Paizo News: Paizo Launches Worldwide Organized Play Program for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game


Pathfinder Adventure Card Game General Discussion

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Paizo Glitterati Robot

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Assuming I read the announcement right, we don't need adventure deck 2 to host organized play during month 2. Just the base set the whole way?

Pathfinder ACG Designer

Pirate Rob wrote:
Assuming I read the announcement right, we don't need adventure deck 2 to host organized play during month 2. Just the base set the whole way?

Nope, you need all the Adventure Decks as they come out.

Sovereign Court

Must... contain... EEEEEXXXXXXXCCCCCCIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMEEEEENNNNNNNTTTTTTTT!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea, I failed


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Tanis O'Connor wrote:
Pirate Rob wrote:
Assuming I read the announcement right, we don't need adventure deck 2 to host organized play during month 2. Just the base set the whole way?
Nope, you need all the Adventure Decks as they come out.

I think the confusing part is where the announcement states:

"To participate in the program, organizers need only provide the core game, the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles Base Set. Players will only need to outfit themselves with the PACG: Class Deck (MSRP $19.99) of their choosing to play."

Which pretty clearly says "organizers need only provide the core game...Base Set".

So reading between the lines, does this mean Paizo will provide the Adventure decks to organizers? Actually, I'm pretty sure this is not the case, so a bit of clarification in the announcement might be in order.


The statement primarily means that for season 0, the S&S base set will be needed for organizers.

Sovereign Court

Yea. While I understood what was being said in the announcement, I definitely see the confusion, simply because it does state the base set is all the organizer provides -- and Paizo definitely would not provide every adventure just because you are an OP organizer

Dark Archive

Just cause you are an organizer does not mean you are a player. You can be both.


Very exciting news here. A couple of questions that have come to mind…

1. The Base Set is obviously a requirement for participation. If you have 5 or 6 players at a table, would the Add-On Deck be required as well?

2. Is the onus on the retailer or the organizer to supply the Base Set (and Add-On Deck, if required)? I imagine most Venture Officers will be fans of the game who buy their own set regardless, but what if more than 6 people want to play? Is there any incentive for a retailer to open up one or more "store copies"?

For example, say a store provides the Base Set and Add-On Deck for 6 players, who each purchase a Character Deck. They've cracked $80 worth of product for $120 in sales (and maybe they can sell the used product at the end of the season at a discount to recoup some of that). But if 7 players show up, then the store's looking at opening $120 in product (2 Base Sets) to sell $140 in Character Decks. That's less great for them, no?

I hope this doesn't come off as negative or naysaying; I think this is an amazing program for Paizo to offer and I'm sure there are all sorts of benefits to be reaped by both players and retailers. I'm just wondering if there are mechanisms in place to encourage retailer "buy-in," or if the up-front costs are all shouldered by the organizing VO.

Thanks, Paizo, for months of incredibly fun gaming experiences so far, and many more to come!


I'm guessing that will be up to the store. But they wouldn't be out the retail price of anything, just their own cost. Though I also imagine that a large enough percentage of the participants will own the base set that it won't be a problem. If even 16% of participants own a base set and are willing to be a "table leader" or whatever it will be called, there shouldn't be a problem.


Odd web-geek question: why does the top of the news post (just below the golem) have the date Nov 25, 2008, 04:00 PM?


Is OP of Season of the Shackles a different Adventure Path that can be played with the S&S base set (and adventure decks)? The only difference is you have to go to an OP to see those Adventure Path, Adventure, and Scenario cards. Is there no other way to get those cards? Or am I missing basic concept behind OP?

I see there are crossover benefits if you play the Pathfinder RPG. Are there any promo cards for PACG associated with participation in an OP?

Grand Lodge

Drunkenping wrote:

Is OP of Season of the Shackles a different Adventure Path that can be played with the S&S base set (and adventure decks)? The only difference is you have to go to an OP to see those Adventure Path, Adventure, and Scenario cards. Is there no other way to get those cards? Or am I missing basic concept behind OP?

I see there are crossover benefits if you play the Pathfinder RPG. Are there any promo cards for PACG associated with participation in an OP?

S&S base set plus the adventure decks will be the basis for Season 0 organized play. You are correct that it will parallel the S&S AP in that you will go from OP scenario to OP scenario instead of going through the scenarios of the AP. Also, the organized play will be using the class decks rather than the classes/characters that come with the S&S set.

The specifics have been discussed but I don't think it's 100% concrete.

Oh, and the Adventure Path, Adventure and Scenario cards won't really be cards but will be printed material from Paizo. Don't expect promo cards for OP.

Grand Lodge

I had a discussion about setting up organized play on Friday with the store I'm working with.

We have a few questions. They stated that the scenarios will be coming out weekly. What day would that be? We're tentatively setting things up for Thursday nights.

I understand from conversations that we'll be working the organized play from OP scenario to OP scenario each week. If we happen to miss a week here or there because of participation, should we pause the game for that week and pick up where we left off or skip to the new week?

We have scalable cards in RotR, i.e. add adv deck number to the difficulty check. Will we have that in S&S as well? How does that work with OP?

Scarab Sages

I'm more interested in the basic question of whether or not subscribers will have their orders shipped in enough time to start OP on the "official" date. If a venture officer gets their base set 2 weeks after GenCon (or even if a participant orders a class deck to ship with their sub), then it might cause the launch date to slip quite a bit past the "official launch date."


Calthaer wrote:
I'm more interested in the basic question of whether or not subscribers will have their orders shipped in enough time to start OP on the "official" date. If a venture officer gets their base set 2 weeks after GenCon (or even if a participant orders a class deck to ship with their sub), then it might cause the launch date to slip quite a bit past the "official launch date."

speaking of which does anyone know how i can get my sub and class decks to ship in one order?


feylund wrote:
Calthaer wrote:
I'm more interested in the basic question of whether or not subscribers will have their orders shipped in enough time to start OP on the "official" date. If a venture officer gets their base set 2 weeks after GenCon (or even if a participant orders a class deck to ship with their sub), then it might cause the launch date to slip quite a bit past the "official launch date."
speaking of which does anyone know how i can get my sub and class decks to ship in one order?

When you order your class decks, during check out choose the option to have them added to your "sidecart". That means they will be shipped with your next subscription shipment.

If you already ordered or can't figure out how to do that, just post on the customer service forum and ask them to add the order to your sidecart. Just be sure to give them the order number.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Answers to a few questions from above:

If you have 5 or more players at a table, you do also need the S&S Character Add-On Deck. If you have 4 or fewer, you do not.

We are looking at a way to help make sure that a VO in each area has access to a full set of cards, but in general, the onus is on the store to have a box available—which means either providing a copy themselves for each table, or ensuring that a local fan brings a box to play from.

The launch of the OP program is the first day of Gen Con: Thursday, August 14. We plan to release a new scenario each Wednesday after that, with the exceptions of Christmas and New Year's Day, which happen to be Wednesdays this year. One of the reasons that we've chosen Wednesdays is that that's the normal day for new releases in the hobby game business, and each new chapter in the storyline will kick off on the same day that the corresponding Adventure Deck is released. Smart retailers will quickly realize that having an enthusiastic audience in the store on the same day the new shiny comes out should help drive sales for them.

Our goal for US subscriptions is always to deliver releases or or near the retail release date, but it's not something we can guarantee... but stores *should* always have the product by the release date.


Hi Vic. One quick question before I start pestering my local store owner to sign up on the retail page and have him order a class deck for me and my wife:

Is there a minimum number of players required to play OP scenarios?

We might be able to get a friend to play with us most days, but a lot of the times it might just be me and my wife. It would also be nice if I can be available to replay the game with other people, even if it's just me and one other person after I've already played it with my wife and hopefully get more people in my area interested in the game. I've considered trying to get into RPG organized play, but with the 4 character minimum I just don't know if I'd be able to play very often in my area where war mini games like 40K are dominant. The possibility that there might be a similar minimum in the card game's OP is the only thing keeping me from wanting to jump right in, right out of the gate.


Vic Wertz wrote:

Answers to a few questions from above:

If you have 5 or more players at a table, you do also need the S&S Character Add-On Deck. If you have 4 or fewer, you do not.

We are looking at a way to help make sure that a VO in each area has access to a full set of cards, but in general, the onus is on the store to have a box available—which means either providing a copy themselves for each table, or ensuring that a local fan brings a box to play from.

The launch of the OP program is the first day of Gen Con: Thursday, August 14. We plan to release a new scenario each Wednesday after that, with the exceptions of Christmas and New Year's Day, which happen to be Wednesdays this year. One of the reasons that we've chosen Wednesdays is that that's the normal day for new releases in the hobby game business, and each new chapter in the storyline will kick off on the same day that the corresponding Adventure Deck is released. Smart retailers will quickly realize that having an enthusiastic audience in the store on the same day the new shiny comes out should help drive sales for them.

Our goal for US subscriptions is always to deliver releases or or near the retail release date, but it's not something we can guarantee... but stores *should* always have the product by the release date.

Thanks, Vic! I was a little worried my questions had been lost in the thread maelstrom. Way to come through!


pluvia33 wrote:

Hi Vic. One quick question before I start pestering my local store owner to sign up on the retail page and have him order a class deck for me and my wife:

Is there a minimum number of players required to play OP scenarios?

We might be able to get a friend to play with us most days, but a lot of the times it might just be me and my wife. It would also be nice if I can be available to replay the game with other people, even if it's just me and one other person after I've already played it with my wife and hopefully get more people in my area interested in the game. I've considered trying to get into RPG organized play, but with the 4 character minimum I just don't know if I'd be able to play very often in my area where war mini games like 40K are dominant. The possibility that there might be a similar minimum in the card game's OP is the only thing keeping me from wanting to jump right in, right out of the gate.

This post strongly implies the minimum will be 1. And this post confirms it.


Thank you Hawkmoon, for this and all of the help you provide by keeping so in tune with what is going on with the game.

Liberty's Edge

Just a quick note: Christmas and New Years EVE are Wednesdays this year...


If you are interested in these characters and want to play them with your regular gaming group, how would you go about incorporating their class deck cards into the regular sets?

Just shuffle them into the appropriate scenario numbers?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

That is what has been said. Shuffle in the cards based upon what adventure deck you are playing.

I expect that they will work with any base set. i.e. RotRL and S&S.

Grand Lodge

1970Zombie wrote:

That is what has been said. Shuffle in the cards based upon what adventure deck you are playing.

I expect that they will work with any base set. i.e. RotRL and S&S.

The class decks are being designed for use with S&S and beyond. Might need some tweaking to work with RotR.

Vic, please tell me that we can use our class decks we buy now* with WotR OP. (Yes, I understand we have to start over with new chars. But the physical deck will be valid with the next season.)

*Aug 14th

Pathfinder ACG Designer

Theryon Stormrune wrote:


Vic, please tell me that we can use our class decks we buy now* with WotR OP. (Yes, I understand we have to start over with new chars. But the physical deck will be valid with the next season.)

*Aug 14th

Yup.


If you want to play a class deck character in any adventure path, you can just add the cards from the class deck by adventure number at the same time you add each adventure deck. That was confirmed here.

But also note, that you might not HAVE to do that. If the character you are playing from the class deck will be fine with the boon in the adventure path you are playing, then you can just use the character without the boons from the class deck. So, if you want to take a Wizard from the Wizard class deck and non-of that particular Wizard's powers rely on particular card from the class deck, you won't need to mix the boons. But if there was a Gunslinger class deck and you wanted to play a Gunslinger from it in RotR, then you would probably benefit from mixing the boons, or at least the guns, in with the appropriate adventure deck number. See this.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Tim Felts wrote:
Just a quick note: Christmas and New Years EVE are Wednesdays this year...

Right you are. Either way, those are the two weeks we're skipping.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Hawkmoon269 wrote:

If you want to play a class deck character in any adventure path, you can just add the cards from the class deck by adventure number at the same time you add each adventure deck. That was confirmed here.

But also note, that you might not HAVE to do that.

You are correct... but I think the cards in the Class Decks are probably going to make you WANT to do that.


Vic Wertz wrote:

...

The launch of the OP program is the first day of Gen Con: Thursday, August 14. ...

I'm guessing if we're attending GenCon and are signed up for the OP sessions taking place there we don't need to pre-order the class decks, we can just buy them at the booth before our play session?

Can't wait!

EDIT: I guess maybe I'd need to pre-order and somehow flag them for GenCon pickup? Or perhaps not at all since there will be plenty? I'm not signed up for 4 sessions so I have to buy two of them for myself and my wife. Which whatever I want them anyway, just checking what the best way to do it is. :)


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The only items you can flag for GenCon pick up are the actual subscirption items, so for PACG just the Skull and Shackles Base Set, Character Add-on Deck, and your promo cards.

The Class Deck and other non-subscription products you can purchase while at GenCon. You'll be able to receive your 20% subscriber discount, but there will be Indiana's 7% sales tax (the same will be applied to your subscriptions too, though you won't have to pay shipping). So you'll need to stop by the Paizo booth and make that purchase before you can play in the Organized Play at GenCon.


Hawkmoon269 wrote:

The only items you can flag for GenCon pick up are the actual subscirption items, so for PACG just the Skull and Shackles Base Set, Character Add-on Deck, and your promo cards.

The Class Deck and other non-subscription products you can purchase while at GenCon. You'll be able to receive your 20% subscriber discount, but there will be Indiana's 7% sales tax (the same will be applied to your subscriptions too, though you won't have to pay shipping). So you'll need to stop by the Paizo booth and make that purchase before you can play in the Organized Play at GenCon.

Thanks for that!


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Hawkmoon269 wrote:


So you'll need to stop by the Paizo booth and make that purchase before you can play in the Organized Play at GenCon.

As I understand it, if you have 4 tickets for PACG events at GenCon, you can bring them to the event area and get a class deck. This is different from the Paizo store booth, since that won't open until 10 AM, whereas PACG organized play starts on thursday at 8 AM.


It looks pretty promising. I wonder if the character progression will change in this environment. Will it be any different?

Grand Lodge

Cedfaz wrote:
It looks pretty promising. I wonder if the character progression will change in this environment. Will it be any different?

Different how? The class decks will provide a more "tuned" experience for the character as the cards in the decks are designed for that class. What we are getting now (in RotR) is a more generic approach. As far as character progression, I would think it's going to be extremely similar to RotR with whatever changes will occur for S&S. But the mechanics will be the same.


Okay. I read the press release and this entire thread. And I still have NO idea what this is about.

It appears as though it's some sort of weekly organized play at participating stores. The stores provide the base set, we players provide our character packs, and Paizo provides a new scenario each week (except the end of December).

Is that it?

If so, I don't get it. I mean... why? What's in it for me? I already play every week (on and off). Do player's get special promo cards or something (like Magic the Gathering with their promo cards for Friday Night Magic)? If so, then I guess this might be worth it. The press release mentions:

"As characters play through Season of the Shackles, they'll fight pirates and denizens of the isles, gain tasty plunder and new spells, and learn secrets buried deep in the Inner Sea's watery reaches. Each scenario brings with it new prizes, and players of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild can gain rewards that cross over into RPG play".

I have no idea what these things are. Are the "tasty plunder" and "new spells" promo cards obtainable only by playing in this organized play?

Sorry if this is obvious for everyone but me. I'm a software engineer and require more concrete details. To me, it seems like the press release was only for "people in the know".

I see the obvious benefits for stores and Paizo. People coming to the stores for any reason increases sales for store owners. And patrons coming to the store for other reasons will be intrigued by people playing PACG, so more sales for Paizo. I just haven't quite got a handle on what the player gets out of this.


Your understanding of how organized play would work seems correct to me. The benefits of the organized play part (I'll get to the Class Decks in a minute) are:

1. If you want to play with more people but don't have friends that you can play with. Are you always playing solo and what to play with other players? This is for you. Want to see what a 6 player game would be like but only have 4 friends to play with? This is for you. Like just meeting people that share your interests? This is for you.

2. More content. The Skull and Shackles products will essentially support two official Adventure Paths: The one in the product itself, and the one in Organized Play. Organized Play will not re-use scenarios from Skull and Shackles It will instead have unique new scenarios released each week. So the replay value of Skull and Shackles is doubled. (Remember, you'll be able to purchase them for yourself, so even if you don't want to go to the Organized Play at a store, you and your friends can play the OP Adventure Path in the comfort of your own home.)

The class decks make that possible. But they also do one more thing. They give you more character choices. Want to see what a Wizard with blessings would be like? Or see what a Ranger with higher dexterity would be like? Those things will (probably) be characters in the class decks. Want to have an easy way to take a Cleric and play Skull and Shackles (Kyra isn't in S&S)? Use the character and boons from the Cleric Class deck.

The "players of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild can gain rewards that cross over into RPG play" part seems to be some kind of way the RPG organized play can interact with the card game organized play. For example, I think right now the RPG Pathfinder Society has a special t-shirt you can buy that allows you a free reroll of the dice during play or something like that. Perhaps they will be benefits that if you complete a certain scenario of the card game, your character in the RPG Pathfinder Society will get some kind of reward (gold? a reroll? a special weapon?) But that is pure speculation and guess work, especially since I don't play the Pathfinder RPG.

Grand Lodge

Hawkmoon has hit on most of the points of Organized Play. Especially #1. There are some of us that are very much into playing PACG but don't have friends and/or family that can participate as much as you'd want. This will give you the option to head to the local gaming sponsor and play with a group.

(And no, Kyra/cleric isn't one of the classes in S&S in base or add-on.)

However, you won't be able to run your character through the AP with the deck scenarios then continue with the OP scenarios with the same one. The OP scenarios are designed to start with new characters and play through that path. Plus the class decks will have different classes available compared to the S&S set. (Fighter, Rogue, Druid and one more cross over. The rest are new.)

For myself who plays in the PFS, I'm interested in seeing what the crossover is about.


Thanks for the response, Hawkmoon.

I suppose I'm reading into this that is no benefit to me, then. I recognize that all your points in 1 and 2 are valid and probably apply to a wide selection of people, but I have no problems with playing with whatever number of people are available--including just myself.

I think the most disappointing thing about this program is that all Paizo is providing is a PDF for stores to download (read this on the article announcing the Class Decks). 30 new scenarios with no new locations, villains, or henchmen? People have been posting great scenarios here without those things. I'd expect a little more from Paizo.

Shrugs.

Oh well, PACG is still a great game even though I find a lot of little annoyances in it. And since some people will find the organized play as defined helpful then I guess it's better than nothing (although a PDF is just some bits on a computer... so that's as close to nothing as you can get).


Sir Barnick wrote:

Thanks for the response, Hawkmoon.

I suppose I'm reading into this that is no benefit to me, then. I recognize that all your points in 1 and 2 are valid and probably apply to a wide selection of people, but I have no problems with playing with whatever number of people are available--including just myself.

I think the most disappointing thing about this program is that all Paizo is providing is a PDF for stores to download (read this on the article announcing the Class Decks). 30 new scenarios with no new locations, villains, or henchmen? People have been posting great scenarios here without those things. I'd expect a little more from Paizo.

Shrugs.

Oh well, PACG is still a great game even though I find a lot of little annoyances in it. And since some people will find the organized play as defined helpful then I guess it's better than nothing (although a PDF is just some bits on a computer... so that's as close to nothing as you can get).

id like to say that they have said the scenarios will be pages of stuff. not just a card so they were able to do a lot more with the scenarios in op. so dont expect just because their are no new cards that there wont be some neat stuff going on.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Hawkmoon269 wrote:


The "players of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild can gain rewards that cross over into RPG play" part seems to be some kind of way the RPG organized play can interact with the card game organized play. For example, I think right now the RPG Pathfinder Society has a special t-shirt you can buy that allows you a free reroll of the dice during play or something like that. Perhaps they will be benefits that if you complete a certain scenario of the card game, your character in the RPG Pathfinder Society will get some kind of reward...

In PFS, you can gain boons and apply them to your character. For example, my character has a quest to find his missing mentor, who when I find him, will give me a small bonus, and a boost from being associated with Shoanti clan. I suspect the above will be a special boon earned for playing enough PACGAG scenarioes.

Sovereign Court Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Vic Wertz wrote:

We are looking at a way to help make sure that a VO in each area has access to a full set of cards, but in general, the onus is on the store to have a box available—which means either providing a copy themselves for each table, or ensuring that a local fan brings a box to play from.

A suggestion:

No need to get a set to a VO in each area. Instead, leave the onus on the store owners (after all, you're giving us the adventures each week for free, which is huge). If you get a local VO to work with a store and sanction OrgPlay for this, then give your distributors permission to sell exactly ONE set to a store a further discounted price (many game companies offer a free demo with a purchase of six games, or a 75% off demo copy as a one-time offer), then the store will have very good incentive to purchase it from the supply chain that already exists. That way you don't tax your own resources over-much, and the people who are benefiting from this program (the stores, via extra sales) always have the right thing on hand and do not have to rely on outside help.


I've been drumming up interest locally so that I'll have a sizable group when OP launches, but had a question:

My group of players are interested in running S&S decks as they come out as well as Society OP. Can they use the same class decks and current boons for both, or does the OP campaign limit you from progressing the deck outside of Organized Play, meaning they would have to track progress for each (even while using the same physical class deck) separately?

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

In PFSACG play, you may only play appropriate characters through the organized play scenarios. Otherwise, you'd power up far too quickly, and nothing would be a challenge for you.

In home play, of course, you can do whatever you want, but I would strongly advise that you pick one AP and stick with it, or you'll have the same problem described above.

If you really really really want to mix S&S and OP scenarios, I'd strongly suggest you trade them out based on the adventure number and the reward given—that is, if a printed scenario for chapter 2 gives you a random item as a reward, replacing that scenario with an OP scenario for chapter 2 that gives you a random item as a reward shouldn't cause problems. (I cannot guarantee that every scenario will have a swappable equivalent.)


That's what I suspected. Thanks for the answer!

I'll just tell folks to track their decks separately if using the same class, or purchase multiple class decks.


I'm going to guess that when we get closer to GenCon, you will be revealing details for reporting the Organized Play games. Kinda important as we draw closer and I'm looking at an initial $100+ investment for running it. My wallet cries out in terror.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

The details will be in the PFSACG Guide to Organized Play, which will be released before Gen Con. (If you're familiar with how reporting works for PFSRPG, you'll find it will be very similar.)

Sovereign Court

Is it normal that I emailed Mike Brock about being a VO on June 26, and a follow-up in July 10, and haven't gotten a reply? As we get closer, I'm getting more concerned I haven't heard anything back.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Andrew K wrote:
Is it normal that I emailed Mike Brock about being a VO on June 26, and a follow-up in July 10, and haven't gotten a reply? As we get closer, I'm getting more concerned I haven't heard anything back.

It appears to be normal, as I've had the same experience, sent initial email on June 26, a follow-up on July 9 asking did you receive my previous e-mail. Still haven't heard anything.

I can understand that they wanted to get e-mail from interested people before they were ready to announce all the details. But not responding with at least a 'we got your e-mail, we will be in touch' means that they run the risk of some people getting left out since they can't know that their e-mail didn't get through.

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