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.
• Demos of the new Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.
• 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!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Ransom on the High Seas

Monday, May 13, 2013

Illustration by Craig J Spearing

The sunny skies that Paizo has experienced over the past week have provided a great opportunity to get outside and enjoy the weather. Apparently we weren't the only ones thinking that, and true to form, the pirates of the Shackles paid a visit, boarded the vessel carrying our latest shipment of Chronicle sheets, and spent the weekend roistering just beyond our reach. As I have learned in my move from a relatively landlocked area to the Pacific northwest, such is the price we must pay for good seafood.

Once the pirates realized just what a prize they now hold—I hear the boons are the stuff of legend—they offered to ransom the Chronicle sheets back for the paper's weight in gold! Villains! What I propose is more devious and hopefully far more to the liking of the swashbuckling sorts that frequent the Pathfinder Society. We shall build up our strength and launch a daring raid to take back what is rightfully ours.

So hone your blades and sharpen your wits as you do battle with the foes in Season 4 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. If we see in our reports that you have soundly beaten all that Varisia can throw at you, then we shall launch that raid, share the spoils, and tell stories about it for years to come. If not... I know that the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path promises adventure on the high seas, but I cannot imagine our Chronicle sheets would survive walking the plank.

Rules for sanctioning the Skull and Shackles Adventure Path for Pathfinder Society Organized Play are ready to launch, but we await your reporting of Season 4 scenarios. Play and report as much as you can. The more activity we see, the sooner you shall see rules for new Adventure Paths. Comment in character here, and so long as I see that you have participated in at least one Season 4 scenario since, you may be one of the characters called out in a later blog's narrative should we perform the raid.

John Compton
Developer

New Pathfinder Society Rewards for Reading Pathfinder Tales!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Fans of Paizo's Pathfinder Tales line of fiction set in the Pathfinder campaign setting have likely noticed that it's been a few months since we released a Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet for the novels released as part of this line. For those who have been holding their breath to get an in-character benefit for reading Liar's Blade or Pirate's Honor, the wait is finally over! With the release of today's Chronicle sheet, we're changing up the way Pathfinder Tales boons work.

Illustrations by Eric Belisle

This Chronicle sheet is actually a Chronicle sheet for four different Pathfinder Tales titles: Liar's Blade, Pirate's Honor, The Wizard's Mask, and King of Chaos. Now, back when we began sanctioning Pathfinder Tales novels for Pathfinder Society credit during Season 2, a player received a Chronicle sheet for each Pathfinder Tales book he brought to a Pathfinder Society game, which was subsequently signed by a GM and applied to one of the player's PCs. Now, a player needs print this Chronicle sheet only once, and bring it to a sanctioned Pathfinder Society event along with a printed or digital copy of one or more of the four novels included on the sheet (digital copies must be legally obtained and possess a watermark indicating such). The GM should initial the Chronicle sheet for the associated books, indicating that the player has access to the book, and hopefully that she has read it.

Any time thereafter, the player may use the initialed boon for any of her PCs. Once used, the box to the left of the boon should be checked to indicate such.

A player who collects GM initials for all four books on a given Chronicle sheet can select one of the four boons to become a permanent bonus for one of her PCs. At this time, only that PC can use the boon, though any unused one-time boons still on the sheet can still be used by other PCs.

You may note that this Chronicle sheet is called "Pathfinder Tales, Volume IV." That's because it contains the boons for the fourth distinct set of four Pathfinder Tales novels. In the coming months, we'll be replacing the existing Chronicle sheets for the entire Pathfinder Tales line to utilize this format, and anyone who's already received initialed versions of the Chronicle sheets for Queen of Thorns, The Worldwound Gambit, and Death's Heretic (all 12 of them, in fact), can get an initial in the associated box on the compiled Chronicle sheet.

As if that weren't enough, we also plan to tie in at least one scenario per season to each novel released during that season. It's too late in the process to do so for these four books, but starting with Stalking the Beast in October, we'll have a scenario set in the same region as every new Pathfinder Tales novel, or otherwise thematically linked to them if not set in the same geographical area. This will allow us to tailor the boons on the Chronicle sheets to directly apply to a situation one of the reader's PCs may be in around the time they're reading the book.

So download the Pathfinder Tales Chronicle sheet below and grab your copy of Liar's Blade or Pirate's Honor. In the coming months, you'll be able to "fill your BINGO card" with the release of The Wizard's Mask and King of Chaos. It's never too late to sign up for a Pathfinder Tales subscription so you never miss a volume of the exciting fiction line!

Let us know what you think of the new format for these tie-in Chronicle sheets and the prospect of directly-linked Pathfinder Society scenarios down the road. We're always looking for community feedback and for new ways to improve the campaign.

Download the Pathfinder Tales, Volume IV Chronicle sheet!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Society in Portugal

Monday, January 14, 2013

We move from our last international blog in Ireland to a relatively new PFS lodge in Portugal. It was one of the countries that was not currently in the PFS fold and that I had targeted last year, especially after it was announced Paizo was looking to have Pathfinder Roleplaying Game published in Portuguese. I was extrememly lucky to find the awesome and talented Raul Moura da Silva that wanted to expose Portugal to Pathfinder Society and was motivated to spread it across the entire country.

Without further delay, I present to you Raul’s report on Pathfinder Society in Portugal.

Hello! I'm Raul da Silva, and I am the Venture-Captain for Portugal. I currently live in Porto. Helping me in the task of taking PFS to all corners of our country, I have two Venture-Lieutenants, Bruno Tamames in Porto, and Bruno Sequeira in Lisboa, along with a dedicated crew of nine GMs divided between both cities. We are a constantly growing group of gamers and are full of dedication.

First, I want to send a word of thanks must be given to those few, but helpful stores that help us make our community grow and thrive. These include Mundo Fantasma Porto, Kult Games Lisboa, Diver Coimbra, and our "unofficial sponsor" and regular venue, Tropical Burger Crystal Park Porto.

Next, I want to offer a few words for those of you who don't know about Portugal. Portuguese sailors were, the first true real Pathfinders of our World, at least exploration wise. They set sail for unknown lands and bravely charted the way for all that came after them in the 15th Century. The great Portuguese poet (and possibly Pathfinder Agent), Luis Vaz de Camões, wrote, "They made maps and revolutionized the way everyone sailed, and despite some errors in how they dealt with natives, brought almost all the continents together." Unfortunately, that proud and visionary past was lost through the ages, and despite still being one of the most friendly countries in the world, with wonderful people, food,weather and landscapes, is currently facing a serious financial crisis. This crisis, is also a big problem for the expansion of Pathfinder RPG in our country, both for hobby stores who are closing and/or afraid to invest in anything but card games, as well as players who lack the money to buy material.

Nevertheless, we at Portugal PFS are fighting against this!

The profile of the gaming community in Portugal, a country with a high level of education among the younger generations, the English language is almost a second natural language, with most of us speaking it or at least understanding it easily . This helps a lot when we are talking about RPG games in general, and Pathfinder in particular. Despite not having a lot of stores that sell RPG and boardgame materials, there are a few stores we are able to order from, and it's relatively cheap and fast to order online from outside of Portugal.

Traditionally there is a strong presence in our country of boardgaming players (mainly European style games), who organize big conventions across the country, and it's from this big community that most of our players comes from. We do have others joining us because due to their computer RPG games experience and knowledge. Fortunately, there is a growing and prolific RPG community across the country, playing mostly home games, but is very well informed and plays all kinds of RPG games, including Pathfinder.

The story behind Pathfinder Lodge Portugal all started with four players coming together in the summer of 2009 in Porto and deciding to organize a RPG gaming group to play regularly every week. We began at a local gaming store and then moved to the local "cultural gaming store", Tropical Burger. Thanks to their wise managers, it became the place where all the gaming groups in the city—boardgamers, wargamers, roleplayers and card gamers—gather almost every day of the week, at every hour of the day (the store is opened 23 hours a day, 7 days a week). I was onne of those four initial players. The others included Bruno Tamames, the local "GM Guru", who has been GMing for more than 20 years, and André Silva, one of my current GMs. We were later joined by one of the most reknown RPG enthusiast in the country, Rick "Ricardo" Danger, who helped us found Roleplayers Porto, and we began advertising our group and gaming sessions on internet sites and gaming stores. We established gaming days, events, and scheduling in conventions . This helped create similar groups in other cities, like Lisboa, where the players came together mainly at home. In the next few years, the Porto community has grown to more than 30 regular players. We have been lucky enough to have foreign players from Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Estonia, and Russia come join us at some of our game days.

The Porto gaming groups played D&D for the first years, but, there came a time in early 2012, when Bruno Tamames and I started looking for something more appealing and challenging. We found Pathfinder! We continued coordinating game days for almost a year, and then in November 2012, Mike Brock sent us an email. After some questions about our game days and events, he offered me the honor of being Venture-Captain for Portugal. I had already registered some games but knew we needed a Venture-Captain to move forward with growing Pathfinder Society. I accepted the position, and in December, started scheduling regular public events in addition to our home games. This brought players to Pathfinder RPG, and more precisely to Pathfinder Society. From that moment on, my Venture-Lieutenant and I started advertising more Pathfinder and "campaigning" for Organized Play and it's advantage. We scheduled monthly public events and smaller weekly events. We also started a Facebook group to advertise our gaming sessions that we utilize for scheduling, news, and announcements. We created flyers and started distributing them throughout the city and stores and worked in making a unique graphic presentation for our group, that continues to be a constantly evolving process. I want to send a quick thanks to the designer, and local GM, Filipe Jensen.

We began our expansion across the country, first in Lisboa where we found Bruno Sequeira. He is an "old" D&D player who was looking for players and helped in the founding a regular group to play. He also came onboard as a Venture-Lieutenant and has been making doing excellent work in his region. He has mentored new GMs and his hard work is paying off . We are gaining a lot of new players.

We have a loyal group of players in Aveiro and we are looking to add a Venture-Lieutenant there in the near future. We have also turned our attention to Coimbra, where Ricardo Moreno and I have started a new regular event. Currently, with only four full months of activity, we have more than 70 players registered in four cities. We have monthly and weekly events happening regularly in Porto and Lisboa, suach as the monthly PFS RPG PORTO.

Finally we look to the future. We have many ideas of what we want, and how to do it, and we have high hopes everything with come together nicely. At the top of our priorities is the increase of gaming sessions in more venues, especially in Porto and Lisboa. Next, we are trying to schedule regular monthly events in Coimbra and Aveiro, as well as a few other cities we have yet to explore, but where we know other gaming groups exist. After that, we plan to try to reach new markets, with more advertising, and some interviews in local blogs and local television stations.

Also of note is the scheduled presence of Pathfinder Society at the upcoming major national conventions (where we hope to lure Mike Brock to one day), starting with this year’s Invictacon. It will be the first, officially supported Pathfinder Society event in Portugal, and we will be making the season finales a major event, for the current season, as well every season for the foreseeable future. Lisboacon in 2014 will also feature special events and we will have registered events in two other smaller conventions. These include Riacon next month and Leiriacon in 2014.

Finally, we will continue to try and find more stores that have interest in selling physical Pathfinder RPG books to showcase the awesome things from our favorite game.

I cannot finish without thanking Mike Brock and Paizo for their continued support.

If anyone is looking for a place that has good and and inexpensive vacations, to include wonderful food, weather and landscapes, consider Portugal. But, let us know ahead of time because we'd love to have you over for a game!

Raul "Wulfgars" Moura da Silva
Venture-Captain, Portugal

Thank you to all of the players, GMs, VC and VL for creating an awesome PFS Lodge in Portugal. Keep up the awesome work!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

No Sleep for the Wicked

Monday, April 22, 2013

As we've mentioned a few times on the messageboards, Facebook, and Twitter, the creative team here at Paizo is deep in the process of ensuring all our products through Gen Con get to the printer on time for the show. That means we've all been pulled a hundred directions a day, and are putting in extra nights and weekends of "all-hands" work hours. Since that means less time for blogs and other content for which we won't pay dearly if it's not available at Gen Con, you get art previews!

The end of the month is quickly approaching, which means we have two new Pathfinder Society Scenarios coming in just a few days. Here are a few NPC portraits from this month's releases, which GMs may want to have on hand to use as visual aids.

Look for Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-19: The Night March of Kalkamedes by Michael Kortes and Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-20: Words of the Ancients by John Compton midweek.

Illustrations by Greg Opalinski and Lane Brown.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Taxfest!

Monday, April 15, 2013

For those of us living in the United States, today is the deadline by which we must file our taxes. Luckily, we in the real world aren't the only ones doing our civic duty today; inhabitants of the Inner Sea region are also participating in their own celebration of taxes, sponsored by the church of Abadar. Editor-in-Chief F. Wesley Schneider got his taxes done early, and used the extra time to put together a special holiday blog for the Pathfinder Society community. You will find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet below, which you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character during the date ranges noted on the sheet.

Illustration by Jason Engle

No one enjoys paying taxes. Every year, though, on the 15th of Gozran, priests of the church of Abadar spend the day walking city streets, doing what they can to make the bitter pill of annual taxes a bit easier to swallow. From dawn to dusk, clerics of Abadar attend the tax collectors of sizable communities as the tax wagons roll from door to door. More than just aiding in the yearly errand, the faithful personally thank every citizen for contributing to the improvement of their city, extol the public works funded by their contributions, and foretell the grandeur of civic projects to come. The disenfranchised and destitute they attempt to comfort as best they can, quoting from their god's dogma on work and worthiness, but this is not a day for discounts or deferrals.

At dusk, the Abadarans host several celebrations in parks, plazas, and other communal areas about the city, organizing donations and contributions from local vendors to feed and entertain all comers. Having already preached to most of the city over the course of the day, the clerics perform only a brief opening ceremony, dedicating the feast to Abadar, the city, and its great people. These celebrations are often quite distinct from neighborhood to neighborhood and are almost always divided along economic boundaries.

The festivities involving the wealthiest citizens usually happen on the steps of city hall or other grand civic buildings and feature the best music and food, but often little more than polite card and guessing games. These galas usually wrap up by midnight.

For the common folk, the parks and marketplaces take on a carnival atmosphere, with simple but good food, local ales, performances by talented citizens, and games of chance going on well into the night. A prevailing superstition through these festivals is that, during the celebration, it's lucky to kiss—or in some regions, pinch—a cleric of Abadar, leading to many a rosy cheeked cleric.

Even the city's poor are given reason to celebrate, as the local temple of Abadar hosts a cheery but unabashedly religious gathering on its steps, feeding all comers, doling out a hearty ration of wine, singing hymns of the faith, and providing tokens for a second wine ration for any who return to attend a service within the month.

For a holiday that revolves around paying taxes, this Abadaran festival isn't as reviled as one might expect.

Use the Chronicle sheet below to celebrate your pending tax refund or for a little escapism from the realities of whatever you may owe. And for those of you in other countries where taxes aren't due today, maybe you want to earn this boon while you can and save it for your nation's tax day.

Click here to download the Taxfest 4713 Boon! — (90KB zip/PDF)—This Boon is no longer available as of 5/4/13.

Mark Moreland
Developer

You Are Not Forgotten!

Monday, April 8, 2013

We here at Paizo HQ are deep in the throes of birthing a number of incredible products for release at Gen Con in August, and that means it's an all-hands-on-deck scenario. John and I are being called upon to assist with development and editing of products outside the Pathfinder Society Scenario line, and that means less time to devote to Pathfinder Society blogs on Mondays. So that you aren't left in the lurch, however, here are a few pieces of art from some of this month's Pathfinder releases, set to start going out to subscribers in the next week or so. Some of these images may even be useful for GMs who like visual aids for their Pathfinder Society games, though I won't give any more info than that!

Illustrations by Filip Burburan, Jason Rainville, and Xia Taptara

Mike's back in the office later this week after almost a month of conventions and international business trips, and from what I understand, he's got a few good blogs in the works. Be sure to check back next week and see what he has to report!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Defective Pathfinder Society Chronicle Sheets

Monday, April 1, 2013

Illustration by Emrah Elmasli

Greetings Pathfinders! We regret to inform you that it has come to our attention that some of the Chronicle sheets included in Pathfinder Society Scenarios published between August 2008 and March 2013 may include a defect in the font used to create them. In order to ameliorate the unfortunate situation, we have made the difficult decision to recall all Chronicle sheets published during this window. All members of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign are encouraged to destroy all physical copies of there Chronicle sheets. Please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to you're local Venture-Captain to receive replacements.

This defect is generally harmless but in some cases may result in the deterioration of ones ability to properly utilize the english language including but not limited to impoper spelling, punctuation errors; and misuse of homophones. If you have noticed any of the above in you're writing, please ensure that you sanitize all of your dice by boiling them in a 4:1 solution of apple cider vinegar and orange juice at a tempeariture of no more than 250° F and no less than 200° F for at least 12 hours immediately before play.

To make up for this this inconvenience, we have decided to allow all Pathfidner Society players to make pugwampi characters as long as their first Chronicle sheet is dated no later than April 8, 20143. PlYAERS USing this option are not required to bring a copy of the pugwampit rules to there sanctioned event for the GMs's review. Paizo Publishing, ;LC takes no responsibily for player death as a result of sitting at a table with a pugwampi characters and their will be no rebuilding for characters that suffers insanity or other permanent ailments do to the actions of there fellow players. Purple dice will not be permited on days ending in "why" and only red d6's can be used to confirm critical hits. Expect table variation and carry a big stick.

Again, we're sorrty for the inconvenient but we hope everyone will understand!

And, as always-don't forget to play! play! Play!

Mike Brock, John Compton, and Mark Moreland
Pathfinder Soceity Guys, esq.

The First of Many

Monday, March 25, 2013

Illustrations by Yong Yi Lee and Ian Llanas

This month's Pathfinder Society Scenarios send the ever-resourceful agents after two valuable treasure troves, and thanks to its inside information, the society has exclusive access to both sites; however, just because a ruin is long-forgotten does not mean that it is undefended.

Sam Polak's Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-17: Tower of the Ironwood Watch sends the Pathfinders to the edge of the Mierani Forest to explore a lost elven watchtower.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-18 The Veteran's Vault, written by former Editorial Intern, Savannah Broadway, sends the operatives to recover an ex-Pathfinder's hidden wealth that she secreted away somewhere in Korvosa five years ago.

This is an exciting month of "firsts" for many reasons. It's the first time that we deal directly with Venture-Captain Sir Canayven Heidmarch, Sheila's husband. Also, not only are these the authors' first Pathfinder Society scenarios that they have written, but they're also the first that I had the privilege to develop. Look for these scenarios later this week.

John Compton
Developer

Animals and Their Tricks

Monday, March 11, 2013

Illustration by Emily Fiegenschuh

One thing the Venture-Officers and I have noticed is that there tend to be questions that continually come up on the messageboards about pushing animals to do something, animals using trained tricks, and other such issues regarding animal companions, familiars, etc. The newly released Animal Archive added several new tricks that a lot of GMs were hand-waving. I received numerous emails asking for clarification. Instead of replying to each email separately, I thought the community could be better served with a blog post.

The Ontario Venture-Captain, Adam Mogyordi, has written Mergy's Methods in the past and posted on both paizo.com messageboards and the Southern Ontario Pathfinder Lodge website. Not only have these been popular, but players have advised they have been very helpful articles to explain confusing rules and the like. I reached out to Adam and he was thrilled to write something to help clear up some common confusions players and GMs might have about animal companions. Thanks, Adam! Below is the article he wrote for the Pathfinder Society community.

Animal Archive gives druids and other pet classes a wide range of new options. To utilize these options, a review of the basics is a good place to start. Today I want to go over some of the rules that go with handling an animal for GMs and players. There are some benchmarks Handle Animal users need to meet, and I also have some tips for handlers and their GMs.

New Tricks: There are 18 new tricks available in Animal Archive, and some of these may be taken more than once! But while you now have much more freedom in what your pet can know how to do (my personal favorite new one is Bombard), there is also a side to this that some players may find displeasing. The addition of a Flank trick and an Aid trick means that pets do not, by default, know how to perform these, even if they know the Attack trick. If you command your companion to attack, it will take the most direct route. If you want your companion to always flank, you now need the Flank trick. If your companion doesn't know one of these tricks, pushing your companion with a successful DC 25 Handle Animal check is also an option.

Handling Your Companion: Some players and GMs hand-wave this, but it's important to note that just because your pet knows a trick doesn't mean it can perform the trick on command. Animal companions certainly cannot read your character's mind, and that's why we need to use the Handle Animal skill. A trick the animal knows is DC 10 and is a move action. A trick it does not know is a full-round action at DC 25. There are, however, a few ways to make this easier.

Druids and other classes with the animal companion feature get a +4 circumstance bonus when handling their own companion from the Link class feature. This also allows them to handle an animal as a free action, or use a move action to push the animal. Keep in mind you may still only perform the free action on your turn, so even if your animal wins initiative, it's not going to automatically do what you want before can you order it.

With Link, we can set some benchmark numbers a companion class needs. The DC to command an animal to perform a trick it knows is only 10, but this increases to 12 if the animal is injured or has taken nonlethal or ability score damage. With the +4 bonus from Link, the magic Handle Animal modifier you want to hit is +5. If you have a +5 modifier at level 1, you are guaranteed to always command your uninjured animal companion (the number for an injured companion is +7). GMs may wish to log what the player's Handle Animal skill is at the start of the game so that they know when to ask for a roll.

Smart Kitty: If you have increased your animal companion's intelligence score to 3 using various means, then great! You can now have your companion learn any feat it can physically perform, and it can put ranks into any skill. What this increase does not accomplish, however, is any advantage in commanding your companion whatsoever. It's still the same DC 10 to handle and DC 25 to push. It may still only learn six tricks plus your druid bonus tricks. However, for every point of Intelligence it gains above 2, that is three more tricks it can learn. A smart animal will have more versatility without needing to rely on pushing.

Why druids don't dump Charisma?: So how do we reliably overcome DCs like 25 at reasonable levels? I think Skill Focus (Handle Animal) is certainly an option for some druids who see themselves as dedicated animal companion users. There is also the training harness item from page 76 of the Advanced Race Guide that will give you another +2 bonus on these checks. The most important thing is to not dump Charisma. If your druid has a Charisma score of 7, you are likely looking at a 20% chance of your animal ignoring you at 1st level. If you want to reliably push your companion, you are going to make it much more difficult with a negative Charisma modifier.

If you have other questions not addressed here, please feel free to reply in the comments below. Adam and I will do our best to try to answer those in a timely manner.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

The Demons Cometh

Monday, March 4, 2013

"Help me, fearless Pathfinder. You're my only hope."

One of my earliest goals when I took over as developer of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign in fall 2010 was to increase the internal continuity within the campaign. In the 2-1/2 years since, we've upped the metaplot elements of the campaign and have featured a number of recurring villains, locations, and subplots (with more to come!). It took a few years to build up the momentum I'd hoped for with the campaign's many interacting pieces, but I think we're finally there! It's fitting, then, that we hired John to take the torch from me (albeit after several more months of mentorship on my part) just as I feel we've attained the loftiest goal I set for myself all those years ago.

I'm particularly proud of our recently released Season 4 exclusive scenario, Day of the Demon, written by fan-favorite author Larry Wilhelm. This scenario serves as thematic link between last year and the concluding scenarios of the Year of the Ruby Phoenix, the current season—the Year of the Risen Rune—and next season, which we're calling the Year of the Demon. (Notice the similarity in titles between the season and the scenario? That wasn't an accident). Larry did a bang-up job on this scenario, and I'm glad it will be run exclusively for the next year by the campaign's most dedicated volunteers, including our growing army of regional coordinators (both Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants) and 4- and 5-star Game Masters.

Day of the Demon is a scenario that no Pathfinder Society player should miss out on, so encourage your regional coordinator or local celebrity GM to run this one for you. This poor character (a young girl named Tilly Anders) is counting on your heroic PC to save her from a terrible, terrible fate. How can you say no to a face like that?

Mark Moreland
Developer

Who is John Compton?

Thursday, February 28, 2013

The whole Pathfinder Society community has been buzzing about the new addition to the Pathfinder Society team here at the Paizo offices. But who is John Compton, our newest developer? We'll let him tell you...

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

My roleplaying experience began with a bequeathed copy of the 1981 Dungeons & Dragons Expert Rules from my older cousin Tim. It wasn’t until the end of middle school that I found a regular gaming group, and it was Kyle Pratt, one of the founding members and now co-Venture-Captain of Georgia, who introduced me to Pathfinder and later Pathfinder Society in early 2010. Given my training as an archaeologist, Pathfinder Society had an instant appeal. Despite an ally nearly killing off the entire party in The Prince of Augustana, our first scenario, I was hooked.

From there we, along with Nani Pratt, acted as store liaisons under Mike Brock’s leadership as then-VC. When he took on the weighty mantle of Campaign Coordinator, I cheerfully offered my services in adapting modules, writing Chronicle sheets for Pathfinder Tales, and other small-scale odds and ends, and I continued to write supplementary material behind the scenes until PaizoCon 2012. I was already excited that weekend. Not only had I participated as a suitor in the Grand Convocation the night before, but I was also still buzzed from some amazing conversations in person with the esteemed Painlord and Shivok from the messageboards. Then, Mark Moreland snagged me during the lunch break, offered me a chance to write a scenario, and asked me to write the Season 4 convention boons.

In early January, I received an exciting series of emails. First, it was Mark asking if at some point in the future, budget willing, I would be interested in a bit of freelance, part-time development work. Sure! Then I heard from Wes asking me to send in a resume for a full-time developer position. Done! A few interviews later, I was hired and swapping ideas with Mike to continue Pathfinder Society’s growth and improve the experience even more.

John Compton
Developer

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:

1. The email address that is tied to your Gen Con account.
2. The email address that is tied to your Paizo.com account.
3. 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

Please Welcome Our New Pathfinder Society Developer!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Today is an exciting day for Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Pathfinder Society has been given a new developer who will be dedicated solely to helping me strengthen and grow organized play. John Compton comes to Paizo from Atlanta, GA. This is not the first time I have worked with John. When I was the acting Venture-Captain in Atlanta, John was one of my store liaisons. The store where he helped coordinate, along with current Georgia co-Venture-Captains Kyle and Nani Pratt, has been the fastest-growing store and currently has the largest regular player base in Georgia.

John has as much passion about improving Pathfinder Society as I do. He brings some awesome ideas with him and I think all of you will be happy with the results. John will introduce himself and some of his goals in the Pathfinder Society blog post scheduled for March 4. Until then, I am sure he will have his hands full catching up with the plans we have already put into motion for the future of Pathfinder Society. Please join me in welcoming him to Paizo Publishing!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Official Call for PaizoCon 2013 Volunteers

Monday, February 4, 2013

We plan to make PaizoCon 2013 an even bigger event than it was last year! I am scheduling 210 tables of Pathfinder Society over three days. We will be offering all Season 4 scenarios multiple times, including the debut of the season's final four scenarios. We are also scheduling numerous tables of the first level of Jason Bulmahn's megadungeon Ruins of Bonekeep: The Silent Grave. In addition, we will be debuting the Season 5 Pathfinder Society Special that kicks the season off on Friday night. This is the same multi-table special that will be run as the Gen Con special. Finally, we'll be offering GM 101 sessions again, and hopefully showing off the debut of the follow-up GM 201 program. It should be an awesome time.

I need a minimum of 75 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games and I'll keep taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled! I also need 4 Volunteer Assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead help me 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 PaizoCon 2013. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for slots, not a specific event. We will let you know the slots you have been assigned to before the lottery goes live. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule with your friends who are also attending PaizoCon 2013. Please let me know via email which days you will be at the convention and how many slots you are volunteering for at PaizoCon 2013.

Volunteer Tiers and Rewards

Volunteer Assistant: 4 needed, treated as a Tier 1 GM

Tier 1 GM Volunteers: Tier 1 GM volunteers are my everyday GMs. They are invaluable to making the show a success! Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. I only have room for 30 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 3-day PaizoCon 2013 badge
• A $10-per-slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
• A FREE copy of one printed Paizo product of your choice valued at $49.99 or less.
• A FREE Pathfinder Society goblin volunteer t-shirt.
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon.

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 3-day PaizoCon 2013 badge
• A $10-per-slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
• A FREE Pathfinder Society goblin volunteer t-shirt.
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon.

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 Pathfinder Society goblin volunteer t-shirt.
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon.

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 days you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to scenarios on an as-needed basis, so you really only need to tell me the day(s) you're volunteering for. 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 paizo.com account and you must include your paizo.com email address 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: Friday 8 AM to 1 PM
• Slot 2: Friday 1 PM to 6 PM
• Slot 3: Friday 7 PM to 12 AM
• Slot 4: Saturday 8 AM to 1 PM
• Slot 5: Saturday 1 PM to 6 PM
• Slot 6: Sunday 9 AM to 2 PM

All PaizoCon 2013 volunteers should please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the subject line PaizoCon Volunteer.

Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great spring convention season!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Pathfinder Society in Ireland

Monday, January 14, 2013

We move from our last international blog in Finland to a relatively new Pathfinder Society lodge in Ireland. I met my first Irish players at PaizoCon UK last summer and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Venture-Captain Dave Harrison and Venture-Lieutenant Rob Silk had been handling the entire United Kingdom by themselves and I decided it was time to give them a break. After all, that is a huge area. So, after talking to them and they were in agreement, I assigned them to solely focus on England while I looked for new regional coordinators in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It wasn't long before Pathfinder Society veteran William Boyle stepped up to assume the Venture-Captain role of Ireland.

Without further delay, I present to you William's report on Pathfinder Society in Ireland.

Illustrations by Francisco Rico Torres and Imaginary Friends Studio.

My name is William Boyle and I am the Venture-Captain for Ireland, both North and South. I am aided and abetted in this by my Venture-Lieutenant, Andrew Wilson, along with a dedicated crew of gamers, GMs, store liaisons, FLGS owners and managers, games club runners, and long-suffering, significant others.

I was lucky enough to encounter Pathfinders and Golarion at Gen Con UK in England back in 2008. It was great, but back home in Ireland, there was not much sign of Golarion on either side of the border. Move forward a couple of years and we realised that there was this really cool organized play campaign, Pathfinder Society. After a couple of home games we knew this deserved a wider audience. So to work...

Traditionally, RPGs here were played more at games clubs, conventions, and home games than at the limited number of games shops. Pathfinder Society has become a big part of the RPG thread at "Q-Con" in Belfast. "Q-Con" is the annual convention of Queen's University Belfast Dragonslayers Society, and is the biggest Gaming/Anime con in these islands. Last year we also joined the official programme of Gaelcon—Ireland's biggest independent convention—after previous unofficial visits! When we go to conventions we like to get the Hirst Arts 3D terrain out to add a little "preindustrial light and magic" to the show!

We have also been lucky enough to run events at local games clubs, leading to invitations to go to others. As the word has spread, brilliant GMs in other parts of the country such as Nina Hanzlikova and Liam O'Tailliuir have run Pathfinder Society at local clubs and conventions! We have run all nighters and 24 hours sessions at the Dragonslayers. We even appeared on a segment on the excellent www.theadventuringparty.net podcast!

Since the start of Pathfinder Society, games shops here have begun to spring up that allow games to be played on site.

In Northern Ireland we have The Black Knight (Larne) and Creative Destruction (Portadown). In the Irish Republic, Pathfinder Society is played at Gamers Hub in Maynooth. Additionally, Gamers World in Dublin city centre will have it's first Pathfinder Society session in early 2013.

In 2013, Pathfinder Society will be at the same conventions noted above, but we will also be adding Warpcon and Leprecon to the list. The monthly games held at TBK have led to home based AP games (now also under the Pathfinder Society umbrella), and at the December 2012 game, almost every Pathfinder book, map, and mini on the shelves was snapped up.

We enter 2013 with high hopes and plans to expand on all fronts. Sam Johnston is our Store Liaison (aka Venture Sergeant) in "Creative Destruction Games" and Gary Bingham the same for The Black Knight in Larne. With these two dedicated volunteers, we are lucky to have a top IT gal and guy who are working on our home page and player database.

I cannot finish without recognising the tremendous support that Mike Brock and Dave Harrison have and continue to provide. Many thanks, fellas!

So if anyone is considering a trip to Ireland let us know we'd love to have you over for a game!

William Boyle
Venture-Captain, Ireland

Thank you to all of the players and GMs and the VC and VL for creating an awesome Pathfinder Society lodge in Ireland. I look forward to having a pint or three with all of you at The Sack of Potatoes Pub during PaizoCon UK this coming July. Keep up the awesome work!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Annual State of the Pathfinder Society Campaign and the Release of Guide 4.3

Monday, January 7, 2013

Wow, it's 2013 already! The past year has been a good one for Pathfinder Society Orgainzed Play in many regards. With all the changes that have taken place, as well as the goals set for the future, I thought it was important to give a report of how last year has played out.

First, and most importantly, I want to thank all of the Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, regional and convention coordinators, GMs, and people I use as sounding boards (you know who you are). Without all of you, I would not be able to achieve everything listed below and make Pathfinder Society as great as it is. I also want to thank all of our players and fans. Without you, I wouldn't have an awesome job to come to each morning. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your efforts and support.

The Pathfinder Society campaign has already seen numerous positive improvements and changes. Here is a short list of things we've accomplished together in 2012:

• The recruitment and assignment of more than 175 new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants to help us grow Pathfinder Society by having a Paizo 'face' in many local areas. These include new regions in new countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, and Turkey.
• A complete overhaul to the Pathfinder Society webpage, as well as small numerous updates to the FAQ (red updates!) and Additional Resources page.
• Planned and staffed 750 Pathfinder Society tables for Gen Con, as well as the creation of the Beginner Box Introductions and Kid's Track.
• Streamlined the process for regional coordinators to request convention prize support.
• Added five new Holiday boons.
• Planned and staffed for 150 Pathfinder Society tables at PaizoCon , as well as scheduled the debut of the GM 101 workshops on a large scale.
• Worked with Venture-Captains to establish the GM 101 workshops in multiple locations.
• Released the GM 101 PDF and Kid's Track lesson plans PDF so people could help build there local Pathfinder Society communities by scheduling both of these programs at the local level.
• Worked with development to have future scenarios be written with six players in mind.
• Established a new set of convention Chronicle sheets for Season 4 with Varisia-flavored boons.
• Overhauled the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play to version 4.2, which included more than 100 changes and additions.
• Updated the Pathfinder Society pregenerated characters to include the NPC Codex iconic characters for sanctioned play.
• Published international Pathfinder Society Lodge blogs for Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Turkey.
• Sanctioned Adventure Paths for Pathfinder Society Organized Play.
• Brought back the Grand Convocation to PaizoCon and PaizoCon UK.
• Had a new logo created for Pathfinder Society.
• With the help of several of you, created a compilation rules clarification post for more ease at finding rules clarifications for Pathfinder Society.
• Implementation of Campaign Service Award Coins.
• Releasing the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.3 today with some much needed updates. The complete list of updates can be downloaded with the new version of the Guide or found on the messageboards. A few highlights include:
• Page 10: Added the following under the religion entry: "Druids, oracles, and rangers are the exception to this rule. The list is not exhaustive, and divine spellcasters of any future classes whose sources are added as additional resources to the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign will be required to choose a deity unless otherwise specified."
• Page 22: Reworded the note regarding First Steps for clarity, and added a sentence advising that Prestige Points be awarded after playing each part of the First Steps series.
• Pages 27—28: Changed the name of the section "Retirement and Beyond" to "Beyond Level 11." Reworded the section for clarity and added the special title of Seeker for any Pathfinder agent who has achieved 12th level.
• Page 28: Added Campaign Service Award Coins to the items that offer free rerolls.
• Pages 35: Changed the text in the Table Variance section to allow GMs more flexibility and better adjudication at their tables.
• Page 47: Added an index.

We've addressed our leadership, our organization, our ground game, and our rules. And we couldn't have done any of it without all of you.

All that is great, but it's not enough. We're not done yet (which means that we all have more work to do). I'm excited about the future of the Society. In particular, the following items on my now-less-than-secret to-do list excite me:

• Continuing to go to as many conventions as I can get to. My upcoming 2013 schedule includes:
  
  Winter Fantasy in Fort Wayne, IN
  OwlCon in Houston, TX
  MegaCon in Orlando, FL
  GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, NV
  A visit to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia from March 23—April 2.
  ACD Distribution show in Madison, WI
  A tour of five cities and U.S. military bases in Germany from May 6—18
  Origins in Columbus, OH
  PaizoCon in Seattle, WA
  PaizoCon UK in Birmingham, UK
  RopeCon in Espoo, Finland
  Gen Con in Indianapolis
  PAX Prime in Seattle, WA
  Alliance Distribution show in Ft. Wayne, IN
  JimCon in Winnipeg, Canada.
  
  My goal is to meet as many Pathfinder Society players, GMs, and coordinators as I can face to face. I encourage you to introduce yourself to me at those conventions.
• The plotline for Season 5 has been worked out. We will start working toward Season 6 shortly.
• We are looking at ways to make faction missions have a meaningful impact on the campaign.
• Improve the Retailer Support program, including upgrades to the website interface to make it more user friendly for both retailers and customers.
• Improve the GM Rewards program.
• Expanding the Venture-Captain program to additional areas in North America, as well as increasing the number of Venture-Captains internationally.
• Working with IT to integrate a more user-friendly website for event coordinators.
• Continuing to highlight international Pathfinder Society play through monthly blog posts.

The last year has been a great learning experience for me as Pathfinder Society continually evolves and improves. There have been some bumps in the road, but nothing that has proven insurmountable. I already knew that the Pathfinder Society community is smart, diverse, and very passionate. It is amazing how much energy and enthusiasm you all have for the game and it is very inspiring. Likewise, the people here at Paizo are some of the most creative and different-thinking people I've ever met. It's as amazing as you'd think it was.

I will finish with letting everyone know that I will continue to do the best job I possibly can to help Pathfinder Society grow and improve. Sometimes I will make mistakes. But, if I do make a mistake, I will own up to it. As always, I am available for all of you to reach out to me with concerns, criticisms, thoughts, suggestions, venting, and ideas via email, private message, Skype, phone call, carrier pigeon, written letter, message spell, pony express, contact other plane spell, or sending spell.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Crystalhue Holiday and Pathfinder Online

Monday, December 17, 2012

Just in time for Christmas, we have a new holiday boon! Developer Adam Daigle was so excited when he detailed Evoking Day last month that I was able to rope... err... convince him to write a second holiday post for Pathfinder Society. This time, Adam took the original work regarding Crystalhue, written by Crystal Frasier in Wayfinder #2, and expanded on it. The holiday of Crystalhue is also mentioned on page 249 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide. You will find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character during the date ranges noted on the sheet.

Illustration by Eva Widermann

During the day, in towns where the holiday of Crystalhue is celebrated, locals hang crystal prisms and glass baubles throughout town in order to spread light and scatter rainbows in the streets. As townsfolk prepare for the evening festivities, artisans and musicians ply their trades, hoping for a coin or two while they sell their crafts and play tunes for the people while they browse. Throughout the day, the locals exchange small gifts, typically handmade, as tokens of appreciation or as peace offerings to those they feel they wronged during the year.

To reflect artistic depictions of their patron goddess, women dye colored streaks in their hair. Young girls will commonly have half a dozen different colored locks, while older married women usually only have one or two. Men wear colorful patchwork coats they call melaros that they keep their whole lives, adding new patches or scraps of scavenged cloth every year.

As night falls, the community gathers every available lantern and candle, bringing them out onto porches or lining the streets with their communal light. The town square hosts a large feast around a bonfire complete with roasted meats, stewed vegetables, roasted root vegetables, and winter squashes—all seasoned with plenty of fragrant spices. Around these bonfires, the clergy of Shelyn perform marriage ceremonies, where the whole community gathers to witness and affirm the bonds of love. During the ceremonies, teenagers pursue their budding romances, giving trinkets and other symbols of their affection to the ones who caught their eye throughout the year.

One of the stranger traditions among the faithful of Shelyn is the Zonzon doll. A child chosen to be the “sibling” passes this strange little doll, made from scraps of leather and cloth and sewn with red thread, among neighbors. The townsfolk give it symbolic gifts and whisper apologies to those they’ve wronged during the year or share with the doll happy memories in order to represent Shelyn’s kindness and mercy to her now-lost brother Zon-Kuthon. The “sibling” child brings the doll to everyone in town during the festival, making sure everyone has had the chance to pay his or her dues and make peace. As the celebration winds down, the doll is cast into the wilderness or set afloat to drift down a river in the hope that it will find its way to the Midnight Lord and relate his sister’s kindness, mercy, and goodwill in the face of the dark place he now resides.

Also this past week, a Pathfinder Society boon was added to the $5 sponsorship level of the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter. The emerald elixir, stolen from a bizarre pool in the Emerald Spire dungeon, has now been made available for Pathfinders. When used at an official Pathfinder Society game table, drinking the elixir grants your hero the advanced simple template for the duration of the scenario. Alternately, the elixir can be spiked with experimental agents to trigger a beneficial permanent mutation randomly determined on a huge chart included on the certificate. If more than one player activates an emerald elixir at the same table, all drinkers can choose their preferred mutation from the list rather than roll randomly.

There will not be another Pathfinder Society blog post until January 7, 2013, so I want to take this time to wish all of you a happy holidays. I hope everyone has a great time visiting family, giving gifts, and hopefully enjoying some Pathfinder Society with the new holiday boon. We’ll see you in 2013!

Click here to download the Crystalhue 4712 Boon! — 117 KB (zip/PDF)—This Boon is no longer available as of 1/9/13.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Sanctioning Adventure Paths for Pathfinder Society

Monday, December 10, 2012

Adventure Paths are the staple item here at Paizo. Since the inception of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, some people have wanted to play the Adventure Paths and receive credit for their Pathfinder Society characters. This is one of the few bullet-list items I have been trying to figure out since I arrived 15 months ago. The release of the Shattered Star Adventure Path and its close ties to the Pathfinder Society made it even more imperative that we find a way to include Adventure Paths in sanctioned Organized Play. We feel it's the right thing to do, both from a business perspective and as a way of making even more material available for event organizers and players who've gone through what we already produced and are chomping at the bit for more.

Over the past few months, we have dedicated a large percentage of our weekly Pathfinder Society meetings to make sure we have the best formula for as seamless a fit as possible in sanctioning Adventure Paths. We could not find an easy solution to allow play through an entire Adventure Path, or to easily port a character in and out of a specific volume of an Adventure Path. With the feedback of our Venture-Officers, we think we have a system that can appeal to the widest audience.

The solution we've landed on is treating one section of a Pathfinder Adventure Path volume like a module. It would generally be played over one to three sessions, and grant 3 XP, 4 PP, and a level-dependent amount of gp. An example you will find on the first Chronicle sheet is from the first installment of Rise of the Runelords, Burnt Offerings. When you play through areas C1 through E10 of Thistletop, your GM may assign you the Chronicle sheet for Burnt Offerings.

If possible, all players must use an existing Pathfinder Society character (without modification) within 1 level of the starting level of the sanctioned content from a Pathfinder Adventure Path. In the example used above for Burnt Offerings, you would use a 3rd-, 4th-, or 5th-level character.

For Adventure Path content below 9th level, if you do not have a character in the correct level range, you may use a Pathfinder Society pregenerated character or the Iconics found in the NPC Codex. If you play a 1st-level pregenerated character, you may apply the credit from that character to a newly created character of your very own, with the gp gained reduced to 1,398 gp (or 699 gp for slow advancement track characters). If you play a non-1st-level pregenerated character, you may apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played. Equipment listed on the pregenerated character sheet may only be sold to clear conditions, such as death, during the play of the module and any remaining wealth does not carry over at the end of the module.

Alternatively, if you are participating in a Pathfinder Adventure Path with an ongoing home group undertaking the entire campaign, you may receive credit for playing the sanctioned portions of the adventure as if you had played a pregenerated character. In this case, GMs running the Adventure Path are not bound to the rules of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign when running the campaign or the sanctioned portion of the adventure. Pathfinder Society characters and characters from an ongoing Adventure Path campaign may not play in the same adventure.

If a character dies and is brought back to life, the GM must determine the rewards for that character. The minimum possible reward is 0 gp, 1 XP, and 1 PP on the medium advancement track or 0 gp, 1/2 XP, and 1/2 PP on the slow advancement track. If a character participates in more than two-thirds of the sanctioned content of an Adventure Path, she should receive the full rewards. GMs and active players are encouraged to hasten the return of any characters waiting to be raised from the dead.

Players who do not complete each game session earn 1/3 fewer gp, 1 fewer XP, and 1 fewer Prestige Point for each session missed. This also applies to players who join later sessions; they receive 1/3 fewer gp, 1 fewer XP, and 1 fewer Prestige Point for each session missed. In both cases, players earn a minimum of 1/3 gp, 1 XP, and 1 Prestige Point.

As always, each player may receive credit for each sanctioned Adventure Path volume once as a player and once as a GM, in either order. Players must accept Chronicle sheets for their characters the first time they play any sanctioned content. A player may replay a sanctioned Adventure Path at the GM’s discretion, but the player may not receive more than one Chronicle sheet per adventure. The only exception is Tier 1–2 sanctioned Adventure Path content. A player may only play a Tier 1–2 sanctioned Adventure Path for credit once with a 2nd-level character, but may use additional 1st-level characters to replay the same content for credit.

Since sanctioned Adventure Paths can be multi-session events, a Pathfinder Society character may not be used in other Pathfinder Society events until the character receives a Chronicle sheet for the Adventure Path volume. GMs are advised to work with players who miss the final session of the module or AP in order for those players to receive their Chronicle sheets.

The data entry system has already been updated to include all 10 of the current sanctioned Adventure Path volumes. Data is entered into our reporting system in the same manner as sanctioned modules. You receive credit toward GM stars the same as sanctioned modules.

The Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.3, scheduled for release next month, will update Chapter 6 with all info about sanctioned Adventure Paths and how they work within Pathfinder Society.

Initially, we are only sanctioning Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition and Shattered Star Adventure Paths. If those are well received, we will consider sanctioning other Adventure Paths in the future. You can find the rules for running these in Pathfinder Society Organized Play and the Chronicle sheets on their respective product pages.

We are excited with the solution that this not only expands normal Pathfinder Society play options, but also increases play opportunities past 12th level. We hope that this will also allow players who enjoy our Adventure Paths, but have not yet experienced Pathfinder Society, to give our organized play a try.

We understand there are a lot of very strong opinions among the player base about whether we should sanction Adventure Paths and how they should be implemented. We value your opinions and look forward to reading your thoughts about the exciting new play options we have introduced today. With your input, we can make Pathfinder Society better for all.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Pathfinder Society in Finland

Monday, November 26, 2012

Illustration by Daren Bader

We move from our last international blog in South Africa to a location in the extreme north: Finland. I knew that Finland had a very strong playerbase in Pathfinder Society during its first few years, but for whatever reason, interest had waned. Back in May, I wanted to bring back the Finnish fanbase because I knew they could only add to the Pathfinder Society experience and make it better. After a series of emails answering concerns, Jukka Särkijärvi agreed to come on board as a Venture-Captain and help revitalize Pathfinder Society in Finland. After six months, I can say that he and his Venture-Lieutenant, Jussi Leinonen, have done an excellent job and I am excited to see Pathfinder Society once again a highlight of gaming in Finland.

Without further ado, I present to you Jukka and Jussi's report on Pathfinder Society in Finland.

We had Pathfinder Society in Finland at the very beginning. The campaign's registration in 2008 actually began during Ropecon, our largest annual gaming convention (roughly 3,500 attendees), where Sampo Haarlaa and I had a presentation about organized play campaigns, which we had already written for, played, and organized for years. Ropecon 2008 was slightly too early for there to be Pathfinder Society at the convention, so the first actual session—Murder on the Silken Caravan—wasn't run until two weeks later. Jukka Särkijärvi, later to become Venture-Captain, ran that one. He didn't get to play his first session until some three weeks later, and after an unlucky critical hit, became the first Finnish Society player who needed to register a second character.

Jukka eventually became the first player to lose two characters, and after a series of unfortunate and inexplicable TPKs, shortly after he was appointed Venture-Captain, he lost the distinction of owning the most dead PCs. The most dead PCs at tables he ran, on the other hand...

Pathfinder Society started slowly over here. There were maybe 25 somewhat active players spread out between the Helsinki metropolitan area and we played through new scenarios as they came out. We were usually soon left hankering for more until we got our next fix. People eventually gravitated toward running Adventure Paths for fixed groups or to different games altogether. After the flowering of Season 0, for two years we had very little Pathfinder Society in Finland outside of Ropecon.

In 2011, Ropecon asked if Erik Mona might be interested in coming over as a guest of honor. He said "yes," and the rest is history. It gave the community new energy to run and play, and we had the untouched expanse of two years of modules at our disposal, with no danger of running out. Old players came back and new ones were recruited. In the end, Ropecon 2011 featured a very modest seven sessions of Pathfinder Society (out of a total of 165 sessions of roleplaying games), but we had Erik there, which kindled the enthusiasm of the wider player base, and it continued long after he had left the country.

In the Helsinki area, much of the resurgence in Society play happened through the involvement of the RPG actives of the local engineering university. There, it quickly became apparent that the organized play model, where Game Masters and fellow party members change from one session to another, was ideally suited for busy students whose unpredictable schedules made it difficult to commit to campaigns with a regular group. During Season 3, more sessions of Pathfinder Society were run in Finland than during the previous three seasons combined. Ropecon 2012 saw 20 tables of Pathfinder Society, including the Blood Under Absalom special. We could probably have accommodated a few more tables, but three of our five most active Pathfinder Society Game Masters, including Venture-Captain Jukka Särkijärvi and Helsinki Venture-Lieutenant Jussi Leinonen, were members of the organizing committee and busy with other duties during the convention.

The Lay of the Land

As stated, Ropecon is the primary gaming convention in Finland, held every summer in Espoo, next to the capital city of Helsinki. The second most important is Tracon, which used to bounce around the calendar from winter to spring until finally settling in the early autumn where it now resides. It is primarily an anime convention (the anime fans are enthusiastic and numerous and we're still trying to figure out how to get them interested in roleplaying games), but thanks to the organizers' varied interests, there are also some roleplaying games scheduled. At this year's Tracon, we had seven tables of Pathfinder Society (out of some 20 sessions altogether) and again, there was demand for more, but the convention ran out of room for tabletop games. We foresee significant growth for both Pathfinder Society and roleplaying games in general for next year's Tracon, and are working closely with their organizing committee to give these offerings a greater prominence at the convention.

There are also smaller conventions in the country, such as Conklaavi in Turku and the biannual Maracon in Oulu. Bringing Pathfinder Society to these conventions and trying to start up self-sustaining player communities and eventually appoint Venture-Lieutenants for these cities is also on the agenda.

At the moment, outside of the convention season, Pathfinder Society in Finland is centered around the university gaming clubs in Helsinki, Espoo and Tampere. Autumn is an especially fruitful time for introducing new players to the campaign, with the influx of new students.

Unlike America, Finland has never really had a culture of playing RPGs in games stores, but we are currently working to change that with regular games scheduled at the Puolenkuun Pelit store in Tampere. At the time of writing, however, the campaign in Finland is strongly focused on running a single session at a time, with the occasional convention and club game day with more activity. We also currently don't have regular weekly game evenings, and each session is coordinated individually at our community wiki and messageboard. Although this approach requires some more initiative on behalf of the gamers, it also adds flexibility as nobody is excluded from Society gaming just because he or she happens to have the regular day of the week booked for something else. With the prominence of current and former university students in the player base, we have been able to use the campus clubrooms for additional public gaming space. These have been important especially for introducing new players, whom the regulars are understandably hesitant to invite to home games. Running games in a public area also brings visibility to Pathfinder Society through the curiosity of other gamers hanging around.

The number of active players in Finland stands at an approximate 60, though the amount of active Game Masters is not quite large enough to meet the demand. We are working on changing this, too, and it is a happy thing to see players enthusiastically taking up the GM screen. Here as well, the organized play model of Pathfinder Society has proven to be advantageous: prospective Game Masters can give GMing a try without committing themselves to providing a long-running campaign, and nobody is worse off if the new GM decides that it's not for her, or something she prefers to do only once every few months. This has encouraged many new people to run games who might have otherwise been unlikely to do so, despite the fact that GMing in an organized play campaign might be considered to require a higher standard of quality than a "casual" game.

Due to our northerly location beyond the Baltic Sea, the Finnish gaming scene is relatively isolated even from the rest of Europe, not to mention North America. That said, the great majority of gamers around here are happy to play a session in English (after all, that's the language we read our rulebooks in), and many fluent GMs can also be found.

If you find yourself in Finland in need of a Society game, email us at pfshelsinki@gmail.com (Helsinki metropolitan area) or pfsfinland@gmail.com (the rest of the country). For the more serious gaming tourist, Ropecon (to be held July 26–28, 2013) is an increasingly international convention with some 3,500 visitors annually, with Pathfinder Society and much more.

Jukka Särkijärvi Venture-Captain, Tampere, Finland

Jussi Leinonen Venture-Lieutenant, Helsinki, Finland

Thank you to all of the players, GMs, VCs, and VLs for reigniting an awesome Pathfinder Society Lodge in Finland. I look forward to the additions of new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants in other regions of the country and watching Pathfinder Society grow strong. Keep up the awesome work!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Building Your Pathfinder Society Community: GM 101 and Kid's Track

Monday, November 19, 2012

Last month, we offered a blog post that was the foundation of building your community. I wanted to build on that theme and have a series of blog posts that discuss how to contibute to and grow your local Pathfinder Society community.

The first bullet point in that post suggested that you should offer to GM. However, you may feel you aren't experienced enough or don't know the rules well enough to be a "good GM." One thing I have learned in my years of gaming is that often people who want to GM, but who feel too shy or uncomfortable running a table, actually turn out to be some of the best GMs.

Over the past year, our Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants have often said that there is a lack of GMs. This is why I worked with a group of the best GMs in the Georgia area (people I had personal experience playing with and GMing for) to develop a GM 101 course. This course debuted at PaizoCon and was also offered at Gen Con. The feedback from attendees was incredibly positive and it is now time to share the course with everyone. The GM 101 instructional PDF will support the running of GM 101 courses in your area. Even if someone just reads the GM 101 course, there is a ton of great information to be shared.

The course is divided into four lessons, each lasting approximately one hour. These include "Roleplaying: Bringing Scenarios to Life," "Rules: Enabling Awesomeness, Restricting Abuse," "Running the Game: The Science Behind the Art," and "Advanced Topics: When the Unexpected Strikes." These four basic topics will allow new GMs to ease into the role and also feel more comfortable overseeing the enjoyment of a table for a group of four to six players.

One thing the GM 101 PDF refers to in the second half of the course, but that it does not include, is the Deck of Many Situations. This deck allows new GMs who have been through the four building-block lessons above to take those instructions and adjudicate real situations that have occurred at Pathfinder Society tables at local game days and regional and national conventions. I will refer you to several of our Venture-Captains for access to the deck. They have developed different decks, which include situations encountered in their local regions. If you would like to obtain a Deck of Many Situations, please refer to the Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators page. If your Regional Coordinator does not have a copy of the Deck of Many Situations, he or she will be able to obtain one from another Venture-Captain and provide it to you. Some of the more memorable situations I was able to be a part of at Paizo Con were "warring spouses" and "a child pitching a temper tantrum" (yes, I was playacting the child). It was interesting to see how GMs handled both of those very tricky situations.

The other PDF I wanted to provide for download today was the Kid's Track lesson plans. The lifeblood of our hobby is the next generation. A decade ago, I took my son to his first Gen Con when he was eight years old. There was very little for him to actually participate in or be involved with at that age. Over the years, I had toyed with the idea of creating some kid's games so that young children would have something to do. When I was hired by Paizo, it jumped to the top of my priority list since I had resources available that I had never had before. I reached out to Ontario Venture-Lieutenant Jeff Mahood to help me develop a lesson plan. He has experience with early childhood education and I wanted to gear these lesson plans for kids that were six to twelve years old. What he put together and provided blew me away and I can't thank him enough for his work on it.

With this awesome document in hand, I was unsure how it would go over at Gen Con. I reached out to several store owners and forum members, and received overwhelmingly positive feedback, so I put it on the official Gen Con schedule. We sold out every slot at Gen Con and ran eight unscheduled overfill tables. With the reponse we had at Gen Con 2012, I have my sights on expanding the program even more at Gen Con 2013.

What the Kid's Track lesson plan offers is four lessons on the basics of roleplaying games, broken down by the total minutes spent on each subject, using the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box to teach those fundamentals. Each lesson builds on the previous lesson and helps a GM teach children as young as six what roleplaying games are and how to play roleplaying games, specifically using the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box rules. Each lesson plan is followed by the four children playing one of the four Beginner Box Bash Demo adventures.

I hope you find both of these PDFs useful for building Pathfinder Society, and roleplaying in general, in your community. I would love to hear your feedback on how we can make these programs better and look forward to reading your comments.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Evoking Day

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Wow, it has been a while since we had a holiday blog. Well, back by popular demand, we are offering you a new bit of info on a Golarion holiday, as we celebrate our own federal holiday here in the United States—Veteran’s Day. As a veteran myself, I want to send out a heartfelt thank you to veterans of all five services. I know the sacrifice you have made for your country, and without your service and sacrifice, I couldn’t have the cool job I have today. Take a minute to pat yourself on the back and reflect on your decision to unselfishly volunteer years of your life to make this country great.

Developer Adam Daigle gets his first shot at a Golarion holiday write up. He wrote the below description for Evoking Day and you will find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character. Evoking Day is mentioned on page 249 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide.

A holy day to followers of Nethys, Evoking Day is full of vibrant explosions, skillful wielding of spells, and much dancing. Evoking Day is observed on the 18th of Neth, and while this holiday is mostly celebrated in Garund, temples dedicated to Nethys host celebrations throughout the Inner Sea region. Traditional celebrations of Evoking Day have changed over the thousands of years since its first incarnation, but to this day every occurrence of Evoking Day still features a grand meal shared by celebrants during the afternoon and a wondrous exhibition of brilliant and explosive magic once the sun sets. These days, such colorful magical displays are augmented with fireworks of a dozen different colors and patterns.

In temples of Nethys dedicated to revering evocation magic, priests and prominent arcanists participate in spell duels where each contestant stands on a raised platform and takes turns trying to incapacitate her opponent. The magic wielded in theses duels favors the flashy over the dangerous, but clerics of Nethys are on hand to treat any injuries. These duels gather large crowds eager to lend their applause to their favorite contestant.

It is also during this festival when wizards who worship Nethys open their spellbooks to others who share their craft. Wizards normally guard their spellbooks with their lives and covet the eldritch information therein, but on Evoking Day these wizards meet with one another prior to the afternoon feast to share their spells just as they prepare to share a grand meal.

Though Evoking Day is primarily a day of grand magic, those with no spellcasting talent still flock to local temples of Nethys to partake in the shared feast and flashy evening displays of magic and fireworks. Between the meal and into the night, celebrants wear black-and-white robes and perform joyous dances meant to give thanks to the wonders Nethys brought to humankind. These dances are grand affairs involving dozens of dancers all spinning and clapping to the accompanying music as their black-and-white robes fan out around them with each spin. As night descends and the fireworks and magical displays begin, the dancing rises to a climax erupting in shouts and calls to Nethys with each thunderous boom.

Click here to download the Evoking Day 4712 Boon! — 82 KB (zip/PDF) This Boon is no longer available as of 12/17/12.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Pathfinder Society in South Africa

Monday, November 5, 2012

Time to offer you a blog post from one of our farthest-flung Pathfinder Society lodges in the world. From what I have been told, there has not been much of any kind of organized play, outside of Magic: The Gathering, in South Africa ever. When I saw one of our RPG Superstar hotshots was running Pathfinder Society there, I knew I had to reach out to him. I can’t say I ever expected to have Pathfinder Society coordinated anywhere on the African continent, except maybe in Egypt, so I was thrilled when Jerall accepted the Venture-Captain position after a series of emails.

Without further ado, I present to you Jerall’s report on Pathfinder South Africa.

South Africa is home to a varied mix of peoples, cultures, and eleven official languages. It is a strange country with a blend of beautiful natural spaces, burgeoning metropolises, and incredible wealth alongside abject poverty.

South African roleplayers are an eclectic bunch, each bringing a unique collection of experiences to the table. People from all over the world, including, historically, greater Africa, Asia, and Europe, have settled in South Africa—not too dissimilar from a real-world Absalom. It’s in this space that my fellow volunteers and I hope to grow the South African Pathfinder Society Lodge.

Earlier this year, Mike Brock noticed that we had begun reporting a few South African events each month. Mike contacted us through our event organizer email addresses and, a few emails later, we were well on our way to formalizing and growing Pathfinder Society Organized Play in Cape Town, and later Durban, and even ICON 2012, South Africa’s biggest convention in Johannesburg.

Classified as megadiverse, South Africa is a large country, encompassing nine different provinces, featuring eight major terrestrial biomes, and over 1.2 million square kilometers. At the moment, my two Venture-Lieutenants and I are focusing on three areas in particular: Cape Town and the Western Cape, Durban in Kwa-Zulu Natal, and the Gauteng province, which includes both Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Roleplaying has a long history in South Africa, with our older conventions well into their second or third decades of existence. Traditionally though, any sort of gaming was only available to a rather small percentage of our total population. A few years ago, we saw many of our small game retailers shutting their doors. Now, however, South Africa is experiencing some sort of gaming renaissance with video-, board-, card-, and roleplaying gaming seeing a major upswing. New distribution channels are opening up regularly and gaming is slowly becoming cheaper and more accessible to a larger portion of our population. These days, you’ll even see numerous social outreach programs built around gaming—something that I’d like to see happen with Pathfinder Society South Africa too.

I organize and run a game day on every second Saturday at Fanaticus Hobbies and Games in Cape Town. In Durban, my Venture-Lieutenant, Paul, organizes and runs a game day once a month at the brand-new The Unseen Shoppe. At the moment we’re still a bit small—Cape Town sees about two tables per game day; Durban, one. The stores are particularly supportive, offering free use of their venues.

Of course, I’d like to see Pathfinder spread throughout the country. In Johannesburg, I have managed to arrange space at stores there, but we sorely lack for GMs in Gauteng. If you know of any Gauteng GMs looking for some help in setting up a regular game, send me an email and I’ll see if I can help kick off some regular games there. In fact, if you know of (or are) a GM, anywhere in the country, drop me a message and I’ll see about getting you started.

To find out more about the Durban scene, contact Paul at pathfindersadbn@gmail.com. For Cape Town, contact me at pathfinderza@gmail.com.

Jerall Toi
Venture-Captain, South Africa

Thank you to all of the VCs and VLs for kick-starting an awesome Pathfinder Society Lodge in South Africa. I look forward to the additions of new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants in other regions of the country and watching Pathfinder Society grow strong. Keep up the awesome work!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

The Urge to Evolve

Monday, October 29, 2012

Back in spring 2011, the first Pathfinder Society Quest, "Ambush in Absalom," was released in the pages of Kobold Quarterly (and has since been made available as a free PDF here on paizo.com). Last spring, knowing that we'd soon be using quests as the format of our Pathfinder Society Open Call and urged by Kobold-in-Chief Wolfgang Baur to put some new Pathfinder Society content in the magazine, I asked frequent KQ contributor and my fellow Pathfinder developer Adam Daigle to write one up for me. And did he ever!

Called "The Urge to Evolve," this Tier 3–7 quest features a sinister plot by a powerful outsider who needs to consume humanoid spirits in order to increase its own might. Set in Magnimar, this adventure can easily be used during the Year of the Risen Rune as a time-filler or quick demo (using either 4th- or 7th-level pregenerated characters for those new to the game), and fits thematically with the Varisian focus of the current season. The adventure consists of just a single encounter and should take no more than an hour to complete, so organizers will likely have many opportunities to run it, even over the course of a single game day.

You can find the Chronicle sheet for this quest on its product page or download it below. We'll eventually release this as a standalone product like we did with "Ambush in Absalom," but for the foreseeable future, Kobold Quarterly #23 is the place to get this exciting new adventure. I can't wait to hear what people think!

Download the Chronicle Sheet for "The Urge to Evolve" here.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Building Your Pathfinder Society Community

Monday, October 22, 2012

Illustration by Guz Boroda

When I started playing Pathfinder Society more than 3 years ago, I realized the more I gave to it, the more I got from it and the more valuable it became to me. While it may not be a universal truth, I believe that when you work for something, you value it more than if it was just given to you. Also, I find that when you give back to your community, it too becomes stronger and more valuable.

Pathfinder Society Organized Play is a social, roleplaying game where people come together in public to enjoy our favorite pastime. Pathfinder Society is built upon this community. Even if you only play with friends at home, this group is your local gaming community.

In Georgia, I realized very quickly I couldn’t run Pathfinder Society on my own, especially if I wanted the community to grow it and make it better. With a large area spread out across the Atlanta metro area, I simply couldn’t make it to all the stores, meet all the players and store owners, recruit the GMs needed, and grow Pathfinder Society to the numbers I’d set as goals. This led me to being able to find a core group of store liaisons (today we call them Venture-Lieutenants) to help the community grow Pathfinder Society. Without the tireless efforts of Kyle and Nani Pratt, Joseph Caubo, Nicholas Gray, and John Compton, the community in Georgia wouldn’t be as strong as it is today. The first thing we did was work to get a website in place so that all interested gamers had a place to gather and plan future game days, chat about Pathfinder Society in general, and brag about their accomplishments. In hindsight, this was the foundation of building a strong community.

I was going to expand on how my Venture-Lieutenants’ contributions helped and were the foundation of one of the strongest player bases in the world, but that would take many more words. Instead, I am going to invite them to come here and share those experiences. They will do a much better job explaining their parts than I ever could. I will instead leave it at a simple thank you. Without all of their tireless efforts, we wouldn’t have a community in Georgia; we would just have many splintered groups of gamers.

This blog post is an introduction to a topic that I will be including in a future version of the Pathfinder Society Guide to Organized Play, under the heading of 'The Pathfinder Society Community':

"The Pathfinder Society Organized Play Campaign is a global gaming community that exists because of the efforts of volunteers just like you. In joining the Pathfinder Society Community, your contributions—whether GMing, aiding in organizing events, helping new players, or just sharing your enthusiasm—are an essential part of Pathfinder Society membership. You are strongly encouraged to add your efforts to make this campaign better. It cannot exist without you and together we can do great things."

Our gaming communities would not continue to exist without your contributions, which is why we are adding this to the Guide—to highlight how vitally important it is that everyone gives back to his or her local Pathfinder Society gaming community. Let me add, we at Paizo do not have any expectations about how you give back; we only request that you do so. Your local Pathfinder Society community might already have some ideas about what being a member entails.

Many of the challenges that Pathfinder Society communities face, such as a lack of GMs, can only be solved by the community members, and the successes that happen are a result of many people working together toward a common goal. You matter. Your ideas matter. Your contributions matter. Together we make things happen.

Let’s look at common ways to contribute to your Pathfinder Society community. This is in no way an exhaustive list. It is simply a list of common ways to give back:

• Offer to GM. This one is first on the list because it is obviously the easiest and most important. There is a reason why we stress GMing so much. It’s a great way to give back to the community and become a better player while you do it. We have established GM 101 training sessions to encourage quality GMing and we hope that all of you will try spending some time behind the screen.
• Organize gamedays and local conventions. Anyone can organize a gameday or small convention, not just Venture Captains and Lieutenants. All you need is to arrange the gaming space, secure the GMs, promote the event to get players, and then report it. It’s easy and provides a valuable service. You can become a local coordinator by coordinating a regular event, such as at a game store or even at home. Setting up new spaces on a regular basis provides new locations for players to play, and for new potential players to experience the community that Pathfinder Society offers and creates.

• Help find and prepare new players for Pathfinder Society Organized Play. New players are the lifeblood of the Society. This very important as we will always have some attrition in the ranks. Spreading your enthusiasm by finding and teaching new Pathfinders what it means to be in the Society and helping promote your local events are of vital importance. If all you do is introduce one new player a month to the Society and your local playgroup, your Pathfinder Society community will grow stronger, and perhaps even become one of the most vibrant in the world.

  You might be surprised who could be interested in Pathfinder Society. It’s the perfect vehicle for people who have busy working and home lives, and who can’t commit to a regular schedule, to still get their gaming fix. Talk openly and honestly about Pathfinder Society to people you come across, even if you don’t think they fit the typical bill of a gamer.

  Some additional reading can be found in Painlord’s post here.

• Other ways to contribute. The Pathfinder Society runs best when the environment is friendly and warm and people are recognized for their time and efforts. If you’re the person who is always bringing pizza and sodas to thank GMs, taking the time to help the local coordinator design flyers, offering to do the reporting after the events, or printing materials for your local group, you are doing your part. There are many ways to contribute.

I believe that our Society will be stronger as more and more of us give back to the Society. I have seen it happen in Georgia... the more voices we had, the better we were together.

This is important to me and our Society... and that’s why we are adding it to the Guide.

On a final note, tell us how you contribute, or plan to contribute, in your area’s lodge during Season 4. The more ideas we have to show people, the better off Pathfinder Society will be as a whole.

If this blog receives enough positive feedback, I think it could lead to a series of monthly blogs, each one getting into the details of the bullet points above or other similar topics. Let me know what you think and I look forward to reading your suggestions on building a better Pathfinder Society community.

I want to thank Eric Brittain (Venture Captain of San Diego), Nani Pratt (Co-Venture Captain of Atlanta), Joshua Archer (Venture Lieutenant of San Francisco), Jeff Kokx (aka Drogon), and Kyle Baird (as himself). Their feedback and help with this blog allowed me to get the above thoughts and message out and were invaluable in this week’s Pathfinder Society blog post.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Plots and Perils of the Pathfinder Society

Monday, October 15, 2012

We launched the Year of the Risen Rune at Gen Con in August and are moving quickly into the heart of the season's metaplots with the release of two new scenarios this month. In past seasons, we've moved from completely unlinked scenarios to short three- or four-part story arcs within a larger array of generally unlinked scenarios and then further into seasonal meta-arcs covering an entire year's worth of scenarios. During Seasons 2 and 3, the Year of the Shadow Lodge and Year of the Ruby Phoenix, respectively, we still released several multipart stories within the larger arcs, each with its own series title. We're not doing that this year, though, not because we think there's necessarily a problem with multipart scenarios, but rather because we wanted to try something else out.

Multipart scenarios have always been big hits for players, who like the continuity between adventures, as well as for event organizers who can schedule a whole arc for a gameday or convention to give a bit more cohesion to their event. But for everyone who has given positive feedback about multipart scenarios there's been another Pathfinder Society member who's expressed frustration with needing to play them in order, leveling out of a series' tier, or release of scenarios being delayed by a month (or more, in some cases).

In response to this, we've set the multipart arc format to the side this season and are trying something new—a high-level and a low-level metaplot tied directly to the season's larger metaplot. These adventures will build upon one another in a way more like a traditional campaign but in a way that they can be played out of order or by different PCs without their internal continuity suffering. But for someone playing them in order and with the same character, a clear through-line and progression from the arc's start to finish will become apparent. In both cases, the adventure that kicks off the metaplot will be releasing this month!

Pathfinders of 1st to 7th levels are going to be doing a lot of scenarios dealing with the Aspis Consortium and firmly establishing the Pathfinder Society as a prominent Varisian organization despite the Consortium's longer presence in the region. This metaplot begins with Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-07: Severing Ties, and will conclude in June in a Tier 3-7 scenario we're tentatively calling Rivalry's End. This metaplot is set to bring at least two villains back from previous seasons, though who they are and what roles they're set to play I'm not yet ready to reveal.

Players with characters in the highest tier of regular Pathfinder Society play will note that every Tier 7-11 scenario released from this month to the end of the season has direct ties to the cult of Lissala, an ancient Thassilonian faith thought lost to time. Over the course of the season, the Pathfinder Society's highest-level field operatives will be sent to investigate the cult, uncover what they're up to, and ultimately face the greatest threat to ever appear in a Pathfinder Society Scenario. We're planting seeds of the final showdown in some of our earliest scenarios of the year, and players who earn special unique rewards will have the chance to use them to make an otherwise epic encounter in July's Tier 7-11 season finale (currently titled The Waking Rune) perhaps a bit more survivable.

What about those PCs who like to adventure in the middle, like Tier 5-9? Well, that's sort of our catchall this season while we put more thematic scenarios into Tiers 1-5, 3-7, and 7-11 and their respective metaplots. Mid-level Pathfinders will get to follow up on a low-level party's discoveries by venturing into a Hellknight citadel, will have the chance to alter the very nature of the Hao Jin Tapestry, and in May, June, and July, take the Pathfinder Society from Varisia into a neighboring nation and from there into Season 5 with an epic discovery!

As the season plays out and folks get a chance to play through these metaplots, please leave your feedback here or on the Pathfinder Society messageboards. Whether you've got a 1st-level neophyte Pathfinder or a seasoned veteran coming up on 10th level, don't miss this month's release of Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-07: Severing Ties and Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-08: The Cultist's Kiss! While you look for a local offering of these events, check out this art to whet your appetite.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Illustrations by Daniel Warren

Pathfinder Society Survival 101

Monday, October 8, 2012

One of the concerns I have heard pop up lately, both on the messageboards and at shows, is that Pathfinder Society scenarios have become more deadly. I've heard horror stories about TPKs on the rise in various regions of the world. Let's see if we can help combat some of that and help the new player, or the low-level character of a veteran, with some options that may just prove useful.

One of the benefits of being a Venture-Captain before this job was that I met a wide variety of players throughout the southeast. Each and every one has their strong points and weaknesses. One of the strongest rules players I know from my time in Georgia was Jordan James. He survived quite a few tables I GMed, and most of the time, it was because of brilliant use of a piece of equipment I had never heard of or had seen used once at most. He has been discussing equipment that makes survival easier, specifically when it comes to lower-level characters, with the Georgia crowd for the last year through their Pathfinder Society lodge messageboards.

After speaking with Jordan this past week, he proved excited to share his thoughts on a few overlooked items that might just make the difference between your low-level character surviving or going to meet Pharsma earlier than anticipated.

Jordan advised, "Here we have a simple list of items I have found to be ridiculously useful, and sometimes critical, to have around for those situations that, if you aren't prepared, may very well turn into a TPK."

"Please do reply with items I've missed (there will be many) because the sole intention here is to provide a helpful thread for fellow adventurers, and to have a little fun in writing it," he noted.

So, what are some things that are just wonderful to have available in a pinch, and more often than not, are generally not well known?

Elixir of Spirit Sight (1,000 gp): From Pathfinder Adventure Path #38: City of Seven Spears, 1,000 gp for 1 minute of see invisibility and ghost touch for both your weapons and armor! Incorporeal entities got you down with strength drains and random irritating things that ignore your armor and halves your damage? Go to town on them with this wonderful concoction.

Bladeguard (40 gp): Straight out of the Advanced Player's Guide and into your martially inclined character's inventory. This clear resin protects a weapon from harmful attacks from oozes, rust monsters, and similar effects that corrode or melt weapons, rendering the weapon immune for 24 hours. One pot can coat one two-handed weapon, two one-handed or light weapons, or 50 ammunition items. Applying it takes 1 full round. Immersing the weapon in water or similar liquid washes it off. That's pretty useful for its cost.

Potion of Feather Step (50 gp): More Advanced Player's Guide spell goodness, and bottled for your convenience. For 10 minutes, you can ignore difficult terrain, and even take 5-foot steps in such an area, oh HADES YES! Seriously, have you got one of those wizards in your party? You know the type: crazy guy throwing around stone call, sleet storm, and other such "control" spells thinking he's awesome, when all he's really doing is making it impossible for you to move? This bottle is your answer (you can even throw the empty remains at the wizard afterward as a free action!). Smart wizards of the above type also keep a couple of these on hand.

Potion of Invigorate (50 gp): Going into battle with a creature that can sap your endurance, leaving you fatigued or exhausted, this potion will banish that pathetic mortal weakness and allow you to ignore the associated penalties for 10 WHOLE MINUTES. Of course, when it runs out, you get not only the penalties, but also an extra d6 points of nonlethal damage for your arrogance in ignoring your natural limits—but hey, performance enhancements are just an easy way of separating winners from losers! Honestly, though, ignoring those penalties for 10 minutes, that's freaking awesome for 50 gp.

Potion of Delay Poison (300 gp): 300 gp might sound like a lot, but for that handful of gold, you get to tell any and all poisons coursing through your veins for the next HOUR to sit down, shut up, and wait for you to finish beating the stuffing out of the poor fool that thought poisoning you would be its ticket to victory. This is like antitoxin, but sexy.

Smoked Goggles (10 gp): So, medusa, basilisks, and other gaze-type critters suck. You can avert your eyes (50% chance to avoid the gaze, 20% miss chance that round), or close them (immune to the gaze, but then everything gains total concealment from you, which kind of sucks). The answer: These cheap-as-dirt goggles grant you a +8 circumstance bonus on your saving throws vs. gaze, and all you suffer is a 20% miss chance (and a -4 on Perception checks—I know, a real deal breaker there if you're using these for combat). More Advanced Player's Guide goodness.

Smelling Salts (25 gp): Speaking of Advanced Player's Guide goodness, one last entry is the useful smelling salts. These sharply scented gray crystals cause people inhaling them to regain consciousness. Smelling salts grant you a new saving throw to resist any spell or effect that has already rendered you unconscious or staggered. If exposed to smelling salts while dying, you immediately become conscious and staggered, but must still make stabilization checks each round; if you perform any standard action (or any other strenuous action), you take 1 point of damage after completing the act and fall unconscious again. A container of smelling salts has dozens of uses if stoppered after each use, but depletes in a matter of hours if left opened. That's just nifty.

Bracers of Archery, Lesser (5,000 gp): A wrist slot that offers +1 to hit with a bow you're already proficient with is okay, but the hidden gem is that it works like the greater variety in terms of providing you proficiency with ANY bow (excluding crossbows). For characters without any bow proficiency or chaffing under a short bow only restriction, save the feat, drop 5,000 gp, and be happy!

Elixirs (250 gp): These are pretty well known, but just in case, for a paltry 250 gp you can pack potions for a +10 competence bonus on Acrobatics Perception, Stealth, and Swim checks. Handy, but keep in mind the swimming one is sort of overshadowed by the touch of sea potion below.

Golembane Scarab (2,500 gp): It's a neck slot that detects golems within 60 feet and ignores their DR with weapon, unarmed, or natural attacks. This can be a nice little package of helpfulness here!

Pathfinder's Pouch (1,000 gp): This little gem from Seekers of Secrets functions as a small bag of holding, allowing one to store up to 10 pounds of items within its 2-cubic-feet limit. Why is it special? Because detect magic ain't got nothing on this pro—thus, a Pathfinder can keep important or dangerous items safe in its confines with little worry from guards, customs, and random searches. Even if the pouch is opened and turned upside down with a shake, as long as the proper command word remains unspoken, nothing in the extradimensional space will fall out.

Potion of Bestow Grace (400 gp): For good characters only, but this can be a sweet bonus if you happen to have the rare positive Charisma modifier (and aren't already a paladin). For 4 minutes, you get a sacred bonus on all of your saving throws equal to your Charisma score bonus. That's almost good enough to make me consider being good, almost...

Oil of Weapon of Awe (300 gp): For 3 minutes, your weapon not only gains a +2 sacred bonus on damage rolls, but if you score a critical hit, it causes the creature hit to become shaken for 1 round with no save. It can't be used on natural weapons (though it can on unarmed strikes), but the gravy is that when used on ranged weapons, it applies to missiles fired. Loving some of these Advanced Player's Guide spells.

Potion of Touch of Sea (50 gp): For a measly 50 gp, you get a 30-foot swim speed, +8 competence bonus on Swim checks, the ability to take 10 on Swim checks even when distracted or endangered, and even use the run action while swimming. While this is more than enough to leave the poor elixir of swimming curled up in a corner, the one caveat is that it doesn't enable you to breath underwater, but for 1 minute of duration, you are bloody well near a seal.

The following are from the Pathfinder Society Field Guide:

Air Crystals (50 gp): An inexpensive personal bottle of air. Find yourself underwater, in a void, or otherwise bereft of air? Pop some of these beauties in your mouth and you've got 1 minute of breathing space to plan your escape (note that you can't talk while chewing on these crystals).

Comfort (armor special ability) (5,000 gp): Whoa. Okay, for 5,000 gp (doesn't even take up a slot of enhancement bonus on your armor) you get armor that is always clean, doesn't penalize you in hot weather, counts as cold-weather clothing in cold weather, reduces armor check penalties by 1 (minimum 0), AND regardless of what kind of armor it is, it can be slept in as if it were light armor! Note that only applies to being slept in, but my goodness, for anyone concerned about getting caught without their armor in the night, this is a sweet solution!

Dweomer's Essence (500 gp): Casters take note! For 500 gp this one-off pinch of powder may seem insane, until you notice that you can add it as an extra material component to any spell you are casting and receive a +5 bonus to your caster level to overcome spell resistance. It's like an on-demand rod of piercing spell, except it's available whenever you need it, stacks with the Piercing Spell feat if you really need that spell to land, and doesn't cost you an action to get out a rod or an additional level to apply the metamagic. This is the sort of awesome that I'd pay more than 500 gp for, so enjoy and keep some in the component pouch!

Fortunate Charm (3,000 gp): Anything that can help alleviate the terrible pain of lame dice is wonderful, and this neck slot beauty does just that once per day on a failed skill or concentration check. Since failing checks like that can often result in extremely severe consequences, 3,000 gp for that kind of love is just sweet.

Runestone of Power (2,000 gp): Wow, that's a lot of gold! Ever looked longingly at wizards and their fancy pearls of power letting them get free spells? Well, as long as you're a bard, inquisitor, oracle, sorcerer, or summoner you are in luck! For the cost of double an equivalent pearl of power, once per day (per runestone, of course) a spell you cast of its level uses the runestone's power and not one of your limited spells per day.

Potion of Stalwart Resolve (300 gp): New cleric spells to the rescue! For 3 rounds per pop, this little gem lets you ignore ability damage and penalties to any one ability score of your choice (unless it equals your total ability score, in which case you're still screwed). It has a short duration and doesn't protect you from ability drain, but when you really need to shake off some bad ability damage and get back into the fight, this is what you need.

Now for a few from the Adventurer's Armory:

Weapon Cord (1 sp): Cheap as dirt and twice as useful! If you are disarmed or drop your weapon, it never moves farther away from you than an adjacent square and you can recover it as a swift action. The caveat is you cannot wield another weapon with the same hand the cord is tied to, and removing the cord is either a full-round action (untying) or move action (cutting). Great for archers who never want to be separated from their bows.

Spring-Loaded Wrist Sheath (5 gp): Retrieve any dagger, dart, wand, or equivalent-sized object (forearm length or so) as a swift action. Let me provide a simple example of why this is awesome. Your friend is 20 feet away and dying. You move to her, get out your wand, are out of actions, and she dies at your feet. With this wrist sheath, you move to her, produce your wand of cure light wounds with a swift flourish, and save her life.

Antiplague (50 gp): Getting diseased can be really bad. Use this if you know you're moving into an area where such might be likely. For an hour, you receive a +5 alchemical bonus on Fort saves against disease. Even better, if you're already diseased, this will let you make two saves (no +5 bonus though) and use the better result. Good thing to have.

Vermin Repellent (5 gp): Not a perfect defense, but it keeps individual vermin away and swarms of vermin must make a DC 15 Fortitude save to enter your square. Not bad for a 4-hour buff.

Allnight (75 gp): Recommending "herbs" and "black market items"—I love this guide! Allnight eliminates the effects of fatigue for 8 hours, during which time you take a –2 penalty on all skill checks, and when the duration runs out, you're exhausted. The good news: Combine a couple doses with a couple potions of lesser restoration and you are the Energizer Bunny.

And a few other generally useful items to have around:

Potion of Blur (300 gp): Sure, the miss chance may only be 20%, but there are a couple nice bonuses during its 3-minute duration. First, since you gain concealment, most precision-based damage, such as from sneak attacks, won't work on you unless the user has some pretty special feats. Second, if you like to be stealthy, then here is your bottle of "hide in plain sight," since this grants you that necessary concealment you need to hide.

Oil of Align Weapon (300 gp): Your go-to spell when you need a weapon to bypass DR of the evil/good/lawful/chaotic types. Three minutes per use, so it should last long enough to even apply before combat if you know what's around the corner.

Potion of Remove Sickness (50 gp): For 10 minutes, you gain a +4 morale bonus on saves vs. disease and the sickened and nauseated conditions, or suppress effects already being experienced for the duration of the spell. While being sickened is annoying, some diseases, and especially being nauseated, really can make you useless, so this is a lifesaver. Pro tip: When you're nauseated, you can't take standard actions, so either pour this down a nauseated ally's throat on your turn, or hold it out and have one of your comrades do the same for you.

Potion of Negate Aroma (50 gp): For the sneaky types that are sick and tired of being given away by scent, one hit off this potion and you've got 1 hour of scentless scouting as long as you don't get doused in a new, smelly substance.

I know there are more, especially out of Ultimate Equipment, but those are a few I really wanted to throw out! Post other great options and we all might just survive an extra encounter or two!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Pathfinder Society in France

Monday, September 24, 2012

Illustration by Eric Belisle

Usually, I try to spread out international Pathfinder Society blogs to every 3–4 weeks. However, with one sitting in my inbox, I didn’t want to just hold onto it for a month. I had the pleasure of meeting Venture-Captain Karim Majeri at PaizoCon UK in July. Not only did I meet him, but I was able to GM a game for him and several other international Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants. I will just say that it was a very entertaining session of #3–25: Storming the Diamond Gate. The Pathfinder Society organization in France is lucky in that they are one of the three international regions that have Pathfinder RPG books translated into their native language. This allows us to provide convention prize support with French Pathfinder books. Karim was also kind enough to bring me several French Pathfinder books, and the French Core Rulebook sits in my collection as one of my favorite pieces.

Karim also is supported by Venture-Lieutenant Benoit Gros in Geneva, Switzerland. I also met Benoit at PaizoCon UK, and between them, I suspect we will see significant growth in France in the coming year.

Without further ado, I present to you Karim’s report on Pathfinder France.

I’m Karim Majeri, the Venture-Captain for France and surrounding French-speaking countries. I started to play Pathfinder RPG with the Beta version, while at the same time running a Rise of the Runelord Adventure Path campaign. Besides serving as a Venture-Captain for Pathfinder Society Organized Play, I am also president of the Ligue Ludique, an association that promotes RPGs, in particular D&D and Pathfinder. The organization is based in Paris. We are currently coordinating more than 150 events per year, including large conventions that include Comic Con Paris, Monde du Jeu, Paris est Ludique, MayCon, and LudikXPerience (our own convention).

The first Pathfinder Society event hosted in France was several years ago. Past Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator Joshua Frost attended an event in Lyon in the summer of 2010. Since that game day, we have hosted numerous full Saturdays with many players in Lyon and in Paris.

We are currently running many demos and campaigns in different shops in Paris, including my own shop, La Carte Chance, located in the northern district of Paris. I have taken the lead and recruited and trained quite a few new GMs on how to run Pathfinder Society games. I’ve also created a dedicated webpage in French for French players who want to start playing Pathfinder Society.

Here in France, we have a strong community of fans and you can find out much information from different sources. Of course, we have the Ligue Ludique website mentioned above, but we also have Pathfinder-FR (with a wiki, a forum and a lot of other information); PSOP, a website that collects your sessions and characters’ info; and finally the Black-Book Editions website, which is the French editor for Pathfinder RPG books.

The largest events in France and French-speaking countries to play Pathfinder Society are Comic Con in Paris the first week of July, Octogones in October in Lyon, Festival en Jeu in Belgium, and Imaginaire at the end of November in Paris. There are also other conventions and you can stay updated on future dates and information at the French PFS website or on the Paizo event page here at paizo.com.

The next step for growing Pathfinder Society in France is to find some Venture-Lieutenants throughout different regions in France. My hope is they will help promote the game and find new GMs for Pathfinder Society. I have found quite a few players and GMs that are very motivated, including my new Venture-Lieutenant, Benoit Gros, in Switzerland. I’m currently recruiting for Venture-Lieutenants in or around Lyon, Rennes, Lille, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Strasbourg. If you live in or around any of those regions, please contact me at webmaster@ligueludique.fr.

Last, but not the least, after Paizo Con UK (organized by UK Venture-Captain Dave Harrison and Venture-Lieutenant Rob Silk), I have been highly motivated to organize a PaizoCon France in Paris. The idea is to gather and welcome all the players in Europe together in Paris. That’s my new project and I am working with BBE to plan it for the end of August or beginning of September 2013. Thanks again to Dave and Rob for the great time had at PaizoCon UK and the inspiration for a PaizoCon France.

Thank you to Karim and Benoit for kickstarting an awesome Pathfinder Society organization in France. I look forward to the additions of new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants in other regions of France and watching Pathfinder Society spread like wildfire. Keep up the awesome work!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

More Venture-Captains Added to the Ranks

Monday, September 17, 2012

As we continue to expand Pathfinder Society to areas where players are looking for organization, it is important to me to find the right people to serve as ambassadors of the game, to present a positive light for new players, and try to bring veteran players who have left back into the fold. Ten more Venture-Captains have been chosen to fill those roles.

Illustration by Dmitry Prosvirnin

First, I want to thank JP Chapleau for his tremendous efforts in building the Denver area Pathfinder Society. Not only was he the caretaker of Denver, but he oversaw Pathfinder Society in all of Colorado and expanded into parts of New Mexico and Idaho. He has taken a position as Creative Director for Neo Exodus and will be building the organized play program for that game. I wish him the best and look forward to watching the growth of Neo Exodus organized play. Taking over in Colorado is Venture-Captain Jacque Woods. She comes into the position extremely motivated to continue the awesome job that JP did where he left off. She mentioned she was looking to centralize all Pathfinder Society activity into a website to help foster a greater sense of community and I look forward to seeing it blossom. She also mentioned to me she is willing to travel to help support Pathfinder Society in and around the region, including southern Wyoming and northern New Mexico, east into Kansas and west into Utah.

I also want to thank Doug Daulton for all he did for Pathfinder Society in Las Vegas. I met Doug at Neon Con last year and he ran a good watch. Due to his hectic and very busy work schedule, he has taken a step back. One of Doug's Venture-Lieutenants, Chris Clay, has stepped up and taken on the mantle of Venture-Captain. He mentioned several challenges and goals for the next 6 to 12 months and I look forward to seeing how Las Vegas reignites its interest in Pathfinder Society under Chris's watch.

In July, I had the pleasure to meet Diego Winterborg when I traveled to PaizoCon UK and Viking Lodge Summer Games. Diego was one of the 13 original Venture-Captains chosen on October 4, 2010 and I had the honor of working side-by-side with him for a year as a fellow Venture-Captain, and the last 8 months as Campaign Coordinator. Diego did a fantastic job introducing Denmark to Pathfinder Society and growing it. Unfortunately, he had to step aside as Venture-Captain at the beginning of August due to hectic a life schedule and he will be sorely missed. Stepping up to fill his shoes is Erik Ingersen. He will center his initial activities out of Ringsted, while he works with current Venture-Lieutenant Jacob Trier in Jutland to start growing Pathfinder Society again. He mentioned he would also be looking for Venture-Lieutenants in Copenhagen, Holbaek, and Roskilde. If you have an interest in helping grow Pathfinder Society in Denmark, please send Erik an email. I'm sure he would greatly appreciate it.

Eddy and Stephanie Roberts started Pathfinder Society coordination in Salt Lake City, Utah, but have since had to step down for a hectic work and life schedule. Taking over the reins for Pathfinder Society coordination and growth is Phillip Willis. He had some very exciting and interesting ideas to restart Pathfinder Society in Utah and I look forward to watching as Pathfinder Society grows by leaps and bounds. He advised me he considers his region the entire state of Utah and possibly northeastern Nevada, so if you live in those regions, make sure to reach out to Phillip with any questions, advice, or help you can offer.

My first week on the job last year, Doug Miles informed me he was having to step down due to a new family and hectic work schedule. Not only was Doug one of the original 13 Venture-Captains selected, but he was Pathfinder Society's first five-star GM. When he stepped down, it was a huge blow to the Detroit area. Daniel Luckett and Eric Clingenpeel have done their best to help fill the void while I have searched for someone to step into Doug's shows. After almost a year without a Venture-Captain, Detroit is finally getting their second one! Mason Whitlark is excited to fuel the fire once again in Detroit and hopes to expand his area from Fenton to Ann Arbor, and down to Toledo, Ohio. With Mason in place, joined by Daniel and Eric, the entirety of Michigan should pretty much be covered.

Chris Jarvis did a phenomenal job in Seattle over the course of 9 months. He took over the Seattle Venture-Captain position the same week I started at Paizo. Under his watch, a website was created to bring the community together. Multiple weekly game days were established in more than eight cities across Washington. And he coordinated and oversaw the smooth operation of Pathfinder Society at more than seven local conventions. He also went above and beyond his duties and was a tremendous aid to me with the coordination of PaizoCon in July. His shoes will be tough ones to fill. His Venture-Lieutenant, Kyle Elliott, has stepped up to the challenge and has hit the ground running, coordinating Pathfinder games and demos at Pax Prime. The Washington Pathfinder Society player base is in very good hands with Kyle at the helm.

I am also excited to add four new areas to our Venture-Captain regions. The first is Memphis, Tennessee. Phillip Goettsch already has some plans on how to kick-start coordinated Pathfinder Society play in the western Tennessee region. He also advised during his interview process that not only was he going to facilitate the establishment of coordinated Pathfinder Society play in the greater Memphis area, but he was going to try to reach as far north as Dyersburg, TN, northern areas of Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas to include Little Rock, until a Venture-Captain or Venture-Lieutenants could be found to coordinate Pathfinder Society in those regions. Please contact him if you are able to assist him in western Tennessee.

The second new region is Jacksonville, Florida. James Apostolou comes highly recommended by several local Venture-Captains and Lieutenants, as well as local players and GMs. Jacksonville is an area ripe for tremendous growth, and with the fairly recent addition of the Pathfinder Society of Florida website and the three current forums for Jacksonville game locations alone, it looks like James has plenty to work with to grow and expand Pathfinder Society in northeast Florida.

I met Matt Clay at Gen Con, as he was one of my GMs. He did an outstanding job at Gen Con as a Tier 1 GM and I look forward to seeing what he has in store for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Western PA has just been waiting for someone to step up and take charge and Matt is the man for the job. Not only will Matt oversee Pathfinder Society in the Pittsburgh area, but if there is interest he will also cover Washington, PA; Wheeling, WV; and possibly Somerset, PA. I am very interested to see the growth of Pathfinder Society play and look forward to working with Matt again.

Finally, Michael Seales will be taken over all of Alabama, operating out of Birmingham. He is currently coordinating and organizing Pathfinder Society on Wednesday and Friday nights at three different Birmingham stores and looks to expand further. He is also planning to attend and coordinate Pathfinder Society for Birmingham Game Days in March, Alabama Phoenix Festival II in May, and Play On Con VI in July of 2013. Additionally, he is looking at the possibility of attending Kami-Con, MOBICON, and Con*stellation as well. It looks like Alabama could be the next hotbed of activity for Pathfinder Society growth.

We are still in need of additional Venture-Captains in some regions and you can find the list here and the first phase of the application process here.

If interested in applying, please contact me after reviewing the application process in the previous link.

Welcome aboard to all my new captains!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Pathfinder Society in Turkey

Monday, September 10, 2012

Illustration by Eva Widermann

I had a great time at Dragon*Con two weekends ago and then spent several days in Birmingham working some things out with Books-A-Million. It’s going to be an exciting time for Pathfinder Society in 2013. One topic that came up in both Atlanta and Birmingham was international play of Pathfinder Society. It seems many people are genuinely interested in reading about Pathfinder Society Organized Play all over the world. So, we are going to publish another international Pathfinder Society blog post this week.

This time, we go to one of the oldest regions in the world, but one of our newest regions for Pathfinder Society. I always had Turkey, specifically Istanbul, as one of my geographic goals to get Pathfinder Society up and running. Istanbul has five million more people than New York City, an internationally renowned university, and a lot of young people hungry for RPGs in general, and campaign play specifically. So, watching the growth that Venture-Captain Can Sungur and his Venture-Lieutenants have helped facilitate is just awesome. They have grown from a new lodge 4 months ago, to one of the top five Pathfinder Society lodges in the world! Without further ado, I present to you Can Sungur’s report on Pathfinder Turkey.

This is Can Sungur, the Venture-Captain for Turkiye. I am a digital marketing consultant with past experiences in social media marketing and your classic, analog ad business, taking the title of strategist in all of these positions. I have been playing world’s oldest roleplaying game since 1999, when I played Baldur’s Gate 2 on my computer for the first time, and I have been a passionate d20 player and GM ever since.

I found out about Pathfinder and what Paizo was trying to create back in 2009, when Selçuk Gözübüyük, who was one of the eldest members of the Turkish roleplaying community, and who unfortunately passed away in 2011, introduced me to the Alpha version of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Since then, I have been advocating Pathfinder by my personal effort and that effort was fading away with the constant pressure of my professional life. That changed 4 months ago, since the day we got the “go!” from Mike Brock, our coordinator.

Pathfinder Society in Turkiye is in its fourth month as of this blog post’s date. Let me tell you about the community in Turkiye and what’s been going on!

Pathfinder Society in Turkiye started in Istanbul. Spread on two continents and with a population count of 13 million, Istanbul is the cultural capital of Turkiye and the best place to start our Society operations. Of course, I haven’t been alone in this. I would like to thank my two partners in crime, the Venture-Lieutenants for Istanbul, Yücel Okçu and Mustafa Yılmaz. Also, a thank you goes to our team of voluntary Society agents: Mert Erten, Necati Burak Gücer, Caner Ünsal, Boğaçhan Aydın and Muvaffak Kıral. We got everything rolling together and I want to thank each of my friends for sharing my passion about Golarion.

The roleplaying community in Turkiye is quite small considering European countries and USA, but in the late years, Turkiye has been in the spotlight of many online gaming companies, especially free-to-play games, due to its great youth population. As a head start, we decided we would be targeting young players to our Society games.

Before we started gaming, we went into a month of preparations, planning on how to announce our program, designing launch posters and flyers, and opening communications with different universities. We launched Pathfinder Society games in the end of June in KONTAKT, a sub-culture convention.

Since June 30th, we have been through three organized play days, with the number of simultaneous sessions increasing steadily. Currently, we hold two biweekly organized play events each month. İstanbul Technical University is now hosting us in our organizations. So far, we have reached 74 players. And why are 74 players important? Well, probably most of our readers are in their thirties or more, with a more or less established roleplaying community in their local areas. Even being a metropolis, Istanbul and Turkiye is far from that. As we guessed before we started, most of our community is between 18–22 years, and most of our players have played their first roleplaying game with us! Imagine that! And in September, we have started monthly Pathfinder and Golarion Workshops to get our young GMs and players going. So many questions about all the lore and the systems and everything!

Here is a group photo from our third organized play event at ITU.

Also, the current community in Istanbul is very, very active! We have a couple of very talented people in our community. Here is a little goblin figure made by my girlfriend for my birthday—our lovely goblins are as popular as everywhere in Istanbul!

In the following months, Pathfinder Society is planning to expand to Ankara, Eskişehir, and İzmir, all three being centers of attention for roleplaying gamers. This will be very exciting for me, as we will be seeing new Venture-Lieutenants creating a community in their own city. Also, we are planning to merge our organized play events with conventions hosted at different colleges and universities.

A year ago, I felt like I was alone with all my knowledge about Golarion and I had the chance to chat about the game only with a couple of gaming friends. Now, all around me, I see Pathfinders coming up with questions about the nature of positive and negative energy, the secrets of the Mwangi, questions about aboleths, and of course crazy character builds! Just seeing people around me talking about optimizations, quarreling about factions, and of course, discussing various rules makes me very happy!

Can Sungur (gyrfalcon)
Venture-Captain, Turkiye

My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of the Venture-Captains and Lieutenants, coordinators, players, and GMs for making Turkey an amazing area for Pathfinder Society with phenomal growth. Keep up the awesome work all!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Pathfinder Society Down Under

Monday, August 27, 2012

Now that Gen Con is over, and I only have to finish plans for Pax Prime and get ready for my trip to Dragon*Con in Atlanta next week, I am finally able to get back on track with our series of international Pathfinder Society blogs. This time, we go to some of the most remote Pathfinder Society play in the world down in Australia. I have a great fondness in my heart for Australians. I was able to have a drink with several of the Australian Venture-Captains and Lieutenants when they came up for PaizoCon in July. Wes Nicholson always brings me Tim Tams when he and I are at the same convention, and at Gen Con last week, he brought me beer. And, I have met Matt Goodall (RPG Superstar) at both PaizoCon and Gen Con, and was able to share some war stories with him. So, I reached out to all three Venture-Captains in Australia and below is what they had to say about Pathfinder Society scene in there.

Before we get to those three reports, I wanted to announce that a fourth Venture-Captain has been added to Australia. Daniel Flood will be overseeing coordination of Pathfinder Society in Brisbane. Welcome aboard Daniel! I look forward to watching you facilitate growth of Pathfinder Society from the amazing level it currently is, to the awesome level I know it can reach.

First, we start on the west coast in Perth with Callum Prior.

My name is Callum (buzzby on the boards), I'm currently Venture-Captain for Western Australia. I'm a Community Development Officer for one of the largest local governments in the state. I previously spent about a decade as a self-employed music and tour manager and prior to that I worked as a butler to the Governor (Her Majesty's representative, not the American-style governor. Rule Britannia!).

Western Australia alone takes up a third of the country, coming in at 20 times larger than England and more than 3-1/2 times bigger than Texas, but our whole state only has a population of 1.7 million. We're spread pretty thin in terms of population centers. Our side of the country, in particular, suffers from what we like to call the "tyranny of distance."

The next closest Venture-Captain is a leisurely 3,438 km away in Melbourne. We have one gaming store in the metropolitan area and we don't have access to a dedicated RPG convention.

Back in the heady days of late 2011 I started email contact with Melbourne Venture-Captain Stephen White, who at the time had jurisdiction over the whole of Australia. With my home gaming group only able to meet up two or three times a year due to the perils of real life, I was keen to see if Pathfinder Society might be a reasonable alternative. Sadly we weren't able to locate any locally reported events and I went back to playing knifey-spoony and looking for ways to support Stephen over here.

However, several weeks later, Stephen sent me an email pointing to Mike's call out for volunteers in new regions. I submitted my application and here I am.

We don't have a strong history of organied play over here and with just the one gaming store, a lot of my work is building partnerships with other (not always gaming) groups and seeking opportunities outside of the normal gaming hot spots.

A great recent example of this is RFLAN, a local LAN event that runs four times a year and routinely sells out to a capacity 450 gamers. I've been working with them to have a presence at their events, the first of which we ran last month starting off with a modest single table. They've kindly offered us even more at the next event, enough for five tables, and it's something I hope to build into a quarterly Pathfinder convention.

We've also been able to attend a number of local pop culture conventions—WAICON (anime), Swancon (science fiction), and GenghisCon (speculative fiction and gaming)—all for the first time. Feedback from all of these have been very positive, and I'm quite excited at what we'll be able to bring to those events next year.

Most recently I was able to appoint Chris Chisolm as my Venture-Lieutenant. Chris will be caretaking our metro events while I make a start establishing groups in some of our regional areas.

So, starting from nothing scant months ago we now have 88 players registered on Warhorn, hit 100 subscribers to our email newsletter, run weekly events at a number of different venues, have attended all the major pop culture conventions bar one (we'll get you next year, Supanova!) and are starting to see our first starred GMs.

Callum Prior
Venture-Captain, Western Australia

Now we move 3,438km (or 2,136 miles) to the east for Pathfinder Society in Melbourne.

I'm Stephen White, previously Venture-Captain, Australia—more recently demoted to Venture-Captain, Melbourne. Though that's all cool, because I realized going in that one person can't possibly oversee a region as vast as Australia, I'm very grateful for the work Al, Callum, and many others are doing in other cities throughout the country.

I'm a long-time gaymer, having purchased the 1981 Basic Box with birthday money as a teenager, and played every edition (minus one) of the game since, including GMing the original Adventure Path (Dragonlance) through two editions.

When I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne, I nervously attended my first gaming convention, and discovered a thriving community of players. I enjoyed Living Greyhawk and Living Arcanis and an occasional Eberron game (I'm the VC who loves non-core races!) for 5 years, meeting some great friends along the way. When those campaigns wound down due to edition changes, I was concerned for the future of our local gaming scene. Being a long-time collector of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, I followed Paizo's transition to Pathfinder with great interest, buying a copy of the Pathfinder RPG Beta for each of my homegroup players and GMing Runelords and Crimson Throne.

A strong perception I had growing up in Adelaide during the '80s was that all of the big RPG conventions, events, and promotions seemed to be focused on the USA or perhaps Europe. RPG products cost twice the cover price in Australia due to international shipping and the weak Aussie dollar. Being an island nation isolates us—travel to even our closest neighboring countries requires costly overseas flights.

Some of the barriers to participating as a single international RPG community have reduced in recent years, such as the growth of Internet communications, PDF downloads, a stronger Aussie dollar reducing the cost of imported books, and more competitive airline industry making flights more affordable. Aussies now participate more frequently and equally in many fields internationally, and nothing represents this more in our hobby than our very own Matthew Goodall winning RPG Superstar 2010, and more recently authoring Pathfinder Adventure Path #57: Tempest Rising (Skull & Shackles).

It is very much this sense of wanting Australians to participate in RPG events on equal terms that, when Paizo released Hollow's Last Hope, motivated me to download and run my first public Pathfinder gameday in Melbourne—Free RPG Day 2007. That was 5 years ago now, and I've GMed Pathfinder modules at Free RPG Day events every year since.

The other reason I became a Pathfinder GM was in appreciation of all those who ran tables of Living Greyhawk, Living Arcanis, or Eberron for me at Melbourne conventions. You may not have realised it at the time, but I learned a lot from you all, and your efforts inspired me to be where I am writing this blog post today. GMing Pathfinder is my way of giving back to the community that supported my enjoyment of the game for all those years, and I hope in return I may inspire others to do likewise.

So it was that I started GMing Pathfinder Society scenarios right from Season 0's beginning, starting with my home group, who then became my GM team at Melbourne's three annual games conventions, Arcanacon, Conquest, and Unicon. With the help of GMs across the country, we descended on Brisbane, bringing Pathfinder Society to Gen ConOz and then PaizoConOz for the last 3 years.

Since becoming Venture-Captain, I realized that GMing Pathfinder at four conventions per year wasn't enough—we also need to run public gamedays at our local game stores. The Geelong guys were a step ahead of me, already hosting Pathfinder every Thursday night. I discovered a new Good Games store had recently opened at Blackburn, so I thought that would be the perfect place to start my own local group. We've been running Pathfinder Society tables at Blackburn every Sunday for nearly 2 years now, and we're also starting to host games in the Melbourne CBD. Players can sign up to play Pathfinder Society in and around Melbourne on our Warhorn page, though Pathfinder Society events are also being scheduled in cities across Australia—check out Paizo's event calendar for upcoming gamedays.

And can I just say WOW, Sydney?! The Pathfinder Society growth experienced in Sydney has been phenomenal, and raises a community building challenge for us all to aspire toward, including my own Melbourne region.

Despite our country's size (roughly the size of continental USA), Australia has a population of only 22 million, compared to USA's 313 million. Australian cities are therefore quite isolated from one another—the "tyranny of distance." To put this into perspective, Melbourne and Sydney are a day's drive apart; Melbourne to Brisbane is 2-day's drive; and I'm told driving from Melbourne to Perth requires 3 full days driving across nothing but featureless desert, which no sane person would even attempt.

Nonetheless, a few of us do travel to each others conventions from time to time, and it's always great to meet players from other regions. We're currently aware of Pathfinder Society gamedays in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Rockhampton, Sydney, Tasmania, and Woolongong. If you're playing Pathfinder anywhere in Australia, we'd love to hear about it and keep in touch.

The single message I most want to leave you with is that anyone can advertise and host a local Pathfinder Society gameday—that's exactly how I and many others started. Everyone benefits from a growing community. Sharing and rotating GM duty encourages more play opportunities, and meeting local players can open homegame opportunities such as Adventure Paths.

When I attended my first games convention, it was because I had no one local to game with. Now I'm gaming every Saturday and Sunday, every week of the year, and have made many good friendships in the process.

Make your own opportunities happen!

Stephen White (DarkWhite)
Venture-Captain, Melbourne

PS: To Do List: Create a Pathfinder Society druid concept that credibly supports a kangaroo animal companion in Golarion :/

Finally, we move a "day's drive" from Melbolurne to Syndney.

Currently, Australia has three Venture-Captains: Stephen White (aka DarkWhite) in Melbourne; Callum Prior (aka buzzby) in Perth; and myself, Alistair Rigg (aka The Spider) in Sydney.

I have been building up the Pathfinder Society scene here since late 2009 and was appointed Venture-Captain in October 2011, shortly after the call for regional Australian Venture-Captains. I started playing Dungeons & Dragons in my hometown of Kendal, in the northwest of the UK, with the Red Box back in 1982. A fanatic of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, I was originally confused that, in D&D, I wasn't constrained by a short list of possible actions. It wasn't until I attended a local game day, in which I rolled up a 1st-level fighter, joined a band of higher-level heroes seeking to assault Castle Ravenloft, and was finally struck dead by the horrific keening of a groaning spirit, that I truly grasped how to play, and was completely and utterly hooked.

I migrated to Sydney in 1997 where I continued to play and GM by helping to start several gaming groups through my workplace and a local game store. We played through 2nd to 4th Edition, but settled on Pathfinder as our system of choice. We became involved with Pathfinder Society when we attended Gen Con Oz 2009 in Brisbane. There, we drank beer with Jason Bulmahn, and became friends with other Pathfinder players and GMs who remain active in the Australian Pathfinder Society to this day. Back in Sydney, I immediately started organizing Pathfinder Society game days. I started organizing Society conventions when Gen Con Oz 2010 was cancelled. As we had already booked our flights and accommodation, we needed an alternative and so Stephen White, Richard Adamson, John Deague, and I organized PaizoCon Oz. The event was a great success, and having learned a little of what was required, resolved to get involved with the convention scene in Sydney.

Australia is a big country. It's roughly the size of continental USA but with a total population of just under 23 million, most of whom are located in cities along the eastern seaboard. Australia is therefore characterized by urban populations separated by huge spaces of open country and desert. This "tyranny of distance" shapes our efforts in building the Pathfinder Society in Australia, forcing each Venture-Captain to develop in relative isolation from each other. I'm separated from Steve's region by around 600 miles, and from Cal's region by around 2,500 miles! It also means that, geographically speaking, our areas are quite large. Sydney's urban area is in a coastal basin, which is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north, and the Royal National Park to the south. Sydney's urban area is around 650 square miles and has a population of around 4.6 million. This is my core region.

My outer region, however, comprises the state of New South Wales, which contains the Australian Capital Territory. Apart from Sydney, the other major cities in this area are Canberra, Newcastle, and Wollongong. This outer region is so vast that it would be impossible for me to personally manage events across it on anything but an occasional basis and so self-managing groups are vital. Currently, by far the strongest of these is in Australia's capital city of Canberra, ably managed by Wes Nicholson, Sean Wellsmore, and Steven Coling through a roleplaying society based at the Australian National University. They run game days every other week, have a convention calendar that runs throughout the year, and are going from strength to strength. A new group has also recently started in Wollongong. Jesper Bjelke and Sibel Yilmaz are running a monthly game day at Good Games Wollongong and have forged links with the University of Wollongong's Guild Gaming Society who have just run their first convention, Gong-Con. Most of their players are new to Pathfinder Society, only just finished taking their First Steps.

In my core region of Sydney, there are 5 game days each month. Although the stores that have space for games are happy to host us, and for which we're very grateful, we do all of the organizing and running ourselves. On the first Saturday, Neil Mansell runs six sessions at Unlimited Hobbies in Blacktown along with his GMs, Adam Mansell, Brendan Missio, and James Bonham. On the second Saturday, Ben Kemp and Tony Calder runs four sessions through the long-running Blacktown Games Day at Blacktown North Public School. On the third Saturday, Luke Parry, Brad Kirkwood, and Adam Luchjenbroers run three sessions at Good Games Sydney, and Brendan Missio and David Zammit run games at Tin Soldier Penrith. On the last Saturday of the month, Tris Sullivan and Seb Mullins run two sessions at Good Games Burwood. More game days are in the works as well, and we hope to have sessions up and running in Miranda and Newcastle soon.

Sydney's convention scene is also well developed with six conventions per year. The next major Pathfinder Convention is one of my own, the Spring Shadowmoot, which will be named Risen Rune in honour of the new season, running over the Labour Day long weekend, September 28th to October 1st. There are around 60 sessions scheduled, including all the latest scenarios from Season Three, the first scenarios for Season Four, the Season Four multi-table special, sanctioned modules, and Australia's first public offering of the Eyes of the Ten arc.

Currently, our community centers around our Facebook page. Here we launch our events and discuss Pathfinder Society play in the region, so please "Like" the page to link up with us and keep up to date on what's happening.

I'd like to say a big thank you to all of the Sydney region's Pathfinder Society event organizers and GMs, for all their hard work and willingness to give up their time to entertain people. I've already shouted out some of these people in the above but there are many others, including enthusiastic players, too many to mention, who are helping to drive the hobby forward here in Sydney. My Venture-Lieutenant, Martin Blake, currently on secondment with the Colorado Chapter, is likely to make the move permanent and seek a Venture Officer role there. Although he was involved in organizing events here in Sydney for just a short time before he was relocated, his advice and enthusiasm will be missed. I'd like to take this opportunity, therefore, to welcome my new VL, Dave Metcalfe (aka Metz), to the role. Metz has been my adviser and co-organizer over the last year or so, and was very active in a previous organized play campaign. He'll be a key player in developing the Society here in the future, and I am thankful to have him as part of my team.

There have been several highlights in the local scene since I was appointed Venture-Captain. In October 2011, I organized my first Sydney convention, Shadow Lodge, and, at 31 sessions, it immediately became the biggest Pathfinder Society event that had run in the region. In December 2011, we ran five tables of Blood Under Absalom and had by far the largest number of sessions for any game on offer at MacquarieCon, another of Sydney's long-running roleplaying conventions. In April, our second Shadow Lodge convention, Ruby Phoenix, was even bigger! We had 60 players filling 375 seats over 64 sessions, which made Ruby Phoenix the largest Pathfinder gathering in the southern hemisphere to date!

The resurrection of the organized play scene in Canberra is also exciting in that it offers more options for more players across the greater region. Wes Nicholson and his team are organizing the relaunch of Spring Revel Downunder, which will be running over two weekends on Sep 28–Oct 1 and Oct 5–8. The successful inception of Society play in Wollongong as a completely new location is also very encouraging.

Over the course of 2012, we're aiming to start game days at a number of other new locations. And we'll of course continue to grow our offerings at conventions in Sydney and Canberra to support our growing player base. We're also working on a website that will unite the event calendars from across the region and act as a launchpad to our various online locations of interest, such as our Facebook page and Warhorn sites.

Ultimately, the true highlight of the Pathfinder Society is through the like-minded people you meet. It is probably this aspect that I find most satisfying and which gives me the greatest sense of achievement. The Sydney Pathfinder Society is developing strongly, with a great many new friendships forming as a result, and I'm excited to be able to help facilitate and promote it.

Alistair Rigg
Venture-Captain, Sydney

My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of the Venture-Captains and Lieutenants, coordinators, players, and GMs for making Australia an amazing area for Pathfinder Society. Keep up the awesome work all!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

The Ranks Continue to Grow

Monday, August 20, 2012

As we continue to expand Pathfinder Society to areas where players are looking for organization, it’s important to me to find the right people to serve as ambassadors of the game, to present it in a positive light for new players and to try to bring veteran players who have left back into the fold. Four more Venture-Captains have been chosen to fill those roles.

First, I wanted to note that Dan Simons has moved from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. He has resigned his Venture-Captain position in Washington D.C. but has taken the mantle as Baltimore’s new Venture-Captain. Players in that region are lucky to have an experienced leader to spur growth of organized play in their hometown.

Taking over as the Washington D.C. Venture-Captain is Mike Alchus. He comes into the position extremely motivated and well-advised, and is ready to extend his region of responsibility as far south as Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, VA, and as far north as Columbia, MD. If there’s interest, he may also stretch his region out to Leesburg, VA, and possibly Mechanicsville, MD.

I am also excited to add three new areas to our Venture-Captain regions. The first is Oklahoma City. Michael Kirk plans to grow Pathfinder Society in Central and Western Oklahoma, as well as North Texas.

It also is exciting to add both east and west coasts of Canada to the mix. On the east, Jonathan Bilodeau will be overseeing growth of Pathfinder Society in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. On the west, Anthony van Poppelen will be looking to grow Pathfinder Society in all of British Columbia north of Quesnel. He will particularly focus on the region in and around the University of Northern British Columbia. I am excited to see how much more Pathfinder Society can grow in Canada.

We’re still in need of additional Venture-Captains in some regions, though! Check out the list of regions we're looking for and the first phase of the application process on the Get Involved! page. If you’re interested in applying, please contact me after reviewing the application process in the previous link.

Welcome aboard to all my new captains!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Pathfinder Society Additional Resources Updated

Monday, August 13, 2012

With Gen Con just 4 days away, I wanted to release the updated Additional Resources today so everyone has an opportunity to review it and discuss it before Gen Con. It also lets people who are picking up their subscription items at Gen Con have a list on hand so they can immediately utilize those books at the show. Note that even though the Additional Resources is being published today, it won’t officially go into effect until August 15.

With Ultimate Equipment being as voluminous as it is, I certainly missed a few items that have been banned in the past several years. Those items are still banned. If you find an item I forgot to include in the Ultimate Equipment list that is banned, please let me know. I will make sure they are added in the September update of Additional Resources.

In this upcoming Additional Resources, the following updates have been made:

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition
Spells: Blood money, covetous aura, deathwine, raiment of command, sign of wrath, swipe, and unconscious agenda are legal for play.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #60: “From Hell’s Heart"
Equipment: Crossbow of retribution, doubleshot pepperbox, enervating pistol, and hurricane crown are legal for play.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #61: “Shards of Sin”
Equipment: Cat burglar’s boots, cytillesh extract, frostspore, paradox box, pendant of the souk, and second-story harness are legal for play

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige
Prestige Classes: Aldori Swordlord, Bellflower Tiller, Brother of the Seal, Champion of Irori, Dawnflower Dissident, Golden Legionnaire, Green Faith Acolyte, Knight of Ozem, Lantern Bearer, Magaambyan Arcanist, Mammoth Rider, Prophet of Kalistrade, Riftwarden, Shieldmarshal, Skyseeker, Sleepless Detective, Storm Kindler, Tattooed Mystic, and Veiled Illusionist are legal for play.

Pathfinder Player Companion: Varisia, Birthplace of Legends
Archetypes: Kapenia dancer and thundercaller are legal for play. Equipment: All equipment on pages 14–15 are legal for play except Varisian idol. Feats: Thunder and Fang is legal for play. Roles: Duskwarden, Frontier Defender, Magnimarian Warden, Professional Gambler, Sable Company Marine, Sczarni Tough, Shingles Dweller, Shoanti Outrider, Shoanti Totem Shaman, Sky Magistrate, Varisian Bravo, and Welcome Wanderer are legal for play. Traits: Coincunning, cypher resistance, emissary, empyreal cultist, humble beginnings, local know-it-all, regional influence (except Magnimar), regional recluse, roof racer, savage breaker, Shoanti steed, Shoanti tattoo, town gossip, underbridge dweller, Varisian tattoo, and winner’s luck are legal for play.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player’s Guide
Equipment: All staves in Chapter 7 are not legal for play from this source. If you purchased these prior to Aug. 15, 2012, they are grandfathered into the campaign.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Equipment

All items from Chapter 1 are legal for play except as noted below. Some rules elements are legal but function differently in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, as described here.
Equipment: No Large or larger firearm is available for purchase. The double hackbut, culverin and any advanced firearms on Table 1–10 are not permitted in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. No character may purchase a firearm unless she possesses the Gunsmithing feat and firearms are never considered Always Available; a character must possess enough Fame to purchase any firearm not found on a Chronicle sheet or granted by a class feature. All ammunition except metal cartridges may be purchased.
Special Materials: All special materials, except angel skin and living steel, are legal for play.

All items from Chapter 2 are legal for play except as noted below.
Equipment: Only creatures of the animal type of size Large and smaller may be purchased. No eggs are legal for play. Animal-related gear on pages 80–86 is available for purchase. Transports on pages 86–87 are not available for purchase. All alchemical remedies, alchemical tools, alchemical weapons, clothing, entertainment items, and food and drink are legal for play.
Any character with the Poison Use class ability can purchase and use poisons. For now, they are the only classes that have a list of “always available poisons” (those noted below)—no other class may purchase poisons unless they appear on a Chronicle sheet or in another legal source. Alchemists, ninja, and poisoner rogues may only purchase the following poisons: black adder venom, bloodroot, giant wasp poison, greenblood oil, large scorpion venom, malyass root paste, Medium spider venom, nitharit, shadow essence, small centipede poison, terinav root.

All items from Chapter 3 are legal for play except as noted below.
All armor special abilities on pages 114–123, except dastard, are legal for play.
All specific magic armor on pages 124–129, except breastplate of vanishing, catskin leather, demon armor, enchanted eelskin, hamatula hide, mail of malevolence, morlock hide, otyugh hide, scarab breastplate, and warden of the woods are legal for play.
All specific magic shields on pages 130–133, except avalanche shield, belligerent shield, celestial shield, dragonslayer’s shield, elysian shield, living steel heavy shield, tempest shield, volcanic shield, wyrmslayer’s shield, and zombie skin shield are legal for play.
All weapon special abilities on pages 134–149, except unholy, are legal for play.
All specific magic weapons on pages 150–163, except bastard’s sting, blade of the rising sun, blade of the sword-saint, cutthroat’s apprentice, dagger of doubling, dragoncatch guisarme, earthenflail, hellscourge, lash of the howler, nine lives stealer, pistol of the infinite sky, polarity hammer, spider’s fang, and ten-ring sword, are legal

All items from Chapter 4 are legal for play except as noted below.
All rings on pages 166–177 are legal for play.
All rods on pages 178–191, except rod of the viper, are legal for play.
All staves on pages 192–203, except unholy staff, are legal for play.

All items from Chapter 5 are legal for play except as noted below.
Equipment: All items on pages 208–325, except ampoule of false blood, beneficial bandolier, bone razor, cauldron of the undead, collar of the true companion, darkskull, horn of evil, otherworldly kimono, orb of foul abaddon, robe of the archmagi (black), stalker’s mask, and talons of Leng are legal for play.

Nothing from Chapter 6 is legal for play unless it appears on a Chronicle sheet.

I hope that a few days of advance notice will help everyone plan for use of the new books releasing at Gen Con, and that you can properly prepare your characters to use all the new shiny toys during the show.

See you at the convention!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Guide 4.2 and Changes to Pathfinder Society Organized Play

Monday, August 6, 2012

With Gen Con just 10 days away, I wanted to release the new and improved Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.2 today so everyone has an opportunity to review it and discuss it before Gen Con. With the help of the Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, and specifically the tireless efforts of Boston Venture-Captain Don Walker to help me with wordsmithing, we have added several much-needed changes that we think will improve your experiences in Pathfinder Society play.

Most notably, the following changes will go into effect on August 16 when Season 4 kicks off at Gen Con:

• We added three new races to character creation for all players to choose from: aasimar, tengu, and tiefling.
• Scenarios and sanctioned module now have one unified set of rules for applying Chronicle sheets to pregenerated characters.
• Added all hardcover rulebooks to the Core Assumption for GMs and advised that GMs can refer to the Pathfinder Reference Document for rules from any books they don’t own.
• Updated text so GMs are now allowed to take boons when they are offered on a Chronicle sheet.

There are quite a few more changes not mentioned above, so keep an eye on the Pathfinder Society General Discussion messageboard, where we’ll be posting a complete list of changes from version 4.1 to 4.2.

As for other changes to Pathfinder Society play, over the past 6 months, I have taken a keen interest in various things that don’t fit Golarion thematically or that cause confusion with power imbalance in the context of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign. I have talked with players that frequent the messageboards, as well players at the various conventions I have attended. I have discussed the topics below with Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, as well as with members of Paizo’s design and development teams. While some of these might work well in a home game (and I have some players that use them in my home game), they simply are not a good fit for organized play.

With that said, the following archetypes and equipment are being removed from Pathfinder Society Organized Play as legal options effective August 16, 2012:

Archetypes

Gravewalker Witch (Ultimate Magic 84)
Master Summoner (Ultimate Magic 80)
Synthesist Summoner (Ultimate Magic 80)
Undead Lord Cleric (Ultimate Magic 32)
Vivisectionist Alchemist (Ultimate Magic 20)

Equipment

Arcane bonded items must be listed as Always Available (thus, no firearms)

Added to the Additional Resources on June 20:

No Large or larger firearms available for purchase at any point.
Double hackbut (Ultimate Combat 138)
Culverin (Ultimate Combat 138)

Obviously, these changes do not reflect every problem, or cover every potential problem, in the Pathfinder Society, and we will continue to monitor, discuss, and evaluate material as it affects the format and as new material is released. We do not intend actions like this to be a regular occurrence. We did not make these changes lightly and recognize that many of you will feel like this is either too much or too little or somewhere in between. But I feel that these changes are necessary for the health and well-being of the campaign.

With that said, I understand the time investment and care put into a character’s background and the planning that goes along with making sure the character fits exactly how you envision him. If you have a character affected by the changes above, I am offering a rebuild along the following guidelines:

• You may rebuild any class levels affected, to levels of other classes as necessary. (For example, if you have a 10th-level character with one level of rogue and nine levels of the synthesist summoner archetype, you may rebuild the nine summoner levels into any other class or another summoner archetype).
• You may retrain any feats that directly apply to the changes above as necessary.
• You may sell affected equipment for the full price paid when you purchased them (as listed on past Chronicle sheets).

However you feel about these changes, I ask that you remain respectful of the feelings of others when commenting below. We are a community and we all know players who probably have a beloved character affected by the changes above. Please keep discourse civil and appropriate.

I look forward to seeing folks at the show and am looking toward a bright future for the campaign. I sincerely appreciate everyone who provided feedback, whether it was for the changes to the Guide or the options being removed above, in working together to make our organized play the best it can be for the player base and GMs. Feel free to pull me aside at Gen Con to chat about any or all of the above changes.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Open Call Revisited

Thursday, August 2, 2012

As some have noticed, when we launched the new Pathfinder Society Organized Play homepage here on paizo.com, we removed the Write for Pathfinder Society page. This is mainly because the Open Call as it existed wasn’t working as intended and we were in the process of changing it. Well, that process is now complete, and aspiring authors and game designers can now find the revised guidelines on the Get Involved! page.

In short, for the last few years, we’d been asking for brief adventure proposals for Pathfinder Society Scenarios, while at the same time increasing the amount of plotting that went into each successive season. The result of this was that even when we got an outline for an amazing adventure we wanted to publish, finding a way to fit it into the season’s metaplot or product schedule between other scenarios became untenable. Additionally, we found that asking for a few hundred words of prose didn’t give us a good sense of how an author would actually perform when tasked with writing encounters, designing stat blocks, and mapping, all of which are vital skills any freelancer needs to possess. The end result was that we weren’t getting submissions we could easily use, and the already difficult task of getting one’s foot in the door as one of Paizo’s writers became even more challenging for those submitting queries.

The solution we’ve now implemented is this: instead of asking for an adventure proposal, we’re now soliciting Pathfinder Society Quests—2,000-word mini-adventures containing one or two tiered encounters and using GameMastery Map Packs and Flip-Mat lines. This format allows authors to show us they have a grasp of the rules, can write an adventure on a small scale, and can tell a story using encounters as the primary mode of imparting plot and character to players and GMs. And, to top it all off, a submission we like is something we can immediately use with very little development. Whether we publish an accepted Quest on paizo.com, use it as a Pathfinder RPG demo at conventions or game stores, or promote the campaign by putting the adventure in another medium like Kobold Quarterly, authors whose work we like can get paid for their effort and see the fruits of their labor in print much faster.

You can now download our first Pathfinder Society Quest, the Tier 1–5 Ambush in Absalom (written last spring by yours truly). We’ll let everyone know when we have more available and where you can find them.

I look forward to seeing what great ideas the community has to offer!

Mark Moreland
Developer

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!

Mark Moreland
Developer

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

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

Archerfeast

Monday, July 2, 2012

Back in January, when I learned that PaizoCon was the first week of July, I knew we would be tying Archerfeast into the Grand Convocation somehow. The fact that Archerfeast falls on Erastus 3rd on Golarion made for a perfect fit for today's Pathfinder Society blog post.

Managing Editor, F. Wesley Schneider, wrote the description below detailing Archerfeast, and beneath that you'll find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character. Archerfeast is mentioned on page 249 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide.

Across Avistan, few festival days are as anticipated or celebrated as widely as Archerfeast. Despite the holiday's origins in the worship of Erastil, common countryfolk from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings to Taldor celebrate the height of summer with a day set aside for establishing new relationships, enjoying current camaraderie, and celebrating the gifts of the gods.

While the festival's traditions emphasize contests of marksmanship—still a prominent part of any Archerfeast celebration—most have expanded to exhibit talents of all types, from baking and storytelling to racing and mock combat. Aside from encouraging a fair-like atmosphere, many of the displays and competitions serve one of two secondary purposes: either as a way for merchants to show off their superior livestock and wares, or—more popularly—as a way for eligible men and women to show off to each other.

While the day's events at most Archerfeast fairs are filled with games, food, and crafts, the night brings dancing, drinking, pranks, and the crowning of the princes and princesses of spring and summer for the two single youths and two single adults who faired best in the day's events. The festivities continue late into the evening, but end promptly at midnight, so that—in true Erastilian fashion—the next day's responsibilities are not overly impeded. For those not of Erastil's flock, however, private parties, drinking, and trysting carry on long into the next morning.

Click here to download the Archerfeast 4712 Boon! - 119 KB (zip/PDF) This Boon is no longer available as of 7/23/12.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Grand Convocation Preview Highlights

Monday, June 25, 2012

This week’s blog is not only going to be my last sneak peak blog for the Grand Convocation, but is also going to be a change of pace from our last few, in-character updates on the upcoming Grand Convocation. Today we’re going to talk about it from an event standpoint.

For those who don’t know, the 2012 Grand Convocation will be running at PaizoCon, and will be the premiere Pathfinder Society event. What we haven’t discussed in detail is exactly what the event will comprise, so today I’m going to talk about that!

The Grand Convocation takes place Friday evening. Check-in for the event will begin at 6:30 P.M., giving players time to get in while GMs and volunteers finish up their prep. Each player will get a nametag, along with a special faction mission for the event.

At 7 P.M. the Grand Convocation officially opens. From here players will be able to participate in a series of ongoing events:

Side Tables: Each side table will give players a relatively quick event to experience, and each table may award a special Chronicle sheet depending on how well the players did during the event. These events may also be staffed by important NPCs, so in order to complete some faction missions, the players will need to attend these events and meet with the NPC.

Quests: Throughout the Convocation, venture-captains will be recruiting parties for dangerous missions. Players can expect to join a quest while they are waiting for the side tables, or resting and relaxing at the Pathfinder Social. Each player can expect a 45-minute to 1.5-hour event that awards a Chronicle sheet for completing the quest.

Pathfinder Social: As a rest-and-relaxation area, the Pathfinder Social will also have timed events occur. Players can interact in a live-action environment, without any enforced rules system governing their actions. This is a non-combat zone. Several faction-mission-related objectives will be found here.

Faction Missions: Each faction present at the Convocation will have a specific agenda, and players will be asked to aid their faction in promoting this agenda. We’re going to keep the specifics on the faction missions a mystery for now, but the results of these missions will directly impact a small part of Season 4 of Pathfinder Society!

Surprises: There are also a few other things planned but I don’t want to spoil all the surprises. Suffice it to say, there should be some very happy players by the time the Convocation ends.

The above events will wrap up by 10:30 P.M., at which point players will partake in a final event to close out the Convocation. As for what this finale entails... well, you’ll just have to show up and find out for yourself!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Suitors and Rumors, Part 2

Monday, June 18, 2012

As we get closer to this year’s Grand Convocation, more and more news seems to be springing up. This week we’ve received another update from Grandmaster Torch.

Esteemed Pathfinders,

As the Convocation approaches, this year is becoming far more interesting; yet more special guests have been added to the list of attendees. I’m still putting together what the motives of these newcomers are, but I wanted to share what I’ve found thus far.

Olaf Kvaran: Junior Pathfinders on the grounds of the Grand Lodge reported that Kvaran showed up at the peak of a furious torrential downpour. Laden in thick Ulfen furs, this man spoke of an impending disaster before being rushed to meet with Ambrus Valsin. Following that meeting, this overbearing Ulfen warrior has been added to the roster for this year’s Convocation. What dire prediction does he know that I do not?

Karla Gessner: Never before have I heard of such a pious and upstanding woman. Having studied in the famed Seventh Church of Iomedae, Karla Gessner only recently completed her training. Unlike most of her fellow students, this woman has remained in Absalom. After several meetings with the head priest and Ollysta Zadrian, Gessner has somehow managed to get her name on the guest list. An interesting turn of events!

Alexander Bedard: The influence of Andoran continues to spread, as I see a member of the nation’s People’s Council has managed to secure a spot at the Convocation. Alexander Bedard was formerly a worker of the port authority in Augustana, and I have met him on only a handful of occasions. The man speaks of nothing but his boats, but otherwise he understands the delicacies of balancing personal power with Andoran’s so-called democracy. Could his presence be part of a larger Andoren agenda?

Keep your ears open,
Grandmaster Torch

A few more tales have been spun by Pathfinder Larius Kaludju, and, while he insists that he won’t be able to attend this year’s Convocation, it appears there’s plenty going on in Absalom to keep aspiring and veteran Pathfinders alike occupied.

Another day, another mission.

Like any good Pathfinder, I’ve done my fair share of work for the Blakros family. On my last stop through the fair city of our Grand Lodge, I ended up playing a game of cards with a janitor in the depths of the famed Blakros Museum. After a few hands, the man opened up and started complaining that the vaults were overflowing and the museum was running out of storage space! I couldn’t believe it, and I truly wonder where the family plans on storing all their precious finds.

There’s also a juicy tidbit floating around town that tunnel diggers have been commissioned by Lord Gyr to start expanding the sewer systems. It’ll be nice to have some new sewer lines in the city, as I’ve had enough encounters with kobolds, spiders, and worse in these damned sewers!

Anyway, that’s about it for my tales. I’m off on a new mission to the Mwangi Expanse, but before I ship out, I’ve got a meeting with my old friend Urmas Sirola and his lovely wife, Venla. Kind of strange, considering Venla’s been doing a lot of work with the Blakros as well. I’ve even heard a rumor that she’s made her way into the family’s social circles and is helping them with some of their new acquisitions.

Of course, you didn't hear any of this from me.

Larius

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Suitors and Rumors, Part 1

Monday, June 11, 2012

This week, we’ve got another Grand Convocation update, which I’ll let Grand Master Torch tell you all about:

My Trusted Associates,

It has come to my attention that, in light of Major Maldris’s recent rejection of a Blakros marriage, various special guests have been admitted into this year’s Convocation. As you may know, I pride myself on reliable intelligence, and I pass this information on to each of you, hoping it will make attending the Convocation easier on you.

Damian Kastner: A maralictor of the Hellknight order, Kastner has been invited by the affluent Paracountess Zarta Dralneen. Damian is also a devout member of the Hellknight Order of the Scourge, and it appears he acts in deference to the wishes of the Paracountess. He is a respected member of the Hellknights and a near-perfect specimen of human perfection. I wonder what the Paracountess has in mind by inviting him?

Garyth Pammenter: You have likely not heard of this wily rogue, as her exploits are kept discreet by our allies in the Blakros family. Garyth is responsible for some of the greatest heists in history—all from Blakros holdings. The family has maintained a feud with this dashing thief for years, but it appears that she opted to return all of her ill-gotten gains for a chance to attend the Convocation and meet with Michellia Blakros. I have no doubt that the meddling of Guaril Karela had something to do with this attendance.

Mikhail Hofer: I had no clue of this man’s identity until one of my agents reported his attendance at this year’s Convocation. As a graduate of Korvosa’s Acadamae, Hofer runs a prominent business in Absalom, though he spends most of his time selling minor spells to esteemed noble families. Despite a clearly bumbling nature and moderate appearance, Hofer has been sponsored by the Sapphire Sage Amenopheus, as an attendee to the Convocation. Interesting...

Theodric Alverteen: While I try to leave politics out of my dealings, the old man Theodric Alverteen is a perfect example of the decline of Taldor. Once a prominent noble, Theodric left Taldor to go on a worldwide hunting excursion. Now finished seeking trophies, the old man has come to Absalom to show off his many conquests. I had the opportunity to meet him at a recent gala, and I can say that his mental faculties are not... entirely present. Why Gloriana Morilla would sponsor his membership to the Convocation is something I cannot even begin to fathom.

Yours in trust,
Grand Master Torch

In addition to the words of the Grand Master Torch, there have been many whispers throughout Absalom about the current state of the city. Many of these happenings have been compiled by expert Pathfinder and renowned bard Larius Kaludju. We hope to share more of these in the coming weeks.

Gather round, children, and hear the tale that I have to pawn, about Absalom at the time of summer’s dawn.

The people are going to bed early, hoping to hide out in their homes, as a terrible shadow stretches out from the Cairnlands. My guess is that we’ve got another uppity siege tower working some bad magic, and so far, no adventurers have returned from it. Rumors abound that this tower only appears in the late hours of the evening and remains until the wee-hours of the morn’. They say the screams can be heard all day long, but I think that’s just other bards trying to make it sound more dangerous than it actually is!

On a more upbeat note, the Absalom Menagerie is now closed for construction. Apparently, the warden is looking to do some new renovations in preparation for adding more space to their jungle wing. I, for one, look forward to going back, once the Menagerie has reopened; there’s nothing like seeing a child trying to pet a tiger!

I also hear that the Menagerie recently imported some exotic magical animals from the south, but everyone’s been hush-hush on that bit of info.

Larius

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

The Kickstarter Chronicles

Monday, June 4, 2012

Since Paizo and Goblinworks first announced the Kickstarter project to fund a technology demo of the Pathfinder Online MMO game, one of the most common questions both on our forums and on the Kickstarter project page has been: how will this work with Pathfinder Society Organized Play?

Backers who pledge at least $15 will receive the PDF of Thornkeep, an all-new Pathfinder Roleplaying Game sourcebook written by industry superstar Rich Baker, containing not only a gazetteer of the River Kingdoms “hive of scum and villainy” that will play a prominent role in the online game, but also a massive dungeon with levels designed by Baker, Paizo Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn, Paizo Creative Director James Jacobs, and Paizo Publisher Erik Mona, and if the project nets $175,000, all levels of the dungeon will be included in the printed version of the book with an expanded page count.

And we plan to release Chronicle sheets to give Pathfinder Society characters venturing into the dungeons beneath Thornkeep an in-world benefit for surviving the dungeons within. The fact that all backers will have the opportunity to select the theme of each dungeon layer beyond the first means it’s a rare chance for Pathfinder Society GMs and players to help decide what adventures their PCs will take part in. And by backing the project, you ensure that you’ll have access to those levels when they’re released.

So make sure you check out the Kickstarter project, consider backing it, and spread the word to your fellow Pathfinder Society members. The project ends this week, so don’t wait. This is your chance to help make the Pathfinder Online game a reality, and decide the flavor of an all-star multilevel dungeon that promises to go down in Pathfinder history!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Society in the Netherlands (or Join the Crew of the Flying Dutchman)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Illustration by
Christopher Burdett

Last month, we highlighted Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia, and Venture-Captain Zrinka Znidarcic's efforts to grow Pathfinder Society there. We now shift our focus back to the northwest and the land of the Dutch. I present to you, Venture-Captain Auke Teeninga's report on Pathfinder Society in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a small country in northwest Europe. It borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom. The country's capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands, in its entirety, is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces. The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and its name literally means "Low Country."

In 1602 the Dutch East India Company was established. This chartered company is often considered to have been the first multinational corporation in the world and was the first company to issue stock. Its mercantile fleets challenged the best in the world for supremacy, and due to the companies success the Netherlands, enjoyed a so-called "Golden Age" of prosperity. Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer perfected their crafts. Christian Huygens and Anton van Leeuwenhoek made amazing discoveries in science. Cities like Amsterdam, Leiden, Utrecht, and Delft started to grow, and their distinctive canals were dug to provide both infrastructure and defensive capabilities.

Nowadays, these same cities are still used as a home base for expeditions. Multiple times each month, teams of explorers from the Pathfinder Society are sent to Golarion to search ancient ruins, collect art and artifacts, and gather knowledge to bring back to the Grand Lodge of Absalom.

I started playing Pathfinder Society at GenCon UK in 2008, and continued to do so at various conventions in the United Kingdom. I wanted to share my enjoyment (and cut back on flight costs to the UK), so I started organizing regular games in the Netherlands in 2010. The Dutch Pathfinder Society has been growing ever since, and currently we've got more than two dozen active players, half of which GM regularly. I've got big plans for 2013, which includes a multi-day, multi-table, Pathfinder Society-only convention like PaizoCon UK, and get players from across Europe to join and share their Pathfinder experience, while at the same time helping us to grow our player base.

Although we have a few stores in the Netherlands willing to host Pathfinder Society games, most of games are run from private homes. The games, however, are open to everyone (as long as they RSVP) and no one has been turned down yet!

In the Netherlands there are also quite a few roleplaying conventions, and the Pathfinder Society presence at these conventions is increasing slowly but steadily. Some of these conventions include:

Ei-Con, Leiden
V-Con, Vleuten
K-Con, Delft
Meetup, Utrecht & Amsterdam

If you live in the Netherlands and are interested in trying out Pathfinder Society Organized Play, join the Pathfinder Society NL forum on Google Groups or send an email to dutchpathfinder@gmail.com for more information. Convention organizers and store owners interested in hosting Pathfinder Society events should send an email to pathfinderbenelux@gmail.com.

If you are in another country and do not have a Venture-Captain, but think you can do as good a job as Auke did above, please do not hesitate to send me a write-up about Pathfinder Society play in your area of the world and include some photos.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

A Preview of the Grand Convocation

Monday, May 21, 2012

There are always interesting things taking place in the Pathfinder Society. Take, for example, this message that has been sent out to Pathfinders across Golarion...

Amara Li—Lantern Lodge Leader

Pathfinder,

We hope this message finds you in good health, wherever you are operating from.

This year has seen the Society endure many hardships alongside equal victories. Our achievements in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament have not gone unrewarded, and even now, agents like you are taking on dangerous journeys as a result of our spoils. As these missions come to an end, we look to the new year as new opportunities and challenges face the Pathfinder Society.

In preparation, we invite you, our most prized agents, to attend this year’s Grand Convocation. As it takes place on the grounds of the Grand Lodge in Absalom, you should all know of our yearly gathering. It is here where the best of our agents come to trade tales of their exploits, partake in feats of strength, knowledge, and guile, or even venture off the grounds and take part in specialty missions on our behalf.

Though it has not yet been made public knowledge, we also wish to keep you apprised of a recent development here in Absalom. A member of the esteemed Blakros family, Michellia Blakros, requested the hand of Andoran Major Colson Maldris in marriage. As many of you may be aware, while not a member of the Society, Major Maldris is a sponsor of many Pathfinders and a great ally of our organization. As a complication, the major has opted to reject Michellia’s proposition, unwilling to surrender his name and rank as would be required.

Guaril Karela—Sczarni Faction Leader

The actions of Major Maldris have had dire consequences for our relations with the Blakros family. The Decemvirate agrees that this divide must be mended, and as such we have taken the unique step of inviting the Blakros family to this year’s convocation. It is our hope that Pathfinders such as you will attend this year’s gathering and assist the Society in mending this potentially disastrous divide between our organization and the Blakros family.

As always, your continued efforts are appreciated.

Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin
Grand Lodge, Absalom

Clearly the other factions are already looking to capitalize on Major Maldris’s rejection of a Blakros offer, so this is gearing up to be a Grand Convocation to remember at both PaizoCon and PaizoCon UK!

If you’re interested in attending the event, make sure you’re registered for PaizoCon 2012 or Paizo Con UK 2012! Registration is coming soon and we plan on keeping Pathfinders (both those in attendance and those off on assignment) up to date on all information up to and following the event.

For Pathfinders looking to research all the related backstory to this year’s convocation, it would be best to read up on the effects of strange monkey idols, ancient curses left by astronomers, and why contracts are important.

So, to sum it all up:

The Grand Convocation is a yearly gathering held by the Pathfinder Society to bring together the best of Pathfinders from across the globe. Taking place on the grounds of the Grand Lodge in Absalom, the convocation is an event where Pathfinders can get together and exchange tales, take part in feats of strength and guile, or be recruited for specialized missions. This year, the event is being honored by the presence of the esteemed Blakros family as well as various other prestigious people from across the Inner Sea, promising to be a convocation to remember!

Expect to see the following:

• Tailored Quests (45-minute to 1.5-hour mini-scenarios)
• Special Side Events (approximately 15 minutes per event)
• Pathfinder Social (A place for people to take part in live-action events)
• Faction Objectives
• And more!

The PaizoCon Grand Convocation 2012 is a Pathfinder Special open to characters of all levels—including those retired characters of 12th level or higher—that will have a direct influence on certain plot points of Season 4, the Year of the Risen Rune.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

The Evolution of the Multipart Scenario

Monday, May 14, 2012

Illustration by Yngvar Asplund

As early as Season 1, the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign has featured a number of multipart scenarios—mini campaign arcs designed to tell longer and more complex stories than a single 4-hour gaming session can provide. Whether in the form of four-part series like The Devil We Know, Echoes of the Everwar, and the Tier 12 retirement arc The Eyes of the Ten; a three-part arc like this season’s The Quest for Perfection and last season’s The Heresy of Man and Shades of Ice; or a two-part story such as The City of Strangers, Shadow’s Last Stand, and Before the Dawn, the level of continuity between segments and the arcs’ overall scopes have varied quite a bit in the last three years.

One of my goals as developer of the Pathfinder Society Scenarios line is to make multipart scenarios feel more cohesive and to provide players with a sense of accomplishment for completing these long format series. But finding the right balance of telling compelling, immersive stories and meeting the needs of the organized play campaign’s unique design parameters hasn’t come easy. And we’re still trying out new things.

Earlier this year, we released the Wonders in the Weave series, a Tier 5–9 two-part arc introducing characters to the Hao Jin Tapestry, the private demiplane the Society won as part of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament at the season’s halfway point. In this series, we tried something new with the mutliparters: we provided a boon at the end of the first installment, The Dog Pharaoh’s Tomb that grants no inherent bonuses. But having this boon on the Chronicle sheet immediately preceding the second chapter in the series, Snakes in the Fold allowed characters to earn a second boon that is only awarded for those PCs playing the story in order and without interruption between.

That method worked okay, but we still felt there was room for improvement. So with the release of last month’s Tier 7–11 scenario, Pathfinder Society Scenario #3–20: The Rats of Round Mountain, Part I: The Sundered Path, we had a chance to try a different tack with multipart boons. We were further motivated to push the envelope by the specific circumstances of this mini-arc’s plot: the PCs travel to the center of a hollow mountain in Part I, and then venture into a ratfolk stronghold within the mountain in Part II. It didn’t make sense for PCs to make a long trek, then magically be outside the mountain and even back on the Material Plane doing other adventures, partaking in a Day Job, or even buying equipment, then suddenly be back in the middle of the mountain at the start of the next adventure. If it were so easy to get back and forth from the mountain’s center to Absalom, why did they need to journey there on foot in Part I?

The solution we came up with is this: at the end of The Sundered Path, PCs are given a choice to remain there, forgoing the ability to purchase equipment or spellcasting services, make Day Job checks, or participate in other scenarios, or to hand-wave their characters’ continuity but sacrifice their ability to get a larger boon as a reward for playing the two scenarios back-to-back. Since PCs inside Round Mountain who choose the former are assumed to have been there continually before the start of Part II, Pagoda of the Rat, they won’t receive a faction handout for the scenario, and only need to complete a faction mission if they want to; players doing both scenarios continuously will automatically receive full prestige for the second part of the series. What the other benefits of sticking it out are, I’m going to keep under my hat, but I think folks will be pleased with the rewards.

Be sure to participate in the discussion of this topic below, or on our Pathfinder Society messageboards, and let us know what you think of this experiment.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Society in Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia (or South Eastern Europe Calling)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Last month, we highlighted Denmark and Venture-Captain Diego Winterborg's efforts to grow Pathfinder Society there. We now shift our focus to southeast Europe. Venture-Captain Zrinka Znidarcic's report on Pathfinder Society in Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia was a very interesting read for me and I hope all of you find it interesting as well.

It is interesting being a Venture-Captain of the only multinational region that encompasses three different countries (one of them being in the European Union). But, here we are, after barely 9 months of Pathfinder Society presence and it's already been a wild ride. From what I can tell, this presence promises to continue and grow.

Geographically speaking, Croatia is a small sliver of a country squished between Slovenia to the northwest and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast. The capital of Croatia is Zagreb and this is the home base for Pathfinder Society in the tri-country region.

It all started like anywhere else—with a home group and an overeager GM. I started gaming in 1996. After many years of playing, graduating from the university, moving back home, and trying to find somebody to GM fantasy roleplaying games, I learned that the only way to make anything happen game-wise was to go ahead and do it (contrary to my usual disposition). I started my GMing career in 2003, and as soon as Pathfinder Roleplaying Game appeared, we switched all the characters and never looked back, going on to play Pathfinder Adventure Paths (which we still do to this day).

At the time, Croatian fantasy fandom had just two significant gaming conventions—Sferakon (the oldest Croatian convention established in 1979) and Istrakon (established in 2000). At some point, Sferakon had organized RPG events, but none since 2002. Most people were quite happy with having home groups and there was little organized public play.

With only two gaming stores that didn't do so well—one closing its business and the other changing owners a few times and giving up on ordering RPG books—there was no local support for RPGs.

The region didn't fare well either. Our northern neighbor, Slovenia, organized several gaming conventions that didn't really take root and the fandom had retreated mostly into individual home groups. Bosnia and Herzegovina is still an unconquered land with almost no RPG players I am aware of (please email me if you live there and are interested in organizing Pathfinder Society).

But, several things happened. A lecture on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game at Istrakon 2010, followed by two tables of demo scenarios, gained traction and interest and we had a fair number of interested players at Istrakon 2011. At the end of August, my Venture-Lieutenant, Maja Skvorc, and I announced the first PFS event in the only friendly local gaming store, Carta Magica. We just wanted to see what would happen. With over 20 people showing it for that first game day, it was clear there was a real interest for the Pathfinder RPG and Pathfinder Society in Zagreb.

Currently using Carta Magica as the base for regular weekly sessions, we now count on three tables (generally 12–16 players) on regular basis. Higher-level characters are still a small minority so we've just started scheduling one table for them. With the fluctuation of players, we already have more than 70 people signed up on Warhorn.net for our scheduled events. It is also interesting to note that most players are in their mid-twenties and younger, and among the GMs, we have both experienced and new ones. In fact, several of the most active GMs started playing tabletop roleplaying games initially with Pathfinder Society.

Meanwhile, in Zagreb, a group formed in 2011 called SRP (Section for Roleplay) founded by Ana Rajner and Bozo Spoljaric. This was the first such group dedicated to roleplaying games of all kinds (tabletop and LARPs) with the goal of promoting and enabling play. Besides regular lecture-a-week (Pathfinder RPG was their first), they also started organizing Game Days every 2 to 3 months. This is where Croatian Pathfinder Society attracts the largest numbers of players. So far, we have hosted three such events and we see promise of even greater growth.

Another association is being established as we speak at Igranje.org. They not only have tabletop games as primary interest, but will also be able to provide completely free venue for Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

It is really amazing to watch how tabletop gaming has emerged in Croatia during the last year, and hopefully this is just the beginning.

Istrakon 2012 featured the first multiplayer session, Year of the Shadow Lodge, and was the first big convention with a strong organized play presence. With 12 tables in 2 days, it was a great success.

This year, Sferakon was the host of Eurocon 2012 on April 26–29. Being mostly a literary convention, never known for any significant gaming program, it was a great start for Pathfinder Society at the oldest Croatian convention. Most importantly, a group of Slovenian players were present all 3 days. They are more than willing to start growing Pathfinder Society in Slovenia and we're already making plans for the first Pathfinder Society event there.

The future looks bright and interest in the game keeps growing as more people are coming back to the hobby. Two new regional conventions have been announced, one in Sarajevo this summer and one in Slovenia this November, and that will be an excellent chance to start increasing Pathfinder Society outside our home base.

In the end I want to send a huge thank you to all the GMs for their hard work, to all the players who are the lifeblood of Pathfinder Society, and all the organizers who give us the support to share the hobby we all love. I want to especially thank Mike for having the faith in us and giving this weird little region a chance.

If you are in another country and do not have a Venture-Captain, but think you can do as good a job as Zrinka did above, please do not hesitate to send me a write-up about Pathfinder Society play in your area of the world and include some photos.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

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!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Remembering Season 2 and the Assignment of New Venture-Captains

Monday, April 23, 2012

Illustration by Ryan Portillo

One of my top goals from day one has been to see a facelift to the Pathfinder Society home page, and the creation of various sub-pages that will link to it. Though I can’t provide much details of what the final results will look like yet, I can say that one of the areas it will include is a section on the history of Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

It is important that new players can join the Society at any time and look back at what has happened in regard to the storyline from previous seasons. At the same time, veteran players will be able reflect back on what happened during a season they participated in. This is especially true as we move forward with the revamp of faction missions and season-long faction goals having lasting effects on future storylines, the viability of the factions’ existences, and rewards that characters in certain factions can earn. The first goal to accomplish this was a recap of Season Two, Year of the Shadow Lodge.

I met with Wolfgang Baur at Neon Con last November to discuss how we could get more Pathfinder, specifically Pathfinder Society, into Kobold Quarterly. When I pitched the idea of a Season Two recap in the spring issue, KQ #21, he seemed excited. I reached out to Nicholas Gray, a very devoted player I knew from my days in Atlanta, and he agreed to write up a summation that included the major plot points from the scenarios that revolved around the Shadow Lodge insurgency. Once the summer issue of Kobold Quarterly is released, and the new Pathfinder Society home page goes live, this article will also appear on the history section. A big thank you goes out to both Wolfgang and Nick for making the idea become a reality. You will also be able to find a recap of Season 3, Year of the Ruby Phoenix, shortly after Gen Con on the same page.

Switching focus from the history of Pathfinder Society to the future, in the past 4 to 6 weeks, I have assigned six new Venture-Captains to the Society to help grow PFS in their regions. Some were announced on the messageboards. Others have recently been assigned. Regardless, I wanted to write a few words to make sure they receive the recognition and thanks they deserve for stepping up and taking the reigns of PFS in their regions.

The two newest Venture-Captains to be assigned are James Engle in Cleveland, Ohio and James Hebert in New Orleans, LA.

James Engle will not only will be focusing his efforts on the Cleveland area, but he will also be helping coordinate the growth of Pathfinder Society in Canton and Akron as well. He advised me during his interview process that he would help out Toledo if there were a need.

James Hebert will expand outside of New Orleans and reach out to Lafayette and Lake Charles to the west, and Biloxi, Mississippi to the east. He also advised a trip to Baton Rouge may not be out of the question if there were interested stores or players looking to set establish games as well. Although it nearly killed me to put a Saints fan into a Venture-Captain position, I have faith that James can rise above the normal expectations of Saints fans and do a good job with Pathfinder Society. ;-)

We also added Michael McNerney in Columbus, Ohio, Karim Majeri in Paris, France, and Daniel Luckett in Western Michigan. Finally, we promoted Venture-Lieutenant Clint Blome to full Venture-Captain status of the Omaha, Nebraska region.

You have my thanks, and I’m sure the appreciation of your local players, for all of your efforts in coordinating Pathfinder Society.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

A Dedicated Follower of Factions

Monday, April 16, 2012

One of the defining characteristics of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign that separates it from other organized play programs is the faction system. A few weeks ago, Paizo Publisher Erik Mona, Campaign Coordinator Mike Brock, and I spent an obscene amount of time in a few very long meetings really digging into factions to determine what worked with their current implementation, what was lacking, and how we could improve them, and in doing so improve the quality of the Pathfinder Society campaign as a whole. We came up with a lot of great ideas, and Mike and I have hinted at them in recent weeks on the messageboards. Well, today I'm going to pull back the curtain a little bit and reveal a few of the changes we have in store in a bit more detail.

First, starting in Season 4, all 10 factions will have a specific goal they hope to achieve over the course of the year. In general, we'll be moving away from the original metaplot of the factions vying for control of Absalom, as the campaign has expanded to incorporate the entire Inner Sea region to a much larger extent than was anticipated in Season 0. These goals will be clear and will be disseminated to all members of a given faction by the faction heads at the start of the season. Make sure all your Pathfinder Society characters are registered on paizo.com and that your email address and privacy settings are updated before August so you'll be sure to get any missives your faction leader may send. All Pathfinder Society scenario designers will receive an overview of the factions' plans in order to incorporate opportunities to achieve these goals into their respective scenarios.

Note that I said opportunities and not missions? Faction missions aren't going away, and you'll still get faction missives from your faction head at the start of a scenario. But except in specific cases where necessitated by the circumstances, faction missions won't just be a specific skill check you need to make or else fail the faction mission. They'll be more general, and tied to the overall faction goal for the season. While we'll make sure there's an opportunity presented in each scenario for members of each faction to put forward their factions' goals (and any specific tasks suggested in the scenario's faction handouts), we'll also be allowing for more player creativity.

For example, Andoran's goal for a season (and this isn't their goal next season) might be to bring slavers to justice. In a particular scenario, the PCs may encounter a merchant in Osirion whom they can discover has ties to slavers. Andoran faction PCs who discover this can then deal with the guy as they see fit, or if they miss this clue, they can use their time in the markets in a later encounter to put together a list of slavers operating out in the open in the markets of Sothis. In both cases, the PCs are helping their faction toward the overall season goal, and while we will present an opportunity to do so without the need to go off the rails, PCs will be rewarded for taking the initiative and going beyond these suggestions.

Another hot topic of discussion has been the so-called "faction war," in which each faction competes with the rest to be the winner of a given season. We're revising this faction-versus-faction paradigm, instead measuring each faction's success against its own goals to achieve varying degrees of success. Thus, a faction whose members get all their possible prestige in a given season achieve 100% success, and the results of their actions will play out in the ongoing, unfolding plot of the campaign. Similarly, a faction that struggles a bit and only gets 80% of its potential prestige might not achieve its ultimate goal but will certainly see the results of its many successes. Finally, a faction that only reaches the lowest threshold of success might see in-world consequences of its failures, which may determine the faction's goals the following season (perhaps calling into question the faction's very existence).

We've got some pretty deep and (we think) fun plots developing for all 10 factions, and the authors of our four Gen Con scenarios are already working to incorporate those threads into their adventures. Stay tuned this summer for more information from your faction heads about what your PCs are going to be working toward in the next year.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Illustrations by Ryan Portillo

Pathfinder Society in Denmark (or Tidings from the Viking Lodge)

Monday, April 9, 2012

Illustration by J.P. Targete

Last month, we highlighted the UK and Venture-Captain David Harrison's efforts to grow Pathfinder Society there. We now shift our focus to the north and the land of the Vikings. Venture-Captain Diego Winterborg's report on Pathfinder Society in Denmark was a very interesting read for me and I hope all of you find it informative as well.

Denmark is a Scandinavian country made up of a peninsula that is geographically joined to Northern Germany, called Jutland, and a large number of islands southwest of Sweden, the largest of which are Funen and Zealand. Its size and population are roughly the equivalent of Tennessee. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are part of the Danish Rigsfællesskab, or Commonwealth.

The Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign made its arrival in Denmark in February 2010 when a few friends and I went to a small RPG convention in the town of Odense. Danish RPG conventions are, by their nature, rather small events, and are largely dominated by indie games and a lot of deep-immersion, psychodrama players, so it goes without saying that we made quite an impression with our loud combat-heavy, dice-rolling RPG, which we ran in the convention's common area, for all to see. While we fully expected a lot of people would be provoked by our very different approach to gaming, it gave us an excellent opportunity to engage them in a discussion about the merits of “our game.” By the end of the convention, what started out as a four-man event had drawn in a score of new players and totaled some 10 sessions.

During the summer of 2010, we arranged a game day in honor of then Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator, Joshua J. Frost, who was making Copenhagen his first stop on his European tour. His tour culminated at Paizo Con UK that year. Frost was very keen on having a solid PFS presence in Europe, and in Denmark I volunteered for the position of regional coordinator. That is how Denmark, being a small country by most standards, was fortunate enough to be assigned a Venture-Captain with the first round of selections, when the program was born in the fall of 2010.

Early in the fall of 2010, the first game days were planned at the game store, Fantask, in Copenhagen. While the venue is very small and only allows for a single session every other weekend, it has been very reliable and has been a constant for over a year.

Pathfinder Society has since had annual representation in Denmark's two largest gaming conventions, Viking Con and Fastaval, as well as other smaller conventions and game days in and around Copenhagen.

This winter Jacob Trier, who had just recovered from serious illness, volunteered for the position as Venture-Lieutenant based in Jutland. This addition will ensure a stronger presence in the western half of Denmark. By next month, regular store games are expected to start in Dragon's Lair in the city of Aarhus and this year's Fastaval convention will have a locally based Pathfinder Society coordinator.

In 2011, Viking Con and Fastaval had nine Pathfinder Society tables each. This was satisfactory as a very small core of players and GMs drove our continued interest in Pathfinder. This year, however, we are seeing the emergence of more private gaming groups and expect to have a growing GM base for 2012's events.

The primary Pathfinder Society events scheduled for 2012 in Denmark are:

• Spilfestival, on March 24, features Blood under Absalom as its highlighted event. This marks a milestone for the Pathfinder Society in Denmark as it is the first time a Pathfinder Society multi-table special will be run here.
• Fastaval, April 4–8: Danish Pathfinder players will get their first opportunity to play the Season 3 exclusive, The Cyphermage Dilemma. We have 15 tables scheduled over the four days.
• Viking Lodge Game Days are planned for July 28–29. Started in 2010, this is fast becoming a Danish tradition. The plans for this event are still in the planning stages. Participants can count on being among a good number of Paizo fans and having a full day of Pathfinder Society games, followed by a night out in Copenhagen afterward.
• Viking Con 31, October 19—21, is Denmark's largest gaming convention and we will certainly have something special to offer to Pathfinder Society players.

Danish Pathfinder Society events are also receiving a measure of Paizo convention support, which hopefully will increase interest and send a strong signal that Paizo pays attention to its international fans.

To facilitate continued growth of Pathfinder Society, we are making plans with public libraries to start having monthly game days. The success of this plan is still dependant on GMs volunteering to run games. Initially, I am planning game days in Copenhagen libraries only. But, the public library network in Denmark is rather extensive and Pathfinder Society has the potential to reach veritably every Danish roleplayer interested in participating in an organized play campaign.

This brings me to one of my most important points about roleplaying in Denmark. The RPGA and Living Greyhawk never established themselves in our country, and the very concept of an organized play campaign is very new to Danish gamers. According to my friendly local gaming store, Pathfinder RPG sales are increasing, and continued convention scheduling and internet exposition is bound to draw players into the fold one handful at a time. While events to date remain small, we always know we will be among friends as we strive to continue increasing our numbers.

If you live in Denmark or Southern Sweden and are interested in trying out Pathfinder Society Organized Play, you can keep up with our growing community on our website, pathfindersociety.dk. Danish convention organizers and store owners interested in hosting Pathfinder Society events should contact me at pathfinder.society@live.dk.

Diego Winterborg
Venture-Captain

If you are in another country and do not have a Venture-Captain, but think you can do as good a job as Diego did above, please do not hesitate to send me a write-up about Pathfinder Society play in your area of the world and include some photos.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Conquest Day

Monday, April 2, 2012

Illustration by Dave Rapoza

I almost lined this holiday boon up perfectly with its in-game date and real-world date. When I realized it was my 6-month anniversary (wow, time flies), I was torn. What better way to celebrate than to help Pathfinders fight undead? But I felt my state of PFS blog was slightly more important, so I delayed this holiday blog for a week.

Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider wrote the description below of Conquest Day, and where you’ll also find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character. Conquest Day is mentioned on page 248 of The Inner Sea World Guide.

Every year, on the 26th of Pharast, Elder Architect Oblosk—oldest member of Nex’s Council of Three and Nine—ascends to the highest balconies of the Bandeshar in Quantium. In a voice made thunderous by the platform’s magic, the wizened pech councilman spends the hours from dusk to just past noon enumerating the atrocities committed by the necromancers of Geb upon the people of Nex, culminating with the disappearance of the archwizard Nex himself. At the conclusion of this record of national wounds, the country’s eleven other council members join Oblosk in renewing their yearly vow to neither forget nor forgive the Gebbites’ atrocities and to again swear in their lost ruler’s name to endlessly wage war against their ancient enemies.

On this day, known as Conquest Day, all the people of Nex are expected to share in their leaders’ oaths, to celebrate the shared patriotism of their wondrous nation, and to remember the sacrifices of heroes past. This also makes it a day for many Nexian wizards to reveal deadly new spells, gigantic constructs, and audacious arcane masterworks—which many creators promise to be the doom of their foes. Even throughout the rest of the Inner Sea region, many crusaders, rebels, and zealots observe Conquest Day as a day to renew blood oaths, launch long-planned battles, and finally take revenge. It is a day for words of honor, a day for battle cries, and a day where glory most favors the bold.

A bit dreary with all the talk of battles and undead and disappearing archwizards and the like, but hey, at least it is better than Taxfest (and yes, that’s also on page 248).

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Mid-year Report of the Pathfinder Society Campaign

Monday, March 26, 2012

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Today is my six-month anniversary at Paizo. The time has flown since September 26, 2011. Usually, State of the Union/State/County/City addresses are given on an annual basis. In the future, I will most likely present this report at the yearly Pathfinder Society Members’ Meeting at Gen Con. However, this being my first year and with all the changes that have taken place, and in light of the goals set for the future, I thought it was important to give a report of how my first six months on the job have played out.

First and most importantly, I want to thank all of the Venture-Captains and Lieutenants, regional and convention coordinators, GMs, and people I use as a sounding board (you know who you are). Without all of you, I would not be able to achieve everything listed below and make Pathfinder Society as great as it is. I also want to thank all of our players and fans. Without you, I wouldn’t have an awesome job to come to each morning. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your efforts and support.

The Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign has already seen numerous positive improvements and changes. Here is a short list of things we’ve accomplished together in just six months:

• Established the Venture-Lieutenant program and the recruited more than 75 new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants to help us grow Pathfinder Society by presenting a Paizo 'face' in many local areas.
• Implemented numerous small updates to the Pathfinder Society webpage, the campaign FAQ (red updates!), and Additional Resources list.
• Planned and staffed 750 Pathfinder Society tables for Gen Con 2012., as well as the creation of Beginner Box introductions and a kids’ track.
• Streamlined the process by which regional coordinators can request convention prize support.
• Opened up post-retirement play beyond 12th level, sanctioned 15 additional Pathfinder Modules, and released Chronicle sheets for five Pathfinder Tales novels.
• Added holiday boons to event organizers’ arsenals.
• Worked with Venture-Captains to coordinate the worldwide Beginner Box Bash event and released a Pathfinder Society character creation guide using the Beginner Box rules.
• Planned and staffed 150 Pathfinder Society tables at PaizoCon 2012, as well as scheduled the debut of GM 101 workshops on a large scale.
• Worked with Venture-Captains to establish GM 101 workshops in multiple locations.
• Analyzed community feedback and reporting data, concluding that future scenarios should be designed with six players in mind.
• Established a new set of convention Chronicle sheets for the second half of season 3 with Tian-flavored and teamwork-inspired boons.
• Overhauled the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play that included more than 400 changes and additions.
• Established new guidelines for earning and maintaining a fifth GM star.
• Worked with Paizo’s web team to change the Events Page from a calendar format to a more user-friendly event listing.
• Readjusted the release schedule for Season 4 scenarios to release at the beginning of the month instead of the end.
• And finally, I experienced firsthand the sledding rules first detailed in To Scale the Dragon.

We've addressed our leadership, our organization, our ground game, and our rules. And we couldn't have done any of it without all of you.

All that is great, but it's not enough. We're not done yet (which means that we all have more work to do). I'm excited about the future of the Society. In particular, the following items on my now-less-than-secret list excite me:

• The Grand Convocation interactive will return at PaizoCon 2012.
• A second, competitive round has been added to the Pathfinder Society Special at Gen Con 2012.
• Continuing to attend as many conventions as I can get to. I've been to NeonCon (Las Vegas, NV) , DunDraCon 20 (San Ramon, CA), GAMA Trade Show (Las Vegas, NV), and the Alliance Game Distributors Show (Ft. Wayne, IN) over the past six months. My upcoming 2012 schedule includes stops at:
• PAX East (Boston, MA)
• Origins Game Fair (Columbus, OH)
• PaizoCon 2012 (Redmond, WA)
• Connecticon (Hartford, CT)
• PaizoCon UK (Birmingham, West Midlands, UK)
• Gen Con 2012 (Indianapolis, IN)
• Dragon Con (Atlanta, GA)
• Neon Con 2012 (Las Vegas, NV)

My goal is to meet as many Pathfinder Society players, GMs, and coordinators as I can face-to-face. I encourage you to introduce yourself to me at those conventions.

• The plotline for Season 4 has been laid-out, and Season 5 has already been put into a rough draft.
• We are looking at ways to make faction missions have a meaningful impact on the campaign and make more sense as presented in scenarios.
• Improve our Retailer Support program, including upgrades to the website interface to make it more user-friendly for both retailers and customers.
• Improve the GM Rewards program (we already made some adjustments to 5-star GMs as noted above).
• I would like to see the creation of the three campaign documents that were discussed on the April 4, 2011 blog.
• Expanding the Venture-Captain program to additional areas in North America, as well as increasing the number of Venture-Captains internationally.
• Working with Paizo’s web team to implement a more user-friendly web interface for event coordinators.
• Continuing to highlight international Pathfinder Society play through monthly blogs.

The last six months have been a great learning experience for me. I continue to transition from a regional coordinator mindset to one of a global campaign administrator. There have been some bumps in the road, but nothing that has proven insurmountable. I already knew that the Pathfinder Society community is smart, diverse, and very passionate. It is amazing how much energy and enthusiasm you all have for the game and it is very inspiring. Likewise, the people here at Paizo are some of the most creative and different-thinking people I've ever met. It's as amazing as you'd think it would be.

I will finish by letting everyone know that I will continue to do the best job I can to grow and improve the Pathfinder Society campaign. Sometimes I will make mistakes. But, when I do make a mistake, I will own up to it. As always, I am available for all of you to reach out to me with concerns, criticisms, thoughts, suggestions, venting, and ideas via email, private message, Skype, phone call, an in-person visit, carrier pigeon, written letter, message spell, pony express, contact other plane spell, or sending spell.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Six Sells

Monday, March 12, 2012

Illustration by Yngvar Asplund

One of the largest benefits of working as developer on a shared-world campaign like Pathfinder Society Organized Play is having the ability to gather data about how the community uses our products and improve them based on that data. In addition to the extremely helpful Pathfinder Society messageboards, where Campaign Coordinator Mike Brock and I can interact directly with some of our most active and engaged GMs and players, we also have the benefit of looking at literally thousands of tables’ worth of reported session data entered by GMs and event coordinators. This goldmine of information lets us keep a close eye on campaign trends, such as what level scenarios are most often played, which are particularly deadly, and what factions have a higher rate of success in their respective missions. When combined, the synergy of objective data from session reports and subjective feedback from the messageboards, direct email and personal interaction with players and GMs, and a mixture of the two from our growing network of volunteer regional coordinators is nearly unmatched, at least compared to the level of feedback we can get on our other product lines.

About this time last year, prompted by community feedback, I started looking closely at the average size of tables in Pathfinder Society games. Specifically, I was looking at what percentage of reported sessions were played by six or more PCs. The evidence was staggering. While seven-person tables are a relative rarity (as they should be), six-person tables are undoubtedly the norm in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. So I took that data and let it simmer for a while as I continued my routine development tasks.

A few months ago, in a conversation with Mike and a few other members of the editorial team, we were bouncing around the idea of giving GMs a little bit more power to scale adventures to accommodate parties of different sizes. Coming up with a means for GMs to scale encounters up proved incredibly difficult, and there wasn’t an elegant or easily implemented solution. But putting in guidelines for scaling encounters down was much easier.

Thus, beginning in Season 4, all Pathfinder Society scenarios will be designed with six PCs in mind, effectively increasing the CR of all encounters to accommodate larger parties. Each adventure will provide specific changes to apply for parties of four PCs, maintaining consistency in how the scenarios are altered, but giving a bit more latitude to account for table variance. Because five- and seven-person tables are both reasonably equipped to handle a six-person challenge, tables of both sizes should be run without any changes.

So that’s the plan! In true Pathfinder Society fashion, however, we’re eager to hear what the community thinks, so be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below! And because we like you all so much, here’s a piece of art from the recently released Pathfinder Society Exclusive Scenario: The Cyphermage Dilemma, which your local regional coordinator or 4- or 5-star GM can run for you.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Society in the UK (How the Brit Faction Earns Prestige)

Monday, March 5, 2012

Illustration by Ben Wootten

Like many of the Pathfinder Society player base, most of my experiences and understanding of Pathfinder Society Organized Play is based on what I have seen, experienced and organized in the United States. However, the campaign and player base is a worldwide network. What I have learned since stepping into the Campaign Coordinator role is that Pathfinder Society experiences can be varying and different in other parts of the world, including Canada. This includes the way game days and conventions are organized, the expectations of the campaign’s past, current, and future scenarios, and the direction the campaign should move toward.

I think one of the most important responsibilities of a Campaign Coordinator is trying to understand the make-up of the entire fan base, not just the largest percentage of the players. I also think the campaign can be better served if all of us have a better understanding of how our fellow gamers participate, promote, and try to grow Pathfinder Society in their own regions of the world.

With that in mind, I plan to devote one blog a month to a different region where there is an active Pathfinder Society presence. I have tasked my international Venture-Captains with sending me a write-up of what Pathfinder Society is like in their part of the world. Most of what you will read is in their own words. There may be some slight editing changes, but by and large, what you will be reading is the Venture-Captain’s perspective on what Pathfinder Society is like under their guidance in their region.

I hope all of you will find the articles as interesting and informative as I do. First up is the United Kingdom under the direction of Venture-Captain Dave Harrison and Venture-Lieutenant Rob Silk. I plan to attend Paizo Con UK this year, and am excited to get an insight into what I can expect when I arrive in mid-July (and no, I do not fear the curse). Without further ado, I present Dave Harrison’s report on Pathfinder Society in the United Kingdom.

The Pathfinder Society is global, not just on Golarion but also in our world! While it has its origins in the United States, it has been active in the UK since its inception. And so, I’ve been asked to introduce you all to Pathfinder Society play in the UK.

Who am I to talk about this? My name is Dave Harrison, also known online as Wintergreen, and after being a GM and playing roleplaying games for far too long, I’m a self-confessed Paizo addict who has somehow become the UK Venture-Captain. Of course, it’s not just me over here. I’ve lost count of the many players and GMs we’ve recruited over the last few years. Oh, that’s not a royal “we” by the way. I’m also including my co-conspirator and Venture-Lieutenant, Rob Silk, in all of this. (Make sure you pronounce Lieutenant the British way too!)

Pathfinder and Paizo itself have always been popular here in the UK. When Paizo staff members have come over from the US, we have made sure they have felt very welcome despite any differences in the roleplaying cultures—two countries separated by a common hobby?

The Pathfinder Society was officially launched in the UK at Gen Con UK 2008 with a contingent of Paizo staff and that was an immediate success. Pathfinder Society games were sold out and everybody was talking about the quality of the scenarios. From that, I managed to talk my way into helping organize GMs and games at several conventions. Flush with success, I did something that might be called foolish, and has certainly influenced my life! I asked, on the Paizo messageboards, if there was any interest in a UK-based Pathfinder Society convention—our very own version of PaizoCon. The answer was positive and, somehow, one of the most disorganized of roleplayers found himself setting up a new convention. Thankfully, with the help of a lucky Bluff roll, I managed to talk a few other people into helping me!

So the first PaizoCon UK ran in July 2009 at Aston University’s Business School & Conference Centre. I’ll admit, even on that Saturday morning, I was worrying that nobody would turn up and I’d be sitting alone in a large room for the whole weekend.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Over fifty people attended, including special guests such as our PaizoCon UK regular Richard Pett, some awesome GMs, and a fantastically keen group of players. Our only missing element was that Nick Logue, then Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator, couldn’t attend. Even so, by the end of the Sunday, people were already talking about how it would go next year! Even before I finished asking about doing another one, I heard a resounding “YES!”

The next year we had over 70 people attending, including Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator Joshua Frost, and we were given the opportunity to playtest the Year of the Shadow Lodge event. We also have a tradition of a Friday Night Balti meal to get everybody socializing at the start of the convention. Thankfully the waiters don’t bat an eyelid when we ask for a table for everybody.

By 2011, we had grown to over 100 people gaming across three different rooms in the conference center. Although one special guest, Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator Hyrum Savage, had to drop out at the last minute, we still held the Grand Melee where our high-level team “Szallus’ Mighty Taldan Beard” won through with a world-beating score. We concluded the convention with Shadow’s Last Stand, bringing the Year of the Shadow Lodge to a satisfactory conclusion.

This year, we will once again be at Aston University on the 21st and 22nd of July, with a host of almost 150 delegates and special guests, including Richard Pett, Eva Widermann, and many European Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, and Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator Mike Brock is braving the rumored curse to help us with an Olympic Class PaizoCon UK. Full details can be found on our website at www.paizocon.co.uk.

PaizoCon UK is our flagship, the Pathfinder Society convention for the UK, but it is far from the only event we attend (some might say dominate when the Pathfinders are noisily adventuring) in the UK. I have made efforts to ensure Pathfinder Society is represented at other major UK conventions, particularly Conception, the UK Games Expo, Oddcon, and Dragonmeet. Pathfinders turn up at many smaller conventions, fan-organized events, and regular games held at clubs, societies, and players’ homes.

So what do we have planned for Pathfinder Society in the UK?

Certainly we continue to grow—particularly into other parts of the UK besides England. Plans are in motion for a PaizoCon Wales, and Scotland and Ireland have growing numbers of Pathfinders. I am constantly recruiting GMs, more people willing to do my job for me by running and organizing games at conventions. We have more and more special events planned as well. Details will be disclosed at a future date.

While the UK lacks the US tradition of games being run in stores, such events are something I am working on. A few such events have already taken place and, inspired by the Beginner Box Bash event, we are planning a “Learn to Play Pathfinder” day at the Sheffield store Patriot Games on March 31st.

Convention organizers and store owners who wish to have Pathfinder Society events in the UK should contact me via paizoconuk@hotmail.com or through our website at http://paizocon.co.uk/ for support.

I am very proud to say that here in the UK the Pathfinder Society has established an excellent reputation for roleplaying, quality adventures, and skilled GMs. Convention organizers invite us to their events where we are consistently over-subscribed. Most of all, I am happy to report that when players are talking, I hear descriptions of heroic deeds, intriguing personalities, and thrilling adventures—exactly what gets reported in the Pathfinder Chronicles!

Dave Harrison
Venture-Captain

And there you have it, our first international Pathfinder Society blog. If you are in another country and do not have a Venture-Captain, but think you can do as good a job as Dave did above, please do not hesitate to send me a write-up about Pathfinder Society play in your area of the world and include some photos.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

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 Bestiary Box (pawn set)
• A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2012 T-Shirt

Tier 2 GM Volunteers
Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 6 slots. Tier 2 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 Bestiary Box (pawn set)
• 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

The End is the Beginning

Monday, February 20, 2012

Last week, we announced the final batch of Season 3 Pathfinder Society scenarios, as well as the Season 4 scenarios debuting at Gen Con Indy in August. As of the writing of this blog, however, no one noticed the first signs of a slight change to the Pathfinder Society scenario release schedule that these scenarios represent. So, in honor of President's Day here in the U.S., let me illuminate you!

First, since PaizoCon 2012 will be taking place in the first week of July instead of the middle of June, we decided to delay the release of the June scenarios (#3–23 and #3–24) so that they debut at PaizoCon. Since these four scenarios will be out within a week of one another for their PaizoCon debut, they will serve as the traditional four June scenarios and will wrap up the Year of the Ruby Phoenix storyline and segue straight into Season 4's metaplot.

I know many people will notice that this means Season 3 has two fewer scenarios than anticipated. That observation is correct, but unavoidable. Convention season is incredibly taxing on the limited organized play staff we have here, and doing 10 scenarios and 2 mutli-table specials in less than three months simply proved too daunting a task, especially when the finish line (meaning release date) of each month's portion of those products was often at the start or middle of a month rather than the end, when our production schedule is designed to have new material available.

What this does mean, however, is that we're moving the release of Pathfinder Society scenarios from the last week of each month to the first week of each month beginning in September. So instead of waiting nearly two months between the four Gen Con scenarios and the two follow-up adventures in September, we'll have new material roughly every four weeks. That also means that our production schedule will be able to more easily handle the extra workload each summer, as our new material will already be ready for early July and August release.

So there's a peek at what's changing in the coming months, and we've got a few more things left to reveal before Season 4 kicks off, but it's still a good five months away, so we'll hold off for those. There's still a lot of Season 3 left, after all.

Mark Moreland
Developer

PaizoCon Pathfinder Society Review

Monday, Febraury 13, 2012

I have never been to PaizoCon. I have heard many stories over a pint from friends who have been. I have wanted to go the past few years but it just never worked out, whether it was expenses or work related obligations. One of the perks of my job is now I get to go to PaizoCon every year. Of course, Erik has told me the only excuse for missing it is if I was dead and the body couldn’t be recovered. I promise, you don’t need to twist my arm to be there. I am excited to experience my first PaizoCon with many of you. Not only do I get to attend, I get to help plan the convention. I can’t begin to tell you how cool that is. Every week, I’m working on one preparation or another to help make this PaizoCon the best yet. With that in mind, I thought I would share some of what is being planned for Pathfinder Society. I need to share some of this excitement so I don’t explode.

We are scheduling 150 tables of Pathfinder Society scenarios over the three days. The response of volunteers to GM was overwhelming. We filled all 150 tables in 23 hours and we currently have 22 people on the waiting list to step in if someone has to cancel their trip. It looks like I’m not the only one excited about this year’s PaizoCon. We’re scheduling every Season 3 scenario for PaizoCon over multiple tables.

We’ll also be debuting the GM 101 Workshop. Georgia Venture-Officers took the initiative late last year to put together a program to inform prospective GMs of what they might expect while running a Pathfinder Society scenario or sanctioned module. They received excellent feedback from participants, shared it with several other Venture-Officers to run in their regions, and refined the program. They pitched the idea to me to run it at conventions and I thought it was a great idea. This 4- to 5-hour workshop will be broken into two parts.

The first half includes topics such as how to bring a 4- to 5-hour scenario to life, how to make rulings on the fly, how to manage a table of complete strangers, how to organize a game day, and how to adapt to players doing the unexpected. Participants will circulate between stations to learn and practice the skills involved. During the second half, Georgia Venture-Officers will reveal the Deck of Many Situations. They will lead a humorously instructive game that challenges its players to handle tough GMing situations based on real, in-game dilemmas. Participants will have the opportunity to play the parts of both the GM and the troublesome players. Judges will offer feedback for each round, giving everyone the opportunity to learn. Note that we will also be running GM 101 workshops at Gen Con. I prefer that anyone who wants to volunteer to help run them at Gen Con attend one of these workshops at PaizoCon.

Finally, we are returning the Grand Convocation to its rightful place at PaizoCon. There will be tiered mini-quests that take an hour or two to complete. There will be side events where special Chronicles can be earned. And, according to Major Maldris, the Blakros family is planning to make an appearance. It is unclear exactly what they want. Major Maldris seemed visibly upset (who can blame him when the Blakros are involved) when asked about it, as there have been whispers of bargains, deals, marriages and the like that the Blakros family is pursuing.

I hope to see many of you there and to match faces with messageboard names and avatars. I also hope that I can help provide all of you that are attending with your most memorable Pathfinder experience to date. I look forward to seeing you all in July.

Oh, I almost forgot one important note. It has been mentioned for several years that there would be occasional special events for retired, 12th level PCs. The Grand Convocation is the debut of these special, Tier 12+ events.

And one more thing: Check out the final cover art by Grafit for Pathfinder Module: The Midnight Mirror, an adventure by RPG Superstar 2011 winner Sam Zeitlin!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Toasting Merrymead with Two New Venture-Captains

Monday, February 6, 2012

Illustration by Alex Aparin

It is a rare occasion when a person can combine two fun events into one. On this Monday after the Super Bowl, I get to do just that!

First, I want to welcome two new Venture-Captains to the ranks in areas that have been in serious need of strong organization for some time. The first is St. Louis, Missouri. Originally, St. Louis wasn’t on my list. However, that quickly changed when Brett Sweeney emailed his interest in becoming a Venture-Captain. He provided a very good resume and some outstanding answers to my interview questionnaire. There already seems to be a very strong base of players in the region and I am excited to see how Pathfinder Society grows in St. Louis, as well as the rest of Missouri, now that we have the entire state covered with an awesome group of Venture-Officers.

I also get very excited when we are able to assign a Venture-Captain to a region, or in this case a state, that has had little to no Venture-Officer presence, but has been longing for someone to step up to the task of organizing Pathfinder Society. I’ve known Martin Shelby for more than 10 years, have played roleplaying, board, card and miniatures games with him during that period, and know his organizational and gaming skills are up to the task. When he moved from Atlanta to Nashville last year, I already had my sights on setting him up as a Venture-Captain there. We talked about it last year at Gen Con and he wasn’t prepared to take over the reigns. However, five months later, he has decided that he would like to see how fast he can grow Pathfinder Society in middle Tennessee. He will be our first Venture-Captain in Tennessee and I foresee good things happening for the growth of Pathfinder Society in the state.

Now, on to the second fun event for this week—another holiday blog (and anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good brew)! Creative Director James Jacobs wrote the below description of Merrymead and you will find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character. Merrymead is mentioned on page 248 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide.

The month of Calistril is much anticipated, if only because it signifies the end of winter and the inevitable (and usually much welcomed) onset of spring. And no time is more infused with this eager anticipation than the second day of the month—a day set aside in most areas of the Inner Sea as the holiday known as Merrymead. A key element of Merrymead, of course, is the consumption of the last of the previous season’s alcohol. Traditionally, this is intended to be little more than a communal sharing of mead supplies (a legacy of the holiday’s original origins in central Druma), but today, most celebrants use Merrymead as an excuse to get completely smashed on whatever source of booze is available. In high societies, aristocrats celebrate with the uncorking of bottles specifically set aside for the event, while in the city slums, roving gangs of celebrants carouse from bar to bar. It is here that the notorious “mead riots” generally happen, when not-quite-drunk-enough merrymakers, faced with the inevitable situation of there being more carousers than alcohol, grow violent and destructive. Cities with strong histories of mead riots generally draw upon additional troops from the militia to help keep the peace... yet sometimes, it can be hard to draw upon those troops when they themselves have been looking forward to their own Merrymead celebrations!

Welcome to our new Venture-Captains and Blesse... hic... Happ... hic... fun Merrymead all!

Click here to download the Merrymead 4712 Boon! - 815 KB (zip/PDF)

The Dawn of a New Era: Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.1

Monday, January 30, 2012

Illustration by Kevin Yan

When I arrived back in late September as the new Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator, I had hundreds of people requesting hundreds of changes to the way Pathfinder Society Organized Play was run. It was definitely enough to make my head swim with all the different requests and it took me a few weeks to get a grip on the way change should be handled. Pathfinder Society has some very good things going for it, but there were some rulings and fundamental practices that needed to be looked at to see if we could make organized play better.

The first step was to talk with Developer Mark Moreland. He was the current institutional knowledge on all things Pathfinder Society. I rolled of out my list proposed alterations and requests and we talked for the first few weeks about what could be changed, what should be changed, and what should remain the same. After quite a few hours-long meetings, we finally knew what improvements we wanted to focus on. I also want to take a quick second to thank Mark for all of his help, not just on the guide but with everything, in helping me to transition into this position. Without his help, thoughts, insight, and advice, this job would be a tenfold more difficult than it has been. Mark was the caretaker for a long while for Pathfinder Society and I appreciate everything he did to bring it up to the level it is today. He has more love and has poured more heart and soul into the campaign than anyone else I know and I thank him for that.

After my list of goals and changes was completed, I approached the Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants for their input. I felt it was important to get more ideas and different perspectives from the leaders of Pathfinder Society. There was much debate and discussion. Changes and tweaks were made to refine the direction I wanted to take Pathfinder Society. After a week or so, we finally decided that most changes were in good working order. However, we felt, as a group, that it was important to hear what the fanbase had to say about such sweeping changes to organized play. We knew that there would be people who were outright opposed to some of the changes while others would wholeheartedly agree with them. Whatever the outcome, we still felt it important to allow folks to have their input heard. So, I listed a series of proposed changes on the Pathfinder Society General Discussion messageboard.

After a week or so of listening to input from players, GMs, coordinators, and store owners, we brought all the discussions back to the Venture-Captain messageboard. We held firm to some of the changes we believed in, but altered other proposed rules changes where all of you made very good points. Once we had all the rulings in place for after a final review, I wrote them into the new Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.1.

I will post a complete list of changes, additions, and deletions that vary from version 4.0 to version 4.1 on the Pathfinder Society General Discussion messageboard. However, I did want to list some of the bigger changes here.

1. We added all current Paizo shirts as available for a reroll.
2. We have changed the way pregenerated characters work. Gone are the days when playing a pregenerated character in a scenario for the first time left the player empty-handed. Now, if the player is playing a non-1st-level pregenerated character, he or she may choose instead to apply the Chronicle sheet to a newly created 1st-level character.
3. We added a new chapter titled, Chapter 6: Sanctioned Modules. There are big changes to sanctioned module play. Gone are the artificial leveling up or down of a character. Now, the sanctioned modules must be played by a character within one level of the module’s starting level. I know this is not a popular decision for some. However, campaign leadership feels this change is what is best for the campaign. Death and use of consumables now have consequences. New Chronicle sheets have been completed for all 15 sanctioned modules that adjust the wealth received to be in line with wealth received when playing the equivalent number of scenarios. These Chronicle sheets are available for download on their respective product pages.
4. We have opened up play beyond 12th level. While there are no 13th-level or higher scenarios on the schedule, a retired Pathfinder Society character may play and continue to advance in levels utilizing the sanctioned modules. To facilitate the higher-level advancement, the Fame and Item Purchases chart has been expanded to an upper limit of 99 points of Fame and 800,000 GP. Guidelines for purchasing scrolls of levels 7, 8 and 9 have also been included.
5. A section on alignment infractions has been added.

There are a few more changes and those will be detailed in the post on the Pathfinder Society General Discussion messageboard. I want to thank Mark, the Venture-Officers, and the fanbase for input into the new guide. I think the changes are what is best for the campaign, will help to strengthen the campaign for the future, and make the overall organized play experience a better one for new and veteran players alike.

On a side note, the guide’s numbering system is off due to the first season of Pathfinder Society Organized Play being labeled Season 0. At Gen Con this year, we plan to align the guide’s version number with the current season. Instead of listing the Season 4 guide as version 5.0, it will be titled Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.2. Once Season 5 is upon us at Gen Con 2013, the guide will then be titled as version 5.0 and we will move forward from there.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

More Venture-Officers On Board

Monday, January 23, 2012

With the coming of the new year, we continue to grow Pathfinder Society at a tremendous rate. With that, I want to make sure we have good leadership in place so that continue to grow and expand. Over the past few months, we added three more Venture-Captains who have not yet formally been introduced, and today we are adding even more to the growing list of Venture-Captains.

I am excited to add three new areas to our Venture-Captain regions. The first is Kansas City, Missouri. Seth Brummond fills an important role in an area ripe for growth and that has been wanting a Venture-Captain. Not only will he be serving western Missouri, but will also be able to help organize and coordinate growth of Pathfinder Society in eastern Kansas.

The second new area is Albany, New York. The capital region of New York has seen an explosion of growth in Pathfinder Society activity over the past several years and I look forward to seeing the direction Evan Whitefield takes Pathfinder Society.

The third new area is Houston, Texas. I know that Houston has seen sporadic Pathfinder Society play and is just waiting for someone to step in and get things organized. Robert Vaughn is just the person to hit the ground running as we watch the Houston Lodge grow.

We also have had two Venture-Captains step down due to real-life responsibilities. I wish fair winds and following seas to both Rene Ayala from Arizona and Neil Shackelton from Toronto. Both of them have done an outstanding job establishing a foothold for Pathfinder Society in their regions and the new Venture-Captains have big shoes to fill.

Assuming Rene’s responsibilities, Jason Leonard has been appointed as Venture-Captain of Arizona. Assuming Neil’s responsibilities, Robert Trifts has been appointed as Venture-Captain of the Ontario region of Canada.

In addition to the new Venture-Captains above, we have added the following Venture-Lieutenants to help some of our current Venture-Captains reach out to areas in their regions that are either too far away to cover on a regular basis, or are too numerous to cover at all. They include the following:

• Albany, NY – Brett McLean
• Arizona – Cody Lucas
• Central/Southern Illinois – Shaun Burton
• Indiana – Chris Bonnet
• Oregon – Todd Tepper
• San Diego, CA – Terence Brawley
• Virginia – Jeremy Hitchcock
• Wisconsin – Matthew Starch
• Melbourne, Australia – Ryan Koetsveld
• Ontario, Canada – Jeff Mahood
• Denmark – Jacob Trier

We are still in need of additional Venture-Captains in some regions and you can find the list here. If you are interested in applying, please contact me after reviewing the application process in the previous link.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Official Call for PaizoCon 2012 Volunteers

Monday, January 9, 2012

For PaizoCon 2012, we plan to make this the biggest and best PaizoCon yet! I am scheduling 150 tables of Pathfinder Society over three days. In addition, we are bringing back the Grand Convocation interactive. Finally, we are debuting the GM 101 sessions that will hopefully be a hit so we can continue to offer it at future shows. It should be an awesome time.

I need a minimum of 45 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games 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 me run Pathfinder Society HQ and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. There may also be special or unique roleplaying opportunities to play the part of a NPC in the Grand Convocation, so please let me know if that is something that might interest you. However, do not narrow your choice to a specific NPC as it may remove you from consideration.

Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at PaizoCon 2012. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for slots, not a specific event. We will let you know the slots you have been assigned to before the lottery goes live. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule with your friends who are also attending PaizoCon 2012. Please let me know via email which days you will be at the convention and how many slots you are volunteering for at PaizoCon 2012.

Volunteer Tiers and Rewards

Volunteer Assistant: 2 needed, treated as a Tier 1 GM

Tier 1 GM Volunteers: Tier 1 GM volunteers are my everyday GMs. They are invaluable to making the show a success! Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 5 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 20 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 3-day PaizoCon 2012 badge
• A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
• A FREE copy of Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition hardcover at PaizoCon.
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon.

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 3-day PaizoCon 2012 badge
• A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon.

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 special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon.

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 days you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to scenarios on an as-needed basis, so you really only need to tell me the day(s) you're volunteering for. 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 paizo.com account and you must include your paizo.com email 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: Friday 8 AM to 1 PM
Slot 2: Friday 1 PM to 6 PM
Slot 3: Friday 7 PM to 12 AM (Grand Convocation Interactive)
Slot 4: Saturday 8 AM to 1 PM
Slot 5: Saturday 1 PM to 6 PM
Slot 6: Sunday 9 AM to 2 PM

All PaizoCon 2012 volunteers please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the subject line PaizoCon Volunteer.

Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great spring convention season!

Oh, and one more thing! Don’t forget, next Monday Paizo Fiction Editor will be hanging out in the Paizo chat room at starting at 6 PM PST. Come talk fiction!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

New Year, New Goblins

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Illustration by Miroslav Petrov

Everyone loves goblins, right? And by extension, folks are keen on their goblinoid brethren, the militaristic hobgoblins and the sadistic bugbears. Well, this month we introduce a new goblinoid subtype humanoid to Golarion—the kijimuna, a native of the Dragon Empires of Tian Xia. These CR 2 creatures are known for their wild, bright red hair and their wide, mischievous grins, and enjoy fishing almost as much as playing pranks and practical jokes on unsuspecting targets. Much like their Inner Sea cousins, kijimunas have a deep-seated fear of a single creature, in this case the octopus, and when faced with an octopus, a kijimuna either flees in terror or desperately fights. Unlike the other goblinoid races, however, kijimunas are not innately evil, and typically have chaotic neutral alignments.

The kijimuna receives a full write-up in the forthcoming Pathfinder Adventure Path #53: Tide of Honor, due to hit stores and subscribers’ mailboxes later this month, and appear in one of the two new Pathfinder Society Scenarios released last week—Pathfinder Society Scenario #3–11: The Quest for Perfection, Part II: On Hostile Waters—in which the intrepid Pathfinders journey through kijimuna territory as they sail down a great river.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Using the Beginner Box to Create a Pathfinder Society Character

Monday, December 26, 2011

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and is looking forward to an exciting new year. I am sure quite a few folks gave or received the Beginner Box as presents this past weekend. Inside that box, there is a flyer for Pathfinder Society that includes a link to the website but no explanation of how to integrate the play or rules from the Beginner Box into use for Pathfinder Society play.

One of the earliest experiences I had during my first week at Paizo was Erik Mona, our publisher, handing me the Beginner Box and advising me we needed to have a guide that allowed players to create a legal Pathfinder Society character using just the Beginner Box rules. As I had not seen it until that moment, the task seemed quite daunting.

Like many of you, I had looked forward to the release of the Beginner Box with much anticipation and I liked what I found inside. I was scheduled to go to a trade show the following week and the airplane flight gave me plenty of time to read through everything in the box. The pawns also served as a good conversation piece for the people seated near me on the plane between Seattle and Chicago. It was at 36,000 feet that I started formulating ideas of what I thought should be included in a character creation guide.

Once I was back in Seattle, I posted a list of ideas and solicited suggestions from the Pathfinder Society Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants. We brainstormed a good bit about what I had missed that should be included or what I had placed in it that should be taken out. We worked at the phrasing of sentences, brainstormed several more times about missed ideas, and finally arrived at the finished free product. The guide provides a step–by–step walkthrough of the Pathfinder Society character creation process while referring you back to the Hero’s Handbook. These instructions allow for a seamless transition from the Beginner Box to Pathfinder Society play. A special thank you goes out to Boston Venture-Captain Don Walker for his incredible amount of wordsmithing that went into the final document.

If you have any questions, especially if you are new to Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society, please visit the Pathfinder Society messageboards. Our Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants are more than happy to answer any questions you might have, whether they are about how to find a local Pathfinder Society game or about how some rule works that is found in the Core Rulebook but not in the Beginner Box.

If you have never experienced Pathfinder Society, I encourage you to make a New Year’s resolution to give it a try. If you can’t find a game in your area, there are options for play-by-post Pathfinder Society sessions. If you are a veteran of the campaign, I look forward to working with you in 2012 to make Pathfinder Society even better than it is now.

Happy holidays everyone!

Download the Pathfinder Society Character Creation Guide!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Night of the Pale

Monday, December 19, 2011

Night of the Pale is mentioned on page 249 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide. We are advised it is a night of morbid revelry, as people wait indoors for the ghosts of last year’s dead to pass by their homes.

Creative Director James Jacobs wrote the description below of the Night of the Pale and beneath that you’ll find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character.

Illustration by John Gravato

Not all of Golarion’s holidays and festivals are times of rejoicing and delight. Holidays worshiped by dark and sinister cults and religions tend to be hidden affairs, their rituals and ceremonies involving cruelties and vile practices that send shivers of fear through gentler society. Scholars suspect that the Night of the Pale—a holiday that traditionally takes place on the last day of the year, the 31st of Kuthona—has links to several sinister religions, but today no one church has specific association with the event. Nonetheless, the Night of the Pale is an event that many look forward to all year, whether in fear or excitement.

On the Night of the Pale, it is said that the ghosts of those who died during the previous year manifest upon the world and come to visit the homes they lived in during life. Although some might think that the chance of seeing even the shade of a dearly departed one might be a blessing, the Night of the Pale is not a time for tearful reunions, for these ghosts, tradition says, do not return out of love for those they left behind but out of darker compulsions. Lingering jealousy, unfinished arguments, or the simmering need for revenge are said to be what compels the dead to return to torment the living on the Night of the Pale.

The evening of this night in many communities is celebrated by a morbid feast, the food prepared with themes revolving around graveyards, the dead, and other spooky traditions. This feast, on one level, helps the celebrants to make light of their fears while sharing good company with similarly nervous neighbors, but at another level is believed to placate vengeful spirits as toasts are raised to the memories of the recently departed. These feasts include retellings of favorite memories of the departed, in hopes of reminding the approaching ghosts of brighter and kinder memories than those that compel them to return. The feast always ends at least an hour before midnight in order to give participants time to return home, decorate doors and windows with salt and other trinkets taken from the feasting table (salted bread baked into crook-like shapes are a favorite, as these can be hung from doorknobs and eaves) to ward off evil spirits, and hide in their bedrooms until dawn. Brave youths and adventurers often deliberately stay out after midnight, either to dare the ghosts to challenge them or simply for the thrill of bucking tradition. Every Night of the Pale, it seems, there are disappearances among those who stay out after midnight, although whether these vanishings are the result of dissatisfied locals taking the opportunity to run away from home, murderers or wild animals or other mundane dangers, or the vengeful spirits carrying off their victims depends upon the circumstances.

The morning after a Night of the Pale is also the first day of the new year—a time that many celebrate more as a relief for surviving the night before than in anticipation of what the new year might bring, although regional preferences for how this day is celebrated vary enough that no single tradition holds over the other. Save, of course, the lingering fears of what dread spirits might come knocking upon warded doors one year away...

As always, I am interested in reading your thoughts on future holiday write-ups and boons. This is especially true in regard to the various equinoxes and solstices.

Download the Night of the Pale Boon! - (111 KB zip/PDF) This Boon is no longer available as of 1/9/12.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Changing Sanctioned Module Play

Monday, December 12, 2011

A year ago, Pathfinder Modules were sanctioned for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. As Atlanta Venture-Captain for a year, I appreciated the fact I could offer the sanctioned modules to local players, especially those who had played every scenario that had been released. But the rules that were established bothered me. No negative effects carried over from module play, even death or consumable use. Many players I talked with felt that sanctioned module play was not as good as it could be because of the rules put into place. One of my top goals when hired as Campaign Coordinator was to reevaluate sanctioned modules and see if we could change the way they worked to make them a more valuable part of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign.

What I would like to see in the comments to this blog are what you do and don’t like about the below proposal. How will this proposal affect your game in both a positive and negative way. Once I review feedback over the next few weeks, the Venture-Captains, Venture-Lieutenants, and I can decide what changes we want to make in the upcoming 4.1 update to the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

Spoiler:

Pathfinder modules are produced for a wider audience than just Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Because modules are structured differently from scenarios, the specific rules changes needed for playing sanctioned modules in Pathfinder Society Organized Play are presented below.

How to Play

Sanctioned modules are generally three times the length of a standard Pathfinder Society scenario and will likely take players two or three 4—5 hour sessions to complete. They do not contain Pathfinder Society faction missions, nor are they tiered for play by characters over a wide range of levels. Thematically, modules do not assume the characters are members of the Pathfinder Society. GMs and players are encouraged to create a reasonable plot hook for their characters’ participation.

Legal Pathfinder Society Characters

Players have the following three options when playing sanctioned modules for Pathfinder Society:

• A player must use an existing Pathfinder Society character (without modification) within one level of the module’s starting level.
• For modules below 9th level, a player who does not have a character in the correct level range may use a Pathfinder Society pregenerated character available on paizo.com. In this case, the chronicle sheet must be linked to an existing Pathfinder Society character and applied when that character reaches the level of the module. The linked character must be declared before play begins and recorded on the scenario reporting sheet.
• As mentioned in Chapter 5 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, if you have already played the sanctioned module and wish to play it an additional time for any reason, you must inform the GM that you have already played the sanctioned module. If you spoil the plot for the other players at the table, the GM has the right to ask you to leave. You are free to replay the sanctioned module in order to meet a minimum PC requirement (see Chapter 7), but if you already have received a player Chronicle for this sanctioned module for any of your PCs, you do not earn any additional rewards beyond having a good time. The Tier 1 exception still applies for Tier 1-—2 modules.

Conditions, Death, and Expendables

Whether playing your own character or a pregenerated character, all conditions (including death) not resolved within the module carry beyond the end of the module. Likewise, any wealth spent or resources expended during the course of the adventure are tracked and must be recorded on the Chronicle sheet.

If you are using a pregenerated character, calculate the cost of any consumables used and mark this cost on the Chronicle sheet. Any remaining conditions are applied to the linked character when the Chronicle sheet is applied to that character.

The one exception is when a character remains dead at the conclusion of the module. In this case, the linked character is permanently dead and removed from play immediately. In resolving any conditions on a pregenerated character, Prestige Points and gold from the linked character may be used to pay for the cost of the raise dead or resurrection spell.

Applying Credit

All players receive a Chronicle sheet unless, at the GM’s discretion, they are replaying the module for no credit. If a player uses an existing Pathfinder Society character for the adventure, he must apply the Chronicle sheet to that character immediately. A player who uses a pregenerated character must apply the Chronicle sheet to his linked Pathfinder Society character when that character reaches the starting level of the module.

A GM who runs a module may likewise apply the Chronicle sheet to one of her Pathfinder Society characters. The GM must decide which of her characters will receive the Chronicle sheet when the module is completed and the Chronicle sheets are filled out. Playing a module from beginning to end earns a character 3 XP and 4 Prestige Points if that character is on the normal advancement track or 1.5 XP and 2 Prestige Points for characters on the slow advancement track. There are no day job rolls when playing a sanctioned module.

If a character dies and is brought back to life, the GM must determine the rewards for that character. The minimum possible reward is 0 GP, 1 XP and 1 PP on the normal advancement track or 1/2 XP and 1/2 Prestige Point on the slow advancement track. If a character participates in more than 2/3 of the module, he should receive full rewards. GMs and active players are encouraged to hasten the return of a character waiting to be raised from the dead.

Players who do not complete each game session earn 1 fewer XP and Prestige Point for each session missed. This also applies to players who join later sessions; they receive 1 fewer XP and Prestige Point for each session missed. In both cases players earn a minimum of 1 XP and 1 Prestige Point (or 1/2 XP and 1/2 Prestige Point on the slow advancement track). If a character earns more XP than she needs to reach her next level, she may not choose to switch advancement tracks at the new level earned.

As always, each player may receive credit for each module once as a player and once as a GM, in either order. Players must accept a Chronicle sheet for their character the first time they play a module. A player may replay a module at the GM’s discretion, but the player may not receive more than one player Chronicle sheet per module. The only exception is Tier 1—2 modules. A player may only play a Tier 1—2 module for credit once with a 2nd-level character, but may use additional 1st-level characters to replay the same module for credit.

Running Multi-Session Modules

Since sanctioned modules can be multi-session events, Pathfinder Society characters may not be used in other Pathfinder Society events until they receive a Chronicle sheet for the module. This does not apply to a player using a pregenerated character until the linked character reaches the starting level of the module.

GMs are advised to work with players who miss the final session of the module in order for those players to receive their Chronicle sheets.

Retirement and Beyond

In the interest of allowing Pathfinder Society characters to extend their adventuring careers, and to utilize sanctioned Pathfinder Modules to their fullest enjoyment, I would like feedback on allowing Pathfinder Society characters to advance past 12th level for sanctioned module play only.

The level cap for the campaign is still 12. There are no current plans for us to publish any Pathfinder Society scenarios of 13th level or higher. However, there are more modules on the schedule that are 13+ levels. We do have some stand-alone, Tier 12 scenarios on the radar for those that do not wish to play Eyes of the Ten, but wish to play three additional scenarios at 12th level and then retire. Just as with every other Pathfinder Society Scenario, Eyes of the Ten is not open for replay and that isn't going to change. So, the addition of more Tier 12 scenarios, or another retirement arc, allows for players to have options.

This part of the proposal would allow people to play a “retired” character through higher-level sanctioned modules, receive credit, and not have to play an artificially leveled character. This also helps to balance the wealth-by-level curve as presented currently at the end of Eyes of the Ten that presents 13th-level wealth for 12th-level characters. Right now it is difficult for us to plan special retirement events for 12th-level characters mentioned 3 years ago because characters’ wealth-by-level is so imbalanced.

Mark and I have discussed this and here is how I plan to incorporate advancement for 13th level and higher. This will open up the extended career of Pathfinder Society characters if people want to utilize modules in that manner.

Spoiler:

Once you reach 12th level, it would require 3 XP to advance to 13th level and beyond as normal. We will adjust the Eyes of the Ten arc so you receive 2 XP after Part 1 and 1 XP for Parts 2, 3, and 4. Once you complete Parts 1 and 2 of Eyes of the Ten, you may advance your character to 13th level. Mark and I reviewed Parts 3 and 4 and all CRs are higher than 13 so there shouldn't be a significant effect on the play of either of those. Once you complete Eyes of the Ten, you will still be 13th level and one XP short of advancement of 14th level. This will allow you to roll right into playing Academy of Secrets at level for the module. Any character who has completed Parts 1 and 2 of Eyes of the Ten may advance to 13th level.

At 13th level, you can then play your Pathfinder Society character in Academy of Secrets and receive full credit as normal, but you may play it at 13th level. We will be adjusting the gold received at the end of Academy of Secrets.

Upon completion of Academy of Secrets, the character would receive 3 XP and be one short of 15th level.

At the end of Tomb of the Iron Medusa, the character would receive 3 more XP and be one short of 16th level.

In the future, Paizo will release additional high-level modules that will also be sanctioned for play. We will eventually sanction The Witchwar Legacy once it is possible for someone having played everything to reach 17th level. We will make gold adjustments accordingly for those Chronicle sheets.

To help GMs and players use their Pathfinder Society characters in retirement and beyond, both the wealth and Fame tables will be extended beyond their current limits.

The above changes would not go into effect until version 4.1 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play is released. Also, I am very aware that people might be in the middle of a multiple-play session for a sanctioned module, or be involved in a play-by-post game that takes months instead of one or two game sessions.

If these changes were to go into effect, I plan to grandfather in modules caught in the middle of multiple sessions when this goes live. I also plan to assign a Venture-Captain as the coordinator for this endeavor. Players and GMs will have a month to register their games as "grandfathered" games. After that time, no new module play should begin under the old rules. These registered "grandfathered" games have until the start of Season 4 to complete their games and report such to the Venture-Captain.

So there you have it. This is a proposal to modify play of sanctioned modules to bring them more in line with standard scenario play, as well as open options for players to extend the life of their Pathfinder Society characters. As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I would like to hear what you do and don’t like about the above proposal, and how this proposal would affect your game in both a positive and negative way if put into place.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

It's RPG Superstar Time!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Tomorrow marks the official launch of RPG Superstar 2012, Paizo’s annual open-call RPG design competition! That means a lot of excitement here at the Paizo offices, because if this year’s Superstar is anything like the previous four, we’re about to discover some serious design talent that will help us years into the future.

As in previous years, the final winner of this year’s RPG Superstar will receive a contract to write a Pathfinder Module to be published by Paizo. Previous winning modules include Christine Schneider’s Clash of the Kingslayers, Neil Spicer’s Realm of the Fellnight Queen, Matthew Goodall’s Cult of the Ebon Destroyers, and The Midnight Mirror, by last year’s Superstar winner Sam Zeitlin, which is scheduled for release in February!

And while winning the chance to write a published Pathfinder Module is great, it’s also important to remember that RPG Superstar offers value to more than just the single winner. This year, the three finalists will also earn a contract to write a Pathfinder Society Scenario, a downloadable adventure sanctioned for play in Paizo’s worldwide Pathfinder Society mega-campaign. The first Pathfinder Society Scenario from last year’s finalists, Jerall Toi’s The Edge of Heaven just came out last week, and the two additional sequels that make up the “Quest for Perfection” campaign arc are all being written by RPG Superstar finalist and semi-finalist alumni.

Speaking of prizes for finalists, did you know that Pathfinder Adventure Path developer Rob McCreary first came to our attention as a finalist in the first year of RPG Superstar? He didn’t win the final challenge, but his hard work and excellent creativity made him a natural choice when a staff position opened a few years ago, and he’s now one of the most important elements of Paizo’s monthly editorial effort here at the Paizo offices.

This year’s competition begins tomorrow with an open call that asks you to submit an original wondrous item by January 6, 2012. If you can use your 300 words wisely (and awesomely) enough to earn a place in the judges’ Top 32, you’re on your way to what might just become a RPG design career! As a special treat, we plan to include selected wondrous items from this year’s Top 32 in 2012’s Ultimate Equipment Pathfinder RPG hardcover, which will also include selected favorites from previous years.

See paizo.com/rpgsuperstar for more details, a complete RPG Superstar calendar, and rules for Round 1.

So start sharpening your pencils and shaking up your creativity. The next RPG Superstar could be you!

Erik Mona
Publisher

The Tales of Two Chronicles

Monday, December 5, 2011

With a continuing effort to strengthen the entire Pathfinder Society program, as well as to continue tying up loose ends, Winter Witch and Death’s Heretic have now been incorporated into the Pathfinder Society.

Because of the differences between reading a novel and playing a game, there are specific rules needed for using sanctioned content from a Pathfinder Tales novel during play and we'll be providing a Chronicle sheet for players to use with their characters. You can download the Chronicle sheets on their respective product pages.

Sanctioned novels you ask? How do you sanction a novel? Because Pathfinder Tales novels are stories first, there is no easy way to sanction items, spells, feats, or other special abilities whole cloth. Therefore, the Chronicle sheets use the following rules.

1. Only items, feats, boons, or abilities found on the Chronicle sheet are legal for play.
2. Each player must have a copy of the Chronicle sheet with his or her character at all times.
3. In order for the Chronicle sheet to be considered legal for play, the player must show to the GM a copy of the Pathfinder Tales novel, either in printed or digital format.
4. A Chronicle sheet may be applied to each character the player currently has or creates in the future.

GMs are advised to work with players to make the sanctioning of Pathfinder Tales Chronicle sheets easy and fast. As long as the player has a copy of the book, she should be able to use the Chronicle sheet just like any other.

If you would like to learn more about the Pathfinder Tales line, please visit paizo.com or your local bookstore. Other novels in the line include Master of Devils by former Dragon Magazine editor Dave Gross, and Plague of Shadows by Howard Andrew Jones.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Illustration by Michele Chang

I Pity the Foo!

Monday, November 28, 2011

In just a few days, the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign will take its first steps into the Dragon Empires of Tian Xia, as the Pathfinder Society pursues ways to ensure victory in the forthcoming Ruby Phoenix Tournament. The premiere Tian adventure for Pathfinder Society players is RPG Superstar 2011 finalist Jerall Toi's The Edge of Heaven, which kicks off the three-part series The Quest for Perfection. Adventuring high in reaches of the Wall of Heaven (Golarion's equivalent of the Himalayas), it's no surprise the PCs may run into a yeti or two. Just watch out for falling foo dog statues.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Seven Veils Celebration

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Jestercap blog and boon seemed well received last month so I decided to try out another holiday this month.

Seven Veils is mentioned on page 249 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide. We are advised it is a celebration of brotherhood between all civilized races, marked by interracial masquerade balls. I thought this seemed like a neat holiday and decided it should be expanded upon.

Once again, creative Director James Jacobs wrote the description the holiday, and you will find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character.

Illustration by Eric Belisle

Diversity is a fact of life in the Inner Sea region—not only do numerous human ethnicities mix and live among each other throughout the area, but races entirely separate from humanity dwell there as well. It’s not uncommon to see elves brushing shoulders with humans in marketplaces, gnomes working as merchants in dwarven settlements, or tengus serving aboard ships mostly helmed by humans. Indeed, two of the more widespread races in the Inner Sea region—the half-orc and the half-elf—are the specific results of diverse unions.

The holiday known as Seven Veils, which takes place on the 23rd of Neth in most realms found in the Inner Sea region, is a celebration of this diversity—a time when social boundaries break down even further in a day-long event filled with dancing, feasting, and courting. The evening traditionally closes out with the Seven Veil masquerade, a ball wherein the participants wear disguises that either hide their actual race and/or gender (often using minor magical trinkets and spells) or specifically disguise these features as entirely new characteristics. At the end of the ball, the participants remove their disguises to their partners, often with unpredictable and sometimes delightfully awkward results. Traditionalists and conservative minds often find the Seven Veils masquerades to be scandalous or off-putting, yet they remain particularly popular in most of the larger cities of the land.

Historians note that the original "Dance of the Seven Veils" has a much different genesis than one promoting diversity—the mysterious cult of Sivanah, goddess of illusions, mystery, and reflections, is generally cited as the source of this festival, and indeed, worshipers of the goddess (herself known as the Seventh Veil) count the 23rd of Neth as one of their most sacred of days. What rituals the church of Sivanah performs on this date, however, are unknown to outsiders, for the cult enjoys its secrets. This secrecy has, unsurprisingly, given rise to all manner of sinister rumor, yet when Seven Veils rolls around each year, its eager participants are quick to set aside rumor in preference for the night’s fun and games.

I am interested in reading your thoughts, not only on Jestercap and Seven Veils, but also on future holiday write-ups and boons. This is especially true in regard to the various equinoxes and solstices.

Download the Seven Veils Boon! - (111 KB zip/PDF) This Boon is no longer available as of 12/12/11.

P.S. Don't forget to check out the Pathfinder Tales author chats on tonight, November 21, hosted by Master of Ceremonies Dave Gross!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Continuing to Fill the Ranks

Monday, November 14, 2011

As we continue to expand Pathfinder Society to areas where players are looking for organization, it is important to me to find the right people to serve as ambassadors of the game, to present a positive light for new players, and to try to bring veteran players who have left back into the fold. Three more Venture-Captains have been chosen to fill those roles.

The Venture-Lieutenant program was established just a few weeks ago but we are already seeing the positive results from it. One of these is the promotion of Tracy Windeknecht. She served a short time under Mark Garringer when he was a Venture-Captain of Indiana. Since Mark has stepped down, I have chatted with Tracy and have utmost confidence she will pick up right where Mark left off and continue to grow Pathfinder Society in Indiana.

I am also excited to add two new areas to our Venture-Captain regions. The first is Virginia. Paul Rees has a unique region due to the high population of military in his area. Pathfinder Society is a perfect mesh for gaming interest due to deployment schedules and transfers. But Paul is not just taking care of the coast. He is there to help all of Virginia.

It also is exciting to add our third Canadian Venture-Captain, Brent Jans. Edmonton already has a strong core of Pathfinder Society players. In truth, Brent and several other people were already doing a terrific job organizing Pathfinder Society in that area. After talking with Brent, and hearing some of his ideas, I am excited to see how much more Pathfinder Society can grow in this area of Canada.

In addition to the three Venture-Captains above, we have added the following Venture-Lieutenants to help some of our current Venture-Captains reach out to areas in their regions that are either too far away to cover on a regular basis or where there are too many locations in a region to cover at all. They include the following:

Chicago – Brad Ruby
Connecticut/New York – William Wadhams
Los Angeles – Brian Darnell
Minnesota – Andrew Christian
New York/New Jersey – David Santana
New York/New Jersey – Vincent Colon-Roine
San Francisco – Joshua Archer
United Kingdom – Rob Silk
Vermont – Myles Crocker
Washington D.C. – Bruce Chang

We are still in need of additional Venture-Captains in some regions and you can find the list right here. If you’re interested in applying, please contact me after reviewing the application process in the previous link.

Welcome aboard to all my new captains and lieutenants!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Chronicling a Tale or Two

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Just a week ago we sanctioned seven new modules for use in Pathfinder Society play. With a continuing effort to strengthen the entire program, as well as to continue tying up lose ends, Prince of Wolves and Master of Devils have now been incorporated into the Pathfinder Society.

Because of the differences between reading a novel and playing a game, there are specific rules needed for using sanctioned content from a Pathfinder Tales novel during play and we'll be providing a Chronicle sheet for players to use with their characters. The Chronicle sheets are available for download on the product page for each novel.

Sanctioned novels you ask? How do you sanction a novel? Because Pathfinder Tales novels are stories first, there is no easy way to sanction items, spells, feats, or other special abilities whole cloth. Therefore, the Chronicle sheets use the following rules.

1. Only items, feats, boons, or abilities found on the Chronicle sheet are legal for play.
2. Each player must have a copy of the Chronicle sheet with his or her character at all times.
3. In order for the Chronicle sheet to be considered legal for play, the player must show to the GM a copy of the Pathfinder Tale novel, either in printed or digital format.
4. A Chronicle sheet may be applied to each character the player currently has or creates in the future.

GMs are advised to work with players to make the sanctioning of Pathfinder Tales Chronicle sheets easy and fast. As long as the player has a copy of the book, she should be able to use the Chronicle sheet just like any other.

If you would like to learn more about the Pathfinder Tales line, please visit paizo.com/pathfinder/tales or your local bookstore. Other novels in the line include Winter Witch by New York Times best-selling author Elaine Cunningham, and the forthcoming Death’s Heretic by James L. Sutter.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Celebrating Jestercap

Monday, October 24, 2011

Since I have been involved with Pathfinder Society, one thing I have heard mentioned by players on numerous occasions is that they wish they could learn more about Golarion and incorporate that knowledge into their Pathfinder Society character. After thinking on different ways to make this happen, it occurred to me that Golarion has quite a few holidays mentioned in Faiths of Balance, Faiths of Corruption, Faiths of Purity, and The Inner Sea World Guide. As in the real world, where holidays are important to all of us, holidays in Golarion are important to our characters and the NPCs spread out across the world.

Every so often, I will write a blog that details a holiday in Golarion to help Pathfinder Society characters share in the spirit of the holiday. Creative Director James Jacobs wrote the description below for the first holiday in this series: Jestercap, mentioned on page 249 of The Inner Sea World Guide. At the end of the description, you will find a special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character.

Jestercap occurs at the end of the month of Lamashan, traditionally on the 27th (although a few regions have taken to moving the exact day around slightly so it always falls on the last Starday of the month, allowing people who wish to celebrate in excess to have the following day of rest to recover). While Jestercap has been embraced with excited open arms by the gnome communities of the Inner Sea region, its original genesis is said to have been in one of Taldor’s coastal cities not long after King Aspex the Even-Tongued broke from the nation, significantly weakening Taldor’s power and beginning that nation’s long decline. The holiday was originally intended to distract the distraught Taldan populace with a night of revelry and comedic entertainment, but the antics of jesters simply weren’t enough. Over the course of the first few years, Jestercap evolved from a holiday of observation to a holiday of participation. Today, the holiday is a time where anyone can pull pranks or jokes or japes on companions, on neighbors, and (most typically) on rivals, with the understanding that provided no lasting harm is done, any humiliations inflicted before midnight are to be taken in stride. Of course, come morning the day after, there are inevitably jokes that went too far, and grudges and feuds borne from Jestercap antics have a way of lingering for months to follow.

Download the Jestercap Boon! - (115 KB zip/PDF) This Boon is no longer available as of 11/14/11.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

The Beginner Box Bash!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Looking for a chance to check out the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box and celebrate the biggest Pathfinder RPG release since the Core Rulebook? Then you’ll want to head to your local game store for the Beginner Box Bash!

Venture-Captains across the world are organizing gaming days on October 29th and 30th to bring together Pathfinder players, debut the Beginner Box, teach new gamers how to play, and introduce players new and old to the Pathfinder Society Organized Play Program. The day’s events include four new, one-hour quests highlighting the Beginner Box characters and rules. Special Beginner Box Bash punch cards allow players to keep track of their adventures and learn more about the Pathfinder RPG and Pathfinder Society. Those who complete all four adventures will receive a special reward: a Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet to welcome them into the Pathfinder Society (or to enhance any existing Pathfinder Society character).

Ready to find out where and on what day the Beginner Box Bash is happening in your area? Just check for your region on our Beginner Bash page for all the locations currently signed up. This list is still expanding, so be sure to check back for updates as we get closer to the weekend of the 29th. Additionally, if you’re a game store owner, or want to get your local game store involved in the Beginner Box Bash, there’s still time! Please contact your regional Venture-Captain for details.

As always, we couldn’t pull off such an exciting event without the help of all of our amazing Pathfinder Society Game Masters. We know our Game Masters’ time is valuable, and we want to thank them in advance for all their effort. To show our appreciation, all Game Masters who run four events during the Beginner Box Bash can expect their own special Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet. If you’re a Pathfinder Society Game Master interested in running games at your local Beginner Box Bash, please contact your local Venture Captain for details.

Thanks to everyone for all their enthusiasm and support for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box, and we’ll see you at the Beginner Box Bash on October 29th and 30th!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

More Adventures for Pathfinders!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Illustration by Roberto Pitturru

One of the things I often heard complained about over the past year was that players did not have enough scenarios to play. Many times, they had played every scenario of a particular tier and were in a holding pattern to continue adventuring with their favorite characters.

The problem was noted and added to my list of to do items, and getting the remaining Pathfinder modules sanctioned for Pathfinder Society play was one of my top priorities. Thanks to the help of JP Chapleau, John Compton, Nick Gray and Joseph Caubo, (who combed through the modules to provide me with lists of items, as well as flavor text and ideas for Chronicle sheet boons) Pathfinder Society now has seven additional modules for sanctioned play. The list includes: Carrion Hill, City of Golden Death, Crypt of the Everflame, Curse of the Riven Sky, Masks of the Living God, Realm of the Fellnight Queen, and From Shore to Sea.

Additionally, the Chronicle sheet for Feast of Ravenmoor has been updated to include a new boon.

For those who have not had a chance to play through Carrion Hill, I highly recommend it as a Halloween weekend game. Enjoy and good gaming!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Filling in the Ranks

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Illustration by Craig J Spearing

I was always taught to deal with bad news first and then move on to good news. It is with a heavy heart that I announce the resignation of Doug Miles, the Detroit Venture-Captain. Doug was Pathfinder Society’s first five-star GM. He has been an avid supporter of Pathfinder Society and he will be sorely missed. I had the pleasure of meeting and GMing side by side with Doug at Dragon Con two years ago and was able to take some observations of watching his GMing style and incorporate it into my own. On a positive note, Doug has some very exciting life changes he is preparing for in the near future and the Paizo and Pathfinder Society wish him well.

"It's been a privilege to see Pathfinder Society grow year after year, and to have promoted a game that has exceeded expectations on so many levels,” said Miles. “If it weren't for the support and encouragement of the players and GM volunteers in this campaign, I would have never come as far as I have. I am most grateful for all the friends that I have made through the campaign, both in person and on the messageboards. Although I can no longer live up to my Venture-Captain obligations, and thus am stepping down, I hope to stay in touch with PFS and look forward to watching its popularity continue to expand."

It also saddens me to announce we are losing another member of the Venture-Captain team in Mark Garringer from Indianapolis.

"Due to family and personal reasons, I have to take a step back from my involvement in Pathfinder Society," said Garringer. "I believe in organized play and where Mike is taking things, and I want to thank him for all he has done already. I thank Paizo for the opportunity and friendships I've been able to make."

This is not the only change to our existing Venture-Captain corp. Bob Jonquet is moving south of Chicago to the southern area of Illinois. This does create additional opportunities for Pathfinder Society, however, as I have created a new region—Central & Southern Illinois. Bob has been named the Venture-Captain of this new region and I look forward to seeing how he can grow Pathfinder Society in a new area.

A final change to our existing Venture-Captains is the stepping down of Dane Pitchford in Seattle. Due to his life becoming even more busy and hectic, he did not feel he could devote as much time to the position as it deserves. I did not want to lose Dane from the Venture-Captain family and so I offered him a new position that he graciously accepted. He has been reassigned to his new position, Venture-Lieutenant (Seattle).

We are also adding 13 new Venture-Captains in 10 new regions! Please welcome the following:

Boise, Idaho – Clarence Garrett
Portland, Oregon – Alex Greenshields
Las Vegas, Nevada – Doug Daulton
Seattle, Washington – Chris Jarvis
Salt Lake City, Utah – Eddy & Stephanie Roberts
Central/Southern Illinois – Bob Jonquet
Chicago, Illinois – Rene Duquesnoy
South Carolina – Del Collins
Wisconsin – Sean Hanlin
Winnipeg, Canada – Scott Young
Perth, Australia – Callum Prior
Sydney, Australia – Alistair Rigg
Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia – Zrinka Znidarcic

For another exciting change, I am also instituting the Venture-Lieutenant program. As Venture-Captain in Atlanta, I learned quickly I could not run everything on my own. Trying to spread myself among nine stores, with more than 240 square miles, and still maintain a life was impossible. So, I choose to handpick store liaisons, or Venture-Lieutenants, to help me. They were my right-hand people who helped me ensure Pathfinder Society continued to grow, while meeting these needs of the players in the different stores. Each was assigned to a store or area in Georgia I could not get to regularly. This paid huge dividends in that we had tremendous growth in the region.

So, I have worked with the Venture-Captains to choose Venture-Lieutenants to assist them in their regions. If the region is spread out among many miles, or has more game locations than they can handle, I have let the Venture-Captains choose two Venture-Lieutenants to assist them.

This is not an inclusive list as more will be added, but as of the writing of this blog, the following have been chosen as Venture-Lieutenants:

Arizona – Jason Leonard
Atlanta, GA – Joseph Caubo and John Compton
Austin, TX – Bill Oppenlander
Chicago, IL – Garret Gottschalk
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX – Marcus Mayes
Des Moines, IA – Derek Boobyer
Denver, CO – Scott Crosson
Dunedin, FL – Kristy Schweyer
Indianapolis, IN – Tracy Windeknecht
Missouri – Michael Von Hasseln
Omaha, NE – Clint Blome
Raleigh, NC – Joe Jungers
Seattle, WA – Dane Pitchford
Toronto, Canada – Robert Trifts
Winnipeg, Canada – Myron Pauls
Croatia – Maja Skvorc

Each of these new Venture-Lieutenants, as well as any chosen in the future, will receive a messageboard title to identify him or her as such. It is encouraged that you still work with your regional Venture-Captain for all of your Pathfinder Society needs.

We are still in need of additional Venture-Captains in some regions and you can find the list here. If interested in applying, please contact me after reviewing the application process in the previous link.

Good-bye to an old friend and welcome aboard to all my new captains and lieutenants!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Looking Backward into the Future

Monday, October 3, 2011

One of the results of an early-August Gen Con and a Pathfinder Society release schedule based on putting out material at the end of the month is that it always seems like an eternity between when a new season of Pathfinder Society Organized Play kicks off in Indianapolis and the next set of scenarios comes out at the end of September. But the wait is over and Season 3 continues with two exciting new adventures, released last week.

As we mentioned in the store blog last Wednesday, both of this month’s scenarios include elements from past scenarios—in this case from the very first season of the campaign! One of my goals as developer on the Pathfinder Society Scenarios line has always been to give a larger sense of continuity within the campaign. Now that we’re into the first full season that I mapped out from square one, it was the perfect opportunity to start implementing some of this.

Brand new threats from Bestiary 3 are sure to torment poor, unfortunate souls in two new Pathfinder Society Scenarios.
Illustration by Alberto Del Lago.

In Pathfinder Society Scenario #3—05: Tide of Twilight, the Pathfinder Society sends the PCs on a mission resulting from research into a relic attained way back in Pathfinder Society Scenario #23: Tide of Morning from June 2009. While the two scenarios can be played in either order and the ties between them are loose, players and GMs who played Tide of Morning at PaizoCon two years ago will recognize some thematic elements and subtle allusions to the early scenario. And who knows, if folks like this spiritual sequel style, more missions may come about as a result of the information gleaned from the lorestone of the Verduran Forest next season.

Going back even farther, Pathfinder Society Scenario #3—06: Song of the Sea Witch features a prominent NPC from the very first scenario ever, and one of the most popular scenarios to date, Pathfinder Society Scenario #1: Silent Tide. In Silent Tide, the PCs spent much of the adventure working to undo the effects of hapless historian Yargos Gill’s meddling in things beyond his understanding, and yep, you guessed it; Yargos is at it again. Players from a certain faction who saved Yargos from his first adventure with the Pathfinder Society will also note that the effects of their actions have impacted the storyline, and their fulfilled faction mission from Silent Tide speaks to their new faction mission in Song of the Sea Witch.

I’m eager to hear what folks think of these homages, both what you think worked well, and what could make the campaign’s internal continuity even stronger. Further, what NPCs, locations, magic items, or dangling plot threads would you like to see woven back into the Pathfinder Society tapestry in scenarios to come? Comment below!

Next week, Campaign Coordinator Mike Brock has some exciting announcements to make about the organization’s growing army of volunteer coordinators.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Society Welcomes New Campaign Coordinator, Venture-Captains!

Monday, September 12, 2011

On Thursday of last week, Paizo announced the hiring of Mike Brock as the new Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator. Mike has been one of the campaign's most prolific and successful regional coordinators in Atlanta, Georgia since the venture-captain program was launched a year ago, and we're all excited to see what great new innovations he can bring to the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign as a whole. Mike won't start for another few weeks, as moving from Atlanta to Seattle is quite an endeavor, so hold off on asking for rules clarifications and the like, but feel free to congratulate him and wish him the best of luck here or on the existing congratulations thread.

In addition to announcing Mike as the new Campaign Coordinator, it's also my pleasure to announce another wave of venture-captains! Some of these newly appointed regional coordinators will be working in areas that have long been crying out for a venture-captain, while some will be stepping into the rather large shoes left empty when Mike leaves Atlanta to come work at Paizo HQ. If you're in one of these venture-captains' regions, drop them a line to see how you can help grow Pathfinder Society in your area. Conversely, if there still isn't a venture-captain in your region, check out the details on applying for the position here.

Atlanta, GA
Kyle and Nani Pratt
kyle.pratt@georgiapfs.org & nani.o.pratt@georgiapfs.org

Boston, MA
Don Walker
BostonPFS@gmail.com

Dallas/ Ft. Worth, TX
Jon Cary
DFWVentureCaptain@gmail.com

Iowa City, IA
Todd Morgan
PFSIowa@gmail.com

Washington, DC
Dan Simons
pfsventurecaptaindc@gmail.com

Congrats again to Mike and all six of our new venture-captains, and thanks for all your hard work thus far! The Pathfinder Society is in good hands and can only get better from here.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Free Stuff on Our Website!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Check out our Community Use Package!

So some of you may or may not know that we updated some parts of our Community Use Package the other day. Some of you may or may not know what that even means, which is a darn shame, since we put out some really cool, really free stuff that people don't even know about. In addition to the Player's Guides for each new Adventure Path we put out every six months, below is a list of some neato things that we put on our site that you can use for free under our Community Use Policy.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document
At Gen Con, I realized that a lot of people didn't know that you don't even need to buy most of our products to enjoy them, and that we put up all our rules on our own website for free. It's kind of this insane marketing scheme we have, where we like our customers so much that we give you all the rules you need to play our game for free, and it totally works. It's called the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document, and it's a giant archive of all our rules, so that you can play the game without even opening your book up. It's searchable, official, totally free, and updated often.

Community Use Package
The Community Use Package consist of files we provide freely on our website, including big ol' maps of our world, symbols to put on your own maps, character sheets, and other cool icons and logos to use as you may. We're pretty down with our fans using things we make to express their appreciation for our products, and you can use a lot of our campaign setting stuff for your own needs as long as you comply with our Community Use Policy.

Pathfinder Society Introductory Scenarios
Pathfinder Society Organized Play is getting pretty popular. We just kicked off Season 3 of Pathfinder Society a couple months ago, and to commemorate the event we released three free full-length scenarios to introduce new and veteran players alike to the exciting world of our organized play campaign! Scroll down to the bottom of the linked page here and check them out! In addition, you can get yourself a free copy of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play on our website as well.

Free RPG Day
If you don't know about Free RPG Day already, you've been missing out. But that's okay! Because you can still download the products we release on these esteemed occasions on our website. Our last Free PRG Day product was the module We Be Goblins, which is an absolute blast, and in the past we've put out the much-acclaimed Master of the Fallen Fortress module and the Pathfinder RPG Bonus Bestiary, which includes plenty of baddies to throw at your players.

Patrick Renie
Developer

Labor Day Convention Roundup

Monday, August 29, 2011

This past weekend was PAX Prime at the Seattle Convention Center, and we had a strong Pathfinder presence in rooms 202 & 203. But have no fear, Pathfinder Society faithful in other parts of the country (or locals who missed getting in on the sold-out show); here are a few conventions where you can participate in Pathfinder Society Organized Play over the holiday next weekend!

Atlanta, GA: Dragon*Con 2011 September 2—5

Denver, CO: Tacticon 2011 September 1—4

Los Angeles, CA: Gateway 2011 September 2—5

San Francisco, CA: Celesticon 2011 September 2—5 and Pacificon 2011 September 2—5

Tampere, Finland: Tracon Sept 3—4

Terre Haute, IN: ISU-CON 2011 Sept 2—3

Vancouver, WA: Kumoricon Sept 2—4

Be sure to check Pathfinder Society Event Central frequently for more conventions, game days, and ongoing games offered in your area. If you're an event organizer who wants to make sure others hear about your convention or game store game, be sure to update your event so it appears on the calendar.

Good gaming, Pathfinders!

Mark Moreland
Developer

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!

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!

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.

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!

Mark Moreland
Developer

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!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

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!

Mark Moreland
Developer

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!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Golarion Day: Field Guide Art Preview

Friday, July 1, 2011

In the buildup to our print deadline for Gen Con, we saw a fair amount of book schedules get a bit of "compression," with books that should be being worked on (and thus previewed) a month apart being separated by a few weeks. Or in this case... ONLY a week. Last week we previewed some art from Dungeons of Golarion, but the Pathfinder Society Field Guide is right on its heels! And what kind of field guide would it be if it didn't have a section that talked directly about the things eager new Pathfinders might face in the field? Challenges like daemon-spawning portals, angry dinosaurs, and vengefully violent six-armed animated statues?

Well... no one ever said that being a Pathfinder was easy, I guess.

Illustrations by Maichol Quinto and Florian Stitz

James Jacobs
Creative Director

The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part XIII: PaizoCon Success!!!

Monday, June 13, 2011

For hundreds of avid Pathfinder Society players, this past weekend likely produced countless memories that won't soon be forgotten. This weekend, after all, was PaizoCon, and one of the pillars of the show was the wide array of Pathfinder Society games and special events being run from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon.

We planned for 16 active tables each slot and ended up pulling in extra GMs for nearly every one, filling as many as 21 tables on Saturday morning. While there were lines of hopeful players filling the hallway outside the four PFS gaming rooms each slot, Hyrum and I are proud to say that not a single gamer was turned away from Pathfinder Society play who showed up within 15 minutes of the start of a slot. In total, we had nearly 80 tables go off, most of which were for brand-new 1st-level characters created by participants new to the Society.

On Friday night we ran an exclusive event called the Grand Melee, in which the Decemvirate tested the participants to find the most skilled and most promising agents for future endeavors. Over five continuous encounters, each tiered table was put up against increasingly powerful foes, culminating in a combat rated at CR +4 for the lowest tier and CR +5 for the higher tiers. In the end, the winning table scored 173 points in Tier 1–2 (followed closely by a Tier 5–6 table with 164 points.

Not only did players compete with one another for special prizes in the Grand Melee, but all of the event's GMs were battling to provide the hardest challenge and the most enjoyable experience for their tables. In the end, the running was close, but San Diego Venture-Captain Eric Brittain came out ahead. As a reward for his GMing performance in the event, he will receive his next GM star for free, bumping him from 2 to 3 in a single event.

Speaking of GM stars, Hyrum and I were proud to see two active 4-star GMs earn their 5th stars during the convention. Congratulations are in order for Kyle Baird and Missouri Venture-Captain Jason Roeder. Welcome to the ranks of our most valued GMs, guys!

On Saturday afternoon, Hyrum and I announced the five new factions, the names of which were quickly tweeted and leaked onto the messageboards. We'll be covering all five of these new player options in the coming weeks starting with the Grand Lodge faction next week, so be sure to check the blog on Monday morning to see more details than simply the basic premise and name of the first of our five new factions.

Mark Moreland
Developer

The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play Part XI: Pick Your Pace

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Well, loyal Pathfinders, I have returned from a weeklong adventure in which I conducted an ancient ritual at the prophesied time to eternally bond me with an intelligent magic item of incredibly high Charisma that now occupies my left ring slot. And whether the Rapture came or not, I'm in heaven (though there's little time to take in the sights as we scramble to get the finishing touches on all the great new Pathfinder Society material debuting at PaizoCon in little more than a week).

But enough about me and my new cohort (or am I the cohort?). Let's talk about one of the biggest changes coming to Pathfinder Society Organized Play next year: variable advancement tracks!

Illustration by Maichol Quinto

Currently, all Pathfinder Society PCs level at the same rate: 3 XP to level up, which breaks down to three scenarios per level, or at the most 37 scenarios between character creation and retirement after a completed 12th-level adventure arc. For someone playing only a handful of scenarios a year at large conventions, this means they can play the same PC for years and years and still feel like they're actually getting something out of those few sessions they play at Gen Con or PaizoCon annually. But for players who participate in the campaign on even a bi-weekly basis, they will have leveled a character from inception to near retirement in just over a single year.

We’ve listened to the feedback, and feel there's a simple solution already present in our rules system. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game includes several different advancement tracks to allow GMs to run their campaigns at the pace that works best for them and their players. While most of our products to date assume the medium advancement track, some groups prefer using the fast or slow progressions to move more quickly to higher-level play or to savor each step along the way to 20th level. Pathfinder Society Organized Play will be implementing a similar optional advancement track beginning in Season 3.

Players who enjoy the three-scenario-per-level pace don’t need to do anything. For you, nothing will change. But for those who want a slower progression, you can opt instead to move at half-speed, earning only 1/2 XP, 1/2 the total maximum gold, and a maximum of 1 Prestige Point per scenario. Because the net gain per level will be the same whether you use the slow track over six adventures or the normal track over three, PCs will be able to choose which progression they'll use for their next level each time they gain a level.

In addition to allowing individuals to operate at their own pace, this plan should allow small home groups or even growing store and convention groups to cooperate to ensure that higher-level PCs slow down enough for new players or replacement characters to catch up, condensing the level spread to make things easier for event coordinators. I'm sure there are other benefits to these new options that we haven't even thought of in-house yet. What most excites you about this new development?

Be sure not to miss next week's Monday blog for a look at the fifth of the existing factions: the decadent empire of Taldor. Anyone who's already played The Dalsine Affair likely already has an idea of at least one change that will be coming to this faction—a change that players of the four new scenarios at PaizoCon are likely to notice right away.

Mark Moreland
Developer

The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part VIII: In the Secrets of the Past Come Tomorrow's Triumphs

Monday, May 9, 2011

Osirion is among the oldest human nations of the Inner Sea region—its founding marked the end of the Age of Anguish. Over its long history, it has experienced centuries of incredible power as well as generations of subjugation under foreign rule, as its ancient might was lost to desert sands and forgotten with the passage of time. With ambitions of once again being the most influential and powerful nation in the Inner Sea region, Osirion knows that Absalom is its largest competitor for the position. So while the nations of Andoran, Cheliax, Qadira, and Taldor battle among themselves for control of the City at the Center of the World, Osirion delves deep into its history to resurrect the secrets of the past. As a sleeping giant, it amasses its power to swoop down on its unsuspecting enemies when they have weakened one another, using the strength of history to secure its future dominance.

Whether it's the faction's Egyptian inspirations or it's unassuming modus operandi, Osirion has been one of the most popular factions since the earliest days of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. In many ways, this faction's ideals fall most closely in line with the baseline mission of the Pathfinder Society, and that's not changing with Season 3.

Back in the fall, we tried something new: We started introducing faction leaders as NPCs and plot elements within scenarios beyond just signing their names at the bottoms of faction mission handouts. And we began with Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, head of the Osirion faction. As far back as PaizoCon 2010, there were hints that not all was as it seemed with the Sapphire Sage, and with the onset of the Shadow Lodge conflict, his part in the overall metaplot was revealed.

I know not everyone has played the scenarios in question, so I won't post any spoilers (and I ask all comments below to use spoiler tags as necessary) but I will say that observant Osirian players may have noticed their missions are coming from some lowly scribe named Otoneraphim of late. The subplot with Amenopheus will be resolved at PaizoCon in the two-part Tier 1–7 series Shadow's Last Stand, so you've got a little over a month to catch up on past installments in this story before the "season finale".

As part of the increase in metaplot within the campaign, more venture captains and faction heads will play larger roles in scenarios during the Year of the Ruby Phoenix, and many of the faction-specific metaplots will involve their respective faction heads. I'm eager to hear what people think of this, and specifically how you have or haven't liked the way we used Amenopheus as a major player this season. Stop by the Pathfinder Society section of the messageboards and make your opinions heard!

Next week we'll continue looking at some of the campaign rule changes in store for next season, specifically those dealing with prestige. The following Monday, we'll look at another of the 10 factions, but which one depends on you. We're just a few fans away from hitting 4,000 followers on Facebook; if you, the fans, can spread the word and help us add 250 new fans before the end of the week, I'll move one of the five new factions up in line and make it the following week's blog topic, revealing its symbol as an even earlier preview.

Mark Moreland
Developer

The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part V: The Quest

Monday, April 18, 2011

The hardest part of organizing and running Pathfinder Society events is selecting what adventures to offer on a given day. A coordinator needs to have an idea of how many players will show up, how many GMs will volunteer, what level range all participants will want and be able to play in, and most importantly, what people have and haven't played before. The sanctioning of Pathfinder Modules for Society credit was the first step in adding to coordinators' arsenals of available adventures, and last week we unveiled yet another set of material for Pathfinder Society play: Pathfinder Society Quests.

Pathfinder Society Quests are two- to three-encounter mini-adventures covering two subtiers designed to be run in under two hours. Whether you need to run them when a party moves like a greased snake through a Teflon pipe through an adventure and has a few hours to kill before the end of their scheduled slot, after poor dice rolls result in a TPK in the first half of an adventure, or as a short demo or delve event at a game store or convention, Pathfinder Society Quests scratch many itches. These short missions don't include faction missions, and provide no XP or gold, but they do come with unique item access or specialized boons. And as if that weren't enough, they can be replayed as often as you want, even with the same character.

The first Quest in the line is the Tier 1–5 adventure "Ambush in Absalom," by yours truly, which can be found in the spring issue of Kobold Quarterly (available in print or PDF here). The adventure's Chronicle can be found on the KQ #17 product page or at the bottom of the Pathfinder Society Additional Resources page. Over time, we'll release more Quests, both in other venues and on paizo.com. Eventually, Pathfinder Society Quests released elsewhere will make their way to paizo.com for all members to access. Stay tuned for more information about how you can submit your own Pathfinder Quests for inclusion in this exciting new program!

Next Monday we'll continue examining the existing five factions and what changes might be in store for them next season with a look at Cheliax, whose members are very vocal, but aren't so great at recruiting others to their cause.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Volunteer or Run an Event at PaizoCon 2011!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Are you attending PaizoCon 2011? (If not, tickets are still available!) If yes, have you thought about volunteering to run an event at the show? What makes PaizoCon so great isn't just the interaction with the Paizo staff or the ability to play in a staff-run game, it's also the ability to sit and game with your fellow Paizo community members as well as run a game for those community members! We're not beholden to a single system at PaizoCon. Want to run a Pathfinder RPG one-off? Great! How about a board game slot where you teach some folks your favorite board game ever? Also great! How about you playtest an upcoming scene in your home campaign with a willing audience? Perfect! There's no end to the ideas you could develop and run at PaizoCon 2011.

We're only taking event submissions until April 27, 2011 (2 weeks from today). So post below in the following format:

Title:
System:
Short Description:
Number of Players (Min/Max):
Character Level:
Pregens Provided (yes/no):
Maturity Rating (Everyone (6+)/Teen (13+)/Mature (18+)):

This is the also the official call for Pathfinder Society volunteers for PAIZOCON 2011! Volunteers will receive $10 in Paizo.com store credit useable whenever they want to use it, for each slot they volunteer for, plus an awesome volunteer package of product in addition to the attendee bag o' goodies. (And I mean AWESOME! As in, we only had to drive it 3 miles from our warehouse AWESOME. Like, we're really close to the show so we can bring really cool stuff AWESOME!)

Look through the list below and email me the games/slots you can volunteer for!

Here's where we need help:

Friday 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.
Need: 16

Friday 12:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Need: 16

Friday 6:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. (Grand Melee)
Need: 16

Saturday 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.
Need: 16

Saturday 1:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
Need: 16

Sunday 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.
Need: 16

There are 6 slots in which we need volunteer assistance. In order to get the goody bag mentioned above, you need to volunteer for a minimum of 2. The more volunteers I get for these events, the more events we can run. So please take some time to run one or two events and help Paizo and the Pathfinder Society make this the best PaizoCon possible!

We hope to have the event schedule live for sign-ups very soon. Details forthcoming.

At this time we're only seeking volunteers from those who have purchased a badge and plan to attend the show.

All volunteers can email me: hyrum.savage@paizo.com with the subject line PAIZOCON 2011 Volunteer.

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play Part III: The Rules that Govern the World

Monday, April 4, 2011

Continuing our series of Monday blogs on the future of the Pathfinder Society, today let's talk about the campaign documents that outline the rules of the campaign.

The Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play has seen several incarnations since the campaign began in summer 2008. Currently in version 3.0.2, it has grown to a dense, 38-page PDF including the basics for players, GMs, and coordinators, as well as many explanations and clarifications of rare corner cases. While most of these rules are staying the same, the nature of any campaign is that it evolves. And the current document is simply too unwieldy for us to continually update, re-layout, and re-edit (not to mention print, for all of you following along at home). Today, we'll be updating the document to version 3.0.3 with a few revisions noted below; this will be the last revision to this document until we release version 4.0 in July.

A few months ago we moved the list of Additional Resources to their own page on the website where we can more easily update them without needing to redo the entire guide every month. This has worked out really well for us, and we plan to keep updating it here. This table of information has been removed from v3.0.3, replaced with instructions to find this information on paizo.com instead.

Additionally, we replaced the old replay rules section on page 18 with the new rule implemented on the messageboards in October outlining the 1:1 player/GM credit rule. We've clarified the Play! Play! Play! rule on page 17 to try to eliminate the misconception that the rule should negate every other rule in the book, while maintaining its intent of encouraging people to find creative solutions in order not to have to turn people away. Finally, we clarified a rule that was incorrectly interpreted in past versions of the guide regarding animal companions with Intelligence scores of 3 or higher (page 20).

So what's in store for campaign documentation in the future? Great things!

In July, we'll release not one but three new campaign documents, each with a different target audience. The first will be a 4-page introduction to the campaign with only the basic overview of the campaign and how someone can get started right away. This will be aimed at people new to the campaign who wander up at a game store or convention and just need the bare minimum to get started right then and there. We'll also have a longer, more detailed version of the player's campaign guide with extended information on additional options and explanations of factions, traits, day jobs, spending Prestige, and so on. The third book will be a GM- and coordinator-oriented information about creating sessions, reporting, and other organizational elements of the campaign.

Many of the specific corner cases and campaign specific rules that don't really belong in something everyone's expected to download and print before participating in the campaign will be moved to an online FAQ instead. This will allow us to more quickly address rules clarifications in a single, easy-to-find location instead of continually bloating the PDF campaign documents. We will have the FAQ up and full of information by the time Season 3 kicks off, and maybe even sooner if the deadline gods smile upon us.

Check back here next Monday for a glimpse at the first of next season's 10 factions—the freedom-loving nation of Andoran—and see what changes they've brought about in the last three years of dominating Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Tales: Plague of Shadows Sanctioned for Society Play

Monday, February 28, 2011

A short while ago we sanctioned the Pathfinder Modules Godsmouth Heresy and Cult of the Ebon Destroyers for use in Pathfinder Society play. This was a needed change to help expand play options for players and to strengthen the entire program. As we roll into March it's time for another change: the sanctioning of Pathfinder Tales novels for use in the Pathfinder Society.

Illustration by Darren Bader

The Pathfinder Tales novel Plague of Shadows has now been incorporated into the Pathfinder Society. This new option provides fans of the novels with an additional way to use content from the book in a sanctioned format. Because of the differences between reading a novel and playing a game, there are specific rules needed for using sanctioned content from a Pathfinder Tales novel during play and we'll be providing a Chronicle sheet for players to use with their characters. You can download this Chronicle by going here.

Sanctioned novels you ask? How do you sanction a novel? Because Pathfinder Tales novels are stories first, there is no easy way to sanction items, spells, feats, or other special abilities whole cloth. Therefore, Plague of Shadows Chronicle sheets use the following rules.

1. Only items, feats, boons, or abilities found on the Chronicle sheet are legal for play.
2. Each player must have a copy of the Chronicle sheet with his or her character at all times.
3. In order for the Chronicle sheet to be considered legal for play, the player must show to the GM a copy of Plague of Shadows, either in printed or digital format.

GMs are advised to work with players to make the sanctioning of Pathfinder Tales Chronicle sheets easy and fast. As long as the player has a copy of the book, she should be able to use the Chronicle sheet just like any other.

If you would like to learn more about Plague of Shadows or other novels in the Pathfinder Tales line, please visit paizo.com or your local bookstore. Other novels in the line include Prince of Wolves by former Dragon Magazine editor Dave Gross, Winter Witch by New York Times best-selling author Elaine Cunningham, and the forthcoming The Worldwound Gambit by gaming legend Robin D. Laws.

I'd love to hear your comments on this update to Society play. Please post them in the comments!

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

Illustrations by Christophe Swal. Wallpaper design by Crystal Frasier. Widescreen version here.

The Pathfinder Society Needs You!

Friday, February 11, 2011

One of my duties here at Paizo is to oversee the Pathfinder Society, the organized play program for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. In Pathfinder Society Organized Play, your character is a member of the Pathfinder Society, seeking fortune and glory all over the face of Golarion. Pathfinders are a diverse bunch of scoundrels and wanderers. Their loyalties lie on all shores of the Inner Sea, and beyond their adventures as Pathfinders, they often find themselves mixed up in the murky politics of Absalom and the five nations who seek to control the City at the Center of the World from behind the scenes. The campaign centers on the sprawling city of Absalom, where five factions (for now) engage in a shadow war for control of the city's politics and economy.

Pathfinder Society Organized Play is a constantly evolving mega-campaign played by thousands of players and the adventures you experience are shared by players around the world. Play is organized into Seasons, throughout which the actions and achievements of you and your fellow Pathfinders create an ongoing storyline. Each season consists of at least 28 Pathfinder Society scenarios (short, 4-hour adventures) set in a variety of exotic locations across Golarion.

Currently, the Society is waging a secret war against the Shadow Lodge, former Pathfinders working to bring the Society to its knees. This wallpaper, designed by Crystal Frasier with art from Christophe Swal, showcases some of what the Pathfinder Society is all about.

If you want to learn more about the Pathfinder Society, and the entire Pathfinder Society Organized Play program, head on over to the PFS Page to learn more.

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

Pathfinder Society: News from the Field

Monday, February 7, 2011

As the days get longer and the snows begin to melt (okay, so maybe not the last part) word comes in from Pathfinder Society events throughout the world, proving that it takes only a month for our esteemed agents to recover from the inevitable lull of the holiday season to pick up adventure and exploration anew on the cusp of spring.

Photography by Adam Daigle

In Houston, Texas, nearly 30 tables of Pathfinder Society were played in the final weekend of January, including the Year of the Shadow Lodge multi-table special. Attendee and Pathfinder Society author Adam Daigle sent the following pictures to me over the weekend, showing that Team Cheliax was present in full force.

	Cover illustration by Joe Wilson

That same weekend, on the other side of the pond, European Pathfinders were making their mark on Conception, one of Great Britain's largest gaming conventions. UK Venture-Captain Dave Harrison ran several tables of The Midnight Mauler, the Tier 1–7 scenario by Paizo's own Crystal Frasier available now only to 4-star GMs and Venture-Captains. Reports from players at the table are that this is a new favorite, so don't miss the chance to get in on this memorable event at your next local convention. Contact your nearest Venture-Captain to find out when The Midnight Mauler will be offered in your area!

Have a report from a recent convention or game day in which Pathfinder Society made a particularly large showing? Did any of your regional players create their own Pathfinder team regalia or did someone run a unique event or incentive? Stop by the Pathfinder Society Organized Play messageboards and let us know. Reporting back to the Decemvirate is one of every Pathfinder's duties, after all.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Is This Pathfinder Society Legal?

Monday, January 31, 2011

Every time a new book comes out in any of our product lines, Pathfinder Society players and GMs fill the messageboards with questions about the legality of including new rules elements in their PFS games. The list of available resources has, until recently, been updated in the ever-growing Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play in Chapter 13. Last week, with the release of the Ultimate Combat Playtest PDF, we moved the contents of Chapter 13 to a special page on paizo.com at http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/resources. In the near future, we will be laying out the contents of that page as a simple, easy-to-print PDF which will also be kept up to date. We will notify all Pathfinder Society members and customers who have downloaded the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play whenever new content is added to this document, just as we have done with new updates to Chapter 13.

This is the first in several steps we are making to put the most commonly referenced material in as easily updatable and available a spot as possible. Stop by the Pathfinder Society messageboards and leave your feedback on how we can better get changing information into your hands!

P.S. Hyrum also wants me to tell everyone that he will be announcing two new Venture-Captains in the coming week, so stay tuned!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Dancing with a Monster in the Pale Moonlight

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Early last year a promise was made, a promise to those GMs who go beyond the call of duty. The promise was a special scenario, exclusive to 4-star Game Masters and Venture-Captains. Hints were dropped by Mark Moreland back in October that something special was coming, and now I can tell you that the special 4-star GM scenario will be released in January and enjoyed worldwide soon after.

"The Midnight Mauler," a Tier 1–7 scenario written by the always amazing Crystal Frasier, sends members of the Pathfinder Society to the former crown jewel of Ustalav's royal courts, the decaying city of Ardis. Tasked by the Society to look into the fate of Absalom's former Master of Blades Vonran Vilk, what they find will lead to exploration, diplomacy, murder, haunted pasts, and tragic love. Can the PCs discover the identity of the Midnight Mauler before it kills again? Find out in 2011!

Hyrum
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

How About Some Pathfinder Society for the Holidays?

Thursday, December 16, 2010

It's a crazy busy week here at Paizo HQ, as we all strive to get a jump start on the holiday season. At the moment, we have the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide hardcover in the final approval stages before it heads to the printer, as well as the first wave of Ultimate Magic showing up on the editorial wall. Despite these major projects and the impending absences of many staff members as people head home for the holidays, we managed to slip a few little Pathfinder Society projects in between the cracks!

While we generally release Pathfinder Society scenarios the final Wednesday of the month, this month we've got two scenarios ready to go live weeks early, in anticipation of the hectic nature of that final week of the year. It's not yet clear when they'll go live for sale, but keep an eye out for Pathfinder Society Scenario 2–11: The Penumbral Accords by Owen K.C. Stephens (which sees the Pathfinder Society return to fan-favorite location Blakros Museum for yet another adventure) and Pathfinder Society Scenario 2–12: Below the Silver Tarn by Crystal Frasier (which pits the Pathfinders against the imprisoned spirit of a pit fiend in a rugged mining village) within the coming days.

If two new scenarios aren't enough to sate your hunger for Pathfinder Society over the holiday break, why not get in on a game of The Godsmouth Heresy, the first adventure in the Pathfinder Modules line sanctioned for Pathfinder Society credit. It's a longer adventure and doesn't conform to many of the standards of Pathfinder Society scenarios, and thus requires additional rules to supplement its play for PFS credit. We've put together a free PDF document that includes these additional rules and the module's Chronicle, which will be available on the module's product page by the end of the week.

Finally, we've made a few changes to the Heresy of Man series by Greg A. Vaughan and Kevin Wright based on customer feedback. These revised and clarified scenarios will be replacing the existing PDFs, so if you've purchased any of the three scenarios already, you'll get an email detailing what changes we've made and be able to download the updated version from your My Downloads page.

What are your holiday PFS plans? Drop by the Pathfinder Society messageboards and let us know.

Mark Moreland
Developer

The Gorilla King Wants You to Game!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

I've been a gamer for most of my life, starting with 1st Edition when I was a wee lad. A couple of years later I distinctly remember walking into a Save-On (now CVS) Drug to buy the original Red Box edition. After that I gamed throughout junior high and high school, (Go Gondos!), and even when I was in Argentina for a couple of years and didn't have the opportunity to game, I thought about gaming a lot, and when I got back and went to college, the gaming continued. Since then I've continued to game, including after I got married and even after the arrival of the various members of the Savage Horde. (Hi kids!) I'm currently playing in Sean K Reynolds's high-level drow game, playing Daeanu Azrinae, a 15th-level drow noble rogue (swashbuckler) who's working for the Matron in an attempt to keep the other PCs focused on who attacked us; I'm co-GMing Kingmaker with Lisa and her group at Chateau Stevens-Wertz; I'm gearing up to run a Gamma World game during lunch using the new version just released by WotC; I've just made a character for a 4e game being run by some new friends here in Redmond; and I'm in the planning stages for a Pathfinder game tentatively titled The Dregs, where the PCs will be made up of adventuring group outcasts created by rolling 3d6 for stats, straight down the row, old school style. In fact, just about everyone in the office plays in a ton of games somewhere, with Rob McCreary and James Jacobs the current leaders, with somewhere around 20 hours a week each spent gaming.

Why am I telling you all of this? It's because I'm a firm believer in the importance of actually playing games, and I'm hoping to have this The Gorilla King Wants You to Game! blog idea become a semi-regular feature were I talk about the various games going on here at Paizo. After a decade in the industry, it's become clear that too many game designers and industry folks don't play games anymore, of any kind. But that's not how we roll here at Paizo. We're all HUGE gaming geeks and we love all kinds of games, from boardgames to TCGs, to video and standard card games. There's even talk of setting up some Warhammer 40k battles once the craziness of the holiday season settles down. It's refreshing to work for a company where we not only make games, we play them too. (I also think that playing games helps you make awesome games, but that's for a blog on another day.)

So this holiday season try to get some gaming in, of any kind. Don't have a local group? Head down to your local store and play in a Pathfinder Society scenario or two. Don't have a local store nearby? Try Infrno, d20 Pro, Skype, or some other virtual tabletop. Technology today makes it easier than ever to find a way to game. If all else fails, I bet your Aunt Martha knows how to play Monopoly. Although I bet she might like Settlers of Catan better.

And while you think about ways to get your gaming grove on, check out this very cool piece from the upcoming Inner Sea World Guide hardcover, due for release in February.

Illustration by Mauricio Herrera

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

Buy a PFS Scenario, Get Previews!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Illustration by Craig J. Spearing

We've got a lot of incredible products coming out in the next few months, and it's no secret that this blog's readers love previews. While this blog does feature a new piece of art, I thought it'd be a waste not to mention another way we preview upcoming material: Pathfinder Society Scenarios.

Since print products generally need to go to the printer months before they come out for general consumption, there's a pocket of several weeks between when something's done when we know its finalized content. Pathfinder Society Scenarios are pdf-only products, and don't require the same lead-time in the production process, and that means that sometimes we can slip in some actual mechanics from complete but unreleased products.

Last month's release of Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-08: The Sarkorian Prophecy saw content from the forthcoming Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Book of the Damned—Volume 2: Lords of Chaos. Of the two scenarios releasing today, Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-09: The Heresy of Man, Part III: Beneath Forgotten Sands not only wraps up the three part Heresy of Man arc by Greg A. Vaughan and Kevin J. Wright, it also contains two monsters from the pages of the highly anticipated Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2.

I hope to continue the trend of including sneak previews of upcoming material into Pathfinder Society Scenarios, both to reward active players with new content before it's widely available and to make adventures as awesome as they can be by using all the tools at my disposal. Be sure to check out the two new scenarios releasing today as well as two additional scenarios the last Wednesday of every month.

Addendum: Unfortunately, due to Seattle's inability to clear roads of ice and snow, we are still without an editorial staff. Final edits are being made from home, but can't be entered into the document outside the office. Thus, today's scenarios will be a little late. We expect to have them up no later than Tuesday of next week. We apologize for the delay, and appreciate your patience.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Attack of the Podcasts

Monday, November 8, 2010

A short while after Gen Con, Jason Bulmahn sat down with the fine folks from the Games With Garfield podcast to talk about Pathfinder, Paizo, gaming, Golarion, and a lot of ideas and theories about game design and development. We even find out that Jason beat Richard Garfield at Magic: The Gathering! You should definitely listen to it here.

The Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast guys return to the Council of Thieves Adventure Path with an interview with AP author Richard Pett, a new necromancer character-concept build, conversions of all five Abishi to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and an in-depth review of The Six-Fold Trial. You don't what to miss this one, so check it out here.

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

We Have Ways of Making You Report

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Early this month I posed a challenge to the community to report their Pathfinder Society events in exchange for an extra-early preview of art from the forthcoming World Guide: The Inner Sea. Well, I'm overjoyed to report that the targets we set were the definition of an underestimate of what you folks were capable of. Not only did the number of events taking place in October surpass our monthly average, the total number of previously unreported events that finally got reported exceeded our expectations to a level we haven't seen since we sold out of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook before it was even released. Seriously. I'm incredibly proud of the entire PFS community, and all of you should be too! I knew people were playing, and now we can actually see how much our fans are enjoying the campaign.

As a lawful being through and through, I will now uphold my end of the bargain. Though there are still a few days left in October to increase your numbers even further, the targets are already clearly blown out of the water. Thus will I release the hostage art. And this isn't just any art, mind you, but an image James Jacobs specifically didn't want to reveal until much, much later. Cries of triumph echoed from Erik's office, through the editorial pit, and as far as the warehouse when we saw the numbers, though, so you all get what you earned.

BEHOLD!

Illustration by Tyler Walpole

Now that you got what you wanted, don't stop reporting. I plan to keep the rewards coming for your hard work!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Oh Look, More Venture-Captains!

October 27, 2010

A few weeks ago we announced 13 Regional Coordinators that we're calling Venture-Captains. Since then, Mark and I have been going through the entire Pathfinder Society program and starting the process of making sure Season 2 ends with a bang you'll all remember, making plans for Season 3 (which will be awesome, trust me), and going through all of the rules for the Society program itself. In between all of that, I've reviewed a number of Venture-Captain applications and chosen a few new Coordinators. We're still not finished naming new Venture-Captains, but rather than sit on these names I thought it was more important to get them announced and out there building the Society in their area. And so, without further ado, here are your new Venture-Captains!

Arizona (Phoenix)
Rene Ayala
pfscoordinatorphx@gmail.com

California (San Francisco)
Michael Azzolino
pathfinder@justiceradio.net

Colorado (Denver)
JP Chapleau
jp@chapleau.us

Nevada (Las Vegas)
Issak Haywood
PFSTheocrat@gmail.com

Canada – Ontario (Toronto)
Neil Shackleton
VCNeilOnt@gmail.com

Oh, before you head over to the messageboards, you should scroll down a little to check out what my new desktop image is. Isn't it amazing? It's the cover to Matt Goodall's RPG Superstar adventure Cult of the Ebon Destroyers done by a good friend of mine, Kieran Yanner. And speaking of RPG Superstar, we're hard at work preparing for the 2011 round, so start getting ready for it. Who knows, this time next year I could be putting the cover to your adventure on my desktop.

Illustration by Kieran Yanner

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

We're Listening!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

There has been a lot of talk on the Pathfinder Society section of the messageboards about low-level scenarios and a potential lack thereof. Well, we're listening, and have taken steps to fix the problem. While it's too late in the game to change the release schedule for October or November, in December we will be releasing a new Tier 1–5 scenario set at Absalom's famed Blakros Museum. Existing Pathfinder Society Players will surely recognize the iconic location, previously seen in fan-favorite scenarios #5: Mists of Mwangi and #35: Voice in the Void. The Penumbra Accords, written by Guide to Absalom author and Super Genius Owen K.C. Stephens, will replace #2–11 in the release schedule, and Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained will wrap up the Tier 12 "Eyes of the Ten" adventure arc later in Season 2.

Illustration by Damian Mammoliti

Additionally, we will be releasing at least one low-level Pathfinder Society Scenario each month from now on, so you'll never run out of new material to run for seasoned and rookie Pathfinders at your local game day.

In other news, we've begun commissioning the conversion of Season 0 Pathfinder Society Scenarios from their original 3.5 rules set to the Pathfinder RPG, and will be re-releasing them in waves as they are completed. I've also assigned the first 4-star GM exclusive scenario, called The Midnight Mauler, and we expect to have it available to 4-star GMs and Venture-Captains to run exclusively for a year before it's made public.

There's a lot more in the works as well, and Hyrum and I are thrilled about the exciting new changes on the horizon. We welcome feedback from existing players and GMs, so stop by the Pathfinder Society messageboards and let us know what you think of the present state of the Society and where you'd like to see it go from here.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Psst... Wanna see some new art?

Thursday, October 7, 2010

It's no secret that the most popular entries in this blog are art previews, and we love showing off the beautiful work of all the great artists who have created the visual look and feel of Golarion and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. But all the attention on art has brought to our attention the bargaining power we hold as your art peddlers.

Players in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign have probably noticed that Season 2 has centered around the mysterious Shadow Lodge, and we plan to carry this theme through to the end of the year. We're also planning an even more intricate metaplot for Season 3, in which PCs' successes, failures, and faction prestige will have a direct impact on future scenarios and world canon as a whole. But this means that we need to see a much higher rate of reporting from GMs and event coordinators.

With the announcement this week of our first 13 PFS regional coordinators (whom we're calling Venture-Captains, naturally) it's now even easier for PFS participants to get event support and organizational assistance near their local game store or convention, but there are surely uncounted sessions that have gone unreported in the past few years. We need to see these numbers, as they'll allow us to focus resources toward where you play, as well as plan for the future of the Society, as we see what scenarios are played most often, and which factions have the most players and average prestige.

So! If we see 600 newly reported PFS sessions in the month of October, I'll preview some exclusive new art from the upcoming World Guide: The Inner Sea. We will be previewing the book when its release date approaches, but my gut tells me you want to see some art sooner rather than later. So get out there and start a PFS group for your friends or at your local game store! Report that session you ran over the summer that you haven't yet. Show us you want the art now!

P.S. (from Hyrum) If you report over 700 tables, we'll spoil a piece of art James Jacobs specifically said not to reveal.

Mark Moreland
Developer

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!)	Jean-Marc with his adventurer’s sash from Seekers of Secrets.
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?).

So what are you waiting for? Cast your votes now!

James L. Sutter
Fiction Editor

And done!

Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 10:52 AM Pacific

Pathfinder Society doors close on the best Gen Con for the Society ever.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Day 3, Slot 7

Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 06:02 AM Pacific

Another full house.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

PFS room

Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:40 AM Pacific

it's packed!

Sean K Reynolds
Developer

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.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Exhausted condition gained.

Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 05:13 PM Pacific

Seated 100 Pathfinder Society tables today.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Slot 2 @ Gen Con

Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 11:33 AM Pacific

Lora rocks her table with her iron fist Kung Fu dice rolling.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Pathfinder Society slot 1: a full house.

Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 06:29 AM Pacific

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators—Apply Now!

Friday, July 2, 2010

At long last the time has come to open the doors to the wide world of Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators. This plan has been a long time coming and thanks to years of player and GM feedback, I think we now have a plan in place to turn over some of the responsibilities for organizing and growing Pathfinder Society to local and regional volunteers, many of whom have already been doing so since the beginning.

A few fine-print notes before we get started:

1. The Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator is a volunteer position. Regional coordinators are not Paizo Publishing employees. They are not official representatives of the company. Applying for the volunteer position of regional coordinator means you acknowledge these restrictions.

2. A Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator must be willing and able to fulfill a list of monthly volunteer duties as noted below.

3. A Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator must always strive to act in a professional, positive, and outgoing manner when functioning in their capacity as volunteers for Paizo Publishing.

4. You must be 18 years of age or older and you must be willing to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Paizo Publishing.

Assuming you're still on board, here's the regional coordinator volunteer position in greater detail:

What is a Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator?

A regional coordinator is a local and regional organizer and point of contact for Paizo Publishing's worldwide organized play campaign, Pathfinder Society.

Regional Coordinator Volunteer Duties and Expectations

1. Organize a minimum of two Pathfinder Society Organized Play convention or game store appearances per month in your local or regional area of responsibility.

2. Attend PaizoCon or Gen Con and work for Paizo at one (or both) of those conventions annually. Non-USA regional coordinators will be expected to attend large local conventions to be named later.

3. Maintain and update monthly a full report of local game stores including contact information, manager's name, what Paizo products they carry, and whether or not they're running Pathfinder Society Organized Play events (with or without your assistance).

4. Build a positive rapport with all local game store managers and employees.

5. Provide the campaign coordinator with frequent feedback from game stores, volunteers, and players in your local area or region of responsibility.

6. Be a Paizo Publishing product expert. Familiarize yourself with all of our product lines and be comfortable talking about all of them.

7. Game Master a minimum of one Pathfinder Society Organized Play session per month.

8. Participate daily on the Pathfinder Society Organized Play messageboards and on the private Regional Coordinator messageboard.

9. Build and maintain monthly an email list of local volunteers.

10. To the best of your ability, ensure that all Pathfinder Society Organized Play sessions run in your local area or region of responsibility are reported and reported accurately.

11. Be the go-to contact for your local area or region of responsibility; assist local game days, game clubs, conventions, or any other such group wanting a Pathfinder Society Organized Play presence at their event.

12. Ensure that all Pathfinder Society Organized Play events in your local area or region of responsibility are entered into the event-finder at paizo.com/pathfindersociety.

Rewards for Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinators

1. Free attendance at PaizoCon or Gen Con (or both), including free badges, a portion of a hotel room, booth vouchers, and possible product rewards. In order to receive the free attendance, the regional coordinator must arrange his or her own travel to and from show, must provide for his or her own food, and must volunteer for a minimum of eight slots at Gen Con and a minimum of four slots at PaizoCon.

2. Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator dinner at PaizoCon or Gen Con (or both).

3. Free PDFs of every new PDF product Paizo Publishing releases added to your My Downloads section on paizo.com.

4. Annual exclusive special scenario available to regional coordinators and 5-star GMs only for one year.

5. Messageboard tag in the Pathfinder Society messageboards: Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinator. (Note: this tag will trump all other tags while posting on the Pathfinder Society messageboards.)

6. Special exclusive events at PaizoCon and Gen Con.

Local and Regional Targets

As we begin our regional coordinator program, we are only seeking candidates for the following local and regional areas. If you do not live in one of these areas, please do not apply. As we grow, we plan to expand our regional coordinator program into more locations worldwide—so if you don't see your area on here yet, don't despair! We may be coming soon to a region near you.

USA:
Atlanta, GA
Raleigh, NC
Tampa, FL
New York City, NY
Columbus, OH
Indianapolis, IN
Chicago, IL
Detroit, MI
Milwaukee, WI
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Austin, TX
Houston, TX
Denver, CO
Seattle, WA
San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Cincinnati, OH
Knoxville, TN
Northern Virginia-Greater DC Area
Boston, MA
Minneapolis-St Paul, MN

Europe:
United Kingdom
Ireland
France
Belgium-Netherlands
Germany
Spain
Italy

Asia-Pacific:
Australia

How to Apply

Send an email to pathfindersociety@paizo.com with the subject Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinator. In this email, please attach a copy of your normal employment resume in .doc, .txt, or .rtf format that includes your employment history, job skills, education, and anything else that displays a history of professional employment. Please ensure that your resume includes your physical mailing address, full legal name, phone number, and email address.

Additionally, please include a separate document in .doc, .txt, or .rtf format that contains the following information:

1. Detail your involvement in Pathfinder Society Organized Play over the last two years.

2. Detail conventions, events, game days, clubs, and so on that you have organized and run.

3. Detail your roleplaying game history.

4. List how many stars you currently have on your Pathfinder Society Organized Play GM rating.

5. List your Pathfinder Society ID # and the email address associated with your paizo.com account (if different from your email address in your resume).

6. Detail any conventions, events, game days, clubs and so on that you plan to attend this year.

7. Finally, detail two ideas that you haven't seen Paizo try that, in your opinion, will help grow Pathfinder Society Organized Play in your local area or region.

While you do not have to be a member of Pathfinder Society Organized Play to apply for this volunteer position, preference will be given to those who display a solid history of involvement with the Society. I will update this paizo.com blog post frequently (and the associated discussion thread) as I fill positions.

Please make sure you follow all of the instructions above. I look forward to hearing from you!

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager