OPC Log—2 Desnus 4716

Monday, May 2, 2016




Photos courtesy of Venture-Captain James Martin

Today I'm traveling back to Seattle from Quad Cities, Iowa, where we just wrapped the inaugural Quad Cities Game Fest. The convention hosted board games, RPGs, card games, vendors, bingo, and kid's activities—and this isn't even the whole list! Pathfinder took up about a fifth of the space, with a full roster of Pathfinder Society games. I ran Hands of the Muted God twice this weekend, and the seats for these games were raffle prizes benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. I enjoyed GMing these tables, and while I don't often get to utilize my license to kill, but two more characters (and an animal companion) did briefly visit Pharasma's Boneyard. You can call me Bond, Tonya Bond. Thanks to Dave, Barrett, VC James Martin, and all fantastic new friends for a blockbuster weekend!

On the subject of fantastic people, several dedicated GMs reached their fifth star over the past few weeks. Please join me in congratulating the following for their achievement. Huzzah!

  • Marc Daoust
  • Richard deMorris
  • Michel Lepage
  • Chris Manning
  • Jeremy Mayr
  • Andrew Porter
  • Andrew Watson
  • Pete Winz

Shifting gears, I have a few pieces of news on the topic of conventions. A few weeks ago, I unveiled a new Event Support Policy on the blog. It generated quite a bit of discussion, and I put a note in the comments that the team had read the commentary and was reassessing the program. I intended to post the revised policy today, but unfortunately technical difficulties while on the road meant I couldn't access my notes. I ask for your patience for just a bit longer while I return to Seattle, retrieve my notes, and pull the edges together. In the meantime, no convention is being denied support, whether it is in a retail location or not, the packages just vary according to location.

In a previous blog, John introduced the Pathfinder Society PaizoCon events, including some one of a kind adventures, out of retirement scenarios, and panels. Last week, our Customer Service team posted the Event Schedulde, and I urge everyone who is going to PaizoCon to take a look and sign up quickly with your lottery preferences. Don't procrastinate—lottery selections end on May 9th!

Official Pathfinder Society events in the Grand Ballroom are being run in the morning and evening slots at PaizoCon (with the exception of Saturday night, when we host the annual PaizoCon Preview Banquet. However, you may play in or run pickup games during the afternoon slots. Venture-Lieutenant Louis Manko-Levite has taken up the coordinator mantle for organizing afternoon games. If you'd like to run an afternoon PFS game, email Louis with the scenario you'd like to run and desired slot (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday). These games will then be added to the overall PaizoCon schedule, and will have a reserved table in the Grand Ballroom. You may also opt to bring a physical sign-up sheet to PFS Headquarters, where we'll post your game onsite. For attendees looking to play in these games, you may sign up during Open Registration on the Event Schedule page ahead of time, or stop by PFS Headquarters at the convention.

Volunteers are what make our conventions go! At this time, I have a full schedule of volunteers for PaizoCon 2016. However, I see need a handful of volunteers for Gen Con 2016, specifically Roleplaying Guild, Pathfinder Society Academy: Kid's Track GMs, and I'm looking for volunteers willing to accept Tier 1, 5, or 6 status. I could also use a few people for my waitlist, in the event that there are cancellations between now and Gen Con. If you're interested, please read over the Gen Con 2016 Call for Volunteers and follow the instructions found there.

During convention season, we get quite a few questions from PaizoCon and Gen Con volunteers regarding how and when they'll get scenarios they've volunteered to run. Our Community & Digital Content Director, Chris Lambertz, has provided all that you need to know about that process below:

If you've volunteered to run an existing scenario, they will be assigned to your account as scheduling information is confirmed. You will receive an email notifying you that these are available, and you will be able to download them from your My Downloads page immediately.

If you've volunteered to run a special or yet-to-be-released scenario, they will be benchmarked as assigned to your account as scheduling information is confirmed. An email is automatically generated from our system that these have been added to your account at this stage. However, your My Downloads page may indicate that these are not immediately available for download, but don't panic! Once the Pathfinder Society team completes these scenarios, and they are uploaded to our system, an update email will be sent to all volunteers indicating that they are now downloadable. If for any reason you have not received a second email, be sure to double check your My Downloads page before posting, or emailing Tonya or Customer Service.

If you are a volunteer for PaizoCon or Gen Con, and you have not received your downloads for scenarios you are scheduled to run by the week prior to the convention you're volunteering at, please email customer.service@paizo.com and CC tonya.woldridge@paizo.com.

Gen Con is previewing the 2016 event catalog on their website starting at noon this Friday, May 6. Next Monday's blog will provide more information about Paizo's lineup, as well as an introduction to this years team leading the volunteer crew at Gen Con. Tune in to get the inside scoop!

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Community Conventions Gen Con PaizoCon PaizoCon 2016 Pathfinder Society
4/5 *

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Congrats Marc Daoust! Finally got that 10th special - I think he must be up over 200 games GM'd by now. Thanks, all the new 5-stars, for making PFS awesome in your areas!

5/5

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations Marc!

You have put in a amazing effort to earn your 5th star and support pfs.

Welcome to the club!

1/5

Congrats to Marc Daoust and all others achieving your fifth star. I think anyone here who has GM'd understands what it would take to achieve that.

Lets hope that all of you continue your work as GMs and provide a means to more players to have fun and that TPKs end up happening less often than a blue moon!

Liberty's Edge 1/5

Congrats to Mr Manning. One of the best online GMs around.

Dataphiles 3/5

Congrats to all the new 5 stars!

Liberty's Edge

Congratulations to all the new 5-star GMs, esp. Michel Lepage (my "old" GM for almost 30 years!)

1/5

Gratz! all. No one I recognize, but I am sure you all deserve it.

3/5

Quote:
Gen Con is previewing the 2016 event catalog on their website starting at noon this Friday, May 6. Next Monday's blog will provide more information about Paizo's lineup, as well as an introduction to this years team leading the volunteer crew at Gen Con. Tune in to get the inside scoop!

If we haven't gotten our Paizo GM badge information for Gen Con yet, should we be worried? Event signup is in 13 days...........

1/5

@Swiftbrook, another gaming company that offers badges to their GMs had their sign ups go out only a few days ago, so I doubt that you should be concerned.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Huzzah!

4/5 5/5 ***

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Congratulations to the new 5-Star GMs!

It may seem self-congratulatory, but Andrew Porter has been kicking around our area for years and it's great to see him get recognized.

Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane

Gee I have three 5 star congratulations to go out on this blog.

First, Richard deMorros. I had the privilege of being the VC at the 5 star game for both one of my favorite scenarios and one that I was finally able to get my play credit (GMd the heck out of this one as mentioned it was a favorite). It was a blast and he played some of the exchanges with the major NPCs extremely well.

Jeremy Mayr back in 2013 was and currently is a great player. After several games as a player became a great GM in the Spokane Area. In September of 2013, he stepped up to run games out of the Uncle's Games store in the Spokane Valley Mall. He spent a bit of time as a Venture-Lieutenant and is now one of two Venture-Agents in the Spokane area. With creative use of Dwarven Forge, he made his run of The Goblinblood Dead unique helping in achieving his 5 star status.

Last ,but certainly not least, Andrew Porter. Andrew was my very first outside of Spokane GM for my very first Multitable special back in 2012 during the Winterfest event in Pullman, WA. If Andrew was as much fun for his 5 star table that he was during that event (I bet more so now), there was no reason that he did not achieve his 5 star status.

Congratulations to you three and my continued thanks for all the support you have provided to your local communities, the Spokane area (they both have helped me on several occasions with events in my area), and the global community.

A hearty congratulations to the rest of the list of new 5 star GMs!! You have my thanks for your support of both your local communities and the global PFS community.

Huzzah!!!

Edit: Missed a name on the list. Sorry about that Jeremy.

Tonya, way to play up your PFS number in the blog!!

Silver Crusade 4/5 **

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations to all the new 5-stars, but a personal thanks to all the great online GMs from the UK (Andrew, Chris and Terry). They all do a fabulous job!

Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Netherlands

Congratulations to all the fresh 5-star GMs!

5/5 *****

Erich Deines wrote:
Congratulations to all the new 5-stars, but a personal thanks to all the great online GMs from the UK (Andrew, Chris and Terry). They all do a fabulous job!

Thanks Eric. I want to particularly thank Chris and Terry who first got me into running games online.

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Captain, Isles—Online

1 person marked this as a favorite.

congratulations to everyone, see you all on the island...

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

Congratulations to Chris Manning - looking forward to playing at your table (again) at UK Games Expo!

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Congratulations to everybody, especially one of my great Venture-Agents: Pete Winz!

4/5 5/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations to all the 5-star GMs, especially Chris M.

It was a great game on Saturday!

4/5 5/55/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Well done Chris Manning. He kills my characters but I still love him. (I'm sure I have detected necromantic magic in his dice tower.) He is always there at our games conventions to entertain our players. Keep at it Chris. And very well done to all the other 5-Star dudes.

4/5

Congrats to all of the 5 star GM's.

The achievement is not easy and involves hundreds of hour given to support PFS.

Thanks for all you do.

Liberty's Edge 4/5

Congrats to all the new 5 star GMs welcome to the Island!

The Exchange 5/5 Regional Venture-Coordinator, Mediterranean

Congratulations to all of you. But particularly Chris Manning as he has been such a stalwart in the UK Pathfinder community and in running online games. He's been a keen supporter of Pathfinder Society since the early days and has been more than willing to run games at events and produce some magnificent scenery. Thank you Chris!

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ****

Congratulations to all!

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Congrats!


Thanks Tonya for running the games at the convention. I enjoyed playing in Saturdays Event.

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Captain, Isles—Online

testing..hmm still only 4 :(

Community & Digital Content Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
chris manning wrote:
testing..hmm still only 4 :(

*kicks our system a bit*

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Captain, Isles—Online

hurrah :) thanks

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ***** Venture-Captain, North Carolina—Central Region

Chris Lambertz wrote:
chris manning wrote:
testing..hmm still only 4 :(
*kicks our system a bit*

While we're on the subject, could I humbly ask you to kick it for me as well? Mine was originally announced here

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Captain, Isles—Online

3 people marked this as a favorite.

amazing trophy presented to me by VC Chris Brockley-Blatt

4/5 5/5 ***

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
chris manning wrote:

amazing trophy presented to me by VC Chris Brockley-Blatt

Very cool!

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Tonya, via the Blog, wrote:
A few weeks ago, I unveiled a new Event Support Policy on the blog. It generated quite a bit of discussion, and I put a note in the comments that the team had read the commentary and was reassessing the program. I intended to post the revised policy today, but unfortunately technical difficulties while on the road meant I couldn't access my notes. I ask for your patience for just a bit longer while I return to Seattle, retrieve my notes, and pull the edges together.

I am bumping this. Not because I am impatient, but because I want to be sure that it stays somewhere on the radar. This is still very important to me (and to others, I am quite sure). I know Paizocon happened, and GenCon is upcoming. But many of us will be planning our fall events, and even looking ahead toward winter, and will want to know what to expect when we begin putting together our promotions.

Like I said, just a little bump. I'm not hyperventilating, yet. (-:

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Drogon wrote:
Like I said, just a little bump. I'm not hyperventilating, yet. (-:

Hands Drogon a brown paper bag just in case

5/5 5/55/55/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Steven Lau wrote:
Drogon wrote:
Like I said, just a little bump. I'm not hyperventilating, yet. (-:
Hands Drogon a brown paper bag just in case

*hands Steven an asbestos one* Paper doesn't last long on a hyperventilating dragon.

Sovereign Court 4/5 * Organized Play Coordinator

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Drogon wrote:
Tonya, via the Blog, wrote:
A few weeks ago, I unveiled a new Event Support Policy on the blog. It generated quite a bit of discussion, and I put a note in the comments that the team had read the commentary and was reassessing the program. I intended to post the revised policy today, but unfortunately technical difficulties while on the road meant I couldn't access my notes. I ask for your patience for just a bit longer while I return to Seattle, retrieve my notes, and pull the edges together.

I am bumping this. Not because I am impatient, but because I want to be sure that it stays somewhere on the radar. This is still very important to me (and to others, I am quite sure). I know Paizocon happened, and GenCon is upcoming. But many of us will be planning our fall events, and even looking ahead toward winter, and will want to know what to expect when we begin putting together our promotions.

Like I said, just a little bump. I'm not hyperventilating, yet. (-:

Not forgotten you. Took it back to the drawing board for a revamp, then put it out for commentary. Have gotten the feedback, so just need to clean the format and then will post it. It addresses the concerns raised in this thread and I think everyone will be pleased with the final result.

Thanks for keeping me on it :D

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Tonya Woldridge wrote:
Drogon wrote:
Tonya, via the Blog, wrote:
A few weeks ago, I unveiled a new Event Support Policy on the blog. It generated quite a bit of discussion, and I put a note in the comments that the team had read the commentary and was reassessing the program. I intended to post the revised policy today, but unfortunately technical difficulties while on the road meant I couldn't access my notes. I ask for your patience for just a bit longer while I return to Seattle, retrieve my notes, and pull the edges together.

I am bumping this. Not because I am impatient, but because I want to be sure that it stays somewhere on the radar. This is still very important to me (and to others, I am quite sure). I know Paizocon happened, and GenCon is upcoming. But many of us will be planning our fall events, and even looking ahead toward winter, and will want to know what to expect when we begin putting together our promotions.

Like I said, just a little bump. I'm not hyperventilating, yet. (-:

Not forgotten you. Took it back to the drawing board for a revamp, then put it out for commentary. Have gotten the feedback, so just need to clean the format and then will post it. It addresses the concerns raised in this thread and I think everyone will be pleased with the final result.

Thanks for keeping me on it :D

I missed this response, initially, and am now very happy to have seen it. Thank you (belatedly) for posting the reply. Enjoy Origins. (:

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Tonya Woldridge wrote:
Drogon wrote:
Tonya, via the Blog, wrote:
A few weeks ago, I unveiled a new Event Support Policy on the blog. It generated quite a bit of discussion, and I put a note in the comments that the team had read the commentary and was reassessing the program. I intended to post the revised policy today, but unfortunately technical difficulties while on the road meant I couldn't access my notes. I ask for your patience for just a bit longer while I return to Seattle, retrieve my notes, and pull the edges together.

I am bumping this. Not because I am impatient, but because I want to be sure that it stays somewhere on the radar. This is still very important to me (and to others, I am quite sure). I know Paizocon happened, and GenCon is upcoming. But many of us will be planning our fall events, and even looking ahead toward winter, and will want to know what to expect when we begin putting together our promotions.

Like I said, just a little bump. I'm not hyperventilating, yet. (-:

Not forgotten you. Took it back to the drawing board for a revamp, then put it out for commentary. Have gotten the feedback, so just need to clean the format and then will post it. It addresses the concerns raised in this thread and I think everyone will be pleased with the final result.

Thanks for keeping me on it :D

Just checking in...

Grand Lodge 5/5

Drogon wrote:
Tonya Woldridge wrote:
Drogon wrote:
Tonya, via the Blog, wrote:
A few weeks ago, I unveiled a new Event Support Policy on the blog. It generated quite a bit of discussion, and I put a note in the comments that the team had read the commentary and was reassessing the program. I intended to post the revised policy today, but unfortunately technical difficulties while on the road meant I couldn't access my notes. I ask for your patience for just a bit longer while I return to Seattle, retrieve my notes, and pull the edges together.

I am bumping this. Not because I am impatient, but because I want to be sure that it stays somewhere on the radar. This is still very important to me (and to others, I am quite sure). I know Paizocon happened, and GenCon is upcoming. But many of us will be planning our fall events, and even looking ahead toward winter, and will want to know what to expect when we begin putting together our promotions.

Like I said, just a little bump. I'm not hyperventilating, yet. (-:

Not forgotten you. Took it back to the drawing board for a revamp, then put it out for commentary. Have gotten the feedback, so just need to clean the format and then will post it. It addresses the concerns raised in this thread and I think everyone will be pleased with the final result.

Thanks for keeping me on it :D

Just checking in...

I believe Tonya is en route to PaizoCon UK now and might possibly be going straight from there to Gencon? Or maybe back just shortly at the office before heading to Indy?

So this might end up in the back seat til Gencon winds down. :/

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Yeah. But it's been in the back seat since May for much the same reason (Dragon Con, Origins, Paizocon).

I, and many of the people of the people who posted in this thread, have events of our own that we are were working on. This kind of thing can have a pretty big impact.

I understand being busy, as I am often too busy for many things myself. But eventually I need to set aside something I'm "too busy" with in order to pay attention to things that are important to those who rely on me. Formatting a document should not be a months-long chore. Finding the time to address it should not be something that interrupts business to the extent that these conventions will suffer the consequences.

4/5

I'd recommend anyone who needs help setting up one of these events to drop a line to their local VL/VC or RVC and they should be able to help you out while the final release is pending.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Drogon wrote:

Yeah. But it's been in the back seat since May for much the same reason (Dragon Con, Origins, Paizocon).

I, and many of the people of the people who posted in this thread, have events of our own that we are were working on. This kind of thing can have a pretty big impact.

I understand being busy, as I am often too busy for many things myself. But eventually I need to set aside something I'm "too busy" with in order to pay attention to things that are important to those who rely on me. Formatting a document should not be a months-long chore. Finding the time to address it should not be something that interrupts business to the extent that these conventions will suffer the consequences.

I understand the frustration, and Im not trying to make excuses. Im just informing you, in case you were unaware.

Good luck!

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

godsDMit wrote:
Drogon wrote:

Yeah. But it's been in the back seat since May for much the same reason (Dragon Con, Origins, Paizocon).

I, and many of the people of the people who posted in this thread, have events of our own that we are were working on. This kind of thing can have a pretty big impact.

I understand being busy, as I am often too busy for many things myself. But eventually I need to set aside something I'm "too busy" with in order to pay attention to things that are important to those who rely on me. Formatting a document should not be a months-long chore. Finding the time to address it should not be something that interrupts business to the extent that these conventions will suffer the consequences.

I understand the frustration, and Im not trying to make excuses. Im just informing you, in case you were unaware.

Good luck!

First: How bizarre that I typed those words twice. I seem to have a typing-stutter...

Second: I appreciate the acknowledgement. Thank you. I promise I'm not frustrated. Just bumping. Frustration can be staved off for another month.

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