Illustration by Eric Belisle
Usually, I try to spread out international Pathfinder Society blogs to every 3–4 weeks. However, with one sitting in my inbox, I didn’t want to just hold onto it for a month. I had the pleasure of meeting Venture-Captain Karim Majeri at PaizoCon UK in July. Not only did I meet him, but I was able to GM a game for him and several other international Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants. I will just say that it was a very entertaining session of #3–25: Storming the Diamond Gate. The Pathfinder Society organization in France is lucky in that they are one of the three international regions that have Pathfinder RPG books translated into their native language. This allows us to provide convention prize support with French Pathfinder books. Karim was also kind enough to bring me several French Pathfinder books, and the French Core Rulebook sits in my collection as one of my favorite pieces.
Karim also is supported by Venture-Lieutenant Benoit Gros in Geneva, Switzerland. I also met Benoit at PaizoCon UK, and between them, I suspect we will see significant growth in France in the coming year.
Without further ado, I present to you Karim’s report on Pathfinder France.
I’m Karim Majeri, the Venture-Captain for France and surrounding French-speaking countries. I started to play Pathfinder RPG with the Beta version, while at the same time running a Rise of the Runelord Adventure Path campaign. Besides serving as a Venture-Captain for Pathfinder Society Organized Play, I am also president of the Ligue Ludique, an association that promotes RPGs, in particular D&D and Pathfinder. The organization is based in Paris. We are currently coordinating more than 150 events per year, including large conventions that include Comic Con Paris, Monde du Jeu, Paris est Ludique, MayCon, and LudikXPerience (our own convention).
The first Pathfinder Society event hosted in France was several years ago. Past Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator Joshua Frost attended an event in Lyon in the summer of 2010. Since that game day, we have hosted numerous full Saturdays with many players in Lyon and in Paris.
We are currently running many demos and campaigns in different shops in Paris, including my own shop, La Carte Chance, located in the northern district of Paris. I have taken the lead and recruited and trained quite a few new GMs on how to run Pathfinder Society games. I’ve also created a dedicated webpage in French for French players who want to start playing Pathfinder Society.
Here in France, we have a strong community of fans and you can find out much information from different sources. Of course, we have the Ligue Ludique website mentioned above, but we also have Pathfinder-FR (with a wiki, a forum and a lot of other information); PSOP, a website that collects your sessions and characters’ info; and finally the Black-Book Editions website, which is the French editor for Pathfinder RPG books.
The largest events in France and French-speaking countries to play Pathfinder Society are Comic Con in Paris the first week of July, Octogones in October in Lyon, Festival en Jeu in Belgium, and Imaginaire at the end of November in Paris. There are also other conventions and you can stay updated on future dates and information at the French PFS website or on the Paizo event page here at paizo.com.
The next step for growing Pathfinder Society in France is to find some Venture-Lieutenants throughout different regions in France. My hope is they will help promote the game and find new GMs for Pathfinder Society. I have found quite a few players and GMs that are very motivated, including my new Venture-Lieutenant, Benoit Gros, in Switzerland. I’m currently recruiting for Venture-Lieutenants in or around Lyon, Rennes, Lille, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Strasbourg. If you live in or around any of those regions, please contact me at webmaster@ligueludique.fr.
Last, but not the least, after Paizo Con UK (organized by UK Venture-Captain Dave Harrison and Venture-Lieutenant Rob Silk), I have been highly motivated to organize a PaizoCon France in Paris. The idea is to gather and welcome all the players in Europe together in Paris. That’s my new project and I am working with BBE to plan it for the end of August or beginning of September 2013. Thanks again to Dave and Rob for the great time had at PaizoCon UK and the inspiration for a PaizoCon France.
Thank you to Karim and Benoit for kickstarting an awesome Pathfinder Society organization in France. I look forward to the additions of new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants in other regions of France and watching Pathfinder Society spread like wildfire. Keep up the awesome work!
Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
