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