The Flaxseed Pathfinder Lodge: Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Game Master Redelia

I may be able to help in that regard. I'll message you guys later, running late!

Ah, yeah, if it's locked then no-go for me, sorry.

Worse - whilst some of us have the requisite stars, it is still a locked scenario. I have 5 stars, but cannot access that Scenario, it has to be distributed (or maybe VA/VL/VC)?

It's in my downloads, so VAs can access it.

My impression was that VOs got the file, and then it was given to anyone who is supposed to run it at a convention since it is locked to conventions only.

If our convention (PbP Gameday) is large enough to qualify for a game of Maelstrom Rift, then we can get it distributed to a 4 star to run it. A con needs 26+ tables to offer Maelstrom. We had 33 in Sky Key Solution alone.

Who's a fast 4 star who can help them finish? PM me your email and tell me that you're bailing out the table of Maelstrom Rift. I believe that I can help you out.

Hmm

It's been three weeks since our gm has posted in our Maelstrom Rift thread and we are assuming he or she is unable to continue. If anyone is able to lend a hand, it would be very much appreciated!

link

I would help but I'm just a 4 star. Haven't managed to arrange anything for my 5th star yet.

Four stars is enough. Are you fast? Can you help them get to the finish line? If so, please PM me your email. Why else am I a VA, except to help the events that I'm involved with go smoothly?

Hmm

I'm not the fastest GM (which sounds like what you're looking for) but I've got the scenario and the stars. I could give it a shot.

And actually, it looks like some else stepped up.

Kudos to them. Best of luck to you all!

Four stars is enough. Are you fast? Can you help them get to the finish line? If so, please PM me your email. Why else am I a VA, except to help the events that I'm involved with go smoothly?

Hmm

I could have sworn that required 5 stars. I also didn't think it was convention only, as I've seen it on the schedule for one of our local stores.

It is 4 stars, 26+ table conventions only.

We had to tell that to an eager GM who wanted to offer it at our store. :(

I'm waiting for the next big convention to actually play it.

Hmm

Here is the blog post about it.

Hey guys,

I'm available and interested in taking over any Orphan games that may have come up recently. Let me know if you need a versatile and quick GM!

Go, Cody!

I love this community!

Hmm

Wow, there must be some kind of GM flu going around with all the absentees.
I know I am on a few tables like that as well (maybe some of the same posted above).

Thank you to all willing to step in :-)

If you have a GM absentee, let Cody know. I just closed a game, and might be able to help out as well.

Hmm

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to digitally roll d20s,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my D20 beside the golden door.

Actually I blame the PBP game days for the GM flu.

It seems that most GMs try to get as many games going as possible for the game day. Some then end up with a work load they can't handle and tadda GM burnout and disappearance.

While I enjoy the game days a lot it's led to a situation where recruitment for PFS games is only 'seasonal'.

Maybe for the next game day it would be better to limit the number of tables an individual GM can register.

True. I'm not sure limiting it would really help though. Generally there is a drop off of new games towards the end of the PBP but that is more than made up for by the flurry of new ones at the start.

GMs dropping games happens all the time, it is just a bit more obvious towards the end of the gameday.

That said, this gameday has had a bit more happen than others. Given that a number of those GMs are very experienced, I'd suggest it might just be unfortunate coincidence this time around. When you are GMing five or six players, if real life starts to take a toll, then that is five or six tables affected rather than just one or two.

But these are also GMs who often do handle that load, and there is certainly more player demand for games than there are GMs willing to run them. So limiting tables would potentially cause more problems than it solves.

All that said, I've tried really hard to limit myself to GMing three tables at a time this GD, as I know I ended up with game hangover last time around.

This was my second gameday, and I will admit that I committed a bit too much. I limited myself to 3 GM spots, which was fine, but the special really moved quick (which took a more concerted effort to keep up than I would have expected). I had also planned for my other 2 games to finish half-way through and run another 2, but that just didn't happen (the second just finished up yesterday).

Looking back, though, I think it was more about the unexpected time pressures in RL that threw me - and that does happen to everyone at some point. I managed to keep things moving and not abandon anyone, but I did have slower times than I would have liked - and my players seemed to be pretty understanding. I was also playing in a few games that did drop off or even die. Given my own schedule, I was certainly understanding of the GMs that got swamped, but it still sucks to have a game die. One of the main reasons I love PFS is because that seldom happens - they are generally short enough that everyone can muscle through. I also think this community is awesome in that almost every time, some kind GM jumps in to take over when a game does fizzle.

I think everyone has to find their own balance, and sometimes there will be errors in judgement. But if we all stick together, I think it works out and we shouldn't need to impose any artificial limits.

Zavita wrote:

We also have a game she was running for Gameday V. However, I doubt we will finish before the gameday ends, but will really appreciate if some one could stop in with us.

It is for Labryinth of the Hungry Ghost

Zavita,

I can take over. However I am traveling at the moment, arriving home late on Friday. First update will therefore probably be in the weekend. I assume you can wait the few extra days.

Waiting a little more is not a problem, at least for this player.

Thanks

I took a playing 'break' this GameDay (for the most part) compared to last year. Felt kind of burnt out and losing track of everything after the mad rush during IV.

Was considering taking *on* a table to run, but in retrospect really glad I didn't, because health things have been an issue the past few weeks and it would have cramped things.

Agree it's easy to over commit during these gamedays. I did last year and I managed to keep all the balls in the air, but ended up stressed about it. This year I decided to limit myself. Plus during gameday with more games going, it gives the opportunity to play more games, which I took advantage of. A much more enjoyable experience.

I agree this years number of "GM flu" may be unfortunate coincidence.

Still love the gamedays!

In at least one of the cases, the GM Flu was very much an unexpected strike of real life hitting all at once. Real life can hit us all, and when it hits, it hits hard!

I normally limit myself to one game at a time, but my Kortos Envoy game was going at a slightly slower pace than I normally run, so I was able to take on an orphaned game and help it get to where it needs to go! I love game days, and I really loved GMing the special with all of you, but I was very glad that Sky Key Solution was my only game running. It was a ton of work to keep up with.

I think the real lesson here is not a gameday GM limit, but the need for communication. If real life has hit, let your games know, and ask for help. No one can do it all, all the time.

(Even with computer problems, it's perhaps possible to borrow a friend's cell phone to make a post in Flaxseed letting the community know you need aid.)

Hmm

I think the real lesson here is not a gameday GM limit, but the need for communication. If real life has hit, let your games know, and ask for help. No one can do it all, all the time.

Agreed. Even a post in the Flaxseed Lodge only could suffice for letting people know, then the information can be disseminated to the various games.

Of course, medical emergency (among other things) could exempt someone, but just a simple "Sorry, life is catching up with me" would at least let us know that something is up.

The above posts are the benefit of this strong community willing to help. Rather than a set of disjointed games, it is virtually like being in a game store and able to tap the GM on the next table for advice or to cover for you in a pinch. The main difference being the timescale (hours vs weeks).

Much appreciated for all that pull this together..especially when real-life priorities demand our attention unexpectedly.

This is why my pbp gaming is exclusively PFS. Too many games start up and die within the first few weeks or months. But here and on Myth-weavers we have enough of a dedicated community that we are able to get GMs to fill in and finish games without too much trouble. I'm sure the fact that the adventures are short helps. I know it helps me as both a player and GM to know that any commitment I make is short term.

Just finished up with one of my games and can backup GM a GameDayV game if anyone is still looking for one.

Newbie to PFS here (never been in a game before), with a quick clarification question. I know that you have to bring all the rules you use to any session you want to join in person, is there a similar rule for online games?

Newbie to PFS here (never been in a game before), with a quick clarification question. I know that you have to bring all the rules you use to any session you want to join in person, is there a similar rule for online games?

No one has ever asked me on this website to present proof of purchase. We're on an honor system, here.

So, did I understand you or the rule wrong? I thought it was just so that people couldn't make up rules that benefited themselves and the GMs didn't have to memorize every book, but you seem to be saying something different.

Rules as Written, yes, technically, the GM (for both IRL and on-line games) is supposed to check that you have access to all non-CORE options that you are using for your PC.

In practice, however, as Chadius mentions, GMs rarely ask for it (at least on-line; IRL is a completely different kettle of fish), relying on the 'honor system'.

The only exception is re-rolls, for which I have uploaded pictures of me holding the relevant item, so the GM can verify that I actually own it.

Generally, however, people are required to put up a stat block for their PCs, which includes the rules text for the relevant abilities; something that is fairly easy to check for accuracy (in the PbP format) by looking at one of the plethora of rules websites (such as the prd, d20pfsrd, and Archives of Nethys).

Thank you. Is the rule purely for business reasons since anyone can access their content for free, or does it have some other reason?

Take a look at the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide; it contains a lot of useful information for people relatively new to PFS :-)

One of the sections in there includes a list of physical items that grant re-rolls (you can only use one of them per session) - these include things such as character folios, and t-shirts.

Thanks for the link, I keep either forgetting that exists or having no idea where to find it.

Edit: Oh yeah, that's why I haven't read it yet. Last time I tried, my computer was going on about needing a certain program to read it, and I'm away from my computer for the rest of today anyways.

Well, to be fair, PFS is part of the marketing arm for Paizo - they *do* want you to buy their products, after all, and publishing scenarios/modules/APs is a good way to get you to do so :-)

You *could* rely purely on the on-line stuff, but then you miss-out on all of the non-mechanical stuff in the books (such as the art, and stories).

I also feel that there is something so much more substantial about physical product, but then again, I am a bit of a bibliophile...

I agree with you about the books, but that said, I am unable to get any of the newer ones for a variety of reasons, and don't own any past UC/UM/UE. And the three PFS characters I have created so far all use options from the ACG, among others. So is it legal to use just the online for online games or not?

I don't believe it is legal. PFS rules apply the same to RL or online games.

That's kind of what I thought, but I want to be sure. And I hope you're wrong, because I like those characters a lot.

@Luke_Parry, just to be absolutely sure, what did you mean by this?

You *could* reply purely on the online stuff...

I meant as a reference document, for general play (not specifically PFS).

To the best of my knowledge, officially, for PFS, on-line games are held to the same requirements as IRL play (which means you are supposed to have all sources that you use, even if the GM does not ask for them).

Ok, kinda figured, but I was hopeful. Thanks, gonna go convert them to normal characters and come up with some legal characters now. :(

If UC is ultimate combat, you actually have some interesting archetypes between those three books. PDF copies of books can be somewhat affordable and Christmas is coming. Maybe you can convince a loved one to get you a copy of ACG.

The other book that I would absolutely buy as a beginner is APG -- it provides access to the alchemist, inquisitor, oracle, cavalier and witch. The only class you cannot use from there is the summoner which has been banned except for the ones found in Pathfinder Unchained.

Good luck and welcome to the lodge, Dotraj!

Hmm

I meant that I didn't own anything newer than those, I own the APG and CRB as well. Thank for the suggestion and welcome though.

We're a really welcoming place!

♫ Making your way in PbP takes every book you've got.
Figuring out the PFS rules, sure would help a lot.

You wanna go where Flaxseeds grow
The lodge of great acclaim!
You wanna go where everybody knows
your game. ♫

____
* Source: The Cheers Theme Song

... I should be used to this sort of thing considering the people I am friends with, but I have no idea how to respond to that... So I'm just going to point out that you missed the "l" in "acclaim" and leave it at that.

Lol, that was great, Hmm! Loved Cheers!

Is it legal to play a race you have a bestiary for? (I'm wondering if I can get away with a kitsune)

... I should be used to this sort of thing considering the people I am friends with, but I have no idea how to respond to that... So I'm just going to point out that you missed the "l" in "acclaim" and leave it at that.

Thank you, I fixed it! Usually, people just respond with a snort, applause or a thank you. Or earplugs if I've been especially obnoxious...

Is it legal to play a race you have a bestiary for? (I'm wondering if I can get away with a kitsune)

Sadly, you're going to want either ARG or Dragon Empires Primer to have a legal kitsune. If you have to choose, I'd buy ARG. Tons of great options come out of that book for all sorts of races.

Hmm

Is it legal to play a race you have a bestiary for? (I'm wondering if I can get away with a kitsune)

If you have the ARG (Advanced Race Guide), ISR (Inner Sea Races), Dragon Empires Primer, or Dragon Empires Gazetteer If memory serves then any of those can be a valid source for kitsune, which are campaign-legal.

Additional Resoures

So there are plenty of spots that they pop up in, just be mindful that there are some GMs that do not care for them and may make friendly challenging remarks about them. Though I've yet to see any 'focused-fire' efforts against kitsune, though...

Thanks both of you. Why do some GMs not like Kitsune? They aren't more powerful than any other race, nor do they have any powerful options I know of.