For Gen Con 2013, I advised last year that we planned to make it the biggest and best Gen Con yet. And it certainly was. We scheduled 1,400 tables of Pathfinder Society over the four days. We showed the world our GM 101 and GM 201 workshops, Kid's Beginner & Advanced Tracks, and Beginner Box Introductions, Parts 1 and 2. Gen Con was definitely a success and Paizo's biggest showing in history. But we can make it bigger and better!
Paizo will once again be a cosponsor at this year's show. What does that mean for Pathfinder Society? It means we return to the Sagamore Ballroom! We increase our playspace size, scheduling 150 to 170 tables per slot. Additionally, we also have two of the seven rooms that were used for Pathfinder Society last year. One of them will be used exclusively for Paizo seminars. The other room will have 10 tables and will be utilized for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game play.
We are planning to schedule 20 different scenarios, two Gen Con Specials, one Gen Con Exclusive, and two modules, We Be Goblins! and We Be Goblins Too! throughout the course of the convention.
The beginning of Season 6 Gen Con Special, The Paths We Choose, scheduled for Thursday night, will help us kick off Season 6 by showing off the achievements of many of the factions' Season 5 goals. As a tease, here is the short description as it will appear in the Gen Con catalog:
The failure of Mendev's wardstones set in motion not only a new crusade, but also catalyzed a change in the Society's various factions.
More information on the factions and surpirses upcoming will be offered in a series of blog posts later this year. This special is designed for levels 3—7.
The end of Season 5 Gen Con Special, Legacy of the Stonelords, scheduled for Friday night, will help us close Season 5 inside the Worldwound!
As a tease, here is the long description as it will appear in the Gen Con catalog:
At long last, the Pathfinders have reached the lost Sky Citadel Jormurdun only to find it already occupied by fiends and subterranean foes. The Society must mount an epic offense to explore the immense subterranean city while simultaneously driving off the squatters within. If they succeed, the Pathfinders may discover that the greatest prize is not the mountain fortress itself but the treasure that lies at its heart. The adventure concludes Season 5, Year of the Demon.
This Special is designed for levels 1—11.
The scenarios being scheduled for Gen Con are as follows:
Season 5
- #5—06: You Have What You Hold
- #5—08: The Confirmation
- #5—09: The Traitor's Lodge
- #5—10: Where Mammoths Dare Not Tread
- #5—12: Destiny of the Sands, Part 1: A Bitter Bargain
- #5—13: Weapon in the Rift
- #5—15: Destiny of the Sands, Part 2: Race to Seeker's Folly
- #5—16: Destiny of the Sands, Part 3: Sanctum of the Sages
- #5—17: Fate of the Fiend
- #5—18: The Stranger Within
- #5—19: The Horn of Aroden
- #5—20: The Sealed Gate
- #5—21: The Merchant's Wake
- #5—22: Scars of the Third Crusade
- #5—23: Cairn of Shadows
- #5—24: Assault on the Wound
- #5—25: Vengeance at Sundered Crag
Season 6
- #6—01: Trial by Machine
- #6—02: The Silver Mount Collection
- #6—03: The Technic Siege
We will be offering one exclusive on Saturday night. We will follow up Ruins of Bonekeep, Levels 1 and 2, with Bonekeep, Level 3: The Wakening Tomb also written by Jason. It is being designed for Tier 5—9 characters and again, will be particularly challenging and lethal. Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 3 will make its debut at Gen Con. We will only run level three one time at Gen Con so it will be a truly limited and exclusive event. On a side note, we will have a few tables running all three of the new Season 6 scenarios if you would rather not participate in this exclusive.
In regard to the Beginner Box Introductions, we have two different offerings again this year. During seven slots at Gen Con, we are setting aside six tables for these Beginner Box Introduction events. Both parts are scheduled with new players in mind. For Beginner Box Introductions, Part 1, it will allow for the first 45—60 minutes to be an exploration of the contents of the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box, explaining the rules, and reviewing the pregenerated characters. The final 4 hours of each slot will be playing through the four, 1-hour adventures. For Beginner Box Introductions, Part 2, the GM will assist players in advancing their character to third level. The Beginner Box Transitions, Player Pack, and GM Kit will be reviewed. Once those three free documents have been briefly covered, we will be offering up five 1-hour adventures as time permits. Much like the four adventures in part one, these will be utilizing only the Beginner Box rules.
For the Pathfinder's Kids' Track, we will be setting aside six tables at seven slots during the convention. We are focusing on players aged 6—12 and we will be using the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box for this as well. The Kids' Track is divided into two parts: the Beginner Track and the Advanced Track. Each kid's beginner track slot will be 2 hours long and each player will receive a check-off card. The first hour of each of the seven Kids' Beginner Track sessions teaches roleplay and rules, and reviews the pregenerated characters found in the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box. During the second hour, one of the four, 1-hour adventures used during the Beginner Box Bash will be played.
For the Kids' Advanced Track, we are focusing on children who participated in last year's Kids' Beginner Track, at a local Kids' Beginner Track session near their home, or for older children that have prior experience with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The GM at each of the 2-hour slots will help the children level their chosen character to third level. After leveling is complete, the GM will run one of five new adventures designed using the Beginner Box rules.
We will be running each of the nine different adventures multiple times throughout the convention to allow flexible scheduling for children and parents. We will be restricting tables to four children players and are requiring a parent or guardian be present with their child (or multiple children if they have two or more interested in participating) for the entire 2 hours. The parent or guardian will assist the child when needed. But, we want to make this a good and memorable experience for the kids that attend Gen Con, who often find little they can participate in, especially with others their own age. We will be scheduling 24, 2-hour tables per day on Thursday through Saturday, and 12, 2-hour tables on Sunday, for the Kids' Track, divided between the Beginner and Advanced Tracks.
If a child plays all four different adventures in the Beginner's Track, he will be able to present his check-off card to HQ and receive a special certificate that celebrates his accomplishments. If a child plays all five different adventures in the advanced track, she will be able to present her check-off card to HQ and receive a second, different special certificate. Both certificates can be used on the child's Pathfinder Society character if they did to advance from the Beginner Box to the full Core Rulebook rules and participate in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. We may also have other give-aways or special prizes, such as dice and miniatures, similar to last year. I will be very picky when choosing volunteer GMs for the Kids' Track. I prefer to have school teachers and other professionals with experience dealing with children. I will consider GMs who are parents even if they do not deal with children regularly in their profession. If you are volunteering to GM the Kids' Track, please make sure to include all of your credentials. Also, since these are scheduled as 2-hour blocks, a GM will be required to run two Kids' Track slots back to back in a 4-hour block to count as one slot of credit toward GM rewards.
We will be running a new set of Pathfinder Quests inside the Sagamore and I do have a very few spots of 5-hour blocks for any GM interested in running those for players as they show up and fill the quests tables.
We are also bringing back the popular GM 101 and GM 201 seminars and need instructors to oversee the running of both. Both seminars will be offered on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Finally, I need volunteers who have experience with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, to run demos in the Dealer Hall next to Paizo's booth, as well as run tables in a break out room next to Paizo's Seminar Room, from 8 a.m. until midnight Thursday through Saturday, and from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sunday. You can volunteer to work one or two 5-hour blocks each day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Sunday ends at 4 pm) in the Dealer Hall. Volunteering for any demo time will count toward your GM reward credit below, but you still must have a minimum of seven, 5-hour sessions to qualify for a hotel room as a Tier 2 volunteer.
Now, let's talk about the GMs and volunteers we need to pull all of the above off and make it the biggest and best Gen Con ever.
I need a minimum of 350 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games, Beginner Box Introductions, Kids' Track events, GM 101 and 201, and Pathfinder Adventure Card Game demos. I'll continue taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled, at which point I will create a waiting list in the event that a scheduled GM has to cancel their Gen Con trip for whatever reason. I also need a few Volunteer Assistants for each slot of the show. These folks will not GM during their volunteer slots, but will instead help me run Pathfinder Society HQ, including marshalling, collecting tickets, distributing GM packs, entering tracking sheets into the database, and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Keep in mind these are very limited and likely to fill up in the first hour after the blog goes live.
Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2014. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for slots, not a specific event. Those that are able to spice up their event by adding 3-D terrain, props that stand out and the like, will be given first consideration for specific events. I will let you know the slots and scenarios you have been assigned as soon as possible. You may designate what tier scenarios you wish to GM but this is not guaranteed to be filled. I will do the best I can to accommodate your requests. My target date to have all GMs their assigned schedules is April 4. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule, before the May 18 event registration, with your friends and family who are also attending Gen Con 2014. Please let me know via email which days you will be at the convention and how many slots you are volunteering for at Gen Con 2014.
When you email me, I need you to include the following information in your email:
- 1) What email is tied to your Gen Con account.
- 2) What email is tied to your Paizo.com account and what your message board user name is.
- 3) I need to know if you have received the purple goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirts at a previous show. If not, I need to know what size you wear.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Tier 1 GM Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are invaluable to making the show a success. Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 160 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you won't be able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:
- A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
- A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Marriott or J.W. Marriott Hotels
- A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
- A FREE Advanced Class Guide hardcover
- Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
- A special PFS boon that gives the option of choosing a one-time complete rebuild of any level character OR the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, ratfolk, samsaran, suli, or vishkanya.
Tier 2 GM Volunteers
Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 7 slots. I only have room for 120 Tier 2 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier — it fills up very quickly. Tier 2 GMs receive:
- A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
- A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Marriott or J.W. Marriott Hotels
- A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
- A FREE Advanced Class Guide hardcover
- Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
- A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, ratfolk, suli, or vishkanya.
Tier 3 GM Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 3. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 6 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
- A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
- A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
- A FREE Advanced Class Guide hardcover
- Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
- A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, suli or vishkanya.
Tier 4 GM Volunteers
Tier 4 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 4 GMs receive:
- A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
- A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
- Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
- A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: suli or vishkanya.
Tier 5 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level to receive shirts. Tier 5 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 5 GMs receive:
- A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
- Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
- A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: suli or vishkanya.
Volunteering for One, Two, or Three Slots
When Volunteering...
Again, please be specific about what days and how many slots you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to slots and scenarios on an as-needed basis. I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help. You must have a gencon.com account and you must include your email tied to your Gen Con account in your email or I won't be able to get you a badge (obviously this is only for volunteers who are volunteering for 5 or more slots). Include your Paizo.com email account so I can make sure you receive the scenarios in your downloads. Finally, I need to know if you have received the purple goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirst in the past. If not, I need to know what size.
The time slots are as follows:
Slot 1: Thursday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 2: Thursday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 3: Thursday 7 P.M. to Midnight (Gen Con Exclusive #1 and three new Season 5 scenarios)
Slot 4: Friday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 5: Friday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 6: Friday 7 P.M. to Midnight (Gen Con Special)
Slot 7: Saturday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 8: Saturday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 9: Saturday 7 P.M. to Midnight (Gen Con Exclusive #2 and three new Season 5 scenarios)
Slot 10: Sunday 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.
All Gen Con 2014 volunteers please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the subject line “Gen Con Volunteer - Tier X.”
Thanks in advance for volunteering and have a great spring and summer convention season!
Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
