The Flaxseed Pathfinder Lodge: Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Game Master Redelia

Do Tricks even matter for Animal/Plant/Vermin Companions who break the 3+ INT threshold?

Does their alignment change to match their (for want of a better word) master's if that is not Neutral Neutral?

My giant slug has achieved sapience....

I point you to the very long FAQ about intelligent animal companions. I don't believe the type of "animal" matters so this FAQ applies to all of them.

Thanks, Dennis and GM Hawthwile - that’s what I needed to know (and wanted to hear).

Angrboda Fossey wrote:

Do Tricks even matter for Animal/Plant/Vermin Companions who break the 3+ INT threshold?

Does their alignment change to match their (for want of a better word) master's if that is not Neutral Neutral?

My giant slug has achieved sapience....

I point you to the very long FAQ about intelligent animal companions. I don't believe the type of "animal" matters so this FAQ applies to all of them.

Tricks matter, and tricks are awesome. Even the IQ Six Paladin Mounts have to use the trick system. My Pumpkin has so many wonderful tricks that he can perform!

Hmm

Tusk the Half-Orc wrote:

I’ve got a similar question about to GM credit - my son and I are going to be running parallel tables of PSS 8-22 tomorrow night, and the character I’d like to assign the chronicle sheet to is still playing in an Outpost game. Is that legal, or do I need to assign the sheet to a character that isn’t otherwise occupied at the moment? I understand that the character wouldn’t be able to use any of the granted XP or GP until after the current scenario, of course.

One of the lodge venture-folks can give the definitive answer, but my understanding is that GM credit is the exception to your character being tied up in PbP. From what I remember you may apply GM credit to that character, holding it until the PbP is finished before applying it.

Dennis and Hawthwile are correct.

Ēoswulf Gērmwynson wrote:

I was going through Season 5 that way with this character. We ran out of steam after... 7 or 8 sessions or so?

It's fun while it lasts. I think I've seen other groups make it further.

Yes it was fun while it lasted and we did do GM rotation until we lost a player and the momentum sort of died from there.

A good 8 sessions which is pretty decent. Whoops Should have posted this in Discussion.

We can align on a potential GM rotation here.

Quick question: How does Haste effect a Kineticst's Blast and Kinetic Blade attacks, if at all?

It does nothing for kinetic blast (other than the +1 attack). Haste only grants additional attack to weapon attacks, which a kinetic blast isn't. It's a SLA.

However, kinetic blade (and whip) will benefit from haste because you actually form a weapon using your element. That is one reason why some people do kinetic blade builds. With iterative attacks and haste, the damage can be quite overwhelming.

Thank you GM Kuey. The Forums is full of "this element is best because...", but some subjects are a bit lacking.

That's what I like about kineticists. I don't think there's a best element. While there are optimal builds, which element you take really depends on your preferred playstyle.

I love Kineticists because nothing feels really right, and there are just so many options you can basically build one to be whatever you want it to.

I have so many daydreams about kineticist builds. :) It's too bad that the archetypes are so limiting. The sacrifices made generally outweigh the alternate benefits gained. Some of the ideas are interesting, though. They'd make interesting NPCs in a home brewed game.

I love Kineticists because nothing feels really right, and there are just so many options you can basically build one to be whatever you want it to.

I hear people say that a lot. However, I've only ever seen anyone actually play them as a pure elemental blaster. I haven't really messed with them myself yet.

PERSONNEL CHANGES AT FLAXSEED AND COTTONSEED LODGES

Hello everyone.

We've had some recent changes in our VO corps that I would like to announce. Elinnea has had some real life issues and had to step down, but we're bringing in not just one but two new VAs.

PF1 and PF2

As I've said before, First Edition will always be welcome here at Flaxseed. We've had some internal discussion about whether we should have PF2 games running through this lodge as well. There's good arguments for it -- not splitting the player base, continuation of the campaign, cross-pollination. However, organizationally we just think it makes more sense to have to separate lodges. We don't want people looking for PF1 to have to stumble through 20 PF2 announcements and vice versa. We're going to use the Cottonseed Lodge that was founded for Playtest for PF2. That way there's less confusion, and that each edition feels fully supported by our PBP VOs.

WELCOMING TWO NEW VAs

With 'We Be Heroes' launching on June 15th, we thought it would be nice if Cottonseed Lodge had its own VA. So we're officially bringing in Lady Ladile as our new Flaxseed VA, and Numbat as our Cottonseed VA. Although that's the assignment, both VAs will be working in both lodges as we transition to supporting both editions.

Let's welcome both Numbat and Lady Ladile! Yay!

Congrats guys!

Welcome VA Numbat!
Welcome VA Lady Ladile!

Cheers Ladile and Numbat! Thanks for taking on the responsibilities to help keep these lodges the great places they have proven to be!

Welcome and Congrats Lady Ladile & Numbat!

I've had the pleasure to play by PbP and in person with Numbat, and I've played several PbP games alongside Lady Ladile. They and their wonderful VC, Hmm, are all great players and GMs. Thank you all for your time and effort as players, GMs, and now official Venture Critters!

Thank you for the hearty welcome. We will do our best to serve our community.

Thanks, everyone! I'm looking forward to helping out and serving our PbP community :)

Congrats, new VA's!

Also don't forget that we have a relatively new VA in Castamir's as well, Kuey. And of course your VLs Tyranius and Redelia. They're all almost as helpful as Skittermanders.

(Or should I be saying halflings, since we're in the Pathfinder Lodge?)

Hmm

Congratz to the new VAs!!! Let them know little struggle through this online world of Pathfinder...

TBH let them have the strength to rip apart any obstacle in their way.

The small troop of 6-armed furry beings find themselves in an ancient library full of paper books, scrolls bound with ribbon, and archaic pseudo-scientific tools. As they look at each other trying to get their bearings, a large gruff man enters the library. With the voice of a drill sergeant he hollers at them, breaking the silence and startling the other patrons hidden in the wings.

"Who are you? What are you doing in the Grand Lodge library?"

The brightest colored little one speaks up first. "We're here to help, of course! And it looks like you need it!"

And so begins the adventures of the Time Displaced Skittermanders and Ambrus Valsin in the Pathfinder Society, circa 4719 AR....

^ I'd play it.

Oh, good heavens, what unique pelts! Yri, darling, fetch me my musket!

Congrats, everyone!

Oh, good heavens, what unique pelts! Yri, darling, fetch me my musket!

This makes me think of a The State sketch. "Show me far!"

Also, Congrats to the new VOs!

And let me say it's nice that we need them. It means the lodge is still alive and thriving!

Congratulations numbat1 and Lady Ladile!

I’m sure you will do an excellent job.

Congratulations, Lady Ladile and Numbat! I love playing with both of you!

Congratulations! Ladile is a great pbp GM.

Congratz to you both

Long live VA numbat, 1st of her name! (And most excellent luncheon companion)

And 'gratz VA Ladile, she who sends recorded messages from the future (wibbly wobbly, timey wimey-style) to those gathered in the Tavern of the 13 Coins.

Another set of congratulations for Lady Ladile and numbat!

Congratulations! Thanks for volunteering to help run the great PbP region!

Please be aware of maintenance scheduled for Monday morning. To quote this post,
"On Monday, June 3, starting at 9:00 AM Pacific time, paizo.com be undergoing planned maintenance. Our team estimates paizo.com downtime will last between approximately 2-4 hours."

If you have an active or planned game running it may be worth having alternative methods of contact established to ward off or deal with a worst-case scenario.

PBP REGION ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello Amazing PBP GMs --

Starting now until August 1st, we are going to be asking you to report all your games in progress. This is a change from our normal rules of 'report when you are done.' Almost done? Report it now. Started yesterday? Report it now. Want to know why? Please keep reading.

In mid-May, John Compton posted a blog about replays for PF1.

Secondly, we'll be taking a snapshot of all of the recorded organized play sessions on Paizo.com in mid-July. It will be imperative to make sure all of your game sessions are recorded by this point in time, as this snapshot will be set against an activity scale that will determine the number of "free" replays that are applied to your account. Essentially, the more regularly that you have played and GM'd, the more Pathfinder first edition replays you will be granted. This will allow those who are nearing the end of their playable material to have a similar gameplay "lifespan" to players who have just recently joined the organized play campaign.

Note, the blog did not specify whether that organized play activity was Starfinder, Pathfinder or ACG. It did not say *when* the snapshot would occur. I don't want our PBP players and GMs to lose out on potential replays because their game finishes just after the snapshot.

Reporting early is especially imperative for any games done through the Online Support Program. We want to make sure that we have time to process your reporting before the snapshot, and it always takes our team some time to do so.

Once August hits, we’ll be returning to our ‘report when done’ rule.

IMPORTANT

Keep track of that OSP Session Number if you are reporting it to the Online Support Program! This will make it easier to find and update the game with any changes! Remember that our Reporting Conditions Update Form will also ask for that information.

For non-OSP games at Cosmic Crit or Roll For Combat, you should ask the Crittermander Captains (for Cosmic Crit) or Glenn Parnell / GM Stephen (Roll for Combat) to make the changes to their reporting, as all their games should be reported through that lodge.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

I could have sworn I saw a post here last night asking about success conditions as well but it seems to have vanished. If you are uncertain about how to report your success conditions, please assume best case scenario (unless you already know otherwise) and report for full prestige. If the table fails to earn both/any prestige points, fill out the form above and indicate the change in the 'Is there anything else we need to fix or change for this scenario?' section.

That is all :)

lol, it was me.

I'd quickly searched the page for "Success Conditions", made the post, and then realized that the "conditions" FAQ point covers this. When I originally read it, my brain isolated it to things like finishing a scenario with a "condition" on your character (not sure why).

Anyway, thank you for confirming :)

I'm not sure who maintains the PBP convention schedule document, but it could do with moving a couple of the "current" events into "previous" category.

It'd be sweet to have an idea of future upcoming events as well.

Are we likely to have an Aug-Nov "gameday" this year?

Congrats, Lady Ladile! My favorite GM!

I'm not sure who maintains the PBP convention schedule document, but it could do with moving a couple of the "current" events into "previous" category.

It'd be sweet to have an idea of future upcoming events as well.

Are we likely to have an Aug-Nov "gameday" this year?

Thank you for bringing that to our attention. It will be updated shortly.

We are currently in discussion regarding the upcoming convention schedule. Rest assured, there will be a GameDay this year, likely beginning in August. An announcement should be forthcoming in the near future.

I am happy to see such enthusiasm for our PbP conventions.

Woot! You know I'll be on board for another PbP con!

Congrats to Numbat and Lady Ladile! And welcome to the PbP team and the Online Region VO family, even though I'm more of a cousin than a direct relative you're always welcome to give me a shout if you need anything! ;)

Richard, I have to ask --- How come you're not a monkey on here? I'm going to have to stop calling you Stunt Monkey, and start calling Tea Crocodile!

Hmm

Do we need to petition for a new icon featuring a Vanara with a top hat, monocle, and tea?

Scratch that, we need every race with a top hat, monocle, and tea!

Richard, I have to ask --- How come you're not a monkey on here? I'm going to have to stop calling you Stunt Monkey, and start calling Tea Crocodile!

Hmm

Heh, I like that name! But I do have a monkey alias, see!

But to explain, the crocodile was my original Paizo account pic long before VO-hood. When I first signed up I saw the tea drinking gentlman rakshasa and as a Brit I was smitten, the monkey thing was a nickname I always used in FPS games online and eventually I just ended up using most everywhere so as to help people keep track and find me. I joined discord and just used the regular nickname, it was only later when I realised it made things a bit confusing on here as well >.<

And yes! We absolutely do need that icon RIGHT HECKIN NOW! ;)

Out of curiosity, how does one get started GMing PFS PbP? I'm fairly inexperienced at all things tabletop RPG, but in my local group, our venture agent let me use some material to run a couple of scenarios, and I've quite enjoyed the player side of PbP so far, so naturally I'm curious to the other side of the screen. I've flipped through the kit for new PbP GMs and that's super informational, but how do you get started on your first PbP GM?

Note: I'm purely gathering information at this point, as I have a busy next few months ahead of me, but my curiosity knows no bounds. =)

Honestly? I got started by opening up a recruitment, and picking a game. At the time, I had to ask another GM to help me with image extraction. (It was not hard to learn, but at the time I found it daunting.) But I just jumped in, ran, and had a great time with my players.

I think that you'll be a great GM, because you are already trying to figure out your process. You're researching, and you're putting thought into this. When you decide you're ready, the game you run will be great.

Don't worry about making mistakes. We all do. Just learn as you go, and have fun. Remember that there is a whole group of folks here willing to mentor or offer advice. Having one or two experienced players at your first table that you trust will help too!

Remember, you've got this.

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

If you would like, I can tell you about the steps that I do to prep a game now. Sometimes these steps are done in different orders. A few times, I have recruited the players, and THEN picked the game they all could play. These are guidelines rather than rules.

1) Pick the adventure. Something that I think would offer me a chance for roleplay and such.

2) Buy the PDF (actually, I just have to download the PDF, because I'm a Venture Officer, but in the beginning I had to buy them.)

3) Study the Scenario. I want to understand the scenario's STORY.

Adding to Hmm's response.

I took note of how GM's I liked presented material and organized things like combat. I read through some of the posts from earlier GM training sessions such this and this. I asked some GMs and players whose style I liked and respected to play at my table for my first game and provide feedback and mentoring. I stumbled, a lot.

I still stumble. I still have to reteach myself the mechanical/tech side sometimes. I keep going and hope my players have fun. I remain open to feedback and constructive criticism.

I have a subscription for the scenarios but if purchasing them would be an issue then you can plan to sign up early to GM at one of the conventions that provide support. As long as you have committed early enough then you should receive the scenario you will be running.

Making sure to not overcommit is also important. As is taking breaks to refresh. Being curious and enthusiastic is such a strong start already. Keep asking questions. Feel free to PM any of those GMs you like and trust. Most are really friendly and supportive.

Thank you for your input!

I have quite a bit going on right now behind the (computer) screen, so I just have to figure out when the best time is to dive in. My local GM really put something at ease for me. He told me that you don't have to know every rule or every option inside out, it's a table effort. Plus many other GMs will help clarify if you ask.

I have two scenarios that my local GM gave me so I could try my hand running games. Could I use those to run a PbP, or do I need to own the material? I did 9-14 Down the Verdant Path last weekend with very little time to prep and still loved it, my players seemed to like it, and the usual GM gave me some awesome feedback. Also, I know there's plenty of rules on replaying a scenario as a player, and that you can only GM for credit once, but could you GM a scenario for no credit yourself and still give others credit?

I love your step-by-step GM Hmm! That makes everything much less daunting.