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Easier to prep scenarios would be really nice, as a GM I don't mind the difficulty and have time to prep but since I play just about everything first it's frustrating to read the scenarios and realize previous GM's make lots of plot line mistakes in the more recent scenarios for the most part because they missed things or things were not in a logical or easy to find location.
Developer
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stat blocks / maps - how about making some kind of 'web extra' for unmarked maps / expanded stat blocks / extra info the author added that got chopped due to wordcount etc
Just regarding this particular point, it's uncommon that I cut content as a result of word count considerations alone. The reason scenarios have a word count despite not having a strict page count is that the former helps plan how much time it should take to develop, lay out, and edit a scenario—to say nothing of how long it takes to run it! When I cut paragraphs from an adventure, it's usually because that portion no longer fits based on editorial changes, continuity, or other text added during development. On occasion (as was the case in a recent scenario), I cut but saved some information because I wanted to save some of that info as a reveal for a later scenario set in the same area.
I think that what you're requesting is best covered by discussion on the messageboards, where I find the author often jumps in to answer questions about NPC motivations or history that might not have made it into the final turnover.
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I do think the "form" of the scenario writing could be improved.
One thing that can trip people up is when an important detail is buried somewhere in the middle of a paragraph of description that's not actually box text. A GM will often paraphrase such descriptions, and then it's easy to miss the important detail. Just bolding out the crucial detail would make it a lot easier for the GM.
** spoiler omitted **
Bullet points for important details in an area also solve this problem.
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Bullet points for important details in an area also solve this problem.I do think the "form" of the scenario writing could be improved.
One thing that can trip people up is when an important detail is buried somewhere in the middle of a paragraph of description that's not actually box text. A GM will often paraphrase such descriptions, and then it's easy to miss the important detail. Just bolding out the crucial detail would make it a lot easier for the GM.
** spoiler omitted **
I very much like how The Emerald Spire has a sidebar for each level detailing the environmental conditions.
- Ceiling Height- Light Level
- Door Type and Locked/Unlocked state
- Environment/Weather
- Special Conditions
It's made it much easier for me to look at one box instead of hunting through paragraphs. Several times in other scenarios I haven't found a piece of info so I just make it up on the fly instead of stopping the game only to have a player complain the next week "I read it and you did it wrong!" I'd kinda like to see this as a standardized form for PFS scenarios.
edit: I also don't mind if there's no info and I just make it up. It's when the details are written somewhere in the scenario but not ready to hand that it's problematic.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32
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Having been in this campaign now for 2 years, I would like to stress to the development team the need for moderation. I feel as if we have this discussion every year, and every year we make sweeping changes. Every year we overcompensate. Season 4 was extremely hard, since Season 3 was so easy. Season 5 had tremendous roleplay because a lot of Season 4 lacked it. Season 6 so far has been even harder, because a significant part of Season 5 was a cakewalk.
We don't need to drastically cut the RP from scenarios, we just need less information that must be conveyed. We don't need to nerf combats to a ridiculous level, we just need to make sure that our scenarios are beatable (at the lower levels, especially). Let's not overreact yet again and cause even more problems than we already have.
