OPC Log—20 Sarenith 4716

Monday, June 20, 2016

In the northern hemisphere, the celebration of the sun is upon us as we celebrate the longest day of the year. Our compatriots in the southern hemisphere are neck-deep in winter and short nights. Lucky for all of us, Pathfinder plays just as well no matter where you are, and so we may enjoy joining a table with others, roleplaying an evening away.

And as evidenced by my Facebook feeds today, many of us did just that! While I am still in Columbus, wrapping up Origins Game Fest and waiting for my flight back to Seattle, my newsfeed overflows with posts of "arrived home", "home and unpacking" and similar updates. It pleases me immensely that everyone is posting about their experiences, as I get the chance to participate in even more cons by reading the posts.

Origins Recap

This year was my first time attending Origins. It is a longer con, stretching from Wednesday at noon to Sunday evening. While I spent most of my time at the Adventure Card Guild tables, I did get into the Roleplaying Guild room and got to observe some tables. Highlights include: Erik Mona playing his monk during #7-00 The Sky Key Solution, Friday night's run of #7-98 Serpents' Ire where players took on the role of Aspis Agents, and Sunday's tables of players dancing, flying, and moving about as they enacted scenes from We B4 Goblins.

Due to construction, our tables were set up in a different area than usual, but that didn't stop the foot traffic all weekend (which meant I got to interact with many attendees!). We had a great turnout for the Adventure Card Guild, with full tables and lots of new players. The Mummy's Mask demos were a hit, and many players expressed excitement for October's Base Set release. At one point, I ran two demos simultaneously, one on each end of the table—that was a feat! Obsidian's Pathfinder Adventures app has also created a lot of buzz and drew many people in.

Though reporting for Sunday's events still needs to be entered into the system, our current PFS session count for the show is 297! This includes both the Roleplaying and Adventure Card Guild events, and cements Origins as the third biggest convention in the PFS circuit. Though if you listen to Mike McNerney, Venture-Captain for Southern Ohio and Origins lead coordinator, he has plans to move to the number two spot over PaizoCon. Do I sense a bit of friendly rivalry here? Which con will you come out and support next year?

Campaign Coins

While at Origins, the opportunity arose to present two more Campaign Service Coins to volunteers. Both recipients spend time helping out their local lodges, as well as take on tasks that assist the greater community. PFS #759 now belongs to Luke Woods. While his title is VL—Columbus, he is the con scheduler for Southern Ohio and does analytics on the post-con data. The bearer of PFS #760, James McTeague, may be better known as an Online VL or the preparer of high-level GM tools. Congratulations to both recipients' on their accomplishments!

Other Conventions

Besides Origins, we had 3XP–Summer Edition in the United Kingdom. From all reports they had a great deal of fun, ran many games, and raised over 1200 GBP for charities. Congratulations to Carol Tierney and Chris Brockley-Blatt, the co-coordinators of the show!

Esteemed Developer Crystal Frasier returned from her adventures at Comicpalooza in Texas. Word on the street is it was a great convention, with lots of games, panels and other activities. I cannot wait to hear her stories from the convention.

To round out the weekend shows, we had Q-Con in Ireland, Polycon in California, and VL Weekend in New Zealand. I've not received much news on them, but trust the attendees had a great time and more Pathfinder goodness occurred.

Travel Schedule

I am in the office for a few days this week, then leave again to attend the American Libraries Association convention in Orlando. There we will demo games to librarians and discuss how to best utilize Pathfinder in their libraries. I cannot wait to talk to those on the ground about what they need to help introduce new players to our hobby.

Gen Con

Finally, Gen Con approaches quickly. John and Linda are busy working on scenario development—this month's offerings which John will introduce next week as well as the final parts of Season 7 and the openings of Season 8. While pre-registration for Gen Con closed yesterday, you can still purchase badges and tickets for pick-up at the convention.

There are still tickets for Pathfinder Society events, including Thursday morning tables of #7-22: Bid for Alabastrine (an adventure for levels 1-5), Sunday Morning tables of #8-01: Portent's Peril (an adventure for levels 1-5), and the Adventure Card Guild side of #8-00 The Cosmic Captive (the Friday Night interactive event). You can find the complete catalog on the Gen Con website and search for Paizo events.

We have not closed volunteer registration either. Due to unfortunate events, we do have some volunteer cancellations up until to the week of the show. If your schedule allows you a short notice assignment, please consider joining us. Registration details are in this blog.

Character Sketch Competition

Voting for our latest Pathfinder Society contest has begun! Check out the entries for our Character Sketch Competition and vote for your favorite. Voting continues until Friday, June 24 at 12:00 PM Pacific time, and we'll announce the winners the following Monday!

Until next time, Pathfinders. Remember—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator