YES! I am excited!
waiting patiently for the free module.
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I'm really looking forward to people's impressions after tomorrow regarding the module.
Personally, I find it incredibly lacking as an entry-point for newcomers to Pathfinder, especially compared to last year's phenomenal We Be Goblins! For only six pages of adventure, it can be a total grind and also over-the-top in terms of difficulty.
Be prepared, folks. You may want to just play for fun and not for PFS credit, if you value your PCs life.
Chief Technical Officer
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Just to be clear here:
The print edition is available for free at participating Free RPG Day stores tomorrow, during those stores' regular hours, while supplies last.
On Monday, at 12:01am PST, the PDF will be available for free right here at paizo.com. Sometime later that day, the print edition will be available to order from us, priced at $5. I can't tell you exactly what time that will happen, as it's a manual process, but the exact time doesn't really matter—we have plenty. In fact, you can still buy the Free RPG Day products from 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. (Our 2007 product is sold out in print form, but still available as a free PDF.)
Just to be clear here:
The print edition is available for free at participating Free RPG Day stores tomorrow, during those stores' regular hours, while supplies last.
On Monday, at 12:01am PST, the PDF will be available for free right here at paizo.com. Sometime later that day, the print edition will be available to order from us, priced at $5. I can't tell you exactly what time that will happen, as it's a manual process, but the exact time doesn't really matter—we have plenty. In fact, you can still buy the Free RPG Day products from 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. (Our 2007 product is sold out in print form, but still available as a free PDF.)
This is great! I have been looking for a local game store that has joined in on this and the closest one is an hour away. No way I am driving an hour to have a chance to get something. Besides I have to work so losing 2+ hours before going to work is not feasible. I wish "Gamers Haven" would participate as it is the nearest gaming store to me. How do stores participate in "Free RPG Day"? Guess I'll have to look into purchasing from your site.
P.S. When I click on the 2009 link it takes me to a page for this: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bonus Bestiary (OGL), which confuses me. I was under the impression that the links are for modules?
P.P.S. One last thing, what are the letters and numbers for on modules? One of them says D1.5 and I seen others with different letters and numbers.
P.S. When I click on the 2009 link it takes me to a page for this: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bonus Bestiary (OGL), which confuses me. I was under the impression that the links are for modules?
Free RPG Day materials can be anything. Paizo has mostly done modules, but one year, they gave away the Bonus Bestiary, although I think many if not all of the creatures inside have been presented in an actual Bestiary now.
P.P.S. One last thing, what are the letters and numbers for on modules? One of them says D1.5 and I seen others with different letters and numbers.
When Pathfinder first started, the modules had codes to categorize them. D was for dungeon adventures, W for wilderness, U for urban, etc. It was a cool system, but everyone was constantly asking what they meant, and they've dropped them now.
Free RPG Day materials can be anything. Paizo has mostly done modules, but one year, they gave away the Bonus Bestiary, although I think many if not all of the creatures inside have been presented in an actual Bestiary now.
All of them. I think all in Bestiary 3, but I deleted my Bonus Bestiary after making sure that I didn't need it anymore, so I can't swear that none were in 2.
P.P.S. One last thing, what are the letters and numbers for on modules? One of them says D1.5 and I seen others with different letters and numbers.When Pathfinder first started, the modules had codes to categorize them. D was for dungeon adventures, W for wilderness, U for urban, etc. It was a cool system, but everyone was constantly asking what they meant, and they've dropped them now.
Crown of the Kobold King was D1 by the system Joana explained. 2007's Hollow's Last Hope was a prequel so they called it D0, and 2008's Revenge of the Kobold King was a sequel so they called it D1.5 (since there was already an unrelated D2). They all take place in Darkmoon Vale, where further adventures can be had in the Carnival of Tears and Hungry Are the Dead.
Free RPG Day didnt work out to nicely for me.
2 weeks ago I asked the guy at my store if they were participating. Yes they tell me. I say I want the Pathfinder adventure and the guy says get here early.
I have work at noon but took the trip out to my gaming store before my shift starts. 30 minute drive and toll to go over a bridge.
I get there when the doors open at 10:00 and the girl tells me I can have the adventure if I take part in playing it in the store. Customers are setting up at the tables.
I have to go to work. I tell her I was told I can just pick one up and she was like sorry you need to participate in the game to get the module. Went back 30 minutes then drove to work.
I guess Ill be ordering one. :(
Is it just my store that pulled this?
Nope, because sky rocketing rents and other problems ate away all the stores selling any similar product here.
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@Jason Grubiak: My experience with Free RPG Day last year convinced me I'd rather just pay $5 + shipping to get my module than drive to the next town over and deal with the hassle the 'local' game store manager wanted to give me for me to get my 'free' product. Leave it to game stores to turn what's supposed to be a chance to showcase themselves and earn repeat business into an opportunity to ensure I never want to go back. :P
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Well, just to demonstrate that there are still folks who know how to do Free RPG Day right, I stopped in at my FLGS (Grand Cities Games in Grand Forks, ND) and picked up the module. No participation necessary, though I did pick up a Rite Publishing product in the spirit of supporting the store!
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I have 3 game stores in my area 2 of the 3 do not even participate in Free RPG Day. But the one that does makes up for the other too. They have a huge sale on all the gaming stuff, have door prizes every 15 minutes for 2 hrs, organized and open gaming, etc. They make it a real event. I think most shops that drop the ball on Free RPG Day are run by lazy, presumptuous jerks with no customer service or marketing skills.
In all fairness stores do have to pay for their Free RPG Day kits. Some stores are willing to eat the cost in the hopes that they'll gain new customers, others require a purchase and/or that you play in the event. I think the specifics are left to the store's discretion so long as they're not outright selling the products.
My local store, Champion Cards and Games (CCG) had their store partially rearranged since I was in there last Saturday and had everything laid out on a table at the front.
I asked when I went in if there was a limit on what I could get, because the other local game store, which has now moved to a location less local to me, had a two item limit last year. I was told that I could get one of each item and one of the dice, and told by the clerk to make sure I check the backs of the items to make sure they weren't duplicates (because one product had two different product identities depending on which cover was facing up).
I agreed a week ago to run the Pathfinder module for the store from 12-4 PM. It took us awhile to get started (90 minutes?), but a couple guys that had never played Pathfinder before (one with 3.5 experience and one that really likes Pathfinder but has never had a group) got to play, and even one of the store regulars who is a Warhammer 40k & Magic player joined. We started with only 5 players, and an elf rogue "in reserve," but shortly after start, another guy walked in and asked specifically if he could both join and play a rogue. (I did shoot him down when he asked to play evil though. I don't always disallow evil, but I think that was a good call.) We did lose our Valeros before combat began, so it was still only 5 players though. We only got through the first encounter before the majority of the players had to bug-out though, and by then it was after 4. I think they had a mostly positive experience. (I know one guy didn't care for the rogue's tactics, but I liked them--the rogue's player made a lot of use of the Acrobatics skill for fancy moves.)
In addition to the FlipMat used in the module, I also took my GameMastery Combat Pad to make use of it (and demonstrate), Critical Hit and Critical Fumble decks, and the Tinkered Tactics Combat Tiers. Nobody got a critical hit or critical fumble, so no drawing from the decks, but the Combat Tiers were very useful in dealing with combat in alleys and and rooftops in the city. (It's much easier to figure line of sight with elevations when you actually have elevations.)
My thanks to Paizo and to JBE and LJP for their contribution this year. I hope this exposure is rewarded with increase in playerbase to reward the financial risk.
Sadly (or not so sadly) I got hijacked by visiting family yesterday and couldn't get to the game store. How did everything go? How's the new module?
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I went to my local store (a hour away) and was surprised , they were out of almost everything when I got there about 2 PM. They did have most of what I was looking for The Pathfinder Module and The DCCRPG Module. I was also looking for the LPJ Module but there were none, and luckily I was in on the kickstarter for the JBE Module so I got that awhile ago.
I was also surprised that he had no limit on the stuff as the year before I went in a few days after Free RPG day and asked about it and he hauled out a box full of stuff and said I could pick only one item.
I did feel bad as I tried to look around the store to actually buy something from him to give his store some support (I buy everything online, real stores are a antiquated idea IMO) but he had nothing I could actually use that I did not already have. It was a shame as it was his stores anniversary and everything was 20% off. I felt horrible walking out with only free stuff 8(
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The shining light in New Jersey is my favorite game store All Things Fun in Berlin. We have four other game stores an equal distance away; none of them were participating. ATF offered two items to anyone who walked through the door, period. Did I pick up a couple of other things while I was there? Of course. This place is a class act that has always come through so I give a little back. They even had a sampling of items from last year’s Free RPG Day for qnyone who may have missed it. And Dawn of the Scarlet Sun, BTW, is easiest the best looking item of them all. Instead of complaining about the industry they wore smiles and made a killing. Good for them.
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Well, just to demonstrate that there are still folks who know how to do Free RPG Day right, I stopped in at my FLGS (Grand Cities Games in Grand Forks, ND) and picked up the module. No participation necessary, though I did pick up a Rite Publishing product in the spirit of supporting the store!
Grand Cities Games was always awesome when it came to Free RPG Day. My wife and I used to have stuff set aside for us so we didn't have to be there at door opening! We'd make our way over and Rob would pull out the goods for us! We made sure to buy something else that day too.
My Free RPG Day was less than stellar, pretty much a huge let down actually. My wife and I took the time to drive up to The Source, it's a good 40 minute drive for us and not one we do often. Last year, the place was packed. They had bags of free stuff to hand out, free food, drinks, snack. Plus a 20% off sale anything in the store. There was barely any room to move, plenty of games being played and people standing around waiting for a table or a place to play.
This year: nearly the complete opposite. Hardly anyone in the store. A few games in the back that were going on, only one that I could tell was Free RPG Day specific and that's cause it was the Pathfinder module. The rest of the players looked like the normal, average Saturday gamers. No free anything to be had. We actually had to ask an employee if they even had the Free RPG products anywhere since there wasn't anything that scream 'get it here!'. We eventually found 3 piles on a back counter. The Pathfinder module, a 4e module and a folded map. Nothing else.
On our way home, we stopped by Tower Games to see if anything was happening there. Even less. They weren't participating at all.
Free RPG day was kind of a big bust for us. :(
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According to the Free RPG Day website, there was only one gaming store running it in my area. I didn't get there until about 10:30 PM. There were a few games being played that I didn't recognize. I asked if any PFS stuff had been played or will play; they said that the games at that particular store focused around non-rpg type games: miniatures, war hammer, cards, etc.
I picked up the PF module as well as a map of Harn, and feeling bad about picking up free stuff and not sticking around, I purchased the Inner Sea Primer and a flip-mat.
No gaming for me though. :-(
I picked up the PF module as well as a map of Harn, and feeling bad about picking up free stuff and not sticking around, I purchased the Inner Sea Primer and a flip-mat.
Yeah, that's rule #1 for me too: I always buy something. This year it was just a couple Paizo card decks, but the principle is still there. I've been ordering an awful lot direct, so I do what I can for the store.
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I always try to spend some cash in the store, even if it is a cube of dice. This year my wife planned ahead and I had a little extra. Our store looks at the whole thing as if it were an advertisement, if you buy something great if not you now know the store exists and maybe you'll be back. There were a couple games running and we always support those too.
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Aaaaand not a single store in CT ran with Free RPG day. My favorite holiday, and I spent 5 hours tooling around the state to wind up with nada...
Is CT alone in this, or are other people having trouble finding a supporting store?
I've been trying to lobby Sarge's and the Citadel for the past couple of years to get them to do this. I haven't give up yet. I have managed to get Pat at the Citadel to let me host a few PFS games and we're hoping to make that a monthly if not biweekly event. Maybe that will give us fuel for next year.
(Good to meet you at game day in Newington, by the way.)
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Aaaaand not a single store in CT ran with Free RPG day. My favorite holiday, and I spent 5 hours tooling around the state to wind up with nada...
Is CT alone in this, or are other people having trouble finding a supporting store?
I've been trying to lobby Sarge's and the Citadel for the past couple of years to get them to do this. I haven't give up yet. I have managed to get Pat at the Citadel to let me host a few PFS games and we're hoping to make that a monthly if not biweekly event. Maybe that will give us fuel for next year.
(Good to meet you at game day in Newington, by the way.)
You too.
If you get anything going at Citadel, let me know. Two of my players and I live in Taftville, so Citadel is a hop/skip/jump for us.
Sarge's said they did it last year and had *zero* turnout. Time machine has been the only consistent participant and I guess they didn't get a reminder email this year so they were too late.