd be no way to transfer these items from player to player. The amount of work involved in keeping those items in circulation would be immense, particularly from a programming and organizational standpoint, even if PvP was an option.I am not sure if I understand that. Why would you transfer anything from player to player?
When you said "unique," I thought you meant truly unique, as in, "there is and only will ever be one of these Boon Chronicles."
I know there have been things like that in different Organized Play settings.
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When you said "unique," I thought you meant truly unique, as in, "there is and only will ever be one of these Boon Chronicles."
I know there have been things like that in different Organized Play settings.
One of the first OP campaigns I played in (and still one of my favorites) was the RPGA's Living Force campaign. In that campaign, there was a "metaorg staff", volunteers who helped out with things like droid and starship purchases, assigning NPC mentors to Jedi PCs.
Each of those was a customized "cert" (certificate, analogous to a PFS Chronicle). Droids had individualized personalities and descriptions, starships had descriptions and quirks (especially the used ones), and each Jedi mentor had a pretty fleshed-out description. All of those were individually written by the volunteers who ran those "departments"; the certs were generally available to any player who wanted to spend the in-game money on them, but they were very time-intensive to issue (I know this, since I was the writer of several dozen Jedi mentors).
There were also, on occasion, more limited-issue certs. My PC had a one-of-a-kind starship (a prize from a charity auction at a con), as well as a special certed blaster rifle (only three certs existed; they were raffled off on the campaign's web page).
The issue with all of these things, as cool as they were / are, is that they're time-intensive to create (especially if they're at all generally available, as the starships or droids were), or you're spending time creating something for a single player (as the unique items, or those LG Special Missions, were). In either case, one has to ask if the "cool" is worth the effort that could have gone towards making the general campaign better.
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Personally, I can say that I believe that there's a lot of players I've met that don't uwas the Field Guide. I was recently on hiatus from gaming for about a year, and I'd always had a big question about what I really wanted to o with PP. I dint realize for a long time that I didn't need to save up all of the PP for a True Resurrection, since being raised in PFS is different.
I am the only person that I know who's used vanities.
I played in LG as well, an I loved the regional nature of it, and the rewards that actually made a player feel like they got to be unique in the settting. Since I've used my Craft(weaving) since Season 0, I am fairly confient that my Osirion fabrics/carpet merchant is the only one like mine. I have an Artisan's shop, and both a trade caravan and sailing ship to transport my wares. Additionally, I have two seneschals, a prsonal porter and various background workers at my shop, sailors on my ship, and traders on my caravan.
Oh! And I carry the Pharoah's Crook of Order, a specific gift from the Ruby Prince himself. (it's an actual weapon from a faction mission reward. NEVER seen or heard of anyone else with it.)
... And soon, I am certain that I shall die, and be able to take the title "the Risen" with Resurrection for only 8PP. (any takers? Kyle?)So, yes, I feel there's plenty of unique things in PFS. And with our higher ups promising a more interactive environment in Season 4, I can only it will get better.
Your excellent post made me a lot more excited about PFS.
I guess I haven't seen a lot of good things lately.But I still think that stuff from the field guide, which is always and to everybody available, is generic and bland to me.
When you said "unique," I thought you meant truly unique, as in, "there is and only will ever be one of these Boon Chronicles."
I know there have been things like that in different Organized Play settings.
Truely unique would of course be even more awesome, but I would be content with it beeing extremely rare (e.g. only players that participated in an interactive adventure only available once at a certain Convention).
Truely unique was technically possible in LG. If you could convince someone to write an Adventure especially for you (Which actually happend. Also an argument for a regional structure).
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But I still think that stuff from the field guide, which is always and to everybody available, is generic and bland to me.
Only if you let it be such. My pirate has a ship. Anyone who's willing to spend 10 PPs can have a ship, yes. But, do they have the Varisian brig "Stingray", which was originally a merchant ship whose owner fell behind on his payments to the Scarzi (who "reposessed" said ship, and bestowed it on one Xan Stormblade, the half-elven rogue who had earned their favor)?
Yes, that's all fluff I made up. Still makes it unique. I just don't think you need to rely on campaign staff to make your character and his stuff less bland.
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I have a Tiefling character (posting as her now) - and I have only ever been at one table where I have seen another (and I wasn't running my Tiefling then). And that one had a TAIL! Ewwww!
My wife has a Aasimar - and she decided to run the character as pregnant... so she runs a pregnant Aasimar Cleric of Cayden. Talk about unique... (Though there is more than one Aasimar out there - if you sit at a table with a Pregnant beer maid, say hi to Janet - she's my darling).
Director of Brand Strategy
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When you said "unique," I thought you meant truly unique, as in, "there is and only will ever be one of these Boon Chronicles."While technically possible, with the kibosh on PvP there'd be no way to transfer these items from player to player. The amount of work involved in keeping those items in circulation would be immense, particularly from a programming and organizational standpoint, even if PvP was an option.I am not sure if I understand that. Why would you transfer anything from player to player?
We do not currently have anything truly unique in the campaign. But that doesn't mean we won't ever offer something like that. If you want a shot at something totally unique in the off-chance (or maybe on-chance, if it's already in the works) we do something like this, attending PaizoCon and Gen Con are going to be something you should make sure to do.
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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I got my copy of the Field Guide at a convention (I think it actually came from a box of support goodies that Mike Brock brought along for the VOs to distribute).
My wife has a character with a Shining Wayfinder; I'm definitely considering an Agile weapon for one of my characters as soon as he can afford it.
The fact that the guide is part of the Core Assumption actually works against it being widespread, in a way; for other non-core items I actually have to produce a copy of the book (or a PDF) should my character be audited, but I'm not technically required to own a copy of items in the core assumption. It's a good idea to own them, of course, but not strictly required by RAW. The guide is even included in the basic HeroLab Pathfinder dataset, so it's possible to end up using things from it without ever having seen a physical copy.
I also assume it's legal for my wife and I to share one copy of the APG, UM, UC, etc. for those items where we are required to produce one.
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We do not currently have anything truly unique in the campaign. But that doesn't mean we won't ever offer something like that. If you want a shot at something totally unique in the off-chance (or maybe on-chance, if it's already in the works) we do something like this, attending PaizoCon and Gen Con are going to be something you should make sure to do.
Ah yes...items unique to the campaign that are very rare. Will they become available at Paizo Con or Gen Con (maybe even this year)? I guess you will just have to attend to find out......
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... And soon, I am certain that I shall die, and be able to take the title "the Risen" with Resurrection for only 8PP. (any takers? Kyle?)I don't want players who want their characters to die, their lack of tears is depressing.
Awww! I always knew you were a Teddy Bear down deep inside. ;)
The other day, I heard this guy at the grocery store talking, and he said, "Yeah ... 'Killer Kyle'? Thats just a bunch of online bluster, man. He ain't got the stuff to do in an Osiriani."I called him out right then and there! I got in his face, an said, "you take that back! He does too! He's just such a softy that he won't do it! He's like if Chuck Norris and Strawberry Shortcake had a love-child!"
;)