The Year of the Demon Begins!

You've taken my faction once. Now you're leaving me nowhere to go.

Seriously. I hope we don't lose too much variety for our characters. Things might get boring for those of us who care about character development.

-- Viscount Rosham Bowe the Wellbourne

*reads name*

*groans loudly*

And we wonder why people don't take us seriously...

Michael Brock wrote:

Mimo Tomblebur wrote:

Wow, did team Qadira perform so poorly this year that all they deserved was an extra day job check?

Yes. And be glad they are still an option...so far.....

When you determine a faction is performing poorly, are you considering just the total prestige earned by all members, or is the per capita performance of its members taken into consideration?

If I recall correctly, it was the total prestige earned by all members taking part in Season 4 scenarios. So, if you played a lot of Taldor, Qadira, whatever but it was Season 0-3 scenarios, it didn't count.

Mimo Tomblebur wrote:

Michael Brock wrote:

Mimo Tomblebur wrote:

Wow, did team Qadira perform so poorly this year that all they deserved was an extra day job check?

Yes. And be glad they are still an option...so far.....

When you determine a faction is performing poorly, are you considering just the total prestige earned by all members, or is the per capita performance of its members taken into consideration?

If I recall correctly, it was the total prestige earned by all members taking part in Season 4 scenarios. So, if you played a lot of Taldor, Qadira, whatever but it was Season 0-3 scenarios, it didn't count.

Well, that just means that everyone will be encouraged to consolidate into just a few "winning" factions. Shouldn't there be some encouragement for the people who play the less frequently represented factions for the sake of variety in the game?

Considering the way they're handling factions now, I'm not even sure why they felt the need to end two factions. Previously, they would have saved a mostly-blank page for missions, as well as saved untold wordspace for the mission notes. Now, they're not really saving anything, are they?

Two was enough. No need to thin the herd further, or they may as well get rid of factions altogether (NOT my preference, for the record).

Mike, don't poke the hornet's nest. Look at what you've started!

David Higaki wrote:

Not as fail sounding as the Taldor one; their boon is to console themselves, really :p

On that note, the goal of Taldor for this season is far more noble; reason why my LL PC switched there :)

Yes. And be glad they are still an option...so far.....

I've got to say, the Taldor boon is pretty darn nice, at least in our area where you have a lot of sibs and couples who show up to game with linked characters. Suddenly they can cooperate for even bigger bonuses. And since they often seem to have a front line character and a support character, and you can aid another in combat, I can see that boon getting used a lot.

Well, I guess my bard could go Cheliax as a last resort...

me thinkst the fun is just begining

i can't wait for my blade to taste demon flesh

Mimo Tomblebur wrote:

Michael Brock wrote:

Mimo Tomblebur wrote:

Wow, did team Qadira perform so poorly this year that all they deserved was an extra day job check?

Yes. And be glad they are still an option...so far.....

When you determine a faction is performing poorly, are you considering just the total prestige earned by all members, or is the per capita performance of its members taken into consideration?

If I recall correctly, it was the total prestige earned by all members taking part in Season 4 scenarios. So, if you played a lot of Taldor, Qadira, whatever but it was Season 0-3 scenarios, it didn't count.

Mystic Limur, I have the chronicle sheet in front of me, having just printed it up.

Here is a copy and past of the instructions for who is eligible for the boon:

"You may assign this Chronicle sheet to any character that has earned 6 or more Prestige Points with one faction between August 16, 2012 and August 15, 2013, granting the character a boon tied to his or her faction. If the character earned 6 or more Prestige Points with more than one faction, the character receives the boon for the faction with the greatest number of earned Prestige Points, or the faction of the player’s choice in cases of ties; a character may receive only one boon. A player may print and assign this Chronicle sheet to each of his or her qualifying characters."

Now perhaps I have missed something under my nose, but the only requirement I see for qualifying for the boons on the Chronicle Sheet, is that a character must have earned a minimum of 6 prestige for his/her faction over the course of the year.

But again I may be wrong and have missed something.

I hope this helps

Mystic Limur, I have the chronicle sheet in front of me, having just printed it up.

Here is a copy and past of the instructions for who is eligible for the boon:

"You may assign this Chronicle sheet to any character that has earned 6 or more Prestige Points with one faction between August 16, 2012 and August 15, 2013, granting the character a boon tied to his or her faction. If the character earned 6 or more Prestige Points with more than one faction, the character receives the boon for the faction with the greatest number of earned Prestige Points, or the faction of the player’s choice in cases of ties; a character may receive only one boon. A player may print and assign this Chronicle sheet to each of his or her qualifying characters."

Now perhaps I have missed something under my nose, but the only requirement I see for qualifying for the boons on the Chronicle Sheet, is that a character must have earned a minimum of 6 prestige for his/her faction over the course of the year.

But again I may be wrong and have missed something.

I hope this helps

Mystic Lemur wasn't talking about this particular chronicle, but rather how they determined how well each faction did this past season.

Personally, I don't like that idea; the venue I play at every week tends to run season four scenarios fairly rarely (although slightly more often in the past couple of months), meaning my efforts are pretty much meaningless to the meta-campaign. Heck, the character I've played the most of in the past eight months is Lantern Lodge, and he'd played all of ONE season four scenario prior to them announcing that they were giving them the axe...

Quick question: does GM credit count towards the 6+ prestige necessary to get the boon?

Quick question: does GM credit count towards the 6+ prestige necessary to get the boon?

I sure hope so, otherwise none of my characters will qualify. Well, one or two would. :D

Quick question: does GM credit count towards the 6+ prestige necessary to get the boon?

It should. The PC has still earned the PP, even if it was GM credit instead of during actual play.

Thanks guys!

And many thanks to the campaign leadership for these very flavorful boons!

Question relating to online games and the general extended deadline for PbPs: if the PbP started before August 15, and the character gains enough PP to put him/her at 6 PP earned, do they still get the boon? (i.e., they are currently at 4-5 PP earned for this year and the completion of the current adventure will put them at 6-7 PP)

I actually have a couple of characters that may qualify if so!

I have this exact same problem: I have a character at 5 PP earned stuck in a PbP, and unless we fail the mission entirely, she will have earned 6 PP when it's over.

Hmmm, I think I play too much PFS.

Character #1 earned 12 Fame this season and is now level 14.0
Character #2 earned 2 Fame this season and is now level 13.2
Character #3 earned 16 Fame this season and is now level 11.1
Character #4 earned 7 Fame this season and is now level 7.2
Character #5 earned 7 Fame this season and is now level 8.1
Character #6 earned 14 Fame this season and is now level 14.0
Character #7 earned 16 Fame this season and is now level 6.0
Character #8 earned 22 Fame this season and is now level 5.2
Character #9 earned 17 Fame this season and is now level 3.2
Character #10 earned 9 Fame this season and is now level 3.0

I agree Rob.

I have 7 of 8 characters that qualify as well.

I only started playing this past September, so all 7 of my characters qualify. One of them only just barely (got 3 PP for Lantern Lodge, full character rebuild to Taldor for 6 PP, so barely).

Not that I gave the boon to each character. Two I just didn't feel like doing it. One is retired prematurely because I don't care for him and it's past time to rebuild, and another is a GM baby I haven't played ever and likely will just end up rebuilding anyway.

SCPRedMage thank you.

Mystic Lemur, my apologies, I thought you were referring to one thing, when as Mr SCPRedMage pointed out you were referring to something else.

Myles

I’m thinking on playing all Year of the Demon scenarios on a single character. To pull that off I probably have to backload most of the playing. I’m wondering on how this season breaks down on number of scenarios and their levels. I also assume there is at least 1 additional storyline in addition to Demon focused one. I definitely want to play the main storyline in order. Ideally I would end up at 33 XP after the season finale. I will probably have to play few extra scenarios to make that goal since I’m not sure there will be that many scenarios available.

Anyone have any idea they could share for expected number of scenarios and their levels?

Why oh why did you have to switch Fame and Current Prestige sides on the chronicle? That is going to confuse the heck out of me.

Because it confused a lot of us to have it the other way. :)

I just began last year and now I have a !@#$ demonic invasion to deal with. Momma, get the shotgun.

As with any Chronicle sheet, it's not legal until it's been signed by a GM who verifies it's application to a given PC. This would just need to be filled out with the appropriate information whenever the player applies it to his character. Other than the top section, with Character Chronicle #, Pathfinder Society Number, player name, character name, faction, etc., and the righthand column, there's nothing a player needs to fill out.

How does this work for those of us who GM? Can we sign Chronicle sheets for our own PCs, or do we have to have another GM sign it for us?

Mark Moreland wrote:

As with any Chronicle sheet, it's not legal until it's been signed by a GM who verifies it's application to a given PC. This would just need to be filled out with the appropriate information whenever the player applies it to his character. Other than the top section, with Character Chronicle #, Pathfinder Society Number, player name, character name, faction, etc., and the righthand column, there's nothing a player needs to fill out.

How does this work for those of us who GM? Can we sign Chronicle sheets for our own PCs, or do we have to have another GM sign it for us?

GMs can sign their own sheets.

I've always signed my own, unless I had my crew over for a scenario. When I activated my Kickstarter boon at PaizoCon I just had the other guy sign mine as I signed his.

Hrmm. I've always gone through the trouble of having a different GM sign mine.

What designates someone as a GM? Having at least one table of credit reported?

I don't think there is a difference. Your GM number is your player number after all.

I know you can sign your own adventure chronicles, but I usually try to get the GM at the next table I play with that PC to sign boons. Before then, it doesn't matter, so no point signing it in advance, right?

I've never been quite certain which boons GMs can and can not sign for themselves. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I think I know the answer, but can I get a quick clarification on the applicable dates: "between August 16, 2012 and August 15, 2013" - is this inclusive of 8/16/12 (first day of GenCon 2012) but exclusive of 8/15/13 (first day of GenCon 2013)?

I'm presuming that's the case, with the actual limits being something like 12:00 am on the listed dates (or possibly the starting time of the first PFS slot at GenCon).

If I'm interpreting it right, one of my PCs barely failed to qualify. He earned 2 PP at GenCon on Thursday, but that won't count against the Year of the Risen Rune. On the flip side, he got an early start against any similar boon that might come out for the Year of the Demon.

I've made a tracker for scenarios and what factions benefit from them here. Please let me know if I've missed anything.

Just asking for some clarification of this blog post:

Is it better role-play and story wise for characters of certain factions to play certain season 5 scenarios (as listed in the blog)?

I just read once again the rules for Diplomacy and only see that a failed Diplomacy check of 5 or more decrease the attitude by one step.

The Andoren boon indicates:
“You aided Major Colson Maldris in founding an Andoren embassy in Magnimar. When you fail a Diplomacy check by 7 or more when attempting to improve a creature’s attitude, its attitude only decreases by one step.”

It means the boon gives no benefit at all, isn’t it?

I just read once again the rules for Diplomacy and only see that a failed Diplomacy check of 5 or more decrease the attitude by one step.

The Andoren boon indicates:
“You aided Major Colson Maldris in founding an Andoren embassy in Magnimar. When you fail a Diplomacy check by 7 or more when attempting to improve a creature’s attitude, its attitude only decreases by one step.”

It means the boon gives no benefit at all, isn’t it?

Hm, looks like maybe the author of the boon thought that you could reduce a creature's attitude additional steps with a really bad check, in the same way that you can improve it by up to two steps. Yeah, looks like it does nothing. :/

Perhaps the boon is meant to change it from "fail by 5 or more" to "fail by 7 or more". That is the only thing that makes sense to me. An effective +2 cushion seems to be on the same level of power as some of the other boons.

Perhaps the boon is meant to change it from "fail by 5 or more" to "fail by 7 or more". That is the only thing that makes sense to me. An effective +2 cushion seems to be on the same level of power as some of the other boons.

This is the case.