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March 2021 Organized Play Update

Thursday, March 04, 2021

OPM Musings

I really believe we are caught in a time loop. I am absolutely certain I wrote my February musings last week. The past month’s flurry of activity involved much planning - we are just a week away from revealing information regarding Starfinder Society Year 4, and we’ve mapped a solid plan for Pathfinder Society Year 3. PaizoCon planning is moving forward, which means convention season is well under way, and we’ve got a few upcoming announcements on that front. In addition, we’re talking to our pals at Know Direction about appearing on their show. Plus a few more still undisclosed projects that we hope to share shortly!

Be sure to keep your eyes on the blogs as March will bring many announcements and I don’t want any of our community members to miss the great information we have to share.

PaizoCon Volunteers

The first day of GM signups saw over 90% of our offered games filled. Plan is to add more games on the Warhorn, then do round 2 of signups. We will continue until we run out of GMs. Last year, we ran over 800 games. Let’s see if we can top that this year! Anyone who wants to join the GM or HQ teams should visit the Organized Play Foundation’s website for volunteer benefit information and to access the registration form. From there, the organizing committee reviews the form information and sends an email acceptance outlining the next steps. If you want to participate in wave two of registrations, be sure to complete the form by noon Friday, March 5th. There is no last day to volunteer, but spaces are filled on a first registered basis and GMs get access to player registration 24 hours early (March 31) alongside Warhorn VIPs.

Anyone wanting to play at PaizoCon can register for badges in advance of the April 1st player signup date; to do so, visit the PaizoCon Warhorn and follow the instructions on the main page.

Sanctioning

Last week, we posted an update on our sanctioning progress, and we already have an update to that post. Bestiary 2 is now sanctioned on the Character Options page and is available to use! It joins the Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, The Slithering and all our previous rulebooks as usable Pathfinder Society material. Our next focus is Bestiary 3 as well as the Abomination Vaults Adventure Path.

We’ve got new Character Options pages for Starfinder Society in the works to replace the current pdf Additional Resources document. When that rolls out (maybe even this month, if everything aligns), it will include new sanctioning for Alien Archive 4. After that, we’ll look to catch up with the Devastation Ark and Fly Free or Die Adventure Paths as well as investigate sanctioning the Starfinder Beginner Box.

On the Pathfinder (first edition) front. Our hope is to produce sanctioning documents out for the remaining content by the end of the summer, but that will depend on available time as convention season ramps up.

GM Achievements

Whether stars, novas, or glyphs, achieving a 5 ranking in any program involves a substantial amount of time. To achieve the 5th milestone, a GM must run 150 games, of which at least 50 must be unique scenarios and 10 special scenarios, as well as run between one and three games for venture-captains (program dependant). A conservative estimate of the time needed to reach the 5th milestone is 650 hours!

Two GMs received their fifth nova in the past month. We have no new 5 Star or 5 Glyph GMs to announce.

5th Nova: John Godek and Nils Janson

Congratulations to our new 5 Nova GMs, and thank you for your dedication! If you believe you have achieved your 5th rank but haven’t been announced, email us at organizedplay@paizo.com

Conventions

In addition to PaizoCon Online, we have a number of conventions offering Pathfinder and Starfinder Society!

ConventionLocationStart DateStatusInteractive EventsStaff Attendance
Reaper Virtual Expo Denton, TX 3/5/2021 Online None Alex, Jenny
BahliCon 2021 Great Lakes Region 3/11/2021 Online PFS2 2-00 The King In Thorns, SFS 3-00 The Last Bite
COS VCON Butler, PA 3/19/2021 Online SFS 3-00 The Last Bite
Whos Yer CONline Great Lakes Region 3/19/2021 Online PFS2 2-00 The King In Thorns, SFS 3-00 The Last Bite
River Raiders Lindfield NSW, Australia 4/2/2021 Online None
Farmageddon VIII Farmer City, IL 4/23/2021 Online None
Jasper's Game Week Detroit, MI 5/7/2021 Online PFS2 2-00 The King In Thorns, SFS 3-00 The Last Bite
PaizoCon Online Seattle, WA 5/28/2021 Online PACS 7-99 Yes
Con Summer Drain 21 Gulf Region 6/11/2021 Online SFS 3-00 The Last Bite

We’ll see you next week for some big news!

Until next time: Explore! Report! Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Associate

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1/5 5/5
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Grats to the 5-Novas!

Likes how for PaizoConOnline for Staff it says Yes :>
****
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Congrats to the 5-Novas!!

And a HUGE thank you for getting Bestiary 2 sanctioned!
Dataphiles 5/55/55/5 Venture-Agent, Netherlands
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congrats to the 5 Novas! Especially Nils from my side! Congrats and it's been awesome being on some of your tables both in person (What is that like again?) and online! Well deserved!
Paizo Employee 2/5 Organized Play Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Congrats and many thanks to the 5 Nova GMs. As it is "thank your GM day" I'll also express my heartfelt gratitude to all of our org play GMs. We couldn't do this without you!
2/5 5/5 *****
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Congrats to John and Nils!
Silver Crusade 5/5 5/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations to our new 5 Nova GMs your dedication and effort are an inspiration to us all^^
Dark Archive 4/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Finland—Turku

Agents of Edgewatch isn't getting sanctioned, that much is clear - but there was a mention of possibly offering a selection of stuff from it (items, archetypes, etc) through the AcP system.
With Abomination Vault being on the line for sanctioning, will we see Edgewatch stuff in the AcP shop before Abomination Vault, or After Abomination Vault, or is that plan on hold for the time being?
Grand Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Blog wrote:
Bestiary 2 is now sanctioned on the Character Options page

I suppose this is linked to the new update of the Bestiary Errata appearing on the FAQ page then! :P

Wayfinders 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Contributor

A big WOOOOOOOOT for John Godek and Nils Janson!
* Franchisee - Game Kastle College Park
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congrats on the novas! John Godek GMed a Starfinder Society game I got to play in at GenCon and he was fantastic!!!
Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congrats on the Novas!!
Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ****
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations John and Nils! I know you both worked really hard towards this great accomplishment! :)
Grand Lodge 4/5 Venture-Agent, Texas—Houston
2 people marked this as a favorite.

It was omitted above, but MAG-Con's organized play components will be held online this year. Mar 27-28. We will be fundraising for at-risk youth in New Caney, TX schools as usual.

Warhorn signups
* Developer
1 person marked this as a favorite.

John Godek is a fantastic GM and I'm lucky to have him as my GM for a long-running Starfinder game.

Congrats to John and Nils for 5 Novas!
Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Netherlands

Congratulations to John and Nils for achieving 5 Novas!
Second Seekers (Jadnura) 5/55/55/55/5

Congratulations to Nils!

Thanks everyone for your kind words!
Liberty's Edge 3/5 5/5 **** Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Omaha

Congrats to John on your 5th Nova. It was fun to be able to review you as you GMed!
Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Since I haven't seen a PFS blog post since this one, I'll drop my inquiry here.

Since Gen Con pushed back to September, should we expect to see a similar adjustment in the release schedule? I might expect to see season three launch delayed so it still appeared at Gen Con which would mean added 2-25 & 2-26 to the existing schedule to fill August. As tight as the schedule is described, dunno if there is time to make such a change, but it would likely hurt Gen Con participation if the "new" releases weren't new anymore. Though the special will always draw interest.
Dark Archive 4/5 5/55/5 ****
TwilightKnight wrote:

Since I haven't seen a PFS blog post since this one, I'll drop my inquiry here.

Since Gen Con pushed back to September, should we expect to see a similar adjustment in the release schedule? I might expect to see season three launch delayed so it still appeared at Gen Con which would mean added 2-25 & 2-26 to the existing schedule to fill August. As tight as the schedule is described, dunno if there is time to make such a change, but it would likely hurt Gen Con participation if the "new" releases weren't new anymore. Though the special will always draw interest.

There hasn't been any information one way or another if GenCon moving will or won't affect Paizo participation and/or release schedule yet. I'm sure they are busy discussing all of their options and will let us all know when they can.

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Captain, Australia—NSW—Greater West

Yeh, we have a major con the week before and I would hope to still get both multis at it
Sovereign Court ***
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Lynda and Alex are both going to be on the Know Direction podcast on Wednesday. The subject of the show is "PaizoCon Online and the Future of Organized Play" so that might be a good time/place to find out more information.
Second Seekers (Jadnura) 5/55/55/55/5
Benjamin Debrick wrote:
Lynda and Alex are both going to be on the Know Direction podcast on Wednesday. The subject of the show is "PaizoCon Online and the Future of Organized Play" so that might be a good time/place to find out more information.

I am really curious to hear what they say about the major cons this summer, as well as potential hybrid play at cons in the future.

Paizo Employee 5/55/5 * Organized Play Associate
2 people marked this as a favorite.
John Godek III wrote:
Benjamin Debrick wrote:
Lynda and Alex are both going to be on the Know Direction podcast on Wednesday. The subject of the show is "PaizoCon Online and the Future of Organized Play" so that might be a good time/place to find out more information.
I am really curious to hear what they say about the major cons this summer, as well as potential hybrid play at cons in the future.

Me too! I wonder what I'll end up saying!

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Alex Speidel wrote:
John Godek III wrote:
Benjamin Debrick wrote:
Lynda and Alex are both going to be on the Know Direction podcast on Wednesday. The subject of the show is "PaizoCon Online and the Future of Organized Play" so that might be a good time/place to find out more information.
I am really curious to hear what they say about the major cons this summer, as well as potential hybrid play at cons in the future.
Me too! I wonder what I'll end up saying!

Doesn't everybody? We'll all be hanging on every word!

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