Paz's page

Please can I cancel my subscription to the Pathfinder Campaign Setting line (before the Ironfang Invasion Poster Map Folio order goes through)?

First of all, I wanted to say thanks for the additional functionality of being able to list scenarios by date on the public PFS event page. I used to manually do it via the description, but this looks much better.

The main issue I have seen is that the listed games disappear too soon, i.e. at the start of the day.

If I go into the edit screen for my event (at 10:45 local time, 09:45 UTC), I see:

Today evening

#3-06: Song of the Sea Witch (RPG)
#52: The City of Strangers—Part II: The Twofold Demise (RPG)

Mon, Jun 26, 2017 evening
#4: The Frozen Fingers of Midnight (RPG)
#8-21—Champion's Chalice, Part 2: Agents of the Eye (RPG)

but on the event page itself, I see:

Mon, Jun 26, 2017 evening

#4: The Frozen Fingers of Midnight (RPG)
#8-21—Champion's Chalice, Part 2: Agents of the Eye (RPG)

Please can scheduled sessions stay visible until the end of the relevant day?

My organised play event is set up with a scheduled 'day' every Monday, and if I go into the event editing page, that's exactly what I see:

Day # 89 Mon, May 1, 2017 afternoon evening

Day # 90 Mon, May 8, 2017 evening
Day # 91 Mon, May 15, 2017 evening
Day # 92 Mon, May 22, 2017 evening
Day # 93 Mon, May 29, 2017 afternoon evening
Day # 94 Mon, Jun 5, 2017 evening

However, if I look at the publicly viewable event page, the dates are wrong:

When Sun, Apr 30, 2017 afternoon, evening

Sun, May 7, 2017 evening
Sun, May 14, 2017 evening
Sun, May 21, 2017 evening
Sun, May 28, 2017 afternoon, evening
Sun, Jun 4, 2017 evening

My event is set up with timezone 'Etc/GMT' so I'm not sure why this error should come up; can you help? I don't want people turning up on a Sunday by mistake!

Google Chrome, viewed at 10:30 GMT (11:30 local time, UK) on 25 April 2017.

Please can I cancel the following subscriptions:

Pathfinder Adventure Path
Pathfinder Player Companion

and also cancel pending order 4248656?

I am very sad to have to cancel my charter subscription (I've been a Dungeon/Pathfinder Adventure Path subscriber for over a decade) but unfortunately with the £ tanking following the Brexit vote, items bought in $ are significantly more expensive than they used to be, and I need to economise :-(

Back to the Gloomspires, hooray!

Doubly sad that I'm going to miss UK Games Expo for the first time in five years..

Please can I be added to the Pathfinder Society regional coordinators page, under Chester, England? I'd like to give players in the area another avenue to finding out about local PFS offerings. I guess this would also add my location to my name tag on the PFS boards.

Also, is there any chance of correcting the mismatch between England and Scotland VOs on the page, where English ones are listed under 'England—(cityname)' but the Scottish ones are under 'United Kingdom—Scotland—(cityname)'? It's a bit confusing.

Sounds fun; I'm interested to know if this has any crossover with a shaitan encounter in:

Agents of the Pathfinder Society have discovered the location of a back door into their private demiplane that puts the entire realm at risk of plunder and exploitation at the hands of the Aspis Consortium. Rather than close the access point into their adventuring paradise, however, the Decemvirate sends a crack team of Pathfinders to secure the gate for future Society use... at any cost.

Please sign up via the Warhorn page.

I'm due to run #7–99: Through Maelstrom Rift and #8-00: The Cosmic Captive at an event in a couple of months; I'm also trying to schedule in a session of #7–98: Serpents' Ire for some local players in the next few weeks (after already running it once at PaizoCon UK).

I know that in past years, some exclusives and specials have received revisions around con season; I'm also aware that Serpents' Ire has already been updated once between PaizoCon and PaizoCon UK. Before I print out the scenarios and all the pregens, handouts, etc. I need, I wanted to check if any further updates were expected to the specials/exclusives for the end of season 7 and start of season 8?

I'm looking for some help with my Pathfinder Society 10th-level ranger, as I'm inexperienced in how to build/equip high level characters. This is because I GM more than I play, and when I do play, it tends to be lower-level stuff. To compound this, the character was built a number of years ago (only played once in the last 23 months!) so no recent options have been utilised. However, I'm scheduled to play him in 10 days time (which will push him up to 11th level), and am expecting to play him at 11th & 12th level in the near future.

He's a switch-hitter ranger with a wolf animal companion; I'm not looking to make major changes to this concept, but I have a good amount of banked gold/prestige to allow for some retraining at his current level (e.g. a small number of feats) and I'd also like some advice on good options to take at 11th & 12th level. I'd also like some advice on where his equipment is lacking.

I'm not looking to make the most powerful character in the world, but some people I play with use very effective options, and I'd like to be able to hold my own. As far as character creation rules are concerned, this is a PFS character, but I have nearly all of the additional resources, so anything campaign-legal is OK.

If I've missed out any vital information, please say so and I'll add it straight away.

Many thanks in advance!

Human Ranger 10
Str 21 (inc. +2 belt), Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14 (inc. +2 headband), Cha 10
All FCB into hit points

Traits: ease of faith, reactionary

Normal feats: heavy armour proficiency, boon companion, cleave, deadly aim, power attack, quick draw

Combat style: Archery
Combat style feats: improved precise shot, manyshot, rapid shot

Favoured enemies: humans +4, evil outsiders +4, constructs +2
Favoured terrain: forest +2, underground +4

Skills:
Maxed: diplomacy, perception, stealth, survival
4-7 ranks in: handle animal, know(nature), know(dungeon), know(geog)

Key equipment:
+2 mithral full plate
+1 adamantine nodachi
+1 cold iron nodachi
+1 composite longbow (Str +4)
Belt of Str +2
Headband of Wis +2
Cloak of resistance +2
Ring of protection +2
~25,000 gp to spend

Animal companion: large wolf (with level boost from boon companion) with AoMF +1 and +1 mithral kikko barding (not played since UE errata, so this needs attention anyway)

Hooray!

I managed to miss out on playing or GMing the Sky Key Solution special when it was offered earlier in the season (both online and at physical conventions). It's the first multi-table special I've missed since 'Race for the Runecarved Key', and I wondered if anyone had any information on whether #7-00 is likely to be offered again at any online events in the near future or not, either play-by-post or over Roll20 (or similar)?

Recent events have left the Master of Spells Aram Zey unable to fulfill his duties, and without his expertise, the Pathfinder Society struggles to resolve pressing arcane matters. The Decemvirate has reopened the decade-old case of the most qualified replacement: Aram Zey's predecessor and former Master of Spells Sorrina Westyr, who disappeared while handling a powerful wayfinder that the Society has since kept closely guarded. It is up to the PCs to track down Sorrina Westyr—and bring back whatever remains.

Content in "Captive in Crystal" also contributes directly to the ongoing storyline of the Grand Lodge faction.

Please sign up via the Warhorn page.

Please also e-mail me (pfs (AT) parrais (DOT) co (DOT) uk) with the following:

Player name
Character name
PFS number
Faction
Character sheet/statblock (attached or as link)
Token for Roll20 (attached or as link)

Shrouded in thick fog, the shifting Gloomspires north of the Shackles have long frustrated explorers. However, a recent discovery by the Pathfinder Society has revealed a brief opportunity to navigate the columns safely and search for the lost treasure of the legendary pirate Sevenfingers. The only problem is that the Pathfinders are not the only visitors to the Gloomspires.

Please sign up via the Warhorn page.

Please also e-mail me (pfs (AT) parrais (DOT) co (DOT) uk) with the following:

Player name
Character name
PFS number
Faction
Character sheet/statblock (attached or as link)
Token for Roll20 (attached or as link)

I see that all Pathfinder Society scenarios more than a year old have dropped from $3.99 to $2.99 (including one I bought on Monday - grr!). However, I can't see any official comment on this; is this a permanent reduction? If not, when will this sale period end?

Monday May 11th is the date for my group's final confrontation with Karzoug, and I want to make it a fight to remember. Karzoug has gained a lot of information on the PC party: from his minions, from the fact that several have been wearing Sihedron rings/medallions, as well as from direct contact through weak points in the Pinnacle of Avarice. Also, he is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about spell options of course.

Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on high level arcane casters, so I'm a bit lost in trying to tailor Karzoug's spells to the PC threat. However, I thought that the best simulation of Karzoug's enhanced intelligence was to ask the collective RotR GM hive-mind for advice!

I would be very grateful for any advice on good spells to include in his selection to ensure he is a worthy foe on the night.

The party are all 16th level:
- Cleric of Erastil - in-combat healing (e.g. heal), buffing, ranged attacks
- Fighter - melee with two short swords
- Elf wizard - Lots of evocation spells (often fire or acid), disintegrate, greater dispel magic, toppling magic missile. SR is rarely an issue.
- Summoner - Extremely effective melee eidolon, or sometimes summoned monsters
- Bard/cavalier - buffs to attack damage (particularly helping the melee fighter and ranger) relying on sound (oration) or visibility (banner)
- Shalelu, ranger cohort NPC to the bard/cavalier - Ranged combat with giant as a common favoured enemy

General attributes:
- Dominant weapons
- Major bonuses to attack/damage from the bard/cavalier's buffs
- Usually hasted and with life bubble in effect
- Number of the party have mirror image in operation as standard

I'm happy to provide any more information (if I can) if it will help!

For almost every page on the site, there is an 'email this...' button at the top right of the page. And for a page with a URL like:

http://paizo.com/products/btpy8baj?Pathfinder-Module-Carrion-Hill

The link in the email is a shortened one, like:

http://paizo.com/-btpy8baj

As well as using the email functionality, I've also found these shortened URLs very useful when space or number of characters is limited. However, at some point these short links have become broken, and all of them now only point to the main page.

The fact that the 'email this...' link at the top still uses them suggests to me that they're still supposed to work. Is it possible for someone to look into it, or state if this functionality isn't coming back?

I'm surprised that I can't find any mention of this on the Paizo site or boards* - Paizo's offering for Free RPG Day this year is a new installment in the We Be Goblins series: We Be Goblins Free!, written by Richard Pett!

I can't really overstate how much I'm looking forward to playing and/or GMing this...

* Or maybe I'm just terrible at using the search engine...

UK Games Expo is the biggest hobby games convention in the UK, and has had a strong PFS presence in recent years. Things should be even better this year, with the multi-table special 'Legacy of the Stonelords' running on Friday evening, and PFS games running in every slot of the convention.

Tickets for individual RPG events went on sale in the last week; the full listing can be found here. Type PFS into the search box at the top right to see only the PFS games.

The standard Expo booking site doesn't provide much information to GMs, so in parallel, there is a Warhorn site. Once you've had a confirmed game ticket purchase from the Expo site, please enter the details for you and your PC onto the Warhorn entry for that game. This will help GMs determine which tiers to prep and tables for the special to be arranged in advance. You can't buy tickets on Warhorn, only on the Expo site.

I'm hoping people with more experience with high-level casters can help me work out how to best roleplay the tactics of an Int 26 caster.

The party of PCs have entered the Ravenous Crypts and confronted Azaven in area F10. We had to end our last session just after the fight started: the melee PCs had entered the room, and Azaven had summoned a devourer but not yet had chance to erect his wall of force. The last action was for the party cleric to complete casting silence on the floor behind Azaven.

I was a bit stumped as to how to have Azaven react to this, as it knocks out many of his spells. Sadly I don't have Int 26, but I do have more time to think about what to do next (and hopefully some help) - any ideas?

There seems to be some variation when it comes to interpreting the rules on applying GM credit to PCs that are 'locked' in either a play-by-post game or a multi-session game (e.g. module/AP chapter). If possible, it would be great to have it clarified so there's no ambiguity in future.

Previous discussions:
GM credits and PBP
Need clarification of page 31 in Guide V4.3
GM credit and characters in PbP games
GM Credit and Modules

There are a couple of relevant excerpts from the GtPFSOP:

Since sanctioned modules and Adventure Paths are multi-session events, Pathfinder Society characters may not be used in other Pathfinder Society events until they receive a Chronicle sheet for the sanctioned content.

You must apply Chronicle sheets in the order they are received. The only exception is when you hold a higher-tier Chronicle for a lower-tier character.

However, neither of these are directly aimed at PBP play. This leaves a few questions:

1) Is it legal to assign a GM credit chronicle to a PC of an appropriate level that is locked in a part-completed PFS game? (e.g. a tier 1-5 chronicle to a locked 2nd level PC)

3) Is it legal to assign a higher-level chronicle to a PC currently locked in a game, and hold it to be applied at a later time? (e.g. a tier 3-7 chronicle to a locked 2nd level PC)
a) Does this extend to pregen credit?

Obviously if someone can provide a reference to a definitive statement on this, or confirmation this is already in the process of being addressed (e.g. on the VC private boards), then feel free to ignore this request.

I'm now over half-way through GMing RotR, and I noticed a couple of odd things on the chronicles for the rest of the AP. I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on how to handle them:

Fortress of the Stone Giants
On the chronicle for Fortress of the Stone Giants, the text at the top says 'Select one of the two following boons and cross the other off your Chronicle sheet'. This is then followed by three boons. Is it intended that the player chooses one of the first two boons and gets the third one too, or is this a typo (likely a copy/paste error from the same text on the Burnt Offerings chronicle) and the player should choose just one of the three (the same as the previous two chapters)?

Spires of Xin Shalast
On the chronicle for Spires of Xin Shalast, one of the boons is that 'your Fame score increases to equal 6 × your character level (as though you had earned maximum prestige in each adventure up to this point).'

- Firstly, is the '6*level' calculation meant to keep things simple, as no PC could ever actually achieve this amount, or is it a (minor) mistake? A 17th-level PC with 48XP would have a maximum of 96 fame; if they had 50XP the maximum would still only be 100 fame, while this boon would give them 102 fame. I admit the differences would be relatively small when achieving this level.

- Secondly, does the character receive any additional prestige to match, or it it only the fame score that increases?

- Finally, does this boon take effect before or after the PC has applied the 3XP & 4 PP from the chronicle itself?

I received the Bestiary 2 Box from Amazon.co.uk yesterday, and most of the pawns were up the usual high standard I hoped for.

However, one of the sheets was misaligned to the extent that all of the names are cut off, a couple of pawn numbers are cut off, and a weapon from one pawn actually extends onto the pawn below it. It's the sheet containing pawns 23 Korred to 33 Spriggan and 232 Hangman Tree to 236 Moonflower.

Is this a known manufacturing issue, or have I just been very unlucky?

What's the best thing for me to do here:
- Return the whole box to Amazon.co.uk for replacement?
- Can Paizo ship out a copy of that one sheet of pawns, e.g. with my next subscription shipment?

I know this isn't a Paizo.com store order, but any guidance would be gratefully received.

Does anyone know if there any plans to offer the Dogslicer Ale t-shirt for sale on paizo.com? While the Year of the Demon t-shirt isn't really to my tastes, I'd be very tempted to buy the Dogslicer Ale one if it were to become available.

In the 'GM/Event Coordinator' tab of 'My Pathfinder Society', every event has a 'Download session sheets' link next to it. Currently this downloads a session sheet in the old format, with the deprecated factions and no 'ABCD' boxes.

Please can this sheet be updated to match the new format, as used in the season 5 scenarios? If this is already planned, when can we expect to see the change?

I noticed that the latest version of the PFS Guide doesn't come with the two-page 'Quick Start Guide', which I find is really useful to give to new players (when I give them a pregenerated PFS number) or even people who see my group playing, are thinking of trying PFS and want to know more. The latest version I have is 'VERSION 1.1 (AUGUST 16, 2012)' and is a bit out of date (e.g. referring to the Field Guide being in the Core Assumption).

Is there an updated version anywhere, or are there any plans to update this?

I'm trying to work something out, and would appreciate input from others. I'll try to keep this post spoiler-free.

I have accrued various pieces of knowledge over the last couple of years through playing/GMing PFS scenarios:

a) In a season 2 scenario, I (as PC-1) encountered a notorious enemy of the Pathfinder Society, who was a member of a particular group, and brought that enemy to justice. My PC got a good look at that enemy's abilities and tactics. Since then I have GMed the scenario in question and applied credit to another PC (PC-2).

b) When GMing a season 4 scenario, I became aware that this enemy was seemingly 'at large' again, and working with a different group. I haven't been a player in this scenario, but I applied GM credit to PC-3.

c) Through general awareness of being active in PFS, I've become aware that a certain scenario (that I'm due to play as PC-3 in a week or two) features the two groups that this enemy has been associated with, so it's reasonable to conclude that the enemy in question may well be involved (although I don't know for sure).

I want to be prepared when I play through this scenario, but I'm feeling a bit anxious about straying into metagaming. What I'm not clear on is how much player knowledge is 'fair' to bring to the table? (a) and (b) both feature information that would have been reported back to the Pathfinder Society Venture-Captain (and maybe even Decemvirate); is it reasonable to assume that field agents going in to harm's way would be made aware of this link?

When does foreshadowing and clever play become metagaming?

I have a 6th-level cleric in the Pathfinder Society campaign; he currently has a Wis score of 17, which I'm looking to boost somehow. The difficulty is that I'll probably buy a phylactery of positive channeling next level, taking up the headband slot, which rules out a headband of inspired wisdom.

What are the most cost-effective, PFS-legal avenues open to me to boost my cleric's Wisdom score over the next few levels?

My session last week ended on a cliffhanger with the party encountering a tentamort. I'm a bit hazy on the way grapple interacts with the relevant monster rules, and I want to make sure I understand them correctly before making its first attack at the start of my next session. Is the following correct:

Round 1 - Assuming it can reach (using a 5-foot step if necessary), the tentamort can make a full attack.

- Attack with tentacle (+2)
- If tentacle hits: do 1d6+1 damage, and make grapple roll (+10) versus victim's CMD
- If grapple succeeds: move victim next to tentamort, do 1d6+1 constrict damage, both tentamort and victim gain grappled condition. Continue full attack with sting (+4, as -2 from grappled condition) against victim's AC-2 (as -4 Dex from grappled condition).

- If tentacle misses or grapple fails, continue full attack with sting (+6).

Assume grapple succeeded, and victim is still grappled by the time the tentamort's next turn comes round (otherwise follow steps for round 1 again). During this period, the tentamort can't make AoOs.

Round 2 - Tentamort can maintain the grapple.

- Make grapple check: +10 vs. victim's CMD
- If grapple succeeds: can do damage with one natural attack (assume the sting), or move with the victim, or pin him. Whatever choice made, do 1d6+1 constrict damage (by virtue of making a successful grapple check).

Does that all sound correct? Anything important I should be aware of?

I'm currently GMing Burnt Offerings, and the party have cleared the top level of Thistletop. The only encounters they've avoided/delayed are Tsuto (who escaped from the Glassworks; they will encounter him again soon), the bunyip (they've not ventured down to the sea caves), and Shadowmist (who they decided to leave alone, given that none of them have much affinity with animals).

The group of five PCs are all 3rd level. I'm not using formal XP, simply getting the group to level up when they reach the appropriate point in the adventure. However, I'm a bit confused about how far into Thistletop the PCs are expected to get before going up to 4th level. The appropriate quotes from the book are:

CONCLUDING THE ADVENTURE: The PCs should reach 4th level by the conclusion of this chapter.

4TH LEVEL: The PCs should be very close to 5th level when they begin Chapter Two.

Should the party be 4th level before confronting Nualia? Before encountering Malfeshnekor? Any advice is welcome.

I've GMed a fair bit of PFS now, but I just tend print the scenarios out and leave them, without any highlighting or notes in the margins. However, I went on a training course through work last week (hopefully leading to a qualification), and the trainer was very keen to pass on advice about highlighting key sections of the main guidebook. It did come in useful too, and I want to take that advice over to PFS, to see if it helps me access the necessary information more quickly at the table.

I intend to try highlighting the scenarios I'm going to run next, but I want to avoid turning them into an incomprehensible rainbow mess, or highlighting the wrong things. So, what works for you? What have you tried in the past that didn't help?

Hi,

My February subscription order, including Pathfinder AP #67, Animal Archive, and the Shattered Star Map Folio, has not arrived. In the meantime, my March subscription order has arrived as expected within the last week.

How long should I wait before the February subscription order can be considered lost? If that time has already passed, please can I have replacements issued?

Kind regards

Matt L

Back in August I started an advice thread on the faction goals listed in the (then) new guide:

Alternatively, beginning with Season 4, each faction has a specific goal it hopes to achieve by the end of the season. A PC who undertakes a creative approach to forward this goal outside of the prescribed faction mission may earn 1 Prestige Point for doing so in place of the Prestige Point gained for the assigned faction mission, at the GM’s discretion.

Now that we're about halfway through season 4, I'm interested to know if players at your tables have made use of this way of earning their prestige point, and what sort of things have been tried.

I can't recall anyone doing so at one of my tables; I think this is a combination of:
- Having many new players, so sticking to running the lowest tier (which rules out most season 4 scenarios)
- Ignorance of this new way of earning prestige
- Seeing the normal faction mission as the easier option
- Scenarios that are quite tightly bound, e.g. Severing Ties and The Disappeared, where the players don't see many options to get creative.

Other than their brief entry in the Bestiary, has any official information been published on Tengu and their culture?

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing the mini-con that I'd organised, DevaCon, running without too much of a hitch; I also ran the two PFS games I needed to take me up to two GM stars!

In true Oscar style, there's a few people I want to thank:

The vast majority of my GMing has been done at Chester Games Club, and I need to thank all of the people who've played or GMed at the club for helping to make it a success, with us going from a GM + 4 players at the start just over a year ago, up to a dozen people on a recent occasion. In particular, I'd like to single out my GMing 'partner in crime' CheshireElf, who beat me to his second star by a matter of a few weeks.

DigitalMage for GMing the second PFS game I played in, and the first one that I enjoyed. Without that, I'm not sure if I ever would've continued.

ZomB for doing a great job GMing on my return to PFS (after a long break) and well and truly hooking me back in, for his excellent GM checklist, and for supporting our recent gaming event with his expert GMing.

Dave & Rob, the UK VOs, for organising PaizoCon UK, supporting my efforts to get DevaCon off the ground, and generally making PFS in the UK a success.

Also, thanks to everyone who frequents these boards for all the advice and encouragement I've received over the last year or so.

Situation: an existing PFS player attends an event not expecting to play PFS, with none of his PFS character sheets, chronicles, etc. but due to events outside his control, unexpectedly ends up playing at a tier 3-4 PFS table, using a 4th-level pregen, earning a chronicle at the end.

When he gets home, can he apply this to his existing PFS character with 9 XP, i.e. reached 4th level but not yet played at that level?

Can he apply it to his existing PFS character with 10 or 11 XP, i.e. already played at that 4th level?

Sign up on Warhorn
Paizo PFS Event

After running many successful Pathfinder Society sessions over the past year at our weekly gaming nights, Chester Games Club are running a gaming event in early December within easy reach of North Wales, Cheshire, Wirral, Liverpool, and Manchester. We're joining forces with the local wargames club, Deeside Defenders, and using the same venue used for their successful Gauntlet wargame events.

This small-scale event (4 slots, 4 tables of PFS in each slot) will hopefully lead to larger future events (with more notice!) in 2013, to make sure there's a regular event for NW England and N Wales. So please sign up to this event if you can, to make sure we've got the momentum to organise more next year.

If there are any questions or comments, please post below or contact the co-ordinator.

What
A variety of old and new PFS scenarios; see the schedule on Warhorn for full details. Note that there is some scope to alter the scenario list if there's demand.
Also other RPGs (e.g. Call of Cthulhu), Magic: The Gathering tournament, board games and war games.

Where
Airbus Dining Hall above the Wings Social Club, Airbus UK, Chester Road, Broughton, Chester CH4 0DR (map here)

When
Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd December 2012. 4 slots for RPGs: 9am and 2pm on each day.

How much
£1 per session played (TBC; highly unlikely to be more than £3 per day)

Sign up on Warhorn
Paizo PFS Event

On behalf of Chester Games Club, I'm looking at organising a small-scale RPG/CCG/board game event near Chester, UK on 1st and/or 2nd December 2012. Obviously Pathfinder Society is on the agenda, but I'm trying to get some idea of interest, as I've no idea if we'll attract 5 PFS players or 50.

Would you be interested in attending such an event?

Would you be interested in playing PFS at such an event?

Would you be interested in GMing PFS at such an event?

Any other questions or suggestions, please feel free to ask. I'll post a 'proper' event and announcement thread once a few more details are confirmed.

I'm aware this is the same weekend as Dragonmeet, but I'm hoping that being 200 miles away from London will work in our favour...

As a GM who ran the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, I'm really looking forward to returning to Korvosa! The Sanos Abduction sounds great too.

I notice that the covers for these two scenarios differ from previous ones, in that they don't include the icon in the top left. How can we tell if they're part of the season metaplot or not?

I've found a site with many Pathfinder PDFs for free download; what's the best way to report it to Paizo?

The v.3.5 SRD contains the following text on using skills in favourable and unfavourable conditions:

Favorable and Unfavorable Conditions

Some situations may make a skill easier or harder to use, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the skill modifier for a skill check or a change to the DC of the skill check.
The chance of success can be altered in four ways to take into account exceptional circumstances.
1. Give the skill user a +2 circumstance bonus to represent conditions that improve performance, such as having the perfect tool for the job, getting help from another character (see Combining Skill Attempts), or possessing unusually accurate information.
2. Give the skill user a –2 circumstance penalty to represent conditions that hamper performance, such as being forced to use improvised tools or having misleading information.
3. Reduce the DC by 2 to represent circumstances that make the task easier, such as having a friendly audience or doing work that can be subpar.
4. Increase the DC by 2 to represent circumstances that make the task harder, such as having an uncooperative audience or doing work that must be flawless.
Conditions that affect your character’s ability to perform the skill change the skill modifier. Conditions that modify how well the character has to perform the skill to succeed change the DC. A bonus to the skill modifier and a reduction in the check’s DC have the same result: They create a better chance of success. But they represent different circumstances, and sometimes that difference is important.

I assumed that these rules were duplicated in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook (and PRD) but I can't find them anywhere. Does anyone know if they're still a valid part of the RAW?

I'm building a new character for Pathfinder society play, using some of the GM credit I've collected. My characters tend to be cleric or ranger types, rather than arcane casters or skill monkeys, and I GM far more often than I play, so my char op skills are very much lacking. But I want to create a character that will give me the option to play something different at mid-levels, someone with lots of knowledge skills, diplomacy, linguistics, trapfinding (if that's worth putting resources into), etc. I'd also like to be able to contribute in combat in some way, rather than being a millstone. Due to the GM credit, this character will spring to life fully formed at 4th level. Any tips?

Nothing below is a sacred cow; I'm happy to take advice on any aspect.

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 17 (inc. racial +2 and +1 @ 4th), Wis 10, Cha 14 (I'm not a big fan of dump stats)
Race: Half-elf
Racial traits: Arcane Training in place of Multitalented
Class: Bard (Archaeologist)
Faction: Osirion
Skills: ??? (32 ranks to assign)
Feats: Skill focus (???) (B), Lingering performance? (1st), ??? (3rd)
Traits: Vagabond child, ???
Rogue Talent: Trap Spotter
Spells: ???
Equipment: 7500-8000gp to spend

(This is a continuation of this thread, but I suspect as Cosmo's already posted in that one, it's marked as 'resolved' or similar.)

I had it confirmed by Customer Services that my order for the Rise of the Runelords hardcover qualified for the bonus PDF version, but despite getting the shipping notice for the physical book, I don't yet have access to the PDF version in my downloads page. Please can someone take a look at this to get the PDF activated? The wait is killing me!

Many thanks in advance.

Page 22 of the Guide v 4.2 states:

Alternatively, beginning with Season 4, each faction has a specific goal it hopes to achieve by the end of the season. A PC who undertakes a creative approach to forward this goal outside of the prescribed faction mission may earn 1 Prestige Point for doing so in place of the Prestige Point gained for the assigned faction mission, at the GM’s discretion.

I like the idea of this, but I'm a little unsure of how it will work in practice. Is there any advice that can be offered on how to adjudicate this new way of gaining prestige? I know there will always be room for GM discretion, but anything that can be done to reduce table variance that would cause bad feeling among players is welcome.

A supplementary question: can this method of gaining prestige be used when playing scenarios from earlier seasons that are set in the relevant part of Golarion?

I had the privilege of taking part in the Grand Convocation at PaizoCon UK, and in particular, one of the side-quests ('The Menagerie', GMed by Diego Winterborg). The three side-quests on offer at the GC seemed to have a similar scope and time demand to the Pathfinder Society Quest released in KQ #17, 'Ambush in Absalom'. Given that the Grand Convocation won't be run again AFAIK, is there a chance that these three side-quests could be put into wider circulation as official 'Pathfinder Society Quests' for short game slots?

This was my second PaizoCon UK, although quite a different experience from 2011. This was because I came down on the Saturday morning last year, but this time I came down on the Friday afternoon for the full experience. Also, I came on my own last year, while I brought some of the PFS group I'd managed to recruit in the last few months with me this time.

I had an absolutely fantastic time, and I know that the three guys who came down from Chester Games Club with me did too. Many, many thanks to everyone involved in the organisation and GMing for the event, and also to my fellow players for making the experience so memorable.

Particular highlights for me:

• Holding the convention at the same time as the pub next door was taking part in a cider festival. Yum!
  
• Standing outside the pub, drinking the aforementioned cider, and having Eva Widermann wander over and introduce herself.
  
• The delicious balti, in particular the Osiriani nose flute (kazoo) orchestra.
  
• Having Mike Brock as my GM for the first slot (running 'the Cyphermage Dilemma'), and in particular the NPCs we encountered, such as the officious gnome clerk and the hard-bargaining, overly-amorous dwarf boatwoman. My gunslinger had a night he'll never (be able to) forget...
  
• The 'Oh s***...' moment during the Saturday afternoon scenario (the name of which I won't spoil).
  
• The Grand Convocation. Wow! Really this deserves a highlights list of its own! All the NPCs in costume. The commitment shown by everyone to stay in character for pretty much the whole event. The truly brutal 'Menagerie' quest (4 level 4-5s playing up at 6-7...). And of course, the finalé!
  
• Getting to play with several familiar faces from the previous year's convention, and new ones too.
  
• The ridiculous amount of property damage that our group caused during our slot 5 table of 'God's Market Gamble'. I think we're keeping Absalom's carpenters in business...

There were a small number of lowlights, but they were extremely minor compared to all of the amazing experiences above, so I'll spoiler them:

Really though, these were extremely minor things (including some that were entirely my fault) that didn't detract from the overall awesomeness of the event. Roll on PaizoCon UK 2013!

In the Pathfinder Module

I expect some strangeness as this is a module rather than a scenario, but is there any guidance on how to handle this in PFS? Should I pick these level 1-3 spells arbitrarily, or randomly, or not allow them to be copied at all? Should only spells from the CRB be included, or any PFS-legal spells?

Once the list of spells is known, I assume all normal PFS spell-copying rules apply.

Hi,

I've ordered the Runelords hardcover today, and it's in the sidecart to be shipped with my next subscription shipment, rather than immediately. I just wanted to check that doing it this way qualifies for the free PDF for subscriber preorders. For information, I don't intend to cancel my AP subscription any time soon.

I'm aware of several non-core classes, such as a cavalier, a summoner, and a rather infamous magus appearing as antagonists in PFS scenarios. However, I'm interested to know if any of the currently released scenarios feature a gunslinger NPC?