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OPC Log—3 Lamashan 4716

Monday, September 26, 2016

Happy Monday! As I contemplated this week's blog and what to write, my head jumbled with thoughts, I realized a year passed since I started a Paizo. The realization prompted me into analysis of Pathfinder Society. The end conclusion what that, while some of the initiatives didn't quite work as intended, the overall health of the program remained well. PFS membership grew, convention support reached an all time high, we released many backlog items such as Advance Player's Guide pregenerated characters, sanctioned much of the available Pathfinder content for use in Pathfinder Society, produced one and a half seasons of the Adventure Card Guild, created new Seeker content, and released convention content with enough time for GM preparation.

The items that didn't work the first time out, such as the Regional Support Package (Game Day support), are back on the drawing board for version 2.0. The team also started a revision of Roleplaying Guild Guide with the intent to clean up ambiguous wording and address questions raised on the forums. At this time, the exact release date is unknown, but the goal is as quickly as possible given our production schedule.

Hats off to John, Linda, Mark, for being an awesome while working with me to make a memorable year of Pathfinder for you, our players. Thanks also to the Paizo staffers in other departments that support Pathfinder Society. Without all of us pulling together, we could not make PFS happen.

While the staffers supported Pathfinder Society from inside Paizo, the network of Venture-Officers provided support to all the local games. We currently have over 760 Venture-Officers in 49 of the United States and 35 countries spread over 6 continents. This number grows every week, as more people join the Pathfinder Society family. Unfortunately, there is not enough room to list them all here, but check out the Coordinator List for an up to date roster of our Venture-Officers. Huge thanks to all of them for making a global Pathfinder Society!

There is another pool of volunteers integral to the Pathfinder Society. Without the throngs of GMs, no games could run. While GMs spend large amounts of time preparing and running games, some dedicate hundreds of hours to the hobby. In recognition of the large amount of time spent providing games to others, we recognize GMs with stars. They earn the first star after running 10 games, which equates to approximately 50 hours of game time and another 10-20 preparing for the games. From there, we award two stars for 30 games, three stars for 60 games, and four stars for 100 games. Some GMs dedicate over 600 hours to running games, run at least 50 different games from the various PFS seasons, and run a game for a Venture-Captain, who verifies the GMs knowledge of the Pathfinder Society and the Pathfinder RPG system. To these GMs, the most dedicated of our bunch, we award five stars.

The following GMs achieved their fifth star over the past few months. Please join me in congratulating:

  • Nils Janson
  • Morten Fredricksen
  • Atte Kiljunen
  • Joe Kirner
  • Ryan Bolduan
  • Colin Webster
  • Mark Cohen
  • Þórarinn Sigurðsson
  • Rigby Bedele
  • Eric de Vries
  • Tom Coolbaugh
  • Hillis "Al" Mallory III
  • Sebastian Mullins

Last year involved great change and upheaval. Currently, it is planning time. We are reviewing data, looking for trends, and setting out our ideas. Going forward, I'm focused on refining programs, tweaking operations, and streamlining processes. Oh, and working on the upcoming Season of the Adventure Card Guild. But more on that later, as I don't want to give any spoilers! At least, not yet. Perhaps next week!

Until then—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

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Silver Crusade 5/5

Congrats to all of our new 5-star GM's!
4/5 *
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Yay! New five stars!

And happy anniversary, Tonya!
Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

Congrats to the new five stars and happy gaming!
Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Tonya Woldridge wrote:
We currently have over 760 Venture-Officers in 49 of the United States...

We need someone to step up in Hawaii ;)

Sovereign Court 4/5
Steven Lau wrote:
Tonya Woldridge wrote:
We currently have over 760 Venture-Officers in 49 of the United States...
We need someone to step up in Hawaii ;)

Any chance Paizo wants to pick up my relocation expenses?

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/55/55/5 *

Yes I'll relocate to Hawaii but I'm not sure if I could resist the call of surfing for pathfinder
Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 **** Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Wow, 760 Venture-Officers!! I knew we had a large corp but did not realize it was that large!!

Happy Anniversary, Tonya!!

Congratulations to all you new 5 star GMs!!
5/5 5/55/55/5

Grats!
Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ***** Contributor

Hillis, Rigby, and everyone else - huge congratulations!!!
4/5

Thanks to everyone who has stepped up as a VO or GM, and especially the new five stars. There are a few more coming too.
Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Netherlands

Wohoo venture critter corps!

And many conga rats to the new additions to 5 star island. Its getting busy there :)
Scarab Sages

Congrats everyone.

And grats Atte Kiljunen, good to have more 5 stars in Finland as well. =)
Grand Lodge 1/5 Contributor

^ What he said. :) Congrats everyone! Well done Atte!
1/5

Congratulations to all, but especially Hillis! And to think that I might have played in that historic game.
Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5

Congratulations to all. While we Canadians miss our Den momma we are so proud of what you've manage in just a year at Paizo, and can't wait to see what new things you'll bring to us in the coming years.
Dark Archive 5/5 5/55/5 *** Venture-Captain, Germany—Rhein Main South

Congratulations to the new 5* GMs
Shadow Lodge 4/5
Mikko Kallio wrote:
^ What he said. :) Congrats everyone! Well done Atte!

Thirded. Yay Atte!

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Thanks for the countless hours you have all spent volunteering for Pathfinder Society. In case you don't hear it enough, we appreciate it!
4/5 ***** Venture-Lieutenant, Maryland—Hagerstown

Congrats to the new 5 stars.

hoping to make it there my self one day.
4/5 ***** Venture-Lieutenant, Maryland—Hagerstown
D Hennessey wrote:
Steven Lau wrote:
Tonya Woldridge wrote:
We currently have over 760 Venture-Officers in 49 of the United States...
We need someone to step up in Hawaii ;)
Any chance Paizo wants to pick up my relocation expenses?

I agree, all expenses paid, sign me up.

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

Congrats to all the new five-star GMs!

Great to have you all on the Island!
Dark Archive 5/5 ** Regional Venture-Coordinator, Gulf
Jack Brown wrote:

Congrats to all the new five-star GMs!

Great to have you all on the Island!

At this rate we will have to install more frozen drink blenders!

Congrats to all!
4/5 5/5
Dominick Trascritti wrote:
Jack Brown wrote:

Congrats to all the new five-star GMs!

Great to have you all on the Island!

At this rate we will have to install more frozen drink blenders!

Congrats to all!

Wait, you have frozen drinks? Now I really do need to try and get that last star before the end of the year...

Congrats to Atte and all the other GMs out there - if half of you work half as hard as Atte does, this campaign is ridiculously well off. ;D
Scarab Sages 5/5

My name was misspelled :( Morten Frederiksen
Sovereign Court 4/5 * Organized Play Coordinator
Utii wrote:
My name was misspelled :( Morten Frederiksen

Darn autocorrect :( I have fixed my roster and am requesting Chris update the blog!

3/5

Congrats to all of the 5-stars, but most especially to Colin W.!
Well-deserved!
5/5 ***
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Yay for Mr. Slanky!
Liberty's Edge 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Martinsville
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Woot! Thank you.

I am running two more games this weekend, reaching 200 games already.
5/5

Congrats to all the new 5-Stars!
2/5

Congratulations to all the new 5 star GMs.

Although I have to say, that 1-2 hours of prep time for a scenario seems pretty short to me. With printing, minis, reading, making sure you know all the rules of all the monsters etc, if I'm quick I can do it in 3-4 hours for a new scenario. 1-2 hours seems like lowballing it a lot.
Grand Lodge 5/5 Regional Venture-Coordinator, Baltic
David Leinfelder wrote:

Congratulations to all the new 5 star GMs.

Although I have to say, that 1-2 hours of prep time for a scenario seems pretty short to me. With printing, minis, reading, making sure you know all the rules of all the monsters etc, if I'm quick I can do it in 3-4 hours for a new scenario. 1-2 hours seems like lowballing it a lot.

You can run the same adventure multiple times and reuse prep and you'll come closer to the 1-2 hours on average.

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/55/5 *

Congrats, everyone. And special congrats to my man, Joe Kirner!
Dark Archive 4/5
Z...D... wrote:
D Hennessey wrote:
Steven Lau wrote:
Tonya Woldridge wrote:
We currently have over 760 Venture-Officers in 49 of the United States...
We need someone to step up in Hawaii ;)
Any chance Paizo wants to pick up my relocation expenses?
I agree, all expenses paid, sign me up.

I have no attachments to where I live.....I'd be more than happy to relocate as well..

Dark Archive 2/5 **

Congrats to all of the new 5-star GMs! And special thanks to Joe Kirner, who is a huge reason why I came to love PFS.
Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Isles—Online
2 people marked this as a favorite.

congratulations, especially to thor, who has waited a very long time for his qualifying game
The Exchange 5/5 5/5 * Venture-Captain, Iceland
4 people marked this as a favorite.

Almost made it to 300 games before the fifth. Thanks :).

And congrats to everyone else.
4/5 5/55/55/55/5
Steve Coling wrote:
Thanks to everyone who has stepped up as a VO or GM, and especially the new five stars. There are a few more coming too.

Yep - I should get over the fence this weekend as well, all things being equal...!

Just need to get the multi out of the way this weekend in Sydney :)
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