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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!
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.
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. GMS ONLY!!! PLAYER'S DO NOT READ!!!:
The unfortunate venture-captain is lashed to the top of his own greatest invention, his body riddled with hundreds of sharp, crystal needle-width shunts all filled with acid. Thus far, his nemesis has kept him alive by force-feeding him potions of cure light wounds. Still, his wounds burn fiercely and he is in unimaginable pain.
I had him moaning and groaning loudly in pain, the party knew something was up and was able to prepare accordingly. ((DC 15 Perception) agonizing Miregrold +10 to perception) Question you have to ask yourself as a GM - Is Zoathrias completely out of cure light wounds potions. From the description of the text it sounds like he is, but you don't have to play it that way. If the characters get into real trouble you can help them out by letting them find Zoathrias' stash of potions. Keep in mind Zoathrias has kept Miregrld alive for a few days. The desk contains Miregrold’s personal journals. One of them lies open, revealing his latest entry (see Handout A), a passage concerning his growing suspicions that his former associate, a dark stalker named Zoathrias, has returned to murder him and steal his aureolyte crystal.
I had predetermined that Zoathrias was more motivated and interested in recovering the crystal than in killing Miregrold. He knows that he can always come back and do that later. He wants the crystal. ((DC 15 Sense Motive)Reading the journals +10 to sense motive) The characters knew from reviewing the journals exactly what Zoathrias weaknesses were and I even threw in a passage from Miregrold that he believed that if he could get Zoathrias in close proximity to the machine, Miregrold suspected that due to the stalker's problems with light, the fully functioning machine might actually kill him. The players knew how the machine worked; Zoathrias weaknesses and were aware that he (probably) was in the room behind the locked door torturing somebody (probably Miregrold). They had plenty of time to prepare and could make a reasonable amount of noise without being heard over the screams of Miregrold and the ranting gloating of Zoathrias. In the end they managed to get the machine activated and captured Zoathrias. Once blinded by the machine he is quite an easy opponent to beat up not to mention he initiates a grapple when he gets to 5 hit points. Big mistake on his part. The party felt so bad for him that Miregrold had stolen this crystal from him, I made up a really great sob story and the group bought it. They gave him the crystal back and I penalized them the way the scenario calls for in the event Miregrold dies. It was awesome, I couldn't believe they did it. If you wanted to be really nice you could have Zoathrias be willing to give them a small sample of the crystal (they would have to change his attitude to at least indifferent to get this out of him (+10 Diplomacy check to change his attitude if they are willing to give him the crystal back and +5 more if they convince him that Miregrold is going to be punished by the PFS for what he has done)), since that is really all the PFS needs. I do not disagree with many of the comments of the GMs here that if the players attempt to rush in and go toe to toe with Zoathrias, they are going to die and he is going to add some more pathfinder bodies to the pile he has already accumulated. 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.
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.
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.
Locally, there is no PFS run on a regular basis by any of the local game shops.As anyone even tried starting a Regular basis PFS at one of your Local Game Shops? Running at retailers is awesome and I highly recommend it! Many have extra maps and minis and all the goodies to accesorize your PFS game and you can get away from the time limitations by coming back the next week. If you haven't tried it, you should.
Sorry for such a huge post. I like this thread. As the director of a convention and a four star GM I hope my experience can help. Some scenarios cannot be run in four hours. Some are tough to stretch to four hours and some cannot be completed in four hours even leaving out the optional encounters and they vary according to the group you are running for. The key to getting a session accomplished in four hours is organization. You need to have played the scenario you are going to run, and preferably run it and preferably run it more than once before taking it to a convention. I realize that is simply not always possible. But I highly recommend it if you can. The convention you are attending/game mastering for needs to step up and help you organize. You are putting butts in seats and that makes them money, or helps cover expenses, whatever the case may be. If you are there helping them by entertaining their guests that really is the least the convention administration can do for you. Also, remember that if your area has a Venture Captain, particularly if that VC is organizing the events, they are an invaluable resource, and can make a huge difference in selecting scenarios that will run in the available time slots. Put him/her/them to work, that's why they get the big bucks. :-) As an unworthy wanna-be VC. I know for example that my PFS game masters have very simple needs to be organized and I try to have a variety of tools available for them: extra chronicle sheets, extra character sheets, extra scenario handouts and extra scenario faction sheets, and/or access to a printer (and not a hotel printer that is going to charge a $1 per page to print), paper, pens, pencils, extra dice, extra pre-gens, maps and markers. I realize that I am spoiled. I have a administrative assistant who organizes this extra stuff for the SCARAB staff and our volunteers (we travel all over the country running various games, not just PFS stuff), so it is easy for me to say that you need to be organized. Maybe I should have her post here :-) Also, having a wide variety of time slots is becoming more and more necessary for conventions. More of the directors I meet with are recognizing this. If you look at our schedule of slots you can see that we have 2, 4 and 6 hours slots and we have tried to place an hour in between each slot SCARAB Gaming Scheule. Many conventions are moving towards this type of schedule and many do not mind adding 6 hour time slots if you are willing to ask. If you are going to have to run back to back to back make arrangements for someone to run food and drinks for you and don’t be afraid to take a 15 minute potty break and stretch your legs. If you have been running all day you will find players very understanding, especially if they are having fun. In many cases they have been playing all day and could use the break themselves. Many conventions do not have a large staff and are relying heavily on volunteers and therefore cannot manage a complex schedule. In those cases my recommendation is find scenarios that run in 4 hours, talk to your VC and to other well informed game masters here on the forums to find out which ones are going to fit the schedule. I know a lot of GMs do not like to run the same scenarios over and over again, but I have to say that the SCARAB staff has about twenty scenarios assigned to each member and they run those scenarios over and over again. I recognize that is not what people always want to do and that my situation is very unique, but if you become an expert in a dozen or so scenarios that you can run over and over until you feel you have saturated the area, it really makes it much easier on you. After you have worn out a scenario, change them out of your repertoire. Running in a store is a different experience than running in a convention and this may not work for you if you are the main GM at a store, you may have to run every scenario once or twice and move on. My last piece of advice, is really a component of being organized: KNOW THE RULES! If you have to reach for the Core Rulebook for anything other than maybe a spell description or to confirm the price of a piece of equipment you are very likely going to be in time trouble. If you prep the scenario you will cut down on a lot of this. I would say if you find yourself in preparation reaching for the rulebook over and over again, you really need to ask yourself if you’re ready to run at a convention. I will add that some players can be problematic and you are not always going to have the perfect set of players at your tables. Convention guests range from kids and adults who have no experience in d20 or rpg at all to the thirty year veterans. But I have found they all have one thing in common. Convention guests have paid to be there and in some cases paid a lot and they expect the GM’s to have a high level of expertise and organization. If they feel like you are not prepared or disorganized, many become shark-like. If you run into a problem player, rules-lawyer, argumentative, lime-lighter and you are unable to handle them, because you have never had to deal with a situation like that, you are also going to run into time problems. If you cannot handle a difficult player, again you need to ask yourself if running at a convention is for you.
Congratulations to Mike and all the new VC's! Kyle and Nani - I hope to see you at SCARAB Gaming Convention in January. You're not huge Falcons fanatics like Mike is I hope! If so then I may have to root for them to not make it into the playoffs.
Additional Info - What if the party splits up. Be Prepared:
I have had a few parties split up at the initial climb up the Halflight path. They take the incognito thing seriously. It's not a major problem unless they specifically say that they want to be equally dispersed throughout the caravan. If this happens it means that there would likely be only one of the characters caught in the isolated arm of the path. There are several different ways you can handle it. [1]Role-play it instead of roll-playing it. Reward their preparedness with all the gear from the bad guys. [2]Run the combat as is. Have the players dice off for which one is isolated and see what happens. [3]My preferred method is to have the players dice off and determine which one is caught in the trap and then provide the other players NPCs to play for the encounter. I like to use 1 Dusk Warden (Gahiji), 1 Merchant and the remainder Warrior guards for the merchant. The cool thing about using the NPCs is that it gives the party some friends in the city right off the bat. You can use them to offer housing, information, assistance locating people, additional muscle if the party is under powered, etc. Here are the NPCs I use at all levels. Dusk Warden Gahiji
Merchant
Warrior
Again, this has only happened to me a few times, but it is good to be prepared. Hope this helps you to be better prepared.
PS I have made counters for these scenarios and am happy to post them on the SCARAB Gaming Convention Forums if you would like.
I am trying to give some feedback on the scenarios and modules that I run a lot for conventions and events. Here is my feedback on this one. Lots of people have told me this is a four hour scenario. There is no way, unless you are adding extra dares or other role-playing opportunities. I usually run this in roughly over two hours. Which is one reason why it is such a great scenario. It is tons of fun and plays quick! SPOILER ALERT: It's all about Perception:
What you have to bear in mind and should be prepared for is the boat. Keep in mind Stomp has +6 Perception, the dogs have +8 Perception and Cuddles has a Perception of +14 (+12, +2 to the die roll factoring in his advanced status), Vorka has +2 Perception and Longtung has +3 Perception and the goblin characters are armed with fireworks. Get ready with the perception check: If your experience is like mine then nine out of ten times players cannot wait to use that skyrocket on something or if they trip the trap going up the gang plank and get attacked by wasps or if they spot Stomp and recall Gutwad's instructions of "You meet horse, you make them dead" and attack. Perception checks all around. IMHO: As soon as the skyrocket goes off all the bad guys are alerted. Remember that a 1 on a die 20 is not a failure on a skill check and if that goes off I would say DC -10 to hear it. Vorka knows exactly what that sound is (she has probably used the fireworks in her possession - she has clearly staged some in the crows nest) she immediately prepares for combat and if given time I usually have her move to let the dogs loose. If she has enough warning I usually have her run up into the crows nest and pelt the party with fire and drop or shoot fire works at them. Remember that she captured and is deboning Scribbleface, so it is possible he told her everything and she would be wary that more Licktoads would be coming for the remainder of her stash. She strikes me as the kind of cannibal that would play with her food before eating it. Remember the dogs are both on the upper deck. However, one of them is chained to the aft mast with only 20' of chain to play with it really doesn't give it much area to move. It also means his chain is hanging in the air between the aft mast and the upper deck. Sneaky goblins might hear it rattling on the railing if he moves. Also, you should take into account how he got up there. Is the chain running though the railing or around the railing by the ladder. Which would limit its movement further. Remember cuddles is an ADVANCED dog which means +2 to all rolls including damage and +4 to all stats, +4 AC (and +2 to natural armor) and +2 hp/HD. He is a tough customer. Hope my experience helps! Cheers :-)
I like this set of scenarios a lot. My advice to those running this scenario is simple: This advice and 10 cents won't buy you a cup of coffee:
Play Wymund in a cunning manner. Use the invisibility and have him summon monster as much as he can. Once he has spent his summons the party may actually have burnt through some of their healing. In this scenario the party will find a lot of healing. Summon monster does not count as an attack and therefore does not cause the invisibility to drop. If the party manages to find him, have him evade and go invisibile again if he can. In the higher Tiers, once the party gets him on the ropes don't wait too long to use the scroll of dimension door to have him move to a remote location within the theater and heal up for the final confrontation. Once he is out of summons and healing, it becomes a straight up fight. If you don't play him this way. Large parties can easily kill him in 2 rounds. My advice is to make him memorable, play him tough. You will also want to study the map and see the locations he might use for cover or where he could lure a single character to an isolated area for an ambush. The attitude I give him is simple: He knows this theater better than the party and he would take full advantage of knowing the home turf. Hope my experience is helpful. Cheers :-) PS I have made counters for these scenarios and am happy to post them on the SCARAB Gaming Convention Forums if you would like.
I like this set of scenarios a lot. I have run them many times. They are very challenging and you can spend a great deal of time role-playing and it has some interesting bad guys. This is a dangerous and difficult scenario and I have had parties struggle to complete it, so take the modifications below with a grain of salt and decide for yourself if they are right for your group. Scenario gothchas that you will want to clarify or at least be aware of and possibly spend some extra time on:
Problem #1 – Todor Spell Book This scenario has a great opportunity to help an up and coming wizard and falls short. The evoker Todor Mozes has no spell book, not on his person nor back at the HQ. It says he is crazy, so maybe he forgot it somewhere, but that seems unlikely. That shortfall needs correction, for two reasons: 1. Todor has an arcane bond: wand, and according to the text it has not been triggered for the day. It is important to know what is in his spell book to know what options are available to help in the battle. 2. Finding the spell book gives party wizards an opportunity to learn spells for their spell book. Even if only one spell, it is important to throw the players simple, minor rewards when the opportunity presents itself. Here are the open slots and my corrections to this problem. Feel free to make your own solution or just leave it the way it is. What if he is captured: If captured and questioned about the spell book’s absence on his person he would reveal its location to his captors in exchange for his freedom. Where is it and what is in it: Todor left his spell book back at the HQ (prison room #7 which is where the Shadow Lodge members have been staying) and it has the following spells in it (Modify as you deem necessary): Tier 1-2:
Tier 3-4
Tier 6-7
Why not put mage armor in the book? Apparently he may not have it as he cast it from scroll before the fight. You could make the assumption that he does have it but loaded up with attack spells for the day knowing that he was going into combat. However, if that were the case I would simply have him cast that spell from the wand and not use up the scroll. Seems like a reasonable assumption if you like. If he didn’t have mage armor, why would he have shield. He might not, it is reasonable to judge that since he doesn’t have one that he doesn’t have the other. However, I would argue that every Evoker knows the benefit of shield and would have it in their spell book. If he has shield wouldn’t he use it pre-combat? Yes he would and I have him cast it from the wand either before combat or during the surprise round. Why not invisibility? Again, he is loaded with potions for this so it seems reasonable to assume that he may not have it. Problem #2 – Prison Perception
When I run this scenario, it gets very nasty and deadly real quick at this point. If Guarin is alerted to enemy presence within the prison he sends Kanna to alert Kormiggon and return as quickly as possible, takes two to three rounds roughly. Once alerted Kormiggon releases the golbins from the cell block and waits behind his desk as the Tactics dictate.
Hope my experience with this scenario is helpful to you. Cheers :-)
I know Mike has said he will be at SCARAB Gaming Convention in Columbia, SC in January but I was hoping to see Steve there as well? SCARAB Gaming Convention
Yes, please. I have a feeling I'll be running this module a LOT. I already have at least 2 requests to run it in the future, and will probably run it when I go back down to Texas to visit. Maps would indeed be useful. Please help get the word out about the SCARAB Gaming Convention, the most affordable 4-day gaming convention in the U.S., if you find one more affordable, please let me know. These are in 1" Scale, adobe, and print beautifully. Here you go: SCARAB GAMING CONVENTION - FORUM - WE BE GOBLINS - MAPS & COUNTERS DCII
If you have facebook you can see the maps we use at SCARAB events for this module. You can see them HERE. If the link doesn't work you can look up SCARAB Gaming Convention on Facebook and see the Barnes and Noble event. If you are interested, I can post these into the SCARAB forums for you to download and print for yourselves. They are beautiful.
Go to SCARAB Gaming Convertion's facebook page and announce you are looking for people, or post here at Paizo or at Green Dragon and Here Be Books in Charleston. You can always go to a NonCon or Games Day in the Park and meet people and Pro+-Con was a good event as well. You can keep up with SCARAB events and always play some PFS scenarios at our events. Check our website www.s-c-a-r-a-b.com for numerous local retailers and events close to you in Charleston.
That is an excellent ammendment to the question. Modules provide 3 XP and 4 PA and various GP depending on level. So using the rules from the PFS Playguide, since there is not a specific version 4 chronicle sheet that addresses these statistics, players would get 1.5 XP and 2 PA and half the GP? Which brings up another question: Bob decides to go slow track - he plays a scenario 1/2 XP then another scenario 1/2 xp, then a module 1 and 1/2 XP then another module 1 and 1/2 XP and his next level he did not want to go slow advancement. How does that last XP get applied?
So you are following the logic of the items on a chronicle are always available, regardless of PA/fame? If you got the money you can have the honey. I can live with that, makes sense. I can live with buying the Always Available Items regardless of PA/fame providing you meet the city requirements. But hold on a second: But furthermore, you are saying that a player can buy anything at all providing he meets the criteria of the city size and PA/fame? Which means that everything is always available to those that have enough PA/fame providing you are in a city with 5000+? That is definitely not how I interpret the rules. I have read them many times and have never come to that conclusion. Are you 1000000000% sure about that?!
I am one of those, just becuase your kids played soccer, doesn't mean he gets the trophy, kind of guys. I can't see Paizo being unfair to a GM who has their 100 tables under their belt, not without severe reprecussions from the GMs community. That word would spread quickly through the GM community. It would be genuinely bad PR for Paizo. I trust them to have some quality control in place to help with determination of who is worthy of the 5th star. If you are in the South East and you run out of places to run, gimme a hollar and I'll add you to the SCARAB network and you'll be beating off conventions and retailers with a stick ;-)
Let's use an extreme case 10th level character with 0 PA and 0 FAME, becuase he stubbornly refuses to accomplish any faction missions. But he has managed to hoard all of his gold and he has a million gp and he managed to get a chronicle with that +5 holy avenger and he just has to have it. My interpretation would obviously be bad for this player. Under your interpretation he would be able to get this item or would be strictly limited to the items that are Always Available and have to earn the PA necessary to qualify for such a shiny?
It does make it tougher. But with more GM's getting close to the magic 4 stars, this is a quantitave way to get your 5th star. I am a firm believer that the 5th star should be qualitative and subject to the old rules and there should be no quantative method of getting the 5th. There are plently of conventions in the South East. I get invited to a convention or a retailer a week sometimes and retailers are always happy to see me coming. They sell those books and maps and minis and stuff. Need help find events in SC, NC and GA take a look at the SCARAB website at www.s-c-a-r-a-b.com. I was phone party to the planning of another new convention in Savannah, GA in April 2012 just yesterday. Cheer up we'll get there. Come to SCARAB gaming convention and we'll give you the mysterious SCARAB star for your PFS card. You can only get one by running at SCARAB Gaming Convention. We are tying to do more cool little things for GMs that run for us that are struggling to get tables under their belts.
Not ever purchase goes through your faction. Always available items are purchased from random vendors on the street. However, random vendors on the street do not have +2 weapons. If you want a +2 weapon, you'll have to have made a name for yourself and purchase that through your faction, where the Fame rules and spending limits come into play. It seems that you are splitting hairs. If some items are ALWAYS available regardless of FAME, why even have the FAME limitation. I hate to argue a point that I have never encountered and so want to be clear that we are discussing a complete hypothetical situation. I would say that I am willing to fall on the side of the argument that has the biggest benefit to the players, which would be your side. I do think it is worth further clarification. I have 90 tables under my belt and have never had a problem with this. Mostly because I feel that the way the PFS is designed, this situation would be extremely, extremely, rare. But going forward I want to make sure this is the correct interpretation. I would love to hear an official Paizo clarification on this one. Just to be safe. I would not want to rule against a player who shows up at an event after another GM ruled differently.
I would humbly disagree with that statement. From the previous PFS Play Guide: Under Organized Play Quirks
My understanding is that it was always the faction that sold the characters magic equipment. Since TPA is now FAME basically, I would hold that the same rule logically apply. Again, I am happy to be wrong, but want to make sure if it is determined that I am that I have made as strong a case as I can. If I switch to this imterpretation, I don't want to find out later that I was right in the beginning. You all make great arguments against. I am happy to adapt, as I have said I have never run into a problem with this situation any ways, but might as well make sure I am clear about the rule, in the event it does arise.
No I am familiar with all of that - the part that hangs me up is simple. From Benefits of Fame
From Always Available Items:
From Buying Gear:
Because the section in benefits of fame says ANY and does not read ANY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE ALWAYS AVAILABLE ITEMS THAT YOUR FACTION WILL ALWAYS MAKE AVAILABLE TO YOU REGARADLESS OF YOUR FAME. It means any and all items that your faction would offer to your character to purchase. And since the Benefits of Fame follows the other sections it means it takes precedence. I am certainly willing to be wrong and would also add that I have never encountered a problem with someone having something outside of these boundaries. But I do prefer a strict interpretation of the law.
The test I always have players give themselves is the following: Can a character be good, and believe that the ends justify the means? If you can say that your character truly believes that he can commit a heinous act in order to justify the end result of achieving good; then go to part two of the exercise; which is: what would other good aligned characters witnessing your character commit the act think? Would they agree with your character? If not, as a player, it becomes your responsibility to figure out how you would convince them that what you did or are about to do is in the name of the greater good. Let them role-play it out. In the PFS there is no P v P allowed or evil alignments, so this requires some good role-playing and more willingness to compromise as players as to what your characters are willing to tolerate or not tolerate. A solitary evil act does not make a character evil, it must be taken in context. Although there is no P v P there is not a rule that says you can't stand by and watch a character get killed, can players allow a character to die by purposely acting with bad tactics in a combat or by directly withholding healing from a character? I would argue, yes they can and therefore it is imperative that GM's pay close attention and come up with good solutions to scenario faction missions that might be construed as being truly evil as opposed to just a single bad act.
+2 Draino this is a great topic, thanks for posting it. Good and Evil are highly subjective. I personally think the Sczarni, Chelish and Shadow Lodge are all clearly meant for evil characters (and historically, the Shadow Lodge in particular has a large number of evil pathfinders as members of it) but I have seen over the 90 tables I have run all kinds of great reasons why good and neutral characters are members of those factions. I have seen players justify the coup-de-grace using many reasons, not the least of which is simply that they were ordered to do it by their faction and feared repercussion. I have had players make knowledge (local) checks to have the knowledge that the person they are killing is a truly bad individual, a criminal scumbag, etc. It is a simple matter to role-play out a character with a conundrum about committing a potentially evil act. You can seek penance with a cleric within the group or the town you're in, etc. It really is something that can be unbalancing in the moment, but with a little forethought a GM should be able to help you through such an act. I have seen several tables degenerate into quite a bit of role-playing over it. It really does fall to the GM to help you find a way to justify why your character might carry out an act deemed evil by someone outside your faction. In reading through and prepping a scenario a GM should pay particular attention to those missions where a player may be asked to do something that could be construed as evil by the other players. As a GM the question I like to apply to a scenario that I am prepping is simple. If there were 4 paladins in the scenario, each with a different faction, how would they handle the scenarios, would a paladin, the epitome of goodness, have a problem following through on his faction's mission/s and how would he interpret what he witnesses as the other paladins commit to successful completion of their missions? If I portend problems may ensue I have to put some extra thought into how to help players find a way to justify completing a mission and continuing to cooperate with one another. It can be a difficult and precarious balancing act, but I have not found a single scenario that I couldn't find a solution to, although there are some that even with all the justifications we came up with, as a group, at the table, in the moment, the player/s did feel like their character/s would not commit to the successful accomplishment of the mission. In which case they did sacrifice their PA for that part of their faction mission. Again thanks for such a great topic.
Page 21 of the PFS Playbook: "A character’s Fame score determines the maximum gp value of any items
In this case to purchase the armor you seek you MUST have at lease 27 TPA (now known as FAME). My interpretation of that is simple - they (the item/s) might be available, but you (your character) are not famous enough to have your faction provide you access to the items.
It's great to see another PFS group starting up in SC. For those who played in Master of the Fallen Fortress (2010 Free RPG day module) and are interested in playing in We Be Goblins (2011 Free RPG day module) come on up to Barnes and Noble in Forest Acres Columbia, SC on August 20th. Get some free dice and have a great time. For more great PFS play in SC, NC and GA look for events on the PFS Calendar that start with "SCARAB"
If you have been to RoundCon for that many years I am sure you know most of the SCARAB staff sice they helped run it for almost two decades, stop by and say howdy at the next event we are at. Check up with us on the Calendar at www.s-c-a-r-a-b.com website. Ohh ... I like the look of the Warhorn site. We'll take a look at that product. Thanks for the idea. I'm sure we'll see you at one or more of those great events. Look for the SCARAB staff and come buy to get some cool dice and other free tchotchkeys :-) WOW! I tell you what I really like the look of this warhorn site, I tell you what, if we use it I'll give you a free pass to SCARAB 2012 for you and one guest. Send me your email via the SCARAB contact page and I will bring this up with the board, if they approve then I'll send you a message.
No. They don't all have that feature. I and my staff are at all of those conventions so you can stop by and play some games with us at any of those great events as well. I also forgot to mention XCON and StellarCon, don't want to leave any out. Bear with us, we are only in year two and those mentioned have had years to get things like that in place. We'll get there :-)
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