Dragon's Demand: New Sanctioned Module!

Normally true, but the campaign mode completion chronicle, per John's blog, is for levels 2-6.

Oh! I didn't even notice that. I wonder if it's a typo?

kinevon wrote:

Normally true, but the campaign mode completion chronicle, per John's blog, is for levels 2-6.

Oh! I didn't even notice that. I wonder if it's a typo?

I would guess it's tiered, just like a 1-5 or 3-7 scenario.

Neat. Thanks John, this looks great!

pathar wrote:

kinevon wrote:

Normally true, but the campaign mode completion chronicle, per John's blog, is for levels 2-6.

Oh! I didn't even notice that. I wonder if it's a typo?

I would guess it's tiered, just like a 1-5 or 3-7 scenario.

I'm pretty sure that's intended.

Start the module in "campaign mode", apply all the chronicles to the same new character.

First chronicle bumps you to level 2. Since the next one is level 3-5, you can't apply that yet, nor the 5-7, but you get the bonus 2-4, which bumps you to level 3, allowing you to apply the second "normal" chronicle, leaving you with a level four character, with a module chronicle waiting for you when you hit level five.

Essentially, the "bonus" chronicle bridges that first gap between the normal chronicles.

Soooooo ... when will these chronicle sheets be available?

Or, more importantly, if I run this in campaign mode for some PFS folks, would I be able to report it and distribute the sheets when they become available or should I wait for the sheets to become available before I run this for folks who want PFS credit?

Soooooo ... when will these chronicle sheets be available?

Or, more importantly, if I run this in campaign mode for some PFS folks, would I be able to report it and distribute the sheets when they become available or should I wait for the sheets to become available before I run this for folks who want PFS credit?

My questions exactly. I started my subscription for the modules with this because it said it would be PFS sanctioned, and group was planning on starting it once the new season starts. Is this another thing that will be released with season 5?

Chronicle sheets for this will be showing up very soon after Gen Con. With a huge number of scenarios being released for that convention, the Chronicle sheets had to be delayed for a few weeks to ensure that all of the necessary work got done. Once I'm back from Gen Con, this is one of the first things on my to-do list.

'Cause let's be honest—I would love to play this, too.

Or, more importantly, if I run this in campaign mode for some PFS folks, would I be able to report it and distribute the sheets when they become available or should I wait for the sheets to become available before I run this for folks who want PFS credit?

If you're doing Campaign Mode, you could start now. It works much like when I sanction an Adventure Path; you can get credit for the volume you're on but not past volumes. So long as you take your time and don't finish the module in the next two weeks(?), I am not overly concerned about your exact start date.

As with many things, exercise common sense and consideration, and it should be alright.

Chronicle sheets for this will be showing up very soon after Gen Con. With a huge number of scenarios being released for that convention, the Chronicle sheets had to be delayed for a few weeks to ensure that all of the necessary work got done. Once I'm back from Gen Con, this is one of the first things on my to-do list.

'Cause let's be honest—I would love to play this, too.

Awesome! Thank you for the quick reply :)

I have to say, I'm a little upset that the module isn't being sanctioned in its entirety. If I play in campaign mode, there's no way to apply this to a legal PFS character without there being a gap in chronicles where you must have some "filler chronicles" to get to to a point where you can apply the next one, unless you start at level 2.

Chronicle sheet 1: Level 1–3
Chronicle sheet 2: Level 3–5
Chronicle sheet 3: Level 5–7
Bonus Chronicle sheet: Level 2–6

why not just sanction the entire module? I'm also bugged they don't do this for adventure paths.

I have to say, I'm a little upset that the module isn't being sanctioned in its entirety. If I play in campaign mode, there's no way to apply this to a legal PFS character without there being a gap in chronicles where you must have some "filler chronicles" to get to to a point where you can apply the next one, unless you start at level 2.

I much rather prefer this than just a single chronicle like for the previous modules.

What's the issue with filler chronicles? Is the issue that you can't start up a character at level 6 straight up? Just play Thornkeep Pt 1 first, then apply all of Dragon's Demand into that character. BAM!!!

L1 - thornkeep
L2 - DD 1
L3 - DD 2
L4 - DD Bonus
L5 - DD 3

Ta-da level 6 character. Congrats on being level 6 with 20 Fame/Prestige though.

To be fair, I wish APs were also done in pieces, but I take what I can get. 1 year ago AP = no credit.

On the other hand, if the entire AP were sanctioned, you would have a character that was approximately 18th level at the end. I assume you would actually want to have played that character in PFS at some time, so what is the point then?

I have to say, I'm a little upset that the module isn't being sanctioned in its entirety. If I play in campaign mode, there's no way to apply this to a legal PFS character without there being a gap in chronicles where you must have some "filler chronicles" to get to to a point where you can apply the next one, unless you start at level 2.

Chronicle sheet 1: Level 1–3
Chronicle sheet 2: Level 3–5
Chronicle sheet 3: Level 5–7
Bonus Chronicle sheet: Level 2–6

why not just sanction the entire module? I'm also bugged they don't do this for adventure paths.

Why put them all on the same character and only play him for half his career? Why not spread them around?

Chronicle sheets for this will be showing up very soon after Gen Con.

John, any update on the Chronicles? I was hopeing to finish running my first group through act 1 this weekend and then have another group starting act 1 next week. Would like to start schedualing when act 2 will run and get chronicles to players.

Finished act 1. Looking to report the event for PFS. Can someone add it to the list of scenarios?

If people don't learn some patience, they're going to stop announcing nice things ahead of time. Or maybe stop giving us nice things altogether.

Please see my post on the module's product page for more information.

Sorry for asking.

No worries. Many things cropped up as nearly equal priorities between Gen Con and Labor Day weekend, and as a result I had to jump between many projects very quickly. I'm as excited as everyone else to start up some society-sanctioned dragon-slaying.

I know my group is excited to do this. I am also excited to GM a more free-form game myself using the "home game" mode, although the distinct lack of oracles saddens me.

This module looks completely awesome, by the way.

Now to just find the time amidst all the other endeavors and adventures, as well as fighting the urge to play the card game with said people, which will take time away from this!

Darn you Paizo for providing too many ways to enjoy myself with such a terrific game! I should be focusing on moving into my apartment!

One more update for everyone. In brief, everyone is cleared to run The Dragon's Demand this weekend. See the linked post for more details.

Awesome. Thanks John!

any word on chronicle sheets yet?

I'm beginning to suspect they are stuck in limbo ready to be added in the next additional resources update. In other words not until the end of September :(

How many points towards GM stars does a GM get for running the whole module? Is it 2 per chronicle (so either 6 or 8 total), or still 2 per module?

I presume that since there are multiple chronicle sheets there will be multiple parts to report (like an adventure path) so multiple sets of GM credit. That is just speculation on my part however.

I presume that since there are multiple chronicle sheets there will be multiple parts to report (like an adventure path) so multiple sets of GM credit. That is just speculation on my part however.

I would imagine this is the case. You are able to break the Module down into 3 separate sections and GM each independently, thus it would stand to reason each separate chronicle is a separate GM credit.

Actually, John posted in another thread that they are working to release them and the Supplemental (for XP) all at once, at least that was my understanding. ^_^ Should be soon, I think!

Just played parts one and two last weekend and we all died

Very disappointing.

Stuff

Can you edit your post and spoiler the spoilery bits please.

Threw a spoiler on it.

I strongly believe that all those who play this adventure should be Pathfinder Society legal in order to gain credit for playing. If not, this is just another victory for munchkinism and would reflect Paizo's increasing habit of power creep serving the goal of profit. I do not believe that Paizo should be run as a non-profit organization; but isn't this a bit much?

Just played parts one and two last weekend and we all died ** spoiler omitted **

Very disappointing.

Sorry to hear that you had a less than positive experience.

I sanction modules to reflect the range of levels covered by the sanctioned content; in the case of the second sanctioned part of The Dragon's Demand the sanctioned content starts at a difficulty intended for level 3, continues through level 4, and then ends with the PCs reaching 5th level toward the end of the selection. As a result, the section's effective level is 4, and we allow any character within a level of that to participate.

Playing the selection at a lower level is more challenging, and I agree that not every encounter will be balanced perfectly for the lowest level characters. On the other hand, the module would grant a higher reward than the character might otherwise expect for her level. Likewise, a 5th level party could play through the selection without necessarily feeling challenged until the last couple of fights and receive a slightly lower treasure haul. Having a group of 6 makes the module a bit easier, virtually raising the party's level by one. Going through with just four characters means the module's going to be tougher, and going through with four 3rd-level characters would be tough indeed.

That said, allowing PCs within one level of the "ideal" level play the module makes it easier to build a group to play through the whole thing. If you have recommendations about how we can improve the way in which we sanction modules, I'm always open to suggestions and feedback.

I strongly believe that all those who play this adventure should be Pathfinder Society legal in order to gain credit for playing. If not, this is just another victory for munchkinism and would reflect Paizo's increasing habit of power creep serving the goal of profit. I do not believe that Paizo should be run as a non-profit organization; but isn't this a bit much?

I gather you're disappointed about how characters playing through the module in "campaign mode" don't have to be Pathfinder Society legal but can rather observe house rules in their builds?

If so, I can understand where you're coming from. The way in which The Dragon's Demand is sanctioned reflects the way in which Adventure Paths have been sanctioned, namely that the campaign mode allows GMs and players to experience the respective adventures "as they were meant to be experienced," one might say. In doing so, yes, we open up an avenue for reward without risk, but at the same time I aim to provide rewards that are on-par but not beyond what a character of a given level would acquire were he to play adventures on-level. I agree that this is mitigating the impact and not "solving" it.

On the other hand, I recognize that for many who play the Adventure Paths do so as a way to take a break from Pathfinder Society while still enjoying the many great adventures that Paizo publishes. The Kingmaker game that I'm in involves only evil characters, partly as our opportunity to step back from our obligations as venture-officers and store liaisons and just be diabolical—usually not a good strategy in community building but a rather amusing roleplaying pastime nonetheless. Forcing such games to adhere to PFS rules would likely diminish their attractiveness for a similar reason.

If you have suggestions about how to improve the module or Adventure Path sanctioning process or standards, I'm open to suggestions and feedback.

I still wait patiently for chronicle sheets.

I still wait patiently for chronicle sheets.

No need to wait!

I love the new ability to play through a module in campaign mode with home rules and then apply credit to a pathfinder society character. I already have a 3.5 City of the Spider Queen home campaign going, so my friends and I have been hesitant to start another long term Adventure Path at the moment. The new format and campaign mode allowance has allowed me to start a shorter home campaign (so eventually I'll get to play, too)where all of my friends, both the ones who play organized play and the ones who avoid it like the plague, can just relax and have fun together. Everyone will get reported--those who want to apply it to a character in PFS will and those who don't want to play PFS will just put away the chronicle sheet, but everyone goes away happy. We've had two sessions so far and everyone seems to be having a lot of fun. Thanks for this new type of play opportunity, John!

Chernobyl wrote:

I have to say, I'm a little upset that the module isn't being sanctioned in its entirety. If I play in campaign mode, there's no way to apply this to a legal PFS character without there being a gap in chronicles where you must have some "filler chronicles" to get to to a point where you can apply the next one, unless you start at level 2.

I much rather prefer this than just a single chronicle like for the previous modules.

What's the issue with filler chronicles? Is the issue that you can't start up a character at level 6 straight up? Just play Thornkeep Pt 1 first, then apply all of Dragon's Demand into that character. BAM!!!

L1 - thornkeep
L2 - DD 1
L3 - DD 2
L4 - DD Bonus
L5 - DD 3

Ta-da level 6 character. Congrats on being level 6 with 20 Fame/Prestige though.

To be fair, I wish APs were also done in pieces, but I take what I can get. 1 year ago AP = no credit.

Thornkeep is another example of how you need filler chronicles. You can't play that all the way through without breaks. Big multi-part modules SHOULD be played through with the same character. That's the POINT of longer adventures - a mini 'campaign' if you will. Breaking up the play experience to have other chronicles inserted takes me out of the storyline.

Why put them all on the same character and only play him for half his career? Why not spread them around?

Sanctioning the entire module doesn't prevent that. in fact, it gives you more to spread around if that's your choice. I like having consistent stories for my PCs. If there's a multi-part PFS scenario, I like to play it all the way with just the one PC.

Cherno-buddy,
You can play a PC straight through a sanctioned campaign, AP or mega-module. PFS legal or not, house rules or not. All in one go, 1st-7th in this case. (As we'll be doing with Joey.)
Afterward, you can get chronicles for playing and put them on a PFS legal PC. That PC then has gaps to fill, but your play experience hasn't been interrupted. You fill in the gaps later with other chronicles.
See, no problem.

I guess, in theory, you could do both simultaneously if you chose, but the PCs would be separate even if 'the same'. You could augment the rules by running the campaign purely by PFS rules, and only advancing at the chronicles' pace, but that's not required, and, yes, would be disruptive to the story.

Cheers,
JMK

If so, I can understand where you're coming from. The way in which The Dragon's Demand is sanctioned reflects the way in which Adventure Paths have been sanctioned, namely that the campaign mode allows GMs and players to experience the respective adventures "as they were meant to be experienced," one might say.

I really like the idea.

As I have gravitated to PFS play I was gravitating AWAY from the AP's as a bit pointless to what is becoming my main playstyle. Now I am back into them.

The sanctioning is excellent.

I don't see how I am in any way disadvantaged by how others get their chronicles and have no beef with people getting sheets via AP's in home game mode, because it takes SIGNIFICANTLY longer to achieve them via that method, as opposed to maybe an afternoon to smash the just the sanctioned content via PFS rules.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to be running this for some PFS players in my area. The demand (no pun intended) for this here seems to be high as one other group for this filled up quick. In the process of prepping this to run in Campaign mode I have seen a huge, massive, gaping problem with the whole thing:

It is designed for 4 players. Most modules seem to work with groups of up to 6. I'm wishing there were some optional rules/encounters for larger groups. Looking at this, a 6 person group is going to run roughshod over the whole thing.

I'm thinking that I'm also going to have to pad the encounters (where there are 8 kobolds I'm gonna have to use 12). I'm also going to have to increase all of the story XP rewards by 33% to keep the level advancement track going,or maybe switch it to fast advancement but it still doesn't totally solve the other problem.

Maybe I am approaching this wrong? Any ideas?

Why are you applying XP rewards? The module (as far as I can tell) is 'storyline advancement', with levels loosely tied to progress rather than XP figures.

I am assuming you are meaning that you are running this for what are normally PFS players, but in a home game campaign setting (ie not PFS rules, but issuing chronicles they can use on other characters?)

Why are you applying XP rewards? The module (as far as I can tell) is 'storyline advancement', with levels loosely tied to progress rather than XP figures.

I am assuming you are meaning that you are running this for what are normally PFS players, but in a home game campaign setting (ie not PFS rules, but issuing chronicles they can use on other characters?)

I am fairly sure that, like me, he is running it (or will be running it) in story mode, with the standard XP per encounter.

While it is built for 4 PCs with a 15 point buy on the medium XP track, since you are running it in story mode, you can easily beef it up as needed to handle a larger party. Remember that beefing it up will also increase the XP awarded, so an appropriate bump should also leave it set so that the PCs advance correctly at medium track.

And remember that the level chart inside is only a suggestion/recommendation, and that you can always add side quests, if more XP is needed, or remove encounters, if they are running ahead.

Main thing to watch, IMO, is actually the treasure available. I am not 100% sure, but it seems to be a little light in GP, especially when you look at the possible things they might want to buy at the auction when it happens.