PaizoCon 2012 Noob


PaizoCon General Discussion


So I am sure this has been posted a 1d100 times, but I am going to ask anyways. So I and 5 others are headed to Paizocon. It is the first for all of us and one thing we are wanting is to sign up as a group for a table. We are a mixed group of vetern players and not so vetern, but we have all played together for over a year (almost weekly). We were hoping to find a GM who likes to RP and can lead a larger group. Any ideas, directions on how we go about this would be great!

Sczarni RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

Well, the lottery is a good place to start. I think there is a way for your group to sign up together.

If not, the next best thing is Pathfinder Society. If you haven't played PFS, try to start soon and level up some characters. If you can't do that, play 1st level characters. The game will be just as fun. You could play higher level characters, even if you don't have them set up yet, but they will have to be one of the prerolled.

Outside of those two options, there will be unofficial events during all parts of the Con. You could ask specific people to run games for you, or just rely on this discussion to attract people.

I am hoping to have an event open to everyone, but it can only handle a party of four and no more.

Good luck gaming!

The Exchange

My last few years have not really been around the gaming table all that much. By the sound of it, I must concur that PFS may have to be the way to go. It seems level 1 adventures are always in high demand at these events but they occassionally over shoot their expected demand and you get a lot of Gamemasters sitting at a table alone. I have seen it. They are usually very accomodating to last minute organizing. Not a for sure thing though. The idea of leveling up a group of characters at a local PFS game in your area does have great merit. Bringing some level 4 characters (for instance) would give you guys the most flexibility if some of those PFS's have some no-shows too.

Generally though you must sign up for games and there might be a number cap on that (not sure). The events that will soon be announced are usually VERY HARD to get into. I have never attended a gaming event with a designer or a Paizo employee and I have been going there for three years. The buddy system is a "NO GO." You have to split up to get into those highly impacted games. If the system let's you in a game with James Jacobs (let's say) and you have it set up that your buddy must get into it too and that buddy isn't chosen by the system then you will be thrown out.

There are some events that have a lot of slots but again, they are not a good option for the buddy system (as it was last year). The buddy system is their way of pairing people to specific events but I believe it is a good way to get you kicked out of events that were impossible to get into in the first place.

Nice Raistlin outfit, BTW.

Sovereign Court Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder

Keeping your group of 6 together is seriously going to limit your PaizoCon experience. I dare say that you will have almost a 0% chance of snagging a Paizo staffer game (which, btw, is the most prized lottery win).

Honestly, the best part of PaizoCon is getting out there and playing in different groups. I'd advise that you try not to isolate yourselves into your regular group. I mean, hey, you play together all the time, right? Why not spread out, play whatever you can, and hang out together after hours to recount all your experiences?

And I need to say that I am not really a con-gamer. I prefer to play with friends, not strangers, so I really get where you are coming from. BUT, PaizoCon is not a typical gaming con. It's smaller, more intimate. So, when I sit down at a table to play, I probably know at least one person at the table by a messageboard name. And my the time the session is over, they aren't strangers anymore.

That's the cool thing about the Paizo Community and PaizoCon.

The Exchange

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

what is "the lottery" ?

Sovereign Court

Once all the gaming events (non-PFS events ... apparently PFS tables will be in abundance from what has been said elsewhere) are determined and scheduled, the listing is then posted for everyone to review. You then list your top picks and alternates and then the PMG and his minions use their skills in the mystical arts of Algorithm Magic to assign people randomly based off their preferences.

This is not to say that you will get what you want on any given day or any given slot. In 2009, I got 5 of the events I wanted, in 2010 I got 1. BUT, there are plenty of non-game related (that is, where you are not actively playing a game) items of interest. There also tends to be a fair amount of Free Gaming that goes on that is not part of the official games schedule.


Seraphimpunk wrote:
what is "the lottery" ?

V,

U going to Paizocon?

The Exchange

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Shiv, ya. Booked my room n got my ticket. Doing gen con and paizo this year.
Who is you?


Great responses! It looks like the likely hood of us having a session together is limited if not unlikely which is ok. Probably my only concern is my son who is 15 may be a bit shy and I would hate to limit his experience, but then again I guess they need to leave the nest at some point. Regardless, we are all very excited to be at the Con.

We are starting up PFS characters this week, at best we will be 2nd' level when we show up but reading up on the rules it seems very interesting and putting aside out level 9's for a few months will be a nice break and get us back to the basics.

Looking forware to new people and more importantly, as the weekly GM, other's interpretation of the rules.

Cheers!

Lantern Lodge

Schedule released and frankly I'm a bit overwhelmed considering choices, both lottery and non-lottery. My thinking as of now is to prioritize the saturday and sunday Lottery choices so I can begin a PFS character friday early for the Grand Convocation friday evening.

Will be my first PFS character so while not a pathfinder noob I am a PFS noob.

Looks like some fun seminar action throughout, but I'm gonna try to concentrate on developing a PFS character early.

Any advice before thursday's registration would be greatly appreciated.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

My advice is this: If there are any seminars you *must attend*, note down those times. Then, go through the lottery and rank everything honestly, but give "0"s to any events that would collide with the seminars from the previous step. Once you have the lottery results, fill your schedule with any open events that interest you.


My group just started playing PFS rules. At best we will have made it to 2nd level. For those events that require 4th, 8th, 12th level PFS characters will I be able to roll up a character for the event? Or would I be limited to playing my 2nd level PFS and a newly created 1st level PFS?


PFS will let you play a pregenerated character at the appropriate level. With PFS your character has to play from 1 up. For non PFS events, the description should tell you character gen rules (or that they will be provided :)

Grand Lodge

Is the finale for Season 3 listed in the events? I couldn't figure out which one it would be... or when it would be...

Grand Lodge

Another noob question - I will be bringing a new PFS character to the con. So I guess I'll be choosing 1st level sessions? Will my character be leveling up during the con? How can I plan on sessions to choose to accomodate this (e.g. not signing up for several 1st level sessions when my character is advancing)?


expatriorc wrote:
Another noob question - I will be bringing a new PFS character to the con. So I guess I'll be choosing 1st level sessions? Will my character be leveling up during the con? How can I plan on sessions to choose to accomodate this (e.g. not signing up for several 1st level sessions when my character is advancing)?

Most if not all session are tier 1-5. Broken out to Tier 1-2 and 4-5. Meaning level 1-2 and level 4-5. Each session gains 1 xp. For level 1 starting at 0 you will need 3 xp to raise to level 2. You can still gain xp for tier 1-2 play at level 2. If you only wanted to play PFS you could most likely play all tier 1-2 over the Con and level 2 and then some. Confused yet? If you have not done so yet downlaod the PFS Organized Play, it is free. It goes over how it all works pretty well.

Grand Lodge

Aeshuura wrote:
Is the finale for Season 3 listed in the events? I couldn't figure out which one it would be... or when it would be...

Never mind, I found it. I didn't notice the tabs... >.<

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Aeshuura wrote:
Is the finale for Season 3 listed in the events? I couldn't figure out which one it would be... or when it would be...

The two scenarios wrapping up the Season 3 metaplot are #3–25 and #3-26. One is for high levels and one is for low levels, so everyone should be able to play a concluding scenario no matter what level PC they have.

expatriorc wrote:
Another noob question - I will be bringing a new PFS character to the con. So I guess I'll be choosing 1st level sessions? Will my character be leveling up during the con? How can I plan on sessions to choose to accomodate this (e.g. not signing up for several 1st level sessions when my character is advancing)?

You'll likely want to schedule First Steps parts 1–3 for your first three sessions to get your PC to level and so you get a nice introduction to the society and all ten factions. Then you can play any Tier 1–5 scenario with your now-2nd-level Pathfinder. By the end of the con, if you play every session, you might even make it to 3rd level, as you gain a level every 3 scenarios.

Lantern Lodge

expatriorc wrote:
Another noob question - I will be bringing a new PFS character to the con. So I guess I'll be choosing 1st level sessions? Will my character be leveling up during the con? How can I plan on sessions to choose to accomodate this (e.g. not signing up for several 1st level sessions when my character is advancing)?
Mark Moreland wrote:
You'll likely want to schedule First Steps parts 1–3 for your first three sessions to get your PC to level and so you get a nice introduction to the society and all ten factions. Then you can play any Tier 1–5 scenario with your now-2nd-level Pathfinder. By the end of the con, if you play every session, you might even make it to 3rd level, as you gain a level every 3 scenarios.

My husband and I are in the same boat as well (PFS noobs). We're signed up for First Steps 1-3 but from what I've heard from friends that play PFS, we might not want to register our 1st level characters prior to playing First Steps 1. Is this right? How should we go about creating our first characters - at the Con or prior?

Shadow Lodge

Nilink wrote:
My husband and I are in the same boat as well (PFS noobs). We're signed up for First Steps 1-3 but from what I've heard from friends that play PFS, we might not want to register our 1st level characters prior to playing First Steps 1. Is this right? How should we go about creating our first characters - at the Con or prior?

I am not sure why your friends are providing that advice.

I will give you the same advice I give to the players in my region. Anything you can learn and/or do before your first game session will make that first game session go more smoothly. If you have character concepts, you should bring a character you want to play and enjoy (built using the rules presented in the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play). If you do not bring a character, pregens are available (but who wants to play a pregen when you have your own concept)?

If I were you, I would follow the Pathfinder Society link on the left (it will take you to http://paizo.com/pathfinder Society). There, I would follow the top three links on the right hand side of the page in order. Having a number, downloading and reading the organized play guide, and registering characters in the system are your first steps to joining.

Welcome to Pathfinder Society!


I'm helping the wife create hers before the con too. Helps her put more effort the background. You'll be surrounded by people just wanting to have fun.


Nilink wrote:
expatriorc wrote:
Another noob question - I will be bringing a new PFS character to the con. So I guess I'll be choosing 1st level sessions? Will my character be leveling up during the con? How can I plan on sessions to choose to accomodate this (e.g. not signing up for several 1st level sessions when my character is advancing)?
Mark Moreland wrote:
You'll likely want to schedule First Steps parts 1–3 for your first three sessions to get your PC to level and so you get a nice introduction to the society and all ten factions. Then you can play any Tier 1–5 scenario with your now-2nd-level Pathfinder. By the end of the con, if you play every session, you might even make it to 3rd level, as you gain a level every 3 scenarios.
My husband and I are in the same boat as well (PFS noobs). We're signed up for First Steps 1-3 but from what I've heard from friends that play PFS, we might not want to register our 1st level characters prior to playing First Steps 1. Is this right? How should we go about creating our first characters - at the Con or prior?

I think your friends meant you do not want to PLAY your firsties before First Steps. If you play you need to choose a faction. First Steps is unique in that you do not need a faction in fact it is intended for you to MEET the factions.

On second thought if you register a character the system might REQUIRE you to choose a faction. In this case, yes you are better off not registering :)

Lantern Lodge

Curaigh wrote:
On second thought if you register a character the system might REQUIRE you to choose a faction. In this case, yes you are better off not registering :)

Actually that's the reason our friends told us to NOT register prior to the Con but I don't want to take up any unnecessary time with character creation (even if we did come with all of our ideas in mind). We're both new to the PFS scene and want to maximize our game time at the Con. Correct me if I'm wrong but without deciding on a faction, we won't get faction traits. Will this significantly hurt us in the scenario? What would you PFS veterans recommend? Thanks for any help you guys provide.

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

If you register a new PC who has not selected a faction in-character, but you know out-of-character what faction he or she is going to choose, you can go ahead and register that faction for the PC. This way whoever reports your first few sessions can do so without any problems, as character 12345-1 will actually exist instead of being a placeholder for when you finally get around to registering it.

If you don't know what faction your PC will choose to ally with at the end of the First Steps series, choose the Grand Lodge faction as a default and then switch your faction once you've selected one. You can change a PC's faction in the system by going to your My Account page and editing the associated messageboard alias.


PLink wrote:
Curaigh wrote:
On second thought if you register a character the system might REQUIRE you to choose a faction. In this case, yes you are better off not registering :)
Actually that's the reason our friends told us to NOT register prior to the Con but I don't want to take up any unnecessary time with character creation (even if we did come with all of our ideas in mind). We're both new to the PFS scene and want to maximize our game time at the Con. Correct me if I'm wrong but without deciding on a faction, we won't get faction traits. Will this significantly hurt us in the scenario? What would you PFS veterans recommend? Thanks for any help you guys provide.

There is a difference between CREATING your character and REGISTERING your character.

Yes by all means CREATE your characters ahead of time. Part of the character creation is to choose a faction. However, if you are playing First Steps you can skip this step. (It is written so you will meet the factions and can choose which to join after the adventure is over and hence which faction traits you are eligible for.) In all other cases you will choose a faction before you play.

Playing First Steps without a faction trait will not significantly alter the game for you (for better or worse :)

I have not REGISTERED a new character in a while. This is putting your characters name, faction, etc. into Paizo's database and gets you an official player number. GM's can also hand out numbers at the game table, so it is OK to register after the con or better yet Friday night. (plus there will be lots of people to help you do this :)

I might be rambling. Did that help? Can smarter people than me comment?

Lantern Lodge

Thanks! This has helped alot.

Community / Forums / Paizo / PaizoCon / General Discussion / PaizoCon 2012 Noob All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion