The Plot Thickens

Monday, March 23, 2015




Illustrations by Marek Madej

Earlier in the year, I posted a lengthy update regarding the Faction Journal Cards we announced at the end of 2014. I encourage you to check out that blog if you didn't have a chance to read it before. As many of you likely recall, these cards are a new way for the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign to address factions, including faction goals that can apply to a wide range of adventures and allow the PC to earn up to three faction-specific rewards over the course of a season. Over the past week, Linda Zayas-Palmer and I have put in a lot of work on these cards.

With that to look forward to, let's also take a look at the upcoming scenarios—as well as two of the talkative personalities that appear this month. The first scenario, Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–16: Scions of the Sky Key, Part 3: The Golden Guardian, is the last installment of this Tier 1–5 series that has sent the PCs to Sargava's Bandu Hills and later to the Kaava Lands. Having acquired a powerful weapon, the PCs hope to incapacitate the legendary warden that watches over the dwarven ruins of Ashkurhall. Those who have played through the first part of the series will no doubt encounter some familiar foes, and the author Mikko Kallio has done an excellent job of presenting these creatures by combining a few classic features with just as many very clever twists. All told, it's a thrilling conclusion to a very fun three-part series.

On a related note, Mikko is one of the three RPG Superstar 2014 finalists as well as a judge for this year's contest. By the time this blog goes live, there's probably only a narrow window left to vote, but I strongly encourage you to at least check out the submissions from the various rounds—especially if you're interested in participating in the Pathfinder Society Open Call.

The second scenario this month is Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–17: Fires of Karamoss, which in a way is also part of a series. Really it's the spiritual successor of one of the season's first adventures, in which the PCs explored part of the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, a siege fortress rife with advanced technology. It seems the earlier discoveries have uncovered a more sinister plot, and it's up to the PCs to delve deep into the tower's foundation to save a major find—if not Absalom itself! The author is one of Paizo's own: the talented Joe Homes. Working only a few dozen feet away from an author makes it really easy to bounce ideas back and forth, and Joe really impressed me with his ability to introduce charming NPCs into what could have easily remained a straightforward dungeon crawl. The result is an exciting adventure with a healthy helping of both memorable roleplaying and engaging battles.

John Compton
Developer

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Tags: Marek Madej Pathfinder Society Pathfinder Society Scenarios
Silver Crusade

Sweet

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

Teasing us with discussion on the faction cards! I cannot wait to start using them!

Shadow Lodge 3/5

Those cards can't come out fast enough !!

Liberty's Edge 4/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, California—Los Angeles (South Bay)

I look forward to the faction cards. I ran the Golemworks Incident recently and several of the faction missions were highly relevant and helpful to the main objectives of the plot. I hope that future communiques from faction leaders will be helpful to their members and help advance the plot.

Grand Lodge 2/5

As a player, I'm really looking forward to the Faction Journal Cards

Dark Archive

These factions cards seem awesome, and since factions were the reason I started playing PFS, and still my favorite part, I'm really happy they are becoming more important, if we want to make them important for our characters.

Will these be available for the Core Campaign? My only concern is that I might not have enough games I can play to get the factions rewards for my favorite characters. Maybe an option to burn a large of Prestige like 5 or 10, to check boxes on the cards? That way the old characters that have already worked hard for the factions to get in on the faction cards at the expensive of a valuable resource.

Liberty's Edge

Please don't make the faction cards part of Core Campaign. Simplicity is the reason I'm so excited about the Core Campaign.

Scarab Sages 5/5

evdjj3j wrote:
Please don't make the faction cards part of Core Campaign. Simplicity is the reason I'm so excited about the Core Campaign.

The faction cards are just something extra that each person can have their PC do if they want their character more involved with their faction. Since that is a the primary problem that people had when the faction missions were dissolved 1 1/2 years ago. With this in mind faction cards should be an option for CORE.

Grand Lodge 4/5

Faction cards will be optional, and, to be honest, they should be something that only the player needs to pay attention to during the game.

They will list some of the faction-related things that could promote the goal(s) of faction X, and it will be up to the player to bear those goals in mind, and then, at the end of the session, let the GM know they have done Action A, B or C that can fulfill condition X, Y or Z on the card, and request a signoff (if needed) on it.

Maybe either a note on the player's side of such an action, needed to remind boht of them later it was done, maybe a comment by the player that doing such-and-so in this game might promote this-or-that card line.

Hopefully, a lot less disruptive than "Is the MacGuffin in this room? How about this room? Maybe now?" that the original faction missions were prone to. And less irritating to the other players than, "I do this for Taldor!" was.

Liberty's Edge

I'm definitely thinking they've decided/realized the goal of a mid-season 6 implementation of Faction Journal Cards wasn't a properly reachable goal (I'm all for doing it right the first time! I can wait for the good stuff with no complaints for missing out on bottom shelf filler)
That being said, I'm even more hecka-hungry for Paizocon! I'll be watching and hoping for updates on the Journal Cards then.
Keep up the good work!

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