Teresake's page

I will be GMing at CanGames May 15th, and I foresee many newbies at my tables there. Think I should download PFS Society membership cards with "reserved" PFS numbers.

Does that mean that I will need to register the characters of every newbie player?

If I let the newbies register themselves, can we get into "reporting problems" if some of them just "disappear" and never register his PC?

Some people may not want to join PFS, or may take the card and never register. It happens. Just do your part--not much you can do about the rest.

Apologies if I say anything already said--I only skimmed the responses.

1) I'll have minis on-hand for the scenario. Should I make sure to have a selection of minis to represent the PCs? Do people generally bring their own?

I do, though I use tokens, because they're cheaper and easier to customize. I have one for each iconic Pathfinder character, and I use tokens for my enemies (or, from my collection of tiny plastic animals...the ducks usually illicit pretty hilarious comments).

2) Any reason to create pre-gens? Do most people come with their own characters or are there a lot of first-time players? Is there time for them to create a character at the beginning of the session (I'd guess not, but it's good to know)?

In the 6 months I've been running locally, I've used pre-gens only once, but I bring them every time, anyway. When I was first introduced to PFS at GenCon last year, me and my friend only found out the night before we needed to come with characters. One player at our table had to make one up on the spot. Just in case, bring your own. If you're interested, I have a zip file containing Dragonmoon's pre-gens (with associated tokens) of the iconics. (Edited to add...my email addy: zarffyn "at" gmail "dot" com)

3) I tend to roll dice openly and let the chips fall where they may - unless it's a roll players shouldn't know the results of. Does anybody roll them in private so they can 'fudge' if necessary? Is this frowned upon in PFS play?

I roll behind a DM screen always. I occasionally fudge things, but rarely. I do it more for fake rolls to throw the players off track.

4) I assume things like crit hit/fumble decks are out? I actually wouldn't use them on my own - but the players in my 'home games' always outvote me and I usually end up using them.

Yeah, they're out.

5) Is it customary to have a break during the session? Four hours is a long time to sit and concentrate - and I'd tend to give a break during a session that long. Is there even time for this?

I do a 10-minute break half way. This lets everyone run to the bathroom, or grab a smoke break. I also don't mind if people jump up while we're playing, and make a mad dash for the bathroom. But, I'll also say that MOST scenarios don't run the full 4 hours, either. I do Silent Tide in a solid 2.5 hours.

6) Do I need to print out forms and things or are these usually provided? Does the organizer usually provide handouts from the scenario (things like the faction mission briefings)?

Usually, it will be provided. If you know and have access to it before hand, you might want to print it out anyway. Mistakes happen.

Okay, I get that...but what if I "want" to play in a different Tier game? There are a couple that are for a higher Tier of player that look like really great adventures, could I fudge my way into one of those and just make a character that is the appropriate level?

Many GMs have pregens--I do--but they are first level. Pathfinder Society requires all players to begin with first level characters.

You can't fudge your way in. You need Chronicle sheets signed by a Pathfinder GM to prove that your character is of the level required. This is also something that can be verified by the PFS database online.

If you really want to play in a Tier 5-9 game, you'll need to create a first-level character according to PFS rules, register it and get a PFS number, find a local PFS game and start playing. It'll take you 15 scenarios to reach level 5.

Before you get irritated at the fact that you have to play 15 scenarios to play in a Tier 5-9 game, please remember that lots of people out there have been playing determinately for the opportunity to play higher level tiers. My event has been playing since November, and those that have been around since then are finally hitting level four, and it feels damned good to have mad it that far.

I enjoyed running Black Waters, Among the Living, and Silent Tide, more than the others.

I have one player who has played in all the scenarios we've run, and is now level 4. The rest range from 1-3.

Okay, I admit, I haven't been good about reporting my scenarios. It's partly due to my hectic work schedule, and when not working, due to sheer laziness.

The situation has been remedied. I'm caught up for all events up to and including last night's session.

Sorry!

I'll try to do better from now on. :)

To expound...

Yes, you can upgrade to a standard +1 weapon or armor, from masterwork, by paying the difference.

I was saying...you cannot upgrade from +1 to +2 without it appearing on a Chronicle sheet.

Now, my players have been asking if they can purchase magical armor/weapon upgrades that are gold piece value, not a "+" modifier. I have told them, no, not without it appearing on a chronicle sheet, or in the list of standard items (which, it isn't).

I assume this to be correct?

To expound...

Yes, you can upgrade to a standard +1 weapon or armor, from masterwork, by paying the difference.

I ran this last Tuesday, and overall it went pretty well. The party make up was as follows:

Human Cleric, level 3
Human Monk, level 3
Half-Orc Barbarian, level 1
Human? Bard, level 3
Elven Ranger, level 2
Elven Rogue, 1evel 1

The players mostly enjoyed the scenario, especially since the first two acts were resolved completely without violence, thanks to some good diplomacy rolls, and a judicious use of charm person.

My favorite part was the initial bar-room brawl they walked in to. They got Fredrik out without a spot of violence, thanks to a natural 20 the monk rolled.

The whip worked fine for me, for both Gnolls. The first one, Snarl?, grabbed the cleric and dumped him overboad, but didn't drown thanks to an animate rope spell. The BBEG also used his whip effectively. Both only used it once, according to the stats.

The biggest complaint my players had about the scenario, was how did Pardu make it to the ship before them? They had gone straight there from Pildapush's Chattel. But, the party had been distracted due to the puddlejumpers' ambush, so I reasoned he could have slipped on board.

I don't want to say that the scenario was a cake-walk, but the combat encounters were pretty easy for them, thanks to the three level 3 PCs. Hopefully soon we'll be able to get into the next tier, and provide a nice challenge.

Overall, I liked this scenario. Good work, Lou.

Yeah, I'm totally on the Paizo bandwagon. The products are good quality, and I don't feel like I'm being cheated for content vs. price. Customer service is fantastic, and any time I've had some questions, I've gotten a quick reply, and never made to feel like I'm wasting someone's time--yeah, I'm looking at you, Josh.

It obvious that Paizo understands one very important concept in business: take care of your customers, and they'll take care of you.

And not to entirely hijack the thread:

online gaming would be fantastic. I'll probably be relocating this summer, and it would mean I'd be able to keep running for my current PFS group.

I'm also only GMing, and I've got some time to spare, so it's no problem for me to help out.

If I ever get to GenCon, I will definitely have to check out Iron DM, from either side of the screen it sounds like the bomb.

Which table were you at? Who did you play? Did your adventure include the following elements assigned just before the adventure?*

minotaurs magma flashbacks frost giants
mistaken identity funerals weddings dragons
time travel

* ** spoiler omitted **

This past year, I had the Butcher. That was fun. We played diametrically-opposed siblings, which was hilarious.

I haven't read the adventure yet, but until I do, I believe that Boomer is no less evil than I am. Consider:

- I killed my whole party in my Iron DM win.
- Last year I sent my Iron DM party out to destroy the entire world (big bunch of SOFTIES!).

I agree with Silent Tide. I ran it first. It's a good starter for GMs and players alike.

And don't worry about not being a rules master. Neither am I. I read up on all the rules associated with the scenario at hand, and tag them for quick reference. I also refreshed some of the more complex combat actions before starting PFS at our FLGS.

Remember, you can't prepare for every eventuality. A player will probably throw something obscure at you. In which case, it's okay to look it up. :)

A few suggestions:
Have your maps ready ahead of time. There's a thread around here with some nice maps for Silent Tide already done. I used those, and they got a great reception. I always prepare my maps ahead of time...it saves a lot of time.

I also suggest going with pre-generated characters, in case people show up without a character. I have Dragonmoon's official PFS versions of all character classes (level 1 and ready to go). I also made token images for them, if you're inclined to print those out. Email me at zarffyn "at" gmail "dot" com if you'd like them.

I'm disappointed Paizo won't officially be at Origins. But glad at least that PFS will still officially be there. I'm already planning on taking the whole time off, so I can enjoy the con, and probably GM some PFS scenarios.

PFS has become a pretty big hit here--our Pickerington regular event at the Armoury has nearly filled the two available tables with people playing on a regular basis. I think we've only got 1 seat left at one table and that's it. Everyone really seems to be enjoying it. The other GM is looking at organizing an event at another location even. Pretty cool, if you ask me. :)

Matthew Morris wrote:

Wanted to add/boast Now that I know what I'm doing (insert nervous laugh here) I'm going to contact the Guardtower on the West side about running a society game on the west side. I live on the north east corner, but I'm pretty loyal to the Guardtower.

We're almost too full at the Armoury both with number of players, and with just room.

The good news is that it means we'll have two nights, two seperate places to play, and I still should get my Sunday home group back up and running after the new year.

Viva la Pathfinder!

Go Matt! I'm glad to hear you're expanding Pathfinder in your area. It seems like its catching on wherever there are a few enthusiastic players willing to spend some time & effort. Once people play one game, they usually come back for more--they just need an opportunity. Nice work!

As the other DM at the Armoury with Matt, I'll add my thoughts here. I'll note that I waited until most of the characters were level 2 before running this scenario.

I ran #3 with a party of 4 players: a 2nd level cleric, a 2nd level monk, a 1st level rogue, and a 1st level fighter.

Act I was fairly easy for them. Only one person managed to get touched by a leper, and I had him sufficiently freaked out at the prospect of contracting leprosy-even though he made his save the first time. :) The cleric went along with it, giving him a vial of mysterious liquid-water-and told him to call him in the morning. Eventually, the cleric informed him that he does not have leprosy.

Act II went pretty well, until the Andoran fighter tried to post his missive outside the tent. After several rolls, the fighter convinced the trader that it was in fact a letter saying "hello" in several languages--the trader added the saying in Kelish at the bottom of the letter.

Act III took a long time, but we got through it with few problems.

Act IV was fun. The NPCs and the rogue both became enchanted by the song. Atmar was knocked unconscious to protect him, but that only made him an easier target as the harpy carried him away. The cleric and the fighter both began climbing the shrine, while everyone else tried to take refuge inside the shrine. The harpies harried the climbers, and those on the ground start throwing things up at the haripes as they came towards the ground. After the encounter, some healing was done, and we moved into the final act. Playing the harpies as they were, wasn't really an issue for my table--good strategy and better rolls made it easier.

Act V was a cakewalk, thanks to the Djinni Jamilia called-who scored two critical hits on Gaspar. I did get the cleric and the fighter to 1hp a piece, but after dealing with the hobgoblins, they surrounded Gaspar and took care of him.

The game ended with a hilarious conversation, as the Taldor rogue tried to convince the Taldor monk that the best way to cover up Gaspar's actions was to slaughter the whole caravan. They didn't of course, but it was pretty funny.

My only real complaint was the Osirion faction mission. Part II of the mission isn't very clear, and very difficult for some players to accomplish. My Osirion cleric was the only one who didn't get both prestige awards.

And Matt, let me know your plans at the Guardtower. I can't help out there (I'm out maxed out for games at the moment), but I'll be happy to post information on the Cbus PFS info site we have.

I'm glad you're feeling better, Matt. So yes, we're playing tomorrow.

Hey everyone!

The PFS session is canceled for tonight. Matt is, unfortunately, sick, and Allynbard cannot make the game. I let Brian at the Armoury know, and I let my group know as well.

We'll pick up again in 2 weeks. See you then.

Very nice. I got all 3 of our sessions uploaded, and added our store as an ongoing event.

Hopefully, I did everything right. :)

Going back in to edit mistakes is a little...hard. Not very clear, but I figured it out.

Thanks for your hard work, Gary! Well worth the wait!

Yeah, well, you guys missed out on our "brassieres of radiant light."

;)

I'm going to have to bail on tonight's game (still recovering from a stomach bug, I'd rather infect coworkers than co-gamers).

If Liz makes it, please everyone wish her a happy birthday, and remind her she shares her birthday with Britney Spears. :-)

Yeah, Matt is looking to trade off with someone else, alternating DM duty. So far, I'm doing good. I'm getting my game on elsewhere--this is the only place I'm DMing. Since it's only twice a month, it'll be a while before I burn out.

Would you be up for that? It would require you to DM once a month, approximately (although there are 3 Tuesdays in December...we need to find out if enough people want to game the tuesdays before and after Christmas).

Email me (zarffyn "at" gmail "dot" com). Matt's table has 5 players (1 person didn't make it last week), and mine has four. But if you agree to alternate, I'd rather you stuck in the same group as Matt, to keep a relative balance.

And next time a DM is sick, we would have a substitute!

(I, and probably every player I ran for on Tuesday, would be grateful for that.)

That someone was me....:-)

How would the first-level versions of the Pathfinder iconics need to be modified, in order to make good Pathfinder Society pre-gens?

The attribute array of {15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8} costs 15 points, rather than the PFS point limit of 20. Raising the attributes to either {16, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8} or {16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8} would bring them up to PFS level with little violence.

Evil little Seltyiel would need to change to, say, Lawful Neutral.

Obviously, they'd need factions and faction feats, or we might allow players to customize that last step themselves. (So the characters are "almost pre-generated".)

And they'll need 150 gp in equipment.

Am I missing anything?

They can invest in their weapon now and pay the difference when it comes time to make that mwk weapon a +1 weapon.

This came up at our PFS event last night, and instigated a animated discussion.

If a character buys a masterwork greatsword now, can he later have that sword enchanted, foregoing the cost of the masterwork sword and just paying the enchantment cost? Or would he have to buy the whole thing all over again?

They want to know if they can invest in their weapon now, or if they're better off just saving up for that shiny new +1 weapon.

Thanks!

Murphy hates me...

I'm fighting a headcold and losing, so hopefully someone can substitute DM tonight.

Also one of our players is up on the north end and was counting on me for a ride. If anyone can pick her up, please let me know.

I was so looking forward to this tonight.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Teresake and everyone who showed up. Sleep starved as I am/was, I hope everyone still had a great time.

Oh, and as a DM, I now officially hate Illusionists. ;-)

We ran #1 last week-two different tables running the same scenario at the same time. My table had 4 players, his had 5 players.

We had no character deaths (even despite my accidental beefing up of the enemies during an encounter).

Spoiler for Scenario #1

I don't think the problem has to do with the Tier necessarily. From my experience as a DM with running modules, the problem usually lies in how well the characters work together. Teamwork = survivability, almost always.

yoda, I know the feeling

Hydra's fang...
** spoiler omitted **

When I ran the final fight in silent tide, at the FLGS they'd stopped the undead at the choir, and as a result had time to rest, reload, and reconoiter. Even then, yes, it was the arcanist who saved the day.

That said, Silent tide has been my favourite of the three I've ran/read. Hydra's fang and Frozen fingers being the others.

During the first encounter with the Black Eschelon, I accidentally read the Tier 4-5 hit points. So they all had 13 hit points. My table had 4 players, a druid, a rogue, a monk, and a non-healing militant cleric (I'm not kidding).

Even with the beefed up hit points, they took them all down with minimal injury to themselves (though I did freak out the druid when one of the undead got in her face, but she rolled a confirmed crit and annihilated him). Recognizing that I screwed up, I fixed the problem later on.

The church scene only sucked in so far as they had difficulty getting to the undead on the pipes. The cleric kept jumping around on the keys, rolled well on his knowledge check, and helped the noviate play the song.

It was the final encounter that was the most difficult. The druid cast charm animal on the dog, and that was it for her spells. The cleric was likewise almost out of spells. The dog helped out in the fight against the thugs, but one of the thugs took the monk to negative hit points. I got a little worried at that point, because I really didn't want to kill anyone during the first scenario, and the monk hadn't achieved his faction goal up to this point.

But thanks to the druid and her dog, the day was saved and the monk lives to die another day, err, I mean play in another scenario.

I had a lot of fun running Silent Tide. Next we're doing Frozen Fingers, in which I played at GenCon. I liked that scenario, too.

I was looking to find a game to get into and Columbus/Cincinatti are pretty far away. Any Pathfinders in NE Ohio area?

If there's a gaming community there, they're all hiding in closets or basements, or something. lol

Do what I did. Move to Columbus. Many more gamers down here. ;)

My account here at Paizo shows a Pathfinder Society character named Forge Steelfist from the Andoran faction. I don't remember creating him (although maybe I did), but regardless, I'd like to erase him and create a new one based on my actual PS character. How do I delete that character? Or at least change the name and faction?

I already filled in information on him and entered a different name inthe first field, but that didn't change what it shows in the top of the web page, up by my Aliases.

Just make sure to have the correct number with you when you arrive at a PFS event.

GMTA...

Now i just need to find my box of undead minis

I don't have a collection of minis. So I took 10 minutes and made some tokens. (Gotta love TokenTool.)

I'm redoing the last maps and will post later this weekend.

Factions. You'll need each player's faction.

And technically, the scenario's number, not the title.

Otherwise, you're golden. :) Good luck!

From my perspective, the rule is flexible on the top end, not flexible on the low end. How you handled it is fine--we'd rather people play than be turned away.

I created a simple, small website for information regarding local PFS events (specifically what we're doing at the Armoury, though I'll certainly post any others).

There are a lot of features, including a discussion thread. I haven't played around with it, so I don't know all the options.

Feel free to utilize this however you'd like.

Columbus PFS

Tuesday we talked about the "in game" PFS and i was thinking about it today and a question came about from character back story creation.

can we assume that PFS has living quarters for some members that are young and don't have a place of their own?
PFS could have...(snipped)

I think it's reasonable to assume that the Society offers some temporary facilities, such as lodging and a mess hall. As long as it has no mechanical effects on the character, this is fine. If something comes up in game, we'll roll with it there.

Many things, such as books, maps, etc. would probably only be available on a need-to-have basis, based on the scenario in question. There are armories and various temples located within the city of Absalom, but I don't envision the Society maintaining their own, necessarily.

Being a Pathfinder is voluntary, and most of it's members have jumped at the chance to be one--their reasons for doing so, as ever, are their own.

Hope this helps.

And who were you on Tuesday? Unfortunately, I didn't take names-but it wouldn't have helped, because I'm horrible with names. But faces, personality, and actions, those I remember.

I am about to run a PF Society module for my group. How do I report the results. I can not find it on the PF Society Homepage.

But, to let you know, you will need to have the following information available to report the scenarios when the system is live:

GM Name
GM PFS Number
Scenario

and for each player/character...
Character Name
Character PFS Number
Faction
Prestige Award

If there's anyone who'd be interested in stepping up to possibly DM the other group, please, PLEASE let me know. I will provide you with copies of the scenarios, so no worries about that. There will invariably be some thinning out of the players, but I really don't want to turn people away from playing because I can't seat more than 6 players. If it thins out enough that player count isn't an issue, than that person can go back to playing.

And thank you, MatthewMorris, for offering to run that particular scenario. It could go a long way towards getting us started. I'm in no way assuming you want to remain GM; I got the impression that you very much want to play.

Anyone with questions about this, post here, or email me: zarffyn "at" gmail "dot" com

Will be there.

Please not Savage Tide I ran it for my home group

Or if you get all 10+ people, maybe you should plan for ST and I can run a table?

The Armoury

Pickerington, Ohio
armourygames@aol.com
Bruce is the store own, I am personally responsible for running PFS (zarffyn@gmail.com)
[url]http://www.armourygames.com/aboutus.html[url]
PFS will begin Nov. 4, and run on Tuesdays, bi-weekly, from 6pm to 10pm.

Murphy hates me. I won't be there tonight. Still interested in playing though

To update, it went much better than I expected. I honestly expected only a few people to show up. I walked in, and saw a group of people gathered around one table, and naturally assumed they were running a game.

Then, Bruce tells me they're all there for Pathfinder.

Wait, what?

I made 10 copies of the PFS guide. I handed out 8. I just got home to an email from someone who couldn't make it, but wants more info.

Suffice to say, the response was much more incredible than I thought.

I don't expect all those people to play.

But I had several that either assured me they would be coming, or starting making characters tonight. Wow.

If this is the expected response, it looks like we'll need to split into two groups, and someone else will have to step up and DM. He has two tables available, and it would be pretty cool to fill the store with PFS players.

Bruce also asked if I'd be interested in running an occasional Sunday game, for those who can't do Tuesdays.

Just, wow. This is a testament to the quality of PFS.

So, first game will be Nov. 4th, 6pm at the Armoury. Scenario is to be decided. :)

(If you're playing at the Armoury with me, -ahem! MatthewMorris :)-, don't read this thread!)

In a few weeks, I'll hopefully be running my first PFS scenario. I've downloaded a couple, #4 and #5, which both struck me as very interesting (and I played #4 at GenCon).

But, I'm torn. I can't conceivably download all the scenarios right now, and there's still 2 more that may be released before I run.

So, I'm looking for some input.

Do any players or GMs of any of the released scenarios feel that any one in particular is a good scenario to start with? Perhaps giving the players a good feel for working with the PFS, and having mostly achievable faction missions?

I'd also like to not TPK everyone my first scenario. lol

Please, any opinions or feedback would be greatly appreciated. I've got two weeks to have everything ready to go, but I'd like at least a week to prepare (I'm trying some new DMing techniques).

Thanks!

will be there tomorrow! :)

Awesome! Maybe it'll be available before Nov.4? Maybe? Well, I can hope. Really, I'd like to have it for next Tuesday but, ah well. I'll come up with my own tutorial. I mean, my teaching degree should be good for something, right? :)

Thanks! That's pretty nice.

As an alternative I have created some pre-generated characters based upon the D&D3.5 PHB suggestions. A PDF of the characters can be found here.

The characters are Barbarian, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue and Sorcerer.

They can be "tweaked" by allowing the player to choose bonus languages, faction & a faction feat, and deity and domains for the cleric etc. At the bottom of each character sheet is a summary of what is still to be done.

EDITED to ASK: Where did you get the fillable PFS character sheet? I'd love to have a copy of that, too...
:)