PaizoCon Online Will Be Scheduled For May 26-31

marv wrote:

Count me interested in GMing at least one session. Is this PFS play only? 2E only? I am relatively new to 2E and new to Roll20 and it has been a few years since I was a Venture Captain, so I’d need to get up speed on the new PFS expectations, but this could be fun. Should I purchase a 2E PFS scenario or will there be any free ones I can run?

Maybe I should have some fun and run my absolutely favorite PF 1E PFS scenario converted to PF2E, Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment. Obviously, not valid as PFS.

Guess I’m asking what is my flexibility as a GM for this CON? 5E?

I would hope they include some of the more popular PFS scenarios, we are still running PFS in my groups. I would think that most of the convention would be PFS2 and SFS.

The schedule posted so far on Warhorn includes 1E scenarios. Edit: Ah, missed the conversion comment. Sounds cool!

Concerning language, if I asked there, it was to be sure it was in the plans and if so that anyone reading the thread had a chance of knowing about that part too.

I’m a VO, so I know that in my region, Francia, many people are not proficient enough in English to play in that language. Our RVC put an online Warhorn for the entire region for this reason too I think.
I also want to point out that our games uses some language tag so that information is a bit more easy to find than just inside the text.

I think it would be best to move the conversation about accessibility to its own specific thread. Discussion about accessibility is a valid and important one, if there isn't an existing thread about this, I think this topic would be best served by having a thread dedicated to it specifically rather than continue trying to share the spotlight with this one. If one is started, it can be linked in this thread to point people to that direction.

In the meantime, please remember to be gracious with other community members.

Perhaps I was not direct enough in my initial comment: If you want to continue discussing online accessibility, take it to its own thread, either an ongoing thread if there is one, or starting a new thread. Please reflect on the topic at hand and what has already been posted, do some research if needed, and be compassionate and gracious in what you post.

We will definitely be running sessions of A Night at Bloodthorne Manor as demos meant for people new to PACG, virtual tabletop environments, or both. Most of our other scheduled games will have an expectation of some previous experience with PACG, at least.

As someone with quite a lot of experience running demos for people new to PACG, I have to say that I am not a fan of this idea.

The idea of a table of newcomers to PACG having to deal with the complexities of scenario 1A of Bloodthorne Manor fills me with trepidation. I'm reminded of the initial pre-release version of product name elided, which originally started off with a siege deck scenario. A PACG newbie whose first experience is getting a scourge on the first turn, and who may well have to spend the whole of the scenario under its effect, may well not stick around long enough to find out that most PACG low-level scenarios don't play at all like that!

In fact I'm not that big a fan of any scenario using the Curse cards as an introductory scenario - some of the nasty "when this is the hour" effects from the Harrow blessings can also deter new players.

I keep one of my travelling/convention PACG boxes built with just the Core set, in case I want to run an introductory table. In that case I'm probably going to run an early "Dragon's Demand" scenario (or, for people with PACG experience but new to the Core setting, I might choose "We Be Heroes!"). I also use that setup, plus a set of Adventurer's Packs, for PACG players wanting to see how the Adventurer's Packs might work for them.

With PaizoCon becoming an online and potentially international convention, I can see a lot of people curious about Pathfinder 2nd Edition signing-up to play.

Which makes me wonder how that will work in a Roll20 environment, where you can't just show-up with your character, and details have to be slowly entered into character sheets.

I don't see any Pathfinder Society modules in the Roll20 Marketplace.
Will GMs be expected to enter the entire module into Roll20 and similar VTT ahead of time and also include the pregens?
Will buying the Pathfinder ruleset on the VTT be required for GMs?

Will GMs get the modules farther ahead of the con so they can enter assets? (Or familiarize themselves with VTT if they haven't used those before.)

Are there going to be any staff run games like at a "standard" PaizoCon?

Random aside: my avoidance of thrown pencils comment got moderated away...

This falls under the category of dumb questions, probably. Is Tuesday the model for the rest of the days, in regards to games, or will other days--even Tuesday maybe?--have afternoon quest slots? Or maybe my eyes glazed over and they were there all along, but I promise I tried to look systematically.

We won’t know what events outside the OPF schedule will be available for a few days. Any GM who had submitted games to Paizo and was confirmed for PaizoCon live is being given the opportunity to run their games online. Once we have all those responses accumulated, they will be added to the schedule.

If you had submitted events for PaizoCon, you should have received an email already. If not, please reach out to Tonya/Alex using the paizocononline@paizo.com address. Those events are not under the purview of the OPF organizers though we will add them to the Warhorn schedule to facilitate player signups. This would include Paizo staffer events.

With PaizoCon becoming an online and potentially international convention, I can see a lot of people curious about Pathfinder 2nd Edition signing-up to play.

Which makes me wonder how that will work in a Roll20 environment, where you can't just show-up with your character, and details have to be slowly entered into character sheets.

I've been in PF1 games in the past before I was able to find a good FNLGS to play at with some good people on the Eastside of my area. At that time, not everyone bothered with the built in character sheet of the VTT. One may set up macros ahead of time for quick copy paste and just do their rolls via commands. Some VTTs have an import function if you've created your character elsewhere. When I do online, I don't expect people to fill in the character sheets.. They are there if they want to.. If I question their character, usually I recommend having it somewhere online or pdf you can do so.

I don't see any Pathfinder Society modules in the Roll20 Marketplace.
Will GMs be expected to enter the entire module into Roll20 and similar VTT ahead of time and also include the pregens?
Will buying the Pathfinder ruleset on the VTT be required for GMs?

Will GMs get the modules farther ahead of the con so they can enter assets? (Or familiarize themselves with VTT if they haven't used those before.)

Most VTTs, especially newer scenarios, you usually end up putting what you need. Some GMs will go all out, creating all the NPCs/Critters and putting them in the VTT. Other times, use numbered tokens and they keep the stats on a dry erase board and keep track that way. For Society play, I'll put in the maps, I have tokens of different colours and also numbered (for the colour blind). So, someone could tell me they are attacking Red or Creature 6. And, I use the dry erase for tracking HP of the mobs.

Eager to see how the rest of the schedule fills out. Hoping for a fair number of “late” (1800-2300 PST) games in the early days. I can see how getting the times to work out is going to be rough given the vast number of time zones.

Really excited to see some old favorite PFS1 scenarios. Hoping to see some SFS season 1 pop up as well so I can fill in my missed scenarios.

Just rambling right now, but I will definitely be around for some games.

With PaizoCon becoming an online and potentially international convention, I can see a lot of people curious about Pathfinder 2nd Edition signing-up to play.

Which makes me wonder how that will work in a Roll20 environment, where you can't just show-up with your character, and details have to be slowly entered into character sheets.

I don't see any Pathfinder Society modules in the Roll20 Marketplace.
Will GMs be expected to enter the entire module into Roll20 and similar VTT ahead of time and also include the pregens?
Will buying the Pathfinder ruleset on the VTT be required for GMs?

Will GMs get the modules farther ahead of the con so they can enter assets? (Or familiarize themselves with VTT if they haven't used those before.)

GMs will probably have Pre-Gens already made for new players. But yeah, if you want to bring an existing society player, get started now! I have imported a couple characters into Roll20, and even with importing from HeroLab, it takes quite a bit of configuring to get all the attacks and such working the way you want.

VTTs like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds are not a 'walk up and play' kind of deal. They have a pretty steep learning curve.

Also, there are no Society modules. There's OGL and Copyright issues with sharing them, so yes GMs have to make them from scratch, technically.

Just remember that online GMs are going to be just as prepared as your typical live game. So anything from fully vetted character sheets, detailed custom tokens, lots of visual aids, etc. to GMs who will barely have a speaker and microphone to facilitate communication. Some will let you just roll your own dice and tell them the result. Some will insist you use the roller in the VTT. Some will ask for your character sheer, either a digital copy sent to them or built using whatever version supported by the VTT. Some couldn’t care less if it’s written on toilet tissue.

We will encourage players to at least set up the appropriate VTT for the games they sign up for and try to be ready to start on time. Maybe even reach out to the GM and confirm what requirements they may have in order to comfortably run their event. It is important that everyone be flexible and cooperative. We are going to have a wide range of online experience from people who do this weekly to first timers. If everyone works together, it’ll be an amazing event.

Just as a reminder, the online region and currently many GMs worldwide are already offering online games using a lot number of VTTs, if you are interested in the convention, my suggestion would be to start diving into the issue now.

Google some VTT options, watch some youtube videos, maybe even take a look at the online region's discord, and try a beginner-friendly game or two.

It is hard to overstate how much you can learn from your fellow players and GMs, some tricks can really make playing online a much better experience for everyone involved.

Most importantly, if at all possible, deal with Discord and test it to make sure that you can hear others and they can hear you. Hunting audio gremlins can be extremely disheartening.

The slots for online conventions are intentionally a bit longer, to absorb a certain level of tech problems, and to give GMs the time to report the session, create chronicle sheets, and deliver them (and ideally have a break, take the occasional shower etc.).

As far as researching VTTs, I'd also recommend reading this fantastic write-up that compares the major VTTs and what they do and don't have. Either you're a GM still deciding, or you're a player and have a starting base of what to expect before looking at the website for the VTT itself.

Count me interested in GMing at least one session. Is this PFS play only? 2E only? I am relatively new to 2E and new to Roll20 and it has been a few years since I was a Venture Captain, so I’d need to get up speed on the new PFS expectations, but this could be fun. Should I purchase a 2E PFS scenario or will there be any free ones I can run?

Maybe I should have some fun and run my absolutely favorite PF 1E PFS scenario converted to PF2E, Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment. Obviously, not valid as PFS.

Guess I’m asking what is my flexibility as a GM for this CON? 5E?

See TwilightKnight's post for your converted scenario question.

They have started posting games on Warhorn and have PFS1e, PFS2e, and SFS represented. GM registration is open on Warhorn right now, but we will have to wait to signup to run for our desired games.

I believe they have said they will do scenario support for PaizoCon.

With PaizoCon becoming an online and potentially international convention, I can see a lot of people curious about Pathfinder 2nd Edition signing-up to play.

Which makes me wonder how that will work in a Roll20 environment, where you can't just show-up with your character, and details have to be slowly entered into character sheets.

I don't see any Pathfinder Society modules in the Roll20 Marketplace.
Will GMs be expected to enter the entire module into Roll20 and similar VTT ahead of time and also include the pregens?
Will buying the Pathfinder ruleset on the VTT be required for GMs?

Will GMs get the modules farther ahead of the con so they can enter assets? (Or familiarize themselves with VTT if they haven't used those before.)

1) Yes - a shame that PFS sacenarios are not in the marketplace. I offered it to roll20 to add them all (2e) but the reply was 'not currently interested'.

2) I have contacted them again about sharing for PaizoCon specifically. I have a complete collection of fully set up tables (maps and all monsters/NPCs sheets completely set up, PFS 2e 1-00-17 and all quests) - I'm waiting to hear back from them.

3) Setting up pregens does help. I got a set for the level 1 pregens from a fellow GM and set the level 3/5 up myself to share. You can't expect the average GM doing that as it takes a few hours and isn't worthwhile for a handful of tables.

4) The ruleset isn't needed on roll20. The only benefit of the ruleset right now is a) looking up a rule inside the game (a lot of players use Archives of Nethys) b) to drag and drop spells (a great time saver) and c) as GM to have the bestiary and drag and drop monsters

5) Bestiary and drag&drop monsters depends on scenario - some have mainly NPCs / novel ones, some have a lot of monsters from the bestiary and make setup a lot quicker if you have it on roll20

6) What truly helps is a plus account as it allows the players to import characters (in case they have free accounts).

7) yes - you ideally want some extra time. Familiarizing with VTT should be done well ahead. Start play a game, then try to GM one. I can help with a table for a first outing as GM. There is a very helpful group out there to help. But it is a learning curve and it took me a few weeks and quite a lot of hours online to become acquainted with most options. I still figure out hidden gems here and there.

Which makes me wonder how that will work in a Roll20 environment, where you can't just show-up with your character, and details have to be slowly entered into character sheets.

Playing on roll20 does not require you to use the character sheet. You can make every single skill check, saving throw or atttack roll with a macro that looks like this:

[[1d20]]

Thats it, that is pretty much all you need. You might also want one to roll damage and it might look like this.

[[1d8]] or [[1d10]] or whatever your damage die is.

Just add your modifier to whatever the roll is and tell the GM the result, the same as you would do at a face to face game.

Now obviously you can get a lot fancier, you can use the full character sheet, you can write complex macros that add in a range of modifiers or you can do full on herolab imports for 1E games but none of that is necessarily required and they shouldnt stop new people from turnning up and giving it a go.

Some GM's may want to audit your character sheet or chronicles but that is no different than in a face to face game and is, in my experience, very rare. (I am one of the few who often do ask for character sheets in advance, and occasionally an ITS). I recommend having a pdf character sheet handy to send your GM just in case. The Pathbuilder app for 2 poduces an editable pdf character sheet.

Count me interested in GMing at least one session. Is this PFS play only? 2E only? I am relatively new to 2E and new to Roll20 and it has been a few years since I was a Venture Captain, so I’d need to get up speed on the new PFS expectations, but this could be fun. Should I purchase a 2E PFS scenario or will there be any free ones I can run?

Maybe I should have some fun and run my absolutely favorite PF 1E PFS scenario converted to PF2E, Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment. Obviously, not valid as PFS.

Guess I’m asking what is my flexibility as a GM for this CON? 5E?

There will be PF 1st edition, 2nd edition, Starfinder, AND Pathfinder Adventure Card Game offerings during the event. As TwilightKnight mentioned above, the only non-PFS-legal scenarios that will be on the schedule are things that were already submitted by people who were planning to go to the physical PaizoCon (I'm one of those lucky few, and will be running some special PACG games reskinned with Starfinder, for example).

My hope is that this event goes SO SUPER well that Paizo decides they want to host an official online convention every year, and hopefully then we would be able to do more unofficial offerings, like converting older scenarios, etc. in the future. Let's all strive to make it so!!

Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if PaizoCon would become an online-only event. Better hygienic experience, no chance of somebody bringing an AR-15 to a game, fewer opportunities for people to punch me in the face...

Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if PaizoCon would become an online-only event. Better hygienic experience, no chance of somebody bringing an AR-15 to a game, fewer opportunities for people to punch me in the face...

I don't think I'd go that far... some of my best gaming experiences the past few years have been at PaizoCon, and it's because we get to have such fantastic interactions with Paizo employees. I wouldn't want to trade that away entirely... but I WOULD like to see a yearly online PaizoCon in addition to the in-person ones!

Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if PaizoCon would become an online-only event. Better hygienic experience, no chance of somebody bringing an AR-15 to a game, fewer opportunities for people to punch me in the face...

That got dark, but I hear what you are saying. Personally I go to PaizoCon for the banquet and announcements. I do some pick up games and ACG while there but I don't really do pathfinder society so a pure online event isn't something I would prefer.

Although, if this gets off the ground and is successful I don't see why they couldn't try to organize more than one online event like this a year :D

Also, stop trying to get your party killed. That will also reduce the likelyhood of getting punched in the face lol

I don't know... I've found something as simple as "No, you can't go back 2 rounds ago and use that move action you forgot to use" can generate a rather animated response.

This event will have the Paizocon branding, and we likely will have a couple more games run by staff, as well as some panels, but the online region already does a fair number of pretty great conventions.

If this event motivates more people to give online play a try, that will be good for everyone, but I suspect that the vast majority of tables will be pretty much identical to the tables we usually run (though the whole online convention feeling is certainly a thing).

Some of the awesome experiences you can have a convention usually involve talking to new people, after a game session, that kind of stuff can be pretty hard to replicate online unless you have some very specific channels set up ^^

Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if PaizoCon would become an online-only event. Better hygienic experience, no chance of somebody bringing an AR-15 to a game, fewer opportunities for people to punch me in the face...

I have to be honest if I saw that I likely would just exit the convention and never come back, but I am perfectly aware that we do have very European sensibilities as far as that is concerned ^^

I am wondering about the time slots. Is there any chance for a wider range of time slots? Right now on Warhorn there is a bunch of games posted for 3pm to 8pm Eastern Time, I believe noon-5pm PST. Using these times, it makes it very difficult to play games during the week, or for 4 of the 6 days, if one works. Assuming there is a late session, this would go from 9pm-2am (6-11 PDT), really late.

I know that it is impossible to satisfy everyone, but since this is online, perhaps running two separate sets of time slots (games starting every 3 hours) might be a wise choice so that almost anyone in any time zone would be able to participate in at least 1-2 game a day.

I am wondering about the time slots. Is there any chance for a wider range of time slots? Right now on Warhorn there is a bunch of games posted for 3pm to 8pm Eastern Time, I believe noon-5pm PST. Using these times, it makes it very difficult to play games during the week, or for 4 of the 6 days, if one works. Assuming there is a late session, this would go from 9pm-2am (6-11 PDT), really late.

I know that it is impossible to satisfy everyone, but since this is online, perhaps running two separate sets of time slots (games starting every 3 hours) might be a wise choice so that almost anyone in any time zone would be able to participate in at least 1-2 game a day.

Parallel time slots can be very tricky, at least with warhorn, since nothing is stopping players for unintentionally signing up for two overlapping time slots (which can be a huge headache for the organizer).

It can work, but also has a couple of downsides. You spread your GMs and players over another set of tables and between slots, players either have to wait a couple of hours or will not be able to combine tables in different time slots.

Also worth noting, what might be a good time slot for players in one region, might be totally impossible for players in other regions, so you really can't make everyone happy.

These are relatively longtime slots and many GMs will not use all of it, it might be an option to look for shorter scenarios and hope that your table experiences no technical difficulties?

I know that this is likely not what you wanted to hear, I just wanted to explain how it can be pretty tricky for organizers. Not impossible but potentially causing more work for the convention staff.

Yes, the currently visible schedule, if a map of future days, limits when/what I can GM.

Yes, the currently visible schedule, if a map of future days, limits when/what I can GM.

Same. As of now, I won't be able to run any games during the week, but if there were some set to 3 - 8 PDT, I would.

The schedule is planned to have slots starting at midnight/6am/noon/6pm Paizo time (Pacific) each day, starting with the Tuesday noon slot and ending with the Sunday 6am slot. Warhorn does not yet reflect this but it will once we finish entering all the events.

The schedule is planned to have slots starting at midnight/6am/noon/6pm Paizo time (Pacific) each day, starting with the Tuesday noon slot and ending with the Sunday 6am slot. Warhorn does not yet reflect this but it will once we finish entering all the events.

I am glad that you specified that timezone. I am thinking of GMing some 6am games, which will be a much more reasonable 8am my time.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if PaizoCon would become an online-only event. Better hygienic experience, no chance of somebody bringing an AR-15 to a game, fewer opportunities for people to punch me in the face...

For me, part of the joy of PaizoCon in person is meeting people face-to-face that I only know from online! This includes Paizo Staff, players and GMs from the PBP region, and forum personalities. I love having lunches with people, or sitting down in a hallway chatting with other folks waiting for the PaizoCon banquet to start.

But my biggest question of all is... WILL THERE BE PAIZOCON BLOGGERY?

Hmm

Warhorn does have a setting so you can view the schedule in your own time zone. I recommend this if you are struggling with remembering to apply the conversion. Also, notice that any announcements we make will be from the perspective of Pacific time (pst).

Warhorn does have a setting so you can view the schedule in your own time zone. I recommend this if you are struggling with remembering to apply the conversion. Also, notice that any announcements we make will be from the perspective of Pacific time (pst).

Would it be possible to add a custom scenario to each full slot describing it as Slot 1, 2, 3 etc. ?

Local time zones do help a lot, but for example, if as a European want to promote a game that needs players, or just want to talk about a specific slot, it easier to be able to call it "slot 7" rather than either stating it from my point of view or calculating the US time (which might also not be the time for the person reading it.

That way you could announce "In slot 8 we are offering X,Y and Z" and everyone can quickly see what you are talking about. It worked very well at previous online conventions.

Gorbacz wrote:

Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if PaizoCon would become an online-only event. Better hygienic experience, no chance of somebody bringing an AR-15 to a game, fewer opportunities for people to punch me in the face...

For me, part of the joy of PaizoCon in person is meeting people face-to-face that I only know from online! This includes Paizo Staff, players and GMs from the PBP region, and forum personalities. I love having lunches with people, or sitting down in a hallway chatting with other folks waiting for the PaizoCon banquet to start.

But my biggest question of all is... WILL THERE BE PAIZOCON BLOGGERY?

Hmm

If you ask nicely maybe we get channels with video chat enables were people can sit down with random strangers, while they watch each other eating dinner ^^

Or not so random. I've been wanting to have a meal with you for ages. We could do breakfast / lunch together!

Hmm

Warhorn does have a setting so you can view the schedule in your own time zone. I recommend this if you are struggling with remembering to apply the conversion. Also, notice that any announcements we make will be from the perspective of Pacific time (pst).

Just to help avoid any accidental confusion out there, it's actually PDT.

(Although since it's pst nowhere at the moment it's an unlikely confusion but I'm sure somebody somewhere might end up an hour off)

-7h from GMT/UTC

You say Daylight, I say Standard. Its all the same :-P

Guess I need to switch to UTC and let y'all figure it out :-D

Anyone remember back when Warhorn implemented time zones and then put everyone in the Pacific time zone? I remember it causing a good amount of confusion over here on the East Coast for a week or two...

In a addition to a full schedule of card games, we are offering the ACS Open Tournament. In order to facilitate it, we will need GMs to help us oversee the event. You need to be knowledgeable about the rules of the game system as well as familiar with the Tabletop Simulator used to display the game online. If this is something you are available for and interested in, please send an email to the paizoconleads@gmail.com address.

The schedule is planned to have slots starting at midnight/6am/noon/6pm Paizo time (Pacific) each day, starting with the Tuesday noon slot and ending with the Sunday 6am slot. Warhorn does not yet reflect this but it will once we finish entering all the events.

6AM as the only start time on Sunday is really rough on West Coast folks. I know I would love to play and/or GM that day, but I'm not sure I can do so that early. Any chance we could either push that last slot back a couple hours (since it doesn't need to be done in time for a noon game) or add a later-starting slot for us West Coasters? It sucks only being able to participate on one of the weekend days... :(

The 6am slot is the last slot because Paizo is going to broadcast the closing ceremony around 11am-noon’ish, so we want to be done at that time. If they are willing to push the closing ceremony back to around 5pm, we can add a slot at noon. We’ll also have the two-hour slot from 9-11am that will include ACS and Quests

Got it, and I understand there's no perfect time for everyone. It just seems rough to make one of the two weekend days nearly unplayable for people on Paizo time. Even pushing the slot to 8a-2p or 9a-3p and doing the closing then would make it more open to folks on this coast.

How do you get an organized play number? As when you click the link, it takes you back to the front page.

How do you get an organized play number? As when you click the link, it takes you back to the front page.

Forgive me if this doesn't work (it's hard to test once you've actually done it and it's changed in the 12 years since I did it), but you should be able to go to HERE and look for a link to "Register". You've already got a Paizo.com account, so should be simple.

Also you should be able to get to it from the "Organized Play" section of "My Account".

Also^2: It wouldn't be a PaizoCon without brains...

Parallel time slots can be very tricky, at least with warhorn, since nothing is stopping players for unintentionally signing up for two overlapping time slots (which can be a huge headache for the organizer).

I think Warhorn fixed this in the last year or so and now properly locks out overlapping time slots, need to check to be sure though.