We’re taking a pause in our usual organized play program updates this week and shifting gears slightly. Building the program is important and provides lots of games, but that is only half of the equation of organized play.

The other half is the community that uses the games and the volunteer leaders who support their communities. For that, Paizo’s teamed up with the Organized Play Foundation (OPF), a not-for-profit entity focused on community building. Paizo has a license agreement with OPF so that the community volunteers gain access to Org Play program materials while donating their time to help their local groups.

Community Volunteers

The community volunteers fall into two main categories. The first, known as venture-officers (VO), focus their energies on public game events in a geographical location - whether that be a store, community center, town, state, country, or region. There are four levels of venture-officers, based on the size community they organize. Venture-officers gain access to Paizo published materials based on their rank. They do sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), as oftentimes VOs know program plans before public release. For more information about being a venture officer, including how to apply, visit the Volunteer Coordinator Page. Questions regarding the volunteer program as a whole should be sent to volunteeragreements@organizedplayfoundation.org.

The second category of volunteers are the convention volunteers. These range from members of the convention organizing committee to GMs running games and HQ staff performing admin tasks. Paizo sponsors a number of conventions each year and contracts the OPF as the volunteer management organization. The 2021 sponsored shows aren’t 100% decided yet, so it’s not quite time for a full open call, though we expect openings on the PaizoCon (May), UKGE (June) and PAX Unplugged 2021 (Dec) organizing committees. More information on volunteering for events appears on the Volunteer Information section of the Organized Play Foundation website. The page information, including how to volunteer, will be updated once the 2021 shows are determined. Currently, the open conventions are PAX Online and the upcoming convention is PAX Unplugged.

Task Forces

For those who are already venture officers, or who may be joining the team, the community is spinning up a number of small-group initiatives collectively known as task forces. These teams will work to aid the OPF in managing various aspects of community integration and OPF operations.

A list of task forces clicking this link. To join a team, complete the registration form at the bottom.

There is no hard deadline for joining a team, as people rotate through the VO corps they will also rotate through the task forces, though anyone interested in helping launching a team should apply by September 15th, 2020.

Until later today, when we discuss Rarity and Access as used in the Pathfinder Society (second edition) program!

Explore, Report, Cooperate (and wash your hands!) -

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager