Wow, it's 2013 already! The past year has been a good one for Pathfinder Society Orgainzed Play in many regards. With all the changes that have taken place, as well as the goals set for the future, I thought it was important to give a report of how last year has played out.
First, and most importantly, I want to thank all of the Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, regional and convention coordinators, GMs, and people I use as sounding boards (you know who you are). Without all of you, I would not be able to achieve everything listed below and make Pathfinder Society as great as it is. I also want to thank all of our players and fans. Without you, I wouldn't have an awesome job to come to each morning. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your efforts and support.
The Pathfinder Society campaign has already seen numerous positive improvements and changes. Here is a short list of things we've accomplished together in 2012:
- The recruitment and assignment of more than 175 new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants to help us grow Pathfinder Society by having a Paizo 'face' in many local areas. These include new regions in new countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, and Turkey.
- A complete overhaul to the Pathfinder Society webpage, as well as small numerous updates to the FAQ (red updates!) and Additional Resources page.
- Planned and staffed 750 Pathfinder Society tables for Gen Con, as well as the creation of the Beginner Box Introductions and Kid's Track.
- Streamlined the process for regional coordinators to request convention prize support.
- Added five new Holiday boons.
- Planned and staffed for 150 Pathfinder Society tables at PaizoCon , as well as scheduled the debut of the GM 101 workshops on a large scale.
- Worked with Venture-Captains to establish the GM 101 workshops in multiple locations.
- Released the GM 101 PDF and Kid's Track lesson plans PDF so people could help build there local Pathfinder Society communities by scheduling both of these programs at the local level.
- Worked with development to have future scenarios be written with six players in mind.
- Established a new set of convention Chronicle sheets for Season 4 with Varisia-flavored boons.
- Overhauled the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play to version 4.2, which included more than 100 changes and additions.
- Updated the Pathfinder Society pregenerated characters to include the NPC Codex iconic characters for sanctioned play.
- Published international Pathfinder Society Lodge blogs for Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Turkey.
- Sanctioned Adventure Paths for Pathfinder Society Organized Play.
- Brought back the Grand Convocation to PaizoCon and PaizoCon UK.
- Had a new logo created for Pathfinder Society.
- With the help of several of you, created a compilation rules clarification post for more ease at finding rules clarifications for Pathfinder Society.
- Implementation of Campaign Service Award Coins.
- Releasing the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.3 today with some much needed updates. The complete list of updates can be downloaded with the new version of the Guide or found on the messageboards. A few highlights include:
- Page 10: Added the following under the religion entry: "Druids, oracles, and rangers are the exception to this rule. The list is not exhaustive, and divine spellcasters of any future classes whose sources are added as additional resources to the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign will be required to choose a deity unless otherwise specified."
- Page 22: Reworded the note regarding First Steps for clarity, and added a sentence advising that Prestige Points be awarded after playing each part of the First Steps series.
- Pages 27—28: Changed the name of the section "Retirement and Beyond" to "Beyond Level 11." Reworded the section for clarity and added the special title of Seeker for any Pathfinder agent who has achieved 12th level.
- Page 28: Added Campaign Service Award Coins to the items that offer free rerolls.
- Pages 35: Changed the text in the Table Variance section to allow GMs more flexibility and better adjudication at their tables.
- Page 47: Added an index.
We've addressed our leadership, our organization, our ground game, and our rules. And we couldn't have done any of it without all of you.
All that is great, but it's not enough. We're not done yet (which means that we all have more work to do). I'm excited about the future of the Society. In particular, the following items on my now-less-than-secret to-do list excite me:
- Continuing to go to as many conventions as I can get to. My upcoming 2013 schedule includes:
Winter Fantasy in Fort Wayne, IN
OwlCon in Houston, TX
MegaCon in Orlando, FL
GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, NV
A visit to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia from March 23—April 2.
ACD Distribution show in Madison, WI
A tour of five cities and U.S. military bases in Germany from May 6—18
Origins in Columbus, OH
PaizoCon in Seattle, WA
PaizoCon UK in Birmingham, UK
RopeCon in Espoo, Finland
Gen Con in Indianapolis
PAX Prime in Seattle, WA
Alliance Distribution show in Ft. Wayne, IN
JimCon in Winnipeg, Canada.
My goal is to meet as many Pathfinder Society players, GMs, and coordinators as I can face to face. I encourage you to introduce yourself to me at those conventions. - The plotline for Season 5 has been worked out. We will start working toward Season 6 shortly.
- We are looking at ways to make faction missions have a meaningful impact on the campaign.
- Improve the Retailer Support program, including upgrades to the website interface to make it more user friendly for both retailers and customers.
- Improve the GM Rewards program.
- Expanding the Venture-Captain program to additional areas in North America, as well as increasing the number of Venture-Captains internationally.
- Working with IT to integrate a more user-friendly website for event coordinators.
- Continuing to highlight international Pathfinder Society play through monthly blog posts.
The last year has been a great learning experience for me as Pathfinder Society continually evolves and improves. There have been some bumps in the road, but nothing that has proven insurmountable. I already knew that the Pathfinder Society community is smart, diverse, and very passionate. It is amazing how much energy and enthusiasm you all have for the game and it is very inspiring. Likewise, the people here at Paizo are some of the most creative and different-thinking people I've ever met. It's as amazing as you'd think it was.
I will finish with letting everyone know that I will continue to do the best job I possibly can to help Pathfinder Society grow and improve. Sometimes I will make mistakes. But, if I do make a mistake, I will own up to it. As always, I am available for all of you to reach out to me with concerns, criticisms, thoughts, suggestions, venting, and ideas via email, private message, Skype, phone call, carrier pigeon, written letter, message spell, pony express, contact other plane spell, or sending spell.
Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator