PFWiki Scribe |
6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hi folks,
I've recently realized that PathfinderWiki can serve the Pathfinder Society community better (both GMs and players). The wiki focuses mainly on campaign setting material, but still could be quite useful to Pathfinder Society GMs.
I've started updating a few of the product pages for a number of scenarios with information about recurring characters and locations, and where further information on these subjects can be found. Take a look at Portent's Peril. Would this be useful information to create for ALL scenarios? Is there other information that would be useful? Remember that the wiki does not include lots of crunch, so we can't be of much use in that department (besides very basic information such as levels, classes, etc).
If you look at the bottom of the Portent's Peril page, you'll see that the categories already break down scenarios by tier and location (both cities and nations).
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Starglim |
The information for scenarios sounds very useful for GMs. I haven't played Portent's Peril yet so won't review it directly. As this might suggest, the potential for spoilers exists. Locations, Venture-Captains giving assignments and similar known NPCS sound like safe information that players could get before the session or in the briefing boxed text.
Certainly keep doing what you're doing. I often use the wiki for game prep.
Players can benefit from information to build up character backgrounds, such as races and ethnicities, languages, deities, nations and recent events, which of course you already cover.
Jeff Morse |
Hi folks,
I've recently realized that PathfinderWiki can serve the Pathfinder Society community better (both GMs and players). The wiki focuses mainly on campaign setting material, but still could be quite useful to Pathfinder Society GMs.
I've started updating a few of the product pages for a number of scenarios with information about recurring characters and locations, and where further information on these subjects can be found. Take a look at Portent's Peril. Would this be useful information to create for ALL scenarios? Is there other information that would be useful? Remember that the wiki does not include lots of crunch, so we can't be of much use in that department (besides very basic information such as levels, classes, etc).
If you look at the bottom of the Portent's Peril page, you'll see that the categories already break down scenarios by tier and location (both cities and nations).
not sure of how to make it better, cause has been real helpful so far when ineed to look up locations. having the links for tie in stuff is great. that way people can try to play characters that may know NPCs in it. THANKS FOR THE GREAT AND HARD WORK.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Muser |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've stopped using the wiki for the most part. It's a great site, but it also keeps spoiling me constantly.
Examples:
Two clicks to take you from Hold of Belkzen article to an AP boss reveal.
Scrolling down an area article spoils Emerald Spire entirely.
An article about robots(iirc) gives away a million things about Iron Gods.
etc.
Spoiler tag that crap! If your contributors recite AP volumes as sources, for instance, enable some kind of instant tagging e.g "this article uses Irongfang Invasion part III - Even Moar Hobgolins as a source" or restrict spoilers to a separate block of text transparently marked as such.
PFWiki Scribe |
We've been back and forth on spoiler tags for a long time. You can pretty much assume that any product page (i.e. an article about a product, such as a scenario) will have some kinds of spoilers. We already mark non-product page articles that contain spoilers with the "spoiler" badge, which you can find in the top right of the page (it looks like an exclamation mark, e.g. Sandpoint).
If that is too subtle for you, once you create an account at Pathfinderwiki (which you all already have, right?), click on "Preferences" in the top right of your screen, then click on the "Gadgets" tab, then select "Toggles a more visible spoiler warning box on pages with the spoiled badge."
This may be giving away something I shouldn't, but there are actually very few regular editors on the wiki (we're not the popular kids). If you see a page that you think should have a spoiler badge but doesn't, it's not because we don't care (we do care), it's because nobody has noticed it. The easiest thing is to drop us a line on the "Discussion" page for that article (you'll find it on the top left of the page), or if you want to just jump in and do a little editing yourself (it'll make you feel good!), simply click on the "Edit" link and insert the following code all the way at the top of the article:
{{Badges|spoiled=[[Name of publication that is spoiled by this page]]}}
See, wasn't that easy?
Belabras |
I think the wiki is a great resource, especially for GMs.
One thing that would be great to see is summaries of retired scenarios and specials. That would be really useful for things like the Second half of Race for the Runecarved Key, where it informs what happens in The Waking Rune but was a one time only con special.
bigrig107 |
Muser wrote:Sorry to hear that. Out of curiosity, what two clicks were they?I've stopped using the wiki for the most part. It's a great site, but it also keeps spoiling me constantly.
Examples:
Two clicks to take you from Hold of Belkzen article to an AP boss reveal.
I believe it's:
BigNorseWolf |
Andrew Christian |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Things that would be really helpful:
- A list of which VC is tied to which scenario.
- A list of which location(s) is(are) represented in which scenario.
- A list of which scenarios are tied together story wise.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to what seasons meta story arc.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to which AP.
Any other lists you or others could think of that would help a GM tie together a comprehensive storyline for players and characters. So making sure all scenario references in these lists also shows the Tier.
RealAlchemy |
A list of what you get with different familiar types (including boon familiars) might be handy as well. I just ran something that grants a special familiar type from a borrowed adventure and it would be nice to know whether it's worth getting that familiar which would mean buying the book it comes from.
Belabras |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mitch Mutrux wrote:Maybe a list of what scenarios a given NPC appears in on that character's respective wiki page? Like have a list of PFSscenarios that Sheila Heidmarch appears in on her page, I think that'd be pretty handy.RUUUUUUUUN!
She just needs someone to open some boxes for her.
PFWiki Scribe |
Since Portent's Peril is a very recent scenario that people might want to not have spoiled, I gave The Dalsine Affair the same treatment.
PFWiki Scribe |
Things that would be really helpful:
- A list of which VC is tied to which scenario.
- A list of which location(s) is(are) represented in which scenario.
- A list of which scenarios are tied together story wise.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to what seasons meta story arc.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to which AP.
Any other lists you or others could think of that would help a GM tie together a comprehensive storyline for players and characters. So making sure all scenario references in these lists also shows the Tier.
A lot of this information is already included in the tables we create for the various "Year of the ..." pages. Each of the PFS seasons has its own page with a sortable table. Season 0 and Season 1 are called by the numbers (since the "Year of the ..." designation did not start until Year of the Shadow Lodge), but the rest you can search for by their proper names.
Landon Winkler |
Something I've been considering adding to the wiki (that might work better in a Google Doc or other separate resource) is collecting roleplaying information for the Venture Captains and other reoccuring PFS NPCs.
The wiki is certainly the right place for NPCs' history, but I'm not sure if "this is how Ambrus Valsin talks, his personality, and some quotes to get you up to speed if you haven't run him before" fits into the wiki's mission.
Cheers!
Landon
PFWiki Scribe |
Something I've been considering adding to the wiki (that might work better in a Google Doc or other separate resource) is collecting roleplaying information for the Venture Captains and other reoccuring PFS NPCs.
The wiki is certainly the right place for NPCs' history, but I'm not sure if "this is how Ambrus Valsin talks, his personality, and some quotes to get you up to speed if you haven't run him before" fits into the wiki's mission.
It's a great idea, but you are right, it doesn't quite fit into PathfinderWiki if it's written from the perspective of helping GMs roleplay those characters. On the other hand, a short paragraph on an NPC's personality from the perspective of someone "in-world" would certainly work, e.g. so-and-so "tends to act in an overbearing manner, often cutting off people before they have finished a sentence." This would have to be information directly from a scenario, however, and not something that a GM has made up.
Landon Winkler |
Landon Winkler wrote:It's a great idea, but you are right, it doesn't quite fit into PathfinderWiki if it's written from the perspective of helping GMs roleplay those characters. On the other hand, a short paragraph on an NPC's personality from the perspective of someone "in-world" would certainly work, e.g. so-and-so "tends to act in an overbearing manner, often cutting off people before they have finished a sentence." This would have to be information directly from a scenario, however, and not something that a GM has made up.Something I've been considering adding to the wiki (that might work better in a Google Doc or other separate resource) is collecting roleplaying information for the Venture Captains and other reoccuring PFS NPCs.
The wiki is certainly the right place for NPCs' history, but I'm not sure if "this is how Ambrus Valsin talks, his personality, and some quotes to get you up to speed if you haven't run him before" fits into the wiki's mission.
Yeah, it's a tricky one. I'll give that some more thought and see how many sources I can quote :)
Cheers!
Landon
Ascalaphus Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden |
PFWiki Scribe |
I'm a bit skeptical about your "spoiler warning" emblem. It's hidden in the corner, and if you don't know what it is, it's just a random exclamation mark.
As I mentioned above, you can always enable a more obvious spoiler warning. The reason it is rather unobtrusive now, is that a number of PFWiki editors back in the day felt that the first version (which was closer to what it looks like with the "gadget" enabled) dominated the page too much.
Ascalaphus Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden |
PFWiki Scribe |
I didn't think that the portents peril listing was very spoilery at all, since most of what it had was just the scenario blurb.
That being said, is there a way to make things in a block that can be hidden?
Yes, although it would involve installing a new script, and our tech-focused admin is currently away. We also try to focus on solutions that involve the least amount of work, as there aren't enough editors on the wiki to make big changes. Just take a look at the "Year of the ... " articles for PFS as an example. Those haven't been fully updated since Year of the Demon. That means we're at least 2 years behind, so simple solutions are the best.
Andrew Christian |
Andrew Christian wrote:A lot of this information is already included in the tables we create for the various "Year of the ..." pages. Each of the PFS seasons has its own page with a sortable table. Season 0 and Season 1 are called by the numbers (since the "Year of the ..." designation did not start until Year of the Shadow Lodge), but the rest you can search for by their proper names.Things that would be really helpful:
- A list of which VC is tied to which scenario.
- A list of which location(s) is(are) represented in which scenario.
- A list of which scenarios are tied together story wise.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to what seasons meta story arc.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to which AP.
Any other lists you or others could think of that would help a GM tie together a comprehensive storyline for players and characters. So making sure all scenario references in these lists also shows the Tier.
I had not seen these charts previously. They do half of what i asked for above. But adding another column and listing who the VC is for that scenario would be excellent.
PFWiki Scribe |
PFWiki Scribe wrote:I had not seen these charts previously. They do half of what i asked for above. But adding another column and listing who the VC is for that scenario would be excellent.Andrew Christian wrote:A lot of this information is already included in the tables we create for the various "Year of the ..." pages. Each of the PFS seasons has its own page with a sortable table. Season 0 and Season 1 are called by the numbers (since the "Year of the ..." designation did not start until Year of the Shadow Lodge), but the rest you can search for by their proper names.Things that would be really helpful:
- A list of which VC is tied to which scenario.
- A list of which location(s) is(are) represented in which scenario.
- A list of which scenarios are tied together story wise.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to what seasons meta story arc.
- A list of which scenarios are tied to which AP.
Any other lists you or others could think of that would help a GM tie together a comprehensive storyline for players and characters. So making sure all scenario references in these lists also shows the Tier.
So something like this, Andrew: Year of the Stolen Storm?
PFWiki Scribe |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Just wanted everyone to know that I have started a large new project: adding the "Recurring characters, concepts, & locations" category to every PFS RPG scenario beginning with Season 0.
This project lists any major subject covered in the scenario, and lists which other scenarios and other Paizo publications deal with them as well. This is to help GMs prepare scenarios and see if a place, person, or subject has been covered elsewhere.
I am starting with Season 0 and will eventually get through to the most current ones. You can see I am currently most of the way through Season 0, and am now working on Skeleton Moon.
If you see mistakes, or have suggestions for how to make it better, please let me know here.
Just a warning that the subjects covered in these sections are obvious spoilers for many other scenarios, so caveat emptor.
P.S.: Fun fact: the Aspis Consortium first appeared as a villain in PFS in #11 The Third Riddle.
Ascalaphus Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden |
PFWiki Scribe |
Is there a list somewhere describing for each scenario why it was retired? Would be interesting reading.
See This post. Will eventually update this on the wiki.
Hmm Venture-Captain, Minnesota |
PFWiki Scribe |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Slowly but surely I continue to work my way through this project. I have now completed it through the end of Season 3 (well, actually through Race for the Runecarved Key). Come take a look!
GM Wageslave |
Oh, I forgot to mention, I've also included the various Map Packs and Flip-Mats used for all the PFS scenarios I've updated (now through #4-08 The Cultist's Kiss). They're listed under "Available Resources" at the bottom of each product page.
I haven't taken a look yet, but are the maps noted as to which ones are out of print or the like?