I'm currently on a road trip through Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, getting a bit of personal time before delving back into convention season. John Compton and Jason Bulmahn just returned from GameStorm in Portland and from brief conversations the convention seemed to go well (maybe we can get a few more details in a future blog!). When I get back on Monday, I've got a few more weeks in the office packed with blog writing, con planning, meetings, finalizing details Pathfinder Society for Second Edition, and working on items for the current programs, before I head out to KoboldCon in Colorado Springs.
Regarding current programs, we need your help! As we approach the launch of Starfinder Society Year 2, we are calling all Starfinders who've championed the Second Seeker faction and purchased the Rising Star boon to send in your character information. For those with the boon in their sights, the deadline for submissions is May 1 at midnight Pacific time. Any items received after the deadline will be retained for future use. Players should email their character information to us at organizedplay@paizo.com. We reply to all submissions, so if you've sent it in and not heard back, please resend.
Campaign Coins
We distributed no campaign coins in March due to our lessened travel schedule. Huge thank yous to all that sent in recommendations over the past month. We would love to have more suggestions for deserving members of our community. 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 deserve recognition for their service. This message should be a synopsis of what the volunteer does that benefits your community, and does not need to be overly detailed or involved. 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
We are now into the second quarter of 2019 and convention season started in earnest. Our GMs this month took advantage of all the opportunities to run games and earned 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!
Chris Murphy
Bill Swathwood
Novas & Glyphs
After soliciting opinions from a variety of sources and then lots of brainstorming and discussion, we formulated a plan for Novas which also will apply to Pathfinder Society Glyphs later this year.
Requirements will remain similar to the existing Pathfinder Society Stars. A GM will need to run 150 games, of which ten must be special events, and the total must include 50 unique scenarios. Venture-Captain recommendation and processing are where the change comes in. After listening to quite a bit of feedback about what being a 5-star GM means, we've decided to add a qualitative element to the requirements. Our tech department is assisting us in making the process automated, so GMs qualifying for their 5th star won't have to wait for the monthly processing.
To add the qualitative element, we increased the number of adjudicated games 1 to 3. To help schedule the additional games, GMs can request Venture-Captain observation any time after their 100th game. Observations may be held in person, via web games, on VTTs, via PbP, or any other medium that is currently being used by the community. Venture-Captains will evaluate GMs on 5-6 criteria based on a published rubric. There will not be numerical scoring, but a system of does not meet/meets/exceeds expectations. GMs will need to accumulate a better than average score on each evaluation, which means they can have all meets and 1 exceeds expectations and qualify. They could also have a does not meet, 2-3 meets, and 2 exceeds expectations and qualify. A GM cannot complete more than three evaluations in a weekend. Any GM that fails to meet the criteria may wait three months and try again.
At this point, we have a rubric that we are soliciting feedback on and working on the last bits of tech. I hope to have the final bits hammered out in the next few weeks, so we can publish the rubric and get our 4-novas GMs started on their path.
Upcoming Conventions
Want to attend a convention in the next few months? Check out the list below! The list includes all the event support requests received to date. If you see one missing, ping the organizer and have them submit their event or have them email me at organizedplay@paizo.com to discuss. All of the conventions on the list maintain a web presence, be it website, social media page, or Warhorn listing. If you are interested in attending in either capacity, check out their website or contact the local Venture-Officer for more information!
Convention Name Location Start Date BeholderCon 2019 Boise, ID 4/5/2019 Gryphcon 2019 Guelph, Ontario, Canada 4/5/2019 LexiCon 2019 Lexington, KY 4/5/2019 Ravencon 2019 Williamsburg, VA 4/5/2019 Bookwyrm 2019 Fresno, CA 4/6/2019 MAG Con 2019 New Caney, TX 4/6/2019 CODCON 2019 Glen Ellyn, IL 4/12/2019 FG Con 14 (2019) Fantasy Grounds (VTT) 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 Conquest 2019 Melbourne Melbourne, Australia 4/19/2019 EyeCon 2019 Sydney, NSW, Australia 4/19/2019 MTAC 2019 Nashville, TN 4/19/2019 HMGS-South Recon 2019 Kissimmee, FL 4/25/2019 Cape Comic Con 2019 Cape Girardeau , MO 4/26/2019 CritterCon 2 (2019) Discord (Online) 4/26/2019 Gaming Hoopla '19 Mundelein, IL 4/26/2019 KoboldCon 2019 Colorado Springs, CO 4/26/2019 Kubla!Now!! LA Burbank, CA, USA 4/27/2019 NRVcon 2019 Blacksburg, VA 4/27/2019 PrezCon 2019 Auckland, New Zealand 4/27/2019 1D4 Con 2019 Shepherdstown, WV 5/3/2019 2019 D8 Summit Utica, IL 5/3/2019 ConTRAPtion 2019 Worthing, West Sussex, UK 5/3/2019 Comicpalooza 2019 Houston, TX 5/10/2019 QC Gamefest 2019 Davenport, IA 5/10/2019 BLFC 2019 Reno, NV 5/17/2019 FlamingCon 2019 West Palm Beach, FL 5/18/2019 MomoCon 2019 Atlanta, GA 5/23/2019 Gamex 2019 Los Angeles, CA 5/24/2019 KublaCon 2019 Burlingame, CA 5/24/2019 Seekerpalooza 3 (2019) Montreat, NC 5/24/2019 Nexus Game Fair 2019 Brookfield, WI 5/29/2019 ConCarolinas 2019 Charlotte, NC 5/31/2019 Prairie Con XL (2019) Brandon, Manitoba, Canada 6/14/2019 Summerfest 2019 Richland, WA 7/25/2019 Summerlodge 2019 Taastrup, Denmark 8/9/2019 Con Voyage 2019 Sydney NSW (at sea on the Carnival Spirit) 8/23/2019 SkålCon 2019 Roseville, MN 9/20/2019 Saluki Con 2019 Carbondale, IL 9/28/2019
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 see us at a convention near you. I've been asked several times what it takes for a staffer to attend. At a minimum, the event should supply room(s) and badges, and the more costs covered, the easier it is to put on our schedule. Note: staff cannot attend conventions the last weekend in May or the weekend of Gen Con. We've moved our budgeting process up a bit, so 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 June 1, as we must submit the convention plan by July.
Convention Location Start Date Paizo Staffers Scheduled to Attend KoboldCon Colorado Springs, CO 4/26/2019 Stephen Radney-McFarland, Tonya Woldridge PaizoCon SeaTac, WA 5/23/2019 All UK Games Expo Birmingham, United Kingdom 5/31/2019 Jeff Alvarez, Jason Bulmahn, Cosmo, Amanda Hamon, Robert G. McCreary, Erik Mona, Tonya Woldridge Origins Columbus, OH 6/12/2019 John Compton, Thurston Hillman, Tonya Woldridge Gen Con Indianapolis, IN 8/1/2019 Most FanExpo Toronto, Canada 8/22/2019 Tonya Woldridge DragonCon Atlanta, GA 8/30/2019 John Compton Delta H Con Houston, TX 9/20/2019 Mark Seifter, Linda Zayas-Palmer NukeCon Omaha, NE 10/4/2019 TBD PaizoCon Asia-Pacific Adelaide, SA, Australia 10/17/2019 Tonya Woldridge GameHole Con Madison, WI 10/31/2019 Tonya Woldridge PAX Unplugged Philadelphia, PA TBD Jeff Alvarez, Jason Bulmahn, Cosmo, Amanda Hamon, Erik Mona, Tonya Woldridge
*Staffers scheduled to attend may change without notice.
Join us next week for a sneak peek into Starfinder Society Year 2, and until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!
Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager