Starfinder Data Jockey by Alexander Nanitchkov
Several years ago, as part of the program assessment made at the time of the Pathfinder (second edition) Playtest, the team embarked on a huge initiative spanning several years: digitization. This year, with Covid-19 pushing us into our homes and away from our traditional spaces, we are both pleased to have started the process and dismayed that our timelines aren’t aggressive enough. But we’ve gotten through Phase 1 and we thought it would be a good time to talk over some of the items we’ve completed, as well as what Phase 2 looks like.
We are also making a huge plea to our GMs to report games and asking players to encourage their GMs to do so as well. Reported games give us our program data - how many people participated, what types of games did they play (scenarios/quests/bounties/Adventure Paths), where do they play (conventions, home games, FLGS). All of this data is necessary to plan for the program. We can’t argue we need to make more scenarios, for example, without the data that X number of people play scenarios. We’ve incentived the reporting through AcP, but we need the community to help us help them!
So where are we at with each program and where are we going?
Pathfinder Society (first edition): Its foundations lay in paper Chronicles, reporting sheets, character sheets, and boons. The emphasis on physical documentation made sense, as smartphones weren’t commonplace and computers expensive (and often not-portable). But as technology progressed, we stayed with paper, as that was what had been done. Twelve years on, we aren’t looking to change how we process Pathfinder Society (first edition) data. There is no benefit in trying to upload thousands of chronicles and boons. But we don’t want to limit those players that want to use digital tools. So we will maintain the hybrid state of the campaign, where you can either use digital or paper options and paper records (or digitized versions) remain the standard.
Pathfinder Adventure Card Society: As with Pathfinder Society (first edition) we have years of paper records for PACS. While the game is continuing in digital spaces during Covid, it is meant to be played in a physical environment. At this point, we don’t think bringing the records online is a necessity. If players wish to scan their Chronicles and boons to have a digital version, they are welcome to do so, but the program will continue within the hybrid environment. We will publish a Guide 7.0 via pdf that is in line behind the Pathfinder Society guide and should be sorted out in early October. At this time, there are no major program changes, so the guide will be a compilation of blogs.
Starfinder Society: This program started under the Pathfinder Society (first edition) format but is now existing alongside Pathfinder Society (second edition) and we want to shift them to be inline under organized play processes. This adjustment will happen by the launch of Year 4 and will do so in several chunks. We just issued Guide version 3.0 as a pdf, but Guide 4.0 is intended to be digital. We are phasing out boons and boon-slotting will end as of Year 4. Chronicle boons are moving online, as are Game Rewards, which take the place of Faction boons or other benefits that unlock once criteria are achieved. We will also be building an Achievement Points - SFS category that functions like the PFS version but draws on points earned for playing or GMing Starfinder games. We are not getting rid of Chronicles, but we will open up other methods of digital tracking. As we now have the bandwidth to correct reporting errors, including fixing factions, restoring deleted characters, adding missing AcP and refunding erroneous boons, we are confident we can keep our digital records clean.
Pathfinder Society (second edition): We’ve already implemented many of the items that Starfinder Society will embrace this year. Now that we have, we can remove some of the paper tracking that exists. The guide is online and had a facelift. Playing and GMing earns AcP-PFS and rewards for purchase appear on the Boons tab of your My Organized Play account. Chronicle Rewards are in and will go live next week. We’re converting the Faction Boons part of the guide to Game Rewards, which will be operational sometime in October. When it is ready to go live, we will let everyone know via blog and also how to convert boons purchased by Fame. We’ve simplified the Chronicle and the new version will appear in October scenarios. We plan to go back and put the simplified version into Year 2 by the end of 2020 as well as update all Year 1, though that is a larger project that will take longer due to resource need. The guide changes include language on how to track character progress. Chronicles will be one way, but a player may choose to track items via spreadsheet or other tool and keep that as their proof of play alongside their character sheet, making Chronicle sheets backups and relevant only to correct errors in the database. We’ve removed personally identifying information from the Chronicles as well (no more player name or GM signature) to help with player security and to make online completion easier.
So what is Phase 2?
- Finishing streamlining Pathfinder Society (second edition) to make it easier to join and less cumbersome to track.
- Bringing Starfinder Society in line with Pathfinder Society (second edition)
- Overhauling reporting instructions/processes on paizo.com
- Encouraging use of community developed tools for tracking and character management
- Providing Organized Play Foundation volunteers with the tools/information they need to rebuild their site and generate community best practices documents.
What does this mean for the Pathfinder Society (second edition) Guide?
It will be available next Wednesday, September 23rd, after we wrap PAX Online/TPKon. This puts the release in the middle of the week instead of on top of major conventions. The guide underwent a major structural facelift in preparation for Year 2. While moving things around, we cut out duplicate text, revised the organization to make it read smoother, moved reference points/examples/longer descriptions to appendices, reformatted references to reflect publishing styles, and hyperlinked all of it. Once we know we don’t need to make further substantial changes, we will also manually compile a set of PDFs to go with it. While we will be able to update the digital guide, due to the amount of work involved, the PDF will not be updated throughout the year.
In addition, we are migrating the Guide from static pages to a Wiki-format to make finding items even easier. If everything goes well, we hope to have this ready for version 3.0 next GenCon. After a small period of testing and configuration, we should then be able to turn on the automated print to PDF feature, allowing the PDF of the Guide to be updated every time there is a significant change.
What are the major program changes appearing in the Pathfinder Society (second edition) Guide v2.0?
- Tiers/subtiers are now levels/level ranges
- Faction reputation system like in the Gamemastery Guide
- Removal of boon slotting from the beginning of play. Some boons (advanced, minion, promotional) have limits.
- How to use AcP to purchase Boons.
- Pathfinder training is now simplified and has a chart for benefits.
- Call out to slow track milestone leveling with less zeroes that does not reset.
- Removal of Fame.
- Characters gain Reputation with an individual faction and Total Reputation over all factions.
- GMs have a Challenge Point reference section
- Treasure Bundle Table
- Expanded Downtime instructions and tables for easy reference
Fame is going away. As a GM, should I give out Fame on Pathfinder Society (second edition) Chronicles?
Short answer: No, GMs should not be adding Fame to any Chronicles earned.
Longer answer:
From Year 2 launch forward, Pathfinder Society adventure (or sanctioned adventure) do not award Fame. With AcP as a purchasing currency, we don’t believe the added complexity of tracking Fame necessary. We are working on how to convert already purchased Fame items into the digital environment as well as making sure we have AcP or Faction benefits that cover items that used to be available to purchase with Fame, such as Restorations or Infamy removal. We will have more information on how to convert Fame in an October blog.
Wow, that was quite a bit of information. As always, we are working towards delivering a quality organized play program and value input from our community. We do ask for any feedback to be constructive and that it be posted in forums or emailed so that we can see and respond
Until next week, when we preview our September Society scenarios (say that five times fast)
- Explore, Report, Cooperate!Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play ManagerAlex Speidel
Organized Play Associate
Organized Play Initiative: Digitization
Thursday, September 17, 2020
