To Indy, And Beyond!

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Wait, it's already August again?! It's almost time for crowds of gamers to converge in Indianapolis for Gen Con 50 and Paizo officially releases our newest roleplaying game, Starfinder! If you're on your way to the show, we've gone ahead and collected a list of all things Pathfinder and Starfinder that you'll be able to check out over the weekend.

What's at the Paizo Booth?

First, you should definitely stop by our expansive booth in the Exhibitors Hall (#103), where we'll be featuring all of our new Starfinder and Pathfinder summer releases and a wide variety of other Paizo products to choose from.

Illustration by Victor Manuel Leza Moreno

If you're going to be purchasing a Starfinder Core Rulebook from the Paizo booth, you can also get a PDF copy added to your paizo.com for just $5! We'll also be handing out collectable pins, a new design each day, available on a first come, first serve basis. And, attendees who make a $50 or more purchase at the booth will receive a free Pathfinder Battles promotional figure (limit one per customer, while supplies last).

Looking for a fashion bonus? We'll have the brand new Starfinder Logo, Starfinder Space Goblin, Starfinder Society: Year of Scoured Stars, and Pathfinder Society: Year of Factions Favor t-shirts at the ready. Plus, we've teamed up with Scotty's Brewhouse bring Gen Con attendees a Starfinder themed pub menu and special Space Goblin t-shirt, exclusively at Scotty's over Gen Con weekend. You can get more information on their website.

Gimme the Books!

We're also providing Gen Con attendees another way to get their hands on Starfinder with a Grab-and-Go kiosk just outside of the Sagamore Ballroom. This card only kiosk is will be selling all the initial Starfinder launch products. There are no subscription pickups at the kiosk, and it will not be carrying our "merch" items (like lanyards or t-shirts).

Our Partners

A number of Paizo's partners are also in attendance! Ben Loomes of Syrinscape (booth #343) is proud to announce they'll be launching their Starfinder sounds at Gen Con, making Starfinder the first tabletop RPG to launch with a full audio companion on day one. Syrinscape will be giving away a free Docking Bay 94 SoundSet with Starfinder Core Rulebook purchases while supplies last. All around Gen Con, you'll be able to hear their epic sounds and music, including at the Friday night special in the Sagamore Ballroom, the Music & Ambiance in Gaming panel on Sunday. Plus, if you top by the booth on Sunday, you (and your voice) can get a chance to become immortalized as Lovecraft's insanity-inducing Shoggoth.

You'll also get a first look at Ninja Division's line of Starfinder miniatures in both the Paizo and Ninja Division booth (#2827). The first wave of miniatures are planned to land this fall. We plan to show off some previews over the weekend, so stay tuned!

And, we can't overlook that this year is a big year for Gen Con! To celebrate the 50th anniversary, we teamed up with Games & Gears and Gen Con to bring you Heroes for High Delve by Paizo author, Amanda Hamon Kunz. You can pick up your copy of Heroes for High Delve from Games & Gears at booth #2402, and the companion Flip-Mat, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Cavernous Lair from the Paizo booth.

Be sure to also check out offerings our friends from Black Book Editions, Q-Workshop, Ulisses Spiele (including a peek at the Aventuria Card Game), and WizKids! There's a lot to see over these four days, so don't miss out!

Organized Play

Y'all are ready to play some games right? Head up to the Sagamore Ballroom where we'll be hosting the weekend's launch of new Pathfinder Society Roleplaying and Adventure Card Guild seasons and of the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. Get the full schedule of Organized Play events on Gen Con's website.

Many updates for Organized Play have also been trickling their way onto paizo.com. This is a big and exciting time for our world-wide campaigns, and we appreciate your patience and incredibly valuable feedback as we expand these programs.

Wait, There's More?!

You bet! Paizo is also hosting an array of panels and seminars over the weekend in room #212 (that's next to the Sagamore Ballroom). These include topics covering both Pathfinder and Starfinder, and include all sorts of great information about the universe of both games.

Additionally, we'd like to take a moment to recognize the Gen Con Industry Insiders of the Paizo staff: Developer Crystal Frasier and Editor Lyz Liddell! Congratulations, you two! Be sure to keep a look out for their events on the schedule.

Not Going to Gen Con?

Follow along on Paizo's Facebook and Twitter! You can also track the tags #starfinderrpg, #pathfinderrpg, and #gencon50.

UPDATE, August 17: The Grab-and-Go Kiosk has sold out of its stock of Starfinder product and has packed up for the weekend. Additionally, we have sold out of our convention stock of the Starfinder Core Rulebook. If you are a Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber, and opted-in for Gen Con pickup, we do have your copy reserved at the booth.

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

That's No Boon...

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Gen Con's only about a week away—I'm sure my colleagues' fainting away is out of sheer excitement—and Paizo's organized play team is bringing a huge amount of new content to debut. It's too much to share all in one blog, so we're saving our six new scenarios (three Pathfinder Society and three Starfinder Society) for next week and starting off with our special events.

From Thurston:

In our last Starfinder Society blog, you may have already heard a bit about Starfinder Society #01-00: Claim to Salvation, written by organized play veteran freelance author Larry Wilhelm. While this scenario acts as background to the eventual formation of the Acquisitives faction, it also serves to introduce the universe of Starfinder to a wide audience. Players take on the roles of our iconic Starfinder characters in their 4th-level iterations, showcasing some of the abilities and skills each class gets after a few levels of play. The special starts in the Pact Worlds and quickly moves into the unexplored reaches of space, getting into starship action, and eventually ending up on the false moon of Salvation's End. As you can see by the impressive artwork, Salvation's End is a pretty big location, and the PCs get their first look at it in our opening Starfinder Society special. One thing that really excites me, both as a developer and writer, are locations that can service multiple visits. Sufficed to say, Salvation's End is something we expect to regularly see in the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild campaign. We hope it develops into something like the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild's own Gloomspires or Absalom Siege Castles. The first tables of Claim to Salvation open on Thursday evening, and I'm excited to see the result of Larry's stellar (bad pun) work.

Before Claim to Salvation debuts, players have an opportunity to learn the Starfinder rules with Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Quest: Into the Unknown, by an author who probably doesn't need any introduction: Ron Lundeen. Ron's credits include too many adventure path installments to list and one of my favorite Pathfinder Society scenarios, Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-21: The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment. After working with Ron on several projects, I knew I wanted him to tackle this very important introduction to Starfinder. I can honestly say that he knocked this quest pack out of the park—maybe into orbit... ok not that... oh, he knocked it to the Drift! Into the Unknown takes the PCs from Absalom Station out to the depths of space, but does so in a way that really showcases what it means to be a Starfinder Society field agent. This quest pack provides a cohesive narrative spaced over the course of five distinct quests, including two introductory starship combat encounters. I'm eager to see GMs across the world get a chance to run these quests and introduce players to the science fantasy setting of Starfinder!

From John:

Multi-table interactive specials are something of a tradition at Gen Con, and this year's only difference is one of scope: we have two such specials. If you attended this year's PaizoCon, Origins, PaizoCon UK, or UK Games Expo, you've no doubt experienced Pathfinder Society Special #8-99: The Solstice Scar Version A by the talented Andrew Hoskins. We'll be running this excellent tale of museum curating gone tragically wrong on Saturday night. If you haven't heard, we'll be updating The Solstice Scar about twice a year to cycle in new content and advance the storyline. Gen Con 2017 marks not only the point at which you can start scheduling this for public events, but also celebrates the occasion by our running more than 180 tables of the adventure simultaneously.

We're also debuting Pathfinder Society Special #9-00: Assault on Absalom by Mikko Kallio. For millennia, warlords of all stripes have dreamed of conquering the City at the Center of the World. These sieges are central to Absalom's history and remain a prominent archaeological scar on its surrounding lands. For the first time in decades, someone has dared to besiege the city, and unless the Society's ready to aid Absalom's defense, this familiar conqueror might succeed. Not only has Mikko done an excellent job of presenting an exciting adventure and incorporating Absalom's flavor, but we've also worked with Keith Richmond from Lone Shark to provide an Adventure Card Guild component. Join us on Friday night for the tremendous event! Absalom may never be the same, and we may be hearing the repercussions of this epic battle for months to come.

It's gonna to be big—like, "towering battle golem with...is that a cannon arm?" big.

And of course, you'll be able to find all of us either in the Sagamore Ballroom or at booth 103 in the exhibitor hall. Come by and say hello. Also be sure to check back here next week, when Linda tells us about the upcoming Pathfinder Society scenarios.

John Compton and Thurston Hillman
Organized Play Lead Developer and Starfinder Society Developer

Gen Con 50 Events

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Last week, I previewed some of the offerings in store for PaizoCon 2017 attendees. The lottery ran and we are in the open event selection period until next Monday. If you have May 26-29 free and want to travel to beautiful Seattle, you can still pick up a badge in-person at the PaizoCon Convention store.

While most of our focus is on PaizoCon, the Gen Con catalog of events went live on their website last Sunday. Attendees may browse the offerings and compile wish lists in preparation for ticket sales starting May 28. With so many games and events, I wanted to highlight some of the key Paizo offerings.

Starfinder Society

Starfinder is the buzzword for Gen Con, and the Sagamore Ballroom will buzz with sounds of the future all weekend. Events kick off with the Starfinder Quest: Into the Unknown. While we are running free quests throughout the convention, both in the Exhibition Hall and the Sagamore Ballroom, participation entails waiting in line, playing one of the six offerings, then returning to the line. During the first two slots of the convention, Thursday 8:00 AM-1:00 PM and 2:00 PM-7:00 PM, we offer a ticket version of the Quests, which eliminates the waiting in line and gives attendees the chance to finish the entire quest series in one sitting. These quests utilize 1st level pregenerated characters available onsite.

Thursday evening is the premier of the Starfinder Society Special #1-00: Claim to Salvation. This event uses 4th level versions of the Starfinder iconic characters, which James Sutter and the Starfinder team is currently previewing Friday's on this blog. The in-world Starfinder Society needs firepower to complete a mission and turn to the iconics to provide assistance. After Thursday evening's launch, the Gen Con schedule includes tables of this event most slots.

The schedule is set up so that an attendee may play Starfinder all Thursday with pregenerated characters, pick up a copy of the Starfinder Core Rulebook from the Paizo booth in the Exhibition Hall, then make their own character and return Friday ready to play Starfinder Society Scenarios #1-01: The Commencement, #1-02: Fugitive on the Red Planet, and #1-03: Yesteryear's Truth. Of these offerings, #1-01 is a replayable scenario and #1-02 and #1-03 are for 1st to 4th level characters. Product pages are not yet available on paizo.com, but will be posted soon.

Pathfinder Society

If Starfinder isn't your focus, there are plenty of Pathfinder Society offerings. Starting with Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-07: From the Tome of Righteous Repose, we offer every subsequent Season 8 scenario, including one table most sessions of Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-25: Unleashing the Untouchable a scenario for level 12-15 characters. We also have a few older scenarios, such as Pathfinder Society Scenario #01: Silent Tide and #7-99: Through Maelstrom Rift

Friday night is the debut of the Season 9 multi-table interactive special, Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-00: Assault on Absalom. This event takes over the Sagamore, with 160 tables of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild and 20 tables of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild playing the same scenario simultaneously. The Gen Con event system lists tickets for this event by sub-tier, so there are five different roleplaying event entries for the same event. We will monitor ticket sales and adjust the number of tables in each sub-tier as necessary, but at the event players will be required to play a character in the sub-tier for which they hold a ticket. As a note, 9th level is not listed for sale. This is the gap level and players of 9th level characters may purchase tickets for tier 7-8 or tier 10-11. We will have copies of the pregenerated iconic characters available for player use. The pregenerated characters only go to level 7, so there are no iconic pregenerated characters available for subtier 10-11. The Season 9 scenario offerings start Saturday morning at 8:00 AM. As with prior years, the first three scenarios of the season are on offer. We round out our special event offerings with the new multi-table modular special, Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-99: The Solstice Scar, scheduled for Saturday evening from 8:00 PM-1:00 AM.

The Adventure Card Guild has a full stock of events spanning all seasons of organized play, including Season of the Shackles, Season of the Righteous, and Season of the Runelords, Season of Plundered Tombs. We are putting final touches on the next season and hope to announce more information soon. As well as seasonal play and participating in the aforementioned Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-00: Assault on Absalom, Gen Con sees a return of the Open Tournament. Starting Thursday with qualifying rounds, the tournament event spans the entire convention, with finals on Sunday at noon. Gather your teammates and come reign victorious!

Pathfinder Society Academy is back this year, bigger and better than ever. Aimed at providing youth ages 6-17 a positive gaming experience, we set aside space specifically for them and their families. Programming includes the three modules of lessons: Beginner, Advanced, and Transitions, which introduce the game from the ground up and prepare the players for running characters in the Pathfinder Society, as well as Pathfinder Society Scenarios selected from prior season's catalogs. Adults are welcome at Pathfinder Society Academy tables as long as they accompany a youth. For their safety and enjoyment, children ages 6-12 must have a parent who remains at the Pathfinder Society Academy area. Youth ages 13-15 must have a parent in the Sagamore Ballroom and youth aged 16-17 need a way to contact a parent onsite in case of emergency.

If playing games doesn't pique your interest, consider attending one of the Paizo panels. The first seminar starts Thursday at 11:00 AM and run through Sunday at noon. Topics include returning favorites like Ask the Paizo GMs, Writing for Paizo, Pathfinder Rules Q&A, and Aunty Lisa's Story Hour. New offerings this year include Making your First Starfinder Character, Starfinder Rules Design Workshop, Secrets of the Pact Worlds, and Starfinder Adventure Path Q&A. Come learn all the secrets of your favorite games!

Whew! I knew we offered quite a few activities at Gen Con, but it wasn't until I was trying to select which to highlight in this blog that I realized how great programming is available. I couldn't touch on everything, so I urge you to check out the Gen Con catalog and search keyword Paizo.

Over the past couple of weeks, we had some changes in Sagamore Ballroom leadership. Jon Cary, a stalwart presence for many years, stepped back from the role and Bob Jonquet is spearheading efforts. We added Walter Sheppard to the team to make up for Jon's departure. Rounding out the executive team is Lucas Servideo and Todd Morgan. Thank you to Jon for his many years spent planning and executing Pathfinder Society events at Gen Con. Enjoy seeing the show this year!

For those whose travel plans are undecided, we still need GM assistance, including a handful of Tier 1 positions. The team and I spent the past weeks contacting those that already signed up and are working on scheduling those individuals for events. You should have schedule information before ticket sales go live on the 28th. Watch your inbox for correspondence. If you are interested in GMing at the event, complete the questionnaire and we will be in contact shortly.

Also for GMs, Origins Game Fair is also still looking for individuals to fill some slots at the convention held June 14 to 19 in Columbus, Ohio. Interested volunteers should sign up by sending Venture-Captain Michael McNerney an email at ohiopfs@gmail.com.

I look forward to seeing many of you at PaizoCon in just over a week. If you're attending, please stop by the Grand Ballroom and say hi! Just remember, there are few strangers in gaming, but many friends you haven't met yet!

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

Starfinder Society, Paizo's Newest Organized Play Program

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Immediately after the announcement of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game last PaizoCon, our community started speculating about an organized play program to support the new game. We spent the ensuing months looking at workflow and charting out a course that would enable us to have both Starfinder and Pathfinder organized play programs. It delights me to end speculation and announce the launch of Starfinder Society at Gen Con 50!

Introducing the Starfinder Society logo, designed by the talented Sarah Robinson!

Before the questions flood in, I want to note that we are still in the active planning phase, and may not have answers to everything yet. Over the next few months, the team will release more information via blog, podcast, and forum posts. If you have questions, please put yours in the comments section, and we will work to get them answered.

Who is working on Starfinder Society?

The structure is very similar to the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. Tonya Woldridge will oversee the program, with John Compton taking on the role of lead developer of both the Pathfinder and Starfinder organized play campaigns. Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer will continue to focus on Pathfinder Society. We've added Thurston Hillman to the team as the dedicated developer for Starfinder Society. Thurston has been a part of Pathfinder Society since Season 1, when he authored Pathfinder Society Scenario #55:The Infernal Vault. Since then, he's both contributed many scenarios (and special events) to the Pathfinder Society as well as writing regularly for various other Pathfinder RPG lines. Thurston brings his depth of experience to the team, along with a bit of zany humor.

Is it going to be called "Starfinder Society?"

The official name is Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, or SFSRPG for short. The Starfinder game takes place in the distant future of the Pathfinder world, and while much has changed (or been forgotten), the Starfinder Society traces its mysterious history back to the Pathfinder Society of present day. The campaign's official name reflects this connection.

Are you making two separate organized play programs?

Yes. Although many similarities exist in structure and format, including a shared volunteer team, they are two separate campaigns with different rules, documentation, and characters.

Do I get to keep my same Pathfinder Society number?

Yes. What was your Pathfinder Society number will now be your number for all three of the Paizo-operated organized play programs: Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild, and Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. Starfinder character numbers will have a unique starting number, most likely 700, making your first Starfinder character XXX-701. The number 700 works really well for this, not only because it leaves space for plenty of Pathfinder Society roleplaying characters, but also because the PZO number (the number we assign to each of our products) begins with 7. Who knows, this bit of trivia may make it in to the PaizoCon quiz.

How much is staying the same from Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild?

We still have quests and scenarios with Chronicle sheets. Adventures will be broken into tiers, grant XP, and provide other rewards. Three experience points (XP) grant a level. There are fairly cooperative factions within the Starfinder Society, based on their worldview and goals. We will reveal more information about the campaign as we get closer to its launch in August 2017.

Illustration by Sebastien Hue

If all that is the same, what is different?

Starship combat!

On a more serious note, we made a couple major changes for Starfinder Society. The first is the tier system. We are closing the gap between subtiers that resulted in so much confusion and consternation with calculating average party level (APL). Starfinder scenarios will include the following tiers: Tier 1-2, Tier 1-4, Tier 3-6, Tier 5-8, Tier 7-10, and Tier 9-12—perhaps more as higher-level play grows in popularity.

The second most noticeable change is that characters have a means of belonging to more than one faction at a time. Unlike the current Pathfinder Society faction rules, Starfinder Society characters will be able to gain favor with multiple groups, choosing which they want to champion on a scenario-by-scenario basis. But just like multiclassing, focusing on several groups won't see the same benefits as focusing on a primary faction. These changes to the faction system tie in with another issue that we are addressing: the handling of boons. One of our goals is developing a way to make the boons on Chronicles more relevant, and not just a stack of paper player's stick in the back of their folder. We'll reveal more about these changes in... the future (see what I did there?)

What is the release schedule?

The Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild launches with 3 scenarios, 1 pre-generated character special, and 1 quest pack at Gen Con. From there, we will publish one scenario a month. Moving to a slower release schedule allows us to spin up the program and settle into the groove of running three organized play programs. During this time, we will solicit feedback and assess the rate of publication for 2018 and beyond.

When can I start playing Starfinder Society?

The fun begins Thursday, August 17th, at 8:00 AM Pacific time in the Sagamore Ballroom at Gen Con. After Thursday morning, anyone, anytime, anywhere, may schedule Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild events.

Next week sees John holding down the fort while I travel to the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas to chat with retailers about our organized play programs. The following Wednesday, March 22, at 7 pm PDT, John, Thurston, and I join the Know Direction crew for a Question and Answer session about all things organized play related. If you have topics you wish us to cover, feel free to drop me an email at tonya.woldridge@paizo.com and we will fit as many answers on the show as possible.

Check out the blog next Monday for more exciting organized play news!

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

OPC Log, 6 Calistril, 4717

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Making my way back from the Las Vegas Open to spend some time in the office before heading out to DundraCon in a few weeks. The Open is a small con with large growth potential. Currently focused on war gaming, they are looking to expand into tabletop RPGs. I look forward to seeing what they can do for 2018.

Once back in the office, the team and I will be putting final polish on some items in preparation for announcing them to our players. Keep an eye on the blogs throughout February for some exciting news!

Convention Travel Schedules

With the launch of the 2017 travel season, the team will be setting out for locations around the world. Consider coming out to one of the conventions below to say hi and roll some dice with us! Besides the list below, some of the Pathfinder Society staff will be at Origins and the team will see you at PaizoCon and Gen Con 50! I'm asking Chris to post the list on the website and will add more as we have confirmations.

Tonya

• 2/17-2/20 DundraCon, San Ramon, California
• 3/2-3/5 Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington
• 3/31-4/2 Who's Yer Con, Indianapolis, Indiana
• 6/4-6/7 UK Games Expo, Birmingham, United Kingdom

John

Keeping him busy with writing Season 8/9. He did get to attend SCARAB last month!

Linda/Mark

• 2/23-2/26 TotalCon, Marlborough, Massachusettes
• 4/22-4-23 Quad Cities GameFest, Davenport, Iowa

Other Paizo Staff

• 2/10-2/12 OwlCon, Dallas, Texas
• 3/23-3/26 GaryCon, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
• 6/4-6/7 UK Games Expo, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Interactive Specials

It is our pleasure to announce two interactive specials for this year's convention season. The first will debut at PaizoCon, with its European Debut at UK Games Expo. It will be on limited release until Gen Con, after which it will be available for conventions worldwide. This special, titled "The Solstice Scar" is a multi-table RPG interactive for levels 1-11. There are a few twists, but I'll leave it to John to tell those tidbits in a later blog.

The second special will debut at Gen Con and will be a multi-table interactive for both RPG and ACG. Once again, I'll leave it to John to reveal the details.

5-Star GMs

Another month means more GMs reaching the 5-star goal. The following GMs successfully ran 150 games, including 10 special scenarios and 50 unique adventures. They also ran a game for a Venture-Captain, who confirmed they know what they are about. Thanks for the hours and hours of effort that went into completing the tasks. Congratulations on reaching your 5th star.

• Brent Bowser
• Chris Brockley-Blatt
• Brian Brumbaugh
• Geoff Griffith
• J Michael Neal
• James Risner

Gen Con Volunteer Update

So far, 231 volunteers completed the questionnaire. But there is still space on the volunteer roster. This year, we have over 160 tables of games scheduled for each slot at the Gen Con! Which translates in to loads of GMs and volunteers. I'm starting the task of emailing potential volunteers today and hope to have them all completed by Thursday morning. If you haven't gotten a status update by Thursday evening, and you checked your inbox, your spam filter, and your cat (because we all know cats have mysterious powers), then send me an email (genconpfsvolunteer@paizo.com) and we can sort things out.

If your interested in volunteering, check out the Call for Vols Blog and click on the questionnaire link at the bottom.

Also, snow has arrived in Seattle! Good thing I still have my winter boots. But that asks the question—where is your next game? Do share your exciting Pathfinder Society plans! The team may find a new convention to attend!

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

A Call to Vol—How to Volunteer for Organized Play at Gen Con 50!

Monday, January 30, 2017

Hard to believe the year passed so fast, but it's time again to invite people to help out with Pathfinder Society activities at Gen Con. As in prior years, Paizo is once again a co-sponsor with our booth on the Exhibit Floor, seminars galore, and activities in the Sagamore Ballroom. But we have a few changes in store as well. So grab some coffee, get comfortable, and see what Organized Play has up its sleeve for the "Best Four Days in Gaming!"

Several weeks ago, I put out a call for volunteers to fill Department Head and Lead positions at Gen Con 50. It pleases me greatly to introduce this year's team. They and the PFS team will work closely to make Gen Con 50 the smoothest and most awesome event to date!

Leads

Jon Cary, Bob Jonquet, Todd Morgan, and Lucas Servideo

Department Heads

Kelly Brummond, Seth Brummond, Kevin Hanley, Tina Saunders, Walter Sheppard, Mark Stratton, and Dominick Trascritti.

What plans we have for this year! Adventure Card Guild (ACG) returns with play from all published Seasons, including Season of Plundered Tombs and Season of the Goblin. Back as well is the ever-popular Gen Con Open, bigger and badder than ever. On the Roleplaying Guild (RPG) side, we're offering a variety of scenarios from the current Year of the Stolen Storm, as well as some retro events from past Seasons. Season 9 takes off as well, though you'll have to wait until PaizoCon to hear the devious diabolical awesome plots concocted by John and the PFS team.

Following in the footsteps of last year's interactive, 8-00: The Cosmic Captive, Friday night's interactive will include both ACG and RPG components. Saturday evening will have a large event for RPG and Sunday sees the finals of the ACG Gen Con Open! The team has a few surprises up our sleeves, but the time is not yet ripe to share them. Once the schedule is finalized, we will share with our players via blog and Gen Con's event page!

Back again is Pathfinder Society Academy (PSA) returns, bigger than ever. This year, we reserved 15 tables for youth-friendly games. The schedule includes lessons—Beginner, Advanced, and Transitions—similar to prior years, as well as full scenarios from the Pathfinder Society catalog. Having a dedicated area for our youth and their families gives us the opportunity to offer positive experiences in a youth-friendly format.

At this time, we are still in discussions about what to do with our demo space. Until those are concluded, I don't want to make any announcements. Once we decide, we will reach out to the volunteer pool to fill the slots.

The past few years saw the HQ volunteers and the GM volunteers on vastly different schedules. While this helped with some of the logistics and people moving, the HQ slots were long and mixed groups couldn't match up their schedules. This year, we are trying a different approach. HQ schedules are shorter, but start an hour before the slot starts. We've adjusted the session requirements per Tier accordingly and returned the store credit to $10/slot for all volunteers.

The biggest change, besides HQ volunteer scheduling, is the addition of Midnight Madness. Well, midnight is a bit of a misnomer, since the slot starts at 2:00 AM. So I'll call it the "overnight" slot. We are keeping it small as we test the waters and see how many people are up and wanting to game. So our games this year run around the clock - (8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM, and 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM to 7:00 AM), with the exception of Sunday (9:00 AM to 2:00 PM). I also need a few volunteers to help set up Wednesday Morning and teardown Sunday Afternoon. If you are interested in either of these slots, which don't count towards your Tier requirements but do earn store credit and pizza, please indicate your interest in the Notes section of the Volunteer Questionnaire.

Volunteer Slot Schedule

Slot	GMs	HQ
Wednesday Afternoon	—	—
Thursday Morning	7:30 AM to 1:00 PM	7:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Thursday Afternoon	1:30 PM to 7:00 PM	1:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Thursday Evening	7:30 PM to 1:00 AM	7:00 PM to 1:00 AM
Thursday Overnight	1:30 AM to 7:00 AM	1:00 AM to 7:00 AM
Friday Morning	7:30 AM to 1:00 PM	7:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Friday Afternoon	1:30 PM to 7:00 PM	1:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Friday Evening	7:30 PM to 1:00 AM	7:00 PM to 1:00 AM
Friday Overnight	1:30 AM to 7:00 AM	1:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Saturday Morning	7:30 AM to 1:00 PM	7:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Saturday Afternoon	1:30 PM to 7:00 PM	1:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Saturday Evening	7:30 PM to 1:00 AM	7:00 PM to 1:00 AM
Saturday Overnight	1:30 AM to 7:00 AM	1:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Sunday Morning	8:30 AM to 2:00 PM	8:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Sunday Afternoon	—	—

Volunteers may sign up for a number of shifts during the convention, which translates into Tier status. No volunteer should plan on volunteering for more than 8 slots. We want you to see the convention too! When filling out the Volunteer Questionnaire, please use the following chart to determine your Tier status.

Tier Status Chart

Tier	GMs	HQ
Tier 1	8 Slots	7 Slots
Tier 2	7 Slots	6 Slots
Tier 3	6 Slots	5 Slots
Tier 4	5 Slots	4 Slots
Tier 5	4 Slots	3 Slots
Tier 6	3 Slots	2 Slots
Tier 7	2 Slots	1 Slot
Tier 8	1 Slot	N/A

Rewards are very similar to last year. Based on their tier, volunteers receive a variety of perks, including a free 4-Day Gen Con 2017 badge, 1/4 of a room at the Westin in downtown Indianapolis, a hardcover book, paizo.com store credit, and an exclusive tier-based boon (RPG) or reward (ACG). At this time, we are not sure which of the great books we are offering—too many great things coming off the presses. Once that is decided, I will let the volunteers know. Also, volunteers are given shirts every other year, based on the number of days they volunteer.

Volunteer Perk Chart

Tier	Badge	Hotel	Book	T-Shirts	Store Credit	Boon/Reward
1	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Tier 2	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Tier 3	✔	—	✔	✔	✔	✔
Tier 4	✔	—	—	✔	✔	✔
Tier 5	—	—	—	✔	✔	✔
Tier 6	—	—	—	✔	✔	✔
Tier 7	—	—	—	✔	✔	—
Tier 8	—	—	—	✔	✔	—

We are putting the call out with the intent that we can let all prospective volunteers know their status before the Gen Con housing lottery goes live on February 12th, since housing in downtown Indianapolis is at a premium. As a side note, you need to have a badge to register for the housing. So if you volunteer as a Tier 3-4 volunteer and want housing downtown, you must purchase a GM badge from Gen Con and proceed to register for the lottery. When I receive our GM badge allocation, I will add a GM badge to your account and you may request a refund of the badge you purchased. This is the only way to access the housing lottery! For Tier 1-2 volunteers, I will send your housing information when our block is assigned in June.

Related to housing is roommate preference. To save my sanity when doing room assignments, volunteers may request either one roommate (to fill a bed) or three (to fill a room). It is imperative that roomies put each other on their questionnaire—so Bob lists Jon and Jon lists Bob and I put them in a room together. If you list someone that doesn't list you back, then I do not guarantee you will wind up in the same room. There is also a choice for "no preference". When assigning rooms, I tend to group like together. There is a Notes section of the questionnaire to supply more information. If there is anything I should take into consideration when placing you in a room, please add it here!

Summary (TL;DR)

• Decide to volunteer—choose Tier based on charts above.
• Ensure you have a Gen Con account (create at Gen Con Website)
• Complete the Volunteer Questionnaire
• Check your email for a letter confirming your volunteer status.

If you have any questions, send them via email to genconpfsvolunteer@paizo.com

For those looking to volunteer at PaizoCon, I'll be putting that call out in February.

Thank you to all our volunteers and players who make the Pathfinder Society so fantastic! The team and look forward to seeing you at Gen Con 50! Let's roll some dice!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator