Wintergreen's page

Apparently - after the last game - out on the street after the game (we tend to play at my house and there is often some after game discussion on the pavement once I have 'thrown' them out late night to clean up / prepare the table to be useable for next day breakfast) the group discussed the scenario and one of the players mentioned to the other gamers - 'This was the best game/scenario I have played yet'. It was his 25th scenario he had played so far.

I only heard this two days later 'by accident' when dropping by one of the other gamers two days later.

My plea to gamers: If you have a great game - let your GM know. There are so many ways this can be done:

Send him/her a short text message next day.

Send him/her a quick e-mail including the other players.

Give him/her a quick phone call.

Let him/her know after the game that you enjoyed it.

It is only a small investment - but worth it. A motivated GM will be a better GM for the next scenario.

So if you also had a good or even great game lately - let your GM know. And yes - this also works the other way round. If you feel the group you GMed just did a fantastic job and entertained you as GM - praise them and let them know you enjoyed having them at your table.

A big thankyou to all the PFS GM's at ukgamesexpo for their hard work. It was my first time playing PFS and I was impressed by the conditions under which you all kept your cool.

The one thing I would say about the venue was the noise level in the Pentland room. After playing in home groups for years it was very difficult to adjust to that level of background noise.

For Russ ... Somewhere in Brinestump marsh a ship full of fireworks detonates killing six goblins ... Nobody cares! ...

Hi all,
I've now had a chance to recover from GM'ing at Games Expo and would like to say a few things.
To me Games Expo has a different feel to it from many other conventions due to its great diversity, and because of that it can be the most difficult for a GM to cater for. I cant think of any other convention where so many new players come and try a system out so every game run could have veteran players or completely new players or as is usual a mix where those familiar help the new.
And don't get me started on the age range it just goes to show it's open to all ages.
As long as every player goes away from the table happy with some fun memory then we've done our part so to all the GM's who encourage the generations of players keep up all the good work, and I'll see you at the next convention.

Russ
ps. thanks to all my players I had a blast.

I was lucky enough to play in three of the slots over the weekend. Really enjoyable. Thanks to all the GM's for the huge amount of fun that was had.

I always walk away from these conventions feeling inspired and that I have to "up my game" back home, because it's Pathfinder and standards have to be maintained. I just want my players to have as much fun as I did playing these modules.

Thanks Dave, and all your crew. They truly are the best. Inspirational.
Bring on PaizoCon!

ran 6

excellent time

sleepy.....

Congrats and welcome.

If your travels ever bring you to the UK then do get in touch. You'll be very welcome.

The UK isn't on my list at the moment (sadly missing out on Paizo Con UK), but perhaps one day.

:(

When the design team puts pig shoes of speed into the rulesbook, I will be more than happy to make them legal. :-)

There is at least one rather good games shop in Dublins fair city with a bit of space: Gamers World in Jervis Street. They have space for games, though mainly wargames and CCGs, I did see an RPG there once.

I have been slowly pushing PFS here in Northern Ireland and there are a couple of shops where we can play but Dave is right, games shops are rare, shops when you can swing a cat let alone run a game, rarer still!

Anyway : All you southern gentlemen and ladies: if you want a game get yourselves up north for a games day or Q-Con and hopefully we can build enough people for a southern branch! I am happy to act as a point of contact too, so if you are Dublin (or just Irish) gamer looking for a game and can't make it up north send me you details and when we have enough I will come down and run a game.

W

P.S. Of course going across the water to Dave's PaizoCon UK is way for an Irish gamer to get some excellent PFS and visit the almost inevitable relatives so many of us have in Birmingham!

At this point, I'm leaning toward only allowing characters in their factions that played at least one scenario in that season, to receive the boom.

*Paracountess Zarta Dralneen having party after a very successful year addressing Cheliax members*

Thanks you all very much for helping us reach our goals this year, as a thank you, you will find an envelope under your chair with your reward. Please feel free to read them now.

Excellent article Diego!

Thank you very much.

What better way to celebrate Conquest Day than by taking a tour of Golarion's greatest city, Absalom, the city at the centre of the world. Today we have the heritage tour. In the morning we visit the God's Market in the shadow of the Starstone Cathedral where you can purchase your souvenirs and genuine religious artifacts (no refunds). In the afternoon why not spend a few hours at the world famous Blakros museum examining its unique collection of curios and artifacts from all over the world, most of them completely harmless. We are sure to bump into a few of its more colourful characters along the way. A once in a lifetime experience!

Morning Slot: The God's Market Gamble (Levels 1-5)

Valuable relics of religious natures have been disappearing on their way into Absalom and the Pathfinder Society stands to lose countless irreplaceable artifacts if the cause isn't found. Amid the bustling markets of the God's Market in the shadow of the Starstone Cathedral, the Society sets a plan in motion to ensure the parties responsible for the recent thefts are caught and brought to justice.

Afternoon slot: Echoes of the Overwatched (Levels 1-5)

When a Pathfinder agent working in the famed Blakros Museum in Absalom falls victim to a terrible, ancient evil, it falls to the PCs to hunt down the released terror before it can retrieve a relic of the mad astronomer Ralzeros the Overwatched.

New player's welcome. Pregens Available.

Who are you?

hmmm, Maybe I should stop my recent being "Quiet" in the Forums policy to remind you... ;)

I am the Guy that has not had a PC death by Kyle.

Anyway, good work Mike, looking forward to more good work to at least PaizoCon UK!

Thank you too Julius. While your table did not do particularly well with regard to scoring points, you certainly delivered the most lively table.

I am happy you had a very good time and your post serves as encouragement to all of us involved with organizing, running and playing at the event.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for a fantastic time yesterday! Especially the organizers, our trusted Venture Captain and my table's GM Johnny.

And to the Horde of I(J)orion I'll say this: For the horde!

Better question, how many VC's have characters who died at a table you GM'd?

GM'd for three VC's, killed one.

Yesterday saw the very first game of a new GM for the Sunrise Lodge UK. He did GM 'We be Goblins' for the 'junior league' - a group of local school children and friends of my son.

Getting someone new to GM is always an event for celebration. With enough GMs we wouldn't have the discussions about 7 character tables and less burn out of GMs who have GMed one table to many that they didn't enjoy.

The new GM is now playing in the PFS for more than two years and has played more than 40 scenarios. 

I stayed around to help in crowd control (4 10-11 year old can be a difficult group), to help with initiative, to be around for rules questions or any other help a new GM needs while trying not to take over.

Yes, I was also there to ensure a good game for all the players and to ensure that the quality of a proper PFS game was maintained.

I shouldn't have worried. The new GM did a fantastic job. There have been moments where he used voice and intonation in a fantastic way to set the scene. It really brought some boxed text to live as I have seldom seen for - yes - boxed text.

Oh yes, he still has a lot to learn. You can only become better with experience. But this was a great start for him and I hope he will carry on as he surely has the potential one day to be a fantastic GM with players wanting to sit at his table.

Why do I write all this?

First - we don't often enough focus here on what went well, say thank-you to a GM or praise him/her and encourage them to come back to the table.
Second - maybe this post encourages someone else who is still unsure to take up the role of GM. Just try it - and if you are unsure about rules knowledge or other aspects - just ask a friendly and experienced GM to be at your table to help out if needed.
Third - the new GM is my son and he is only eleven. For him this was a big job and I'm proud how well he did.

I am proud to say I ran the first Pathfinder Society game in the UK at Gen Con UK 2008!

Here is a Pic of the First PFS game in the UK!!

I met some great people there and played with still some of the best GMs I have got the chance to play with.

I hope to someday in the future head back there to play with them again.

Thanks guys for still my best Convention memory!

Here are the rest of my pics from Gen Con UK 2008.

Just wondering how many fellow Brits are here on the boards? And if there is much PFS going on in the UK?

I'm from Scotland myself and to my knowledge there is nothing remotely PFerish or even D&Dish near me :(

Thank goodness for PbP!

Hoorah and Huzzah!

Paizocon UK is teeming with fine fellows and ladies from the UK, as well as a liberal spicing of friends from Europe and the US.

If you've not been, please accept this shameless plug as a suggestion that you check it out if you can, its flippin marvellous.

This years is on 21-22 July at Aston University.

Pett

Thanks for the acknowlegement and kind words, Mike.

It's been a long journey to 5 Stars, but every journey begins with but a single step.

For me, that first step was taken 23rd June 2007, offering to GM Hollow's Last Hope at my local game store for Free RPG Day. Players arrived, it was a fun adventure, and we had a great day.

I had been enjoying Living Greyhawk and Living Arcanis at Melbourne conventions for the previous five years, but those campaigns were winding down with the announcement of 4th Edition, so it looked as though Melbourne's convention community, at least for the next season, would be without D&D.

This was around the time Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path hit the streets, and I started GMing Chapter 1: Burnt Offerings, and soon after, Crimson Throne Chapter 1: Edge of Anarcy, for some of my friends.

I knew Pathfinder was a winning formula in need of players, so inspired by all the GMs who had run convention games for me in the past (truly thanks guys!), I decided to give back to the community by GMing Pathfinder Society events at Unicon, Arcanacon and Conquest, in fact last weekend was the fourth year we've run Pathfinder at Arcanacon, and our next Conquest is just around the corner (Easter long weekend).

I have since run PFS at GenConOz and PaizoConOz in Brisbane, and met players from all over Australia, many of whom have become good friends over time.

Last year when I was appointed Venture-Captain, Melbourne Australia, I figured I needed to step up my game, so I started GMing PFS not only at four conventions per year, but also at Good Games Blackburn every Sunday, and this year, I aim to start up a new group among game stores in the city.

Slot-zeroing scenarios with other GMs in preparation for upcoming conventions on Saturdays, while running public gamedays on Sundays, soon clocks up your GM Star rating.

It's also encouraging to see PFS groups starting to spring up all over Australia, including Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Rockhampton, Sydney.

Many people consider GMing a chore, and I must admit, I was more than a little daunted at first, but the more you GM, the better you get at remembering the rules, and can start to focus on telling a good story. Everyone starts somewhere, so don't be afraid to give it a try, even 5-Star GMs need an occasional break or a hand organising extra tables. You don't have to GM every week, if you rotate with other GMs - you help grow your local community, while still getting opportunities to play.

I've GMed four games for every one I've played. I probably enjoy GMing now more than playing. It's like setting a stage and watching the actors play their parts - no two games are alike, and the players will entertain you every time!

I'm a firm believer that long after you've left a table, the things you remember about a game aren't who critted the goblin in Act Two, or who has the higher damage output - your lasting memories will be the people you gamed with and the stories you tell. That's why I game, and I hope that comes across in the scenarios I run.

I'd like to thank every player who has ever gamed at a table with me, because I achieved these Stars with your help.

If you'd like to congratulate or help celebrate with me in person, I'll be rolling dice at Good Games Blackburn from 11am tomorrow (Sunday 5th February, 2012) - Frostfur and Sewer Dragons - should be lots of fun! I hope to see a few of you there :-)

Cheers,
--
Stephen (DarkWhite)
Pathfinder Society 5-Star GM
Venture-Captain, Melbourne Australia

Survived another year. The first one with the whole family dropping by a day later.

I did GM 7 - down three from last year but I didn't wanted to do that many again.

The family played 17 slots between all of us. My wife leading with our son close on her heels. And I managed to actually play four myself.

I had some great games - both as player as well as GM.

Thanks to Dave for all his effort and organising it. Having shared a lodge with him I can tell how often he had to organise some extra scenario or chronicle sheet. And while doing this he still GMed most slots as well.

Thod

Printing...printing...printing.

Making a list and checking it twice.

Conception 2012 here I come!

There are well over a dozen volunteer GMs on board to run at least 30 different scenarios, including every season 3 scenario. There are tables running in all 14 slots from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday evening. The list currently includes:

First level only:
First Steps part I: In Service to Lore
First Steps part II: To Delve the Dungeon Deep
First Steps part III: A Vision of Betrayal

Tier 1-5:
Silent Tide
The Frostfur Captives
Tide of Morning
Tide of Twilight
Mists of Mwangi
The Penumbral Accords
Echoes of the Overwatched
The Quest for Perfection Part I: The Edge of Heaven
The Quest for Perfection Part II: On Hostile Waters
Shades of Ice Part I: Written in Blood
Shades of Ice Part II: Exiles of Winter
Shades of Ice Part III: Keep of the Huscarl King

Tier 1-7:
Among the Living
Among the Dead

Tier 3-7:
Among the Gods
Sewer Dragons of Absalom
Song of the Sea Witch

Tier 5-9:
The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet
The Immortal Conundrum
Wonders in the Weave Part I: The Dog Pharaoh's Tomb

Tier 7-11:
The Kortos Envoy
Echoes of the Everwar Part I:Prisoner of Skull Hill
Echoes of the Everwar Part II:Watcher of Ages
Echoes of the Everwar Part III:Terror at Whistledown
King Xeros of Old Azlant
Lyrics of Extinction

Other:
We Be Goblins (you play goblins - credit can be applied to any level 1-2 PFS character)
Blood under Absalom (Saturday evening multi table event - all levels)

As always beginners are welcome and a range of pre-gens are available

Here's a challenge: What is the lowest Event # you can find on your Chronicles?

2 - Gen Con UK 2008

Plane tickets purchased - check
Bus transfer from London to Birmingham purchased - check
Hotel reservations - check

Looking forward to seeing everyone at this convention :)

PaizoCon UK 2012 dates announced:

PaizoCon UK 2012 will run from 21-22 July with a pre-event Balti Night on Friday 20 July. So get those dates in your diary. Once again we will limit numbers for the comfort and sanity of players and GMs and we expect to sell out. Watch out for further announcements in the New Year.

I will try to be there.

I mentioned it in the chat earlier in the week; maybe we'll get more from the continent [Europe] this year... :)

I think we too seldom thank our GMs. With another year nearly gone I had a look back at my games in 2011. Putting them all together in a list was great for me and gave me back fond memories. But also some bits I had forgotten.

I also felt I should say a Thank-you to them all. So here they are:

The year did start early with Cathlessra. The first game was a great start - which saw Szran for the very first time - my Barbarian. His 1:1 Duell in the bar with the Eidolon was epic and only his ferocity and some cheating (well timed healing) ensured he was the winner at the end.
But this is about the GMs. This was the very first game as PFS GM for Cathlessra. Starting at 'my' Lodge he soon formed his own and also GMed at two conventions - PaizoCon UK and Dragonmeet.
I expect him to get his second star this year.

Crispy was my second GM of the year. Thanks for your hospitality. CrispyCon was a great experience and I loved to play my first module - The Godsmouth Heresy.
And thanks for offering me the 7th seat at Conception for Rescue at Azlant Ridge.

A special Thank-You for Deathboy. Fantastic to hear you are now a Venture Leutnant - well earned. Deathbow went out of his way to organize a game specially for me while visiting Groton, CT. This was the second time he was doing this for me. A shame it is unlikely I will be back to Groton in the future as this was my last business trip there as they closed down our side.

The next thanks go to PhantasyPhil. Thanks for coming down to my Birthday Con - and to volunteer to run a great Murder Mistery for us

Moon Madness did GM one of only three scenarios I did with Theodum - my very first character. I had a lot of fun to use my Staff of Fire for the very first time - and thank you for not sending us into oblivion when I tried to burn with a wall of fire what shouldn't have been burned.

Mythrasus had the honor to GM the most useless troop ever to set foot into the Fallen Fortress. We nearly got defeated after the first two encounters due to lack of basic equipment - like a rope.
Thanks for keeping up with us. It was great to have the opportunity at Games Expo to GM with my daughter.

And of course - I can't miss out Wintergreen - our VC in this list. He came over to my Birthday weekend of gaming to allow me and my guests to be one of the first to play The Midnight Mauler. It was an epic game - I've never seen a single scenario that took that long - and everyone enjoyed every single minute.
I also had the very special honor to play at Dave's Four Star game at OddCon and to share that honor with my son and my daughter.

Someone who still might make it on my list this year is Nostrus - who currently GMs for the Nevis Lodge and First Steps Part 1 online here. Thanks for bringing the group together.

Special mentioning:
GM Wellard - he is my online Serpent Skull GM. Thanks for keeping the game running !! Amisis enjoys it a lot.

Stephen White - VC Australia. I really appreciated the time you took earlier this year giving me advice. You know what I'm talking about.

Painlord - thanks for the badge (yes - I can be bribed as GM). I hope one day we sit at the same table. I hope if the business goes well that I'm back to GenCon next year and this time I should be able to tell more than a week in advance that I'm coming.

Mike Brock - I sometimes feel sorry for Mike as posters like me sometimes cause grief to him. Thanks for the time you spend replying to my e-mail. It is very much appreciated that you took that time out of a busy schedule while discussions here on the boards were raging.

And off course - a Thank You also to all my players. But you are too numerous to mention - and this thread was meant to thank my GMs.

If you had good experience with GMs this year - feel free to share. I think we can't say Thank-You often enough to them.

Thod

Woohoo, my daughter's first birthday on the 15th and then PaizoCon the weekend after? Fortnight of awesome! Fingers crossed all of Nevis Lodge can make it!

Nope, it's no joke and hasn't been for the previous 3 years. It's fun though! ;-)

http://www.paizocon.co.uk/

There are even pictures to prove it!

Nevynxxx wrote:

Penned in, now I can organise a date for my stag do that wont clash!

You mean PaizoCon UK won't be your stag do. Well I'll just have to rearrange the scenarios then!

If only more than 1 of the other people on my Stag do were gamers.....

I intend to sit you down for a drink to celebrate though!

As always, me and Clare are very much in. :D

I can't guarantee anything because of a really crappy financial situation but I hope to know by April if me and my VL will be able to attend. In that case, I'm open for GMing anytime, all the time :D

Both Tonya and I will be there to GM.

Got it :)

PFS Returns to the Emerald Isle at the wonderful Arkham Gaming Centre

Starter event on 17th December 2011 at Arkham Gaming Centre, Gleno Village, Larne, N.Ireland

Time 10:30 to 17:30
No Entrance fee!!!

Three tables

Spaces: 3 seats remaining and going fast (as of 6th December)

Running First Steps Part One: In Service To Lore.

When Sat, Dec 17, 2011 morning, afternoon
Where Arkham Gaming Centre
26 Gleno Village
Larne , BT40 3GL
N.Ireland
Link to Arkham forum To Register

Scenarios Intro 1: First Steps—Part I: In Service to Lore (PFRPG)

I've added some pictures from the event Dragonmeet 2011

One more year done. A big thank-you to all the GMs who helped out.
Rob Silk was running two tables with the latest scenarios and I could have seated twice as many players at his table.
Thanks for Dave and the Beginner Bash. He did attract a few new players and cared greatly for my daughter who enjoyed playing with him a lot. I think having a GM offering the bash throughout the day is great. But we should move the table from the corner to the entrance and maybe have a morning bash and afternoon bash GM as well as more advertisement.
Thanks to Marcel, Andrew and Paul - my morning GMs. All players at your tables seemed to enjoy themthelves. And thanks to Fall of Camelot and Terry to step in last days and last minute to ensure we didn't turn away a single player.

The organisers Neil and Angus also did a great job to provide many tables and a great hall for us. It helps to have space.

This leaves the players. Dragonmeet always is chaotic as you never know who will show up in advance. We did have a lot of new players. I haven't done yet the reporting - but all in all we had 9 tables PFS and 2 tables Bash with a rough ratio of 2:1 new players outnumbering the veterans.

And talking to one or two of them we might even attract some new GMs which would be the best we could hope for.

Ahead of Dragonmeet I do ask myself the question - why do I endure this Chaos again. Having experienced yesterday and seeing players and GMs having fun I know why.

Should I forget, just remind me of this post in 11 month time.

Thod

For anyone Intersted - I'm just in the process to get 60 boons printed, so I can sign them later. Now I will have to work on a short introduction to it.

Thanks Mike for the Holiday boon.

Thod

Okay venture captain Dave
the chickens feet,pig blood , 4th ed players handbook , ral patha miniature, hair from the homeless, character sheet of a deceased character (so many to choose from)and low rolling dice
have been obtained what else do we need for the curse?
and who's the victim this year?

also we may have to cut back on the pathfinder uk popularity spell this year as it seems to be self perpetuating .

minion out..

I did promise in an earlier post I would share the pictures from the 4-star game. But it seems I only just downloaded them from my camera.

So here they are

Dave the proud 4-star GM

Picasa Album with all players of the 4-star game

Enjoy

Thod

Dave, you are just the best! And I loved your star cake, too! Well done.

Congrats!! Anytime someone earns a start it is an awesome accomplishment. The ability to have players continue to come to your table and enjoy themselves is like winning an Academy Award. "You like me, you really, really like me!"

Why it's nothing but coincidence that every other special guest at every single Paizocon UK has mysteriously been beset by bad luck, was killed in a bizarre badminton accident or suddenly caught fire.

Anyway, I might not be invited this year, although that might be dangerous for Dave to consider:)

Pett

So current thinking is have PaizoCon UK 2012 on the weekend after the US PaizoCon. I'm considering other venues which may alter the dates.

Please state any preferences or requests here!

I plan on attending so the weekend after Paizo Con would work.

As soon as we get a fixed date I will book a flight!

I hope it's the "we're moving Paizocon to Europe" announcement...