Lisa Neilson's page

I ran this yesterday at the low tier, and my party did exceptionally well. We finished sooner than I thought we would, even with a fair amount of role playing.

Between them all, they had played most of the tied-in scenarios, so they were able to get the info they needed and walk right up to the Guild to get an audience with the overseers without needing to canvas the place. They were clever with their tactics, and rolled really high on their checks, so were able to completely negate any combat, and get all the evidence.

Ungala found them, so they didn't get any delays there. They also made all their checks on the tablet, and the asura, so made sure to get oils of bless weapon before heading out to kill it (and with a barbarian doing 2D6 + 14 after buffs, it didn't stand much chance, even with the blur and mirror image, especially once the images were gone and the barbarian successfully crit).

They immediately presented Erwyn with all the evidence addressing his concerns even before making a sense motive check to know what they were, and with results in the 30s, they easily won him over. That entire section only took about 10 minutes in real time as he pretty much just sat there and blinked while they overwhelmed him with what they had found. He said, "Well then," and decided he needed to go have a talk with his son.

They chose to leave via boat, and sadly (for me) they won initiative on Kemendu. Glitterdust really messes with an archer, especially when I roll a natural 1 on his save. He missed with his hushed arrow on the miss chance, and then failed against hideous laughter twice in succession, so I just called it. By the time he would have come back into the fight, they would have been far enough ahead that he couldn't catch up with them. I never even got to use his feats or favored enemy to show them what he was capable of. :( They did decide though that leaving him alive was the best possible outcome for them, because now he has failed to fulfill a contract. They're really hoping that they see him again in the future, so they can rub it in his face... :)

Frankly, the one that I can't stand (from a hypocrisy perspective) is Maldris; I am looking forward to the upcoming 7-11 scenario, where I can (hopefully) arrange for him to be beheaded by a Final Blade...

Not if our vigilantes get to him first (we've been talking about the exact same idea)... Race you! ;)

We are very lucky here in Boston (and the rest of New England) that we have both the venues and demand to support ALL the campaigns, but I realize we're unusual in that regard. We will continue to run whatever players are looking for, for as long as they're looking (and we've made sure to let the local lodges know this), and so far I haven't heard of either a GM saying they won't run PF1 going forward, or any player hinting at "throwing" the game because they believe it won't matter in the long run.

I know this doesn't help those outside our corner of the country, but if anyone is visiting our area, and wants a game in any campaign, give any of us local VOs a heads up and I promise if at all possible we will make it happen for you.

I think it's an excellent question, and one I hadn't even thought about until seeing this. Players and GMs in our area will definitely be interested in the answer, as many plan on continuing to play version 1 for as long as they have content to play. (Though they also plan on playing version 2; We have a gaming problem here in Boston...) Stars recharging will help with tables making in the future.

When I click on the picture, it brings me to a page with the purple golem, and this language:

The requested URL was not found on this server, or you do not have permission to access this area.

Hi Mark!

How does it feel to be answering questions again? :)

^ These are all great suggestions, and my husband and I have done (and enjoyed) most of them. The aquarium is also on the waterfront, which can be good for a rainy day (or if you just like aquariums!).

I would highly suggest Seattle's Underground Tour (there's a similar one called Beneath the Streets), though make sure you wear good walking shoes as you could be on some slightly uneven surfaces.

It's definitely worth it to take a few days and explore what the city has to offer!

My (currently Scarab Sage) sylph druid (heading towards storm kindler) who's obsessed with the Eye will be excited to join the Concordance when they start recruiting! Especially if she thinks they can help her get to the center, and see what's waiting... :)

If you actually read the description on Yoon's sheet for Spell Penetration, it states that her blasts are subject to spell resistance. So I'm guessing that's why they gave it to her, thinking it would be more useful than the +1 to hit and damage ('cause you can't damage if you can't get past SR).

I just learn't something new. I did not know you could play from the CRB without owning the CRB.

Or am I misunderstanding, Lisa?

You should own the Core, but the assumption at the table is that the GM should own and be familiar with the content from it, and thus never need you to show it to them. Generally for newer players who have not yet comitted to PFS, we allow them to play even if they don't own it. Once they commit though, it's expected that they at least get the PDF (personally I prefer the pocket version, especially when I GM).

edit: nijia'd!

Hi Dustyboy,

Welcome to MA! I'm not sure where in the state you are, but here is our Warhorn page, which has most of the local games listed. While you would need books for any character options outside the Core Rulebook, anything from the core itself that is PFS legal (check out the links DesolateHarmony put up) is fine to play without the book on hand. We're a pretty diverse group here near Boston, so be prepared to meet a wide variety of friendly people! Any legal character build is fine to bring, as we've seen and played with most of them over the years. We also have pregenerated characters if you'd rather use one of those for your first time or two playing. Always feel free to message/email me if you have any questions!

Lisa Neilson. Metro Boston V-L

Congrats Chris, and all the new five stars!!!

Also, if you're in the Boston (MA) area the weekend of 1/12-1/15, check out Arisia - we'll be in the game room running both PFS and SFS all weekend!

Somehow I missed this until now...

First of all, we love you Linda, and Boston will always be here for you when you need us, and I'm always available to talk whenever. Ever since I became VL, I knew I had some big shoes to fill based on the past holders of the position; hopefully I've been doing the lodge proud!

Honestly I would never have made it this far if it hadn't been for the community, and Linda in particular, making me feel welcome when I started playing PFS, and helping me get over my shyness of new people and unfamiliar situations. Thanks to her and others, I've taken the lessons learned from my PFS experiences, and become a more confident person in all aspects of my life!

I'm thankful for all the community has done for me over the years, and so:
If you're in the Boston Lodge and want to talk, I'm here for you. If I meet you at a convention and you need to talk to someone, I'm here for you. If you want to reach out to me here via PM, I'm here for you. :)

<3

I believe the artwork of Nigel was first seen in The Blakros Matrimony, but I could be wrong (it might have appeared before that).

You do realize that you are mansplaining right now right?

I understand where you're coming from, but just because one is a he, doesn't mean he fits into the 'straight white male' category. The OP was talking about women and minorities, and telling the minorities that their opinion isn't as valid as a women's on this topic is against the grain of the topic. The problem with messageboard aliases is that one (generally) never knows who's on the other side of a post, unless you know them personally. In fact, posting as myself instead of my main alias because I do want to be recognized by anyone reading.

That said, I've finally thought about this enough to weigh in.

I would love to see more women/minorities get the volunteer of the year award Paizo gives out, but I don't want to create a separate award just for them. As others have said, it lessens the award, because you weren't being held to the same criteria as the existing award. We should measure someone by the same standard across the board, not create different standards for different subsets, or else you lose the feeling of really being recognized as above and beyond.

We have a very diverse group here in Boston, though still not as much as we would love it to be. We switch off monthly between a Ladies Night, and a LGBTQA Night, both of which are very popular, and well received by the lodge (which is why we continue to have them). Within our region, we try to recognize those who step up and contributes to making everyone feel welcome in the lodge, and I sincerely hope every player knows how much we value their participation. But we can do better, and we're constantly brainstorming ways to improve.

As to ideas towards bringing minorities into the game, visibility in advertising is a good way to do that. Having diverse pregens is awesome and a great tool, but more often than not when I see pictures of conventions, the tables are primarily made up of white men. I'm not suggesting staging a table for pictures, but focusing on tables with a more diverse group shows all those groups that they're welcome at the event. Women and minorities seeing other women and minorities already participating and having fun helps (maybe subconsciously) take away the dread of not belonging or feeling welcome, and instead turns thoughts towards 'well if they're doing well, then maybe I could, too'.

I blame Cosmo for morning sickness. I know the end result will be worth it, but still, do I have to be so miserable in the process?

Woohoo!!! Go Glen! Also, congratulations to all the new 5 star GMs, and a special shout out to Roger!

I enjoy perusing the convention list, so count me as in favor :)

Not much prompting in the scenario, no, but you can play up what you're given to work with. In theory if they're truly roleplaying silver crusade, they should perk up when they hear about the conditions the sylph and others are in, and want to help. When I ran it I had three crusaders at my table. Zephyr mentioned the sylphs, but they never followed up to warrant the first roll. They had plenty of time to talk to the captain (they convinced her to leave the mercenaries behind), and she told them how she wasn't even allowed to set foot on the fortress for fear of contaminating it with her presence, and she felt sorry for those who had to work there. That caught their ear enough that they followed up (really, they had not much else to do during the journey), and made the second check. Then when they got there, Bozithar delighted in all the pain and suffering, and was more than happy to explain why he was so happy, and that he couldn't wait until he was given another "play thing". That really got them, and they made their third check. After finding the sylph in his room, they were very determined to end the reign of terror. Both sylphs at the end survived (the PCs tried to use nonlethal whenever possible, as they now saw them as victims), and I had them be very despondent after the fight. "What are we supposed to do now? It's not like we have many options. She's our only choice, we have to do as she wills." That really got them (all the players, not just silver crusade) going, and they started offering all sorts of options and opinions.

If ever these get updated, or we get new iconics/pregens, there are two things I'd love to see:

1. BAB listed somewhere on the sheet. This isn't currently listed that I can find, and it's especially relevant to starship combat and gunners.

2. Ranged weapons having their ranges listed. There are SO many different guns out there, and they all have different ranges. Experienced players will have trouble memorizing them all, much less new players. Considering that the ones most likely to be using these are newer players, this would help immensely, and keep the game flowing (as opposed to stopping for 5 minutes to try to find it on the weapon chart).

my 2c

The chronicle sheet is the single most important thing when it comes to character records - as long as the chronicle sheet is correct, you're good to play. I know Paizo has been super busy during and after GenCon, so it may take them some time to get to everyone who emailed in. If it's just a question of transferring credit to the correct PC, you're better off contacting the VC/coordinator for your area. See Steven's post above for the link.

I see no reason why the Lorespire Complex wouldn't have a charging station, and it seems silly that an organization that big would deny their employees access to something like that. (During an adventure you would of course need to find other ways to charge it.) Also, it's called out in the core that you can use some ships to charge batteries - do the two owned by the society have this capability?

As to free ammo, most of the guns targeting KAC require actual rounds, while only those targeting EAC use batteries. Not everything is going to be hurt by the different kinds of energies out there, so a prepared starfinder should still have a weapon on hand to target KAC. Either that or carry guns of all the energy types, which gets expensive, and heavy! Keep in mind that if we want to stay within expected power levels, we'll need to keep buying better guns, and the resale value on the older ones is not great. I think that more than offsets the cost of charging batteries for free between scenarios.

I ran these today at our FLGS, and the PCs crushed this (in a good way)! They worked well together, and came up with some creative solutions. Most notably:

In Salvage, the science officer made the check to to learn about the atmosphere, so they asked if there was anything preventing them from using their armor to negate the negative effects (as they used them in Boarding). I allowed it, but then when they got to the crystalline rain anyone who took damage after the first round I made roll fort saves, as I said the slashing breached the integrity of their suits. They seemed okay with that, and anyone who took damage in at least one of the rounds needed to make fort saves in that round and all others afterwards. The two who made their reflex saves all three rounds got to look smug, especially after one of the others failed their save and became poisoned.

In Lawblight I took Jared's suggestion and left the comm open after the captain taunted them (which took two tries, so they already thought he was incompetent), and they loved it! They muted their end and listened to the havoc they were wrecking. They targeted crit the guns multiple times to cause them to malfunction, and the captain and engineer had choice words with each other while they tried unsuccessfully to patch the system. The pirate science officer couldn't make rolls to save their lives, so I decided he had already started drinking (even though there was no 4 player adjustment needed). The gunners were the only ones doing their jobs properly, though with the systems having issues they only hit a few times (and I mentioned smoke pouring out of the guns, thanks to the PCs crits). After a chase around the asteroids, the PCs finally brought the Lawblight to exactly 0 hull points, so I had it list to the side and then drift at full speed into an asteroid where it exploded gloriously upon impact. The PCs cheered and went home happy.

All in all, a fun series!

Option B. They apply the credits/XP/Fame/Reputation of the highest amount completed. The listed amounts at lower quest completed levels are what they get if they choose to apply another chronicle sheet to the character before finishing them all (which prevents them from ever going back and playing more of the quests with the same character).

I also have yet to see these. Which is funny cause I'm also a Starfinder Charter subscriber. Kick it good Chris! (No rush on my end, but it would be nice to see them)

The first rule of the Gap is we don't talk about the Gap...

Waiting is hard when it seems like everyone around you already got the PDF :(

Found a typo in themes:

Every other theme: when attempting knowledge or culture checks about stuff relevant to your theme, reduce the DC by 5
Icon: when attempting a profession or culture check to recall knowledge about other icons of your profession or details about your profession's cultural aspects, INCREASE the DC by 5

Maybe they're all just extremely spoiled and self-centered? :)

The discount doesn't apply until your first order fulfills (so your first time getting the discount is with the first subscription). After that, you'll see it applied as long as you still qualify to receive it. It confused me too the first time (when I initially subscribed to the Pathfinder AP).

I blame Cosmo for indoor rain. I came home yesterday to find water pouring out of our bathroom light fixture; apparently the apartment upstairs had their toilet tank burst, and they didn't notice. The plumber turned off their water, but it still took almost 24 hours to stop dripping. Once they get that fixed, we'll need an electrician, as the light shorted out (which I learned when I turned it on upon hearing the water, not able to see in the dark room where it was coming from. I'm very lucky to have not electrocuted myself...). Silly Cosmo, rain is for outdoors!

Fruit baskets come with scissors now?!? Apparently I'm missing out! I can never find the scissors when I need them (even though we have 4 pairs)...

I'm running a Treacherous Waves at 2 on Monday for people who don't get a chance to play it at the con! It's up on the Warhorn!

My husband and I signed up! I'll have my Hex Channeler witch (no slumber hex, just healing hex), and he'll have his aether kineticist.

Hmm wrote:

Is there vegetarian food available at the banquet?

Hmm

There have been vegetarian options at prior banquets, yes.

At least one Paizo employee (and probably more!) is a vegetarian, so there should definitely be options. I recall the pasta salad being really good!

Clearly I am ready for Starfinder - I read the title of this thread as Reassigning Pregen death in space...

My players all took the hint from the initial knowledge check in the beginning, as well as the explanation on the mechanics of subjective gravity, and made sure they had either potions or scrolls of fly, so fortunately for me I didn't have to worry about it. They did well enough that the clockworks were able to lead them to the horn, so when they got to the junkyard I told them now would be the appropriate time to use resources (before they even knew there would be a combat), or else they would have trouble following their guides to the right area. Of course, I told them the other option was to not use them and make the checks, to which I received a resounding "NO!" (and they knew how important getting the horn was). PCs really hate having to make wisdom checks... :)

I'm running this as a slot zero on Thursday for other GMs in the area, and I do think how you explain everything is going to be key to the players' enjoyment of this. Part of why we're doing the slot zero is so that we can all see how it plays out, and tweak our approach if needed before bringing it to the lodge at large. If done correctly, I don't anticipate the players ever realizing just how much prep the GM will have to put into the duel, and I plan on leaning heavily on pfsprep. This is not a scenario I would steer newer GM towards though, unless they're willing to put in the time and effort to untangle the duel rules (especially since this is not a straightforward Ultimate Intrigue duel).

Hopefully Thursday goes well; I'll report back if I have anything further to add to this thread!

I just checked, and it's not in my downloads either :(

Edit: OH! Shiny new star!!! :)

Also check out the GM Shared Prep site for awesome scenario extras other GMs have put together. I know I found the ones for #7-18 particularly helpful!

1. Faction titles and prestige awards form the Field Guide are still legal, as long as the faction is still around. This means nothing from the Shadow Lodge, Lantern Lodge, or Sczarni can be gained.

2. The list for favored skills is in reference to the faction pins, and explains which skills get the additional bonus.

3. A PC joining a faction can only acquire the most recent version of a faction’s card; however, a PC who has checked at least one box on the earlier faction card may still continue to fulfill its goals and earn its rewards even into the new season. The number of goals completed is measured by those fulfilled on that card only—goals completed on a different Faction Journal Card do not contribute to those on the first card. It's up to you if you think it's worth it to start a new card for season 8.
Each Faction Journal Card provides one or more new rewards as well as at least one reward that appeared during a previous season. If a PC would receive a duplicate reward that she earned on a previous card, she instead treats her effective number of goals completed on all cards as though it were one higher.

Emerald spire is an adventure path

Nope, it's a module - says so right in the product description. I plan on treating each level as a 16 page module, as for the most part you can finish them in a single session.

I'm sure that the infirmary in the Grand Lodge has a spare ring of sustenance or two that they loan out to those comatose patients while they wait for that nat 20 (or whatever they need). This would reflect the PC getting care during their illness, without worry of starvation or dehydration. There, problem solved, the Society cares for their agents.

Actually, I think a better place would be under Pathfinder Society -> Roleplaying Guild resources -> Additional Game Master Supplements (which puts it with the GM Star Chronicle Sheet, and Secondary Success Conditions). No reason not to have everything in one place...

^ This ^

TOZ and I are in two very different areas of the country, so it's not just one lodge's interpretation. Since the boards only represent a small fraction of players, I can only imagine there are others out there who also operate this way.