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Pathfinder Society 2, Expanding on the FAQ

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

By now many of you have heard that Paizo's launching a playtest for a second edition of Pathfinder RPG. This sort of news inspires all sorts of questions, so be sure you've checked out the Pathfinder Playtest FAQ. In short, Paizo will release the playtest book, pdf, and a playtest adventure at Gen Con 2018, gathering your input to revise the game and release it in full at Gen Con 2019.

A new edition inspires changes in other programs, including Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. When the new edition releases in August 2019, we will be launching a Pathfinder Society campaign using the new rules. Scenarios from that month onward will use the new edition, but that doesn't stop you from continuing to play first edition adventures (hundreds scenarios and dozens of sanctioned modules and Adventure Paths) with your first edition PCs.

We answer a lot of preliminary questions in the Pathfinder Society section of the FAQ, but there's a lot more to creating a new campaign than nine questions can detail. Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing more information and soliciting feedback on much more. After all, we've had a long time to consider strategies, but we've had only a little more than a week to discuss the matter with the community without spoiling the announcement. And discussion's an important part of the equation for organized play community; we thrive on incorporating player, GM, and organizer feedback into our decisions to ensure the most fair and fun experience.

So lets look at some preliminary answers together.

Lessons from Starfinder Society

By the time we began creating the Starfinder Society campaign—with much of the heavy lifting done by Thurston Hillman—everyone on the team had years of playing in, designing for, and managing the Pathfinder Society campaign. This was also our first time building an organized play campaign largely from the ground up, and it was gratifying to identify what had worked and what hadn't aged well in order to create a great program. In saying this, I do want to dispel one myth: Starfinder Society wasn't a prototype for a second edition Pathfinder Society campaign. It represented our creating a great organized play campaign informed by hard-learned lessons and years of inspiration. As we look toward creating a new Pathfinder Society campaign, we're learning from both the first edition experiences and Starfinder Society's success to create another great organized play program.

So what's worked well for Starfinder Society? Short answer's "A whole lot of things," and the team's impression is that many of these could work very well in Pathfinder Society, too. Let's break that down into subtopics.

Smaller Tiers: Pathfinder Society's first edition uses a 5-level spread for its tiers (e.g. Tier 1-5), breaking that into two subtiers (e.g. Subtiers 1-2 and 4-5). Although this has worked well from the perspective of allowing as many characters as possible to play each adventure, it leaves an awkward out-of-subtier gap. Also, the wider the level range, the easier it is for someone on the low end of that range to end up facing a wildly overpowering foe in the higher subtier; the same's true for very high level PCs practically walking over low-subtier threats. On the other hand, Starfinder Society uses a 4-level spread for its tiers (e.g. Tier 1-4) with two subtiers (e.g. Subtiers 1-2 and 3-4), eliminating the out-of-subtier gap and tightening the difficulty ranges for the encounters.

Overall, we're inclined to switch to this 4-level tier model, which would include Tiers 1-4, 3-6, 5-8, 7-10, and so on. We've opened up a Tiers and Level Gain thread to solicit your insights, so be sure to join the conversation there.

Boons: Starfinder Society boons—everything from the story awards earned during scenarios to the incentives distributed at public events—underwent a major revision in the form of boon slots. With some exceptions, each boon belongs to one of six categories: Ally, Faction, Personal, Promotional, Social, or Starship. At the beginning of each scenario, after hearing the mission's briefing, each player takes a moment to assign up to one boon of each type into its respective boon slot. There were several goals here. First, it gave us a clean way to handle our new faction model (see below). Second, it meant that players didn't have to shuffle through piles of Chronicle sheets mid-game to find a boon but could instead ready boons at the beginning of the adventure. Third, it helped us balance boon design around the idea that each PC would have a limited number of boons rather than dozens upon dozens of minor bonuses for which the Pathfinder rules simply don't account. By being really clear in scenarios when a boon might be useful to a player, I feel we've also promoted transparency, not yanked out the rug from under players.

All told, we've been really happy with how Starfinder Society boons work, and our inclination is to translate that system over to our second edition campaign. Naturally, we'd replace the Starship slot with something more genre appropriate (I know, I know... I just ruined one of your character concepts, didn't I?).

But that's our take, and we want to know how you feel about how boons would factor into the new campaign. Let us know in the Boons thread.

Factions and Fame: Okay, let's get one complaint out on the table: the Prestige Points/Fame/Reputation definitions aren't completely consistent between Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society. We recognized that going in, but we also balanced that against a desire to set Fame and Infamy in opposition to each other and just have shorter, cleaner terms overall. The odds are good that we'll adopt similar terminology in the new campaign.

Starfinder made some significant changes to how factions and Fame work. The most dramatic change is that each PC can work with any number of factions, slotting in a different faction champion boon at the beginning of any adventure to represent that allegiance. The especially devoted can stick to one faction, of course, but the options are there. What's more, factions in Starfinders provide about a dozen purchasable boons each, many of which might remind you of the vanities from Pathfinder Society. The more you serve a faction, the higher your status with them, and the more impressive the boons you can buy with your Fame. The drawback's that these took us a lot of time to create (especially Thursty, who handled the majority of the wordsmithing), but they've given each faction a much deeper role, both narratively and mechanically.

We're strongly looking to adopt the same faction model for second edition, giving PCs the freedom to work with an assortment of factions and purchase faction-themed benefits. We want to hear what you think in the Factions and Fame thread.

During the first few seasons, the Society's factions fought with one another in the Shadow War for control over Absalom. The intrigue was compelling, but the tight-lipped secrecy and occasional elements of backstabbing weren't especially conducive to playing a cooperative game. In the past five years I feel the factions have reached a comfortable equilibrium of working with the Society while also pursuing their own objectives (and sometimes pulling the Society along for the ride). Starfinder Society's also done a great job with this, showing how each faction is a facet of what drives the diverse cast of Starfinders. What's your take? Let us know in that discussion thread.

Finally, any discussion of the factions begs the question "Which factions will appear in second edition?" Well, we already know about some more faction developments coming down the pipeline later in Season 9 and Season 10. Beyond that, though, I'll be frank: we haven't locked in anything. Some factions might step back or merge. Some new ones might appear. All I can say is that the fewer the factions, the more we attention we can give them.

Chronicle Sheets

Around four years ago, the team created numerous prototypes for a new Chronicle sheet, shifting all of the information boxes to the top (rather than splitting it along the top, bottom, and side), juggling various features, and even eliminating certain entries altogether. We eventually returned to the original concept but tinkered with the layout and information fields in smaller ways. I admit that at this point I'm comfortably fond of the current design. I'm also not a graphic designer, and I'm sure that there are countless ways we could improve the Chronicle sheet to make it easier for players to find information and easier for GMs to fill them out—all while maintaining a visually attractive format.

At this point there's no final design. Instead, we're soliciting your feedback in the Chronicle sheets thread. What would help you keep track of your rewards, minimize paperwork, and not impose an undue burden on the GMs?

Oh! I almost forgot: there are already plans in the works for how to ensure that items on the Chronicle sheets are relevant without undermining a PC's general access to other gear through Fame (or a similar mechanic). Until there's more news from the design team about equipment, though, I'm going to leave it at that.

Organizing the Guide

A new campaign demands a new Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. The Guide's gone through around 10 revisions in its lifetime, and it's certainly become a complex creation over the years. That said, Tonya's efforts to reorganize the document with major help from our guide review team (a group of venture-officers who help us identify inconsistencies and places for improvement) have helped break the veritable tome into more easily printed, essential sections.

We feel the Guide's in a pretty good place now, and we'll certainly apply many of the lessons learned when creating the next Guide. That said, we want to hear from the people who are using this document on a regular basis. Tell us what you'd want to see in a redesigned Guide—layout, organization, information, and more—in our Structure of the Roleplaying Guild Guide thread.

Character Numbers

Player numbers are going to stay the same in the new edition's campaign. Much as Starfinder Society character numbers began at -701, you'll find that any playtest characters are going to start at -1501, and second edition characters will start at -2001. I imagine this won't be contentious, but speak up if you foresee some hidden issue with this numbering scheme.

That does raise the question of how we're tracking playtest credit, doesn't it? Does that credit translate into second edition Chronicle sheets? Not quite, but potentially. That's something for a later blog.

GM Stars

When Starfinder Society started up, we recognized that five GM stars wouldn't necessarily correspond to proficiency with the Starfinder rules. Certainly GM stars conveyed dedication to organized play as a whole and comfort "behind the screen," yet we needed a separate means of tracking one's Starfinder Society accomplishments. As we look toward the second edition of Pathfinder RPG, we're seeing similar indicators.

That means a few things. First, it means that we're looking to introduce an additional means of tracking GMs' efforts in second edition games. Second, it means that first edition GM stars aren't disappearing; their principle impact is on the first edition campaign, and they remain the celebrated badge of honor for a GM's contributions. Third, we recognize that this may disappoint some folks, and we're looking at ways to balance this by making players' experiences and GMs' efforts relevant in the new campaign. We're reviewing the ongoing commentary and soliciting opinions in an ongoing process of establishing this policy's details—matters we'll discuss in a future blog.

Character Conversions

As we stated in the Pathfinder Playtest FAQ, we are not converting first edition characters into second edition characters. This may be the toughest decision we've had to make. Like me, you probably have several folders of characters with lots of Chronicle sheets and tales yet to be told. Not only are we providing lots of options to tell meaningful stories with those characters in the coming months, but we're also including various ways to carry your gaming experience over from one campaign to the next. This is an ongoing process and one that we'll address in a future blog.

Season 10

Okay, that's a lot to digest for the second edition. Let's talk a little about Season 10. I've seen a lot of threads and posts noting that Season 10 needs higher-level scenarios, should wrap up some ongoing stories, and should go out with a bang.

The organized play team agrees entirely!

We traditionally announce our new season's name at PaizoCon and hint at some of the awesome stories to come, and I'm not going to spoil that today. I will, however, say that we have some Big Plans for the first edition campaign's final scenarios. We're also thoroughly aware that many of you want to pit your favorite characters against higher-level challenges, so we're reducing the number of lower level scenarios published noticeably for Season 10 while increasing the number of Tier 5-9, 7-11, 12-15 adventures (perhaps higher). There's so much great story content in the works, and we look forward to sharing it over the coming months.

Our New Developer

We have a lot on the horizon and a lot of work ahead, and we're excited to have Michael Sayre join the organized play team as a developer. He's been working on the upcoming Pathfinder Society Scenario #9-16: Fallen Family, Broken Name, and we're looking forward to the great things he'll bring the Pathfinder Society campaign. With Michael on board, I'll be spending more of my time helping Thursty on Starfinder Society development and working on the upcoming playtest scenarios, and our larger team means more opportunity for all of us to help spin up the next edition's Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild.

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer

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Grand Lodge 4/5

Huzzah!
5/5 *****

Indeed, Huzzah!
Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/55/5 ****

Sweet Information!
Dark Archive 4/5 5/55/5 *
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber

This is all sounding pretty good! Will Playtest characters be ported into the new edition, will we get a boon for participating in the play test, or is there a mysterious third option?
4/5 5/55/5

NOICE!!!!!
I would like to request that when you do get to the factions aspects; can we PLEASE get a baseline, zero cost faction membership that allows you to gain (whatever it will be now called) as a member of that faction? I love the fact that you can gain reputation in SF in other factions, but I'm not liking the having to spend to join a faction to gain fame; especially when the Paizo site forces you to pick a faction for a character when you upload it.
If we could fix that for Starfinder as well that would be awesome. :)
3/5 5/55/55/55/5 *** Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations, Michael! I can’t wait to see what you bring to Organized Play!

And I also can’t wait for the playtest adventures!
Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ***** Venture-Captain, Minnesota
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Thank you for this blog, and for continuing to solicit our feedback here! Change is daunting, but giving your player base a voice in the transition helps us all regain our sense of agency.

This is much appreciated.

Welcome to Michael as well! I'm sure we'll keep you busy!

Jason Avery wrote:

NOICE!!!!!

I would like to request that when you do get to the factions aspects; can we PLEASE get a baseline, zero cost faction membership that allows you to gain (whatever it will be now called) as a member of that faction? I love the fact that you can gain reputation in SF in other factions, but I'm not liking the having to spend to join a faction to gain fame; especially when the Paizo site forces you to pick a faction for a character when you upload it.

If we could fix that for Starfinder as well that would be awesome. :)

Your first Faction Champion boon in Starfinder is always free. It's the ones you take later that cost something! That could be clarified better in the SFS Guide, though.

Hmm
The Exchange 1/5 5/5 ***

Thanks John! The more I read and hear about the play test and the new version, the more at ease I feel with the transition. I encourage people to read the FAQ, posts like this, and watch Know Direction, Glass Cannon ect. I feel the more you know the less "change anxiety" people will have. I'm really looking forward to the play test and I'm also looking forward to Season 10 at GenCon 51!

Thanks again for all the updates and all the hard work you guys are doing on our behalf. I also second how much you all actually listening to your player base means to me and many of my friends.
Second Seekers (Roheas) 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ***** Regional Venture-Coordinator, Appalachia

Regarding character numbering, I have been finding that for SFS that this is really unintuitive for new players.

Is there maybe some way to shift 1e characters to be 2000+number and allow 2e to occupy the single and double digits?
Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kate Baker wrote:

Congratulations, Michael! I can’t wait to see what you bring to Organized Play!

Thank you! With everything going on right now they haven't updated my profile to an employee account yet, but I've already been at work developing the 9-16 quest pack and doing outline and development on a few more of our upcoming scenarios, so you'll be seeing my name showing up on our new scenarios in the very near future.

Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:


Welcome to Michael as well! I'm sure we'll keep you busy!

Thank you as well! I'm looking forward to it.

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/5 **
Douglas Edwards wrote:

Regarding character numbering, I have been finding that for SFS that this is really unintuitive for new players.

Is there maybe some way to shift 1e characters to be 2000+number and allow 2e to occupy the single and double digits?

Perhaps something as simple as flipping the order?

So, 16221-1 is Arasmes, my PF1 cleric
1-16221 is JoeBob, my PF2 druid (or bard, but the odds are good it will be one or the other :-))

I suspect the S/W won't allow it, unfortunately :-(
Paizo Employee 4/5 Organized Play Lead Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:
Jason Avery wrote:

NOICE!!!!!

I would like to request that when you do get to the factions aspects; can we PLEASE get a baseline, zero cost faction membership that allows you to gain (whatever it will be now called) as a member of that faction? I love the fact that you can gain reputation in SF in other factions, but I'm not liking the having to spend to join a faction to gain fame; especially when the Paizo site forces you to pick a faction for a character when you upload it.

If we could fix that for Starfinder as well that would be awesome. :)

Your first Faction Champion boon in Starfinder is always free. It's the ones you take later that cost something! That could be clarified better in the SFS Guide, though.

Does that address your concern, Jason?

Silver Crusade 1/5 Contributor

I'll have to look over this stuff when I'm not running on 31 hours without sleep. I have a lot of thoughts about this stuff, but I'd rather think them through and express them coherently. ^_^
1/5
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Also, congratulations to Mr. Sayre!

I look forward to seeing what exciting new ideas you bring to Organized Play. ^_^
Second Seekers (Roheas) 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ***** Regional Venture-Coordinator, Appalachia
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Also regarding Playtest OP characters, is there really going to be no mechanism for converting playtest to the appropriate final product class? I take it that's what the -1500 numbering is all about but it surprised me to hear that.
Scarab Sages 3/5 5/55/55/5 ***** Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Bellevue

While I understand the desire for higher level scenarios, please be watchful of reducing the number of lower level scenarios too far. Newer players and those of us with lots of lower level characters would like to participate in the season 10 transition scenarios as well.
Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
Paul Jackson wrote:

So, 16221-1 is Arasmes, my PF1 cleric

1-16221 is JoeBob, my PF2 druid (or bard, but the odds are good it will be one or the other :-))

Low digit numbers belong to Paizo staff. For example, Jason Bulmahn is PFS #4.

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/5 **
Michael Eshleman wrote:
Paul Jackson wrote:

So, 16221-1 is Arasmes, my PF1 cleric

1-16221 is JoeBob, my PF2 druid (or bard, but the odds are good it will be one or the other :-))
Low digit numbers belong to Paizo staff. For example, Jason Bulmahn is PFS #4.

You're right. Well, darn :-(

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***
Phillip Pierce-Savoie wrote:
Will Playtest characters be ported into the new edition, will we get a boon for participating in the play test, or is there a mysterious third option?
Douglas Edwards wrote:
Also regarding Playtest OP characters, is there really going to be no mechanism for converting playtest to the appropriate final product class? I take it that's what the -1500 numbering is all about but it surprised me to hear that.
John Compton wrote:
That does raise the question of how we're tracking playtest credit, doesn't it? Does that credit translate into second edition Chronicle sheets? Not quite, but potentially. That's something for a later blog.
Dark Archive

Teir 12-15!!! I can’t wait! I can finally think about getting my Sorceror to 15th lvl!!
Dataphiles 3/5
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations Michael!

I'm also very excited about the high level play coming in Season 10.

Thanks to the OP team for handling the transition process for the new campaign so well, and including the community in the discussion. A lot of my concerns about the new campaign and the transition to it are subsiding. Unfortunately my concerns about the new system itself are still quite strong. I'm still very excited/nervous about the playtest,and look forward to actually trying it out for myself.
Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Netherlands

I cant imagine that its been easy dealing with this. Thank you for the update John.
4/5
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Honestly rather glad to not be converting over my characters from 1st to 2nd edition. Looking forwards to a fresh start in a fresh campaign actually. I just really hope that the first edition of the Bestiary starts to open up some of the more popular races, or I suppose ancestries now. I know people have mentioned Tengu, but it would be nice to see a more balanced Aasimar and Tiefling allowed back into society.
Grand Lodge 2/5

Am I understanding correctly that come August there will be both season 10 PF1 scenarios and also PF2 playtest scenarios? Or are the -150X characters for use with the Doomsday Dawn document? Or TBD?
Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
2 people marked this as a favorite.

While I'm very glad there will be more 7-11's, I don't really want to see more 12-15's. I'll play them (got plenty of characters for that) but my main goal is to get my current characters to the nominal retirement, not drag already retired characters out for a moment in the sun. Also, my favorite levels to play are 6-9, so eh.
Grand Lodge 4/5
3 people marked this as a favorite.

I personally love every bit of 10+ play I manage to get, so I say bring them on!
Scarab Sages 5/5
Bristor Gwin wrote:
Am I understanding correctly that come August there will be both season 10 PF1 scenarios and also PF2 playtest scenarios? Or are the -150X characters for use with the Doomsday Dawn document? Or TBD?

No. There will not be any PFS2 scenarios (playtest or otherwise) until August 2019. It does sound like though, you can make PFS characters for the playtest adventure (and potentially any other playtest adventures that get written.)

The Exchange 4/5
Bob Jonquet wrote:
Phillip Pierce-Savoie wrote:
Will Playtest characters be ported into the new edition, will we get a boon for participating in the play test, or is there a mysterious third option?
Douglas Edwards wrote:
Also regarding Playtest OP characters, is there really going to be no mechanism for converting playtest to the appropriate final product class? I take it that's what the -1500 numbering is all about but it surprised me to hear that.
John Compton wrote:
That does raise the question of how we're tracking playtest credit, doesn't it? Does that credit translate into second edition Chronicle sheets? Not quite, but potentially. That's something for a later blog

But I bought To.b of Iron Medusa for that. Just can't get you all together any more.

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria

I am happy with literally every bit of this blog ^^ usually I like finding something tiny to complain about (German) but in this case, I am just looking forward to what is coming up^^
3/5
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Any chance of a bit more information about sanctioning other content (such as the last few APs) for 1E? - even just a confirmation that it is or isn't a goal might help manage expectations.
Scarab Sages Organized Play Developer
7 people marked this as a favorite.
TimD wrote:
Any chance of a bit more information about sanctioning other content (such as the last few APs) for 1E? - even just a confirmation that it is or isn't a goal might help manage expectations.

Without going off the rails while I'm sitting here unsupervised, I will say that one of the things I'm working on right this minute is tackling sanctioning on one of the recent APs, so... That is work that is continuing to happen.

The Exchange 3/5 5/5
Michael Sayre wrote:
TimD wrote:
Any chance of a bit more information about sanctioning other content (such as the last few APs) for 1E? - even just a confirmation that it is or isn't a goal might help manage expectations.
Without going off the rails while I'm sitting here unsupervised, I will say that one of the things I'm working on right this minute is tackling sanctioning on one of the recent APs, so... That is work that is continuing to happen.

Strange Aeons???? (Pretty Please, lol.)

Dark Archive 4/5 5/55/5 *
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber

Thanks Bob! I totally missed that line...
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Wow Michael. Congratulations are definitely in order. It's been a long road from 3PP to this!
Scarab Sages Organized Play Developer
1 person marked this as a favorite.
OCEANSHIELDWOLPF 2.0 wrote:
Wow Michael. Congratulations are definitely in order. It's been a long road from 3PP to this!

Thank you! It's definitely been a journey!

Liberty's Edge

Okay, I'm upset now. PFS is one of my few opportunities to play Pathfinder, and now it's getting replaced with a system I could care less about. Give me the rules I love, give me the game I signed up for, not something I have to start from scratch with. I already was dreading the release of 2e, now I'm beginning to loathe it.
Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***
1 person marked this as a favorite.

That's fine Ultimagus, you don't have to play 2E. Just continue to play PFS1. PFS1 using PF1E rules will continue to be a viable, playable campaign with in the neighborhood of 300 sanctioned adventures, including roughly 3 dozen more new releases coming out between now and Gen Con 2019.
3/5
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Tallow wrote:
Bristor Gwin wrote:
Am I understanding correctly that come August there will be both season 10 PF1 scenarios and also PF2 playtest scenarios? Or are the -150X characters for use with the Doomsday Dawn document? Or TBD?
No. There will not be any PFS2 scenarios (playtest or otherwise) until August 2019. It does sound like though, you can make PFS characters for the playtest adventure (and potentially any other playtest adventures that get written.)

That is not what the original FAQ says:

Quote:
And the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program will release quests and scenarios for use with the Playtest Rulebook—see the Pathfinder Society Organized Play FAQ for details.
Grand Lodge 2/5

Thanks, glass. I thought I saw something about that somewhere, but keeping track of the info among this site, reddit, glasscannon, know direction, etc. has my head spinning!
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Michael Sayre....my Battle Lord Michael Sayre?
Congratulations man!!
~g
Scarab Sages Organized Play Developer
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Amora Game wrote:

Michael Sayre....my Battle Lord Michael Sayre?

Congratulations man!!
~g

That's the one! Thanks for publishing what is still one of my favorite classes (and I'm 99% sure the first one I wrote that made it to print) and being part of the road that took me here!

Dark Archive

For a simple idea - instead of stars, what about using something like planets for Starfinder Society GMing, and Crescent Moons, or something similar, for PSII GMing?
Sovereign Court 4/5 * Organized Play Manager
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Tallow wrote:
Bristor Gwin wrote:
Am I understanding correctly that come August there will be both season 10 PF1 scenarios and also PF2 playtest scenarios? Or are the -150X characters for use with the Doomsday Dawn document? Or TBD?
No. There will not be any PFS2 scenarios (playtest or otherwise) until August 2019. It does sound like though, you can make PFS characters for the playtest adventure (and potentially any other playtest adventures that get written.)

Tallow is incorrect.

There are three Pathfinder Society Playtest adventures debuting at Gen Con (though you may get a sneak peek at it during PaizoCon, Origins, and PaizoCon UK)and one more slated for September 2018. We will reveal more details about them in an upcoming blog!
Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

Neat!!

I am looking forward to these!
5/5
Douglas Edwards wrote:

Regarding character numbering, I have been finding that for SFS that this is really unintuitive for new players.

Is there maybe some way to shift 1e characters to be 2000+number and allow 2e to occupy the single and double digits?

I think it would be best to just give up on having unique character numbers across different games. Simply start over with -1. It's seems very straightforward for players to know that their Pathfinder 1E -3 is different than their 2E -3 since they are different campaigns.

Grand Lodge 4/5

But probably not how the database is setup.
5/5
Steven Schopmeyer wrote:
But probably not how the database is setup.

I'm a software developer. Changing the key on the table from character number to (campaign, character number) shouldn't be such a big deal to do something that makes the customer experience worse.

Grand Lodge 4/5

You have more faith in the Paizo site apparatus than I do. But they did just perform that overhaul, so who knows?
Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***
4 people marked this as a favorite.

Since PFS1 will continue to be a viable, reportable campaign when PFS2 launches, its not going to be effective to reset character numbers or try to switch the existing ones into an alternate code group to make space for the new group. It might be counter-intuitive to some, but many of the rules we have both in the game mechanics and the organize play guide are not necessarily based in logic. Its a simply matter of (1) people reading the OP Guide which is a requirement just as important as reading the Core Rulebook, and (2) VOs, organizers, and GMs being aware some people may make mistakes and it is our responsibility to notify and help them correct it just like any other issue. Using -1500 for the playtest and -2000 for PFS2 makes as much sense as anything, and IMO certainly more than expecting them to change the database position (and possibly the number scheme) of 200,000+ registered existing characters
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