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I searched through this particular board, but I couldn't find an answer to my specific question.
I was scheduled to play First Steps Part 1 tomorrow, Part 2 in December and Part 3 in January. I was going to create a brand new character for the series. However, I'm moving to Texas in two weeks and will not complete the series as planned.
Will the character be in Limbo if I play part 1 now and not receive PA's until I complete part 3? This has the corresponding limitation of not allowing the character to be played until such time as I get a chance to play parts 2 and 3. But there will be no communication between the old and new DMs, so I don't see where I will ever receive the rewards associated with the first module.
I'm thinking that I forget about playing any part of First Steps until I'm in Texas. Is there anything wrong with my reasoning?
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Hey there, sieylianna. Congratulations on the move.
The Fame and Prestige of characters in the middle of First Steps is ambiguous. The PC hasn't chosen a faction yet; some GMs allow the player to spend the PC's prestige anyways, figuring it's a dissociated game mechanic. Other GMs ask the players to hold off spending prestige until they've resolved the First Steps trilogy.
Any character can step out of the First Steps scenarios into another adventure, and its Heisenberg uncertainty faction will immediately collapse into one of the ten factions. So, you're not stuck, unable to play anything until you get a faction,
And when you do, the fame and prestige your character has already garnered (whether or not she can use it now) will carry over and become active. So, if your PC has 2 Fame now, she can step into, say, Shades of Ice, part 1, and she'll pick a faction and have 2 Fame.
I don't see as there needs to be any communication between GMs, other than what's written on the Chronicle sheet you received.
Does this make sense?
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I would recommend playing all of the First Steps in order within a couple of days at most. While playing them a month a part isn't ideal, it doesn't hurt anything either. To answer your specific questions, you receive the full experience and prestige after part 3 under normal advancement. Your character isn't designed to play any mods in between, so the character is in limbo. Well... should be.
Communication between the GMs should be easy as long as the GM reports the scenario appropriately.
There is nothing wrong with your reasoning.
Characters default to the Grand Lodge until they pick a faction. If you choose to spend PA during the First Steps series, it is assumed to come from the faction you will eventually join. It was described to me as a bribe to increase the likelihood that you'd join them.
If you don't finish the First Steps series for any reason, you just choose a faction the first normal scenario you play.
You can do the First Steps in any order and do any number of them. (My first time through I leveled to 2nd after the first scenario and had to use a different character for parts two and three.)
The point of these adventures are to be very friendly and flexible for new players, not to lock characters into a series or deny PA. While it is recommended that they be treated special and people new to Society play them in order to learn about the Factions, xp, gold and PA are awarded normally at the end of each scenario and experienced Society players that know what to do with these resources are able to utilize them as they wish.
EDIT: It doesn't actually say this, but I'd assume if the character has a faction already from a previous normal scenario that they just play the First Steps (however many they can before they hit level 2) as 'already decided' possibly backing up the Faction head's shpeel on why to join. If the character chooses to switch factions after part of the First Steps series, they don't get the free faction choice that a starting character would and has to pay the appropriate cost listed in the Guidebook for switching factions.
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However, I'm moving to Texas in two weeks and will not complete the series as planned.
Just 1 question for ya...Where in Texas?..
If you have not found a PFS game yet in Texas we keep a PFS page to help find games.
You can check it out here
If you are going to join the page make sure you send Venture-Captain Dave Woodfin and email to notify him you did... dpwoodfin(at)gmail(dot)com
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However, I'm moving to Texas in two weeks and will not complete the series as planned.Just 1 question for ya...Where in Texas?..
If you have not found a PFS game yet in Texas we keep a PFS page to help find games.
You can check it out here
If you are going to join the page make sure you send Venture-Captain Dave Woodfin and email to notify him you did... dpwoodfin(at)gmail(dot)com
Mansfield Texas
I had joined that page, but it wouldn't let me see the calendar or anything worthwhile. Maybe emailing the VC will help. Thanks. I figured on asking in the Grand Lodge once I had moved, if I hadn't run across any games on my own.
Edit - email sent.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Sure, Andrew, but some GMs read about how Prestige works, that people trade their reputation for favors from a faction leader. Since PCs aren't members of a faction yet, these people understand that character halfway through the First Steps series are collecting Fame, but can't spend Prestige yet, because there's nobody who will give these "free agents" any goodies.
It's the same way with Faction Traits: PCs should leave a trait slot open, and only apply the faction trait after picking a faction. I'd bet that, somewhere on the boards, there are instructions about how to deal with these newbie PCs who haven't been completely acclimated into the campaign, but I haven't been able to find any pronouncements from Mike.
I've played through First Steps under GMs who won't let people spend Prestige. Since the threat level for the First Steps scenarios is pretty low, that's never bothered me.
I've played through First Steps under GMs who won't let people spend Prestige. Since the threat level for the First Steps scenarios is pretty low, that's never bothered me.
Maybe that is because both parts one and two specifically say this:
At the end of the third scenario, A Vision of Betrayal, after the PCs have met and done a favor for all 10 faction heads, they will be able to choose their PCs’ allegiance and gain retroactive prestige for the completion of the previous two scenarios.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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But the text in the scenarios has been contradicted by forum posts by both Mark Moreland and Mike Brock. Whichever "should" take precedence, the forum posts were written in light of the scenario text and were inteded to correct that.
I'm not saying the GMs who ran First Steps were wrong in following the text of the scenarios, because they probably didn't read the corrections. But in this case, forum posts should take precedence.
Ah, but per their explicit wording in the forums and the Guide, forum rulings don't count until they appear in either the Guide or FAQ.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Now you're being silly, just trying to find ways to abuse the rules. When you say "Ah, but" it sounds like you're trying to trap me in some logic puzzle. I'm not trying to play that kind of childish game. I'm trying to do my job as a table GM.
As for "don't count", what you're suggesting is that forum guidelines shouldn't be followed. That's a malicious and deliberate misinterpretation of the way this Organized Play society operates. Rather, we're not held responsible for knowing about those rules until they're in the guide or FAQ. (As I said, I'm not claiming that those GMs were wrong. But that's not how Mike wants us to adjudicate.)
Have you GMed a First Steps scenario? If so, how have you ruled, when someone asks if she can spend Prestige at your table, Enevhar?
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Ah, but per their explicit wording in the forums and the Guide, forum rulings don't count until they appear in either the Guide or FAQ.
**faceplant**
The intention of the wording is not that you gain no prestige during First Steps, but that you don't have an affiliation with any specific faction. As has already been noted, you are loosely connected to the Grand Lodge faction until you decide if any of the other ones are more applicable to your character. You are still earning Fame and Prestige, but you would not qualify for faction-related vanities.
There is no language that restricts the general rule that you can spend your Prestige for favors from the Pathfinder Society. You are, after all, still making a name for yourself. That name may not hold the same importance as a higher level PC with lots of Fame, but you have earned a marginal bit of it Fame just from succeeding at the tasks within First Steps.
Also, allowing new players to spend PP during First Steps gets them experience with one more feature of organized play.
A couple notes to further the knowledge base here:
With the new Guidebook's rules on awarding PA and Fame, 1 of the PA points comes just from completing the Pathfinder mission. So the concept of Fame is no longer tied to just the Factions.
Also, in the FAQ it states that you can leave one trait slot open for a faction trait after you finish the First Steps series. At that time you can fill the slot with a faction or non-faction trait. So there is more flexibility for the whole 'introduction to the factions' concept in these scenarios.
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A bit of common sense should be used here. Basically so long as you are playing First Steps, you don't need to choose a faction until one of two things happens:
- You finish the third First Steps scenario (Whether it is Part I, II, or III).
- You play a regular scenario.
Example: You play, First Steps II, III, and then I. You choose a faction at the end of the third scenario, part I in this case.
Example 2: You play First Steps Part I, and then Frostfur Captives. When you fill in the sign in sheet for Frostfur Captives, you must choose a faction, even if you plan on playing First Steps Part II afterwards. Regular Scenarios require you to have a faction.
Also Bob is correct that you can use your prestige to buy items, such as a wand of cure light wounds. There's no reason to penalize a player for buying items simply because they are playing the Intro Scenarios.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Any character can step out of the First Steps scenarios into another adventure, and its Heisenberg uncertainty faction will immediately collapse into one of the ten factions. So, you're not stuck, unable to play anything until you get a faction,
If Heisenberg is involved, does the first steps PC gather prestige with Bussard Collectors?