The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part II: Where Once There Were Five...
Monday, March 28, 2011
Since Hyrum and I first joined the Pathfinder Society Organized Play team last fall, we've had huge goals for what we wanted the campaign to be. Hyrum has coordinated organized play for huge networks of people in the past while working for Upper Deck Entertainment and had hopes of seeing Pathfinder Society reach the same number of players. Meanwhile, I began my foray into Pathfinder Society as a player and GM and wanted to see the concerns of the average participant addressed and the overall quality of the campaign continue to increase, and to explore the setting I loved to a whole new degree.
So we started plotting.
And after months of subtle hints and minor alterations to the status quo, we're ready to start announcing the larger changes that are on the horizon with Season 3. We started last week with announcements of the conclusion of the Year of the Shadow Lodge metaplot and the First Steps intro adventure arc to be released in July. Every Monday between now and August 8 (the day after Gen Con ends), we'll have a new Pathfinder Society-related blog about some of the new or changing rules elements of the campaign.
First up: Factions!
When Pathfinder Society was announced roughly three years ago, players were promised in-world consequences for their actions within their factions. This competitive aspect of the campaign was abandoned at the end of Season 0, but we're bringing it back... sort of. Factions will matter more in the overall metaplot of the season, and successes reported in certain scenarios within a small window of time after release will influence future scenario development. Each faction will have its own storyline over the course of the season involving specific NPCs, locations, and events. If you want cool stuff to happen to or within a particular faction that season, complete your missions and report the results; if some factions have less than stellar performances, their stories may be less positive, but players' actions will still influence what does occur.
Also, there will be ten factions next season to expand the options available to players. The five existing factions aren't going anywhere (though those that didn't perform as well in the last three seasons may see some shakeups) and mechanics for existing members to change factions will be outlined. We'll be dedicating a blog post to each of the ten factions in the coming months—beginning in two weeks with the most successful faction to date.
Be sure to check back here next Monday for another big announcement about the future of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign involving the official campaign rules documents.
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