So I want to make sure Im understanding a few things correctly that are included in the rules, cause they are a bit different than previous years, iirc.
These aren't spoilers for the scenario itself, but in the interest of not spoiling anything for anyone, Im spoiling the questions. Please spoil your answers.
Spoiler:
1. Using these pregens only for the mod? So if someone does have a goblin PC that's still 1-2 they cant play it in this? I believe in all previous instances it was allowed. Either that or the scenario itself allows it (which this one does, too, but that's not the point) and I just mistakenly allowed it anyway. If that is the case I assume its cause the pregens are all npc classes and a PC class would outshine them, which is understandable.
2. The chronicle doesn't seem to grant a conditional second PP for playing the thing ON Free RPG Day 2016 like the past couple have. I assume this was intentional, considering the boon (which I LOVE, btw. It's hilarious and awesome).
3. Assuming 2 is correct, then while I applaud the efforts for the reduced amount to Raise the character is the pregen should die, it falls short of actually mattering for those most likely to die, the brand new player, as they wont have the ability to have earned 2 PP to use for the Raise...
So my wife and I have decided to get rid of all of our PACG stuff. We have complete box sets for all three APs so far, a Cleric class deck, and the Iconic Heroes cards from sets 1-3.
Feel free to send me a PM if any of this interests you. US only, sorry.
(Mods, don't really know if advertising something for sale is kosher right here, but if not, can you please direct me for where to advertise this?)
I feel like even mentioning the name of the scenarios in which Time Travel takes place already is a big spoiler, but its likely unavoidable if I want to post this topic at all.
That said...
***This thread will contain spoilers about time travel in PFS scenarios, including
Spoiler:
Legacy of the Stonelords, The Sky Key Solution (and maybe other scenarios, if its done in any others and Im just overlooking them).
If you do not wish to have information for those scenarios spoiled for you, DO NOT READ THIS THREAD!***
With it being 'Year of the Serpent' and all, the Aspis Consortium is bigger and badder than ever. Many people are seeing this as Cobra rising, and the Society is G I Joe (Im making Storm Shadow).
In an effort to make sure that my Joe gets to fight Aspis scum as much as possible, I am looking to compile a list of any scenario in which you deal with Aspis either through combat or social interaction and maybe even scenarios that tie in just for story purposes.
My list so far is under the spoiler tag (dont click it if "There's Aspis people in this scenario" is a big enough spoiler for you to complain about).
If I have missed any scenarios or are wrong about the Aspis involvement, please let me know.
Thanks!
Aspis Scenario List:
00-16 To Scale a Dragon
00-22 Fingerprints of the Fiend
01-29 Devil We Know 1
01-30 Devil We Know 2
01-33 Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible
01-34 Encounter at the Drowning Stones
01-41 Devil We Know 3
01-48 Devil We Know 4
02-01 Before the Dawn 1
02-02 Before the Dawn 2
03-SP Blood Under Absalom
03-12 Wonders in the Weave 1
03-14 Wonders in the Weave 2
03-19 Icebound Outpost
03-20 Rats of Round Mountain 1
03-22 Rats of Round Mountain 2
03-25 Storming the Diamond Gate
03-26 Portal of the Sacred Rune
04-SP Race for the Runecarved Key
04-06 Green Market
04-07 Severing Ties
04-21 Way of the Kirin
04-23 Rivalry's End
05-12 Destiny of the Sands 1
05-15 Destiny of the Sands 2
05-16 Destiny of the Sands 3
06-09 By Way of Bloodcove
06-12 Scions of the Sky Key 1
06-14 Scions of the Sky Key 2
06-16 Scions of the Sky Key 3
PS. Yes, you are more than welcome to join in on making a Joe of your own to battle the Aspis. If you do so, I suggest working with other people you play with frequently to work out your own joe squad, instead of worrying about the fact that 958 people in the world already built Snake Eyes. :P
Kristen and I would like to welcome a new member to 'Venture Team' of southern Illinois: Carl Harris.
Carl Harris is a five-star GM who will be serving as Venture Lieutenant for both PFS and PACG and Kristen and I both feel he will do a great job. He's been helping us run our game days since before we got promoted, and is the person who originally got our region jumpstarted in PFS (with lots of help from the VO team from Cape Girardeau, MO).
Congratulations, buddy. You definitely deserve it!
Four years and six months ago, my friend Carl Harris brought forth to my attention, a new game we should try, conceived by Paizo, and dedicated to the proposition that all systems were NOT created equal (cause 4e was lame).
-Abraham Lincoln...sort of...
Carl played in a few sessions at our local gaming convention that year and became hooked. He quickly dragged me into it, and now, FINALLY, I get to publicly acknowledge all of the hard work he has put into this campaign to help make it grow.
Carl is a great GM and player. If you ever get a chance to sit at a table with him, you should take the opportunity.
Congratulations, Carl, on earning your fifth GM star!
This is your official invitation to CarbonCon 2015 on March 21st and 22nd at the SIUC Student Center in Carbondale, IL!
We will be running lots of fun events there, including:
~Pathfinder Society
~Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild
~DnD 5th
~Vampire
~Call of Cthulu
~Magic: The Gathering
~Pokemon TCG
~Yu-Gi-Oh!
~My Little Pony TCG
~Cosplay Contest (with performances)
~Smash Bros Wii U tournament
~Cards Against Humanity tournament
~board games
Entrants in the cosplay contest will be able to perform a skit if they wish, and judging will be separate for costume and performance. I think theres gonna be a prize.
Want to get in free, sign up to GM at least 2 slots.*
Only tables that go off will count towards the discount for GMs to get in free. When the preregistration closes, any GMs who do not have enough players preregistered for their 2 slots to go off will be sent an email, notifying them that payment for entry to the convention will be due before they can get in.
If enough players sign up at the door that one of those tables would now count toward the discount, a refund will be issued to the GM.
Because of this, I suggest signing up for at least 3 sessions, to give yourself a little wiggle room.
If enough players are interested, i will be putting the Wardens of the Reborn Forge Seeker Arc onto the schedule (but only if I can get confirmation from players, as I dont want the GM to have to deal with paying if at all possible).
Sunday afternoon we will be running the season 2 Gencon special Year of the Shadow Lodge. Gm spots for this will be given first to those who need a special to achieve a 5th star and to those who have played but not already run this.
PACG events will be run all weekend long, beginning Saturday with the beginning of Adventure 1, and continuing on its own pace through the end of the convention, trying to complete the entire Skull and Shackles season if they can!
If you are interested in GMing, please email me at southernillinois.pfs@gmail.com and I will send you a fillable pdf copy of the judges form.
We hope to see you there! And dont forget to look us up on Facebook!
Ladies, Gentlemen, and carbon-based lifeforms of all ages,
You are invited to come join us for a weekend of fun and games at the first annual CarbonCon in Carbondale, IL!
We will be doing Pathfinder Society events all weekend long (7 slots at the con itself, plus a Slot 0 and Midnight Madness), including The Paths We Choose, Legacy of the Stonelords (2014 Gencon special), Bonekeep 3, and more!
Already played the new Gencon scenarios? That's fine, we are also doing the first eight levels of the Emerald Spire superdungeon through the convention. Want a convenient chance to play the other eight? Theyll be run at the first annual Cape Game Con (in Cape Giarardeau, MO) in October! That's right, you'll be able to take a character from level 1 to 13, through all 16 levels of Emerald Spire, in just two weekends of gaming (weekends are NOT back to back)!
Dont want to play PFS all weekend? That's fine, we have lots of other events going on as well, like:
-A cosplay contest (with possible cash prize)
-Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Organized Play
-Magic: The Gathering
-D&D Next (5e)
-Warhammer
-Yu-Gi-Oh
-Star Trek Attack Wing
-Call of Cthulu RPG
-Star Wars X Wing
-Marvel Dice Masters
-Pokemon TCG
-Vampire:The Requiem
-Hearthstone-fireside gathering
-boardgames
-A weekend long Pokemon (videogame) tournament
-Cards Against Humanity tournaments
Special Guests and/or Vendors include:
Troll Lord Games!
Castle Perilous Games and Books!
Fox Comics and Games!
Game Fuzion!
Card Masters Trading Cards and Collectibles!
Capybara Ink!
Sable Manticore!
SIUC Midevil Combat!
Ruthless FX!
Dagorhir!
There will be a silent auction running through most of the convention. Bring in items you would like to have auctioned off. $2 entry per item, which will be donated to The Fallen Heroes Fund. You take home the final price of the item.
We will also be doing a canned food drive for the Good Samaritan Food Pantry. Bring in donations to receive tickets for a special raffle!
Interested in getting into the convention for free? Sign up to GM at least 3 events, and get a free weekend pass! (Please let me know you wish to GM, so that I can clear you) But hurry, most of the PFS slots are already filled!
And while you are signing up, dont forget to prepay for your convention T-shirt! S-XL for only $15. 2XL-$20, 3XL-$25
There will be tons of fun and loads of prizes to be had, so make sure to come join us! You can sign up for events* on Warhorn.
Sign up for the Slot 0 and Midnight Madness games for PFS is at this site.
***Slot 0 and Midnight madness games do not count towards the GM 3 to get in free.***
For more information about the con, visit us at our website or find us on Facebook!
And if it relates to a scenario in particular, please use Spoilers! :D
Blood Under Absalom:
After coming out of the sewer pipe, my group came face to face with an unarmed person. I acted first in initiative, and not being a murder hobo, I decided I would run up and Grapple him (since it was obviously a caster since he was unarmed) instead of hitting him with my sword.
No, I didnt have Improved Grapple. So I take the AoO to the face, and at the same time learn the rule where the damage from the AoO counts as a penalty on your CMB check, and I fail to Grapple him.
The GM was kind enough to flip to that rule quickly for my benefit, since it was something I had never heard of. I wasnt even mad. Just lolled that my plan had failed so hard. :P
The Confirmation:
The first time I ran this, the party had two Nagaji characters in it. When the party ran across the kobolds, one of the nagaji ran into the room, and made a bluff check (in Draconic) to convince the kobolds that he and the other nagaji were really kobolds who had been captured, experimented on, and 'turned big'. He rolled high, I rolled low.
The kobolds turn to the human party members and threaten them with their spears.
Then the other nagaji takes her turn. She moves into the room, and informs the rest of the party (in Common) what the first nagaji had done.
Since the kobolds speak Common, they understood everything, too.
Me: After you say that, they look at each other, and one of them says in Common, "We've been fooled! We'll kill you!"
2nd Nagaji player: OH NO! I gave it away!
Rest of the table: LOL
Please join me in congratulating Kristen Gipson (my lovely wife) on attaining her fifth GM star!
Kristen epitomizes what a quality GM is. The amount of time she puts in to her prep work is astounding, her knowledge of rules is fantastic, and her ability to recall exactly who played at a table from a single game day half a year ago is uncanny. She is a fantastic GM, player, and organizer. I certainly couldnt do the job I do as a VL without her help.
Congratulations!
Side note:
Kristen's 150th table ushered in the promotion of 7 new Venture Captains to the Society. The following characters have attained VC status:
Altus Lucrim, Conjurer (Carl Harris)
Gretel Oakenshield, Inquisitor (Amanda Harris)
Aladdin, Magus (Caleb Pennock)
Jaximus, Fighter (Jake Minol)
Mourne, Bard (Joshua Minol)
Petra Iliard, Fighter (Alexandra Mitchell)
Solomon Wiseaxe, Cleric of Torag (Seth Gipson)
There is a lot of good advice out there for how to become a better PFS player and a better PFS GM, so why not try to list as much of it under one place as possible.
Chris Mortika is one of our 5-star GMs and whenever a new 5-star (and some 4-star) GM is announced, Chris will ask the person a question regarding imparting some of this kind of info, so that the rest of us might learn. 'Never stop trying to improve your skills' is probably a good summation of his point. That's what I hope to see out of this thread.
Im going to start this off with a few of each; feel free to add your own. It can be advice to others, personal pet peeves of yours that other people do at the table, or whatever you think will make the game more enjoyable and run more efficiently if everyone would know this stuff.
To be a better player:
1. GM some tables. Running a scenario or two or ten will give you insight into classes and abilites you will have likely overlooked thus far. And needing to pay attention to all 6ish players at the table, and what they are doing, will give you some insight into how to play a class that you may have disregarded.
2. (Pet peeve) When it's your turn to act in combat, dont tell me/the GM "Make a will save" and expect any answer other than "Why?". You havent yet told me what you are (presumably) casting, so there is no save yet.
Now if you are a Slumber-witch (example) and that is all you have been doing all game, then I'll likely skip the 'why' and go straight for the roll...unless I fail one and you tell me "No, that was for 'this spell', not Slumber." Then the answer changes to "Since you didnt tell me beforehand, it was Slumber." :P
This applies similarly with stuff like "Does a 27 hit?" The answer is less likely to be a yes or no and more likely to be a "I dont know, what did you do?" unless I have reason to think its the same thing youve been doing the rest of the scenario.
3. Know what you are going to do on your turn before it gets to your turn. Dont wait til time to act to start thinking and then 20 seconds later decide you are going to need to delay.
4. 'Roll all your dice at once' is a popular time saver. I think it has its merits, but there are limits. Mike Lindner (VO from Nebraska) came out to play with us one Saturday and played his Zen Archer. Since he had so many attacks, I have been told he used color coded dice, and explained to the GM his attack progression was ROYGBIV (the rainbow). Excellent way to do it, IMO.
5. Tell the GM thank you for unning. If they looked nervous about the session or you know they havent had much experience, tell them they did well, and dont be afraid to offer constructive criticism if they want it.
To be a better GM:
1. Play some sessions. Playing a session or two or ten, preferrably under as many different GMs as possible, will allow you to see different GMing styles, and you can learn what you liked about their styles to incorporate it into yours. For example, I used to be a big proponent of the initiative board that Paizo sells. After playing under a couple GMs who were using initiative cards instead, I have since converted to use of those.
2. Dont read in a monotone voice. For the love of Iomedae, put some inflection into your words. Box text can be boring as is, so trying to read it as quickly and with no emotion at all just makes it worse.
3. NPCs are jerks a lot of the time (generally cause they are trying to kill you), such as being rude, crass, or downright maniacal. Roleplay it up. Just make sure the player understands it is you (the bad guy) not you (the GM) laughing like a hyena when you crit and kill someone.
4. Try to be well prepped. Having to spend two of your four to five hours of the scenario looking through the pages because you cant find the necessary bit of information the players asked for slows down the session and makes it boring. If you are fairly certain the information isnt included and you cant come up with something offhand quickly, dont be afraid to tell them "I(the GM) dont think it's in here." That will generally be an acceptable answer.
Egypt Wars is the largest gaming convention in southern Illinois, which is in large part due to our PFS presence! This year we will be offering 62 tables of PFS over 7 slots, as well as additional slots for both Slot 0* on Friday morning and Midnight Madness** on Saturday night for a total of 72 tables over three days!
~Over 25 different scenarios from all seasons will be offered, along with three modules!
~We will also be offering tables of both The Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 1- The Silent Grave and Level 2- Maze of the Mindslave (with awesome 3d terrain built by VL Chris Hays).
~On top of that, scenario author and 5-star GM Nathan King will be present to run 4 tables of his newly released scenario PFS 05-13 Weapon of the Rift! And for those interested, it has a HARD mode!
*Slot 0 location is yet to be decided.
**Midnight Madness location will be at the Gaia House Interfaith Center in Carbondale, IL. (For those who attended last year, it’s the same place as it was then).
The schedule of events has been set (assuming no last minute awesome announcements by Paizo), prizes are en route, and there is a lot of fun to be had. Don’t miss out!
***If you are interested in GMing to get free entry to the convention, please email me southernillinois.pfs@gmail.com.***
So ive noticed a LOT of people who seem to fail to grasp the idea that the spoiler tag shouldnt contain every bit of information about its contents it if is to be effective.
In PFS this can be kind of a big deal at times, since story elements can take months, if not years, to completely play out.
Wrong way to spoiler tag stuff:
Spoiler:
Scenario X contains Monster Y that does Z to you.
Why is that not helpful? Cause if you havent played X, then its too late once youve opened it. Just dont open it, you say? How was I supposed to know? Its not labeled.
Correct way to spoiler tag stuff:
Scenario X:
Contains monster Y that does Z to you.
or
Monster Y does Z to you in...:
Scenario X
Dont know how to make your spoiler tag say anything except 'spoiler'?
When you create your spoiler tag, it starts with "[sp0iler]" (using a 0 instead of an O here so it doesnt open a spoiler for me). If you want it to say something specific, just add a "=Whatever you want it to say" after the word 'spoiler' and before the closing bracket.
Come join us in Carbondale IL at Castle Perilous games and books on November 23rd for a full day of PFS fun!
The full list of events looks like this:
9am-1pm
PFS 02-01 Before the Dawn- Part 1: The Bloodcove Disguise (levels 1-7)
PFS 03-01 The Frostfur Captives (levels 1-5)
PFS 05-04 The Stolen Heir (levels 1-5)
PFS 05-05 The Elven Entanglement (levels 7-11)
PFS 05-06 You Have What You Hold (levels 3-7)
PFS 05-07 Port Godless (levels 5-9)
2-6pm
PFS 02-02 Before the Dawn- Part 2: Rescue at Azlant Ridge (levels 1-7)
PFS 03-21 The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment (levels 1-5)
PFS 05-04 The Stolen Heir (levels 1-5)
PFS 05-05 The Elven Entanglement (levels 7-11)
PFS 05-06 You Have What You Hold (levels 3-7)
PFS 05-07 Port Godless (levels 5-9)
7-11:30pm
Pathfinder Society Special: Blood Under Absalom (levels 1-11), 6 tables
You can sign up for events here, and entry is only $5 for the entire day.
Want to get in free? Ask me about GMing!
I hope to be able to offer some official Paizo prizes during the event, but we WILL be holding a drawing for a $20 gift certificate to Castle Perilous. Entry is $.50 and you may enter as many times as you like. All money above the initial $20 will go into our GM fund to help our GMs pay for scenarios, printing, maps, minis, and other supplies.
1. How/when should these be used? Since the cards have their own 'set' instead of B for Base and 1 for Burnt Offerings are they basically supposed to be 'in the box' cards for any set to pull from?
2. Should we expect there to be promo cards released frequently for those with the subscription? Are there any oher plans for how or when they might be released?
Date: September 14th, 2013
Times: 9am-1pm, 2-6pm, 7-11pm
Location: SIUC Student Center 1255 Lincoln Dr, Carbondale, IL 62901
Entry Fee: $10 pre-registration, $15 at the door, or GM 2 slots of PFS to get in for free (1 slot if you GMed enough to get in free at Egypt Wars 2013)
We have a full days worth of PFS events (and prizes!) scheduled including the first three Season 5 scenarios, The Waking Rune, The 2013 Gencon Special: The Siege of Diamond City, Eyes of the Ten, Part 1* and more.
Click the link to see the full schedule of events and find out more!
*Eyes of the Ten Parts 3-4 to be run at Brewfest in Cape Girardeau, MO in October*
**Interested in GMing to get in free? Email me at southernillinois.pfs@gmail.com**
