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Monday, September 26, 2011


Mike Brock, Paizo's new Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator!

With a drive the same distance as it is from Whitethrone to Eleder, I had quite the interesting time in my four and a half days from Atlanta to Redmond. I have been preparing my list of items I want to address with the campaign in both structure and rules for several weeks. I was able to refine that list during the drive. I am honored to have been chosen by Paizo as the caretaker of the Pathfinder Society. It is an awesome, and somewhat daunting responsibility, but one I am excited to take on.

As to how the title correlates to this blog and my journey, it is my three Pathfinder Society Numbers. I think I bring a lot to the Campaign Coordinator position with my prior experiences in Pathfinder Society. I started as a player at Gen Con during the Pathfinder Special with Kyle Baird as my GM. That experience got me hooked on Pathfinder Society, especially since I was spared from a horrible death that first game. I continued playing and enjoying Pathfinder Society, learning about Golarion and absorbing all the information I could find about the campaign setting.

Several months after Gen Con, the call went out for volunteers who were crazy enough to take on the mantle of Venture-Captain. As I had already started a small group of Pathfinder Society enthusiasts and knew of quite a few stores in the Atlanta area, I thought what better way to become more active (and to have an excuse for my wife to go play) than to be organizing Pathfinder Society. I applied, and after several emails and a phone interview, I was offered the position. I was excited and full of enthusiasm, ready to organize Pathfinder Society and make it the best location anywhere in the world. After the first nine weeks of being away from home at a Pathfinder Society game day somewhere in the metro Atlanta area, my wife helped me refocus my goals. I quickly learned if I was going to continue to organize and grow Pathfinder Society in my community, was going to need help. I contacted several people over the next few months and assigned them as store liaisons. I decided if I could have one person running Pathfinder Society at each location, they could devote more time to that specific location, recruiting GMs and players, handling scheduling issues and the like with store owners, and essentially taking ownership of Pathfinder Society in their little section of Atlanta. That left me with only having to worry about the website, making sure locations didn’t conflict with games being run, and other coordination efforts. A special thanks goes out to Kyle and Nani Pratt (current Atlanta co-Venture-Captains), Joseph Caubo, John Compton, and Blake Sorenesen for their efforts as store liaisons. Without their help, Pathfinder Society in Atlanta would have never grown to where it is today.

And now we fast-forward to the past few months. I became aware just before Gen Con that the Campaign Coordinator position was becoming available. I emailed Paizo with my interest, and to my surprise, I was called in for an interview during Gen Con. But this was not just any interview. This was a lunch interview and they were paying for my lunch! After meeting up with several of the Decemvirate members outside the Pathfinder Society room, we made the long walk to our dining establishment—White Castle. I have to say, it was unlike any interview I had participated in before but it was a free lunch. The interview went fairly well and I went back to GMing thinking that was the last I would hear about the open position. To my surprise, several weeks later I received a phone call from Erik Mona offering me the job. After making sure it was okay with the wife (after all, I accepted Venture-Captain without telling her), and that moving to the opposite side of the country was not out of the question, I accepted.

I arrived at Paizo last Tuesday. The first few days have been hectic. I’ve been clearing up overdue emails, catching up on how everything works here, and presenting some of my ideas. Over the course of the next few months, I will be presenting some of those ideas through Pathfinder Society blogs on Mondays. Just as my store liaisons were vital to me growing Pathfinder Society in Atlanta, the Venture-Captains are very important ambassadors to the game to help me grow Pathfinder Society throughout the world. With my trust in them, and my commitment to the Pathfinder Society playerbase, I am confident we will see amazing growth. One thing I want to emphasize is that Pathfinder Society is not my campaign. It is your campaign. I am just the caretaker. I try to listen to all of your concerns and work with people here at Paizo to make sure the campaign improves. I am not looking to change everything about it. I think it is fairly strong as it is. But there are some things that can be done better.

One of the first things I am doing is targeting more than 25 new regions I would like to assign new Venture Captains. You can find information on how to apply and what areas we are looking to include in the Regional Coordinators forum.

Once again, I thank Paizo for entrusting me to take care of Pathfinder Society and I thank all of you for making the campaign what it is today.

A Reminder: Don't miss the Pathfinder Tales round-table discussion in the Paizo chat room tonight at 6:00 PST!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

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Dark Archive

A hearty welcome Mike!!

Klye spared you those many years ago for a reason, the Paracountess instructions will be forthcoming.
Contributor

Huzzah! Welcome to the madhouse Mike. :D
Grand Lodge

Glad you are ready to get started!

Sweet new avatar by the way!
Grand Lodge

I checked the list of places you are looking to get a Venture Captain into, and noticed you have Columbus OH on there twice. Assuming that isn't intentional, could one of those be replaced with a SE Missouri/ Southern Illinois/ Western Kentucky VC please?
Grand Lodge

Thanks all. One of my store liaisons, Nicholas Gray, was left off inadvertently. Sorry Nick. I thank you just as much, especially since your awesome cleric, Novinnia, played in my home games for more than 3 years.
Dark Archive

Congrats Mike!
Sovereign Court

Congratulations!

As ever, we will miss you dearly in Atlanta, but we are happy to see you at the helm of PFS.
The Exchange

In Mike We Trust!

/I have it on good authority that Joseph guy you mentioned sucks.
//And he Caubo de graces people.
///I am jealous of your Decemvirate forum avatar!
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Congrats! I am looking forward to your contributions!
Scarab Sages

Thanks for the honorable mentions Honey! And here's another shout out to Nick Gray, who I too noticed you forgot. Alinzia loves her cleric friend, cousin, and healer of her fiance, Novinnia.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Congratulations on your new position Mike. I look forward to finding out what you have in store for PFS.

Bienvenido Mike!
Grand Lodge

Forgot to say Congrats in the last post. Im sure you'll do a great job. :)
Lantern Lodge

(sends Gunslinger over to have a conversation with Mike)

Tchk.. tchk.. ok.. hand over that coffee mug and no one gets hurt! :)

What can I say? I like coffee and I like Pathfinder.

Serious though.. congrats...

By the way... I don't suppose Paizo will sell coffee mugs? I can't seem to find any.
Scarab Sages

He can't hand over the coffee mug because it's mine. It was the one boon I got for being Mrs. Atlanta Venture Captain. Now I guess it's the boon I get for being Mrs. PFS Campaign Coordinator. ;-)

But it is a dang nice coffee mug...I'm just saying.
Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16

Congrats!

I did want to point out that your list of open regions has Southern Illinois (Urbana). While being a Chicagoan, anything south of the city can be considered as Southern Illinois, but to be fair, Urbana is more properly Central Illinois. Also, it might make more sense to call it Champaign-Urbana, since they'e adjacent cities that each contain roughly one half of the University of Illinois.

Congrats, Mike!

We met at Gencon this year (played the Gencon Special, high level table together) and had a couple of nice chats.
I've been impressed with the job you did in Atlanta, and I'm sure PFS is in good hands with you.

Looking forward to seeing you put 'your mark' on the way the campaign is organized. Your skills at delegation/empowerment and organization will serve us all well!

Marcus

(all hail Team Cheliax, and our glorious patron Asmodeus)
Sovereign Court

Congrats Mike!

The pic makes you look like the new Godfather of PFS.
Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Exactly.

Congrats, Mike. I like the fact that you are of a respectable age.

Congratulations Mike! I'm sure you'll do well. Looking forward to what you bring to the PFS table.
Liberty's Edge

Welcome aboard! You DO realize that there is parts of Illinois south of Urbana too, right? Just checking!
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Welcome, Mike!

Arnim Thayer wrote:
Welcome aboard! You DO realize that there is parts of Illinois south of Urbana too, right? Just checking!

There are NO parts of Illinois south of I-80. :-P

Congratulations Mike. I will have to repeat what has been already said by many. Losing you from the local scene as well as losing the home game are losses. Yet the good things that are sure to come with you at the helm will surely make up for it.

Of course it is your loss that you can't get Lila's cookies or gingerbread anymore... ;)

Best wishes from all of us here.
Grand Lodge
stealthdrake wrote:


Of course it is your loss that you can't get Lila's cookies or gingerbread anymore... ;)

But he's in Seattle now, and he has virtually unlimited access to Lilith cookies!

(Grats, Mike, glad to have you with us!)
Dark Archive

Mike, again congrats. My advice is delegate and tackle issues at hand. You have many minions as Venture Captains... use them. ;)
Grand Lodge
Callous Jack wrote:

Congrats Mike!

The pic makes you look like the new Godfather of PFS.

I think his expression is much more benign and paternal.

Almost like the Pope.
Grand Lodge
deathboy wrote:
Mike, again congrats. My advice is delegate and tackle issues at hand. You have many minions as Venture Captains... use them. ;)

Oh I am. If you could only see behind the scenes :)

Silver Crusade

Oh I see how it is! Now that you have a nice new title like Campaign Coordinator you can’t be bothered with the little people who helped get you to where you are now! And after all that work I put into keep the party alive with my cleric Novinnia in your campaign to prevent a TPK and ending an epic campaign! The ingratitude!

But really, congratulations, and I look forward to continuing to work as your minion! I am sorry to lose you, but I look forward to what you will do with PFS in Seattle. Pimpin new avatar by the way.
Dark Archive

Welcome, Mike.
Grand Lodge
thunderspirit wrote:

Welcome, Mike!

Arnim Thayer wrote:
Welcome aboard! You DO realize that there is parts of Illinois south of Urbana too, right? Just checking!
There are NO parts of Illinois south of I-80. :-P

A lot of people live south of I-80. maybe not as many as Chicago, but still a lot.

I was actually hoping for something a bit further south if it was at all possible. Honestly, A VC in Urbana may as well be MO or Indianapolis for as far away as it is. Urbana desnt really serve the area I was meaning (Find the Carbondale/Marion area, down near the southern tip of the state), but at least it would be one more in the general area. Guess I can live with it. ;)
Liberty's Edge
godsDMit wrote:
thunderspirit wrote:

Welcome, Mike!

Arnim Thayer wrote:
Welcome aboard! You DO realize that there is parts of Illinois south of Urbana too, right? Just checking!
There are NO parts of Illinois south of I-80. :-P

A lot of people live south of I-80. maybe not as many as Chicago, but still a lot.

I was actually hoping for something a bit further south if it was at all possible. Honestly, A VC in Urbana may as well be MO or Indianapolis for as far away as it is. Urbana desnt really serve the area I was meaning (Find the Carbondale/Marion area, down near the southern tip of the state), but at least it would be one more in the general area. Guess I can live with it. ;)

+1

Maybe the idea of more vague regions and areas needs to be looked at. I take care of the Southern Missouri area right now, for all intents and purposes, centered on Cape Girardeau. It was my crew that introduced Pathfinder to the Carbondale area. A less defined area might serve the needs of regions such as mine.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Psst...I lived in C'dale for several years. ;-)
Scribbling Rambler wrote:
Callous Jack wrote:

Congrats Mike!

The pic makes you look like the new Godfather of PFS.

I think his expression is much more benign and paternal.

Almost like the Pope.

I immediately thought of the guy from Modern Family (no offense, Mike).

Liberty's Edge
thunderspirit wrote:
Psst...I lived in C'dale for several years. ;-)

I promise not to hold that against you! LOL!

Grand Lodge
godsDMit wrote:

A lot of people live south of I-80. maybe not as many as Chicago, but still a lot.

I was actually hoping for something a bit further south if it was at all possible. Honestly, A VC in Urbana may as well be MO or Indianapolis for as far away as it is. Urbana desnt really serve the area I was meaning (Find the Carbondale/Marion area, down near the southern tip of the state), but at least it would be one more in the general area. Guess I can live with it. ;)

The new Venture-Captain position will be responsible for Central & Southern Illinois. He will work with the Chicago Venture-Captain to find the line where they wish to divide the state in half.

Grand Lodge
Arnim Thayer wrote:


+1

Maybe the idea of more vague regions and areas needs to be looked at. I take care of the Southern Missouri area right now, for all intents and purposes, centered on Cape Girardeau. It was my crew that introduced Pathfinder to the Carbondale area. A less defined area might serve the needs of regions such as mine.

This will be addressed in my Oct 10 blog. Way ahead of you :)

Grand Lodge
WhiteTiger wrote:


(sends Gunslinger over to have a conversation with Mike)

Tchk.. tchk.. ok.. hand over that coffee mug and no one gets hurt! :)

What can I say? I like coffee and I like Pathfinder.

Serious though.. congrats...

By the way... I don't suppose Paizo will sell coffee mugs? I can't seem to find any.

If you think the coffee travel mug is cool, you should see the beer stein I have sitting next to it in my office window. It is a PFS Beer Stein!

Now if you really want a mug, all you need to do is move to Atlanta and Kyle and Nani can hook you up when you hit your 3rd GM star.
Grand Lodge
Scribbling Rambler wrote:


I think his expression is much more benign and paternal.

Almost like the Pope.

You're fired for like 15 minutes for bringing the Pope back into this. I can already here Erik mumbling now about visions of that stare from the Pope

Grand Lodge
Nicholas Gray wrote:

Oh I see how it is! Now that you have a nice new title like Campaign Coordinator you can’t be bothered with the little people who helped get you to where you are now! And after all that work I put into keep the party alive with my cleric Novinnia in your campaign to prevent a TPK and ending an epic campaign! The ingratitude!

What's that? I can't hear you from all the way up here... :)

Grand Lodge
Michael Brock wrote:
You're fired for like 15 minutes for bringing the Pope back into this. I can already here Erik mumbling now about visions of that stare from the Pope

Curses! I didn't see this for an hour, and missed my 15 minutes :(

Oh well, back to work on the Dragnmoon Containment Field.
Liberty's Edge Contributor

Congrats Mike!

You are officially insane!
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Scribbling Rambler wrote:
Michael Brock wrote:
You're fired for like 15 minutes for bringing the Pope back into this. I can already here Erik mumbling now about visions of that stare from the Pope

Curses! I didn't see this for an hour, and missed my 15 minutes :(

Oh well, back to work on the Dragnmoon Containment Field.

What Pope?

Grand Lodge
Tim Hitchcock wrote:

Congrats Mike!

You are officially insane!

Well past insane.

Scarab Sages
Dragnmoon wrote:
Scribbling Rambler wrote:
Michael Brock wrote:
You're fired for like 15 minutes for bringing the Pope back into this. I can already here Erik mumbling now about visions of that stare from the Pope

Curses! I didn't see this for an hour, and missed my 15 minutes :(

Oh well, back to work on the Dragnmoon Containment Field.
What Pope?

At GenCon the Venture Captains met at a restaurant that had a bust of the current Pope in a gelatinous cube that sat on a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table. Every time someone started to speak, the Pope was turned toward that person. It was darn creepy from what I've been told.

Grand Lodge
Janet Brock wrote:
At GenCon the Venture Captains met at a restaurant that had a bust of the current Pope in a gelatinous cube that sat on a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table. Every time someone started to speak, the Pope was turned toward that person. It was darn creepy from what I've been told.

Yet one more reason to apply to be a Venture-Captain... that should go on the recruiting page!

Sovereign Court

Going to miss ya in Atlanta Mike. Best of luck to you!
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