Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Strategy #14—Improving Your Character: Strategy & Tactics

Thursday, February 22, 2018

This is the fourteenth installment of our strategy blog written by game historian Shannon Appelcline. You can read all the installments here.

Building a party is only half the story; you also want to improve those characters over time. This article talks about how to do so in a general way, then next month's article focuses on thinking about precise cards (and traits). Most of this general advice is strategic, affecting overall play.

Start with the pregen decks




It might seem like strange advice, but it's often best to begin inefficiently. If you start with the pregenerated deck for your character, listed in the rulebook, then you have great ground to build from: you can spend the "Basic" adventures, which don't give out many feats, adapting your deck to your own liking.

(This also has the benefit of making it really easy to start your first game.)

Corollary #1: If cards aren't fun, dump them. But don't go too far. If it looks like a card is never going to get used and doesn't add to your fun, dump it. The goal of this starting advice is to make the early parts of your PACG campaign more fun, so make sure that's what happens.

Assess what characters need before each game




At the start of each scenario, review your characters' weaknesses and what categories of cards might help them. These might be group-wide inadequacies, such as insufficient healing or inability to deal with traps. More likely, they're weaknesses in your own character, such as not having leveled up your combat cards or having items that just aren't that useful. Use these needs as a guide for play throughout the session.

Corollary #1: Make card needs a priority in location choice. Once you've determined what sorts of cards your characters could benefit from, consider positioning them at locations that are full of those cards—though do so as part of a total strategy for choosing locations, as outlined in "Choosing Location Decks."

Tag-team your deckbuilding

Remember that this is a cooperative game. You should help other characters get what they need. When you discover a gap among your skills, or a character that needs a specific sort of card, your next step should be to determine who can best acquire those cards. Then send them in! You can always trade cards at the end of the game.

Corollary #1: Toss cards that are useless to you into your discard pile. You should never be afraid to toss cards that are clogging your hand into your discard pile. This is particularly true when you acquire a card for someone else, and it's not that useful to you.

Make deckbuilding a priority in play

In order to constantly improve your characters, you need to make sure that deckbuilding is a priority in your play. Send characters to locations where they can get stuff that your party needs, then consider spending blessings or playing other good cards to make sure they get that good stuff. It shouldn't be your first priority; that should be winning. But it should probably be your second priority, and something that you're always considering.

Corollary #1: Make deckbuilding the first priority if you're losing. If you're already losing, why not making deckbuilding the first priority? Talk with your group, and if you decide your current mission is hopeless, refocus on getting as many boons as you can before the timer runs out.

Corollary #2: Perhaps making deckbuilding the first priority if you're running behind. This could be controversial, but sometimes you may want to go into a game with a losing attitude. If you feel like your characters are behind the curve and haven't picked up enough of the more recent cards, then you're likely to be losing some games in your near future anyway. So, why not cut to the chase and start going after boons now? If you get lucky and close some locations, then you can reassess.

You can also play a few tactical tricks to improve your overall deckbuilding.

Purposefully void a category during play

You can improve your group's decks by purposefully creating a void in a category of cards. It works like this: one or more characters have bad cards in the category; you don't collect anything new for the category during the adventure; and you banish some of the bad cards through play. For example, you can void items by using up potions, you can void armor by using their banish effects, and you can void spells by casting them without the right skill. Some locations also require card banishment. At the end of the game, you will then be able to choose specific cards from the box to fill that void.

This is probably only worthwhile if you realize midgame or later that you're not acquiring a card type. But, if that's the case, consider taking advantage of it.

Corollary #1: Use card feats to create voids. It's even easier to create voids during adventures where victory gives you a card feat. You can take card feats in categories where you're short on cards or have just enough, and that will instantly allow you to draw from the box!

Corollary #2: Push on this tactic starting in adventure #3. This advice isn't that strong while you're working on the first two adventures, because you can only replace voids with Basic cards. But, starting in adventure #3, you can retrieve any card from two boxes earlier. That's the deckbuilding jackpot for this tactic.

Be careful what you take

If you're purposefully voiding a card category, be careful what you take. You don't want to fill that carefully constructed void with some card that you don't care about. Remember that when you encounter a boon, you do not have to try and acquire it. Just reject it if it would fill a void (unless you really need the hit point).

Corollary #1: Also reject Basic and Elite cards late in the game. Rejecting cards is also good advice late in an adventure path when Basic and Elite cards are removed from the game when you banish them. Reject them and they'll be gone instantly; this will also improve your long-term deckbuilding, because it will improve your pool of cards.

Don't give characters cards that will get stuck

Here's another way to be careful about what you take. When you're rebuilding decks, don't give characters cards that will get stuck in their hand, clogging it for a whole game. What this means is different for different characters. If a character can recharge (like Lem) or bury (like Amiri) or discard (like Lirianne), they can get anything out of their hand. But, if a character instead has to depend on the actual cards for deck cycling, then be sure to give them lots more recharging cards, particularly allies, armors, and (if it's possible) items.

I've got one more article for this series, which is going to talk about specific types of cards to acquire. I hope to see you back in a month to bid my strategy discussion bon voyage.

Shannon Appelcline
Game Historian

PaizoCon 2018 Event Submission is Open!

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

PaizoCon 2018 is now less than 100 days away, and that means the time to roll dice together is quickly approaching. But we can't roll dice if there are no games to play, and that's where you come in! Each year, we allow attendees—both fans and third-party publishers—to run their own events, put them on the official PaizoCon schedule, and allow for online registration. This year, we've moved the event submission interface to Google forms: PaizoCon 2018 Event Submission Form.

You can fill out an event form for each event you'd like to submit. If all of the details are the same and you want to run it multiple times, you only need to fill out the form once. (If you represent multiple GM's who will be running the same event you only need to fill out the event form once).

If you save the link when you have submitted your event, you should be able to go back and edit your submission until March 1st.

We have reduced the length of event descriptions to 150 characters. Once the schedule is posted online, you will be able to post in your event's discussion thread with more details.

Paizo will not be running Organized Play events during the 1pm-6pm time slots. We will be offering the use of part of the Grand Ballroom for individuals who wish to run organized play scenarios during this time. If you wish to do this and be included in the PaizoCon schedule which lets attendees sign up for the game online and reserves you a table, you can submit an event using this form. Note that Saturday's time slot will be 1pm-5pm and all attendees must leave the room promptly at 5pm so hotel staff can set up for the PaizoCon Preview Banquet. Please format Starfinder and Pathfinder Org Play scenarios as #[season][scenario number]: Title (example: #9-01: The Cost of Enlightenment).

We can't wait to see what fantastic events the community comes up with this year, so don't delay. Submit your event before March 1, when the submission window closes.

PaizoCon 2018 will take place May 25th–May 28th, 2018 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotels, 18740 International Blvd., Seattle, WA, 98188. For more information, check the PaizoCon page.

Sara Marie
Customer Service Manager

It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Monday, February 19, 2018

Okay, so I need to get this off my chest. We all know the classic line from the cave hermit at the start of The Legend of Zelda. "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this." Cool. But how does taking a sword address the fact that Link is still going alone? Sure, he has something with which to fight the danger inherent in solo adventuring, but wouldn't it be better for the old dude to also advise Link to take some friends along? That worked really well for 15 core Final Fantasy games.* I'm just saying.

Well, when you venture into the Jungle of Despair in May, I advise you to take allies in addition to your swords, boomerangs, bombs, and whatnot. And when you build your expedition party, you're going to need some miniatures to represent them. That's where today's blog comes in!

What jungle expedition is complete without a ranger to cut a path through the thick underbrush, to listen to the calls of nearby fauna warning of pending danger, or to gauge the best time and place to make camp during the annual monsoon, when the threat of flash flooding could ruin your much-needed 8 hours of rest. Enter the human hunter, a Medium uncommon figure, and your savior when you need a high roll on that next Survival check. Equipped with a ghillie suit, soft leather boots, and a knocked arrow ready to let fly, the human hunter won't make a sound as she blazes a trail to adventure at your side!

"But," you might inquire, "what's our guide's final destination? Where are we going?" Why to find that lost magic anvil from the blog two weeks ago, silly! And who better to accompany such an expedition but the dwarf explorer? No one. There is no one better. If you don't believe me, this curmudgeonly companion will remind you at every opportunity. He's clearly planning on doing some spelunking, what with his rope and grappling hook, but even aboveground he stands to be a stalwart ally with his short sword and heavy crossbow. The dwarf explorer is a Medium rare figure.

Rounding out the party is some magical support—a companion capable of deciphering ancient runes and dispelling arcane wards that protect your prize from plunder. The human arcanist looks like he could hail from the esteemed magical academy of the Magaambya deep in the heart of the Mwangi Jungle, where acolytes of Old-Mage Jatembe still mix the traditions of arcane and druidic magic to keep the forces of evil at bay. And if his magic fails, he can always literally throw the book at his enemies. Look at that thing! It has to weigh 20 pounds! The human arcanist is a Medium rare figure.

When the dangers of the deep jungle become too much for even these capable adventurers to handle, they can always call upon the help of outsiders (maybe that giant book is full of true names used for planar binding and other summoning spells). But the arcanists of the Magaambya would never treat with the likes of devils or demons. Only the forces of good are, well, good enough for our magic warriors! The azata wilder, a CR 6 outsider capable of being summoned via summon monster V, relishes the thrill of battle, and would be more than happy to come to your aid. Since higher level variants of the spell could result in as many as 1d4+1 of the azatas, this is a common figure, enabling you to represent an entire host of Elysian archers on the battle mat. As a Medium creature with distinct elven features, the figure can also serve as a player character in a pinch—I could see this as an aasimar or a sorcerous elf arcane archer with the celestial bloodline.

Next week we'll look at the antithesis of today's previews: creepy, crawly creatures from the dark places of the earth (and at least one outer plane), as well as a thematically related piece of dungeon dressing! I look forward to continuing the conversation with you then, friends!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

*Yes, I know there are like fifty Final Fantasy games at this point. I said "core"—like with a Roman numeral in its title. You don't get to out-pedant me, nerds.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Friday, February 16, 2018

Come on in, come on in! You look thirsty. Pull up a stool and let me pour you a drink. What's your poison? Whiskey? Wine? No matter, we have it all here! *polishes glass with a dirty rag*

What's that? You say you read about our humble establishment in some kind of guidebook? Mind if I take a look? Inner Sea Taverns, hmm? Interesting...

Cayden's tankard, this book is something else! Not only does it have information about a tavern's menu and owner, there's also a map for some of these bars! And it even tells you about a tavern's customers! I wouldn't want my patrons to find out about this, that's for sure.

I can't say as I've been all around the Inner Sea, but I did my fair share of traveling before I bought this place. Let's see if I've heard of any of these places.

Ha! Here! The Whispering Stone in Osirion. They say if you kiss the lips of the stone statue that stands in the middle of its open-air pavilion, you'll have luck in love. Don't you believe it! After a few mugs of their pink hibiscus punch, I pulled a chair over to that hunk of rock and planted one right on its mouth. The next thing I remember is waking up in a nearby stable with my face in some camel's fur! True, I later bought that camel and she got me alive out of a number of scrapes in the Parched Dunes, but I wouldn't call that true love!

Oh, and here's the Porthmos Club over in Taldor! Full of snooty nobles who wouldn't give the likes of you or me a second glance if they saw us on the street. But they still need a place to drink and gamble, don't they? Ha! I was actually a senator's aide for a day in Oppara—that's a story for another time—and had to purchase a brand-new doublet just so they would let me in. And with my own coin no less! Truth be told, that was the finest bar I've ever been thrown out of.

I can't believe it, this book even has the rules for a handful of pub games! Why, I haven't played bootbeer in ages. I think I have an old dented helmet in the back from my days in the Molthune militia if you want to go a few rounds. Beer's on the house! No? Suit yourself, then.

Well, friend, I have to tell you that this book is amazing. I wonder who took the time to put this together. No matter. Say, before you leave, keep an eye out for this pale half-elf that's been skulking around town. He's nothing but trouble. There's a sketch of him on the notice board, but you really can't miss him—I don't think he's ever covered up his chest in his life!

Cheers!

Jason Keeley
Developer

Nature's Protectors

Monday, February 12, 2018

We're now a full month into our journey through the Jungle of Despair, the next set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures from WizKids, and this week I get to show off some of my favorite figures in the set. So without further ado, let's begin!

As long as humanity has stood on the edge of the jungle and peered into the darkness beneath the impenetrable canopy, the imagination has created as many phantasmal dangers as actually exist in the unforgiving environment. But not all of these dangers are primeval, unthinking beasts that see explorers as little more than a potential meal. Many, in nearly every culture and mythology, exist to protect the untamed, untainted regions of the world from humanity's encroaching influence.

The first such creature in Jungle of Despair is the couatl, a lawful good staple of fantasy roleplaying games that takes its inspiration from the Aztec god, Quetzlcoatl, who is often referred to as "The Plumed Serpent." As such, the couatl is a mighty, mystical flying serpent with wings the color of a jungle bird's plumage. Couatls make for great protectors of jungle ruins or sacred sites for their ability to aid the adventurers, but only if the interlopers can convince the winged serpent of their true intentions and veneration for the purity of the unaltered wilderness. The couatl is a Large uncommon figure.

Similarly, nature spirits from the First World, the capricious realm of the fey, often serve as protectors of portions of the Material Plane. Comprised in large part of dense undergrowth and ancient trees, jungles make for the perfect habitat for dryads, each of whom is linked to a specific tree and given dominion over a particular copse or grove. The dryad in Jungle of Despair is a re-posed version of the reclining dryad illustration from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, and thus can be used in nearly any wooded environment, from a palm tree in a desert oasis to a lone evergreen high atop a mountain vista. The dryad is a common Medium figure.

Often filling a niche similar to that of a dryad but found in other environments beyond the woods is the enigmatic nymph, a paragon of natural beauty who uses her charms to bend would-be defilers of the wild to her will. Also based on the primary creature illustration from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, the nymph has been given some clothes in her miniature iteration, in the form of a seaweed skirt. With a pair of starfish stuck to her legs, she makes a great protector of seaside grottoes or isolated beaches but can still easily fit in anywhere that nature needs a steward. The nymph is a Medium common figure.

Mortal protectors of the natural world are no less powerful and intrinsically tied to the land, as in the case of the elf druid, a Medium common figure perfect for either a player character or in a cabal of Green Faith worshipers. In fact, the illustration used as reference for this figure was the Green Faith druid in Pathfinder Player Companion: Faiths of Balance; now where could his hawk animal companion have gotten off to?

Finally, we have a guardian not born or spawned by the raw power of nature itself, but rather created with arcane magic and set to a specific, ceaseless task by its master: the clay golem. As a construct, this Large uncommon figure has no natural habitat, and thus can serve campaigns set in ancient jungle ruins, high-magic metropolises, and everything in between. While a clay golem can take any shape its creator molds it into, the iconic Pathfinder clay golem (and thus the miniature) has a hulking humanoid form and the head of a jackal, giving it a decidedly Egyptian feel, making it equally appropriate for use in the moldering pharaonic tombs of the Osirian desert.

That's it for this exciting installment of Jungle of Despair! Be sure to tune in next week for a look at some of the player character-appropriate figures in the set. Until then, roll high, Pathfinders!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Eliandra's Best Character Ever: Erasmus

Friday, February 9, 2018

We continue our series of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game fans telling us who the best character ever is. One of our playtesters, Eliandra Giltessan, gives us a sneak peak at the iconic medium from Occult Adventures Character Deck 2 that has her over the moon.

People who know me may be saying, "What?! I thought you said Alahazra was the best character!" A year ago, that was true. Alahazra was the best character ever—in a world without Triggers. I recall when Skull & Shackles' version of Alahazra hung out at the Wishing Well and took all the boons from locations decks. Or Season of the Runelords, where the Oracle Class Deck's Alahazra examined nigh on entire location decks with a Scrying and a Headdress. Sigh. Good times.

But, my friends, we live in a world of Triggers. Gone are the days of "I only need one attack spell in my deck, right?" Now when Alahazra scouts, sometimes the cards bite back. She's still great, but there's room for the new best character ever: Erasmus.

At first look, Erasmus may not look like much. All d8s and d6s, with Arcane just d8+1 and Perception (of all things!) at d6+3. Well, let me tell you, Occult characters can do more with Perception than just defeat Camouflaged Pit Traps without rolling. They can fight and recharge and tell their Dwarf Mindblade friend to go kill things for them.

Let's move onto powers, cuz Erasmus has got some great ones! I'm developing an appreciation for characters who give you something to do with the junk cards you pick up, and Erasmus can bury his to change his results after the roll. No missed-by-1's with Erasmus, and when he overkills that Pit Trap with his massive Perception, he can coax away the consequences. His next power is the one I love oh-so-much: recharging boons at the start of your turn to add to all checks that turn. Not only does this make for great deck cycling, but it really takes the sting out of those early scenarios when you have no skill feats. That last power mentions something called "Spirit Relatives," and you may ask, "What does that mean?"

Ah, well, you see, Erasmus can channel the spirits of his dead relatives, and at the beginning of each scenario, he can pick one to give him some new skills and an extra d4 plus the adventure deck number. So when Grimslakes are threatening to eat your deck if you don't make a Fortitude check, you can pick Nissa. When you need to make an Acrobatics check, or when the villain makes you cry in a corner with no cards in your hand, you can ask for Baylock's help. After a power feat, you can even help other characters at your location.

"But Eliandra," you may say. "I'm stuck with one of these spirits for an entire scenario. That's not very versatile."

"Relax," I say to you. "We need to save something for roles." You see, Erasmus's roles allow you to put more than one marker on the card. Personally, I'm a fan of the Storyteller. Bury a card for a second token? Yes, please!

After all this gushing, you may still have your doubts as to whether this all works. Can Erasmus have one deck of cards and still be effective at all his roles? Yes. His powers more than make up for the small dice size, and the cards he doesn't otherwise need at the moment become the fuel to charge them. Erasmus is the first character where I put my skill feats in different skills every time, and I love it. He's the most versatile character I've seen, and he once closed two locations in his first turn armed only with a Force Missile and a Light Crossbow.

Vote Erasmus: Best Character EVER!

Elizabeth Corrigan aka Eliandra Giltessan
Adventure Card Game Playtester Extraordinaire

February Stars, Volunteers, Conventions, and More!

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Time flies when your having fun planning conventions! Seems like just yesterday when I put January's update blog together. This month brings a refresh of the Regional Support program, a new 5-star GM, and more conventions for our community to enjoy!

Campaign Coins

While at MarsCon in Williamsburg, Massachusetes, I had the distinct pleasure of awarding Campaign Service Coins to three long-time volunteers. Each of these individuals held a venture-officer position, as well as spent time and effort in their local regions growing the Society and their RPG communities. They received their coin as well as a new organized play number in recognition of their service.

#784—Joe Mathos
#785—Paul Reese
#786—Mike McKeown

If you know a deserving member of your community, please email me at organizedplay@paizo.com with their name, location, and the reasons you feel they should be recognized for their service. If you are able, please include what events they may attend in 2018. This is especially helpful if they will be at an event with a member of the organized play team (see further down the blog for that list of events.)

Stars and Novas

This month we only have one new addition to the 5-star GM roster. They earned the accolade earlier, but communication errors kept them from being listed in prior blogs. My apologies on the delay and huge congratulations on achieving your fifth star.

To achieve this milestone, GMs facilitate 150 games, of which at least 50 must be unique scenarios and 10 are special scenarios, as well as run a game for a venture-captain. A conservative estimate of time needed to reach 5-stars is 650 hours! To the GM listed below, thank you very much for the time and energy you spend running Pathfinder Society games! Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Paul Trani

Last month, the team solicited feedback from the community on what requirements should exist for a Starfinder Society 5-nova GM. I've compiled the responses and will discuss the issue with the rest of the org play team over the next few weeks. Once determined, we will include the information in a future update blog.

Conventions

First quarter 2018 contains many conventions for player's enjoyment. All of the conventions on the list maintain some type of web presence, be it website, social media page, or Warhorn listing, so if you are interested in attending in either capacity, check out their websites or contact the local venture-officer for more information! If you know of a convention running Society games that is not on this list, encourage the organizer to contact me at organizedplay@paizo.com to discuss their event.

Convention Name	Location	Start Date
GalaxyFest 2018	Colorado Springs, CO	2/9/18
VinterFinder 2018	Taastrup, Denmark	2/9/18
Aid Another: Winter 2018	Philadelphia, PA	2/10/18
LodgeCon 2018	Peotone, IL	2/10/18
GenghisCon 2018	Aurora, CO	2/15/18
PurpleBunnyCon 2018	Smyrna, TN	2/15/18
BASHCon 2018	Toledo, OH	2/16/18
Capricon 38 (2018)	Wheeling, IL	2/16/18
Cavecon 2018	Aschaffenburg, Bayern, Germany	2/16/18
Con of the North	Minneapolis, MN	2/16/18
DundraCon 2018	San Ramon, CA	2/16/18
George WashingCon (2018)	Bloomington, IN	2/16/18
OrcCon 2018	Los Angeles, CA	2/16/18
RadCon 7B (2018)	Pasco, WA	2/16/18
Dreamation 2018	Morristown, NJ	2/22/18
Hoop & Stick 2018	New Plymouth, OH	2/22/18
TotalCon 2018	Marlborough, MA	2/22/18
2nd Annual Boys and Girls Club Con	Bellevue, NE	2/23/18
Adventure Con 2018	Hamburg, Germany	2/23/18
Gamicon Cobalt 2018	Cedar Rapids, IA	2/23/18
Mysticon 2018	Roanoke, VA	2/23/18
OwlCon 2018	Houston, TX	2/23/18
ImperiCon 2018	Wixom, MI	2/24/18
Emerald City Comicon 2018	Seattle, WA	3/1/18
CincyCon 2018	Hamilton, OH	3/2/18
Conflagration 18	Brookfield, WI	3/2/18
Gryphcon 2018	Guelph, Ontario, Canada	3/2/18
Kawaii Kon 2018	Honolulu, HI	3/2/18
KevätMaraCon2018	Oulu, Finland	3/2/18
Plattecon 2018	Platteville, WI	3/2/18
RPI's Genericon XXXI	Troy, NY	3/2/18
AndoCon 2018	Peachtree Corners, GA	3/9/18
Cleveland ConCoction 2018	Aurora, OH	3/9/18
CoNfUsIoN 2018	Utrecht, Netherlands	3/9/18
Golaricon 2018	Indianapolis, IN	3/9/18
Mace West 2018	Asheville, NC	3/9/18
NewCon Oz 2018	Newcastle West/NSW/Australia	3/9/18
Canberra Day Madness 2018	Canberra, ACT, Australia	3/10/18
ConClave 2018	Southend-on-Sea, England	3/10/18
Zon-KuthCon 2018	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	3/10/18
CosCon XXX 2018	Butler, PA	3/16/18
Conquest Sacramento 2019	Sacramento, CA	3/23/18
PFS MANCon 2018	Manchester, UK	3/23/18
EyeCon 2018	Sydney, NSW, Australia	3/30/18
Marmalade Dog 23	Kalamazoo, MI	3/30/18
PAX East	Boston, MA	4/5/18
GameOn-Icon 2018	Plymouth, NH	4/14/18
TriCon 3: The TriCon Rises (2018)	High Point, NC	4/14/18
Konocti-Con 2018	Lakeport, CA	4/27/18

Volunteer Opportunities

The PaizoCon organizing team and I are finalizing the PaizoCon 2018 organized play schedule, working on processing the volunteer questionnaires, and sending out status emails to all individuals that completed the form. Gen Con organizing team is sending out the first batch of acceptance emails this week, so volunteers know their status before the housing lottery opens on Sunday. We have confirmed with Gen Con that GM badges do not qualify for the housing lottery, so if you are wanting a room but not qualifying for one through the Society, I encourage you to pick up your badge asap! The Origins organizing team and I are working on the event schedule and are preparing to post the general Call for Volunteers blog in the next week.

2018 Organized Play Staff Travel

Last month, I added a column to the convention list to show which events the organized play team planned on attending. While helpful, it didn't allow for much pre-planning, since event support requests submissions tend to be 1-2 months before the event. So this month, I've pulled together a list of all events in 2018 that will have an organized play staff presence. A few are listed as TBD and there may be some changes, as who attends depends on workloads and availability, but this is our currently planned itinerary.

If you are an event organizer and want to invite us out at your event in 2019, drop an email to organizedplay@paizo.com before next summer. We review our schedule in the fall and try to get all decisions wrapped by the end of the year.

Convention Name	Location	Start Date	Org Play Staff
OrcCon	Los Angeles, CA	2/16/18	John
OwlCon 2018	Houston, TX	2/23/18	Tonya
Emerald City Comic-Con	Seattle, WA	3/1/18	Tonya, John, Linda
GaryCon	Lake Geneva, WI	3/8/18	Tonya
Gama Trade Show	Reno, NV	3/12/18	Tonya
GameStorm	Portland, WA	4/5/18	Linda
Quad Cities Game Fest	Quad Cities, IA	4/27/18	Tonya
PaizoCon	Sea-Tac, WA	5/25/18	Tonya, John, Linda
UK Games Expo	Birmingham, England	6/1/18	Tonya
Origins	Columbus, OH	6/13/18	Tonya, John
ALA Annual Conference	New Orleans, LA	6/20/18	Tonya
PaizoCon UK	Birmingham, England	7/20/18	Tonya
Gen Con	Indianapolis, IN	8/2/18	Tonya, John, Linda
DragonCon	Atlanta, GA	8/30/18	John
Fan Expo	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	8/31/18	TBD
SkalCon	Minnaepolis-St. Paul, MN	9/14/18	Tonya
Hurricon	Tampa, FL	9/27/18	Tonya
PaizoCon OZ	Melbourne, Australia	10/19/18	Tonya
U-Con	Ann Arbor, MI	11/16/18	Tonya
PAX Unplugged	Philadelphia, PA	11/30/18	Tonya

That's it for now. Tune in next week for more information regarding Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society organized play programs.

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge

Organized Play Manager

We're Gonna Start a New Life, Under the Sea

Wednesday, February 7, 2017

I'm the first to admit that when I first read the Starfinder Core Rulebook, I quirked an eyebrow at some of the environmental protections armor offers. Coming from other RPGs, it was clear that Starfinder had a different concept of what environmental hazards should challenge PCs. When it came time to outline Starfinder Society #1-08: Sanctuary of Drowned Delight, I discovered that Starfinder armor provided a plethora of opportunities for adventuring in environments often reserved for higher-level play in other games. So, despite being a Tier 3-6 scenario, this month's scenario is going underwater!

With this scenario, the PCs travel to a mostly unexplored oceanic world in the Vast. The Starfinder Society once set-up a forward outpost on the world, only to hastily abandon it shortly after the complex came online. Now, the planet is the only known source of a rare mineral required to repair the Society's most storied starship, the Master of Stars. It's up to the PCs to visit the planet and reclaim the sunken lodge. Of course, things aren't always as easy (or difficult) as they appear, and the lodge has some new occupants...

Kate Baker makes her debut as an author for Organized Play with Sanctuary of Drowned Delight. Once I assigned the outline, Kate went to work at creating some truly unique creatures. The term "psychedelic walruses" soon became a common term when discussing this scenario. In fact, you can see one of these creatures (who prefer to be called morlamaws) in this blog post's attached art preview. The morlamaws are an entirely new species debuting in this scenario—one of the cool avenues we can explore in Starfinder Society is the introduction of new species to the setting. I suspect players are going to enjoy the morlamaws quite a bit, if only because alien space walruses are pretty rad. I'm sure players will also enjoy morlamaws for other reasons... but you'll need to play this scenario to find out!

This scenario uses the Faction (Wayfinders) scenario tag.

While I'm still in the flurry of outlining summer scenarios, there's a lot of upcoming content to get excited for. Next month sees the hotly anticipated release of Starfinder Society #1-09: Live Exploration Extreme! by Organized Play's own, John Compton. Following that, we have the start of our two scenarios per month rollout, with Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Scenario #1-10: The Half-Alive Streets and Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past. There's a whole lot of Starfinder Society coming up, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled on this blog for more updates!

See you soon!

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer

When You War for the Crown, You Win or You Die

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

As the Ruins of Azlant sink below the waves, a new age dawns across the Inner Sea. Discord is coming to Taldor. More accurately: the discord that has simmered quietly just beneath the staid surface of Taldor is ready to boil over, and consume the remnants of the once-great empire. Taldor's end is in sight, and has been for a thousand years. The end may be a generation away, or a century, or an age, but always it closes. The nations passengers know they plod steadily toward to edge of the world, and yet the captains at the wheel refuse to see, refuse to change the course. Most Adventure Paths aim to save the world from a new and immediate threat to emerge on the scene, but the villain threatening to destroy Taldor is entropy and tradition. And victory means changing how a whole nation thinks. Victory means winning the War for the Crown.

War for the Crown began two years ago, as an idea I pitched as part of the meetings that eventually led to Ironfang Invasion Adventure Path. I wanted players to feel like they had some real stake in the future of the Inner Sea region, but the worry at the time was that my first AP should be something more traditional while I learned the ropes. I put my notes in a drawer and a year later I brought them back out, and this time I dug my feet in. This time I wanted to tackle one of my first loves of the Inner Sea: Taldor! And I wanted the PCs to help flesh out this maligned and oversimplified nation—seen as little more than laughable aristocracy stereotypes—into a complex nation on par with Andoran and Cheliax. I wanted Taldor to have a future and I wanted the PCs to help guide it there.

And that's what we got.

The final War for the Crown evolved a lot from those first notes. In my first draft, the PCs chose one of three inheritors to back, and the adventure text itself would abstract the adventure a little more, referring to the major NPCs as the Patron, the Ally, and the Adversary. As much as I loved this idea, the problem is that it means about 1/3 of each volume would be useless to any given group (and no I couldn't make the books any longer; I asked). It also caused problems in not being able to flesh out specific NPCs very well, since any given NPC would need to serve one of three masters. Eventually we started asking which of the three candidates would be the "canon" inheritor of the Primogen Crown, and opted to focus the entire AP around working for them.

That "canon" inheritor, who now ends up your patron, was Princess Eutropia. Not exactly shocking, given that we've teased her revolutionary leanings and political goals since the original Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting back in 2008. The lady's worked hard and wants try steering Taldor away from its 600-year status quo of slow ruin, and there are more than a few traditionalists who think she hasn't earned it, or that she has sinister motives, or just that a woman needs to know her place. Grand princess Eutropia going into the second decade of Golarion's existence doesn't just move the timeline forward, it means Taldor becomes a nation of tradition vs. progress and old vs. new, a nation of backroom political intrigue where fortunes and family fates hang in the balance. Not just a stagnant world of laughable, foppish nobles.

And if your group doesn't particularly want to back Eutropia for the throne? If they want to select their own candidate or make their own grab for power? The core plot of War for the Crown is (hopefully) designed to still be flexible enough that a GM can adapt to a different inheritor taking center stage for their campaign. The foreword for #127: Crownfall has a few notes and suggestions for adapting the campaign to your own table.

Interchangeable Pieces

One of the big goals for War for the Crown was a campaign with a lot of fun player options for tables to use or ignore depending on their own preferences. Several adventures use the various social combat and influence rules from Pathfinder: Ultimate Intrigue, but GMs should feel free takes the NPC personality notes and goals and let their tables simply play out dramatic scenes. Volume 2 introduces two special subsystems to capture two different aspects of Taldor: The Cults of Personality—so PCs can feel like movers and shakers all on their own—and the Relics system—which introduces magic items that grow stronger as their wielder accomplished great things on behalf of their people. Social, scheming tables will find the first system a delightful little distraction between game sessions, directing their psychophants and hangers-on to spy, spread word of their awesomeness, or rob the public blind. More combat-oriented tables will love the second, as your favorite sword or armor or ring grows cooler and more powerful just like your character does. Neither is central to the AP plot. Both suit the mood.

Humanity and NPCs

One of the challenges in a campaign built around intrigue and politics is finding motivation and personality for everyone involved, as almost anyone can serve as a friend, an ally of convenience, or an enemy, depending on a given table. Everyone needs a little personality and motivation, because hey, who isn't above a bribe? I had wanted to get rid of alignment altogether, because the nine-alignment system seemed overly simplistic for the complex moralities that lie at the heart of good political dramas, but apparently the alignments are "traditional" and "integral to several spells, class features, and monsters."

I tried guys.

Instead I've opted for showcasing little bits of NPC motivations and personality. Maxillar Pythareus might be a distant asshole who thinks women should be at home bearing kids, but his face brightens up if you want to talk war history and miniature wargames. Kalbio of Breezy Creek might be kind of an annoying hick, but dammit if he isn't just SO INVESTED in everything, because Oppara is SO BIG you guys. And Eutropia, the sophisticated dilettante, the respectable princess-come-social reformer? She is exactly the kind of nerd who would name her dog a pun.

As part of humanizing the characters, the running theme for this AP's foreword illustrations is showing where they came from: A major NPC's childhood illustrated, largely without comment, in each volume. Here are the first three.

Illustrations by Miguel Regodon Harkness

War for the Crown is an Adventure Path with very human opponents and very human consequences. Failure doesn't mean the apocalypse, just a continuation of Taldor's current course and slow decline. Someone may change things in the future, but those who suffer in the current system won't stop suffering until someone changes Taldor's course.

War for the Crown kicks off in just a couple weeks with Pathfinder Adventure Path #127: Crownfall, and you can still preorder or subscribe now!

And I'm going to close out this blog with the motivational poster that's been watching over my desk since I started the earliest outlining stages of War for the Crown, guiding and encouraging me along the way. If you ever think you're not doing good enough, always remember:

Crystal Frasier
Developer

Dressing on the Side

Monday, February 5, 2018

We're now on week three of our ongoing safari into the Jungle of Despair, and things are not looking good for our survival. We overcame the murderous vines, shambling refuse heaps, creeping tendrils, and pygmy plant people that plagued us last week, but it seems our trials are only beginning!

This morning we passed what can only be interpreted as a warning—a clear suggestion to TURN BACK! I mean, look at this skull pole. Look at it! Don't tell me that doesn't freak you out.

But did we heed the warning? Of course we didn't. And the result was a nice trip to the bottom of this fine obstacle. That's some welcome mat! See that blood on those spikes? Yeah, you guessed it—that's mine. I much prefer my life-sustaining bodily fluids remain on the inside, thank you very much.

And all this for some magic relic supposedly lost in dwarven ruins deep in the heart of the jungle? I didn't even know there were dwarves in the jungle. I thought they liked caves and canyons and dark, dry places. This place is anything but that! Still, ancient legend of the magic anvil claims that anything forged upon it will be flawless in form and unbreakable in construction. That's worth all this trouble, right? Right?

What the others don't realize, however, is that anything we find in the heart of this humid hellscape we must carry with us the many miles back to civilization. And we came for an ANVIL! Maybe I can use it to forge myself a wheelbarrow. In the meantime, everything we find goes into this trunk case. It looks like it'd be right at home on the deck or in the cargo hold of a jungle river barge, doesn't it? It's less appealing strapped to my back while I wade through thigh-deep, leech-filled muck, though, believe me.

Who am I to complain, though? I get to live the dream, the life of an adventurer. I get to venture into the untamed wild, and plunder whatever treasures I find there, left unguarded for millennia. Huh? Nature isn't unguarded, you say? There are forces protecting it and its bounty from exploitation? Great, I guess I'll just have to talk about some of those next week.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Guest Blog: Ben Burch (Dragons and Things)

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Ben Burch is an actor based in Los Angeles, CA who loves playing games. Check him out on “Dragons and Things” every Friday night 6 pm PST at facebook.com/DaTDragonShow.

As an actor and a fan of nerd culture, I have been blessed in many ways for the past three years. One way, and how some of you might recognize me, is that I was honored to be part of a show called “Dragons and Stuff” all last year. It is now “Dragons and Things,” and we play a homebrew campaign live on Friday nights for our dedicated, wonderful fans. I am also blessed by playing Yukon Cornelius in the national tour of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the Musical,” based on the the ani-magic movie, every November and December. It is a blast. However, the drawback to having these two exhilarating jobs is time constraints. I cannot do both at the same time. But this year, I decided to combine my two worlds into an experience I will never forget.

I knew I wouldn't be able to exist without Pathfinder for two months. Playing consistently for so long ignited my passion for the story. I loved being a PC and feared becoming the evil, soul-stealer that led the group. But when Humble Bundle advertised their Paizo sale for Extra Life, I decided to strap on my GM boots and give it a go. I scoured over books. I carefully plotted who my first group would be. I dreamed of machinations of torment for my future players. Most importantly, I devised a plan. I would get my cast mates of “Rudolph” as excited about Pathfinder as I am and run my friends through an epic quest. I knew it would be difficult, but when is GMing ever not difficult?

Through rehearsals, I helped these new players through character creation and backstory. Then it was time for my wife (one of those players) and I to pack our lives into two bags and three carry-ons and venture forth. You can imagine how hard it is to pack up the necessary equipment for Pathfinder as well as preparing for a two month away-from-home endeavor, but we made it work. We arrived at the airport, received quizzical looks for having a map sticking out of my backpack, and were stopped by airport security to search my bag of d20s. Through all of this, nothing was going to stop me.

I sat down at our first official game in Fort Worth, TX, and felt prepared. I asked the front desk for an area where a group could meet to play a game. They peered at one another with questioning glances. To them, I looked like a bearded sack of trouble. As I saw their minds about to say “no,” I clarified that it wasn't drinking games or anything nefarious but to play a nerdy RPG. They heaved a sigh of relief, giggled slightly, and showed me a nice room where we could play.

Preparing encounters was easy, but I wanted the environment to be pristine. I played with lighting, something that was surprisingly easy on the road. Once, I even brought down lamps from three separate rooms. I adjusted the dimness of two corners of the room, completely extinguished a panel of lights, and set the lighting above the table to a perfect level where it would draw my players in without straining their eyes. I had my iPad filled with important Paizo documents on one side, my phone with Syrinscape on the other, and beautiful Legacy of Fire Pathfinder Dice. The work was worth it when my players arrived flabbergasted. It was time to unleash the Beginner Box on my friends.

There are many interesting problems that occur when you are playing a game without home-field advantage, the first of which I learned that night. If you are not clear about the time frame in which you plan to play, someone will come and kick you out of your beautiful playing space. Tension mounted as a group of goblins trapped and disarmed twos of the five PCs. The rest watched in horror as I scurried in for the kill, when suddenly security barged in and told us we had been there too long and must leave. So much for dealing with generous front desk staff. It was getting late, but we couldn't end the session like that. We packed up the mat, dice, computer, iPad, phone, character sheets, minis and GM screen and headed upstairs. Our rooms were very small. It was difficult to fit everyone inside, and I could tell that the delay had ruined the moment. Not to mention it gave time for the cleric to think up obscuring mist and escape scot free. They were tired and the moment gone. Yet, the story was all they could talk about the next morning. They were so excited about the growth of their characters, the story that was unfolding, and NPCs that they loved to hate. So, we decided to play again that night. We had a four hour bus drive from Fort Worth to Austin, and we were ready.

We hopped from one location to the next playing games. We went from Austin, in a room deemed “The Murder Room” due to the staff requiring that we be locked in, to Fayetteville, Arkansas where we practically played poolside. We had days of rest in between; after all, you cannot play a three hour session after three shows of “Holly, Jolly Christmas” being sung into your face during the day. We spent most of our time travelling by bus, extolling our tales to curious cast mates, and late nights/early mornings would be filled with passerbys peaking their heads into conference rooms to figure out what undead creature these strange guests were

talking about. The game ravaged forward, and they ended the Beginner Box triumphantly. In my heart, I knew there was more story to tell, so I continued their journey with a homebrew. But, many other cast mates wanted a part of the tapestry I was weaving for their companions. It didn't take me long to decide that I could multitask and take another group through the same box. Afterall, I knew the module. How hard could it be?

On the next bus ride, a particularly long travel day, I helped five brand new players roll up characters, along with leveling up my five previous players on a bumpy bus. I was exhausted, but I knew (due to time) that I should start right away. They went to the closest game store to purchase dice, and when that store had a terrible selection (as some small town stores do), they found a different one. Honestly, it was all going swimmingly. One group played at nights whenever we could sleep in the next day, while the other group would play the mornings on those same days. I lost some sleep, but didn't care. My friends were having the time of their lives. Unfortunately for me, the most distracting and frustrating moments for both parties happened on each of their respective “last nights.”

The second party, with minimal time, was able to get through the Beginner Box. It was in Columbus, Ohio, that their story, with me at the helm, would close. I knew the game itself had gripped their attention and they would want to continue to play, but Ohio proved to be difficult. The fanciest hotel we stayed in was also the stingiest. They told me I could play in a private dining room, yet withheld information that this room was actually public and the doors could not be closed. They showed me to another group area (this one had kids climbing over the chairs) and told me this was another option. After an hour and a half haggling with the front desk, I was able to secure a room. They forced me to pay for a cleaning fee, but the story was more important than a measly twenty five dollars. It was an interesting situation to be in. Normally, I would feel confident and prepared for a session, but this aggravation uneased me. In a moment of clarity, I realized this night wasn't about me or my struggles. It was about their tale. When we ended, emotions around the room were high. Blood was spilled, characters died, and heroes formed.

The original party felt similar sensations, but the situation was much different. With the tour ending, we played our last session in a LaQuinta check in/breakfast nook in Abilene, Texas. This group took their characters from Texas to Alabama, Michigan, Wisconsin and many other states only to end up in Texas again. The perfect moment arose in game. The sorceress walked slowly around the spirit of her deceased husband as he revealed the true nature of her djinni bloodline. As I was about to drop the bomb, a disheveled man barged to the front desk complaining about water pressure in his room. Later an elf laid unconscious at the feet of a bearded devil as the group slowly backed away from the deadliest villain they faced. With his evil intentions made clear, he struck the rouge with a coup de grace. The players jaws dropped. And they jumped with surprise as the front desk staff clambered about cleaning the coffee machine. Obviously, this was not an ideal situation, but I had already learned this lesson. The words flowed from my mouth without fear or hesitation of what these other guests or staff thought. The rest of the world dissipated as I sat with my friends at a real table that now existed in an imaginary world only we inhabited. The players cried, laughed, died, rose again, and defeated the enemy.

In the same sense, I defeated my own enemies. I had many fears when deciding to GM, especially in such a unique situation. The fear of telling pure strangers that I was playing an RPG in their hotels lived in me. The fear that I could not adequately perform the story was real. The fear that I was not good enough existed. In the end, all fears fell away as I learned that you don't need to be perfect to do this. You don't need the perfect map or the perfect knowledge. You don't even need a quiet, secluded space. You need people who are willing to dive in with you and swim in the deep end.

I guarantee that more of my friends are interested in playing. They haven't told me so, but I know that they are out there. I refuse to let time get in my way, to let my fears drive me away from something I love. As GMs, we are duty-bound to tell stories to players who are interested. And if doing two or three shows a day, traveling on a bus to a new city or state every night, and living out of a suitcase didn't stop me, what's your excuse?

Ben Burch
Twitter/Instagram - @lookitsbenburch
Facebook - www.facebook.com/lookitsbenburch
Catch "Dragons and Things," Fridays 6 pm PST at www.facebook.com/datdragonshow