Dragon's Demand: New Sanctioned Module!

I cannot stress how great it is to have you on board John. I love the way you did this and can't wait to see the chronicle sheets. You and Mike have done such a fantastic job for PFS I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Cheers John!

Just out of curiosity, when you start the Dragon's Demand do you need to have a character with 0xp, or can you start the adventure with a character levelled somewhere between 1-3? I have a few dragon-slayer character concepts but I don't want to invalidate them for this big module.

John

This is awesome thanks ;)

So let me see if I've got this straight:

The module is broken up into 3 parts that are similar to the current 32-page modules (designed for one level, and playable by anyone in a 3-level range, and give 3 XP).

So if I play through the first part with a level 1 character in module mode, I get to level 2, but can't play the next part until I get to level 3 with other scenarios/modules. But if I play in campaign mode, I get a bonus chronicle to take me from 2 to 3, plus the second module chronicle that gets me from 3 to 4. Then I have to get to level 5 with other content, at which point the third module chronicle kicks in to take me to level 6. Or I could go from 2 to 3 with other content (or start the first part at level 2), and use the bonus chronicle to bridge the gap from 4 to 5.

Essentially, there's a 1-level gap between each module section, and the bonus chronicle lets me bridge one of those gaps.

Is that right?

Cheers John!

Just out of curiosity, when you start the Dragon's Demand do you need to have a character with 0xp, or can you start the adventure with a character levelled somewhere between 1-3? I have a few dragon-slayer character concepts but I don't want to invalidate them for this big module.

One need not begin this module with a fresh character with 0 XP. Conceivably, one might begin with a character who has 8 XP and is just shy of 4th level, but the adventure would be considerably easier with less satisfying gold rewards. If you would like to play a Pathfinder Society character through the whole thing, it might be most rewarding to dig out the 1st level version of that character and just play the module from cover to cover, following the adventure's experience progression. Afterward, apply the Chronicle sheets, and jump back into the action with some higher level scenarios.

So let me see if I've got this straight:

The module is broken up into 3 parts that are similar to the current 32-page modules (designed for one level, and playable by anyone in a 3-level range, and give 3 XP).

So if I play through the first part with a level 1 character in module mode, I get to level 2, but can't play the next part until I get to level 3 with other scenarios/modules. But if I play in campaign mode, I get a bonus chronicle to take me from 2 to 3, plus the second module chronicle that gets me from 3 to 4. Then I have to get to level 5 with other content, at which point the third module chronicle kicks in to take me to level 6. Or I could go from 2 to 3 with other content (or start the first part at level 2), and use the bonus chronicle to bridge the gap from 4 to 5.

Essentially, there's a 1-level gap between each module section, and the bonus chronicle lets me bridge one of those gaps.

Is that right?

Yes, that is correct.

This sounds really cool (both the system and Dragon's Demand itself). I've never played an AP (and only a couple of "old" modules) and would love to give this a try.

Now, if I understand it right, I could play a (not-necessarily-PFS-legal) PC through the whole thing in campaign mode, then make a brand-new PFS PC, immediately level that PC to 4th, and then apply the final chronicle upon reaching 5th? So I'd get to play one brand-new PC through the module (and then stop), then use that credit to launch another new PC's PFS career?

As someone who has more PC ideas than PCs, that sounds really tantalizing. :D

This sounds really cool (both the system and Dragon's Demand itself). I've never played an AP (and only a couple of "old" modules) and would love to give this a try.

Now, if I understand it right, I could play a (not-necessarily-PFS-legal) PC through the whole thing in campaign mode, then make a brand-new PFS PC, immediately level that PC to 4th, and then apply the final chronicle upon reaching 5th? So I'd get to play one brand-new PC through the module (and then stop), then use that credit to launch another new PC's PFS career?

As someone who has more PC ideas than PCs, that sounds really tantalizing. :D

Let's do it. This Christmas, a marathon kill-fest with 50-point-buy gestalt characters using all PFS-banned archetypes and 3PP material.

Jiggy wrote:

This sounds really cool (both the system and Dragon's Demand itself). I've never played an AP (and only a couple of "old" modules) and would love to give this a try.

Now, if I understand it right, I could play a (not-necessarily-PFS-legal) PC through the whole thing in campaign mode, then make a brand-new PFS PC, immediately level that PC to 4th, and then apply the final chronicle upon reaching 5th? So I'd get to play one brand-new PC through the module (and then stop), then use that credit to launch another new PC's PFS career?

As someone who has more PC ideas than PCs, that sounds really tantalizing. :D

Let's do it. This Christmas, a marathon kill-fest with 50-point-buy gestalt characters using all PFS-banned archetypes and 3PP material.

Get ready for my Ancient Black Dragon Eldritch Knight.

Actually, if you play it in campaign mode you just get the sheets as credit like when doing APs, so you dont even have to put them on the same character if you didn't want to, right?

So you could put 1,2 + bonus on one (making him 4th level), and the final one either when that guy gets to 5th, or just to another existing 5th level PFS character.

I think the new system is a great compromise John! Cheers! Looking forward to this, but to be honest, looking even MORE forward to Wardens of the Reborn Forge now.

Oh .... I think this will be a multiple weekend APL Special ... Keep an eye open RDN. :)

This is amazing. I knew it would have to be multiple sheets, but the bonus sheet idea is amazing.

Is there plans for this to be the module format going forward?
Will we see this design copied to the Adventure Path sheets as well?

Very cool! w00t! :-)

This is amazing. I knew it would have to be multiple sheets, but the bonus sheet idea is amazing.

Is there plans for this to be the module format going forward?
Will we see this design copied to the Adventure Path sheets as well?

Similar to the "hard mode" option included in Pathfinder Society Scenario 4–26: The Waking Rune, I would like to see how this works before I lock in the change for future adventures and sanctioned material.

That said, it is a model that could be adapted for the Adventure Path line.

Cool. I like that this encourages people to play campaign mode.

I am curious, because it seems like you have to go through the entire Campaign mode before you can gain your chronicle sheets. At least the way the blog is worded, it seems that way.

I am currently running Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, is that how it is suppose to be working? In Campaign mode, do all of your chronicle sheets have to be applied to the same character, or can they be split up?

Are they intended to be given out right after the sanctioned content is completed, or must they wait until the very end?

I guess this blog has raised some questions, as it sounds like it may not be working the way I understood.

I am curious, because it seems like you have to go through the entire Campaign mode before you can gain your chronicle sheets. At least the way the blog is worded, it seems that way.

I am currently running Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, is that how it is suppose to be working? In Campaign mode, do all of your chronicle sheets have to be applied to the same character, or can they be split up?

Are they intended to be given out right after the sanctioned content is completed, or must they wait until the very end?

I guess this blog has raised some questions, as it sounds like it may not be working the way I understood.

I referenced the so-called campaign mode and module mode to quickly bring everyone up to speed on my thought process, and it was not my intention to invalidate how the sanctioned Adventure Paths work. The "campaign mode" for The Dragon's Demand is really more of a "completionist mode" in which the reward is deferred until the very end; however, someone who could not complete completionist/campaign mode for whatever reason could always duck out and apply those Chronicle sheets for the sections he or she had already completed.

Because Adventure Paths do not at this time have an in-game benefit tied to completing all of the adventure and applying all of the Chronicle sheets to the same character, one can apply each sheet as the respective volume is completed.

I see, that makes much more sense! It IS an awesome idea! I love it! Thanks!

I have a question: Will the level 1 portion of this adventure be replayable in the same way that other level 1 modules are replayable? The rest of it if in campaign mode?

I have a question: Will the level 1 portion of this adventure be replayable in the same way that other level 1 modules are replayable? The rest of it if in campaign mode?

Tier 1-2 modules are replayable; Tier 1-3 are not.

They're different beasts--remember that PFS pads the recommended level. So 1-2, the recommended level is 1. In the case of 1-3, the recommended level is 2.

As for campaign mode, my understanding with the APs is that you can GM it once for credit and play it once for credit; I don't see any reason this would be different.

Seems like an excellent compromise. I'm that much more likely now to pick Dragon's Demand up.

Going through Campaign Mode, would a player be able to start at level 3, and advance through it until level 6, essentially gaining the last level bump for free?

According the the tier ranges on all four Chronicles, it looks like you could.

I'm still learning the details about PFS because I've been running weekly home games since the Alpha Playtest. My question is whether I could run Dragon's Demand at a game store on PFS night weekly, but run the game just like I run home games? E.g. without all the PFS restrictions? I noticed the article said, "During the adventure, you level up your character following normal Pathfinder rules, just like in a home game." Please advise if I have misunderstood. Thx.

Pax

On the cusp of subscribing to Modules, as soon as I can convince 4 people from my home group to let me run them through this it is going to get added to the cart!

I absolutely love this. I've been telling my PFS friends that I don't intend to run modules as PFS sactioned because I've felt the modules are not balanced well for characters built using the PFS rules, plus if I run a module I want to tweak it as I see fit.

Now I can run modules for them and those who want PFS credit can get it. This is awesome Mr Compton and Paizo team!

I know the answer is most likely "no", but I do wish we could make all the old sanctioned modules allow campaign mode too. We wouldn't need a new chronicle sheet for those if you did allow it.

Going through Campaign Mode, would a player be able to start at level 3, and advance through it until level 6, essentially gaining the last level bump for free?

According the the tier ranges on all four Chronicles, it looks like you could.

Yes. In campaign mode, you do whatever you want (i.e. you play the game levels 1-7 as written, or you put Mythic tiers on everything, or you run level 20 gestalt characters and destroy everything in sight just for kicks) and get the chronicles to apply to your PFS characters. They can be applied to any character and, since you would get them all at once, there's no "order" to worry about, so you can put them all on the same 3rd level character to reach level 7 (L3 + T1-3 = L4 + T2-4 = L5 + T3-5 = L6 + T5-7 = L7).

All I can say is two thumbs WAY up.

Oh boy, this makes me want to run this as my first mini-campaign in any RPG ever even more than previously. Thank you so much for the great work.

John, what kind of table (read: star) credit does one get for running this? I assume each of the AP books brings a +2; does this do a +2 overall since it's one book, or does one report each section separately for a total of +6?

Edit: it occurs that the three sections will have to be separately reportable, since they can be run as separate events with separate characters. Will there also be a way to report the campaign mode completion separately, so that can also be tracked? (I'm assuming that running campaign mode wouldn't obligate players or GMs to put all four chronicles on one character, since the whole point of campaign mode is freedom to play home rules and apply credit elsewhere.)

John you owe me a dollar for using terms I coined... ;)

well, this makes me VERY curious how you folks plan to sanction the next module, Wardens of the Reborn Forge, since it is for 12th level play.

And to be clear, if I play this campaign mode, I can play it as a home game, but then give the 4 chronicle sheets to a different PFS legal character?

so in effect, I can't play it all the way through as a PFS character because they only advance me 4 levels rather than 6?

so in effect, I can't play it all the way through as a PFS character because they only advance me 4 levels rather than 6?

Well, you could play through the whole thing with a PFS-legal character, but when you finish you would only have 9XP. So you'd drop back to 4th level when you're done.

So you could just save the 4th-level character sheet and use that afterwards. Though you'd probably need to tally up your wealth/equipment and justify the purchases on your chronicle sheets, and perhaps re-jigger some of that.

Very cool! I love the versatility this allows.

I too applaud this! I am even more excited to get my hand on the module (yes, I pre-ordered it from Amazon.com).

Let me just ask for a bit of clarification so when I start running it, I can be clear.

If you play the module for Society in module mode, there are 3 parts.

Tier 1-3
Tier 3-5
Tier 5-7

Let's say you have a group at level 2. You play the first module. Now everyone's level 3. You could then play the second module, getting everyone to 4th level - but it might be tough as level 3's. Then you'd have to decide if you wanted to run scenario to level them to 5 or 6 for the final part. Of course, you could level in between each section to alleviate this.

With a party of 6 PFS-legal characters, is the final section balanced so that 5th level can handle it? It appears that it should be. I guess it just depends on your own group's comfort level/optimization, etc.

Thanks!

NOG, you don't need to convince me. I'm in! One of us should run it first and then the other at some future point with another set of folks?

Oh .... I think this will be a multiple weekend APL Special ... Keep an eye open RDN. :)

DIBBS!!!! APL will be running this ALOT... Sounds so cool, can't wait for the next one... Dragons!!

Idea of the year... DO THIS WITH GOBLINS! either playing as or playing against as a new intro type thing, but bigger and longer... YES, This, do this!

RainyDayNinja wrote:

So let me see if I've got this straight:

Yes, that is correct.

You are now officially owed a handshake and a pat on the back, if/when we see you at SCARAB... lot of dudes in black shirts with APL on the back will be there... start working out your handshaking muscles, so you're in shape... :)

John you owe me a dollar for using terms I coined... ;)

Everything on the Paizo messageboards is property of Paizo, so you ceded those terms to us when you posted them on our site. Sorry ;-)

Dragnmoon wrote:

John you owe me a dollar for using terms I coined... ;)

Everything on the Paizo messageboards is property of Paizo, so you ceded those terms to us when you posted them on our site. Sorry ;-)

Doh! Darn you message board rules!!! I could have used that dollar, I am trying to buy a house...

Main question, which was raised earlier but may have been missed:

If you run/play this in campaign mode, do all 4 Chronicles need to be applied to the same PC, or can they be given to up to 4 different PCs?

On the general thing:
Love it. If I can handle it, I will probably try to run this in campaign mode online, with the initial announcements through the PFSOC group.

Depending on who signs up, and who talks with me about it, I am not sure yet if I will be running it in Roll20, MapTools or Fantasy Grounds 2...

Oh, while i was thinking about the whole thing, I realized that I had a couple of questions on the campaign mode completion chronicle.

Does it just have a single gold amount, no matter what level the PC is? That seems like a less than optimum idea, since it is supposed to cover levels 2-6.

So, is it set with sub-tier gold for 2-4 and 5-6, or might it, actually, include a different gold amount for each different level?

Oh, while i was thinking about the whole thing, I realized that I had a couple of questions on the campaign mode completion chronicle.

Does it just have a single gold amount, no matter what level the PC is? That seems like a less than optimum idea, since it is supposed to cover levels 2-6.

So, is it set with sub-tier gold for 2-4 and 5-6, or might it, actually, include a different gold amount for each different level?

Module chronicles have set gold, because they don't have subtiers.

I can't decide if I want to prompt the local PFS chapter to run Dragon's Demand in a series of game days, or try to put together a home game with my brother(s) and/or some other friends...

I can't decide if I want to prompt the local PFS chapter to run Dragon's Demand in a series of game days, or try to put together a home game with my brother(s) and/or some other friends...

Do both. Get them to run it locally, then GM the game for your brothers.

Jiggy wrote:

I can't decide if I want to prompt the local PFS chapter to run Dragon's Demand in a series of game days, or try to put together a home game with my brother(s) and/or some other friends...

Do both. Get them to run it locally, then GM the game for your brothers.

Or maybe YOU should GM it for YOUR brothers, hmmm?

I like the concept of a mini campaign which is what this looks like (start at lv 3 end at lv 7) but I guess I would have reservations about would a group of lv 3s really have any challenge in content that is designed for lv 1? I think the level band should be more specific and have these new type of modules cover a more defined level band such as 3 to 7 or 7 to 10. One option I thought of was to run a set of PFS senarios at certain levels to hook the story together but I think it would be better for these new modules to play in series to completion.

I can't decide if I want to prompt the local PFS chapter to run Dragon's Demand in a series of game days, or try to put together a home game with my brother(s) and/or some other friends...

I'll run them at some point. I want to read the thing first which means post GenCon so sometime in either September or early October. Likely at Tower as well.

NOG, you don't need to convince me. I'm in! One of us should run it first and then the other at some future point with another set of folks?

YES!

kinevon wrote:

Oh, while i was thinking about the whole thing, I realized that I had a couple of questions on the campaign mode completion chronicle.

Does it just have a single gold amount, no matter what level the PC is? That seems like a less than optimum idea, since it is supposed to cover levels 2-6.

So, is it set with sub-tier gold for 2-4 and 5-6, or might it, actually, include a different gold amount for each different level?

Module chronicles have set gold, because they don't have subtiers.

Normally true, but the campaign mode completion chronicle, per John's blog, is for levels 2-6. So, if it only has one gold amount, it is going to be set at some amount for one of those levels.

Since 2-6 averages 4, then the gold, per your statement, would be the gold appropriate for WbL of a 4th level PC, which would be quite a large amount for that 2nd level PC it can be given too, but would, similarly, be fairly weaksauce for that 6th level character it could also be given to.

It was that thought that lead to my question.

So, a single gold amount, in which case you'll see a lot of power-gamer types giving it to a 2nd level PC; or sub-tiered amounts, which will have some meta-gaming involved, but not nearly as much; or level-appropriate gold, which pretty much drops it to deciding which PC the boons or access are most appropriate for; rather than looking at the gold (and level, of course) as the major benefit.