It was said that it was unfair to ask my GM to continue to use the rules at he interpreted them because it was what the rule books technically said and break the unwritten rules.

I'll let Brandon "Rym" DeCoster & Scott Rubin explain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuThpe-Rgxs

I'm not sure who you got your initial advice from but the folks here and in the other thread are accurate and are giving you good guidance. So I would ignore the original direction you were provided and follow their correct information.

So basically, you ask for advice here and in the Organized play Forum.

Everyone, in both subforum, agrees that your reading the rule is inaccurate. In support we cite:
- the Core rulebook - you refuse to accept this;
- the relevant FAQ - you refuse to accept this;
- the PF Oracle Iconic - you refuse to accept this
- Sean K. Reynolds' explanation - you refuse to accept this.

You asked for our advice, we gave it. And you refuse to accept it.

At this point nothing more can be said, you will persist in insisting that you are reading this correctly an unless we say that you are correct, you will refuse to listen to our advice.

Might as well just drop it as you will not get the rule validation that you are seeking.

I'm not sure who you got your initial advice from and I cannot see an RVC getting this incorrect (having said that I did find a 5th star VC ruling that bard's inspire courage and bless do not stack in combat - so anything is possible) but the folks here are accurate and are giving you good guidance. So I would ignore the original direction you were provided and follow their correct information.

Really proud of all of the campaign coin recipients! These folks have done a massive amount of work over the years and all are well deserved.

Paul Trani (New #805, Received at PaizoCon AP 2018)
Amanda Plageman (New #806, Received at SCARAB 2019)
Matt Polkowsky (New #807, Received at SCARAB 2019)

So I get these questions all the time by the nature of SCARAB and the frequent amount of charity work we do. I will answer to the best of my ability and also add to Pirate Bob's and Xathos of Varisia's comments and say - if you feel you have that much in contributions that it may be worth deducting you should hire a TAX PROFESSIONAL to assist and make sure you aren't setting yourself up for trouble with the IRS.

The expenses you incur volunteering may provide a tax deduction. In order for you to qualify there are three simple things you need to check off first before you go any further; the amount you are planning to deduct must directly relate to the charity where you volunteer. In addition, you must not have been reimbursed for those expenses. Lastly, you must also itemize when filing your taxes.

Most important one of these and the one that catches most people I respond to is: You may NOT deduct any charitable contributions if you got something in return. The IRS will deny you for any little thing! So this is SUPER important to remember: Receiving a GM boon, t-shirt, hotel room, free badge = reimbursement.

By IRS definition, charitable contributions represent gifts given without reciprocity. Supporting a charitable organization by buying merchandise or attending an event puts you into the got-something-in-return category.

You've gotten past those three? Then you may want to think about exploring claiming your deduction. You say you make $250/hour so your time is worth a huge tax deduction right?

So now for more bad news: Time spent volunteering in NOT tax deductible. Sadly, no. You cannot deduct your time regardless of how valuable it may be.

Pirate Bob has provided great advice - See IRS Pub 526 Charitable Contributions for more details. But if you don't get through the three checks you are possibly wasting your time.

If anyone has any more advice or information I would certainly appreciate more information as I am always looking for ways to keep more of my money from going to the government so I can use it the way I choose as opposed to letting politicians decide how it gets spent.

Best of luck in your efforts.

Having run about 80 sessions of PF2 Playtest I would strongly recommend a panel or three "What's New: PF2" and do not assume players and especially GMs are going to show up for PF2 'knowing' the mechanics and what the differences between V1 and V2 are. We are a few months away and I am still running Playtest tables for people who have not even glanced at the rules. GMs are going to have some frustration teaching PF2 to players all GenCon long especially those who are still learning and possibly not confident making rules adjudications themselves.

Could you reskin PSA to Public Service Announcement tables that are training tables for adults and seriously limit the kids play until GenCon 2020 when Paizo will have had time to create a new PSA2 Kids program?

In addition, as I have run tables with people who have 'seen' the rules there are large discrepancies in which rules they have seen. Some haven't kept up with the various releases and PF2 may be further still from the latest edition of the playtest rules release.

I guess to summarize: My recommendation is that you focus this GenCon on the transition to the new rules and making the change over as painless and as informative and as FUN as possible as opposed to trying to wow people with content or events focus on the substance of the new rules.

Not sure how you do that but that's my $0.02 and that and $12.00 will barely get you a cup of coffee now-a-days :-)

I am happy to work with you to help you come up with some ideas.

My observation wasn't meant to demoralize you further or dismiss you, it was simply to show that while one area feels like its sliding, one is on the upswing and there are often times no good rhyme or reason for one or the other. I can make some educated guesses based on information you provide and will absolutely work with you to come up with some solutions for your area.

If you can provide me with some of the promotional things you are currently doing I can offer suggestions and there are some great threads offering suggestions for VO to promote the OP as well that I can point you to.

Some ideas I would throw out include: participation in the RSP program, look for alternate venues to place promotional adverts like libraries, bookstores, comic stores, (any where you might find gamers hanging out), go to conventions with promotional materials as well, even those without gaming such as fandom, comicbook, sci-fi, historical, literary. There is a great resource I use to look for conventions in the Southeast - Southeastern Fandom.

I saw this post at the end of my day so don't have a lot of time to respond so if you would like I would recommend e-mailing me and cc-ing your VO and we can think about other great ideas that may help you.

In Houston, in 2015 we had 6 PFS tables / month at 1 game store.

I miss Nan's.

Meanwhile, just south of Melbourne in Plantation they have gone from 1 table to 3 tables per session rapidly and are struggling with keeping up with the GM demand with 8 new players just last month. Its weird how one area can drop off and another booms but it just goes that way.

We'll see a retailer kick off the PFS program and boom it jumps immediately and slowly falls off as card slingers push out available time slots or as they launch board gaming nights which push out PFS time slots and then another OP comes in and consumes more time and space, then minis, etc.

One interesting thing I have been seeing over the years is the wildly popular Adventure Paths consuming PFS play. I have participated in four of them myself in the last couple of years and know people who are in as many as three concurrently with different groups. Those do cannibalize PFS play especially as those players are competing for time and space and then there seem to be more and more people who just prefer NOT playing at the retailer. Noise, mess, restrictions (alcohol, swearing, etc) space, hauling stuff back and forth, other conveniences like cooking meals at home and saving money from eating out and better wi-fi, etc.

RVC Hat:
There are more retailers participating in the RSP program this year in the SE and there are more sessions being reported in that program this year than last year in the SE.

Looking forward: If the RSP program continues to progress as it has this year and if 2nd Ed is great and if the 10th season wraps up with a bang I would expect continued stability and a continued addition and attrition of players to hold steady. If there is a problem with either - I worry. SFS is growing in the SE albeit very slowly, it just hasn't had the splash here that PFS did 8 years ago with an explosive boom.

SCARAB Hat:
PFS was down at SCARAB this year by 80 tables. DnDAL was up this year by 80 tables. Keep in mind 4 years ago there was no DnD OP at SCARAB to speak of it just was not in demand. Its growth has been similar to how PFS started.

Looking forward:
My coordinators tell me to expect the PFS numbers to go back up slightly due to the highly anticipated continued ramp up 2nd Ed and with Season 10. I'm told to expect DnDAL numbers to go up about the same amount by my DnD coordinators. Table expectation for both this year is hovering around 150-180 tables total count of each. That is impressive growth in DnDAL. SFS is just not taking flight the way PFS did although there is an expectation of a few tables each of the ten sessions so maybe 20 tables offered. That is about equal to shadowrun.

Since you guys are making statements and not asking questions I assume you know more than I do about the law. So, maybe Tonya will return with the information you desire. That decision is beyond my pay grade. I certainly don't mind having that conversation.

Based on this back and forth, I think the only logical conclusion I can draw is that you have in fact been trying to suppress volunteer speech regarding this matter through the application of the NDA.

I'm not sure if your smarter than I am (highly likely) or just obstinate.

If someone claims they have been sexually harassed - Paizo is not going to stop them from coming forward. That is significantly different than disclosing why someone was removed from a position.

If Jane Doe accuses John Doe of sexual harassment publicly, Paizo is not going to stand in her way or attempt to silence people with the NDA. That is not going to be blocked using the NDA.

But how Paizo deals with a disciplinary situation is a private matter - potentially a legal matter and not open to public disclosure as it could have HIPPA information, or other private information which Paizo is not legally able to disclose.

Tonya's statement was not a legal suicide pact.

If this is true than Tonya's statement that "Paizo and the Organized Play Foundation use Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to protect non-public business information and trade secrets. Paizo and the OPF do not use NDAs to suppress volunteer speech regarding personal events." Actually means nothing and appears to simply be a smokescreen to assuage people regarding a sexual harassment allegation, so if that's true I'm not sure that I can continue my involvement with Paizo Organized Play.

I disagree and feel that you are VERY UNFAIRLY taking her comments out of context to support your argument. That thread has to do with people reporting various forms of harassment not disciplinary actions taken within the organization.

Again, not a lawyer, will wait to hear from Tonya. Best I can say at this time.

SecretsCon

This is the first I have ever heard of SecretsCon. Additionally, I cannot be everywhere at once. But I can tell you I have many times split the SCARAB staff and sent up to four groups to four different events. If I had known there was an event that needed help I can assure you I would have done what I could to make that happen.

5-Star Hoops

You're unfairly blaming me for the creation of additional bureaucracy. I can apologize for it profusely but it seems like all we do is continue to apologize for it and that doesn't make it better. I am sorry for delays in those areas. Yes, it takes a while to get VO approved and stars approved and you can ask all the VO who report to me, that process is terribly slow (I think many would say agonizingly slow) and we are all very frustrated with it. But I didn't create that bureaucracy and along with all involved are doing our very best to improve that process even though I know it seems like we have taken 2 steps back and another 2 steps back and another, eventually we will get it right and that will give people the opportunity to identify the next area we need to work on.

No, no it would not.

I disagree but I'm not a lawyer and am waiting on word from Tonya who is seeking an answer to your question.

Have you informed people that your communications with them regarding the firing of Michael Eshleman are covered by an NDA as alleged?

Yes, I believe disciplinary actions fall under "to protect non-public business information" and until I hear otherwise from Tonya won't disclose that information because there are many people involved and it would absolutely lead to the potential disclosure of very personal information that could have devastating effects to those involved or their families.

Michael Eshleman himself has alleged that you fired him in his Paizo profile "May 2, 2018 I was fired from my venture officer position by Regional Venture-Coordinator Del Collins.

I definitely delivered that message - that unfortunately is my duty. I am certainly an advisor and absolutely consented on the result. The removal of anyone must have Tonya's approval as far as I am concerned and I have never removed anyone without her authority. I hope that answered your question.

1. Do you feel that Michael Eshleman is an exceptional Pathfinder Society volunteer?

Yes

2. Did you consider other options other than removing him from his position before making this judgment?

Yes

3. What can Raleigh area do to hasten his return to local leadership?

Work with Landon and not against him. Giving time it is very possible both Michael and Pete could return.

4. I personally do not know much about you. How long have you volunteered as our RVC?

Some days it feels like forever. This investigation took a lot out of me I cannot tell you how difficult it is to make a decision like this. I seriously considered resigning prior to all of this recent blow up simply because this investigation hurt - a lot. But to answer your question - since the inception of the program and Tonya had to work pretty hard to convince me to do it, because I knew how hard it was going to be.

5. Based on your previous posts it sounds like you are doing your best to foster Pathfinder Society throughout the region you oversee. Can you take a few moments to tell us some of the work you have done this year to promote growth in the region?

I would say you are seeing a lot of comments about how the sky is falling in the campaign in the SE but I can tell you based on the numbers I get monthly from the people on the ground the region as a whole is going through a period of growth. So don't listen to the naysayers.

6. Do you have any recommendation as to what the Raleigh area can do to help stop the decline we are seeing?

Get involved with Landon. The area you are in has been ripped in two for the past three years and there are two factions operating against one another. We HAVE To heal the area and people have to stop undermining one another. Landon has been tasked with reaching out to both factions to begin healing the area. He has his work cut out for him but he is up to the task, but this is a situation I worry about him burning out. So help him if he reaches out to you.

7. Is there any help that you can provide the area as our RVC?

I don't know but I am committed to seeing the area heal and have desired that for a few years now and I think we have the right people in the right places to make that happen. In addition, if people reach out to me for help I will do anything I can to help.

I tried to get them all hope this helps.

Could you please provide a list of conventions for which the Special was approved in the Region this year?

You've asked me that before and I don't believe I can as per the NDA. Having said that you also know that because I have set some standards for how I make decisions it has caused Tonya to look at how we (The RVC) do make those determinations. One of the problems people have to bear in mind is that the RVC program is still developing and Tonya has to get a sense of what authority to give the RVC's and where the balance lies. I can tell you Tonya takes into account all feedback and is very responsive to it and as I told you if I'm wrong, I'm willing to be wrong and adjust my requirements accordingly. As you've heard some RVC have no standards. We are still trying to determine some sort of guideline we can all operate under and if we get it wrong, we will adjust it and adjust it and adjust it if we have to.

Have you used the OPF NDA to prevent people involed from discussing the issue surrounding the removal of Michael Eshleman?

I am only commenting on the commonly known aspects of that investigation, as I was not a part of it. I actually don't have any direct knowledge of the the investigation process for that event and so I can only comment on the cause and results of the investigation which are common knowledge but rumors have cloaked them in an enigma.

I simply cannot tell you anything beyond that. I know Aaron wasn't banned at any events, while people may not have desired his presence he was never officially banned from any event to my knowledge. If he was I wouldn't be able to say that because it would be covered by NDA. But he wasn't and there is nothing official preventing me from saying that.

Re: Mr. Eshleman: We cannot crowd source a disciplinary action that could lead to terrible humiliation of someone. I know people are dying to know what happened but that is not fair to those involved and while Michael may be more than comfortable discussing them in public that doesn't mean that someone else might not be humiliated or embarrassed by that conversation.

I would simply add that in all the time I have worked for Tonya I don't believe Tonya would ever allow me to do anything she felt wasn't in the best interest of the organization. In addition, I do NOT have the independent authority to hire and fire anyone. While I may advise and consent that authority ultimately lies with the OPC and I have nothing but the utmost respect for her ability to see the big picture and make very difficult decisions based on what she feels is in the best interest of the community at large.

The Raleigh-Durham VC Michael Eshleman was removed from his position by Del Collins the RVC on April 30th. Over the last month, our local attendance has gone from 8 - 10 tables a week to 2 - 4 tables a week. When this happened, we lost all of our local leadership as our VA stepped down in support of Michael. We have a major convention in the area called SuperCon in July that we were looking to start supporting in addition to future AtomiCons. Unfortunately without local leadership and support the future of the areas PFS and conventions is starting to look grim.

Speaking for myself I appreciate your sincere inquiry, unfortunately however, I cannot comment on the matter of the dismissals. I understand the rumor mill is in full force. I do understand how difficult a change like this can be on people and do apologize for any inconveniences you may experience. I promise that everyone within the VO ranks of the area are highly committed to delivering the same great experience that has existed for you under Mr. Eshleman's leadership. I can say that it is possible you could see Mr. Eshleman and Mr. Winz return to the ranks of the VO one day. But at this time the area has been turned over to Landon Hatfield and he is committed to continuing to further develop the area and to continue to ensure the same high quality you have become accustomed to. I would ask that you bear with him as he takes on the task and picks up the leadership responsibilities within the area. He will be in need of people with the interest and experience willing to help him through the transition.

The short answer is yes. And the concern becomes that he ensures his convention that he makes money from gets support, while cutting it off from possible competition.

I've got to come forward and dispel some of the misinformation being posted.

No. I do not play favorites. If I did Paizo would remove me. SCARAB does NOT view any convention as competition and has helped others launch eight different conventions over the years we have been in existence. Even conventions I don't personally get to support get support. I have only ever denied support to three events in the years I have been a VC and then RVC. SCARAB philosophy is more conventions are better for everyone and I myself have attended as many as fifteen conventions a year.

By the way two of the events I have turned down for support were "Invitation Only Events" where someone was getting thousands of dollars of support and boons for 40 or so of their friends. Give you one guess where one of them was at and I had the full support of the OPC to deny this support.

I’ve also heard complaints from locals who went to that convention that he plays favorites in GMing support for his friends and people he likes without supporting others.

I'm really not even sure what this means. But there are so many rumors that circulate about me - mostly because I am a super private person - you would think I crapped thunder. A lot of decisions have been attributed to me over the years that ultimately weren't mine and in some cases I was merely the messenger and had nothing to do with.

We’ve had him arbitrarily add requirements to earning 5th stars that forced our VOs to go to John Compton to get the star approved.

I have not added any requirements to get a 5th star and have approved every single person who has ever applied to a 5th star under me. I think you have me confused with someone else. My requirements are the same today as they always have been. Meet the Paizo requirements - that's it. Run the session and get their application top lined by a qualified VC or Paizo staffer. I have seen some in the region go to GenCon or other locations and get turned down and I've worked with them to help them meet the expectations of their tester and they have all been successful.

The VC that was removed with Michael banned from Cons in Georgia due to repeated behavior issues, but this RVC made him a VC anyways.

Nope. Wrong again. Not sure if your a liar, bomb dropper or just ignorant of the actual goings on within the region but Aaron (not afraid to use his name) was kicked out of DragonCon and that was overturned the next year. I can't discuss the issue beyond that other than to say I had nothing to do with it.

This is an annual program so one per year.

So do you want me censored or disciplined because I responded in an angry manner not befitting my status as RVC?

If that needs to happen I am willing to own that. Is there something you think would be appropriate?

If I am to be disciplined, then the next question I have is what about these attackers (They are probably not going to engage with me and I have reached out to two of them privately already and intend to reach out to the third)?

They have received GM boons, player boons, and gift certificates for their event which they already had before posting in anger when they couldn't get more stuff. Should anything happen to them?

Do we ignore it and just lay all the blame at my feet?

Do we say, "Well its for charity and if we do anything to these folks, the players, gms, retailer, sick children at Duke pay the price and its all Del's fault anyway let's just let it pass this time"?

Several people have said that if I had just explained my reasons for denying them support in the first place, this would not have happened. I am curious if that translates into - I got what I deserved?

In addition, I don't think any response in which they got less support for their event than what they felt they deserved would have garnered any less of a response on their part.

I am willing to accept that you believe I have lost the moral high ground. Because I have the ability to respond in just an angry fashion as my attackers and my response was censored. That was unfortunate in my opinion.

I am very certain the community will not think my crap doesn't stink - MisterSlanky will not let me get away with that.

I was very angry after being attacked in a personal way on these forums. I own the original post and have shared it with several people who have asked to see it. Its pretty nasty, but that doesn't make it less true and as this is my first time ever being cyber-bullied I would respectfully ask that the community bear with me and to witness what its like for someone and their family to have to go through this so perhaps the next person so inclined will think before they act and the next person attacked will learn from my experience.

These kinds of personal attacks have happened numerous times and a lot of people no longer come to these forums because they feel this is not a safe place to have discussions about the campaign. Even simple questions get trolled and the trolls know they can attack and be as nasty as they want because the post will be deleted or censored or the thread locked from further comment. This is often the goal of the attacker. So they do over and over again and drive away good people from the community.

You are right this has never happened before and because of that we are all learning. A discussion needs to occur if we are going to face this issue going forward. I am simply asking that we stop ignoring the problem and start dealing with it. I am open to continuing the dialog.

I have asked Chris and Tonya that they please unlock the thread.

Too many times we as a community close our eyes to a toxic element within the campaign. I want to be able to have a discussion with people regarding the two issues this thread represents to me.

1. There are those within the campaign that operate outside or in the grey areas of the rules and have done so for years and want to continue to do so. When the rules are finally applied to them, thread's like this one are how they react.

2. This also shows that we are all susceptible to cyber-bullying. This is a clear case of people who have used the internet to attempt to bully people to give them what they want. To get what they want these folks have made threats, leveled fallacious allegations, and attacked me at a very personal level. I would ask that if I am willing to bear the slings and arrows that Paizo be willing to let it happen.

By closing our eyes to this behavior we are yet again condoning it. Too many good people have stopped attending the forums because they were attacked and denied the voice to effectively fight back. Its past time that we address the toxic element within the community.

I have had several private conversations regarding this topic already and am happy to continue to have more of those. If you have questions/comments please send them to me or post them here. I'm trying to get the three posters of this topic to engage me on private conversation so I can find out what is behind their attack. For my part I own any bad decisions I make but I can't address them if I'm unaware of their impact on people.

People need to see this thread as an example that they can discuss topics, even while angry. But also as an example of the behavior that is not acceptable. If people are angry and have a right to be so, they should be able to express that safely within the community we have established, without assaulting one another and also without fear of the conversation getting completely shut down. Sometimes people just need to rant and rave and get it out of their system.

I would always advise people to take complaints directly to the source, it is very unfortunate that did not happen in this case. I have always tried to go above and beyond to make myself available to those in my region.

However, people should know they can take complaints to the public square if that is what they want to do. I certainly don't fear that but if you ask for transparency while choosing to take a complaint public the community response may not be what you expect if the truth is not on your side.

October 13, 2016

I know a lot of folks have been waiting for my response and I want to thank everyone for their support and restraint regarding this matter. I think Tonya did a good job outlining the reasons why the event did not qualify to run the special, but let me summarize:

• The request was past the deadline for support.
  
• The request did not include the proper paperwork.
  
• The request stated in it, that the event did NOT have enough tables to qualify. (Which is why I felt no explanation was necessary - you already KNEW you didn't qualify for the special)
  
• The Warhorn site confirmed that the event did not have the tables to qualify for the special.
  

This past weekend my family and friends and the local community had hurricane Matthew bearing down on us. People are fighting for their lives and homes in some areas. Thousands of people today are still without power, thousands have lost everything they own and in some areas there are still evacuation and rescue efforts underway. I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner as I was busy helping the Housing Solutions Task Force get its infrastructure up and running to begin relief efforts here in SC and didn't have time respond.

I would ask such compassionate and charitable people such as yourselves and your like-minded friends to consider reaching out with your time, energy and money and see if there is any assistance or relief you can provide to those facing the aftermath of Matthew.

While I think Extra Life is a wonderful charity and have personally donated to it several times, the rules must still apply for your event as they do for all others, including my own. There are many different events that deserve support. However, no event deserves special treatment just for supporting a good cause or because of who is involved with it. This is a great cause, and I encourage anyone reading this to donate to this charity and not let the behavior of this particular group of supporters detract from a good organization such as Extra Life. You can make your donations to Extra Life directly here.

Over my time with the campaign I have run almost 800 tables, coordinated or helped coordinate dozens of conventions, game days, charity events, library and school events. I have spent hundreds of hours giving presentations to a wide variety of groups about this hobby, including to the board of the Children's Miracle Network. I have traveled thousands of miles and logged over 5000 hours supporting this campaign over 8 years. I was a venture captain before there were actual venture captains. A few years ago they awarded me campaign service coin 722 alongside Bob and Todd. This cemented my enthusiasm for my continued support of this great company and the campaign it has provided to this wonderful hobby.

Each year, I and my company (SCARAB) give time and money to a variety of charitable events and through the support of Paizo and other great gaming companies have given away and arranged to be given away tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of products in support of those same efforts. It is my opinion that this community has not appropriately recognized Paizo for its generosity over the years. Companies with their generosity are genuinely hard to find.

If you ever believe my judgment to be in error, I am always available to discuss any decision I make. All my VO should have my cell phone number and email. In addition hundreds of players and GMs across the globe have that information and frequently call me for questions, answers, guidance and advice. I will gladly answer any questions, even during hurricanes.

I would humbly remind people of the old adage "Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes".

I am sorry for the distress this has caused. I would advise anyone with a problem to address your issues directly and privately with the source before posting your grievances in a public forum.

Sincerely,
DC
RVC of the SE

MegaMooseCon

Who's the moosiest moose we know?
Mega Moose!
Who's the star of our favorite show?
Not a moose!
M is for Mega - mega gaming, you see;
O is for On July 23rd and 24th, Oh gee;
S is for SCARAB Swarm will be on site;
E is for Everyone come out and have a great time.
M - E - G - A;
M - O - O - S - E.
What's that spell?
Mega Moose!
Mega Moose!
Mega Moose!
(Hyuk! That's not me!)

Can you clarify which district is which color?

He ... hands the PCs a map of Alabastrine. He points to each of the map’s districts and relays the information on each of them presented in the Alabastrine, City of Heathens section on the right.

That side panel doesn't exist on that page in the scenario. The larger section doesn't say which section is which color. Some are self explanatory but confirmation would be awesome.

Game Day coming up next weekend at Firefly.

SCORPION PFS RVC AD:

Looking for 4-6 players for a weekend of PFS of your choice of scenarios/modules/AP or whatever. For $63 each all your room and board is covered and all proceeds go to the YMCA. We can begin Friday afternoon of SCORPION and end Sunday afternoon. Need to take a break - go ride a horse, shoot a bow and arrow, fish, hike or nap. I'm your GM for the weekend. Just sign up and let me know what you want me to run. Not sure what you want to choose, tell me what your goal is for your characters and I will custom select the scenarios you need to accomplish your character goals. You can't game for 3 days straight and cover all your food for $63 unless you really like Ramen! :-)

SCORPION GAMER CAMP

SCARAB Gaming Convention

4-Days of Gaming

Medallion Convention Center
7309 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, SC 29209
January 13-16, 2017
www.S-C-A-R-A-B.com

4-Days of Gaming Goodness!!! Come on out and have some fun!!!

GM Discounts.

Tier I GM or Volunteer (35 hours):

Free Badge
1/4 of a Hotel Room
T-shirt
$5 Food Per Diem at the Cantina
GM Gift ($30 Value)
Special GM Boon

Tier II GM or Volunteer (25 hours):

Free Badge
T-shirt
$5 Food Per Diem at the Cantina
Special GM Boon

Tier III GM or Volunteer (15 hours):

Discount Badge ($25)
Special GM Boon

There are 10 slots of 30 tables planned for 2017.

If you are looking to find the SCARAB Swarm in the next few months you can find us at many great events near you on our calendar.

Thanks John for coming out once more and bring lots of smiles and laughs to SCARAB. We love having you and hope to see you again in 2017. Team Rat-Monkey is already planning to make sure we get on a John Compton table for year 7.

Looks like you are needing some trap finding and arcane if possible. I hope we can scrounge up at least one more player for you.

Down to two Tier I spots!

Well done

I think we still have a three Tier I GM spots available. But we are closing them out Dec 15th.

John Compton has confirmed his attendance again this year. We are always very excited to have John. The schedule is looking great and we have plenty of room for up to 100 more tables if we need it. So fill it up and we'll add more.

For a Tier I it also comes with a free hot country breakfast each day as well.

Simple question: Is the flip map dry erase?

Wet, Dry and Permanent Marker as well. I love these maps! To erase permanent marker you simply go over it with a dry erase marker and wipe it off. Works great!

*Mumbles something about only Venture-Captains being credited for organizing these*

Let me shout out a huge THANKS!!! to all the non-venture captains that helped me set up 20 locations to host this event. May all your hits be crits!

Chessex is where we get ours and they have a great selection at a great price.

SCARAB buys 33mm d20's in bulk and not only do we roll in the open all players roll in the open and use 33MM d20's. If you don't have one one will be provided to you. At the end of the scenario I personally will often give away one of the large dice to the player everyone felt like had the biggest dice effect (was the luckiest) at the table. I will let them pick one out of the bag randomly or keep the one they were using since it was lucky for them.

Want to know more about SCARAB - check out our website HERE.

During this time, I’ve found the character death rate to be extremely low.

I would say that your experience is far different than mine. I have been to a ton of events and run a lot of tables and I see characters die all the time and I've seen TPK more than once.

I don't disagree that the scenarios are designed to give players a 'winning' experience. As they should be. I have found that in most cases if the GM is running the bad guys as described in the scenario, nine times out of ten, the players are pretty safe. But in many cases, due to lots of reasons, characters do die. There have been plenty of times that I realized I could wipe out a party if I played the bad guy to their full potential. My advice to you, if you seek more dangerous level of play is this:

When you sit at the table, tell the GM that you want him to 'take the safety’s off the bad guys' and run them to their full potential. If all the other players at the table agree and the GM is cool with that option, I guarantee you will have a much different experience.

Is it too easy to resurrect a character? For those who have lost characters they spent lots of time building up, I would guess they would say no, its not too easy.

Having run soooo many tables. My experience is that the seven player allowance is there so that GMs don't HAVE to turn someone away from the table if they don't want to. GM's can take up to seven players, they don't have to take more than four.

So long as the GM is comfortable running seven players I see no reason to outlaw seven player tables. Leave it up to the GM's running the tables.

I think the rule should be it takes three to make the table valid and it is closed at seven and the GM should be allowed to take as many as necessary to run the scenario and no more than he/she is comfortable managing.

I'll be running The Midnight Mauler at Firefly Games in Lexington, SC (90 minutes up the road) on October 22nd, 2011. I'll run it twice if we have enough players and Paizo sent me all kinds of cool promotional stuff and some cool BOONS to go along with all the other cool promotional stuff SCARAB has to award to players.

1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 Yep. Four stars.

I love this scenario - it is not for the faint of heart. It is a tough scenario. Almost completely because of the final encounter.

This is how it played out when I ran it.

This is a great scenario, if you have not run it, don't let the fact that it is very tough, scare you away from running it at low levels. The more you prepare for the scenario the easier it will be for you to run it.

Now I request that on the GM/Event Coordinator tab you show the special events count like you show the tables count. I want that and a pizza.

I'm thinking Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible or the Slave Pits of Absalom. Both of those were a blast for both me and the players.

Agree 100% Pathfinder Society - Scenario 33 - Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible is a great scenario for a new GM.

Sweeeeeeeetttt!

What I would not prefer is fewer combats which are more difficult. I already see too many situations where the party survives due to obvious GM pity, thanks.

I have found that in many cases changing some of the encounters from "Fights to the death" to "Fights until half the bad guys are dead or until on 10% HP are left" shortens the encounters without losing the meaning or point of the encounter. Especially with flunkies or filler encounters. It has always bugged me that many, many of the encounters with flunkies have the flunkies with such an iron clad zeal that there is no room for morale checks, they just fight to the death. That is not always necessary.

I would hate to see less encounters or combats as well.

... you also need to convince the attendees.

... I also use cons as a means to try out new games so having PFS slots fit in with the slots of all the other games going on is important to me.

... I will only get a chance to eat lunch with other PFS players, which makes PFS become a little insular IMHO.

All very good points, especially since most homegrown cons tend to be three day events. Having to play a 5-6 hour slot really does eat up your options to play other events.

But having run all the scenarios from 0-01 to 2-09 I can tell you that there are plenty of them that can easily fit into 4 hours with all faction missions, etc.

I saw it pointed out in another post about table size. My experience has been that once you get a table of 6-7 people you can expect to overrun just about any limit of the time slot. Many conventions frown on limiting a game slot to four people, they want tables that complete in 4 hours and can have up to 7 people ... annnnnnnnnd ... a lot of players like that as well, it gives them opportunity to meet other like minded players and get in some games that they might not otherwise have gotten to sample.

For a lot of players - conventions are all about sampling a wide variety of games while getting in a game of their favorite one or two they haven't played in a while.

These are just a few of the things as a convention director or gaming coordinator of a convention you have to weigh when planning your slots. Or as a game master when planning on what you will attempt to run at a convention.

It might be helpful if the scenario creators could categorize their scenarios as 4, 5 or 6 hour scenarios or modularize them with an outline of what to do for shorter game play. I really like the way the Dungeon Crawl Classics do scaling and it wouldn't take much to scale the PFS in a similar fashion.