Netopalis's page

Personally, I've always found it extremely problematic that some intelligent races were deemed to be "vermin" and that it was morally acceptable to kill them without any cause. I am glad to see that PF2 is moving us past that.

Hall of Drunken Heroes, Haunting of Hinojai and Ghennet Manor Gauntlet are all 3 great scenarios. I would also urge you to consider some of the following:

The Forbidden Furnace of Forgotten Koor
The Rebel's Ransom
The Jester's Fraud
The Flesh Collector
Below the Silver Tarn
You Only Die Twice

Personally, I am extremely happy to see the guide moved into a new format. Having to add the Guide to your account and download it through Paizo's abysmally-slow digital content page is a real barrier to entry. With this change, we can easily pull it up on any internet-connected device in seconds.

BNW, I would suggest that you should discuss it with Bob or Tonya as we get closer to the convention. I'd drop them an e-mail around February if you don't think you're in a position where you'll get it by August. I would note that we can do evaluation tables online if you'd like to try to get it done before then.

Andrew Shumate wrote:

If the text of the class is unchanged in Adventurer's Guide, then Adventurer's Guide is also a legal source if you have the necessary chronicle.

I was referring to the Boon from finishing the season 4 scenario Waking Rune.

I am fully aware; I've ran that scenario twice. If the text is the exact same, I can't imagine anybody giving you trouble for it.

Edit: It appears on page 63 and appears to be unedited from the original version.

One small derailment...

Tallow wrote:

"...musterers..."

Marshals. The people who assign people to tables are called marshals, not musterers.

Back to your regularly-scheduled thread.

:)

Can the lead musterer be Colonel Musterer?

The real solution is to write shorter Specials.

My favorites? That's a huge list, but I'll do my best to keep it succinct:

Season 0:

Season 1:

Season 2:

Season 3:

Season 4:

Season 5:

Season 6:

Season 7:

Season 8:

Obviously, my tastes tend to run towards some of the older scenarios due to the fact that I have more experience with them, but I hope that this list helps.

I have asked for chronicle sheets in a few situations, including one particular situation in which I caught a bunch of PCs having falsified their levels. (I did this after my party of 11th level adventurers had no idea how power attack worked.) Although formally not allowed, I don't think many GMs would quibble with scans. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Here are some things, both physical and ephemeral, that you should bring to the table:

1) Dice that are clearly readable. I find it very annoying when players that I am not familiar with use dice that I can't read from across the table, then scoop up their dice before I can verify their good fortune. I would never accuse any of these people of cheating, of course, but I do like to see those 20s.

2) A character introduction. In my opinion, every PFS GM should go around the table and do character introductions, for the benefit of both GM and party. Have an idea of who your character is. I love a great opening monologue.

3) A concise explanation for any numbers that you think are unusual. If you have a CMB or attack bonus above 40, or if your spells obviously do a great deal more damage than the dice are showing, it helps if you can simply tell me a list of feats.

4) A snack, a drink and an empty bladder. The GM will give you a break about halfway through the scenario, but we sort of get frustrated as various party members are missing for various parts of the story as they go and attend to one of these three necessities.

5) A good attitude. Excitement is contagious, and it can be somewhat difficult to keep up on the GM's side of the screen after seven sessions of Pathfinder. If you come to the table expecting a good time, your GM will likely reciprocate.

HMM,

I like your points.

Some counter-points.

1) We have several scenario's that have nothing to do with meta-plot of whats going on currently. Therefore a Bonekeep style scenario won't take away from active Meta-plot in future seasons as it can occupy one of the 4 average mods that do nothing for season they place in.

2) The development time for a Bonekeep style module may in fact be shorter than development of a standard special. There is less boxtext, and less things to add into the module to keep continuity flowing. It really comes down to map design. I'd say that short of paying a known author (I dunno if Jason wrote Bonekeep for free) to write is most likely the highest cost.

3) The intensity is just that. Bonekeep 1 was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Every table of Bonekeep at Gen Con has always sold out. There is definitely a want for dungeon crawls. There is a want for meaty slugfests. The intensity and drive to be the very best is there for min-maxers to go all out.

4) The beaten dead pony. Whether we like to admit it or not, Arm's races happen. They happen all over, all the time. Bonekeep was, and to me still is the go to, to really let the Arms Race happen. Bring your toys, we will bring our toys, and may the best design win. As much as we deny this to be the case, some people have this mindset, and I think that the occasional ubermech dungeon is the answer.

Heck, if we could delve at Gen Con with level 7 characters for ten dollars for two hours, in the most horrific hellish CR 13 + encounter environment, with four dollars going to charity, there would be a line outside the Sagamore waiting to play, and to hell if they lose a character.

When you give people an oppertunity to shine, be it as a diplomat, or a combatant, or skill monkey - they will come, and they will shine brightly.

Just a hearty opinion.
Cheers

Glad that we're moving in a productive direction here. I did want to make a few points here, even though you directed this at HMM. First, it is entirely untrue that every single table of Bonekeep has sold out at GenCon. We previously heard from a GM who had their tables cancelled of it.

Second, as it pertains to the arms race, I am unclear as to how Bonekeep is the solution. With the fact that PFS material is limited to 2 scenarios per month, many organizers, including myself, rely on every scrap of newly released material to keep veteran players at our tables. Thus, if a new Bonekeep is released, we will likely end up scheduling it. Players with overbuilt PCs will still have overbuilt PCs once the scenario is over, which they will then bring into adventures designed for the average player. At those tables, many of these overbuilt PCs will completely overshadow the non-Bonekeep players, given that they have entirely different levels of expectation. There is no contrary indication that letting players blow off steam will change their tendencies.

I should note that, for those who are interested in a Bonekeep-esque experience, there are a number of excellent dungeon crawl board games which provide that type of gameplay without the need for a GM. Alternatively, it is fairly trivial for a GM to open a few bestiaries and pick some higher-CR'd monsters for players to fight. I don't see why this needs to be something we do on a regular basis.

I guess I think those Shadow Lodgers are being silly for holding a grudge rather than accepting that they've won a battle, if not the war. You can be far more effective working from within.

Part of the raw feelings involved also stem from the way that the faction was treated in Rivalry's End. While the Lantern Lodge got this great ending scenario that showed that they had accomplished their goals...the Shadow Lodge PCs ended up getting told that they had been played the fools and that they were foolish for working to protect their fellows all along. Had Rivalry's End not been such a massive middle finger to Shadow Lodge PCs, you'd not hear nearly as much griping about the end of the faction.

MisterSlanky wrote:

Please no. Paizo team, please spend your precious resources on things that aren't the garbage we called Bonekeep.

"I don't like a thing, therefore no one should be allowed to like it!"

Man, what a lovely attitude to have.

He's not saying you can't enjoy the current Bonekeep adventures that have been released, he's saying he thinks it'd be a poor choice for Paizo to spend their limited budget developing more adventures that are highly polarizing to the community at large.

I'm not a fan of Bonekeep. The existence of adventures similar to Bonekeep encourages an arms race between developers and players that often means that new players can't keep up. Furthermore, it encourages the creation of unskilled, yet high-damage characters that can tank through the dungeon - exactly the opposite of the type of adventuring that the Pathfinder Society is supposed to be doing, from an in-game perspective. We're archaeologists, not warriors. There is certainly a place for challenging adventures, and I rather enjoy many of the hardest PFS scenarios, such as King of the Storval Stairs, The Elven Entanglement and Of Kirin and Kraken. The difference is that those adventures feature story elements and combats that are not just difficult, but also interesting. It makes sense for the Pathfinder Society to be in those places. Bonekeep? I don't know that the Society's gotten much out of exploring it.

The Shadow Lodge resonated with a lot of players in ways that the Grand Lodge does not. Personally, as a player that started in Season 4, I learned about the Shadow Lodge long before I really learned about Grandmaster Torch and his history. The Shadow Lodge was described as a union and as a sort of secret society. Given that I (arguably) failed two of my first four sessions, the idea seemed to hold a lot of merit. Unfortunately, the fact that the Grand Lodge is the default faction means that it's really hard to root for them. A big part of the Shadow Lodge ideal was holding Venture Captains accountable for poor choices in mission assignments. I don't feel like the Grand Lodge can really accomplish that mission, given that they're headed by Ambrus Valsin.

Just as an aside, I tried packing a lunch this con instead of trying to eat between slots. I cannot believe how much easier this made my day. I'm probably going to do this for all future cons.

Sorry about not getting to this sooner. As a veteran of 3 GenCons now, I'd like to offer the following:

1) Bring a water bottle. Paizo is gracious enough to supply a bottle of water with each slot GMmed, but that's really not enough to get by on entirely. Hydration is key with as much as you'll be speaking.

2) Be early to your slots. There's nothing worse than having to set up while players are headed to your table.

3) Have maps pre-drawn or printed if possible. Drawing maps will slow you down, and we are dealing with fairly tight slots.

4) If you are worried about time, don't be afraid to call some combats early, especially if they're just mooks.

5) Have a plan for an organized initiative system going into the con. Being able to run initiative quickly and intuitively will mean your tables go much more smoothly.

6) Make your GM bag as light as possible. You're going to have to haul it around when you're not GMming.

7) Look at your schedule and plan your food accordingly. You may, unfortunately, need to buy one of the overpriced sandwiches sold right outside of Sagamore. If you have more time, the food trucks take about 45 minutes round trip. Noodles and Company is about 30 minutes round trip.

8) Don't miss the GM meeting prior to the multi-table specials. There's often important information at these meetings that aren't general knowledge.

9) PREP! PREP! PREP! I can't stress this enough. Showing up to a table unprepared is simply unconscionable. Your players are each paying $6 per head, plus the cost of admission for your adventure. This is, by and large, their one shot at playing the scenario. Make sure it's a great experience.

10) Bring something to provide yourself with light entertainment between slots. You'll need to recharge.

11) When seating yourself as a GM, seat yourself facing the opposite direction from where you expect there to be a lot of noise. That means that if you're near the edge of the room, sit with your back to the edge of the room. If you're near a passage between groups of tables, sit with your back to the passage. Why? It's easier for your players to differentiate from the sounds you are making and the sound of the crowd if they are coming from opposing directions.

12) Don't let analysis paralysis ruin your table. If a player repeatedly can't decide what to do and takes more than 2 minutes on each turn, put them on delay until they decide what they're doing.

13) Backup batteries are key if you're using electronic devices. I always carry at least 15,000 MAH of backup power for my devices. That's probably overkill, but there's absolutely nothing more embarrassing than running out of power during an adventure.

14) Occasionally, there will be rules disputes. Don't go to HQ over them, just make a ruling. Pull aside a VC and ask their opinion if you need a quick ruling. VCs can be identified by their red polos.

15) Sometimes tables go south. Don't take it personally. It's probably not your fault. Even if it is, letting it drag down your next table won't help.

16) Some players at GenCon are not reuglar Society players and are mildly hostile to the bookkeeping requirements. They enjoy playing Society about once a year, but they don't want to maintain a character and hate the idea that you have to give them a new number just to play the one adventure. If you get into an argument with one of these people and they're playing a pregen, just grab an unused character number from the desk and assign the scenario to that number's -01.

I'll happily chime in.

Season 0: Our Lady of Silver
Wonderful scenario, one of my favorites. It requires a bit of work from the GM to bring it to life, but if the GM is good at ad libbing and is good at adding roleplay that is hinted at but not specifically called for in the scenario, this one features everything from a dinner party to a murder mystery to a courtroom drama, all set in the woefully underused land of Qadira. Levels 5-9.

Season 1: Eyes of the Ten, Part 1
In my opinion, Season 1 is a bit lacklustre, but this one really has stood the test of time as one of the best scenarios ever written. It's got a wonderful plot, tough combat and surprises at every turn, all the while rewarding players who know their Pathfinder lore. Level 12.

If we exclude the Eyes of the Ten series, I'd put in Hall of Drunken Heroes instead.

Season 2: Beneath the Silver Tarn
This is one of the most original stories that PFS has told. It's got a really gripping horror-themed plot with some really unique social encounters. Strongly recommended. Levels 7-11.

Season 3: The Gods' Market Gamble
CSI: Golarion. What could go wrong? I've ran this thing 10-20 times, and it never gets old. It's a wonderful investigative scenario that never fails to grip players. Levels 1-5.

Season 4: The Golemworks Incident
Another investigative scenario, this one really stands out for the truly, uniquely creepy final boss. The reaction of the players as they realize culprit's identity is always priceless. Levels 5-9.

Season 5: The Traitor's Lodge
This is a delightful scenario in which the players explore an abandoned Pathfinder lodge FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH HORRIFIC, VILE ABOMINATIONS. It has a number of unique maps, several excellent roleplay opportunities AND A FINAL ENCOUNTER THAT YOUR PLAYERS WILL SEE IN THEIR NIGHTMARES. Levels 3-7, FOOLISH MORTALS.

Season 6: The Wounded Wisp
In my opinion, this is the best introductory scenario ever written. It has multiple features which switch between adventures, meaning that even people replaying it can get something out of it. It also does an excellent job of introducing players to Pathfinder lore and gently informing them of the types of equipment they should have around. Levels 1-2.

Season 7: All For Immortality, Part 1
I can't say too much, as I don't want to spoil this one, but it's a supremely well-done seeker-level scenario that actually runs in a timely fashion. Levels 12-15.

Honorable mentions:
Season 0:
Black Waters

Season 1:
The City of Strangers series
Hall of Drunken Heroes

Season 2:
Murder on the Throaty Mermaid
Eyes of the Ten 3

Season 3:
Ghennet Manor Gauntlet
Sewer Dragons of Absalom
Haunting of Hinojai

Season 4:
Severing Ties
King of the Storval Stairs
Feast of Sigils

Season 5:
The Hellknight's Feast

Season 6:
The Darkest Abduction
Of Kirin and Kraken

Season 7:
School of Spirits
The Blakros Connection

My VC character has a lodge in an opera house on legs. Gift from an old woman he once helped with a small problem.

What if, much like The Prisoner, there is no one single Grandmaster Torch? The burns and omnipresent bathtub are his main visual characteristics, and both of them would be easy to emulate using a disguise kit, hat of disguise or even arcane mark. Instead, a shadowy organization sends out Torches wherever they're needed, which explains the benevolent Torch (Gods' Market Gamble, Silent Tide), the underhanded Torch (The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch, Rivalry's End) and the incompetent Torch (Delirium's Tangle, The Mantis' Prey).

Testament of Pharasma

Aura moderate abjuration; CL 7th
Slot none;Price 10,500 gp; Weight 85 lbs.

Description
This mossy gravestone features the spiral symbol of Pharasma prominently on the front, and holy text chiseled on the reverse. The testament is carried using a looped rope on the user’s back.The testament of pharasma is a holy symbol of Pharasma that does not have to be held or retrieved to be used as a divine focus, but must remain visible. Once per day as a full round action, the user recites a litany from the reverse of the gravestone granting allies within 30 feet DR 5/- against the attacks of undead creatures for 1 minute.

Once per day the testament may be affixed to the ground. The gravestone then counts as a permanent fixture dedicated to Pharasma for the purposes of consecrate and spells that require such a fixture. This placing is activated as a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

An affixed testament of pharasma grants you total cover similar to using a tower shield for total cover; you choose the gravestone’s facing as if using a tower shield when it is placed. The gravestone is removed from its position as a move action using the command word, but otherwise remains affixed indefinitely.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, consecrate, greater shield of fortification; Cost 5,250 gp

I mainly stopped by to look for this item. I really, really enjoyed this one and voted for it every time it came up. I like the fact that the abilities play well into each other thematically, and that it gives an opportunity to use an oft-neglected part of a spell. I also like the use of tower shield mechanics without having to actually invest in the stuff for tower shields.

However, I also am fairly sure that you were downvoted by a lot of people who felt that you had too many disparate abilities with the same item. A lot of people downvote items that have four different abilities that are linked only thematically, and that was probably the case here. Most good RPG Superstar items do a single thing and do it well. On the whole, though, a fantastic entry that nearly made it into the top 32.

Meanwhile, if anybody would care to look at mine...

Metallurgical Gauntlets

Aura faint evocation; CL 5th
Slot hands; Price 2,100 gp; Weight 1 lbs.
Description
Polished brass tubes sit between the knuckles of these sturdy leather gloves. Up to three times a day, as a standard action, the wearer of these gloves may shoot three magically-propelled needles at a specified target. Each needle automatically hits and deals one point of magical piercing damage. However, one of the darts is made of silver, a second of cold iron and a third of adamantine. By making a DC 15 Perception check, any combatant may determine which of these darts was most effective against the target. All three darts must be used against the same enemy.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, magic missile, minor creation; Cost 1,050 gp

A few comments:

My goal this year was to create something simple and efficient, trying to aim for the lower end of the word count. I also tend towards utilitarian items, which I realize aren't favored by certain voters in this contest. I do realize the mistake in calling these gauntlets - in retrospect, I should have used a different word.

With summoned creatures, eidolons, raised undead and animal companions, we have far too many entities on the board on the player side. There's absolutely no reason to let somebody add a PC-strength entity to the board for a mere feat.

Although I am quite the fan of RP, coming up with responses on the fly can be quite daunting to new GMs. I often find that it's best to let new GMs start with combat-heavy scenarios, then teach them RP later. I also agree that finding ones with simpler mechanics makes things easier. Accordingly, here's my suggested list:

The Prince of Augustana
The Infernal Vault
The Penumbral Accords
The Goblinblood Dead
The Veteran's Vault
The Confirmation

There are a few suggestions that have been made thus far that I find really inappropriate for new, unsure GMs. I'll address each below:

Frostfur Captives - This scenario is made or broken by how well the GM can play as goblins. Asking a new GM to do this is a bit tough.

Night March of Kalkamedes - The entire scenario is improvising solutions for what the players do. I consider it one of the more challenging scenarios for new GMs.

The Wounded Wisp - the storyline is fairly complex and nonlinear. It involves extensive use of puzzles.

Black Waters - The scenario is a bit dry unless you're particularly good at evoking a spooky atmosphere and ad libbing the reactions of the ghosts. Due to the subject matter and extensive improvisation, I don't recommend it for newbies.

To be clear, I'm not saying that these are bad scenarios (In fact, they are among my favorites), I am just saying that they can be fairly complicated to run and that I would not assign them to someone who is not confident.

In Baron Edwin LeBlanc's last scenario, Race for the Runecarved Key at level 19, we finished the plot extremely early for obvious reasons. As such, we were looking for something to for the remaining 3 hours of the slot. As a cleric of Shelyn, Edwin collects artwork, but there was a gaping hole in his collection - the missing edition of the Pathfinder Chronicles. He cast miracle for it. The GM had Shelyn herself come down and say that if I went adventuring, I would find clues towards it. For the next 3 hours, the GM improvised a complicated storyline which eventually led to the obtaining of a copy of that Chronicle...but with some rather severe caveats. It remains my favorite PFS experience as a player.

While Miracle is not the same as Wish, they are both open-ended spells. When players gain access to those spells, I feel that you are really robbing them of some amazing opportunities when you put the spells in a tiny little box. Players have salivated over the opportunity to cast Wish for probably a good year in real time - why limit it to emulating the spell effects? Listen to what they want and figure out how to reasonably fulfill it. You don't have to write an adventure on the fly, but flex that creative muscle.

Andrew Shumate wrote:

Definitely looking forward to these scenarios, and also happy to see us return to Ustalav, a region that I feel is "horrifically" underused.

Wait until we give more info on the new Quests debuting at Gen Con ;-)

I'm sure that there will be much whispering, way ahead of the convention.

If there is anybody who is having difficulty playing either the 4th or 5th star exclusives, please PM me. If there is enough demand, I could see myself setting up a pre-macro'd version of each scenario and running them monthly or so.

Definitely looking forward to these scenarios, and also happy to see us return to Ustalav, a region that I feel is "horrifically" underused.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Our Lady of Silver. It holds up really well, especially if you embellish some of the roleplay.

Personally, I have played a lot of good aligned characters and have never had a huge problem in the campaign. I did voluntarily fail two faction missions, however. Do I feel that I'm worse off for it? Hardly. Those were great opportunities for my character to shine in roleplaying.

Society play presents moral quandaries indeed, but without exploring those quandaries, characters remain two-dimensional. A good GM is open to alternative solutions to try to get around these problems. Remember - run as written only applies to what's written - it is wholly within the purview of the PFS GM to react to novel approaches by players.

Edit to add: One of the biggest alignment hurdles I've ever had in a scenario was actually with an uber-lawful, yet neutral Chelaxian character that I later ditched. The scenario was The Penumbral Accords. Spoiler below:

Personally, I have ran Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment 5-6 times, for young and old, strangers and friends. I've never had an issue with it, and I generally turn the creep factor up to 11. I don't think that this is a terribly common issue, to be frank. While yes, there are individuals who have experienced severe trauma in these areas, and while my heart goes out to them, it's difficult to run an RPG without occasionally stepping on things like that. People have traumas which aren't always logical or reasonable, nor are they always foreseeable. Most gamers don't have any of these issues at all. Yet, by putting a trigger warning on every more...disturbing scenario, you run the risk of spoiling the adventure for the vast majority of players who will enjoy those topics.

Sorry, from the poster's reaction, I was assuming this was lower-level play. Regardless, if your GMming instigates the sort of reaction that sparked this thread, I think it's worth considering the broader implications.

David: I personally find it unrealistic that an enemy combatant would have a cool enough head to attack an unconscious body as part of a full attack action because his first missed. Unless that NPC has a status-like effect running, the NPC has little grounds to believe that the PC is still alive. While an 18 is a "good hit" and missed, I think that few RL combatants would give up another opportunity to try to take down the thing that was going to kill them, even if it was unlikely to hit.

However, we also have to examine the social constructs involved in an Organized Play campaign. While, from your previous posts, I realize that you are not keen on considering them, it is still important. As Venture Officer, it is my goal to encourage PFS play and to keep people coming back to the table. Running excessively lethal games is counter-intuitive to that. For new players, Tier 7-11 stands at the top of an experience chasm that can take months to ascend. If we assume that a player plays once a week, getting a character to level 7 takes them 18 weeks, or 3 1/2 months of regular play. Killing off a character in an unrecoverable fashion sets these players back a significant amount. Players obviously get angry when they get these setbacks. Shrugging it off and hiding behind the rules merely compounds the problem. It makes you look callous and your event look unsportsmanlike. While I can understand the position that many people take regarding fudging being against the rules, I cannot understand why a competent GM with a commitment to the advancement of his local gaming scene would deviate from written tactics in a way that seems to be of benefit only in the sense that it ensures that a death occurs.

I say this not to chastize you, but to encourage you to consider the broader implications of your actions on the health of your local region. I say it with such force because, based on your posts, this is a very dear issue to you. In the end, though, I think that PFS GMs need to realize that PFS is not like a home game. You can't simply write up a new character and hop back into the next session like nothing happened. For single-character players, an unrecoverable character death rarely results in the player returning. Even for experienced players, a character death that feels unwarranted is likely to drive them away.

Please note that the above post is my personal opinion, and not the collective opinion of the Venture Officers, nor of campaign leadership. Despite the fact that I am a Venture Officer, I retain the right to express my personal opinion regarding matters important to the community, and am choosing to exercise that right in the above post.

Personally, I really, really dislike part 1 of Glories of the Past. I find it horribly boring and pointless, with a poorly designed puzzle. The other 2 parts are good.

Thank you all very much; I look forward to the opportunity. Ever since I joined PFS, I hoped to help out in some leadership role. Matt's shoes are enormous, Bozo-sized things, but I hope that I can at least fill them in my own way.

As always, we will be meeting every Monday at 1 PM at the Rifleman. As always, you can find out about our upcoming scenarios on our Facebook page or on www.wvgeo.com. As always, you can expect that any player walking through our doors will be greeted with open arms.

To introduce myself to those of you who do not know me, my name is Andrew Shumate. I'm a solo criminal defense and family law attorney in Charleston, WV. Pathfinder is my first real RPG, and it's a system that I've grown to love, especially due to the wonderful people who taught me the game.

I consider the title of VC to be an enormous honor, and I look forward to being able to help foster the cause of gaming in the grand state of West Virginia.

I now desire to build an alchemist whose goal is to gain enough limbs so that he can finally communicate back with his one true love.

*polishes up his new 5th star*

I think that there are two real questions at play involving SLWS and scrolls/potions:

1) By RAW, does an SLWS allow for a scroll?

2) Should it allow for a scroll? Does it feel right to be able to draw a scroll as a swift action? Is a SLWS' existence a positive contribution to PFS?

I will address the first question first and swiftly: the item itself is unclear and is obviously designed to allow for GMs to decide what should and should not fit in one. With an item like this, you are certain to have table variation.

Is this a bad thing? I think not. Listing out the exact uses of, say, prestidigitation would be extremely difficult and limiting. Some GMs may differ on whether or not a particular minor effect is too large to be covered by prestidigitation. Yet, we don't see anguish over its use. SLWS, however, does cause anguish because some individuals feel that it is in poor flavor, overpowered or cheesy.

This brings us to the question of whether or not allowing SLWSes to hold scrolls is a good thing. This is also a two part question, the first being an engineering question and the second a rules question.

In regards to the engineering involved in withdrawing a scroll from a SLWS, I see little reason why it could not work. A scroll is described as being an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper with leather strips on each end, presumably to allow for fast rolling and unrolling. Luckily, this size means that the SLWS is supremely easy to test in real life, no rulebook required (unless you wish to get rid of one of the pointless ads in the back of your book). Take a standard sheet of paper and roll it using the short side. Roll it as tightly as you can, as if your life depended on it because, for our characters, it could. I just conducted this experiment and found that the paper fit comfortably on my forearm with plenty of room to spare on either side. I also discovered that the scroll would likely be somewhat flat, which is what the leather straps likely promote. This creates a low-profile object which would actually fit in an SLWS more easily than a wand, which I imagine would be slightly thicker. In regards to the question of damage from drawing the scroll from the wrist sheath, I would remind posters that scrolls have a point of HP, and that as a magical object, they are somewhat more sturdy than nonmagical objects. As such, I think that a scroll easily passes the mechanical test. Potions are said to come in bottles that "vary widely in appearance", and it is hardly out of the ordinary to assume that potion vials can be made expressly for the purpose of SLWSes.

However, I don't believe that it is really the engineering that gets to people - it is the feeling that a SLWS allows someone to break the action economy. I am fairly new to RPGs, having only played my first Pathfinder game in 2012. However, from my tables, I feel that many players get frustrated at the action economy when it comes to handling objects. The game does not distinguish between items carried in a backpack and items carried in a pocket. In real life, you put objects you would need quick access to in convenient locations. In the game, you cannot do this. I can't tell you the number of players that I've frustrated by telling them that they need a full move action to pull a smokestick out of their pocket. Thus, the SLWS creates a mechanical way to do something that we each do in our daily lives.

Additionally, the SLWS allows for few overpowered abilities. The best scroll to put in a SLWS is by far breath of life. Personally, I would like to encourage my players to use breath of life on each other. It is a spell that cannot be used selfishly. By its very nature, breath of life requires coordination and teamwork, both of which we wish to foster. While a melee type would theoretically like to put a potion in there to buff himself, melee buffing potions are very limited. You cannot have a potion of a "personal" spell, which eliminates a lot of the prime options. Furthermore, these melee types are expending an entire standard action to drink that potion - a sacrifice that few melee characters desire to make.

Finally, I would also remind GMs that PCs can only wear 2 SLWSes, Alchemists aside. This means that a player must put thought and care into which two items can be accessed easily. In my experience, SLWSes are generally used for a Wand of Cure Light Wounds and a Scroll of Breath of Life. Occasionally, you will see an Oil of Daylight or a Scroll of Fly. None of these things are problem items.

In conclusion, because a scroll in a SLWS would clearly work from an engineering perspective, because it makes thematic sense and because it does not create overpowered options, I would argue that the SLWS is one of the most positive contributions in the entirety of the Additional Resources page. It encourages people to think strategically about what items they will have and its very existence reminds people of the action economy limitations involved in taking out other items. Therefore, why be curmudgeonly about its use? I say, embrace it.

Personally, I think that adding 1-2 weeks of playtest would have encouraged more PFS participation. The short time frame made it very difficult for me to get my 2 games in.

For many people, such as myself,GMming is its own reward. I prefer GMming to playing, and I know others who do as well. All GMs receive soft incentives in the form of good will from local organizers which allows one to request scenarios and such.

Locally, one thing that we may start doing is dedicating one table to adventures which require more than one session. GMs would get first pick of these seats, and we would organize their schedule in such a way as to make sure that they are not required to GM on those days.

In the end, though, the best way to encourage people to GM is to create a culture in which GMming is a noble and desirable pursuit. Make sure your players respect and look up to their GMs. Make sure that you recognize people who have went above and beyond in providing service to the store. Make sure that your GMs enjoy the types of scenarios that they are scheduled for. These things will drastically change the face of GM participation in a region more than any amount of store credit will.

If a designer wishes to fix PFS combat, simply apply the following template to each creature:

+20 CMD
+10 Will Save vs. hexes
Entropic Shield is always up
Enemies gain DR 10/NotBarbarian

The Hellknight's Feast is definitely not short if your group is into RP. I've ran that one for 7-8 hours. Fantastic experience, though.

Scenarios that work well in a 4-hour slot at 5-9:
Our Lady of Silver
To Scale the Dragon
The Jester's Fraud
The Rebel's Ransom
You Only Die Twice
The Ghennet Manor Gauntlet
The Immortal Conundrum
Haunting of Hinojai
Wonders in the Weave 1-2
Tower of the Ironwood Watch
Port Godless