After exchanging a few ideas on a different thread - HOW DOES A LOCAL GAME SHOP SET UP A NEW SOCIETY GAMING VENUE? - I decided to create a new one - here goes.
Hello all,
I come here looking for advice from other, more experienced PFS players, DM's and coordinators. I live in Portugal and have decided to take my #1 hobby to the next level - organized play has always been something I have watched with a passion but from afar, both because it is not a really (yet..) in my hometown, or in my country for that fact, and also because I always seemed to get stuck on the last step and actually conformed to the more comfortable home play or even PbP.
I have decided to change that, and after some research I believe I have come across a few hobby shops, magazines and/or clubs that may actually present me with an opportunity to take this to the next step, if only for the space. Even if there is no "hobby-shop" support I am intent on taking this forward.
I do have a few doubts though:
- Besides the obvious logistic and space reasons, in what regards PFS and Paizo, is there any advantage of starting this from the ground with an established company or registered shop in my country, or is it similar if I simply start it individually?
- Now... I have played with my group for... 20 years. But I have never been involved with anything like organized play at this level - what would you say would be the hardest difficulties to overcome for a newly arrived?
- I have perused the site quite throughly and have already realized that there is much free material to get things going, such as modules and Pathfinder society guides, however I would like to know if there are any othr "promotional" materials that can be used to pike people's curiosity, not only for experienced roleplayers, but also for captivating people to a NEW hobby. I am talking about posters, participation tokens or gifts, etc.?
- Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I am planning to join on the next bi-monthly RPG meeting for cummunity X in my hometown - It is quite easy, since they are a very open group, to simply put myself up as DM for a Pathfinder 4 hour session. My first temptation is to bring my usual gaming group to tag along, but I feel I should do the exact opposite and attempt to captivate new people, or at least mix them up - would you agree?
- Continuing on the argument above, I have the notion that people some times get deterred from trying something when they are informed they will have to go here and there, and register, and get a number, and etc. How much of this work is it possible to already have sorted out for them to make things smoother and all about gaming?
I have MANY more questions but I would like to get this started with the ones above.
Any feedback will be much appreciated.
Thank you
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Welcome, Edeldhur! First of all, thanks for taking the initiative to start thinking about PFS in your region. It's intimidating, at first, but there are a lot of resources to help you out, and once you take the initial steps, it's really just a little extra paperwork. You've got some great questions - so here goes.
- Besides the obvious logistic and space reasons, in what regards PFS and Paizo, is there any advantage of starting this from the ground with an established company or registered shop in my country, or is it similar if I simply start it individually?
Starting in a game store lets you attract new gamers that you might not already know - it's a great way to meet new people and mix things up a little. That said, if you're in Europe, I understand that a lot of stores simply don't have the space to support public gaming, so some of the European public play happens in places like libraries, pubs, university halls, and stuff like that. There's nothing wrong with a home PFS game, but I personally quite enjoy not knowing which group of Pathfinders I'm going to be working with on a given week.
- Now... I have played with my group for... 20 years. But I have never been involved with anything like organized play at this level - what would you say would be the hardest difficulties to overcome for a newly arrived?
I suspect this would be the rigid rules on RAW. A GM can't adjust the adventure to make it easier or more challenging for their players in a legal PFS game, and in addition to that there are certain prestige classes, spells, feats, and the like that are not legal for character creation. A home game allows a lot more customization and flexibility, but the nature of public play means that everyone has to follow the rules as best as they can.
- I have perused the site quite throughly and have already realized that there is much free material to get things going, such as modules and Pathfinder society guides, however I would like to know if there are any othr "promotional" materials that can be used to pike people's curiosity, not only for experienced roleplayers, but also for captivating people to a NEW hobby. I am talking about posters, participation tokens or gifts, etc.?If you're starting up public play, at a store or a library or something, then Paizo might be able to send you a poster or something you can put up. You can email Mike Brock, the campaign coordinator, about that - but you should already have a plan in place when you do. (Have a location organized and some dates chosen and booked, etc.) Mike's email is mike.brock@paizo.com
- Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I am planning to join on the next bi-monthly RPG meeting for cummunity X in my hometown - It is quite easy, since they are a very open group, to simply put myself up as DM for a Pathfinder 4 hour session. My first temptation is to bring my usual gaming group to tag along, but I feel I should do the exact opposite and attempt to captivate new people, or at least mix them up - would you agree?
Yes. You need at least 3 players at the table to make it run, but you can run it with up to 6. If I was unsure how I'd be received, I'd bring 3 people from my home group and try to recruit 3 more. If you're optimistic about people jumping in, recruit a second GM from your home group - if lots want to play, you can have one GM and one experienced player at each table, with room for up to 10 more players - 5 at each table.
- Continuing on the argument above, I have the notion that people some times get deterred from trying something when they are informed they will have to go here and there, and register, and get a number, and etc. How much of this work is it possible to already have sorted out for them to make things smoother and all about gaming?
Yup. When you create an event on the website here, one of the things you can do is "reserve 10 pathfinder society numbers" Print off that one page, cut it into 10 cards, and pass them out to the players that play. Ideally, they want to register at this site so their character can be tracked officially - but even if they don't (believe it or not, I have a player at my weekly games who doesn't own a computer!) you can still record the adventures using the number you give out, so there's no obligation for them to register. The important thing for them is to keep the Chronicle - it's the written records that matter most.
Hope that helps! Keep asking questions and you'll do great.
Wow, thanks a LOT for all the feedback Jeff, it is already helping me to create a mental path on how to go about making this work.
Here is my crunch so far:
#1: As I said I have been DMing for a very long time now, and even though the group has changed a lot through the years, the core 4 have remained the same (guess I can call myself fortunate for that). Even with all the changes that affect your life as you grow up (kids, moving, jobs, etc.) we managed to stick with it, either through Skype, PbM or sometimes even around the table (Lo and behold :D)
My group likes me as a DM but then again they are my group, so I want to throw whatever skills I may think I have out there, with people I do not know, so that I can hone them further.
Alongside with this, I want also to sharpen my grasp on the PFS gaming, the ins, outs and feel of the modules and the game flow for it. So in the immediate, I want to start running scenarios more consistently - in the immediate, and taking the above into consideration, PbP would be my best option at this - it should allow me to probably get groups easily from the amazing pool available here at the Paizo site, and getting better at it as I go.
My questions would be:
- do you guys see any issue with PFS PbP?
- What modules and other advice would you drop on me if I wanted to start such a thing?
- How is usually the gamers adherence to PbP PFS gameplay?
#2: Towards my particular region, I am planning to hit first something that has been quite consistently organized - I have found around 5-10 stores/groups/communities that regularly organize "game days" (the example on my previous post was one of them) - they are not all based in my home town but a few should be accessible. My idea would be to start actively addressing their respective websites posting the idea of starting Pathfinder organized gaming, getting their pulse, disclosing and disseminating the idea, and since I am sure questions will come up clear it up and have, perhaps in a month time, things set up for the next get together to include PFS gameplay.
Let me know your thoughts and apologies for the wall of text.
Thanks
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Thanks Jeff. Nice to get off an airplane and see all the answers I would have given already addressed. Edeldhur, if you need any help or assistance, continue asking questions here, and feel free to email me for specifics. I have to catch a connecting flight, but if your other questions aren't answered by the time I get checked into my hotel tonight, I will do my best to answer them.
I am actually brainstorming this at the moment and waiting to digest the information as I receive it.
Thank you for your e-mail availability, I am sure I will be posting many more questions until I get it all straight in my head - I will be posting them as structured as I can.
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I have never really done PbP and honestly if you are used to running games you should have no problems running a PFS Scenario. Scenarios only require 4 people to play, they take about 4 hrs and are basically the bread and butter of PFS. One reason I suggested the Intro Steps series, besides being free to download, is it gets you comfortable with the different factions as you are running around doing little quests for each one and they also cover all the basic types of adventures you will have in PFS. The first has puzzles, an ambush, retrieving an object from an imp, etc. The second is your basic dungeon dive, and the third is an overland trip with other key elements. At the end of all three you can pick your faction and you will be level 2.
When first starting out I would suggest not trying to organize at multiple stores on multiple days, especially if you are doing this all yourself. Find a good local place to play, advertise that you have 4-6 slots open to play and go from there. It will grown and it will grow fast, so you really don't want to stretch yourself to thin trying to run multiple events at multiple stores.
I have never really done PbP and honestly if you are used to running games you should have no problems running a PFS Scenario. Scenarios only require 4 people to play, they take about 4 hrs and are basically the bread and butter of PFS. One reason I suggested the Intro Steps series, besides being free to download, is it gets you comfortable with the different factions as you are running around doing little quests for each one and they also cover all the basic types of adventures you will have in PFS. The first has puzzles, an ambush, retrieving an object from an imp, etc. The second is your basic dungeon dive, and the third is an overland trip with other key elements. At the end of all three you can pick your faction and you will be level 2.
When first starting out I would suggest not trying to organize at multiple stores on multiple days, especially if you are doing this all yourself. Find a good local place to play, advertise that you have 4-6 slots open to play and go from there. It will grown and it will grow fast, so you really don't want to stretch yourself to thin trying to run multiple events at multiple stores.
My main issue here is:
- PbP (if found acceptable) would immediately allow me to start playing PFS Scenarios - and I totally agree with you, I would start with the Intro Steps, no doubt about that. While arranging "around the table" games it would allow me to immerse myself in PFS and improve a lot on my knowledge of it. I would be able to build on that, while organizing local games, since it should be fast to arrange a group here at the Paizo site.
I can however foresee some issues - for example, where it states, regarding "Additional Resources":
In order to utilize content from an Additional Resource, a player must have a physical copy of the Additional Resource in question, a name-watermarked Paizo PDF of it, or a printout of the relevant pages from it, as well as a copy of the current version of the Additional Resources list.
I am already wondering how to achieve this in PbP