Register Now for Pathfinder Society Events at Gen Con Indy!
Event registration for Gen Con Indy is open to the public! That means that the over 100 unique Pathfinder Society events Paizo will be offering throughout the convention are already starting to sell out, so don't hesitate to get your tickets now. We expect this to be the largest Pathfinder Society showing at Gen Con to date, and you won't want to miss out on the action!
Register Now for Pathfinder Society Events at Gen Con Indy!
Monday, May 20, 2013
Event registration for Gen Con Indy is open to the public! That means that the over 100 unique Pathfinder Society events Paizo will be offering throughout the convention are already starting to sell out, so don't hesitate to get your tickets now. We expect this to be the largest Pathfinder Society showing at Gen Con to date, and you won't want to miss out on the action!
Gen Con will see the launch of Season 5 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play—the Year of the Demon! Three new scenarios will run throughout the show, pitting Pathfinders against the faithful of Razmir, the demons of the Worldwound, and the political machinations of Absalom's ruling council. We'll also be offering the first two levels of Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn's Ruins of Bonekeep megadungeon, which are specifically designed to challenge even the most ambitious Pathfinder characters with truly deadly combats, traps, and puzzles. As if that weren't enough, on Friday night, over 1,000 Pathfinder Society members will participate in a massive, multi-table event called Siege of the Diamond City, which will place the noble heroes on the front lines of an Abyssal invasion of the crusader capital of Nerosyan, and fill the Indiana Convention Center's cavernous Sagamore Ballroom.
We'll also be offering non-Pathfinder Society events throughout the convention, including:
Seminars with Paizo's creative staff and management about forthcoming products, the future of the company, and some in-depth looks at the workings of the Pathfinder RPG.
Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box demos to introduce new players to the world of roleplaying (including new adventures never before offered for Beginner Box characters of 3rd level!).
A robust kids' track, allowing parents to play the Pathfinder RPG alongside their children in a safe and educational environment.
A silent auction running throughout the convention, the proceeds of which will benefit the Gen Con Indy 2013 charity, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, offering both in- and out-of-character prizes.
Check back here every Monday for more on the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, including revelations about the end of Season 4, the Year of the Risen Rune, and the start of Season 5. But before you set your reminder for next week, reserve your spot in the Gen Con 2013 event(s) of your choice and prepare for the Best Four Days in Pathfinder Society Gaming of the year!
The last six weeks have been quite a slog for the development and editorial pits here at Paizo. We worked day and night, and most weekends, getting over two dozen products scheduled for Gen Con ready to go. To celebrate, many of us are going to kick back and actually take a whole weekend to unwind—maybe soak up the Seattle sun while it's out (yeah, we get sun sometimes!), go catch Iron Man 3, or even just sleep in while we can.
We Survived!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Gen Con Crunch breakfast! Liz made delicious pancakes!
Happy editors and developers working on some exciting products due out this summer.
The last six weeks have been quite a slog for the development and editorial pits here at Paizo. We worked day and night, and most weekends, getting over two dozen products scheduled for Gen Con ready to go. To celebrate, many of us are going to kick back and actually take a whole weekend to unwind—maybe soak up the Seattle sun while it's out (yeah, we get sun sometimes!), go catch Iron Man 3, or even just sleep in while we can.
On behalf of the editing staff, I'm pretty stoked to say that we're proud of the work we've done. We're not just happy that the slog is over; we're happy that we knocked this year's product schedule out of the park!
Sometimes we don't get to game, and for those times, it's nice to curl up to a good book. Check out Pathfinder Tales: The Wizard's Mask by that wizard of fantasy, Ed Greenwood.
In case any of you out there are wondering, here're the names of the Gen Con heroes who've worked 50+ hour weeks to put more awesome into your gaming lives:
Judy Bauer, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Christopher Carey, John Compton, Adam Daigle, Crystal Frasier, James Jacobs, Ryan Macklin, Rob McCreary, Mark Moreland, Erik Mona, Jessica Price, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sonja Morris, Sean K Reynolds, Sarah E. Robinson, F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter, Patrick Renie, and Andrew Vallas, along with our interns Jay Loomis and Cassidy Werner.
We hope you enjoy the books and accessories! If you'll be at Gen Con, come by and say hi!
Changes Are A'Coming and Gen Con Volunteers Still Needed!
There are some big changes in store for the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, beginning in Season 5—the Year of the Demon. We highlighted a few of them in a sneak peak on the Know Direction podcast last night but we also wanted to make sure those who did not listen to it were aware of the changes.
Changes Are A'Coming and Gen Con Volunteers Still Needed!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
There are some big changes in store for the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, beginning in Season 5—the Year of the Demon. We highlighted a few of them in a sneak peak on the Know Direction podcast last night but we also wanted to make sure those who did not listen to it were aware of the changes.
Campaign Announcements
Below are a few of the changes we wanted to bring to light that are coming down the pipe in the next few months, culminating at Gen Con in August.
We are removing two factions from the campaign as character choices. The first to be phased out will be the Lantern Lodge faction. When Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-21: Way of the Kirin is released in late May, members of the faction will get to participate first-hand in the culmination of their faction's plot. At PaizoCon in early July, Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-23: Rivalry's End will similarly conclude the Shadow Lodge faction's involvement at a PC organization in the campaign. Members of each retiring faction will receive a special boon in their respective retirement scenario exclusive only to members of the affiliated faction.
Members of eliminated factions will be able to join one of the eight remaining factions at no cost of Prestige Points, and must do so by August 14, 2013. Characters will be able to keep faction-specific traits, boons, vanities, and prestige awards received while members of the Lantern Lodge and Shadow Lodge, with one exception. The "no one left behind" prestige award found in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide will no longer be available for play.
There will be a fundamental change in how faction missions work in scenarios. The biggest change is that individual scenarios will no longer provide faction mission handouts except in rare circumstances. Scenarios will be written with the Pathfinder Society's goals in mind first and foremost, and many will also involve the specific interests of one or more, much like Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-11: The Disappeared and Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-13: Fortress of the Nail involved the entire society working toward a goal that had special significance to members of the Cheliax faction. Choices and successes will matter and we are instituting additional reporting conditions that will allow us to help the player base shape not only the future direction of the campaign, but also the fundamental beliefs and directions of their own factions.
We are reviewing a change in wealth earned in scenarios, specifically regarding characters playing outside their designated subtier. We have several ideas in mind and are requesting feedback from the player base to find the best solution to the problem. We encourage anyone interested in participating in this process to visit the paizo.com messageboards to add your input to the discussion.
We want to ensure the community is aware that we will continue to sanction past Pathfinder Adventure Paths over the coming months. The next to be released for sanctioned play will be the Skulls & Shackles Adventure Path, and the current plan is to continue working backward in order of release until all APs released under the Pathfinder RPG rules are legal for Pathfinder Society credit. In addition, we will continue to sanction future releases of APs when we can and when it makes sense for the campaign. We are currently reviewing the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path to see if it is possible to sanction an adventure path that relies heavily on the use of the new Mythic rules scheduled to release at Gen Con.
Finally, we are revamping the format of the Chronicle sheets awarded for reading novels in our Pathfinder Tales fiction line. Instead of providing a distinct Chronicle sheet for each individual novel, we will begin releasing Chronicle sheets that cover four novels. Each new Chronicle sheet will release with the first novel of a four-book series, and contain information on the three novels that will be released later in the year. Each novel with have a boon or unique item tied specifically to the flavor or location of that novel. A player who brings a copy of a novel to a Pathfinder Society game along with the associated Chronicle sheet gains access to the novel's boon, and can apply that boon to any of her characters. When a GM has initialed all four novels on a single Chronicle sheet, the player can select one of the four boon as a permament or reusable boon which she can assign assign to one of her characters.
The first of these new-format Chronicle sheets will cover Liar's Blade, Pirate's Honor, Wizard's Mask, and King of Chaos, and should be available in the next few weeks. We'll release a new Chronicle sheet shortly after Gen Con to cover the next batch of four novels coming out later in 2013 and early 2014.
Gen Con Volunteer Update
Speaking of Gen Con, I still have a few volunteer positions left to fill. I have a small number of tables remaining that need Pathfinder Society GMs, including one Tier 1 GM spot left to fill. So, if you need free crash space at a hotel, a free 4-day badge, paizo.com store credit, four free GM-exclusive goblin t-shirts, a copy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures hardcover, and a special GM boon that alternatively opens the grippli as a legal character race or grants you a one-time complete character rebuild, please email me. This spot is likely to go fast!
Additionally, I have just been allocated two additional hotel rooms at the Omni for volunteers interested in running Pathfinder Adventure Card Game demos in the Paizo booth during exhibit hall hours. If you are looking for a share of a free hotel room, a free 4-day badge, as well as paizo.com store credit, your choice of a copy of the Mythic Adventures hardcover or the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and four purple volunteer goblin shirts, please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com. I have enough room for eight such volunteers for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.
As always, we look forward to trying to create the best organized play experience we can for all of you. Please head over to the Pathfinder Society messageboards and let us know what you think. Thanks again for being the best fan base any gaming company could ask for.
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
Gen Con 2013: News and Official Call for Volunteers
For Gen Con 2012, I advised last year that we planned to make it the biggest and best Gen Con yet. And it certainly was. We scheduled 750 tables of Pathfinder Society over the four days. We showed the world our GM 101 workshops, Kids' Track, and Beginner Box Introductions. Gen Con was definitely a success and Paizo's biggest showing in history. But we can make it better!
Gen Con 2013: News and Official Call for Volunteers
Monday, February 25, 2013
For Gen Con 2012, I advised last year that we planned to make it the biggest and best Gen Con yet. And it certainly was. We scheduled 750 tables of Pathfinder Society over the four days. We showed the world our GM 101 workshops, Kids' Track, and Beginner Box Introductions. Gen Con was definitely a success and Paizo's biggest showing in history. But we can make it better!
As many already know, Paizo stepped up as a cosponsor at this year's show. What does that mean for Pathfinder Society? It means we move into the Sagamore Ballroom! We double in size, scheduling 150 tables per slot. Additionally, we also have two of the seven rooms that were used for Pathfinder Society last year. One of them will be used exclusively for Paizo seminars. The other room will have 10 tables and a mini-HQ that will allow us to schedule five tables of Beginner Box Introductions and five tables of the Kids' Track for all ten slots of Gen Con. This year, we will also be hosting a GM and volunteer briefing in the Sagamore Ballroom from 5-6 pm on Wednesday. If you are a volunteer of GM, please try to attend.
Doubling in size allows us to offer a much broader selection of scenarios for players to choose from. I also wanted this to serve as a celebration of Pathfinder Society history and have chosen several multipart series, as well as favorites from past seasons, in addition to the normal offerings of the previous season and the new season. We are planning to schedule 61 different scenarios, one Gen Con Special, two Gen Con Exclusives, and two modules! These include seven Season 0 scenarios, nine Season 1 scenarios, 13 Season 2 scenarios, 10 Season 3 scenarios, 19 Season 4 scenarios, and four Season 5 scenarios. We are also offereing a few tables of We Be Goblins! and We Be Goblins Too! throughout the course of the convention.
We are planning one or two tables of the three new Season 5 scenarios for each morning and afternoon slot throughout the convention, which will be GMed in French and Spanish languages. Paris Venture-Captain Karim Majeri, Quebec Venture-Captain Michel Lepage, and French GM Florent Fournol will be traveling to Gen Con from their countries and GMing a large share of the French-language tables, but I still have a few open tables if you are fluent in French. Every French-language GM that volunteers to GM six or more tables will receive a French-language Core Rulebook as a thank you! All of the Spanish-language tables need GMs. If you are fluent in either language, please consider GMing in some of these first time offerings at Gen Con.
The Season 5 Gen Con special, Siege of the Diamond City, scheduled for Friday night, will help us kickoff the new season near the Worldwound! The Special this year will be designed for levels 1—15, and include subtiers for levels 12—13 and 14—15. At 150 tables, it will be one of the single largest, collaborative roleplaying games ever hosted!
The scenarios being scheduled for Gen Con are as follows:
Season 0
#1: Silent Tide (Tier 1—5)
#5: Mists of Mwangi (Tier 1—5)
#6: Black Waters (Tier 1—5)
#7: Among the Living (Tier 1—7)
#20: King Xeros of Old Azlant (Tier 7—11)
#22: Fingerprints of the Fiend (Tier 7—11)
#23: Tide of Morning (Tier 1—5)
Season 1
#1—33: Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible (Tier 1—5)
#1—35: Voice in the Void (Tier 1—7)
#1—38: No Plunder, No Pay (Tier 7—11)
#1—39: The Citadel of Flame (Tier 1—5)
#1—40: Hall of Drunken Heroes (Tier 7—11)
#1—46: Eyes of the Ten, Part 1: Requiem for the Red Raven (Tier 12)
#1—49: Among the Dead (Tier 1—7)
#1—54: Eyes of theTen, Part 2: Maze of the Open Road (Tier 12)
#1—56: Jester's Fraud (Tier 5—9)
Season 2
#2—01: Before the Dawn, Part 1: The Bloodcove Disguise (Tier 1—7)
#2—02: Before the Dawn, Part 2: Rescue at Azlant Ridge (Tier 1—7)
#2—03: The Rebel's Ransom (Tier 5—9)
#2—05: Eyes of the Ten, Part 3: Red Revolution (Tier 12)
#2—06: The Heresy of Man, Part 1: The First Heresy (Tier 5—9)
#2—07: The Heresy of Man, Part 2: Where Dark Things Sleep (Tier 5—9)
#2—08: The Sarkorian Prophecy (Tier 7—11)
#2—09: The Heresy of Man, Part 3: Beneath Forgotten Sands (Tier 5—9)
#2—10: Fury of the Fiend (Tier 7—11)
#2—11: The Penumbral Accords (Tier 1—5)
#2—12: Below the Silver Tarn (Tier 7—11)
#2—22: Eyes of the Ten, Part 4: Nothing Ventures, Nothing Gained (Tier 12)
#2—25: You Only Die Twice (Tier 5—9)
Season 3
#3—05: Tide of Twilight (Tier 1—5)
#3—07: Echoes of the Overwatched (Tier 1—5)
#3—08: Among the Gods (Tier 3—7)
#3—10: The Immortal Conundrum (Tier 5—9)
#3—12: Wonders in the Weave, Part 1: The Dog Pharoah's Tomb (Tier 5—9)
#3—14: Wonders in the Weave, Part 2: Snakes in the Fold (Tier 5—9)
#3—15: The Haunting of Hinojai (Tier 5—9)
#3—18: The God's Market Gamble (Tier 1—5)
#3—20: Rats of Round Mountain, Part 1: The Sundered Path (Tier 7—11)
#3—22: Rats of Round Mountain, Part 2: Pagoda of the Rat (Tier 7—11)
Season 4
#4—EX: Day of the Demon (Tier 3—7)
#4—04: King of the Storval Stairs (Tier 7—11)
#4—05: The Sanos Abduction (Tier 3—7)
#4—07: Severing Ties (Tier 1—5)
#4—08: The Cultist's Kiss (Tier 7—11)
#4—10: Feasts of Sigils (Tier 7—11)
#4—11: The Disappeared (Tier 1—5)
#4—12: Refuge of Time (Tier 7—11)
#4—13: Fortress of the Nail (Tier 5—9)
#4—14: My Enemy's Enemy (Tier 3—7)
#4—17: Tower of the Ironwood Watch (Tier 5—9)
#4—18: The Veteran's Vault (Tier 1—5)
#4—19: The Night March of Kalkamedes (Tier 1—5)
#4—20: Words of the Ancient (Tier 7—11)
#4—22: Halls of Dwarven Lore (Tier 5—9)
#4—23: Rivalry's End (Tier 3—7)
#4—24: The Price of Friendship (Tier 5—9)
#4—25: The Secrets Stones Keep (Tier 5—9)
#4—26: The Waking Rune (Tier 7—11)
Season 5
#5—00: Siege of the Diamond City (Gen Con Special, Tier 1—15)
#5—01: Title TBD (Tier 1—5) (English, French, and Spanish language)
#5—02: Title TBD (Tier 3—7) (English, French, and Spanish language)
#5—03: Title TBD (Tier 5—9) (English, French, and Spanish language)
We will be offering two exclusives this year at Gen Con, one on Thursday night and one on Saturday night. On Thursday evening, we'll be running a particularly challenging (and lethal) Tier 3—7 scenario, the Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 1: The Silent Grave, written by Jason Bulhman, Lead Designer at Paizo Publishing. This is the first of a series of special events designed to test your character to its limits. It debuted at Winter Fantasy this past January and will make a few limited appearances throughout the spring and summer convention season leading up to Gen Con. On Saturday night, we will follow up Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 1 with Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 2, also written by Jason. It is also being designed for Tier 3—7 characters, and again, will be particularly challenging and lethal. Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 2 will make its debut at Gen Con. For both of the exclusives, the threat of character death is very real, but the potential rewards are greater as a result. You will be able to, as a table, decide to leave the event at any time should it become too deadly for you, except when engaged in combat. If this is not the type of event for you, please look for other options during Slots 3 and 9. We will only run each level one time at Gen Con so both will be limited, exclusive events. On a side note, we will have a few limited tables running all three of the new Season 5 scenarios if you would rather not participate in either of the exclusives.
Illustration by Michal Ivan
In regard to the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box Introductions, we have two different offerings this year. During all 10 slots at Gen Con, we are setting aside five tables during each slot for these Beginner Box Introduction events. Both parts are scheduled with new players in mind. For Beginner Box Introductions, Part 1, it is the same as last year in that we will allow for the first 45—60 minutes to be an exploration of the contents of the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box, explaining the rules, and reviewing the pregenerated characters. The final four hours of each slot will be playing through the four, one-hour adventures that were offered last year. For Beginner Box Introductions, Part 2, the GM will assist players in advancing their character to 3rd level. The Beginner Box Transitions, Player Pack, and GM Kit will be reviewed. Once those three free documents have been covered, we will be offering up five brand-new, one-hour adventures as time permits. Much like the four adventures in Part 1, these will be utilizing only the Beginner Box rules.
We'll also be expanding the Pathfinder Kids' Track this year! We will be setting aside five tables at each slot for all 10 slots of the convention. We are focusing on players aged 6—12 and we will be using the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box for this as well. The Kids' Track is divided into two parts—the Beginner Track and the Advanced Track. Each kids' Beginner Track slot will be two hours long and each player will receive a check-off card, similar to what was used last year and at the Beginner Box Bash in 2011. The first hour of each of the 10 kids' Beginner Track sessions teaches roleplaying and rules, and reviews the pregenerated characters found in the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box. During the second hour, one of the four, one-hour adventures used during the Beginner Box Bash will be played.
For the kids' Advanced Track, we are focusing on children who participated in last year's kids' Beginner Track, at a local kids' Beginner Track session near their home, or for older children that have prior experience with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The GM at each of the two-hour slots will help the children level-up their chosen character to third level. After leveling is complete, the GM will run one of five new adventures designed using the Beginner Box rules.
We will be running each of the nine different adventures multiple times throughout the convention to allow flexible scheduling for children and parents. We will be restricting tables to four children players and are requiring a parent or guardian be present with the child (or multiple children if two or more are interested in participating) for the entire two hours. The parent or guardian will assist the child when needed. We want to make this a good and memorable experience for the kids that attend Gen Con, who often find little they can participate in, especially with others their own age. We will be scheduling 30, two-hour tables per day on Thursday through Saturday, and 20, two-hour tables on Sunday, for the Kids' Track, divided between the Beginner Track and Advanced Track.
If a child plays all four different adventures in the Beginner Track, he will be able to present his check-off card to HQ and receive a special certificate that celebrates his accomplishments. If a child plays all five different adventures in the Advanced Track, she will be able to present her check-off card to HQ and receive a second, different special certificate. Each of the certificates has a different boon that can be applied to a new Pathfinder Society character if the child finishes both Kids' Tracks and wants to advance from the Beginner Box and participate in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. We may also have other giveaways or special prizes, such as dice and minaitures, similar to last year. I will be very picky when choosing volunteer GMs for the Kids' Track. I prefer to have school teachers and other professionals with experience dealing with children. I will consider GMs who are parents even if they do not deal with children regularly in their profession. If you are volunteering to GM the Kids' Track, please make sure to include all of your credentials. Also, since these are scheduled as two-hour blocks, a GM will be required to run two Kids' Track slots back to back in a four-hour block to count as 1 slot of credit toward GM rewards.
We are bringing back GM 101 in both of its parts—the breakout sessions and the Deck of Many Situations. In addition to GM 101, we will be showing off GM 201, which will debut at PaizoCon and build on the lessons learned from the GM 101 course. On a side note, the last draft I saw circulating around the office had 22 other seminars scheduled besides just the two GM classes!
Finally, I need volunteers who have experience with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (“Project Swallowtail”) playtest to run demos in the Dealer Hall next to Paizo's booth. You can volunteer to work one or two five-hour blocks each day from 9 AM to 6 PM (Sunday ends at 4 PM). Volunteering for any demo time will count toward your GM reward credit below.
Now, let's talk about the GMs and volunteers we need to pull all of the above off and make it the biggest and best Gen Con ever.
I need a minimum of 300 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games, Beginner Box Introductions, Kids' Track events, GM 101 and 201, and Pathfinder Adventure Card Game demos. I'll continue taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled, at which point I will create a waiting list in the event that a scheduled GM has to cancel their Gen Con trip for whatever reason. I also need a few Volunteer Assistants for each slot of the show. These folks will not GM during their volunteer slots, but will instead help me run Pathfinder Society HQ, including marshaling, collecting tickets, distributing GM packs, entering tracking sheets into the database, and they will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Keep in mind these positions are very limited and likely to fill up in the first few hours after the blog goes live.
Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2013. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for slots, not a specific event. You can request a special event if you like, but it will not be guaranteed. Those who are able to spice up their event by adding 3D terrain, props that stand out, and the like will be given first consideration for specific events. I will let you know the slots and scenarios you have been assigned as soon as possible. You may designate what tier of scenarios you wish to GM but fulfilling this request is not guaranteed. I will, however, do the best I can to accommodate your requests. My target date to have all GMs their assigned schedules is April 19. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule, before the May 19 event registration, with your friends and family who are also attending Gen Con 2013. Please let me know via email which days you will be at the convention and how many slots you are volunteering for at Gen Con 2013.
When you email me, I need you to include the following information in your email:
The email address that is tied to your Gen Con account.
The email address that is tied to your Paizo.com account.
I need to know if you have received the purple goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirts at a previous show. If not, I need to know what size you wear.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Tier 1 GM Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are invaluable to making the show a success. Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 116 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts about being able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Hyatt Regency Hotel
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Mythic Adventures hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option of choosing a one-time complete rebuild of any level character OR the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, ifrit, oread, suli, sylph, undine, or vishkanya.
Tier 2 GM Volunteers
Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 7 slots. I only have room for 44 Tier 2 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier—it fills up very quickly. Tier 2 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Hyatt Regency Hotel
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Mythic Adventures hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, suli, sylph, undine, or vishkanya.
Tier 3 GM Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for Tier 3 are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from this tier. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 6 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Mythic Adventures hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, suli, sylph, or undine.
Tier 4 GM Volunteers
Tier 4 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 4 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, sylph, or undine.
Tier 5 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level to receive shirts. Tier 5 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 5 GMs receive:
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, sylph, or undine.
Volunteering for 1, 2, or 3 Slots
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the choice to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, sylph, or undine.
When Volunteering...
Again, please be specific about what days and how many slots you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to slots and scenarios on an as-needed basis. I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help. You must have a gencon.com account and you must include your email address tied to your Gen Con account in your email or I won't be able to get you a badge (obviously this is only for volunteers who are volunteering for 5 or more slots). Include the email address tied to your Paizo.com account so I can make sure you receive the scenarios in your downloads. Finally, I need to know if you have received the purple goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirts in the past. If not, I need to know what size you need.
The time slots are as follows:
Slot 1: Thursday 8 AM to 1 PM Slot 2: Thursday 1 PM to 6 PM Slot 3: Thursday 7 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Exclusive #1 and three new Season 5 scenarios) Slot 4: Friday 8 AM to 1 PM Slot 5: Friday 1 PM to 6 PM Slot 6: Friday 7 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special) Slot 7: Saturday 8 AM to 1 PM Slot 8: Saturday 1 PM to 6 PM Slot 9: Saturday 7 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Exclusive #2 and three new Season 5 scenarios) Slot 10: Sunday 9 AM to 2 PM
All Gen Con 2013 volunteers please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the following subject line: Gen Con Volunteer—Tier X (X being the tier you wish to volunteer for).
Thanks in advance for volunteering and have a great spring and summer convention season!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... Gen Con Podcasts! Thursday, September 6, 2012 Did you miss Gen Con this year? Fortunately for you, a whole bunch of different gaming reporters stopped by the Paizo booth in Indianapolis and did interviews with the Paizo staff, allowing you to live (or relive) the experience vicariously through their podcasts. Want to hear the latest about what we've been up to, straight from the staffer's mouth? Then click the links below! ... Know Direction caught up with Lisa Stevens, James Sutter, Wes...
Gen Con Podcasts!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Did you miss Gen Con this year? Fortunately for you, a whole bunch of different gaming reporters stopped by the Paizo booth in Indianapolis and did interviews with the Paizo staff, allowing you to live (or relive) the experience vicariously through their podcasts. Want to hear the latest about what we've been up to, straight from the staffer's mouth? Then click the links below!
... Costume Contest Winner! Thursday, August 30, 2012 Admittedly casting a vote in this year's Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest made for a tough call, but I don't think any of us expected a tie! That's right, after tallying up the votes, we're pleased to announce that Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class and Zach as Ezren can both be declared winners, and each will be awarded $50 in paizo.com store credit. Congrats, guys, and a big thank you to everyone who participated and voted! The...
Costume Contest Winner!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Admittedly casting a vote in this year's Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest made for a tough call, but I don't think any of us expected a tie! That's right, after tallying up the votes, we're pleased to announce that Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class and Zach as Ezren can both be declared winners, and each will be awarded $50 in paizo.com store credit. Congrats, guys, and a big thank you to everyone who participated and voted! The costumes were all awesome this year, and we hope to see you in next year's contest!
... Gen Con Costume Contest Voting! Thursday, August 23, 2012 Gen Con has come and gone, and with it the chance to enter the annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! There were a number of fine entrants this year, so take a look at the photos below and then vote for who YOU think should win $50 in paizo.com store credit! ... The clock's ticking, and voting will officially close as of 11pm next Tuesday. Cast your vote now! ... Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class. ... Zach as Ezren. ......
Gen Con Costume Contest Voting!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Gen Con has come and gone, and with it the chance to enter the annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! There were a number of fine entrants this year, so take a look at the photos below and then vote for who YOU think should win $50 in paizo.com store credit!
The clock's ticking, and voting will officially close as of 11pm next Tuesday. Cast your vote now!
Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class.
Zach as Ezren.
Audrey and Emery as alchemist and rogue gnome sisters from their Jade Regent game. Check out the awesome starknife!
The three adventurers: Amy as a half-orc bard/Pathfinder Chronicler, Nicole as a human alchemist, and Natalie as a human paladin.
The explosive growth of Pathfinder Society Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 07:55 AM PacificAs word of mouth spreads around Gen Con, Pathfinder Society continues to grow this weekend. We have issued more than 500 new PFS member cards. In this current slot on Saturday afternoon, we have 16 added tables in the Sagamore Ballroom, bringing the total tables currently running Pathfinder Society, Beginner Box Intros and Kid's Track session to a total of 91! We even added an extra, third table of a Kid's Track...
The explosive growth of Pathfinder Society
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 07:55 AM Pacific
As word of mouth spreads around Gen Con, Pathfinder Society continues to grow this weekend. We have issued more than 500 new PFS member cards. In this current slot on Saturday afternoon, we have 16 added tables in the Sagamore Ballroom, bringing the total tables currently running Pathfinder Society, Beginner Box Intros and Kid's Track session to a total of 91! We even added an extra, third table of a Kid's Track session and now have 15 kids under 11 playing Pathfinder! It is a good day!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... Larry Elmore and Margaret Weis Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 06:55 AM PacificHanging out at the Paizo booth! Great icons of fantasy and great people too! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Larry Elmore and Margaret Weis
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 06:55 AM Pacific
Hanging out at the Paizo booth! Great icons of fantasy and great people too!
... The Bless light Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:46 AM PacificGreat idea: get a battery-powered light, write that name if your common buff spell/effect on it, and place it in the table when the buff is in effect so people remember to add it to their rolls! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
The Bless light
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:46 AM Pacific
Great idea: get a battery-powered light, write that name if your common buff spell/effect on it, and place it in the table when the buff is in effect so people remember to add it to their rolls!
... Unsavory characters, Iron GM Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:34 AM PacificSome unsavory characters participating in the Iron GM tournament! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Unsavory characters, Iron GM
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:34 AM Pacific
Some unsavory characters participating in the Iron GM tournament!
... Adventurers! Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 10:40 AM PacificIt's always advisable to bring all of your consumable magic items when adventuring. A well-armored fighter helps as well. ... Adam Daigle ... Developer
Adventurers!
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 10:40 AM Pacific
It's always advisable to bring all of your consumable magic items when adventuring. A well-armored fighter helps as well.
Saturday morning in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room
... Saturday morning in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 07:37 AM PacificSee all those folks clad in Paizo purple? Those are all our volunteer game masters and HQ assistants. You guys rock and we couldn't do this without you! ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
Saturday morning in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 07:37 AM Pacific
See all those folks clad in Paizo purple? Those are all our volunteer game masters and HQ assistants. You guys rock and we couldn't do this without you!
We Be Goblins! has won the gold Ennie for Best Free Product
... We Be Goblins! has won the gold Ennie for Best Free Product Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 06:02 PM PacificBurn it! Burn the words! ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
We Be Goblins! has won the gold Ennie for Best Free Product
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Production Values
... Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Production Values Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 05:47 PM PacificDid I mention that Sarah loves accepting awards? Turns out, so does Erik. ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Production Values
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 05:47 PM Pacific
Did I mention that Sarah loves accepting awards? Turns out, so does Erik.
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Cover Art
... Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Cover Art Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 05:35 PM PacificSarah really enjoys accepting awards! ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Cover Art
... Custom Pathfinder comic book cover Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 02:17 PM PacificBrandon got a custom sketch cover to Pathfinder comic #1, drawn by Jim Zub! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Custom Pathfinder comic book cover
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 02:17 PM Pacific
Brandon got a custom sketch cover to Pathfinder comic #1, drawn by Jim Zub!
More tables added to Gen Con PFS Special! Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 01:44 PM PacificLooks like there is high demand for the special tonight. I've acquired another room with 20 or so tables, a second overseer GM, and additional GMs. We will fill up the regular PFS Gaming Hall with regular tickets first. Afterwards, we will fill the remaining available tables with generics on a first come first serve basis. Please muster no later than 6:45. See you tonight! ... Mike Brock ... Pathfinder Society...
More tables added to Gen Con PFS Special!
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 01:44 PM Pacific
Looks like there is high demand for the special tonight. I've acquired another room with 20 or so tables, a second overseer GM, and additional GMs. We will fill up the regular PFS Gaming Hall with regular tickets first. Afterwards, we will fill the remaining available tables with generics on a first come first serve basis. Please muster no later than 6:45. See you tonight!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... GF9 being crafty Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 06:46 AM PacificGaleForce9 went all out dressing up the D&D Caverns of the Underdark terrain set. This is about 3 feet tall. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
GF9 being crafty
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 06:46 AM Pacific
GaleForce9 went all out dressing up the D&D Caverns of the Underdark terrain set. This is about 3 feet tall.
Zombie Orpheus signing Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:06 PM PacificGamers: Dorkness Rising cast members Nathan Rice (far left sitting), Steve Wolbrecht (left, sitting), Jen Page, Scott Brown, Christian Doyle, and Brian Lewis signing at the Paizo booth. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Zombie Orpheus signing
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:06 PM Pacific
Gamers: Dorkness Rising cast members Nathan Rice (far left sitting), Steve Wolbrecht (left, sitting), Jen Page, Scott Brown, Christian Doyle, and Brian Lewis signing at the Paizo booth.
... The Organized Play room in full swing Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:15 PM PacificThis is the view from one corner of the room. I can barely see the other end. It's amazing! ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
The Organized Play room in full swing
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:15 PM Pacific
This is the view from one corner of the room. I can barely see the other end. It's amazing!
... Catacombs with lights Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:03 PM PacificCatacombs set from Dwarven Forge includes torches lit up woth built-in LEDs. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Catacombs with lights
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:03 PM Pacific
Catacombs set from Dwarven Forge includes torches lit up woth built-in LEDs.
... Cool terrain Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:00 PM PacificTriple Ace Games uses some cool terrain to show off their game. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Cool terrain
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:00 PM Pacific
Triple Ace Games uses some cool terrain to show off their game.
... A deadly dungeon awaits! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:36 PM PacificGenCon attendees will get a chance to pick up Frog God's Rappan Athuk for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game starting tomorrow. (Also coming to the Paizo.com website soon!) ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
A deadly dungeon awaits!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:36 PM Pacific
GenCon attendees will get a chance to pick up Frog God's Rappan Athuk for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game starting tomorrow. (Also coming to the Paizo.com website soon!)
... Gobliiiiin! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:12 PM PacificOne of our goblin plushies with about a hundred of his closest friends. ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
Gobliiiiin!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:12 PM Pacific
One of our goblin plushies with about a hundred of his closest friends.
Lisa Stevens signs the contract with Steve Jackson Games for Munchkin card game!
Lisa Stevens signs the contract with Steve Jackson Games for Munchkin card game! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 02:57 PM PacificThe Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ from Paizo Publishing is one of the world’s best-selling fantasy roleplaying games, in the true spirit of the classic dungeon crawl. Now Steve Jackson Games is proud to announce that Pathfinder is getting the full Munchkintreatment in a brand new core set...combining the unique features of the Pathfinder setting with Munchkin's irreverent sense...
Lisa Stevens signs the contract with Steve Jackson Games for Munchkin card game!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 02:57 PM Pacific
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ from Paizo Publishing is one of the world’s best-selling fantasy roleplaying games, in the true spirit of the classic dungeon crawl. Now Steve Jackson Games is proud to announce that Pathfinder is getting the full Munchkintreatment in a brand new core set...combining the unique features of the Pathfinder setting with Munchkin's irreverent sense of humor.
"We’re honored to be working with Paizo on Munchkin Pathfinder," said Andrew Hackard, Munchkin Brand Manager for Steve Jackson Games. "Pathfinder is a wonderfully rich world to play in."
Steve had no direct comment, as he was snickering and rubbing his hands together in contemplation of parodying TWO of the most popular fantasy roleplaying games of all time.
"We all love Munchkin here at Paizo Publishing, so this is a match was a no brainer," Lisa Stevens, CEO of Paizo Publishing stated matter of factly. "But of course," she whispered conspiratorially, "I really just wanted to see John Kovalic draw our iconic sorceress, Seoni!"
Munchkin Pathfinder will be a 168-card set, designed by Steve Jackson and Andrew Hackard and illustrated by John Kovalic. It will be playable as a standalone game or with any other Munchkin set. Look for it in stores in Fall 2013.
... A Whole Lotta Organized Play Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 01:00 PM PacificMike Brock tells me this isn't even all of it. Apparently I missed two more rooms. We're also looking for volunteer GMs! Maybe you should come over and help out. ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer
A Whole Lotta Organized Play
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 01:00 PM Pacific
Mike Brock tells me this isn't even all of it. Apparently I missed two more rooms. We're also looking for volunteer GMs! Maybe you should come over and help out.
... Pathfinder Cosplay Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 10:15 AM PacificIt's Pathfinder costume contest time! Check out Rita as the Master Spy prestige class! ... James Sutter ... Senior Editor
Pathfinder Cosplay
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 10:15 AM Pacific
It's Pathfinder costume contest time! Check out Rita as the Master Spy prestige class!
... We're proud of our new display cases Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:31 AM PacificCheck it out! We have two new display cases at the booth to show off the shinies. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
We're proud of our new display cases
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:31 AM Pacific
Check it out! We have two new display cases at the booth to show off the shinies.
... Pathfinder comic artist Andrew Huerta Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:30 AM PacificAndrew Huerta is signing comics and doing custom sketches at the Paizo booth right now! ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
Pathfinder comic artist Andrew Huerta
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:30 AM Pacific
Andrew Huerta is signing comics and doing custom sketches at the Paizo booth right now!
... The crowd gathers! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:34 AM PacificGamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon! ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
The crowd gathers!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:34 AM Pacific
Gamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon!
... The Iconics Welcome You To Gen Con 2012 Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:22 AM PacificIf you're wondering who the iconic on the far right is, it's our Iconic Paizo Employee: Liz Courts! ... Photo by Chris Self ... Sara Marie ... Customer Carebear
The Iconics Welcome You To Gen Con 2012
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:22 AM Pacific
If you're wondering who the iconic on the far right is, it's our Iconic Paizo Employee: Liz Courts!
... The crowd gathers! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:07 AM PacificGamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon! ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
The crowd gathers!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:07 AM Pacific
Gamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon!
... Our first Pathfinder Society prize winner Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:58 AM PacificCongrats to Brett, the first randomly determined winner of a $25 paizo.com gift certificate. We're giving one away every slot, so come on up and play. May Desna smile upon you. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
Our first Pathfinder Society prize winner
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:58 AM Pacific
Congrats to Brett, the first randomly determined winner of a $25 paizo.com gift certificate. We're giving one away every slot, so come on up and play. May Desna smile upon you.
... Rise, Year of the Risen Rune!!! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:52 AM PacificPathfinder Society Organized Play Season 4 has commenced. Stop by our largest room yet for ten incredible sessions of Pathfinder Society fun with these fine players and campaign volunteers. We're in rooms 231-238 of the Indiana Convention Center, just upstairs from the Paizo booth. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
Rise, Year of the Risen Rune!!!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:52 AM Pacific
Pathfinder Society Organized Play Season 4 has commenced. Stop by our largest room yet for ten incredible sessions of Pathfinder Society fun with these fine players and campaign volunteers. We're in rooms 231-238 of the Indiana Convention Center, just upstairs from the Paizo booth.
... The heroes approach... Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 06:26 AM PacificWe four bravely set out to slay the wicked booth beast! ... Will Chase ... Warehouse Manager
The heroes approach...
Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 06:26 AM Pacific
We four bravely set out to slay the wicked booth beast!
Gen Con Tips from an (Increasingly) Old Pro Tuesday, August 14, 2012Hard as it is for me to imagine, this year marks my 18th consecutive trip to Gen Con, and my 14th in a row attending as a gaming professional. In all those years I’ve seen the convention move from Milwaukee to Indianapolis, I’ve played hundreds of RPG sessions, and I’ve met and re-met thousands and thousands of gamers, many of whom I now consider some of my closest friends. As I look at my packed suitcase and contemplate...
Gen Con Tips from an (Increasingly) Old Pro
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Hard as it is for me to imagine, this year marks my 18th consecutive trip to Gen Con, and my 14th in a row attending as a gaming professional. In all those years I’ve seen the convention move from Milwaukee to Indianapolis, I’ve played hundreds of RPG sessions, and I’ve met and re-met thousands and thousands of gamers, many of whom I now consider some of my closest friends. As I look at my packed suitcase and contemplate another year of the world’s greatest gaming convention, I thought it might be fun to take this opportunity to list 18 Gen Con tips that will help you get the most out of the show.
Paizo
Stop by the Paizo booth in the exhibit hall at least once every morning to get a different free daily Pathfinder button. We started handing out Pathfinder buttons to folks visiting the booth about three years ago, and it’s been amazing to see how popular they have become. If you’re interested in collecting them, try to visit the booth during the first two hours the exhibit hall is open each day. Even the staff missed out on most of last year’s buttons because they vanished to rapidly. (PROTIP: We’ve created a special FIFTH button this year, and the only way to get it is to visit the Pathfinder Society Organzed Play area on the second floor of the convention center overlooking the exhibit hall.)
Pick up a Gen Con-exclusive edition of the very first issue of the brand-new Pathfinder comic at the booth, then have your limited-edition collectible autographed by writer Jim Zub and artist Andrew Huerta, who will both be signing through the convention. Andrew will even be doing character drawings all weekend long!
Be among the very first to get a copy of Ultimate Equipment, the huge new hardcover item catalog for the Pathfinder RPG! With thousands of magic and mundane items, the book is sure to have the perfect gift for your favorite player character. Don’t you think he deserves a special gift from the convention, too?
Gamers who finish an event in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room on the second floor of the convention center receive special wooden coins produced to commemorate the new season of play, the Year of the Risen Rune. Turn in your coins at HQ for a chance to win exciting in-campaign prizes!
Check the program book and the posted list at the Paizo booth for a look at more than a dozen seminars and panels we’re putting on at the show. From a look behind the scenes at the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition to Pathfinder RPG rules workshops to 10 Years of Paizo retrospectives to discussions of topics like the art of Pathfinder or the Pathfinder Online MMO, we’ve got all kinds of exciting events going on every day of the convention.
A crate of adorable little plush goblins was seen in Anchorage, Alaska today, en route (so they say) to the Paizo booth at Gen Con. Should these rumors prove true, it means Gen Con attendees will be the first people on Earth with the chance to adopt their very own plush Pathfinder goblins. Lock up your dogs and bring home the best Gen Con gift you can ever give your family—a loveable new member!
Stop by for a chat with the hard-working members of the Paizo staff. If you appreciate what we do, let us know! There’s nothing like a face-to-face compliment to recharge the old batteries. On the other hand, if there’s something we could be doing better to make Pathfinder more appealing to you, we’d love to hear about it.
Gen Con Tips
Schedule several hours (or more, if you’re a compulsive game collector or demo fiend) for the exhibit hall. Resist the temptation to fill every hour of every day with gaming (but oh, what a way to go!), because if you neglect a thorough investigation of the exhibit hall, you’re missing out on one of the things that makes Gen Con such a great experience.
Wander randomly a bit. There’s no way to distill a convention as large and as crazy as Gen Con in a web article or even a full convention book. Sometimes you’ve just got to see it yourself. Wander through the miniatures gaming hall. Check out a demo of a game you’ve never heard of, even join a random pick-up game. The best memories from Gen Con often involve situations you hadn’t anticipated until they started happening around you.
You’ve got to do the True Dungeon. Even if it’s sold out, I often hear of folks with extra tickets looking for someone to go with them. If you don’t have tickets and hear such an offer, jump on it immediately. It’s quite an amazing experience, and well worth the time, cost, and effort involved. You won’t quite feel like a “real” adventurer after going through the True Dungeon, but you will certainly appreciate the value of a good torch. It’s dark in there!
Make some new friends. From the PFS room to the Paizo booth to the informal chats that often break out following a seminar, Gen Con is a great place to meet gamers with similar interests to your own. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with your fellow gamers. Maybe you’re in line at a restaurant, or waiting to get assigned to an organized play table. Either way, the place is packed with potential friendships. Take advantage of the opportunity to meet some new people.
Take photographs. These days most of us have incredible cameras in our phones. Use them. Take snaps of the cool displays you see in the exhibit hall, cool architecture you see in Indianapolis, and cool people you game with. Stimuli hits you so fast and furious at Gen Con even the incredible can start to seem sort of normal. “Oh, what, a dude dressed in a full-on goat costume with working neon rays shooting out of his eyes seated on a throne and palanquin being carried by a procession of short stormtroopers? SEEN it!” Yeah, you’re going to want to tell someone about that later, even if it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal compared to the dozen other amazing things you saw in the prior 10 minutes. Take a picture. It’ll last longer.
Set aside a little money to pick up a gift for your significant other, even if said other isn’t really into gaming. There’s plenty of cool non-gaming stuff for sale at Gen Con, from novelty T-shirts to toys to jewelry. Find something that certain someone would appreciate, and get it. They put up with a lot from gaming, and if they aren’t with you, they’re probably holding down the fort back home and would appreciate the thought. If they are with you at the convention, you have won the significant other lottery, and don’t really need my advice. Keep doing what you are doing.
Indianapolis Tips
Don’t neglect nourishment. The convention hall is good for a hot dog in a dire emergency, but Indianapolis has a nice selection of restaurants within walking distance. The Ram is always jam packed with gamers, and the Circle Center food court (accessible by skybridge from the Convention Center) has a variety of, well, food court options. While there, I often grab a fruit smoothie to remind myself about wholesomeness, since it’s not exactly on offer at places like Steak N’Shake and White Castle. Mmmmm. White Castle.
Go to White Castle.
It gets hot. Oh, lordy, it gets hot. Pack an extra set of socks. After a full day of trekking from panel to panel and back and forth to meals in a soggy Midwestern summer, your feet will love you for a quick sock-swap before dinner. And bring comfortable shoes, as well. Your feet and you are not necessarily going to be the best of friends at the end of the weekend, so it’s best to make sure things remain comfortable between the three of you for as long as possible.
Don’t forget to sleep. You’re going to be tempted to game into the wee hours, to close down the bar, and to play more games after that. Don’t. Or at least don’t every night. You’ve waited a long time (and spent a pile of money) to get to Gen Con. You owe it to yourself to experience at least a little of it with clear eyes on at least a half night’s rest. Man cannot survive on gaming, booze, and 5-Hour Energy alone (trust me, I’ve tried).
The Most Important Tip
After the spending spree of travel bills and exhibit hall excursions, it’s time to start planning how to afford the trip to NEXT YEAR’s Gen Con. Because seriously, once you go once, you’re going to want to go every year.
I mean, look at me. I’ve been to 17 of these things, and have no plans to stop any time soon.
... We have a helper setting up the booth Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 09:01 AM PacificThose of us here in Indy setting up the booth arrived to a nice surprise helper. We'll make sure he doesn't set the rest of the stuff on fire. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
We have a helper setting up the booth
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 09:01 AM Pacific
Those of us here in Indy setting up the booth arrived to a nice surprise helper. We'll make sure he doesn't set the rest of the stuff on fire.
... The Year of the Risen Rune Launches at Gen Con Monday, July 30, 2012 ... Illustrations by Miguel Harkness and Jason RainvilleAs players and GMs familiar with the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program surely know after four full seasons of adventure, each year a new season of the campaign launches at Gen Con, and this year is no different. Over the last few seasons, we’ve worked to increase the amount of continuity within the campaign such that each season has a clear theme and plot...
The Year of the Risen Rune Launches at Gen Con
Monday, July 30, 2012
Illustrations by Miguel Harkness and Jason Rainville
As players and GMs familiar with the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program surely know after four full seasons of adventure, each year a new season of the campaign launches at Gen Con, and this year is no different. Over the last few seasons, we’ve worked to increase the amount of continuity within the campaign such that each season has a clear theme and plot arc, and so that participants in the campaign will be able to see the effects of their actions as the campaign evolves over several years. I think Season 4, which we’re calling the Year of the Risen Rune, will be the best season yet!
The Year of the Risen Rune will take the focus of the campaign to Varisia, land of ancient ruins, powerful magic, and political forces competing for control of the largely untamed frontier region. We’ll visit such classic Pathfinder locations as Korvosa, Riddleport, Magnimar, and Kaer Maga, as well as places no published adventure has yet trod, including the dwarf city of Janderhoff, the orc outcast city of Urglin, and unplumbed Thassilonian ruins that have never been mentioned before. The Pathfinder Society will truly be exploring uncharted territory.
The season will also see the return of several ongoing villains, including the rogue Shadow Lodge dissidents who threatened the entire society 2 years ago (and who were first encountered in Kaer Maga), the Aspis Consortium, and several yet-to-be-revealed blasts from the campaign’s past. There will also be new foes making life tough for Pathfinders, including the cult of Lissala—forgotten goddess of runes, fate, and obedience—whose gift of rune magic to Thassilon’s founder paved the way for the evil runelords to wrest control of the ancient empire. The Year of the Risen Rune will culminate in a confrontation with the campaign’s most dangerous and powerful threat yet, though who or what that force of malevolence is will have to wait for a reveal later in the season.
We’ll be debuting the season with four brand-new scenarios at Gen Con, written by fan-favorite authors Matt Goodall, Mike Shel, Larry Wilhelm, and Dennis Baker. Whether it’s Rise of the Goblin Guild, which pits the Pathfinders against the Pathfinder campaign setting’s most beloved little psychopaths, or In Wrath’s Shadow, in which the PCs will explore an ancient ruin at the foot of Hollow Mountain, seat of power of the Runelord of Wrath, there’ll be no shortage of potential adventure for players at Gen Con.
And for over 500 participants in the annual Pathfinder Society Special on Friday night, the 75-table event Race for the Runecarved Key, Tim Hitchcock and Kyle Baird will pit teams against one another to qualify for an exclusive second part of the event on Saturday night.
Check out a few pieces of art from these forthcoming scenarios to hold you over for another two and a half weeks, and we’ll see you with your dice and minis in hand on Thursday, August 16 at Gen Con Indy!
... Paizo and Pathfinder Seminars at Gen Con Monday, July 23, 2012 This past year has seen many additions to the Pathfinder brand, including Pathfinder miniatures and the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. The Pathfinder Tales line has grown three times what it was a year ago. And, we saw the conclusion of the tenth Adventure Path! There has been so much Pathfinder goodness, it amazes me to look at my bookshelf and see it able to hold against the strain of all the new, awesome...
Paizo and Pathfinder Seminars at Gen Con
Monday, July 23, 2012
This past year has seen many additions to the Pathfinder brand, including Pathfinder miniatures and the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. The Pathfinder Tales line has grown three times what it was a year ago. And, we saw the conclusion of the tenth Adventure Path! There has been so much Pathfinder goodness, it amazes me to look at my bookshelf and see it able to hold against the strain of all the new, awesome products that have been added.
Next year will see an even greater increase not only in our current product lines, but expanding into other areas such as comic books and online games. The goblin will be brought to life, so to speak, in the form of a plush toy. And, there are other secrets I, and many other Paizo staff, would love to tell you about, but you will have to attend our expanded seminars schedule at Gen Con to get the lowdown on these.
At Gen Con 2011, we had 7–8 seminars that touched on future products, secrets of Golarion, and the like. With this being Paizo's tenth anniversary as a company, and the 5-year anniversary of the release of the first Adventure Path, there was simply no way for us to fit everything we wanted to tell you and show you in those few seminars. So, after much discussion, we decided to double the number of seminars offered at Gen Con this year. The following is a listing of seminars, a short description of what each will entail, and the guests that highlight each.
Thursday, August 16
Pathfinder Society Organized Play Q&A (10:00 AM–11:00 AM)
Want to learn how to get involved in the fastest-growing organized play campaign in the world, with games running at conventions, game stores, and homes in every state and all over the planet? Already an active Pathfinder Society player with questions about the campaign? Join Paizo Campaign Coordinator Mike Brock and Pathfinder Society Developer Mark Moreland as they discuss all aspects of the largest Pathfinder campaign of all time.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Q&A (2:00–3:00 PM)
With the release of the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition this summer, Paizo celebrates 5 years of Adventure Paths. Join Pathfinder Creative Director James Jacobs and developers Rob McCreary and Adam Daigle as they reveal 2013's Adventure Paths, take your questions about past Adventure Paths, and share details on the brand-new campaign, Shattered Star!
Paizo Publishing: 2012 and Beyond (4:00–5:00 PM)
Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens, Publisher Erik Mona, Creative Director James Jacobs, Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider, and Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn reveal upcoming Pathfinder RPG hardcover rulebooks, Adventure Paths, and more in this spoiler-rich discussion of things to come.
Friday, August 17
Pathfinder RPG Rules Design Workshop (10:00–11:00 AM)
Pathfinder designers Jason Bulmahn, Sean K Reynolds, and Stephen Radney-MacFarland lead a hands-on workshop on rules design, as they discuss current design projects with attendees, and work with the audience to develop rules from concept to execution.
Pathfinder Tales Author Summit (12:00–1:00 PM)
Paizo's Fiction Editor James Sutter (Death's Heretic) leads a panel of Pathfinder Tales authors as they discuss their novels, characters, and their process as professional authors. Guests include Dave Gross (Prince of Wolves, Master of Devils, Queen of Thorns), Robin Laws (The Worldwound Gambit, Blood of the City), and Howard Andrew Jones (Plague of Shadows).
The Art of Pathfinder (1:00–2:00 PM)
Join Paizo's Publisher Erik Mona, Senior Art Director Sarah Robinson, and the Paizo art department as they discuss the award-winning look behind the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and take your questions about the visual aspect of the Pathfinder lines.
Writing for Paizo (2:00–3:00 PM)
Interested in contributing creative material to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game? Would you love to have your adventures, monsters, or game material published by Paizo? Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider, Senior Editor James. L Sutter, Creative Director James Jacobs, Game Developer Sean K Reynolds, and Pathfinder Society Developer Mark Moreland share secrets of the craft and chart the path to publication in this informative seminar.
Pathfinder Player Companion: Inside the Overhaul (4:00–5:00 PM)
In August, the Pathfinder Player Companion goes monthly, with new features, a brand-new look, and tons of new excitement. Join Paizo Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider, Senior Editor James L. Sutter, and Developer Patrick Renie as they outline the new changes and reveal exciting new territory in the months ahead.
Saturday, August 18
Pathfinder Society Organized Play Q&A (10:00–11:00 AM)
Want to learn how to get involved in the fastest-growing organized play campaign in the world, with games running at conventions, game stores, and homes in every state and all over the planet? Already an active Pathfinder Society player with questions about the campaign? Join Paizo Campaign Coordinator Mike Brock and Pathfinder Society Developer Mark Moreland as they discuss all aspects of the largest Pathfinder campaign of all time.
Rise of the Runelords Fifth Anniversary Round Table (11:00 AM–12:00 PM)
The very first Pathfinder Adventure Path returned in a revised and collected hardcover edition this summer. Join Paizo Creative Director James Jacobs, Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider, and authors Wolfgang Baur and Greg A. Vaughan as they reveal the secret history of the Pathfinder Adventure Path that started it all.
Pathfinder RPG Rules Q&A (12:00–1:00 PM)
Join the Pathfinder RPG design team for an up-close look at the rules of the Pathfinder RPG. Pathfinder designers Jason Bulmahn, Sean K Reynolds, and Stephen Radney-MacFarland take your questions and discuss the philosophy behind the Pathfinder game rules.
All About Pathfinder Online (1:00–2:00 PM)
Paizo is partnering with Goblinworks to produce a new MMO. The developers explain the project and will answer questions from the audience.
10 Years of Paizo Publishing (3:00–4:00 PM)
A cast of Paizo superstars including CEO Lisa Stevens, Publisher Erik Mona, and Creative Director James Jacobs, and Chief Technical Officer Vic Wertz look back on 10 years of Paizo Publishing, from Dragon, Dungeon, and Star Wars Insider magazines to paizo.com to the Pathfinder RPG and beyond.
Secrets of RPG Editing (4:00–5:00 PM)
Want to learn how to avoid those nasty errors in the RPG product you're writing or publishing? Paizo Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider, Editors Judy Bauer and Christopher Carey, and Developer Patrick Renie administer an editing test challenge and reveal the ins and outs of successful RPG editing.
Sunday, August 19
Golarion: Inside the Pathfinder Campaign Setting (10:00–11:00 AM)
Paizo Creative Director James Jacobs, Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider, and Fiction Editor James L. Sutter reveal what's going on in the wide world of Pathfinder's official campaign setting, from secrets of the world's creation to an overview of upcoming products to general questions from the audience.
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
Auntie Lisa’s Story Hour: Gen Con Reminiscences—The Paizo Years
... Auntie Lisa’s Story Hour: Gen Con Reminiscences—The Paizo Years Thursday, July 19, 2012With PaizoCon 2012 now in the rear view mirror, my attentions turn toward Gen Con in Indianapolis, August 16–19. I’ve personally gone to every Gen Con since it was held at UW Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin, but since this is Paizo’s tenth anniversary year—and Paizo’s tenth Gen Con—I figured I’d limit this blog to stories from the last decade. Gen Con is and always has been our biggest...
Auntie Lisa’s Story Hour: Gen Con Reminiscences—The Paizo Years
Thursday, July 19, 2012
With PaizoCon 2012 now in the rear view mirror, my attentions turn toward Gen Con in Indianapolis, August 16–19. I’ve personally gone to every Gen Con since it was held at UW Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin, but since this is Paizo’s tenth anniversary year—and Paizo’s tenth Gen Con—I figured I’d limit this blog to stories from the last decade. Gen Con is and always has been our biggest show of the year and the convention where we release our biggest products, so many seminal events in Paizo’s history take place at this granddaddy of all gaming conventions.
Our trip down memory lane begins in August 2002. Paizo was a newly minted company, having started business just one month prior, so we hadn’t lined up our own booth at Gen Con. Our friends at Wizards of the Coast had already allocated a part of their booth for the periodicals department that we’d taken over, so they allowed us to set up camp in their castle for the show. Paizo’s owners and a small team of editors spent the weekend talking to thousands of gamers who were wondering what the future held in store for their favorite magazines with Paizo at the helm.
Gen Con 2003 was all about the Paizo exclusive silver Boba Fett action figure we’d organized as part of running the Official Star Wars Fan Club and Star Wars Insider magazine. Vic and I knew what kind of excitement an exclusive figure would generate, but I don’t think Gen Con had a clue. So imagine their surprise when a huge storm of fans rushed the small Paizo booth and started a long line that stretched past and even through other vendors’ booths! We sold a ton of this action figure, but there was a little consternation among the employees who worked on Dragon and Dungeon: Gen Con was the D&D show, and they were used to taking the limelight at the booth. It was hard to argue with the fact that Boba Fett paid a lot of bills, though, and all in all, it was a really good Gen Con for Paizo.
2004 was the year we launched Amazing Stories and Undefeated, and relaunched Dragon and Dungeon. We put free copies of all four magazines into each attendee’s gift bag, which cost us a pretty penny. It didn’t ultimately make much of an impact on sales, so it was probably not the best marketing decision we ever made, but we were excited about what we were doing and we enjoyed giving potential customers issues to read at their leisure. To celebrate the relaunches of Dragon and Dungeon, we created T-shirts that customers could get for free by starting a new subscription or renewing an existing one. The Dragon T-shirt had Wayne Reynolds’ iconic dragon bursting through the cover page, while the Dungeon tee had a picture of Warduke, an homage to the D&D cartoon series and action figure line from the early 1980s. But the most controversial thing we did at the show that year was bring the Undefeated cheerleaders. Jenny Bendel, our marketing manager, wanted to create a stir and drive traffic to the booth, so we bought cheerleader costumes with the Undefeated logo on them and hired some local models who dressed in the cheerleader costumes and decorated passersby with Undefeated temporary tattoos bearing Johnny Wilson’s slogan for the magazine, “Nobody Likes a Loser.” Again, I’m not sure it helped sales all that much, but it sure did drive traffic to our booth, including a couple of local television crews!
By Gen Con 2005, we were already working toward making Paizo about more than magazines. Our big release was the Shackled City hardcover, and we decided to create a huge tower of books in the middle of the booth. We planned for hordes of customers to snatch up their copies, making the tower disappear throughout the course of the convention. Unfortunately, we brought way too many books, so even though sales were brisk, much of the tower was still standing at the end of the con.
My favorite memory from Gen Con 2005 was the ENnie Awards ceremony. Paizo had taken home our first ENnie—a gold award for Dungeon—in 2002, though all of the work that was being recognized had been done by our employees when they were still part of Wizards of the Coast. 2005 was the first year that the accolades were truly our own. All in all, we won 4 gold awards and one silver—but for me, the silver was the most exciting: it was for Best Publisher! Since its inception, Paizo had been struggling to gain an identity in the gamer community. If we were lucky, we were known as “the Dragon and Dungeon company”; many, many readers hadn’t yet figured out that we weren’t actually part of Wizards of the Coast. In industry surveys, retailers often reported Paizo sales as Wizards’ sales, and distributors still gave our magazines TSR product codes! So that silver ENnie was validation that we were finally stepping out from the shadow of Wizards and forging our own identity. It was a very sweet moment.
2006 was all about trying to fill the gap where Undefeated and Amazing Stories had been. Our GameMastery Map Packs and Item Cards were front and center in our booth, along with our Compleat Encounters line. It was a bit of a transition year for us, so we filled the booth with anything we think we could sell to gamers, including a big bin of Toy Vault plush right in front of the register. We partnered with Looney Labs that year to bring in a little more traffic and a little more sales; Looney also partnered with us in 2007.
2007 marks the launch of the Paizo that everybody knows today. We were sad to release the final print issues of Dragon and Dungeon at Gen Con, but we were very excited about the debut of the Pathfinder Adventure Path, with James Jacobs’ now classic “Burnt Offerings” adventure kicking off Rise of the Runelords. Our booth was decked out in large Pathfinder banners showing off Wayne Reynolds’ new iconic character artwork. Our line of GameMastery Modules was also a recent addition, and Nick Logue’s “Crown of the Kobold King” was being played delve-style in the booth using Dwarven Forge terrain. It was super impressive!
Gen Con 2007 was also exciting for our Titanic Games board game line. We’d already released our first board game, Kill Doctor Lucky, and at this show, we were debuting Stonehenge, a board game that I thought could change the way folks looked at games. Stonehenge consisted of a board, cards, and other pieces that were designed as a flexible toolkit that budding game designers could use to create their own board games, sold in a package with rules for five different Stonehenge games from the world’s best game designers. Our booth was abuzz with constant demos of both Kill Doctor Lucky and Stonehenge, with game designers Richard Garfield, Mike Selinker, and James Ernest stopping by the booth to show off their games.
A personal memory from 2007 was having Gary Gygax in our booth to sign autographs. We had just released Gary’s The Anubis Murders novel in our Planet Stories line, and the father of RPGs took the time to interact with our fans and sign their books. I’d first met Gary way back at my first Gen Con, when I was a fan myself, and we had become friends through the years. I am honored that Paizo was part of his last Gen Con.
The Pathfinder campaign setting saw its release at Gen Con 2008 with our 256-page hardcover book. For the previous year, fans of our modules and Adventure Paths had been clamoring for us to flesh out the world of Golarion, and this book was our answer. We ended up selling out of our Gen Con allocation on Saturday and having to turn away potential buyers the rest of the weekend. Another big Gen Con success for us was the Pathfinder RPG Beta. This softcover printing of our Beta playtest rules was something we weren’t 100% sure people would want to buy, but since we wanted to get folks excited about next year’s release Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, we brought a lot of copies of the Beta along, figuring we could always ship the extras back home after the convention was done. Little did we know that they would be gone by the end of the second day! The response was incredibly uplifting. The weekend culminated with Paizo winning our first gold ENnie for Best Publisher, a true honor, along with six other golds and a silver.
Gen Con 2008 was also memorable for the launch of our Pathfinder Society Organized Play program. Season 0 was our playtest season, and our smallish room was packed with gamers from the start of the con to the finish. Four hundred characters were made and six hundred registration cards handed out. Kicking off each new Pathfinder Society season at Gen Con is now a PFS tradition.
Of course, at Gen Con 2009, the Pathfinder RPG launch took center stage. The night before the show started, Paizo had our first contributor party for staff, freelancers and top Pathfinder Society GMs. It was the first opportunity any of them had to see the Core Rulebook, and I remember watching proudly as they devoured each page.
We again built a huge pile of the books in the middle of our booth, reminiscent of 2005’s Shackled City tower. But this time, selling out was a real possibility: the first print run of the Core Rulebook had sold out before the show even began, and as news circulated that Gen Con might be the only place customers might be able to buy the book for months, a large crowd of folks gathered outside the dealer hall, waiting to rush in to buy it. When the doors opened, our booth was inundated by hundreds upon hundreds of gamers hungry to grab a copy. The line soon spread into the artist area across the way, and we had to marshal every employee available to keep it from devolving into chaos. Erik and I quickly hatched a plan—I grabbed a box of books and headed down the line, offering people who just wanted the rulebook the ability to quickly hand over some cash and get out of line. Hundreds took us up on this offer, and we were able to get the line under control by the end of the first day.
2009 will also be memorable for me because of the start of our relationship with Reaper Miniatures. We’d worked out a licensing deal with them a month or so earlier, but imagine my surprise when they showed up at the convention with greens of the first minis to show off! Even cooler, they had sculptors actually working on new sculpts during the convention. I think I spent as much time in the Reaper booth as I did in the Paizo booth that year, constantly checking to see if the sculptors had completed new figures.
We’re really proud of the Core Rulebook, but it’s nevertheless very much a revision of what had come before. In 2010, we were able to offer something uniquely our own in the form of the Advanced Player’s Guide. Jason had conceived of the APG at the previous Gen Con, and we were all super anxious to see what everybody thought of our new classes and new ideas such as the archetype mechanic. We needn’t have worried; the APG was the hot selling book of Gen Con, with hundreds and hundreds of copies sold over the course of the show. We also launched our Pathfinder Tales fiction line that Gen Con, and author Dave Gross spent his time at the booth autographing copies for eager fans. We proudly won our second gold ENnie for Best Publisher, part of a grand total of 11 golds and two silvers! Wow!
2011 was all about the Ultimates at our booth. Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat both made a splash at the convention, as well as the kickoff of our Jade Regent Adventure Path—the first time that an AP travelled outside the bounds of the Inner Sea. But what had me super excited was the unveiling of the Pathfinder Battles line, our new prepainted plastic miniatures partnership with WizKids. We had paint masters of Valeros, Seoni, Kyra and Merisiel at the booth for all to see, as well as an unpainted prototype of the black dragon incentive mini for the first set, Heroes and Monsters. At the ENnies, we brought home the gold for Best Publisher yet again, a truly mind-blowing feat, along with seven other gold ENnies.
Gen Con 2012 is just a month from now and my mind is racing. How will everyone like Ultimate Equipment? Will we have enough plush goblins to last the weekend? Even with our Pathfinder Society room almost three times as large as last year, will it be enough? I can’t wait to see people playing games with our Pathfinder Pawns for the first time. Oh—and wait until everyone sees WizKids’ Rise of the Runelords minis set for the first time in person—people are going to freak! It’s going to be great watching folks playtest the new Pathfinder Adventure Card Game for the first time at Gen Con. And this will be the first year that Goblinworks will be at the con, showing off some of our early visuals for Pathfinder Online. We’ll also have the first issue of the Pathfinder comic book at our booth, complete with a unique Gen Con variant cover! And we’re returning to Varisia in Shattered Star, the first-ever Adventure Path sequel. There’s so much going on I can’t even think of it all! But I do know that I’ll have another year of memories from the Best Four Days in Gaming!
... Guests at Paizo's Gen Con Booth Monday, July 16, 2012This will be my seventeenth Gen Con. The previous 16 Gen Cons I have attended all hold different and special memories. From GMing 10 slots of Pathfinder Society, to winning the Alternity RPG Open in the late 1990s, to taking my wife and son to their first Gen Cons, they all hold a special meaning. One of my fondest memories was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when I was able to get autographs from both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As a young...
Guests at Paizo's Gen Con Booth
Monday, July 16, 2012
This will be my seventeenth Gen Con. The previous 16 Gen Cons I have attended all hold different and special memories. From GMing 10 slots of Pathfinder Society, to winning the Alternity RPG Open in the late 1990s, to taking my wife and son to their first Gen Cons, they all hold a special meaning. One of my fondest memories was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when I was able to get autographs from both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As a young 20-something, it was quite the experience to meet these two icons of the industry. Much as I was able to meet two industry people, and later was able to brag about it to friends who didn't join me that year, meeting the people that work in the industry is the highlight of the show for many convention-goers.
This year at Gen Con, you will, of course, meet the Paizo celebrities that work our booth year after year. Among these will be Jason Bulmahn, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, and James L. Sutter. But this year, we'll also have several special guests that work with Paizo on various products.
From Goblinworks, the company working to bring Golarion to life at Pathfinder Online, Ryan Dancey and Mark Kalmes will make appearances.
We will also have several of our Pathfinder Tales authors hosting meet and greets and signing your novels. Among the authors currently scheduled to make appearances are Dave Gross, Howard Andrew Jones, and Robin D. Laws.
Additionally, Paizo has teamed up with Dynamite Entertainment to officially launch the brand new Pathfinder comic book with a special Gen Con-exclusive edition of Pathfinder #1 for sale at the Paizo booth. Artist Andrew Huerta and writer Jim Zubkavich will also be on hand to meet with fans and reveal new details about the monthly comic series.
The cast and crew from the films Dorkness Rising and The Gamers are planning several appearances at the booth.
And members of our very own art department, Sarah Robinson and Andrew Vallas, will be doing art portfolio reviews throughout the con.
All in all, that is a great list of guests that are joining us at the Paizo booth to round out the show for you and surely make for the most memorable Gen Con yet.
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... The Gen Con Costume Contest is Coming! ... Check out these awesome costumes from last year!Heads up, everyone! It's time to dust off those sewing machines and fabric paints and start getting ready for the Fifth Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! ... It's hard to believe that it's been five whole years since a priestess of Desna first showed us just how crafty our community could be (pun intended). In the years since, we've seen Pactmasters and witches, alchemists and Gray Maidens....
The Gen Con Costume Contest is Coming!
Check out these awesome costumes from last year!
Heads up, everyone! It's time to dust off those sewing machines and fabric paints and start getting ready for the Fifth Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest!
It's hard to believe that it's been five whole years since a priestess of Desna first showed us just how crafty our community could be (pun intended). In the years since, we've seen Pactmasters and witches, alchemists and Gray Maidens. But we know that there are more of you cosplayers out there, and we want to see you!
Here's the deal: At some point during Gen Con Indy this August, you show up to the Paizo booth dressed in your best Pathfinder costume—any monster, character, faction member, deity, or other figure from our world. In order to be eligible, your costume needs to be identifiably Pathfinder-related, not just generic fantasy—a knight isn't enough, but an Eagle Knight of Andoran is.
In addition to drawing a crowd of happy gawkers, you'll have your picture taken by a member of the Paizo staff. The best costumes—as decided by us—will end up on the Paizo blog once we return from Gen Con, at which point we'll allow the paizo.com messageboard community to pick their favorite. What criteria that mad and merry crew will use is anybody's guess, but whoever they select as the best Pathfinder cosplayer will walk away with 50 dollars in store credit! Even more importantly, the winner will go home knowing that he or she (or they—I'm still waiting for a life-sized Sandpoint Devil puppet) have entered the exclusive cadre of the Paizo Cosplay Winner's Circle.
... Pathfinder Society Overview for Gen Con Monday, July 9, 2012This year's Gen Con will be the most ambitious for Pathfinder Society yet. With Gen Con being the largest gaming convention in North America, I thought of how I could make Pathfinder Society bigger and better than it has ever been, while improving the quality for our players. So, I wanted to give an overview of what to expect from Pathfinder Society if you are attending Gen Con this year. ... Last year, we ran 50 tables of...
Pathfinder Society Overview for Gen Con
Monday, July 9, 2012
This year's Gen Con will be the most ambitious for Pathfinder Society yet. With Gen Con being the largest gaming convention in North America, I thought of how I could make Pathfinder Society bigger and better than it has ever been, while improving the quality for our players. So, I wanted to give an overview of what to expect from Pathfinder Society if you are attending Gen Con this year.
Last year, we ran 50 tables of Pathfinder Society scenarios per slot. We sold out almost all tickets within the first week of ticket sales going live, so I knew I wanted to expand our play opportunities. In 2011, we had four rooms attached with the walls open to create one large Pathfinder Society gaming hall. It was fairly crowded with so many tables in that one area, so we requested and received seven rooms this year. Having almost doubled the size of the gaming hall, I wanted to expand the number of tables but also increase the amount of room between tables, as I know this was a suggestion from last year made by numerous players and GMs. So, I only added 50 percent more tables this year, expanding the Pathfinder Society gaming hall to 75 tables per slot.
Another piece of good feedback we received was that with the Pathfinder Society HQ set up against one wall, the people on the other end of the gaming hall had a difficult time interacting with HQ. With this year's hall having almost double the size, I wanted to change things up a bit to make it easier for both GMs and players to interact with HQ. Therefore, we are making a larger Pathfinder Society HQ and placing it in the center of the gaming hall. In addition, I have assigned 8–10 volunteers per gaming slot to work solely in Pathfinder Society HQ to help facilitate administrative tasks more quickly, including getting data entry of tracking sheets completed while at the con. This will also help us to correct any errors that come up on site as opposed to weeks later after the show. The volunteers will also serve to muster GMs and players to tables, facilitate the prize table, and various other tasks.
We will also be introducing Season 4 of the Pathfinder Society to all of you. The new Pathfinder Society Guide to Organized Play (which will be the focus of a blog post in a few weeks) will go live, and I think many of you will appreciate the new rules changes and tweaks. We will still have some favorite scenarios from Season 3, as well as the final four Season 3 scenarios that were launched at PaizoCon. But we will also be debuting the Year of the Risen Rune with four brand-new scenarios to help kick off Season 4. In total, we will have 18 different scenarios for players to choose from.
In addition, we will have the largest Gen Con Special to date, seating 450 players to complete the adventure as a group, similar to the Year of the Shadow Lodge and Blood Under Absalom from the last two Gen Cons. This year, we have added to the Special and created a competitive, exclusive second round of play that will only be available at Gen Con 2012. The top three tables from each tier will advance to the second round by utilizing a secret scoring system. I have hand selected only four- and five-star GMs to judge these tables, with many of them being current or former Venture-Captains. We may also have a celebrity GM or two to add to the mix. Every table that advances to the second round will receive a better Chronicle sheet than that which was received in the first round and awarded to all players. The top table from each tier in the second round will receive a unique Chronicle sheet awarding a very special, one-of-a-kind prize that will only be available at Gen Con.
Don't worry if you miss out on those two Chronicles. We will also have 18 new Pathfinder Society convention Chronicles available to win. This year, for every two events you play in, you will win something, whether it be a special Pathfinder Society boon or a Pathfinder product.
In addition to all of the above, we are launching three new events this year for Gen Con 2012. We are adding the Kid's Track, the Beginner Box Introductions, and the GM 101 workshops.
For the Kid's Track, we have set aside two tables for the morning and afternoon slots that are for children attending Gen Con, offering them a chance to play the Beginner Box Intro adventures with other children their age. These slots are 2 hours each and will be run four times each day at each of the two tables. A different adventure will be run each day of Gen Con, and any child who completes all four will receive a special certificate denoting his or her achievements. In addition, we will be providing pregenerated characters, as well as the corresponding miniature from the Beginner Box Heroes miniature pack, for the child to keep. If the child plays all four adventures with a different pregen, she can walk away with the full set. We will also be providing parents a coupon for 10% off the purchase of the Beginner Box while at the show. Finally, we will be providing each child a set of dice to keep.
For the Beginner Box Introductions, I decided to make this a 5-hour, paid slot this year. The first hour will have the GM explaining the basic rules of the game, reviewing the pregenerated characters, and answering any questions. The final 4 hours of the slot will allow the players to play through all four of the Beginner Box Intro adventures that were used for the Beginner Box Bash last October.
The GM 101 workshops were launched at PaizoCon for their final test run and will be making their official debut at Gen Con. The workshops were developed by the Georgia regional coordinators, and then over the past 6 months, with the help of several awesome Venture-Captains across North America, we tested various ideas for GM 101 classes in their regions. We took those ideas, formulated the best ones into a grouping, and drafted up solid guidelines for what we are calling the GM 101 workshops. As they are 5 hours long, and knowing your time is valuable at Gen Con, we broke the program into two parts. The first part, which will run for 2 hours, is titled Pathfinder GM Basics. This introductory program focuses on improving GMing skills, handling challenges, and giving a great table experience. Part 1 includes four breakout sessions covering Roleplaying and Lore, Combat and Rules, Running the Game, and Advanced Topics. Part 2 is titled Practice Makes Perfect. Part 2 of this program introduces the Deck of Many Situations, a tool to help GMs focus on improving their improvisational technique while applying the lessons learned in Part 1. Participants draw cards that detail difficult GMing situations, and have a brief period to resolve their respective situations before time is called. Our experienced GMs offer advice and techniques based on observation of your GMing style tailored to help you sharpen your skills and improve your expertise.
Finally, for those not familiar with Pathfinder Society, we will be hosting two Pathfinder Society Q&A sessions on Thursday and Saturday morning. We hope that any player who has wanted to try out Pathfinder Society but hasn't for whatever reason, will come to one of these seminars, ask any questions he or she might have, and then try out Pathfinder Society sometime during the course of the convention.
With just over a month away, I am excited about my first Gen Con as Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator. I have tried to put together the best possible programming for all of you and hope to make this your best Pathfinder Society experience to date. There are still tickets available for most scenarios, but those numbers will continue to rapidly decrease the closer we get to the show. If you haven't purchased your event tickets yet, head over to the Gen Con event registration site to do so. You don't want to miss out on all the new and exciting things we have planned for Pathfinder Society at Gen Con 2012.
See you in August!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... Introducing the Year of the Risen Rune Monday, April 30, 2012I took a break from the Gen Con push today to write this blog post, and my mind started to wander. I thought a bit about days gone by and how last year at this time we were under just as much pressure trying to get Ultimate Combat off to the presses in time. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyway, I also thought to myself, Self, what sort of blog were you writing this time last year? ... Aha! myself...
Introducing the Year of the Risen Rune
Monday, April 30, 2012
I took a break from the Gen Con push today to write this blog post, and my mind started to wander. I thought a bit about days gone by and how last year at this time we were under just as much pressure trying to get Ultimate Combat off to the presses in time. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyway, I also thought to myself, "Self, what sort of blog were you writing this time last year?"
"Aha!" myself answered. "I can do a search and find out!"
Now, those of you who've been following our Monday Pathfinder Society blog posts for a while likely remember this time in spring 2011, when we had a very lengthy series of posts covering "The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play." In fact, that series was when we started doing weekly posts and claimed Monday as our own special day of the week. So I checked back to Part VII of that series from May 2. And lo and behold, that was when we announced the title of the current season, the Year of the Ruby Phoenix.
"Self, you should do the same thing for Season 4 in your blog post for Monday," I said. And it seemed a reasonable suggestion, so I agreed.
Season 4 of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign will be entitled Year of the Risen Rune. The focus of the season is going to be the Pathfinder Society's burgeoning lodge in the Varisian city of Magnimar—the focal point of the forthcoming Shattered Star Adventure Path, which also debuts at Gen Con 2012. While that Adventure Path won't be sanctioned for Pathfinder Society credit and won't use the faction system we have in the organized play campaign, there will be a lot of overlap between the Adventure Path and the Pathfinder Society campaign. So whatever campaign you play, you'll have lots of options for exploring the untamed frontier region of Varisia and the ancient Thassilonian ruins located there.
We'll have a lot more information about both the Shattered Star Adventure Path and the Year of the Risen Rune in the coming months, but until we get closer to the launch of these exciting adventures, check out the venture-captain who Pathfinder players of all ilks are likely to get to know very well—Sheila Heidmarch—and the Pathfinder Society season's shiny new logo.
Sheila Heidmarch Illustration by Kieran Yanner
The Year of the Risen Rune and the Shattered Star Adventure Path both launch at Gen Con 2012 this August!
Gen Con 2012 and Official Call for Volunteers!—Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
... Gen Con 2012 and Official Call for Volunteers! Monday, February 27, 2012 ... Illustration by Kevin YanFor Gen Con 2012, we plan to make this the biggest and best Gen Con yet! I am scheduling 750 tables of Pathfinder Society over the four days. We are also bringing the GM 101 workshops that debuted at Paizo Con (and were discussed in last Monday’s blog) to Gen Con. They will hopefully be a hit and draw in new players and GMs to Pathfinder Society, as well as make active Pathfinder Society...
Gen Con 2012 and Official Call for Volunteers!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Illustration by Kevin Yan
For Gen Con 2012, we plan to make this the biggest and best Gen Con yet! I am scheduling 750 tables of Pathfinder Society over the four days. We are also bringing the GM 101 workshops that debuted at Paizo Con (and were discussed in last Monday’s blog) to Gen Con. They will hopefully be a hit and draw in new players and GMs to Pathfinder Society, as well as make active Pathfinder Society players take the next step and help to GM in their home regions.
We will be hosting Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box Introductions. During nine of the 10 slots at Gen Con, we are setting aside four tables at each slot for these events. These are scheduled with new players in mind. The first 45–60 minutes will be exploring the contents of the Beginner Box, explaining the rules, and reviewing the pregenerated characters. The final 4 hours of each slot will be playing through the four 1-hour adventures that were offered during the Beginner Box Bash.
In addition, we are adding a Pathfinder Kid’s Track to our gaming area. We are focusing on players aged 6–12 and we will be using the Beginner Box for this as well. Each Kid’s Track slot will be 2 hours long and each player will receive a check-off card, very similar to what was used at the Beginner Box Bash. The first hour teaches roleplaying and rules and reviews the pregenerated characters found in the Beginner Box. During the second hour, one of the four 1-hour adventures used during the Beginner Box Bash will be played. We will be restricting tables to four children players and are requiring a parent or guardian be present with each child (or multiple children if they have two or more interested in participating) for the entire 2 hours. The parent or guardian will assist the child when needed. But, we want to make this a good and memorable experience for the kids that attend Gen Con, who often find little they can participate in, especially with others their own age. We will be scheduling eight slots per day for the Kid’s Track. However, we are only scheduling one adventure each day. If a child comes back and plays a different adventure each of the 4 days, he will be able to present his check-off card and receive a special certificate. We may also have other giveaways or special prizes. I will be very picky when choosing volunteer GMs for the Kid’s Track. I prefer to have schoolteachers and other professionals with experience dealing with children, but I will consider GMs who are parents even if they do not deal with children regularly in their profession. If you are volunteering to GM the Kid’s Track, please make sure to include all of your credentials. Also, since these are scheduled as 2-hour blocks, a GM will be required to run two Kid’s Track slots back to back in a 4-hour block to count as one slot of credit toward GM rewards.
Finally, we are adding an invitation-only second round to the Gen Con Special: Race for the Runecarved Key! The first round will be what you have come to know and love as the Pathfinder Special. It will be 75 tables all working together to overcome some nasty problem the Decemvirate wants dealt with. However, the change this year is that we are adding a special, secret scoring system. The top three tables from each tier will advance to the invitation-only second round.
This second round will be one of the deadliest dungeons ever explored by the Pathfinder Society, and only the very best of the organization’s agents even have a chance of surviving. Again, let me emphasize—this will be a true and deadly test of the Pathfinder Society’s best teams. It is almost a guarantee some Pathfinders will die. Make sure to bring your A-game. The first round will be made available to qualifying conventions worldwide after Gen Con 2012 as it is every year. However, the second round is only being offered this once—at Gencon 2012.
At this point I am looking at restricting the GM pool to only 4- and 5-Star GMs. To top it off, the players that advance to the second round will trade in their Chronicle sheets received after the first round as their tickets to this invitation-only event. When they complete the second round, they will receive new Chronicle sheets with a very special boon. We haven’t forgotten about our volunteer GMs for the special either. We didn’t want them to miss out on the opportunity to play in the invitation-only second round. So, we will be entering all Round 1 GMs into a drawing, were we will pull six names. Those six GMs will then receive a seat at a 16th table of the second round.
The observant readers may have caught that I just mentioned 16 tables and are scratching their heads that three tables from each tier and the special GM table don’t add up to 16 tables. Well, you are right. Like last week’s blog that announced a special Tier 12+ event at Paizo Con, we are adding a Tier 12+ to both rounds of this year’s Gen Con special! The special will be written for Subtiers 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 8–9, 10–11, and 12+, and we'll actually have 19 tables of round 2.
Now, let’s talk about the GMs and volunteers we need to pull all of the above off and make it an awesome Gen Con.
I need a minimum of 125 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games, Beginner Box Introductions, and Kid’s Track events. I’ll continue taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled, at which point I will create a waiting list in the event a scheduled GM has to cancel his or her Gen Con trip for whatever reason. I also need eight Volunteer Assistants for each slot of the show. These folks will not GM during their volunteer slots, but will instead help me run Pathfinder Society HQ—including marshalling, collecting tickets, distributing GM packs, and entering tracking sheets into the database—and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society.
Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2012. Keep in mind that you’re volunteering for slots, not a specific event. I will let you know the slots and scenarios you have been assigned as soon as possible. You may designate what tier scenarios you wish to GM but this is not guaranteed to be filled. I will do the best I can to accommodate your requests. My target date to get all GMs their assigned schedules is April 10. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule, before the May 20 event registration, with your friends and family who are also attending Gen Con 2012. Please let me know via email which days you will be at the convention and how many slots you are volunteering for at Gen Con 2012.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Tier 1 GM Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are my every day GMs. They are invaluable to making the show a success. Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 7 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 7 slots if they so desire. Any slots over 7 will be used as overfill GMs. Overfill GMs are requested to show up for muster but will be free for the slot if a scenario has all of its assigned GMs present. I only have room for 80 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you won't be able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2012 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Hyatt Regency Hotel
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2012 T-Shirt
Tier 3 GM Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 3. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2012 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2012 T-Shirt
Tier 4 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level. Tier 4 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 3 slots. Tier 4 GMs receive:
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2012 T-Shirt
Volunteering for One or Two Slot
While we will gladly accept anyone who wants to run just one or two slots during the show, there are no rewards for doing so other than our thanks.
When Volunteering...
Please be specific about what days and how many slots you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to slots and scenarios on an as-needed basis. I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help. You must have a gencon.com account and you must include your gencon.com account number in your email or I won’t be able to get you a badge (obviously this is only for volunteers who are volunteering for 5 or more slots). Finally, include your Paizo.com email account so I can make sure you receive the scenarios in your downloads.
Slot 1: Thursday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M. Slot 2: Thursday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M. Slot 3: Thursday 7 P.M. to Midnight Slot 4: Friday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M. Slot 5: Friday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M. Slot 6: Friday 7 P.M. to Midnight (Gen Con Special Round 1) Slot 7: Saturday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M. Slot 8: Saturday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M. Slot 9: Saturday 7 P.M. to Midnight (Gen Con Special Round 2) Slot 10: Sunday 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.
All Gen Con 2012 volunteers please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the subject line Gen Con Volunteer.
Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great spring and summer convention season!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... And the Winner is...! Friday, August 19th, 2011 ... Jessica as a Gray Maiden: winner of our Gen Con Pathfinder costume contest!Over the last week, you’ve all had a chance to vote here on the forums for which Gen Con Pathfinder cosplay cosume is the best. Almost 200 of you cast your lots, and while every contestant got some votes, with many judges agonizing over their decisions, it quickly became a race for first between Jessica as the Gray Maiden and Bonnie as Feiya, our iconic witch. As...
And the Winner is...!
Friday, August 19th, 2011
Jessica as a Gray Maiden: winner of our Gen Con Pathfinder costume contest!
Over the last week, you’ve all had a chance to vote here on the forums for which Gen Con Pathfinder cosplay cosume is the best. Almost 200 of you cast your lots, and while every contestant got some votes, with many judges agonizing over their decisions, it quickly became a race for first between Jessica as the Gray Maiden and Bonnie as Feiya, our iconic witch. As the thread rolled on, however, a clear victor emerged. And the winner is... Jessica as the Gray Maiden!
For her sheer costuming awesomeness, Jessica will receive our eternal adoration and $50 in paizo.com store credit. The rest of the contestants will have to settle for just the adoration part.
Good work, everyone, and we hope to see you all dressed up again next year!
... Gen Con Pathfinder Society Recap Monday, August 15, 2011It's been over a week since Gen Con wrapped up, and a little less than that since we returned to business as usual here at Paizo HQ. But even though we're back in the swing of deadlines and such, the rush of Pathfinder Society at Gen Con still has me feeling high! ... Over the course of four days and ten slots, we seated over 3,000 excited Pathfinders, many of whom played their first Pathfinder Society scenario during the convention....
Gen Con Pathfinder Society Recap
Monday, August 15, 2011
It's been over a week since Gen Con wrapped up, and a little less than that since we returned to business as usual here at Paizo HQ. But even though we're back in the swing of deadlines and such, the rush of Pathfinder Society at Gen Con still has me feeling high!
Over the course of four days and ten slots, we seated over 3,000 excited Pathfinders, many of whom played their first Pathfinder Society scenario during the convention. And though we sold out almost every event months before the show, I'm proud to say that nearly everyone who wanted to get into a game with generic tickets was able to do so. We only had to turn people away in two of the ten slots!
Our Friday night special, Blood Under Absalom, was a smashing success, and we were able to get everyone who wanted to play a seat, pulling in extra tables from the hall to ensure that no one was left out. The result was 51 tables (out of a sold-out 45) of Pathfinders of all levels running through the same adventure, GMed by none other than the incomparable Tim Hitchcock.
In addition to the rewards all players get for surviving a Pathfinder Society Scenario, we had additional prizes that players and GMs could try to win by unlocking the Pathfinder Society treasure chest. Inside were signed copies of hardcover rulebooks, free map packs and flip mats, Pathfinder Tales novels, and even exclusive Pathfinder Society boons. Some players walked away with Chronicle sheets granting them access to non-core races like aasimar, tiefling, tengu, and dhampir, and everyone who played a scenario or delve got a Gen Con exclusive boon granting them weapon proficiency with one Eastern weapon from Ultimate Combat. For those Pathfinder Society players and GMs who couldn't make it to the show, we'll be trying similar promotions at regional conventions and game stores in the coming months, spearheaded by our invaluable Venture-Captains, so keep an eye out for your chance to get some exclusive Pathfinder Society Chronicles in your area.
Thanks to everyone who spent valuable time and money ensuring Gen Con 2011 was the most successful Pathfinder Society convention to date. Without all our Venture-Captains, HQ volunteers, and over 50 GMs per slot, thousands of gamers would have missed out on the launch of the Year of the Ruby Phoenix and hours of fun exploring Golarion! Keep an eye on this blog in the coming months for early information about our plans of next Gen Con, including how you can volunteer to help make Gen Con 2012 an even bigger success!
P.S. Check out this awesome Wayne Reynolds art from the first two Jade Regent adventure path volumes. See, Shalelu's hair is blond!
... Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest Voting! Friday, August 12th, 2011It’s that time again! Though I failed in my sacred duty to announce the Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest well ahead of time, we still had a number of unbelievably strong contenders this year, and it would be a shame not to crown one of them as the winner—a title which, in addition to bragging rights, confers $50 in paizo.com store credit. So let’s get voting! ... Here’s how it works: Presented below are the...
Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest Voting!
Friday, August 12th, 2011
It’s that time again! Though I failed in my sacred duty to announce the Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest well ahead of time, we still had a number of unbelievably strong contenders this year, and it would be a shame not to crown one of them as the winner—a title which, in addition to bragging rights, confers $50 in paizo.com store credit. So let’s get voting!
Here’s how it works: Presented below are the photographs (and names, where possible) of this year’s contestants. In the comments thread for this blog, you can pick the ONE winner who you think has the most awesome Pathfinder-related costume and shout out your vote. You have until next Thursday at noon to get in your choices, after which we’ll announce the winner.
Your options are:
Jessica as a Gray Maiden
Leslie as Seoni
Jean-Marc as a paladin of Sarenrae and Luc as a paladin of Iomedae
Eric as our Iconic Alchemist
Bonnie as our Iconic Witch (and Corey as kilted barbarian)
Nani as a Harrower
Natalie (with the metal plates), Nicole the alchemist, Amy the ranger, Megan the pregnant sorcerer, Mike the cleric.
... Lessons from Gen Con Thursday, August 11, 2011 ... So much Ultimate Combat at the Gen Con booth!Though I only joined the company a couple weeks ago, I was invited to join the rest of the team at Gen Con in Indianapolis. I was thrilled at the opportunity, since it would enable me to bolster our company's presence within the gaming community and meet some of our most passionate fans. In addition, the trip nurtured group cohesion within the company, and I'm happy to say I know many of my...
Lessons from Gen Con
Thursday, August 11, 2011
So much Ultimate Combat at the Gen Con booth!
Though I only joined the company a couple weeks ago, I was invited to join the rest of the team at Gen Con in Indianapolis. I was thrilled at the opportunity, since it would enable me to bolster our company's presence within the gaming community and meet some of our most passionate fans. In addition, the trip nurtured group cohesion within the company, and I'm happy to say I know many of my coworkers far better than I did before. All that being said, I am glad to be on familiar ground again. As for my Gen Con experience, I have the following words.
It was fun! It was exhausting. It was a lot of things. It reminded me of the retail job I had when I was 18 in some respects. It reminded me of the anime convention I went to when I was 15 in other respects. In most respects, though, it was totally unique and utterly impossible to describe. I met a lot of cool people, and I learned a lot of weird things. Things I learned:
There is a restaurant chain called Steak 'n' Shake.
Local coffee shops in Indianapolis close ridiculously early, usually around 3 p.m.
Our fans are awesome.
Some people still don't know all about Pathfinder (what!?) and are eager to learn about it.
I love Washington weather and will never complain about it again.
Patrick Renie Developer
If my first Gen Con taught me one thing it's that no one can adequately prepare you for the spectacle and energy of this convention. (If it taught me another thing it's that I can apparently make do with a lot less sleep than I had previously thought.) Meeting all the fans who visited the Paizo booth was a real joy, and while I certainly do not possess the roleplaying expertise of James Jacobs or Jason Bulmahn—or any other Paizo employee for that matter—I had a lot of fun discussing our products with the endless stream of visitors. We really do have the best fans in the business.
We also get to work with the best artists in the business. As this was my first time attending Gen Con, I obviously can't compare it to previous years, but I was shocked by the number of talented artists who stopped by to say hi or to show us their portfolios. Meeting—and reconnecting with—artists is the best part of my job, and I can't think of a better venue for this than Gen Con (cue special shout out to Stephen Radney-MacFarland for introducing me to Larry Elmore). I can't wait for next year!
... Gen Con Announcement Recap! Wednesday, August 10, 2011 ... ENnie Awards: Product of the Year ... (for the Advanced Players Guide)Whew... another Gen Con over and done with! We had a great time at the show, in no small part due to the incredible support of our fans and customers. You all are the BEST! ... In a Gen Con filled with highlights, though, for me one of the most incredible moments came about 15 minutes after the Ennie Awards wrapped up, when we went up to the Pathfinder Society...
Gen Con Announcement Recap!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
ENnie Awards: Product of the Year (for the Advanced Players Guide)
Whew... another Gen Con over and done with! We had a great time at the show, in no small part due to the incredible support of our fans and customers. You all are the BEST!
In a Gen Con filled with highlights, though, for me one of the most incredible moments came about 15 minutes after the Ennie Awards wrapped up, when we went up to the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room to announce to a room of several hundred gamers that we’d won. The uproar of cheers that filled the room when Erik climbed up on his chair and made that announcement was overwhelming. Pictured is one of those many awards—the trophy for Product of the Year (Advanced Player’s Guide) held up with an enormous room of hundreds of Pathfinder Society GMs and players in the background.
We also made a large number of announcements at Gen Con for products coming out in the months ahead. Most of these announcements can be found here and there on paizo.com, but I thought I’d group them all up here in this post so everyone can find out about them at once.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Coming at the end of the year is Pathfinder Bestiary 3, followed next Spring by the Advanced Race Guide (a big hardcover book that’ll give you new options for ALL of the zero Hit Die races we’ve published to that point, as well as rules for building your own races of any power level), and then next Gen Con with Ultimate Equipment (a hardcover filled to the brim with new toys and magic items for any Pathfinder character).
Pathfinder Adventure Path: At long last, we’ve started the Jade Regent Adventure Path! But once you’re done traveling over the frozen Crown of the World and exploring Tian Xia, be ready next February for some good old-fashioned plundering and mayhem with the pirate-themed Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. And then, next Gen Con, we celebrate five years of Pathfinder and ten years of Paizo by returning to where it all began—the Shattered Star Adventure Path brings it all back to Varisia with a frantic search to be the first to recover and rebuild an ancient Thassilonian artifact—the original Sihedron Symbol—before it’s too late!
Pathfinder Player Companion: After debuting Goblins of Golarion at Gen Con, we’re ready to finish out the three-part exploration of the faiths of the Inner Sea with Faiths of Corruption. Two months later, the Dragon Empires Primer gives players all they need to know to make characters from Tian Xia. And early next year, Pirates of the Inner Sea will finally let you unleash your inner buccaneer!
Pathfinder Modules: We’ll be heading back to Varisia even earlier than Magnimar: City of Monuments and the Shattered Star Adventure Path, though, with Feast of Ravenmoor, a low-level module set in the Varisian hinterlands. Two months later, test your mettle in The Ruby Phoenix Tournament, and then next January find out what our latest RPG Superstar winner, Sam Zeitlin, has in store for you in The Midnight Mirror!
Pathfinder Battles: After WizKids releases the initial set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder miniatures of Merisiel, Kyra, Valeros, and Ezren (Pathfinder Beginner Box Heroes, which ties into the upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box), you can look forward first to the 40-miniature set of Heroes and Monsters, to be followed up later next year by the Rise of the Runelords set.
And finally... the announcement that I was the most excited for: a 420-page hardcover compilation of Rise of the Runelords, fully updated to the Pathfinder rules and expanded with new encounters and tons of new artwork, due for release at PaizoCon 5 next June!
... Cleric costume and mini-cleric Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 10:04 AM PacificShe's gathering components to cast the create person spell. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Cleric costume and mini-cleric
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 10:04 AM Pacific
She's gathering components to cast the create person spell.
... The Miniature (terrain) Building Authority Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 09:52 AM PacificTMBA was showing off its newest and upcoming prepainted terrain pieces. (Monte has a bunch of these, they're really amazing.) http://www.miniaturebuildingauthority.com/ ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
The Miniature (terrain) Building Authority
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 09:52 AM Pacific
TMBA was showing off its newest and upcoming prepainted terrain pieces. (Monte has a bunch of these, they're really amazing.) http://www.miniaturebuildingauthority.com/
... Men in Black Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 09:43 AM PacificDon't be alarmed. We're only here to commandeer your shade. ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer ...
Men in Black
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 09:43 AM Pacific
Don't be alarmed. We're only here to commandeer your shade.
... Alchemist costume Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 09:41 AM PacificI'm not sure if those flask contain reagents, or booze. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Alchemist costume
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 09:41 AM Pacific
I'm not sure if those flask contain reagents, or booze.
... Prepare for excessive steam Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 08:13 AM PacificOne booth had an extensive selection of tinted steampunk goggles. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Prepare for excessive steam
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 08:13 AM Pacific
One booth had an extensive selection of tinted steampunk goggles.
... Mini Cthulhu figurine Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 08:11 AM PacificChris Carey found this at a booth that sells only Lovecraft-related things. Now he is paralyzed with fear. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Mini Cthulhu figurine
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 08:11 AM Pacific
Chris Carey found this at a booth that sells only Lovecraft-related things. Now he is paralyzed with fear.
... Minis by the pound Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 08:10 AM PacificSome minis companies, such as Iron Wind Metals, sell old minis, damaged minis, bulk minis, and bits by the pound. Often you can find very unusual pieces in these bins, such as the stone panther statues, nightmare, and giant war-wagon skull I nabbed. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Minis by the pound
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 08:10 AM Pacific
Some minis companies, such as Iron Wind Metals, sell old minis, damaged minis, bulk minis, and bits by the pound. Often you can find very unusual pieces in these bins, such as the stone panther statues, nightmare, and giant war-wagon skull I nabbed.
... Sean Shows His Moves Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:34 PM PacificSean demonstrates his flying cardboard death attack. ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer ...
Sean Shows His Moves
Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:34 PM Pacific
Sean demonstrates his flying cardboard death attack.
... Reaper Foo Dog Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:12 PM PacificSaw this mini while browsing the Reaper booth and am so excited to paint it! Especially with Jade Regent and Tian Xia products being released! I'm imaging it with bright, primary colors and gold accents. ... Sara Marie ... Customer Carebear ...
Reaper Foo Dog
Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:12 PM Pacific
Saw this mini while browsing the Reaper booth and am so excited to paint it! Especially with Jade Regent and Tian Xia products being released! I'm imaging it with bright, primary colors and gold accents.
... Packing up! Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:11 PM PacificPallet getting loaded up to head back to Redmond. Amazing and quite impressive how quickly these guys work! ... Warehouse Specialist Will & Customer Service Manager Cosmo ... Sara Marie ... Customer Carebear ...
Packing up!
Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:11 PM Pacific
Pallet getting loaded up to head back to Redmond. Amazing and quite impressive how quickly these guys work!
Warehouse Specialist Will & Customer Service Manager Cosmo
... Down comes the Banner Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:11 PM PacificOne more job I'm happy to let someone else take care of! ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer ...
Down comes the Banner
Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 03:11 PM Pacific
One more job I'm happy to let someone else take care of!
... Pathfinders Queuing for Treasure Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 10:40 AM PacificLast chance to try their luck at opening the chest and winning great prizes, access to new races, and other exclusive Gen Con boons! ... Mark Moreland ... Developer ...
Pathfinders Queuing for Treasure
Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 10:40 AM Pacific
Last chance to try their luck at opening the chest and winning great prizes, access to new races, and other exclusive Gen Con boons!
Gen Con Day 1 Timelapse Sunday, August 7 2011Here's a neat little video shot by former Paizonian Phil Lacefield Jr. on Thursday morning at Gen Con. ... Using a cheap Canon Powershot A470 and the CHDK time-lapse hack, we captured the first couple of hours at the Paizo booth. Unfortunately, no one remembered to check if the batteries were actually good in the thing, so it ran out of juice after only two hours of taking a picture every ten seconds. Despite our electrical deficiencies, this is a...
Gen Con Day 1 Timelapse
Sunday, August 7 2011
Here's a neat little video shot by former Paizonian Phil Lacefield Jr. on Thursday morning at Gen Con.
Using a cheap Canon Powershot A470 and the CHDK time-lapse hack, we captured the first couple of hours at the Paizo booth. Unfortunately, no one remembered to check if the batteries were actually good in the thing, so it ran out of juice after only two hours of taking a picture every ten seconds. Despite our electrical deficiencies, this is a neat little glimpse into the chaos on the first day of Ultimate Combat sales! Look carefully for glimpses of blue-shirt Paizo staff, industry celebrity cameos, maybe even YOU!
... Heyyyyy, ocarina! Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:21 PM PacificSTLocarinas sells actual working ocarinas. This woman was demonstrating how to play them ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Heyyyyy, ocarina!
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:21 PM Pacific
STLocarinas sells actual working ocarinas. This woman was demonstrating how to play them
... Bracers of magic missile Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:20 PM PacificAradani.com sells stuff for costumes, as well as silly things like bracers embedded with d4s. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Bracers of magic missile
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:20 PM Pacific
Aradani.com sells stuff for costumes, as well as silly things like bracers embedded with d4s.
... Borderlands costumes! Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:20 PM PacificJodi Lane (my wife) and Kelly Marie (her sister) as Lilith and Moxxi from the Borderlands videogame--they're cel-shaded! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Borderlands costumes!
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:20 PM Pacific
Jodi Lane (my wife) and Kelly Marie (her sister) as Lilith and Moxxi from the Borderlands videogame--they're cel-shaded!
... Art playmats Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:28 PM PacificCcgstuff.com makes high-quality art prints on playmats for TCGs ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Art playmats
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:28 PM Pacific
Ccgstuff.com makes high-quality art prints on playmats for TCGs
... GF9 accessories Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:25 PM PacificGaleForce9 has many neat tokens and markers usable for RPGs, as well as flexible printed game mats/maps, and mini bases in bulk. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
GF9 accessories
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:25 PM Pacific
GaleForce9 has many neat tokens and markers usable for RPGs, as well as flexible printed game mats/maps, and mini bases in bulk.
... Leather tomes Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:16 PM PacificLeather books (or book covers?) and other leather accessories for the clever adventurer. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Leather tomes
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:16 PM Pacific
Leather books (or book covers?) and other leather accessories for the clever adventurer.
... Local restaurants getting the convention spirit! Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:14 PM PacificLoughmiller's Pub & Eatery's special Gen Con drink menu! ... Sara Marie ... Customer Carebear ...
Local restaurants getting the convention spirit!
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:14 PM Pacific
Loughmiller's Pub & Eatery's special Gen Con drink menu!
... Best part about my Gen Con... Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 03:22 PM Pacific... I'm on vacation so I get to have fun and watch everyone else work! ... Sara Marie ... Customer Carebear ...
Best part about my Gen Con...
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 03:22 PM Pacific
... I'm on vacation so I get to have fun and watch everyone else work!
... Pathfinder RPG Q&A Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 01:19 PM PacificIt's about to start here at Gen Con. If your here, make your way to the Marriott, Santa Fe seminar room at 4pm! Bring your questions. ... Jason Bulmahn ... Lead Designer ...
Pathfinder RPG Q&A
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 01:19 PM Pacific
It's about to start here at Gen Con. If your here, make your way to the Marriott, Santa Fe seminar room at 4pm! Bring your questions.
... New Greens for the littlest heroes: Mouslings! Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 12:25 PM PacificFollowing in the footsteps of the ENnie award-winning mousing heroes box set, new greens for more adorable mousing minis from Reaper! ... Sara Marie ... Customer Carebear ...
New Greens for the littlest heroes: Mouslings!
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 12:25 PM Pacific
Following in the footsteps of the ENnie award-winning mousing heroes box set, new greens for more adorable mousing minis from Reaper!
... Paladins! Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 10:46 AM PacificPaizo is under the watchful eye of two able and hearty paladins! ... James Jacobs ... Creative Director ...
Paladins!
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 10:46 AM Pacific
Paizo is under the watchful eye of two able and hearty paladins!
... Paizo's bringing the Phunc! Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 08:55 AM PacificCongrats to PFS player Chris Cook, whose PC, Phunc, was voted MVP at his table in last night's delve, and was randomly drawn from 51 MVPs for our grand prize of an all-expenses paid trip to next year's Gen Con! We're looking forward to seeing you again in 2012. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer ...
Paizo's bringing the Phunc!
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 08:55 AM Pacific
Congrats to PFS player Chris Cook, whose PC, Phunc, was voted MVP at his table in last night's delve, and was randomly drawn from 51 MVPs for our grand prize of an all-expenses paid trip to next year's Gen Con! We're looking forward to seeing you again in 2012.
... Blood Under Absalom Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:28 AM PacificLast night this mob of PFS players all amassed for the Gen Con special event, Blood Under Absalom. In the end we seated everyone who came to play in the sold out event, with 51 tables (out of 45 planned) and ran the event for nearly 325 players! ... Mark Moreland ... Developer ...
Blood Under Absalom
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:28 AM Pacific
Last night this mob of PFS players all amassed for the Gen Con special event, Blood Under Absalom. In the end we seated everyone who came to play in the sold out event, with 51 tables (out of 45 planned) and ran the event for nearly 325 players!
... Scott's Gen Con bachelor party Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:16 AM PacificThese guys abducted their friend Scott (front) and took him to Gen Con for his bachelor party. They made t-shirts and everything. Good job, guys, and congratulations, Scott! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Scott's Gen Con bachelor party
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 07:16 AM Pacific
These guys abducted their friend Scott (front) and took him to Gen Con for his bachelor party. They made t-shirts and everything. Good job, guys, and congratulations, Scott!
... The Dark Knight Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:02 AM PacificGen Con's defender.If only he had a katana, he would be invincible.... ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
The Dark Knight
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 06:02 AM Pacific
Gen Con's defender.If only he had a katana, he would be invincible....
... Monte and Ptolus books Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 05:59 AM PacificMonte shows off the new Ptolus campaign books, back in print for the first time, in a two-volume format. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Monte and Ptolus books
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 05:59 AM Pacific
Monte shows off the new Ptolus campaign books, back in print for the first time, in a two-volume format.
... Four Musketeers Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 05:43 AM PacificHoward Andrew Jones, Dave Gross, Wolfgang Baur, and Pierce Watters commandeer the authors area of the Paizo booth. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Four Musketeers
Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 05:43 AM Pacific
Howard Andrew Jones, Dave Gross, Wolfgang Baur, and Pierce Watters commandeer the authors area of the Paizo booth.
... Let the Fireworks Begin! Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 08:31 PM PacificA few minutes after finally checking in to the hotel, this was the view from our room. I'm pretty sure this display was to celebrate the bang-up job Paizo did at the ENnies. ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer ...
Let the Fireworks Begin!
Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 08:31 PM Pacific
A few minutes after finally checking in to the hotel, this was the view from our room. I'm pretty sure this display was to celebrate the bang-up job Paizo did at the ENnies.
... Product of the Year Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 07:05 PM PacificA few minutes after finally checking in to the hotel, this was the view from our room. I'm pretty sure this display was to celebrate the bang-up job Paizo did at the ENnies. ... Lisa Stevens ... CEO ...
Product of the Year
Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 07:05 PM Pacific
A few minutes after finally checking in to the hotel, this was the view from our room. I'm pretty sure this display was to celebrate the bang-up job Paizo did at the ENnies.
... Gen Con Facebook Roundup Friday, August 5, 2011In addition to the live blog coverage of Gen Con, our intrepid staff has been posting photos to the official Paizo Facebook page to the delight of fans everywhere (as well as those of us stuck back at the office!) ... We've rounded up some of their pictures from the show (so far) to show off for today's blog. ... Mark Moreland and the Pathfinder Society Venture-Captains dine at the aptly-named Pope Table.Dave Gross signs copies of the new...
Gen Con Facebook Roundup
Friday, August 5, 2011
In addition to the live blog coverage of Gen Con, our intrepid staff has been posting photos to the official Paizo Facebook page to the delight of fans everywhere (as well as those of us stuck back at the office!)
We've rounded up some of their pictures from the show (so far) to show off for today's blog.
Mark Moreland and the Pathfinder Society Venture-Captains dine at the aptly-named "Pope Table."
Of course, they haven't just been sharing snapshots from Gen Con, they've been showing off samples of Pathfinder Battles miniatures from WizKids:
Unpainted sample miniature for the Black Dragon promo miniature for Heroes and Monsters (for more information on Heroes and Monsters or future Pathfinder Battles releases, see our press release).
... Guest starring Liz Danforth Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 08:44 PM PacificLiz Danforth's very recognizeable art style defined the look of Tunnels & Trolls and the Grimtooth's Traps books. She was a pioneer female gamer in the 80s back when the industry and fanbase was almost exclusively male. She's also really nice, and signed my T&T book. Thanks, Liz! ... (check out her website at LizDanforth.com) ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
Guest starring Liz Danforth
Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 08:44 PM Pacific
Liz Danforth's very recognizeable art style defined the look of Tunnels & Trolls and the Grimtooth's Traps books. She was a pioneer female gamer in the 80s back when the industry and fanbase was almost exclusively male. She's also really nice, and signed my T&T book. Thanks, Liz!
... 10 AM Rush Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 07:26 PM PacificA sudden flood of gamers as the exhibit hall doors open at 10 a.m. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer ...
10 AM Rush
Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 07:26 PM Pacific
A sudden flood of gamers as the exhibit hall doors open at 10 a.m.
... That's a lot of Books! Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 03:10 PM PacificSarah Robinson took this picture of the booth. ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer ...
... The Booth is Packed! Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 02:59 PM PacificAs we draw to the end of the first day of Gen Con, I thought folks might want too see how swamped the booth has been all day. It's been crazy! ... Jason Bulmahn ... Lead Designer ...
The Booth is Packed!
Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 02:59 PM Pacific
As we draw to the end of the first day of Gen Con, I thought folks might want too see how swamped the booth has been all day. It's been crazy!
... Speaking of Packed! Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 02:58 PM PacificThis is the PFS room here at Gen Con. Packed, wall to wall gaming action! ... Jason Bulmahn ... Lead Designer ...
Speaking of Packed!
Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 02:58 PM Pacific
This is the PFS room here at Gen Con. Packed, wall to wall gaming action!
... Ezren, in the Flesh Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 02:01 PM PacificIf you were here, you could see up close and personal just how good this looks: the paint master of Ezren, from the Pathfinder Beginner Box Heroes Miniatures Set. (Photo by Jason Bulmahn.) ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer ...
Ezren, in the Flesh
Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 02:01 PM Pacific
If you were here, you could see up close and personal just how good this looks: the paint master of Ezren, from the Pathfinder Beginner Box Heroes Miniatures Set. (Photo by Jason Bulmahn.)
... Pathfinder's Chicken Wrap Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 07:58 PM PacificCheck out this special menu item at the High Velocity restaurant in the Marriottt across from Gen Con. Introducing the Pathfinder's Chicken Wrap. ... Jason Bulmahn ... Lead Designer ...
Pathfinder's Chicken Wrap
Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 07:58 PM Pacific
Check out this special menu item at the High Velocity restaurant in the Marriottt across from Gen Con. Introducing the Pathfinder's Chicken Wrap.
The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part XX: Gen Con Is Here!
... The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part XX: Gen Con Is Here! Monday, August 1, 2011This is it, folks! The 20th installment in the Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play blog series by yours truly. On this, the first of August, we're literally just hours from the kickoff of Pathfinder Society's fourth year, Season 3: The Year of the Ruby Phoenix! ... So what can Pathfinders expect from Gen Con this year? Well, for starters, we have an exclusive Chronicle that we'll give...
The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part XX: Gen Con Is Here!
Monday, August 1, 2011
This is it, folks! The 20th installment in the Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play blog series by yours truly. On this, the first of August, we're literally just hours from the kickoff of Pathfinder Society's fourth year, Season 3: The Year of the Ruby Phoenix!
So what can Pathfinders expect from Gen Con this year? Well, for starters, we have an exclusive Chronicle that we'll give to all players and volunteer GMs who play or run either a scenario or delve event in the Pathfinder Society room (rooms 231–234)—the largest such space we've ever had at Gen Con, I might add.
"From ashes of Shadow, the Ruby Phoenix rises."
Everyone who plays a session of either type of event will get a key (or a coin that can be turned in for multiple keys) to possibly open our HQ Treasure Chest. Inside is a chance to win a number of great prizes including Pathfinder Society branded memorabilia, signed copies of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game hardcovers, GameMastery map products, Pathfinder Tales novels, and 15 different Gen Con boons for use with your Pathfinder Society character!
"But, Mark," you're surely saying, "all the Pathfinder Society events at the show are sold out, or nearly so!" Well, yes. That's true. But we'll have up to 5 tables of hour-long delve events running through most of the day to give those who can't get into ticketed games a chance to play Pathfinder and possibly win some of the above-mentioned boons and prizes. So even if you didn't get a spot in one of the over 400 tables of Pathfinder Society going on at the show, stop by rooms 231–234 to get your Pathfinder on at your convenience!
And Paizo's presence isn't just in the organized play rooms, either. We'll have almost everyone in the company in the booth at one time or another, so stop by and see who you can chat up or have sign your new copy of Ultimate Combat. On Saturday at 3:00 we'll be having our annual Pathfinder costume party, so if you have an iconic getup or even a costume for your favorite personal Pathfinder character, stop by the booth then for group pictures and a chance to win some great prizes as the fans on paizo.com vote to choose their favorite costumed attendee.
I could write another three pages on all the great stuff we have in store for everyone at Gen Con, but as I leave in less than 24 hours for the fine city of Indianapolis, I'd better cut this short (sic) and get those last few little details ironed out before I pack up my travel toothbrush and prepare for my appointment with the TSA. See you all in Indianapolis!
... Gen Con Memories Friday, July 29, 2011I attended my first gaming convention in 1995. Home for a summer between college semesters and with my regular high-school D&D game done and buried thanks to all of the players attending school in different states, I was aching to throw some dice, kill some monsters, and take their stuff. So I headed over to the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota and entered a whole new world of public gaming. ... At Twin Con I played my first session of...
Gen Con Memories
Friday, July 29, 2011
I attended my first gaming convention in 1995. Home for a summer between college semesters and with my regular high-school D&D game done and buried thanks to all of the players attending school in different states, I was aching to throw some dice, kill some monsters, and take their stuff. So I headed over to the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota and entered a whole new world of public gaming.
At Twin Con I played my first session of Living City, the original shared-world RPG campaign, and met a lot of local gamers who shared my gaming interests. I won a contest for a unique dagger designed by a local artisan, with LC stats to boot, and played a ripping game of Circus Imperium ("Whip the beast! Whip the beast!"). Most importantly, I picked up a sign-up form for Gen Con, and within a week of Twin Con I was registered for the biggest and best American gaming convention of them all.
I'd long wanted to attend this gaming Mecca (then held, naturally, at Milwaukee's MECCA Convention Center) thanks to previews and coverage in Dragon Magazine and Polyhedron, the official newszine of the RPGA Network that brought me the Living City campaign I'd so enjoyed at Twin Con. I knew that all the big gaming companies timed their major releases for the show, and that it attracted tens of thousands of "alpha gamers" from all over the world to play all sorts of games, shop in the cavernous exhibit hall, and learn from game professionals in panels and seminars. But until 1995, I'd never managed to have the right combination of time, money, and transportation to make my dream of hitting Gen Con a reality.
Flush with exciting stories of my fun time at Twin Con, I managed to convince a small gaggle of my local gamer buddies to accompany me on the road trip to Milwaukee. I recruited these guys from my old high-school-era gaming circles, and while none of them were as rabid as I was about gaming, they agreed to come with me and help split the cost of the hotel room.
That first Gen Con was a marvel. Until you've been to the show you can't really imagine how impressive it is to see 30,000+ gamers take over the downtown core of a major city. You have no idea what it's like to stand in an enormous dealer room filled with just about every gaming company you can think of, with booths staffed by some of the same names you usually see on book covers. It was an amazing experience, and one I swore almost instantly to repeat on an annual basis.
That's me on the right, manning the original Paizo "booth" with Dungeon editor Chris Thomasson.
For whatever reason, though, my buddies were not quite so enthusiastic, and so when the time came to sign up for Gen Con 1996, I couldn't convince any of my old gaming friends to come with me. Slowly but surely, by attending several local Living City events, I was developing a new cadre of gaming buddies, but only a year after I first got involved with LC, none of those relationships had gelled to the point where I felt comfortable sharing a hotel room with those guys. So I did the unthinkable, and decided to head out to Gen Con all by myself.
Even though it was my second Gen Con, 1996 feels like my first when I think back on it, because I felt like such a fish out of water that year. Without the companionship of pals to take in the convention with me, I ended up setting my own schedule and doing the things that I wanted to do, exclusively. And around then that meant haunting the various TSR seminars (especially when they had to do with my beloved World of Greyhawk campaign setting), playing a ton of RPGA events, and scouring the dealer hall for out-of-print AD&D modules I'd somehow missed the first time around. It was enormously fun, but I went into it quite nervous. It's hard to feel lonely among 30,000 fellow gamers, but with no hotel roommates and no friends to share the experience, I was worried that I wouldn't have any fun at all. I felt more like an isolated newbie than I ever had that first year.
I needn't have worried. I was far, far too busy to ever feel lonely. Within the first day I'd met up with the local RPGA'ers, and the convention's relentless programming had me seated at game tables around the clock. A funny thing happened at those game tables. I started recognizing gamers from the previous year, and they started recognizing me. The next year, 1997, I split a room in the vaunted (and, let's face it, probably haunted) Hotel Wisconsin with 11 other RPGA fanatics, some from my native Minneapolis and some from all over the country. I began to travel with these new friends, hitting game days and cons in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and even Florida. Far from being alone, as I'd feared the previous year, I was developing a huge network of hard-core gaming buddies all over the country.
Here I am about two years later. I can't recall what year this was, but I'm certain it was the last time I did Gen Con in a T-shirt...
At Gen Cons between 1996 and 1998, my questions at various TSR seminars (along with, I must admit, a ton of critical commentary on the old TSR area on America Online) brought me to the attention of a few D&D contributors, who soon hired me on as a freelance continuity consultant for Greyhawk and Planescape projects. That work brought me to the attention of Wizards of the Coast's Lisa Stevens, who hired me for real in 1999 to join the RPGA staff as editor of Polyhedron and the head honcho of the network's Living Greyhawk campaign, which was to coincide with the launch of third edition Dungeons & Dragons in 2000.
Gen Con 1999, my fifth consecutive appearance, was the first time I attended the show as a gaming professional. The following year I launched Living Greyhawk and helped manage the RPGA's presence at the show, which dominated a massive arena complete with stadium seating and poorly lit subterranean passages. A lot of the volunteer coordinators of the Living Greyhawk campaign turned out to be guys I'd played RPGA games with those first couple of years, solidifying friendships with gamers who had been strangers only a few short years before.
By 2002, I'd been transferred from the RPGA to the periodicals division of Wizards of the Coast, which was spun off to form Paizo Publishing. This gave me a whole new Gen Con experience—helping to run a dealer hall booth for what amounted to a tiny, start-up company. "Booth" is probably too bold a word, as the first Paizo booth was really just a small table with a few posters taped to the wall of the D&D castle mega-booth.
Here I am the last year in Milwaukee with Eric Noah of EN World fame.
Since 2002, I've been one of the few constants of Paizo's presence at Gen Con. Most of the original Paizonians have moved on to other career opportunities, but I'm still around, standing behind a decidedly larger booth, with a decidedly larger set of responsibilities as publisher than I had as the lowly magazine section editor of 2002.
And here I am, about to head out for my 17th consecutive Gen Con, and my mood couldn't be further from the trepidation of 1996, when I attended the convention alone. Because with nearly 20 years of the convention behind me, I now understand that a gamer can never be truly alone at Gen Con. Each annual convention is a chance to reacquaint myself with old friends and make a ton of new ones. Where once I worried that not a single person there knew who I was, these days I can barely walk from my hotel to the Paizo booth in less than an hour, because I end up running into so many old friends.
If you've never been to Gen Con, or if this is your very first year to attend and you're a bit nervous about what's in store, take if from me. You needn't worry. Gen Con has a way of making gamers feel right at home, and once you've attended one time, you'll have so much fun that your biggest concern coming out of the show will be how you're going to manage to attend next year.
And when you do come back, swing by the Paizo booth and say hi. I'll be there, eager to meet you.
The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part XIX: Retuning the Rules
... The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part XIX: Retuning the Rules Monday, July 25, 2011We're just over a week away from Gen Con 2011 and the launch of Pathfinder Society Organized Play's fourth year, dubbed The Year of the Ruby Phoenix, and the entire editorial staff seems to be under the permanent effects of haste and insanity. While I'm burning the midnight oil from both ends (sorry 'bout the mixed metaphor, but it's accurate), I thought I'd make a short post to preview some...
The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part XIX: Retuning the Rules
Monday, July 25, 2011
We're just over a week away from Gen Con 2011 and the launch of Pathfinder Society Organized Play's fourth year, dubbed "The Year of the Ruby Phoenix", and the entire editorial staff seems to be under the permanent effects of haste and insanity. While I'm burning the midnight oil from both ends (sorry 'bout the mixed metaphor, but it's accurate), I thought I'd make a short post to preview some of the revisions to the campaign rules themselves, as will appear in the newest version of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, which we'll have out shortly.
For full details on these and other changes, you'll have to wait for the full rules, but here's a hint at some of what's in store. Note that none of these rules go into effect until August 4, 2011, when the revised Guide will actually become legal and valid.
The nearly out-of-print Seekers of Secrets will be removed from the Core Assumption, replaced with the brand-new Pathfinder Society Field Guide, releasing at Gen Con. This book includes new Prestige Awards unique to each of the 10 factions, new archetypes, spells, equipment, and a section on vanities, which are purchasable with Prestige Points and allow you to own a business or a manor house, have minions and servants to provide you bonuses, and grant you membership into exclusive clubs like thieves' guilds and hunting lodges.
Day Jobs are being simplified, and will now be a single Craft, Perform, or Profession check, with all relevant modifiers. Some vanities or Prestige Awards will allow you to use different skills for such checks, including the much requested Sleight of Hand.
Characters will be able to switch factions by paying Prestige Points to represent the fewer favors their new faction owes them. All PCs will receive one free faction change beginning on August 4 that must be used before the first session played in Season 3. If you don't play any Pathfinder Society during Season 3, you'll have to pay to change factions in Season 4.
New PCs will no longer be restricted from purchasing magic items at character creation. They will still be limited by having only 150 gp to spend on such items, and can't buy anything not on the Always Available list, but now you can start with a scroll or a potion if you've got the money for one!
Characters of new factions playing old scenarios will do a faction mission from one of the original five, earning prestige as if that mission had been tied to your faction all along. The pairings will be: Grand Lodge > Osirion; Lantern Lodge > Qadira; Sczarni > Taldor; Shadow Lodge > Cheliax; and Silver Crusade > Andoran.
Since Season 3 will feature only one faction mission per scenario, with a second Prestige Point tied to the completion of the overall scenario, Season 0 scenarios with 1 Prestige Point available can be run as written, while scenarios from Seasons 1 and 2 will treat one faction mission as the overall objective and the other as the faction specific objective to maintain the same 2 Prestige Points per scenario.
The Guide will also include rules for rebuilding elements of characters using open playtest rules, or when an errata or FAQ of an existing rule causes it to work significantly differently than before.
I guess that's about all I have time for at the moment, because I still have to get the guide polished off and ready to go, not to mention our four new scenarios and Gen Con special, Blood Under Absalom. (The art you're seeing here is a sample of what players in these new adventures have in store, by the way.) Oh, and revised pregens. Yeah, those are finally coming out, as well.
Next week, in the twentieth and final installment of the Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play blog series, I'll talk a little about some of the exciting gaming opportunities we have planned for Gen Con and reveal the heretofore unmentioned exclusive prizes players in Pathfinder Society and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game delve events will have a chance to win at the show!
Twenty-Eight Years of the Best Four Days in Gaming
... Twenty-Eight Years of the Best Four Days in Gaming Friday, July 8, 2011 ... Illustration by Clyde Caldwell ... Has it really been 28 years already? It seems like only yesterday that my friend Rich Rydberg and I were setting up our tent at a campground in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and excitedly talking about our first Gen Con. The year was 1984, and Rich was in my AD&D group at St. Olaf College, in Northfield, Minnesota. For the previous three years, we had seen all the coverage on Gen Con in...
Twenty-Eight Years of the Best Four Days in Gaming
Friday, July 8, 2011
Illustration by Clyde Caldwell
Has it really been 28 years already? It seems like only yesterday that my friend Rich Rydberg and I were setting up our tent at a campground in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and excitedly talking about our first Gen Con. The year was 1984, and Rich was in my AD&D group at St. Olaf College, in Northfield, Minnesota. For the previous three years, we had seen all the coverage on Gen Con in Dragon magazine and dreamed about going to the king of all conventions, but it took until 1984 for all the stars to align.
The convention wasn't very big back in those days. The Parkside gymnasium where the dealer hall was located was hot as heck. But you could see all the luminaries of gaming easily. I ran into Gary Gygax the first day I was at the con! I even got Clyde Caldwell to draw a picture of my first D&D character, and it sits on my wall here at work. The biggest discovery for Rich and me was the RPGA. Since this was our first convention, we had registered for a bunch of random AD&D games, and boy were some of them bad. We hadn't realized how good our home game was compared to some of the games we played in at the con. RPGA changed all that with great adventures run by some of the best DMs in the business!
The RPGA became the center of my Gen Con world for the next four years as the convention moved to the MECCA convention center in Milwaukee. I literally played RPGA events from early morning on Thursday until the last slot on Sunday. Frank Mentzer ran me through The Temple of Elemental Evil. I got to play in the first Oriental Adventures tournament. And slowly, I rose to the top, becoming one of the first Grand Masters and eventually Paragon players.
Now, RPGA tournaments were a lot different back then. This was before Living City, so all the tournaments were either skill challenges like the AD&D Open, or they were roleplaying-based tournaments, where you were given a random character and you had to roleplay it on the spot, and at the end of the tournament, your fellow players graded all the players at the table, with the one with the highest total winning that table!
Of course, it wasn't all RPGA. One convention, I got to play in the first public game using the AD&D Battlesystem, and Rich and my opponents were none other than Ed Greenwood of Forgotten Realms fame, and Mike Nystul, whose character created Nystul's magic aura among other things.
My RPGA years came to an abrupt end when I started my first gaming company, Lion Rampant. In 1987, we released Whimsy Cards and the highlight of my show was selling a pack to Dave Arneson. The next year, we came out with Ars Magica and it won Best Game of the Year in the RPGA Gamer's Choice Awards. I'll never forget Rich yelling at me from across the dealer hall as he raced from the RPGA breakfast banquet carrying our trophy.
The First Wizards of the Coast Booth
The years went by and Gen Con became a business convention for me. As I entered the business side, I got to meet all of the luminaries of the industry and talk with them as peers. Gen Con was very social, with deals being talked about at the Safe House late at night. I went from Lion Rampant to White Wolf to Wizards of the Coast in the span of five years. Check out the crazy picture of me at the first Wizards of the Coast booth. We shared the booth with a small little internet start-up, America Online. Back then, it was all Talislanta and The Primal Order, but Magic: The Gathering would become the shot heard around the world in 1993.
Magic almost didn't make it to Gen Con in '93. The shipment got delayed in customs and I literally had to have it put on an airplane so that it arrived Saturday morning at the convention. Word had spread of the game and we literally sold it as fast as we could take money and write receipts. The next year, we had lines that wrapped around the convention hall, with people standing in line for many hours to get limited quantities of Arabian Nights, Legends, Antiquities, and The Dark.
One cool Gen Con moment happened one year when the staff of TSR and the rest of the industry agreed to a huge Nerf gun fight in the TSR Castle before the hall opened up for business. All the other companies ganged up on the TSR folks and a ton of fun was had by all as we all blasted each other with Nerf until we laughed ourselves silly. Imagine over 100 of the industry's finest running around screaming like kids. It was magical.
My next favorite Gen Con memory was when I worked the TSR Castle as a member of the TSR staff in 1997 after Wizards of the Coast bought the company. I was one of a handful of WotC employees who stayed in Lake Geneva that summer and became part of the D&D brand team when the staff transitioned to Seattle later that year. But for the summer of 1997, I worked at TSR and tradition was that the TSR staff all worked hard at Gen Con each year. Wearing my TSR shirt and talking fans off the ledge (everyone was worried about what was going to happen to D&D now that WotC had bought it) in the TSR Castle are moments I will always cherish!
At Gen Con 1999, I was part of the team that announced the impending release of the third edition of D&D the next year. We had this huge auditorium where we trotted out guest after guest from Gygax and Arneson to Cook and Adkison. Seeing the excitement as we let a lot of the cats out of the bag was really cool. And then everyone got one of my favorite t-shirts, the one where it had a list of things people didn't like about previous editions that were getting fixed in third.
The release of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook at Gen Con 2009.
2002 was my first Gen Con as an owner of Paizo. We had a small table in the WotC booth, where we sold subscriptions to Dragon, Dungeon, and Star Wars Insider. 2003 had us schlepping Silver Boba Fetts. 2004 was the year of the Undefeated cheerleaders. 2005 saw the mountain of Shackled City hardcovers. 2006 saw the release of our GameMastery line of system independent products.
Another great moment was 2007, the year we launched the Pathfinder Adventure Path line. Knowing that Dragon and Dungeon were going away, but that we had this awesome line of adventure product that included some of the best folks in the industry, was satisfying. 2008 saw the release of the Pathfinder RPG Beta. All of us were floored when we sold out of the print version of our Beta playtest. I thought we would be burning the unsold copies. Now it is a collector's item!
Of course, the year 2009 saw the release of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. The buzz had been amazing building up to this release, but we weren't prepared for the rush of people trying to be the first to buy the book. The Paizo staff ran around like shepherds, trying to tame a semblance of order into 500+ people descending on the booth at the same time. By the time the line went around the booth and into the art show area, I knew something had to happen. So Erik and I grabbed a bag and offered to let people give us $60, get their book, and get out of the line. Many people took us up on that offer.
Now 2011 Gen Con is just a few weeks away. I wonder what stories will be crafted from the Best Four Days in Gaming this year?
The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part VII: Introducing the Year of the Ruby Phoenix
... The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part VII: Introducing the Year of the Ruby Phoenix Monday, May 2, 2011In August 2010, Pathfinder Society Organized Play entered the Year of the Shadow Lodge, and the ongoing conflict with this separatist splinter group within the Pathfinder Society has been a consistent plot element in many of the season's scenarios. We've seen prominent members of the Society and at least one faction betray the Decemvirate, and the Shadow Lodge conflict...
The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part VII: Introducing the Year of the Ruby Phoenix
Monday, May 2, 2011
In August 2010, Pathfinder Society Organized Play entered the Year of the Shadow Lodge, and the ongoing conflict with this separatist splinter group within the Pathfinder Society has been a consistent plot element in many of the season's scenarios. We've seen prominent members of the Society and at least one faction betray the Decemvirate, and the Shadow Lodge conflict only gets more twisted as we wrap up to the dramatic conclusion at PaizoCon.
In August, with the launch of Season 3, Pathfinders the world over will embark on the most exciting Pathfinder Society adventure yet, a metaplot arc we've named the Year of the Ruby Phoenix.
In the Year of the Ruby Phoenix, the Pathfinder Society (as well as various other factions both allied with and opposed to the Society) set their sights on the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, a world-renowned fighting competition that occurs only once a decade in distant Tian Xia, and more specifically on the incredible collection of prizes available to the tournament's victor. In order to cement the Society's victory, Pathfinder agents will be sent throughout the Inner Sea and beyond to collect allies, uncover obscure lore, and retrieve magical weapons to augment their representatives in the tournament.
The search for the perfect "ringer" will culminate in the tournament itself, which will be released as an as-yet-unannounced Pathfinder Module: The Ruby Phoenix Tournament, which will continue the pattern of being sanctioned for Pathfinder Society play. After the PCs' inevitable victory, the treasure chosen by the Decemvirate as the prize awarded to them by their representatives' win will propel the adventure into unexplored territory for the remainder of the season!
The Year of the Ruby Phoenix kicks off at Gen Con with four all-new scenarios! RPG Superstar 2010 finalist Jim Groves brings us The Frostfur Captives for levels 1–5. RPG Superstar contestants Dennis Baker and Benjamin Bruck have authored the Tier 3–7 scenario Sewer Dragons of Absalom and the Tier 7–11 scenario The Kortos Envoy, respectively. And the master of the dungeon crawl, Mike Shel, rounds out the quartet with his Tier 5–9 romp, The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet.
As if that weren't enough, Pathfinders attending Gen Con (and special conventions thereafter) will have the chance to qualify the Pathfinder Society for the Ruby Phoenix Tournament in the underground pit fights of Pathfinder Society Special: Blood Under Absalom by veteran special designer Tim Hitchcock.
As if being the first to play these incredible adventures weren't enough, for the first time ever, we'll have opportunities for Pathfinder Society players and GMs to play a role in establishing Pathfinder Society canon, win special unique prizes from the Paizo store, and even a giant grand prize that we'll be announcing in the coming weeks. The call for volunteer GMs has gone out and registration for events through Gen Con are just around the corner! Don't miss your chance to be among the first to take part in the Year of the Ruby Phoenix.
Next week we'll take a look at the Osirion faction and what might be in store for those Pathfinders loyal to the Ruby Prince and the Sapphire Sage, Amenopheus!
... Official Call for Gen Con 2011 Volunteers! Friday, April 29, 2011 For Gen Con 2011, I need a minimum of 75 volunteer GMs and I'll keep taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled! I also need 2 Volunteer Assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead help Liz Courts run Pathfinder Society HQ and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2011. Keep in mind that you're...
Official Call for Gen Con 2011 Volunteers!
Friday, April 29, 2011
For Gen Con 2011, I need a minimum of 75 volunteer GMs and I'll keep taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled! I also need 2 Volunteer Assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead help Liz Courts run Pathfinder Society HQ and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2011. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for a slot, not a specific event. I'll assign people to events inside the slot they've volunteered for and I won't take requests.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Volunteer Assistant: 2 needed, treated as a Tier 1 GM
Tier 1 GM Volunteers Tier 1 GM volunteers are my workhorses, everyday GMs. They are invaluable to making the show a success! Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 32 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you'll be able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2011 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in a Downtown Indianapolis hotel
A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2011 T-Shirt
Tier 2 GM Volunteers: While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 2. Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 2 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2011 badge
A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2011 T-Shirt
Tier 3 GM Volunteers: This is the minimum volunteer level. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 2 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including subscriptions.
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2011 T-Shirt
Volunteering for One Slot
While we will gladly accept anyone who wants to run just one slot during the show, there are no rewards for doing so other than our thanks.
When Volunteering...
Please be specific about what slot you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to scenarios on an as-needed basis, so you really only need to tell me the slot(s) you're volunteering for (since I won't take requests). I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help. Lastly, you must have a gencon.com account and you must include your gencon.com account # in your email or I won't be able to get you a badge (obviously this is only for volunteers who are volunteering for 4 or more slots).
Slot 1: Thursday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 2: Thursday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 3: Thursday 7 P.M. to Midnight
Slot 4: Friday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 5: Friday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 6: Friday 7 P.M. to Midnight (PFS Special: Blood Under Absalom)
Slot 7: Saturday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 8: Saturday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 9: Saturday 7 P.M. to Midnight
Slot 10: Sunday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
All Gen Con 2010 volunteers please email me at hyrum.savage@paizo.com with the subject line Gen Con Volunteer.
Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell everyone in your game group! We need volunteers!
Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great summer convention season!
... Costume Contest Results Thursday, August 19, 2010 Let me start this off by saying that our fans and friends are freakin' amazing. Seriously, folks—when Tiffany started this whole costume contest thing two years ago by showing up at the Gen Con booth dressed as a cleric of Desna, we were flat-out flabbergasted. The fact that Pathfinder cosplay has grown by leaps and bounds since then—enough to justify a full-fledged costume contest—is one of the greatest compliments our...
Costume Contest Results
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Let me start this off by saying that our fans and friends are freakin' amazing. Seriously, folks—when Tiffany started this whole costume contest thing two years ago by showing up at the Gen Con booth dressed as a cleric of Desna, we were flat-out flabbergasted. The fact that Pathfinder cosplay has grown by leaps and bounds since then—enough to justify a full-fledged costume contest—is one of the greatest compliments our game could receive. If you've never seen what goes on in our hotel rooms after a long day of working the Gen Con booth (and I sincerely hope you haven't, as we were told those door locks were secure), there's a whole lot of summer-camp-style giggling that goes on late into the night as we marvel at all the folks we've met that day. The costume contest only compounds that.
This year we had a number of strong contenders. In fourth place, Kelly's amazing Harsk outfit (complete with badger and authentic handmade crossbow!) tied with Blake's fabulous depiction of Nethys, the two-faced god of magic. In third, Tiffany's Harrower costume was a spot-on recreation of the art from the campaign setting hardcover, while Jason's potion-covered homage to the iconic alchemist exploded into second place.
Yet there can be only one winner of the Third Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest, and this year the landslide victory went to Lora as the iconic witch. The level of detail on this costume was simply stunning. As art director Sarah Robinson pointed out, given the number of illustrators who complain about having to draw all the little pouches, fetishes, and other bits and pieces Wayne Reynolds likes to load up the iconics with, seeing someone actually make them to this level of detail is amazing. For her dedication, Lora receives the grand prize of $50 in Paizo store credit, as well as bragging rights until next year, when she'll have to defend her title.
When the time comes, will you be the one to take it from her?
... Illustration by Tyler Walpole ... Paizo Fight Song Tuesday, August 17, 2010If you know anything about me (and I'm not saying you should), you probably know that I'm Paizo's fiction editor as well as one of the developers. What you may not know is that, in addition to working on the campaign setting and making sure authors like Dave Gross are fed and walked regularly, I'm also a musician involved in various extracurricular bands and projects. Usually that doesn't affect my job at Paizo...
Illustration by Tyler Walpole
Paizo Fight Song
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
If you know anything about me (and I'm not saying you should), you probably know that I'm Paizo's fiction editor as well as one of the developers. What you may not know is that, in addition to working on the campaign setting and making sure authors like Dave Gross are fed and walked regularly, I'm also a musician involved in variousextracurricular bands and projects. Usually that doesn't affect my job at Paizo much, save for that one time when Jacobs and I, in the first and only performance of Operation Banjo Thug, ambushed Wes with some impromptu talkin' blues. (An experience from which he's never entirely recovered and which, without witnesses, he can't verify as having actually happened.)
A while back, however, Jacobs and I were sitting around after work talking about what a Paizo theme song would sound like. We decided that it would really need to have two distinct elements: a big industrial section like Nine Inch Nails' "Just Like You Imagined" (300 had just come out), and a classic, Conan-style orchestral piece. And of course, no soundtrack would be complete without an homage to The Omen's big choral theme, which we in the office will forever refer to as "Sawhorse Middle School," for reasons I won't go into here.
The idea never quite left my head, and a few months ago I sat down on a Saturday and decided to do something about it. The resulting track was received with much hilarity at the office—which was really what I was going for—and people ended up liking it so much that they voted to use it as the theme song for Paizo at the ENnies this year.
While it's hard not to be proud of the awards we won—Best Publisher? Best Game? It literally does not get better than that—in my secret heart, my favorite part of Gen Con this year was hearing the fight song blasted over the PA every time someone from Paizo went up to accept an award.
Now that we're home, it occurs to me: why stop there? Hopefully some of you reading this blog would be equally amused by the track. As such, I give you my attempt at a Paizo fight song, "Pathfinder Est Domine."
Gen Con 2010 Promotional Paizo Mini from Reaper Miniatures
... Gen Con 2010 Promotional Paizo Mini from Reaper Miniatures Monday, August 16, 2010Not only did Reaper Miniatures bring miniatures of the six new Advanced Player's Guide iconics to Gen Con, they brought a promotional mini of half-elven venture-captain Varian Jegarre—a Pathfinder of Egorian and protagonist of Dave Gross's Pathfinder Tales novel Prince of Wolves—which con guests got for free if they spent $50 at the Paizo booth. If you couldn't get one at Gen Con, though, don't...
Gen Con 2010 Promotional Paizo Mini from Reaper Miniatures
Monday, August 16, 2010
Not only did Reaper Miniatures bring miniatures of the six new Advanced Player's Guide iconics to Gen Con, they brought a promotional mini of half-elven venture-captain Varian Jegarre—a Pathfinder of Egorian and protagonist of Dave Gross's Pathfinder Tales novel Prince of Wolves—which con guests got for free if they spent $50 at the Paizo booth. If you couldn't get one at Gen Con, though, don't worry—we'll have some for sale here at paizo.com in the near future.
One really nice thing about this mini (above and beyond the nice sculpt and detailed face) is it's a one-piece mini, which makes it nice for people new to painting minis—there's no assembly required!
Painted miniature by Meg Maples
Sean K Reynolds
Developer and Miniatures Aficionado
Vote on the Costume Contest! Thursday, August 12, 2010We’re back from Gen Con, and in addition to the usual scramble to meet deadlines and recovery from horrifying illnesses contracted by shaking hands with approximately ten bajillion people, that means it’s time for everyone to vote on the contestants in the Third Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! ... We had an extraordinary number of contestants this year, and all of them did bang-up jobs! Yet only one can be the official winner of...
Vote on the Costume Contest!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
We’re back from Gen Con, and in addition to the usual scramble to meet deadlines and recovery from horrifying illnesses contracted by shaking hands with approximately ten bajillion people, that means it’s time for everyone to vote on the contestants in the Third Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest!
We had an extraordinary number of contestants this year, and all of them did bang-up jobs! Yet only one can be the official winner of the grand prize (both a pile of Paizo store credit and bragging rights), which is where you come in. At the bottom of this blog, you’ll see a link for comments. Sound off and place your vote for the best costume in that thread. You have until the end of the weekend to make your selection. On Monday morning, we’ll tally all the votes, and announce the official winner in a blog post next week.
Ready? Here are this year’s fine contestants, in no particular order:
Lora as Feiya, the iconic witch.
Jason as Damiel, the iconic alchemist.
2009 contest champion Kelly as Harsk, the iconic ranger. (Maybe he’s a little tall for a dwarf, but how can you say no to a hand-made crossbow and his adorable animal companion, Biter?)
Blake as Nethys.
David as a paladin of Iomedae.
Corienne as a Tien monk.
2008 contest champion Tiffany as the Harrower from the campaign setting hardcover. (You can’t see her wayfinder here, but it came with its own ioun stone!)
Noel as Trifaccia from Pathfinder Adventure Path #12. Look out, he's got a whip!
Honorable Mention: Jodi as Amiri, the iconic barbarian, who despite her amazing costume has removed herself from the running, on account of already being Sean Reynolds' girlfriend (and isn't that prize enough?).
... End of Show Dinner Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 05:38 PM PacificA very tired, very hungry, but ultimately satisfied and successful bunch sit down for a lovely after-show dinner. ... Thanks to everyone who visited our booth, came to our seminars, gamed in our Pathfinder Society room, stopped us in the halls to thank us, or voted for us in the ENnies. You made this yet another great Gen Con. See you next year! ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
End of Show Dinner
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 05:38 PM Pacific
A very tired, very hungry, but ultimately satisfied and successful bunch sit down for a lovely after-show dinner.
Thanks to everyone who visited our booth, came to our seminars, gamed in our Pathfinder Society room, stopped us in the halls to thank us, or voted for us in the ENnies. You made this yet another great Gen Con. See you next year!
... The Arsenal Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 11:35 AM PacificWith Society games at an end, I popped over to The Arsenal, a Society store in Indianapolis that serves as a game store, gaming area, and cafe. They have some cool themed gaming rules in the basement, a lot of Pathfinder Society games each week, and they can bring you food right to your table while you do it. All-in-all, a fun visit. ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
The Arsenal
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 11:35 AM Pacific
With Society games at an end, I popped over to The Arsenal, a Society store in Indianapolis that serves as a game store, gaming area, and cafe. They have some cool themed gaming rules in the basement, a lot of Pathfinder Society games each week, and they can bring you food right to your table while you do it. All-in-all, a fun visit.
... And done! Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 10:52 AM PacificPathfinder Society doors close on the best Gen Con for the Society ever. ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
And done!
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 10:52 AM Pacific
Pathfinder Society doors close on the best Gen Con for the Society ever.
... Still Crazy After All This Con Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 09:35 AM PacificThe Paizo booth is still rocking on Sunday here as the final APGs leave the booth. It has been a great Gen Con. ... Lisa Stevens ... CEO ...
Still Crazy After All This Con
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 09:35 AM Pacific
The Paizo booth is still rocking on Sunday here as the final APGs leave the booth. It has been a great Gen Con.
... Invasion of the Vecnians Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 09:31 AM PacificScott and Scott invade Paizoland. We've converted our adventures to Pathfinder. Judy Bauer stars as the Paizonian. ... Pierce Watters ... Sales Director ...
Invasion of the Vecnians
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 09:31 AM Pacific
Scott and Scott invade Paizoland. "We've converted our adventures to Pathfinder." Judy Bauer stars as the Paizonian.
... Sunday at the Paizo booth Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 08:32 AM PacificLisa Stevens and James Jacobs at Gen Con in Paizoland ... Pierce Watters ... Sales Director ...
Sunday at the Paizo booth
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 08:32 AM Pacific
Lisa Stevens and James Jacobs at Gen Con in Paizoland
... Azmyth at Gen Con Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 08:18 AM PacificHey all you Paizo posters, Azmyth, super GM has just completed his eight slot tour of duty. ... Pierce Watters ... Sales Director ...
Azmyth at Gen Con
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 08:18 AM Pacific
Hey all you Paizo posters, Azmyth, super GM has just completed his eight slot tour of duty.
Finale Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 03:58 AM PacificAll good things must end. And so begins the final day of Gen Con. ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
Finale
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 03:58 AM Pacific
All good things must end. And so begins the final day of Gen Con.
... Famous author and two icons Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 03:30 PM PacificDave Gross of Prince of Wolves fame with Amiri and Feiya. ... Pierce Watters ... Sales Director ...
Famous author and two icons
Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 03:30 PM Pacific
Dave Gross of Prince of Wolves fame with Amiri and Feiya.
... Contract signing Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 01:02 PM PacificAuthor Dave Gross and editor James L. Sutter sign a contract for the first Tian Xia Pathfinder Tales novel. ... Pierce Watters ... Sales Director ...
Contract signing
Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 01:02 PM Pacific
Author Dave Gross and editor James L. Sutter sign a contract for the first Tian Xia Pathfinder Tales novel.
... Fan's Choice for Best Publisher Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 07:18 PM PacificGold for Paizo! Thanks everyone! Our community is the best! ... Lisa Stevens ... CEO ...
Fan's Choice for Best Publisher
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 07:18 PM Pacific
Gold for Paizo! Thanks everyone! Our community is the best!
... Best Monster/adversary Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 06:48 PM PacificSilver: Classic Horrors Revisited ... Gold: Pathfinder RPG Bestiary ... Lisa Stevens ... CEO ...
... Shipyard Silver Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 06:28 PM PacificAccepted on behalf of the GMs, coordinators, and the players of Pathfinder Society. Thanks to all of you! ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
Shipyard Silver
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 06:28 PM Pacific
Accepted on behalf of the GMs, coordinators, and the players of Pathfinder Society. Thanks to all of you!
... Best Electronic Book Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 06:05 PM PacificSilver for Pathfinder Society Scenario 29! ... Gold to 0one Games Great City Player's Guide! Go Werecabbages! ... Lisa Stevens ... CEO ...
Best Writing Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 05:57 PM PacificEclipse Phase takes gold, speech thanks Pathfinder for not being nominated. ... Lisa Stevens ... CEO ...
Best Writing
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 05:57 PM Pacific
Eclipse Phase takes gold, speech thanks Pathfinder "for not being nominated."
... Year of the Shadow Lodge Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 04:38 PM PacificTim Hitchcock starts the Pathfinder Society special event. ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
Year of the Shadow Lodge
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 04:38 PM Pacific
Tim Hitchcock starts the Pathfinder Society special event.
... SKR gets fresh! Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 04:14 PM PacificWow! Sean sure does love his fans! Poor guy didn't know what hit him. ... Chris Self ... Sales Manager ...
SKR gets fresh!
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 04:14 PM Pacific
Wow! Sean sure does love his fans! Poor guy didn't know what hit him.
... Snicker snack! Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 03:24 PM PacificOMG! Reaper is showing off the jabberwocky mini taken from the Bestiary 2 cover. Wow! ... Lisa Stevens ... CEO ...
Snicker snack!
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 03:24 PM Pacific
OMG! Reaper is showing off the jabberwocky mini taken from the Bestiary 2 cover. Wow!
... The (In)famous 5-star GM Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 07:57 AM PacificDoug Doug working hard to keep his solid reputation intact. ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
The (In)famous 5-star GM
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 07:57 AM Pacific
Doug Doug working hard to keep his solid reputation intact.
... Snake Spotting Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 07:11 AM PacificIt was my understanding Snake was supposed to hide UNDER the box. ... Joshua J. Frost ... Events Manager ...
Snake Spotting
Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 07:11 AM Pacific
It was my understanding Snake was supposed to hide UNDER the box.
