I spent much of February traveling to different conventions and leave again this weekend for a week of GAMA trade show fun! In my absence, organized play lead developer John Compton took to the Paizo twitch channel with Marketing Manager Dan Tharp for a discussion of upcoming bits and bobs about the Paizo organized play programs, with the predominate focus on the remaining storylines of Pathfinder Society Season Ten, the launch of Pathfinder Society Year One, Starfinder Society Season One, and the Adventure Card Guild. Without further ado, John's recap:
"I joined the Pathfinder Friday Twitch stream on March 1st to discuss a range of organized play topics. Here's a quick summary of some highlights from my notes. The surest way to catch everything, though, is to check out the video through that link—as well as upcoming streams on the channel, including Starfinder Wednesday, Pathfinder Friday, Pathfinder version 2 live-play preview Oblivion Oath, and Pungeon Crawl (a Starfinder live play GMed by Starfinder Society developer Thurston Hillman).
Adventure Card Guild
There's a new core set coming out in May, which streamlines the design of the original and adds updated rules and art. Customizing the core set campaign specific add-on decks. The organized play program is continuing through the Adventure Card Guild, with Linda Zayas-Palmer having taking the lead on Season 6 storyline (set to launch at Gen Con). Between PaizoCon and Gen Con, we're releasing a handful of scenarios to help show off this new set.
Starfinder Society
There's a lot of great stuff coming up for Starfinder Society. We didn't get into Season 2, but we did discuss some of the upcoming fun for the next several months, including ways in which several of the Scoured Stars adventures interconnect. That includes #1-34: Heart of the Foe and #1-39: The Herald's War, but especially the now announced Starfinder Society Special #2-00: Fate of the Scoured God (Tier 1-12) by Christopher Wasko.
Also, we noted that we're interested in seeing more of those Second Seekers capstone boon emails! Y'know…for reasons.
Pathfinder Society—Season 10
The focus for Pathfinder Society Season 10 discussions involved three main adventures: the two-part seeker arc and the multi-table interactive special. Collectively these are finales for the First Edition campaign.
Pathfinder Society Special #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire (Tier 5-16, by Brian Duckwitz) covered a few big topics:
- Reduced Lethality: Early in its planning, this special was going to be pretty dang lethal, with players bringing as many as five PCs each so that there would be replacements when a few of them perished in the pursuit of Grand Heroism (earning it the joking name "The Grinder"). Following a lot of concerned feedback, we revised the outline to be on the challenging side without being highly lethal, stopped using the "Grinder" term altogether, and are happy with how it's looking (still in the writing process). You'll have a choice toward the end to choose a much tougher challenge or continue at the current level of difficulty.
- Spare PCs: We've also refined the way in which additional PCs contribute to the adventure. Each player gets to bring one Reserve PC of the table's subtier or lower (so your reserve could be level 8 or lower for a Subtier 7-8 group). If your main PC needs to tag out between encounters, the Reserve PC can step in, but that's your only spare adventurer; I neglected to note in the stream that if someone doesn't have a second character to use as a Reserve, they can use an appropriate pregenerated character. You'll also be able to bring up to three Aid PCs of level 5+, who are there to perform background tasks that help the table—think of their impact being similar to previous specials' aid tokens, plus some other narrative impacts.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-22: Passing the Torch, Part 1: Who Wears the Mask (by Cole Kronewitter) and Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-23: Passing the Torch, Part 2: Who Speaks for the Ten (by John Compton) are the last two scenarios for the campaign, which we're publishing in June and July. After working out the details with Cole, we decided that it would be great for event higher-level PCs to have a last hurrah, and we're making these three-subtier scenarios at Tier 12-18 (Subtiers 12-13, 14-15, and 17-18). Expect to see some great Decemvirate themes, and if you enjoyed the Eyes of the Ten story, you'll no doubt enjoy Passing the Torch.
Pathfinder Society—Second Edition
We're finalizing more details every week, with our most recent work having been on factions. During the stream we discussed scenario tiers (expect tiers like those in Starfinder Society), Gen Con adventures, and quests. At Gen Con, expect to see the following:
- One 5th-level pregenerated character special, much in the spirit of Claim to Salvation
- Three Tier 1-4 scenarios, the first of which will be replayable
- One Tier 1-4 quest that serves as a great demo for Pathfinder Society play
On the quests front, we're also really excited to see these added to the monthly publication schedule. One of our big goals for the Second Edition campaign remains ensuring that stand-alone quests are not only published regularly, but also that they grant standard rewards like XP, gold, Fame, and the like. We're excited to be publishing two scenarios per month plus a quest per month, and we're very interested in hearing about these quests once they're out in the wild. In addition to their representing more playable content and greater versatility sitting down to play, these are also really nice in terms of testing out new authors and bringing more voices into adventure writing.
Anyway, I have no doubt I've missed something, so I again encourage you to listen to the stream and let us know if you'd like to see more organized play content on Paizo's Twitch stream."
Campaign Coins
We distributed no campaign coins in February, partly due to lack of recommendations. The organized play team cannot be everywhere, and we rely on recommendations from community members regarding who receives coins. Anyone can make a recommendation, not just the venture-officer or GM teams. Please take a moment and email me at organizedplay@paizo.com with their name, location, and the reasons you feel they should be recognized for their service. It doesn't need to be a long, involved email, just a synopsis of what the volunteer does to make your community go. If you are able, please include what events they may attend in 2019 so that we can either make awards in person (preferred) or make arrangements for remote presentation.
Stars
As we start 2019 convention season in earnest, please join me in three cheers for the GMs who utilized the winter months to qualify for their 5th star. To achieve this milestone, GMs run 150 games, of which at least 50 must be unique scenarios and 10 special scenarios, as well as run a game for a venture-captain. A conservative estimate of time needed to reach 5-stars is 650 hours! To the GMs listed below, thank you very much for the time and energy you spend running Pathfinder Society games! Huge congratulations on your achievement!
- Walter Wooten
- James Kight
- Guy Caley
Convention Listing
| Convention Name | Location | Start Date |
|---|---|---|
| Garycon XI (2019) | Lake Geneva, WI | 3/7/2019 |
| Coastcon 2019 | Biloxi, MS | 3/8/2019 |
| Outpost II (2019) | Online | 3/8/2019 |
| Airecon 2019 | Harrogate, England, UK | 3/9/2019 |
| USF Collegiate Gaming Convention 2019 | Tampa, FL | 3/9/2019 |
| Emerald City Comic Con 2019 | Seattle, WA | 3/14/2019 |
| BFG Con 2019 | Frederick MD | 3/15/2019 |
| RetroCon III (2019) | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | 3/15/2019 |
| ConClave 2019 | Southend-on-Sea, England, UK | 3/16/2019 |
| ECon 104 (2019) | Warren, MI | 3/16/2019 |
| MidsouthCon XXXVII | Memphis, TN, USA | 3/16/2019 |
| MidsouthCon XXXVII (2019) | Memphis, TN, USA | 3/16/2019 |
| Swampcon 2019 | Gainesville, FL | 3/16/2019 |
| ConQuest SAC 2019 | McClellan, CA | 3/22/2019 |
| CosCon XXXI (2019) | Butler, PA | 3/22/2019 |
| Genericon 2019 | Troy, NY | 3/22/2019 |
| Microcon 2019 | Turku, Finland | 3/22/2019 |
| ShushCon 2019 | Pawleys Island, SC | 3/22/2019 |
| Who's Yer Con 19 (2019) | Indianapolis, IN | 3/22/2019 |
| Game On-Icon 2019 | Plymouth, NH | 3/23/2019 |
| GameStorm 21 (2019) | Portland, OR | 3/28/2019 |
| PAX East 2019 | Boston, MA | 3/28/2019 |
| Anime Detour '19 | Minneapolis, MN | 3/29/2019 |
| CogCon Spring Revel 2019 | Rolla, MO | 3/29/2019 |
| CoNfUSiOn 2019 - Winter | Gouda, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands | 3/29/2019 |
| Mallicon 2019 | Loveland, OH | 3/29/2019 |
| PFS MANCon 2019 | Manchester, England, UK | 3/29/2019 |
| Not-A-Con 2019 | Winder, GA | 3/30/2019 |
| BeholderCon 2019 | Boise, ID | 4/5/2019 |
| LexiCon 2019 | Lexington, KY | 4/5/2019 |
| CODCON 2019 | Glen Ellyn, IL | 4/12/2019 |
| JohnCon 2019 | Baltimore, MD | 4/12/2019 |
| Mepacon Spring 2019 | Scranton, PA | 4/12/2019 |
| Pathcon 5.5 (2019) | Salt Lake City, UT | 4/12/2019 |
| Pretzcon 2019 | Omaha, NE | 4/12/2019 |
| Save vs. Hunger 2019 | Maryville, TN | 4/12/2019 |
| GameCon XII (2019) | Colorado Springs, CO | 4/13/2019 |
| Tricon 4 - Reincarnated (2019) | Archdale, NC | 4/13/2019 |
| EyeCon 2019 | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 4/19/2019 |
| MTAC 2019 | Nashville, TN | 4/19/2019 |
| HMGS-South Recon 2019 | Kissimmee, FL | 4/25/2019 |
| Gaming Hoopla '19 | Mundelein, IL | 4/26/2019 |
| KoboldCon 2019 | Colorado Springs, CO | 4/26/2019 |
| QC Gamefest 2019 | Davenport, IA | 5/10/2019 |
| BLFC 2019 | Reno, NV | 5/17/2019 |
| Seekerpalooza 3 (2019) | Montreat, NC | 5/24/2019 |
| ConCarolinas 2019 | Charlotte, NC | 5/31/2019 |
| Prairie Con XL (2019) | Brandon, Manitoba, Canada | 6/14/2019 |
| Summerlodge 2019 | Taastrup, Denmark | 8/9/2019 |
| Con Voyage 2019 | Sydney NSW (at sea on the Carnival Spirit) | 8/23/2019 |
| NoBrandCon 2019 | Wisconsin Dells, WI | 3/29/2019 |
2019 Organized Play Staff Travel
Want to hang out with Paizo staff? Play in a game which they are GM? Check out the list below and come see us at a convention near you. I've been asked several times what it takes for a staffer to attend a convention. At a minimum, the convention should supply room(s) and badges. The more costs a convention can cover, the easier it is to get a convention on the schedule. Please note - staff do not attend conventions the last weekend in May or the weekend of Gen Con, due to already being slated to attend those shows. If you are an event organizer and want to invite us out at your event in 2020, drop an email to organizedplay@paizo.com before July, as we put our schedule together in August.
| Convention Name | Location | Start Date | OP Staff Attending* |
|---|---|---|---|
| GaryCon | Lake Geneva, WI | 3/7/2019 | Jason Bulmahn |
| Emerald City Comic Con | Seattle, WA | 3/14/2019 | Tonya |
| Who's Yer Con | Indianapolis, IN | 3/22/2019 | Linda |
| GameStorm | Portland, OR | 3/28/2019 | John Compton, Jason Bulmahn |
| KoboldCon | Colorado Springs, CO | 4/26/2019 | OP TBD, Stephen Radney-McFarland |
| PaizoCon | SeaTac, WA | 5/23/2019 | All |
| UK Games Expo | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 5/31/2019 | Tonya, Amanda, Cosmo, Erik, Jason B.,Jeff |
| Origins | Columbus, OH | 6/12/2019 | Tonya, John C., Thurston |
| American Libraries Conference | Washington, D.C. | 6/20/2019 | Tonya, Cosmo |
| GenCon | Indianapolis, IN | 8/1/2019 | Most |
| FanExpo | Toronto, Canada | 8/22/2019 | Tonya |
| DragonCon | Atlanta, GA | 8/30/2019 | John C. |
| Delta H Con | Houston, TX | 9/20/2019 | Linda Zayas-Palmer, Mark Seifter |
| NukeCon | Omaha, NE | 10/4/2019 | OP TBD |
| PaizoCon Asia-Pacific | Adelaide, SA, Australia | 10/17/2019 | Tonya |
| GameHole Con | Madison, WI | 10/31/2019 | Tonya, TBD |
| PAX Unplugged | Philadelphia, PA | TBD | Tonya, Amanda, Cosmo, Erik, Jason B.,Jeff |
*Staffers scheduled to attend may change without notice.
Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!
Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager