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Gen Con 2015 News and Official Call for Volunteers!

Monday, February 23, 2015

I was advised last year that we needed to plan to make Gen Con 2014 the biggest and best yet. And it certainly was! We scheduled 1,500 tables of Pathfinder Society during the convention. We showed the world our Kid's Beginner & Advanced Tracks, as well as the Pathfinder Beginner Box Introductions, Parts 1 and 2. We debuted the Silverhex Chronicles Quests. We hosted more than 20 seminars. And we launched the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild! Gen Con was definitely a success and Paizo's biggest showing in history. But we can make it bigger and better this year!

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 and we get the entire room! We increase our playspace size, scheduling 180 tables per slot. We are moving the Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild into the Sagamore Ballroom and assigning 20 tables that will be utilized just for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game play. At Gen Con 2015, we're also debuting the Adventure Card Guild Open, a tournament play option using tables of four players and pre-set scenarios with no randomized elements; Tanis will share more about this even in an upcoming blog. In addition, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game demos will be run during every hour that the dealer hall is open.

Additionally, we have one of the 7 rooms that were used for Pathfinder Society in 2013. It will be used exclusively for more than 20 Paizo seminars.

We are planning to schedule 17 different scenarios, four Gen Con Specials, 2 modules, We Be Goblins! and We Be Goblins Too!, and six new quests that utilize the new Occult Adventures hardcover throughout the course of the convention.

Specific Scenarios at Gen Con 2015

Tier 1-2

Tier 1-5

Tier 3-7

Tier 5-9

Tier 7-11

All Tiers and Specials

  • A Tier 1-11 multi-table interactive Special "Siege of Serpents" on Thursday night
  • A second Tier 1-11 multi-table interactive Special in which the Society reassembles and activates the Sky Key (Friday night)
  • A bonus Special "True Dragons of Absalom," in which the players portray unlikely allies of the Pathfinder Society using unique pregenerated kobold characters (Saturday night)
  • The "Serpents Rise" Special in which the PCs are agents of the Aspis Consortium bent on sabotaging the Pathfinder Society. Special pregenerated characters are provided for this event on Sunday morning.

Note: After Gen Con, the "Serpents Rise" pregenerated event will become available to all 4-and 5-Star GMs to run as exclusives in their local areas. Additionally, the "True Dragons of Absalom" special will become available to all 5-Star GMs to run as exclusive events in their local areas.

Beginner Box and Kid's Track

We have two different Beginner Box Introductions offerings again this year. During 7 slots at Gen Con, we are setting aside 5 tables for these Beginner Box Introduction events. Both parts are scheduled with new players in mind. Beginner Box Introductions, Part 1 allows 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 hours of each slot involve playing through the 4 one-hour adventures. In 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 3 free documents have been briefly covered, we will be offering up five, one-hour adventures as time permits. Much like the 4 adventures in part one, these utilize only the Beginner Box rules.

For the Pathfinder's Kids' Track, we will be setting aside 5 tables at 7 slots during the convention. We are focusing on players aged 6—12 and will use the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box for this as well. The Kids' Track is divided into 2 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 7 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 4 one-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 two-hour slots will help the children level their chosen character to third level. After leveling is complete, the GM will run one of 5 new adventures designed using the Beginner Box rules.

We will be running each of the 9 different, Beginner Box 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 20, two-hour tables per day on Thursday through Saturday, and 10, two-hour tables on Sunday, for the Kids' Track, divided between the Beginner and Advanced Tracks.

If a child plays all 4 different adventures in the Beginner's Track, he will be able to present his check-off card to the prize table and receive a special certificate that celebrates his accomplishments. If a child plays all 5 different adventures in the Advanced Track, she will be able to present her check-off card to the prize table and receive a second, different special certificate. Both certificates can be used for the child's new Pathfinder Society character 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 two-hour blocks, a GM will be required to run 2 Kids' Track slots back to back in a five-hour block to count as 1 slot of credit toward GM rewards.

We will also be running a new set of Pathfinder Quests, based around the upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures hardcover, inside the Sagamore Ballroom, and I do have a few volunteer spots of five-hour blocks for any GM interested in running those for players as they show up and fill the quests tables.

Volunteering for Gen Con 2015

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 375 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games, Beginner Box Introductions, Kids' Track events, Pathfinder Quests, Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild scenarios, and 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 HQ Volunteer Assistants for each slot of the show. These folks will not GM during their volunteer slots, but will instead help the HQ Lead Volunteers and I 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.

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 assist Card Game OP tables in the Sagamore Ballroom, from 8:00 AM until midnight Thursday through Saturday, and from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM on Sunday. You can volunteer to work 1 or 2 five-hour blocks each day from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Sunday ends at 4:00 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 7 five-hour sessions to qualify for a hotel room as a Tier 2 volunteer.

Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2015. 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 3. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule, before the May event registration, with your friends and family who are also attending Gen Con 2015. 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 2015.

Volunteer Reward Tiers

Tier 1 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. 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 2015 Badge
  • A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel
  • A $10 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
  • 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 2 Volunteers
Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 7 slots. Tier 2 GMs receive:

  • A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
  • A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel
  • A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
  • 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 3 Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will likely 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 2015 Badge
  • A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
  • 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 4 Volunteers
Tier 4 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 4 GMs receive:

  • A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
  • A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 5 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level to receive t-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
  • 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Volunteering for 3 Slots or Less

  • A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • 1 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirt (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

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 this blog as spots fill up.

The time slots are as follows:

Slot 1: Thursday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM Slot 2: Thursday 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM Slot 3: Thursday 7:00 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special "Siege of Serpents") Slot 4: Friday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM Slot 5: Friday 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM Slot 6: Friday 7:00 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special #7–00) Slot 7: Saturday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM Slot 8: Saturday 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM Slot 9: Saturday 7:00 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special "True Dragons of Absalom") Slot 10: Sunday 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM (Gen Con Special "Serpents Rise" and assorted tables of various scenarios).

HQ Volunteers

HQ Volunteers are involved in the management and coordination of Pathfinder Society events at Gen Con. As a team, they're responsible for getting all the players and GMs seated, answering questions for new players, handing out prizes, and all the minutiae in getting 180 tables worth of GMs and players per slot seated and enjoying their games. HQ slots are longer than GM slots, and there are only 2 per day (except Sunday, when we only have 1) of the convention. Morning slots start half an hour before the games start, and the evening slot ends half an hour after the last player leaves the room. With few exceptions, every HQ Volunteer needs to be familiar with Pathfinder Society and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, much as a GM is. The reward structure is similar to that of GMs, with the Tiers tied to rewards for similar amounts of time volunteered.

Tier 1 HQ: 5 Slots
Tier 2 HQ: N/A
Tier 3 HQ: 4 Slots
Tier 4 HQ: 3 Slots

HQ slots are 7:30 AM through 3:45 PM for the morning and 3:45 PM through 12:30 AM for the evening. If volunteering for an HQ position, please list your skill and strengths in the area you want to volunteer for so we can match up a volunteer to the job that best fits his or her talents. Rewards are much the same as the GM rewards, as follows:

HQ Volunteer Tier Rewards

Tier 1 HQ Volunteers
Tier 1 HQ volunteers are the backbone to making the show a success. 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. Most of my HQ volunteers fall into this group. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts about being able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:

  • A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
  • A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel
  • A $15 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
  • 4 FREE limited edition orange goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 3 HQ Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for Tier 3 are smaller, this gives you a chance to experience the organizational side of the largest PFS event in the world while still leaving a good chunk of your weekend free. Tier 3 GMs receive:

  • A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
  • A $15 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
  • 4 FREE limited edition orange goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 4 HQ Volunteers

  • A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
  • A $15 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
  • 4 FREE limited edition orange goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
  • A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

How to Volunteer

If you're interested in volunteering at Gen Con 2015, email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the subject "Gen Con Volunteer" and include the following:

  1. The days you will be attending Gen Con
  2. The number of slots you'd like to volunteer for, kind of slot (RPG Scenarios, Adventure Card Game, or HQ), and preferred tier(s) (if applicable)
  3. The email tied to your Gen Con account
  4. The email tied to your paizo.com account and messageboard username
  5. If you have the purple/orange goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirts already. If not, what size shirt you need.

Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great spring and summer convention season!

Mike Brock
Global Organized Play Coordinator

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Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
13 people marked this as a favorite.
Jack Brown wrote:
What is "Goblin 3d Invasion"? I haven't heard of that one, yet.

The plan is to have a walk-up, first come first serve event running throughout the show. 3-4 GMs will have a set of 8-12 missions for raiding goblin parties to accomplish. We can have up to four different goblin raiding parties running rampant throug the town at the same time. The missions could be burn the stable, capture the gate, whatever. Once four to six people walk up, the GM hands them a random mission, hands out the four to six goblin pregens, and runs the party of iconics tasked to stop the goblins. It will be played out on an L shaped table with 3d terrain. Once the goblin party succeeds or is wiped out, the GM hands them a Chronicle sheet with a boon that reflects how they fared. We will likely have different check boxes on the Chronicle sheet to correspond to each of the m8-12 missions so people will hopefully want to keep coming back to play. That's essentially it. It should fill a good spot for walk ups, for people who finish their game early, or similar time frames as the new Quests will offer.

Miniature Building Authority is supplying and setting up the 3d terrain for us. We will be using our own goblin and iconic hero minis.
4/5
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Michael Brock wrote:
Jack Brown wrote:
What is "Goblin 3d Invasion"? I haven't heard of that one, yet.

The plan is to have a walk-up, first come first serve event running throughout the show. 3-4 GMs will have a set of 8-12 missions for raiding goblin parties to accomplish. We can have up to four different goblin raiding parties running rampant throug the town at the same time. The missions could be burn the stable, capture the gate, whatever. Once four to six people walk up, the GM hands them a random mission, hands out the four to six goblin pregens, and runs the party of iconics tasked to stop the goblins. It will be played out on an L shaped table with 3d terrain. Once the goblin party succeeds or is wiped out, the GM hands them a Chronicle sheet with a boon that reflects how they fared. We will likely have different check boxes on the Chronicle sheet to correspond to each of the m8-12 missions so people will hopefully want to keep coming back to play. That's essentially it. It should fill a good spot for walk ups, for people who finish their game early, or similar time frames as the new Quests will offer.

Miniature Building Authority is supplying and setting up the 3d terrain for us. We will be using our own goblin and iconic hero minis.

That sounds AMAZING.

4/5 ****
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Michael Brock wrote:
Jack Brown wrote:
What is "Goblin 3d Invasion"? I haven't heard of that one, yet.

STUFF

Miniature Building Authority is supplying and setting up the 3d terrain for us. We will be using our own goblin and iconic hero minis.

HOLY CRAP!

This is the coolest thing ever.
Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ***
Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Michael Brock wrote:
Jack Brown wrote:
What is "Goblin 3d Invasion"? I haven't heard of that one, yet.

The plan is to have a walk-up, first come first serve event running throughout the show. 3-4 GMs will have a set of 8-12 missions for raiding goblin parties to accomplish. We can have up to four different goblin raiding parties running rampant throug the town at the same time. The missions could be burn the stable, capture the gate, whatever. Once four to six people walk up, the GM hands them a random mission, hands out the four to six goblin pregens, and runs the party of iconics tasked to stop the goblins. It will be played out on an L shaped table with 3d terrain. Once the goblin party succeeds or is wiped out, the GM hands them a Chronicle sheet with a boon that reflects how they fared. We will likely have different check boxes on the Chronicle sheet to correspond to each of the m8-12 missions so people will hopefully want to keep coming back to play. That's essentially it. It should fill a good spot for walk ups, for people who finish their game early, or similar time frames as the new Quests will offer.

Miniature Building Authority is supplying and setting up the 3d terrain for us. We will be using our own goblin and iconic hero minis.

This sounds like the best walk-up quests yet.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 *** Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant

I really hope the plan is to have that in the middle close to the doors so that people going by can see the terrain and have a chance to come in to check it out.
Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****
Michael Brock wrote:
Jack Brown wrote:
What is "Goblin 3d Invasion"? I haven't heard of that one, yet.

The plan is to have a walk-up, first come first serve event running throughout the show. 3-4 GMs will have a set of 8-12 missions for raiding goblin parties to accomplish. We can have up to four different goblin raiding parties running rampant throug the town at the same time. The missions could be burn the stable, capture the gate, whatever. Once four to six people walk up, the GM hands them a random mission, hands out the four to six goblin pregens, and runs the party of iconics tasked to stop the goblins. It will be played out on an L shaped table with 3d terrain. Once the goblin party succeeds or is wiped out, the GM hands them a Chronicle sheet with a boon that reflects how they fared. We will likely have different check boxes on the Chronicle sheet to correspond to each of the m8-12 missions so people will hopefully want to keep coming back to play. That's essentially it. It should fill a good spot for walk ups, for people who finish their game early, or similar time frames as the new Quests will offer.

Miniature Building Authority is supplying and setting up the 3d terrain for us. We will be using our own goblin and iconic hero minis.

OMG that seems so totally cool! I hope that I'll have time to try that out!

I am SO glad that I asked.
Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Eric Clingenpeel wrote:
I really hope the plan is to have that in the middle close to the doors so that people going by can see the terrain and have a chance to come in to check it out.

The fire marshal won't allow us to occupy the center aisle with anything but a single table for info and FAQ. It will be off to the right side near Hero Lab, Quests, beginner box and KT area. People should be able to see the terrain from the right doors at least.

So, this gives us the 3d goblin invasion, as well as six new quests, to fill people's time when not actively involved in playing scenarios. Note that these and the quests should both be able to continue running through the Specials as well.
4/5

having not registered for a GenCon event in nearly 20 years, what do we need to do before Sunday to register for games? (does this include registering for any PFS games we want to play? I think I only have Saturday slots free so a bit worried that my options to actually play anything at Gencon will be limited if I don't figure out the registration process ahead of Sunday.
5/5
Rycaut wrote:
having not registered for a GenCon event in nearly 20 years, what do we need to do before Sunday to register for games? (does this include registering for any PFS games we want to play? I think I only have Saturday slots free so a bit worried that my options to actually play anything at Gencon will be limited if I don't figure out the registration process ahead of Sunday.

You have to have a badge on your GenCon account in order to buy tickets (which go live on Sunday). You can login to your GenCon account currently and add any events you want to your wish list, so that you don't have to hunt and peck when things go live and are hectic for buying things before they sell out.

4/5 * Venture-Captain, Pennsylvania—Pittsburgh

Regarding the goblin quests, what kind of tickets do I need to get participate in that? I just found something else I want to do at GenCon. And am I gonna have the opportunity to do this at local cons? It sounds amazing.
4/5

right - I'm a tier 1 gm so I just got the email about my badge (I'll look at that) I think it is associated with my account? But I don't think I have a payment method on record - will I have a chance to put one in when I pick events? Or can I do that ahead of time?

Also pardon if these are really basic questions but how many slots are there each day? And what are the hours for the exhibit hall? I think Saturday may be my only chance to get to the exhibit hall (unless I have a game that either doesn't fill up or which ends early - but I tend to run to the end of slots at cons)

From recent attendees is it worthwhile to pre-order lunches? I think i saw lunches as "misc" events (grab and go sandwiches etc)? Does that really help with long lines (I'm a bit worried about meals as I'm running a lot of slots)
Grand Lodge 5/5
Rycaut wrote:

right - I'm a tier 1 gm so I just got the email about my badge (I'll look at that) I think it is associated with my account? But I don't think I have a payment method on record - will I have a chance to put one in when I pick events? Or can I do that ahead of time?

Also pardon if these are really basic questions but how many slots are there each day? And what are the hours for the exhibit hall? I think Saturday may be my only chance to get to the exhibit hall (unless I have a game that either doesn't fill up or which ends early - but I tend to run to the end of slots at cons)

From recent attendees is it worthwhile to pre-order lunches? I think i saw lunches as "misc" events (grab and go sandwiches etc)? Does that really help with long lines (I'm a bit worried about meals as I'm running a lot of slots)

IIRC, you will pick your payment method when checking out of the events listing, though you dont need to register with Gencon for tables you are running. If you are Tier 1, youve already done that with Mike, which is enough.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 3 slots
Sunday: 1 slot

Exhibit hall hours are 10-6 Th-Sat and 10-2 on Sun, I think.

No idea about pre-ordering lunches, but assuming its the same as last year, there is at least one food vendor right outside the Sagamore Ballroom where the PFS stuff goes on.

Hope that helps!
Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
Nick Greene wrote:
Regarding the goblin quests, what kind of tickets do I need to get participate in that? I just found something else I want to do at GenCon. And am I gonna have the opportunity to do this at local cons? It sounds amazing.

No tickets needed. As of now, there is no plans to make it available to local cons.

5/5
Rycaut wrote:

right - I'm a tier 1 gm so I just got the email about my badge (I'll look at that) I think it is associated with my account? But I don't think I have a payment method on record - will I have a chance to put one in when I pick events? Or can I do that ahead of time?

Also pardon if these are really basic questions but how many slots are there each day? And what are the hours for the exhibit hall? I think Saturday may be my only chance to get to the exhibit hall (unless I have a game that either doesn't fill up or which ends early - but I tend to run to the end of slots at cons)

From recent attendees is it worthwhile to pre-order lunches? I think i saw lunches as "misc" events (grab and go sandwiches etc)? Does that really help with long lines (I'm a bit worried about meals as I'm running a lot of slots)

Yes, your tier 1 badge should be attached to your account, so that will permit you to buy badges. I did not see a place to pre-enter a payment method on GenCon's site when I perused it this morning, but I didn't look all that hard to be honest.

There's 3 PFS slots on Thurs, Fri and Sat. There's 1 slot on Sunday. Dealer hall is open 10-6ish? T,F,S I believe. It's open till 12~2ish on Sunday I think. I've never gone to it on a Sunday.

I can't say on the pre-order lunch things, as I've not heard anything about it. There's food vendors located around the hall fairly close to the ballroom, so running out and grabbing a very fast bite is generally doable. It's not that great of food, but it'll sustain you for the most part. If you do have a short bit of time, they do close off a nearby street that loads up with food trucks, and I've heard good things in regards to some of them. Some of them are evidently extremely overpriced (as are any of the options actually inside the convention hall IMO).
1/5

The food trucks vary in quality and price. If you are looking for cheap your best bet is the mall food court but that is a fairly long trek from the ballroom. I would strongly recommend planning ahead and bring at least bottles of water with you if you are a GM and running slots back to back.
*
Michael Brock wrote:
Michael Brock wrote:
I just received Paizo's full allotment of Gen Con volunteer badges. It will take a bit to assign all 297 but all Tier 1-4 volunteers should have their badges by the end of the evening!
And all done.

An hour and a half!? That's brilliant Mike! Thank you. :)

Does this include HQ volunteers as well? Should I be concerned if I haven't received an email yet?
4/5

I'm at work so haven't been able to view this yet but GenCon posted a YouTube video about the process of creating wish lists and registering on Sunday which may be useful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBkxLWQoO9k
Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
Curaigh wrote:
Michael Brock wrote:
Michael Brock wrote:
I just received Paizo's full allotment of Gen Con volunteer badges. It will take a bit to assign all 297 but all Tier 1-4 volunteers should have their badges by the end of the evening!
And all done.

An hour and a half!? That's brilliant Mike! Thank you. :)

Does this include HQ volunteers as well? Should I be concerned if I haven't received an email yet?

Yes it includes HQ. If you haven't received an email from Gen Con about receiving your badge, email me ASAP.

Scott, I've already emailed you.
*

Fast and preemptive!
(though we gamers can be a predictable bunch :) Thank you Mike.
Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ***
Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Jessex wrote:
The food trucks vary in quality and price. If you are looking for cheap your best bet is the mall food court but that is a fairly long trek from the ballroom. I would strongly recommend planning ahead and bring at least bottles of water with you if you are a GM and running slots back to back.

My solution to this is to head to CVS early on thursday, buy lunches for the entire week, and bring them with me in the morning so I don't have to worry about it.

Dark Archive 5/5
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber
James McTeague wrote:
Jessex wrote:
The food trucks vary in quality and price. If you are looking for cheap your best bet is the mall food court but that is a fairly long trek from the ballroom. I would strongly recommend planning ahead and bring at least bottles of water with you if you are a GM and running slots back to back.
My solution to this is to head to CVS early on thursday, buy lunches for the entire week, and bring them with me in the morning so I don't have to worry about it.

We grocery store cold cuts and such and supplement with food trucks on days that HQ is slow enough for MGCady to run down and queue.

4/5

I'm still figuring out my travel from San Jose CA to gencon. Debating if I fly all the way there on Wednesday or if I fly into Chicago first and rent a car and then drive (visiting friends and family in Chicago first). If I fly into Indy then I assume I don't need a car to get from the airport to the hotel or from the hotel to the convention?

But that may limit my options to shop for meals ahead of time...

For sure next year. Can't make it now due to new job, but damn I wish I could.
Dark Archive 5/5 5/5
TetsujinOni wrote:
James McTeague wrote:
Jessex wrote:
The food trucks vary in quality and price. If you are looking for cheap your best bet is the mall food court but that is a fairly long trek from the ballroom. I would strongly recommend planning ahead and bring at least bottles of water with you if you are a GM and running slots back to back.
My solution to this is to head to CVS early on thursday, buy lunches for the entire week, and bring them with me in the morning so I don't have to worry about it.
We grocery store cold cuts and such and supplement with food trucks on days that HQ is slow enough for MGCady to run down and queue.

There is a grocery store not that far from the convention hall (within walking distance). It was newish as of last year.

Horizon Hunters 4/5 5/5 ***
James McTeague wrote:
Jessex wrote:
The food trucks vary in quality and price. If you are looking for cheap your best bet is the mall food court but that is a fairly long trek from the ballroom. I would strongly recommend planning ahead and bring at least bottles of water with you if you are a GM and running slots back to back.
My solution to this is to head to CVS early on thursday, buy lunches for the entire week, and bring them with me in the morning so I don't have to worry about it.

There is also a Marsh Supermarket about, oh, 4-5 blocks south north of the convention center. It's not a bad walk, really. They also have hot foods, a deli, etc.

Lantern Lodge 5/5 * RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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I concur with Mark; stocked up on bananas, granola bars, and green tea for a good price :)
4/5

good to know - I'll try to schedule my travel so I have time on Wednesday to stock up. Also seems like something a bunch of PFS GM's could coordinate together (runs to the grocery store either before slots start or if someone has a table finish early.
Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator

Gen Con GMs, all 298 of you should have received all of the scenarios you are scheduled to run today. The only exceptions are Quests, Advanced Kids Track, We Be Goblins Free, and Beginner Box 2. If I missed you or you did not receive your scenarios, please email me.

If The scenario hasn't released yet, such as season seven scenarios, your account has been set up to receive them when they are released .

Thanks!
Shadow Lodge *
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Michael Brock wrote:

Gen Con GMs, all 298 of youshould have received all of the scenarios you are scheduled to run today. The only exceptions are Quests, Advanced Kids Track, We Be Goblins Free, and Beginner Box 2. If I missed you or you did not receive your scenarios, please email me.

Thanks!

You are only talking about RPG scenarios, not Card Game scenarios, correct?

Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
pH unbalanced wrote:
Michael Brock wrote:

Gen Con GMs, all 298 of youshould have received all of the scenarios you are scheduled to run today. The only exceptions are Quests, Advanced Kids Track, We Be Goblins Free, and Beginner Box 2. If I missed you or you did not receive your scenarios, please email me.

Thanks!

You are only talking about RPG scenarios, not Card Game scenarios, correct?

That is correct . Tanis Will get card game volunteers their scenarios

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

Is that currently only that regular scenarios that are currently published? Not specials and exclusives (that might not even be ready now)?
Silver Crusade 5/5

Specials should have been added, Jack, I got the email tonight that the specials were added to my account. At least, the multi-tables were. The other two aren't out yet.

Edit: Failed my reading comprehension check, 6-97 and 6-98 were added, 6-99 and 7-00 aren't out yet.
Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
Jack Brown wrote:
Is that currently only that regular scenarios that are currently published? Not specials and exclusives (that might not even be ready now)?

That is all current scenarios. It also includes accounts set up to receive scenarios and specials when they are released.

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

Gotcha. Email sent.

Thanks!
Shadow Lodge 4/5 *** Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
Rycaut wrote:
good to know - I'll try to schedule my travel so I have time on Wednesday to stock up. Also seems like something a bunch of PFS GM's could coordinate together (runs to the grocery store either before slots start or if someone has a table finish early.

Also a note, there are small coffee makers in the Marriott rooms. Last year I brought cup-o-noodles with me and had a few super cheap hot meals by just running water through the coffee maker.

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

Thank you, Mike, for your amazing speed in getting this done, especially in light of the work you must be doing for Paizo Con right now!

I have my scenarios, and am looking forward to running them in ~70 days!
*
Eric Clingenpeel wrote:


Also a note, there are small coffee makers in the Marriott rooms. Last year I brought cup-o-noodles with me and had a few super cheap hot meals by just running water through the coffee maker.

Did you have to clean the coffeemakers? Not just the pot, but actual coffee maker. I tried that once and everything tasted like coffee. Coffee tea, coffee oatmeal, coffee noodles. *blech*

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 **
Michael Brock wrote:

Gen Con GMs, all 298 of you should have received all of the scenarios you are scheduled to run today. The only exceptions are Quests, Advanced Kids Track, We Be Goblins Free, and Beginner Box 2. If I missed you or you did not receive your scenarios, please email me.

If The scenario hasn't released yet, such as season seven scenarios, your account has been set up to receive them when they are released .

Thanks!

What is the ETA on the Quests and 3D Goblin Invasion?

Paizo Employee 4/5 Developer
trollbill wrote:
Michael Brock wrote:

Gen Con GMs, all 298 of you should have received all of the scenarios you are scheduled to run today. The only exceptions are Quests, Advanced Kids Track, We Be Goblins Free, and Beginner Box 2. If I missed you or you did not receive your scenarios, please email me.

If The scenario hasn't released yet, such as season seven scenarios, your account has been set up to receive them when they are released .

Thanks!

What is the ETA on the Quests and 3D Goblin Invasion?

I don't expect that Quests will be ready for distribution to GMs until sometime in July.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 *** Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
Curaigh wrote:
Eric Clingenpeel wrote:


Also a note, there are small coffee makers in the Marriott rooms. Last year I brought cup-o-noodles with me and had a few super cheap hot meals by just running water through the coffee maker.
Did you have to clean the coffeemakers? Not just the pot, but actual coffee maker. I tried that once and everything tasted like coffee. Coffee tea, coffee oatmeal, coffee noodles. *blech*

No pot, just a pod you put in and the hot water runs through. <shrug> I was the only one in the room I think that used it and everything tasted fine to me.

Sczarni 5/5 5/55/5 ***
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I *really* like those Aspis pregens. You guys went all out.

Questions: will you be providing copies of those at GenCon? And if you are, will they be in color? Because if the answer to either of those questions is "no" then I'm totally bringing my own laminated color copies.
Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

I've got the new scenarios added to my account, but it's July now and still not available for download. Any idea when they'll be ready?
Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
Nefreet wrote:

I *really* like those Aspis pregens. You guys went all out.

Questions: will you be providing copies of those at GenCon? And if you are, will they be in color? Because if the answer to either of those questions is "no" then I'm totally bringing my own laminated color copies.

Yes we will provide. They will be black and white.

4/5 *
Michael Brock wrote:
Nick Greene wrote:
Regarding the goblin quests, what kind of tickets do I need to get participate in that? I just found something else I want to do at GenCon. And am I gonna have the opportunity to do this at local cons? It sounds amazing.
No tickets needed. As of now, there is no plans to make it available to local cons.

We're going to have to do our own, then! Not PFS-sanctioned, but way too fun to not do!

4/5

Booked my travel to IND yesterday - anyone planning any Slot 0 games Wed night?

Also how much longer before we get all of the scenarios we will be running so we can start preparing? (since I'm flying I'm going to try to edit my minis to the fewest I need to run the scenarios and if at all possible I'll try to print out maps to scale ahead of time to keep things moving quickly at the table especially since I'm running many scenarios multiple times).

(and as per my usual prep I try to have every monster stat block, spell etc printed out ahead of time to minimize how much looking things up in books I need to do at the table - goal being to not need to reference any books at the table)

In the past when I've prepped for specials I've been asked to prep the tiers near the tier I was initially assigned in case of changes in what level players are at the time of the event - do we need to do that for specials we are running at GenCon (if the special has many tiers)?
Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***
Rycaut wrote:
Booked my travel to IND yesterday - anyone planning any Slot 0 games Wed night?

There are games being organized at Scotty's Brewhouse, a local microbrewer and pub a few blocks from the convention center. You can see the schedule HERE

Rycaut wrote:
Also how much longer before we get all of the scenarios we will be running so we can start preparing?

If you are a volunteer GM for GenCon, you should have already received all the necessary scenarios that are published at this time. The three new season 7 scenarios, including the 6-99 and 7-00 specials, as well as the Quests are still being finalized. They are typically made available the Friday prior to GenCon, although we always hold out hope that it'll be sooner.

Rycaut wrote:
In the past when I've prepped for specials I've been asked to prep the tiers near the tier I was initially assigned in case of changes in what level players are at the time of the event - do we need to do that for specials we are running at GenCon (if the special has many tiers)?

We will do everything possible to seat players at your table of the tiers you were assigned, but no guarantee. The tickets for the specials are not sold by tier so we have to make an educated guess how many tables of each tier to assign. It is likely that the actual table will vary slightly from the intended breakdown. In those cases, the GMs need to be prepared to run outside their official tier assignments. I would recommend that you at least be familiar with the sub-tiers on either side of the range you were assigned. It is also helpful if you are prepared to run any tier, but 1-5 is probably the most important. It is the largest single tier represented each year and includes a lot of new/casual players. Its great when GMs step up and run those extra tables so that we don't have to turn any players away, even those with generic tickets.

Shadow Lodge 4/5
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I received roommate assignments months ago, but haven't seen anything on my actual hotel room yet. Any chance that info will be coming soon?
Silver Crusade 5/5
Usual Suspect wrote:
I received roommate assignments months ago, but haven't seen anything on my actual hotel room yet. Any chance that info will be coming soon?

I asked Mike about it not long ago, it should be soon.

Grand Lodge 4/5 Global Organized Play Coordinator
Usual Suspect wrote:
I received roommate assignments months ago, but haven't seen anything on my actual hotel room yet. Any chance that info will be coming soon?

When Gen Con sends me the confirmation numbers, I will forward those to everyone assigned to a hotel room. They usually send these a week or two before the show.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

Looks like all the tables at Scotty's are well overbooked. I knew I forgot to do something.
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