OPC Musings
As we approach the end of the year, it's tradition to look back on the year that was. There are many words I could use to describe this year in Organized Play: turbulent, uncertain, hopeful...the list goes on. In some ways we have made progress from where we were last year: physical games are slowly starting up in some areas, we've got piles of new content for our players, and we've produced another full year of scenarios. By the same token, there are still many areas that haven't changed: conventions are mostly still online, and we're not sure what the future of large-scale shows will look like.
One certainty for me in all of this is the community. No matter what, you're all out there playing games, having a good time and enjoying our stories, I've got the table data to prove it. It's exciting to know that the work we're doing is bringing some joy to your lives. I hope that this holiday season (for those of you who celebrate), you're able to get together with your biological and chosen families, as appropriate, and throw some dice together. You never know, Grandma might get really into playing Kyra from the Pathfinder Beginner Box! If you're looking for some festive cheer this season, definitely check out this month's new Starfinder Society release, A Festive Operation; I think it'll be a staple of December schedules for the next few years.
Does your gaming group have holiday traditions? Are you giving your GMs something special for the season? Let me know in the comments down below!
Digital Adventure Releases
Here are this month's digital releases, available December 15, 2021:
Pathfinder
Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-06: Struck by Shadows*
Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-07: The Locked Lodge*
Pathfinder Bounty #17: Sodden StoriesStarfinder
Starfinder Society Scenario #4-12: A Festive Operation*
*part of a subscription
Sanctioning
For those of you who have not already noticed, the Pathfinder Society Character Options page contains sanctioning for both Guns & Gears and Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar! These two books had a lot of tricky elements, especially Guns & Gears, and we're thankful for your patience while we sorted through them. I'd especially like to thank Linda Zayas-Palmer and Mark Seifter for spending a lot of time with me in the week before Thanksgiving working to get them out before the holiday, Pathfinders, go forth and enjoy your new content!
For my fellow Starfinders, we've also sanctioned the most recent standalone adventure, The Liberation of Locus-1, for credit, and its rules options are also available on the Character Options page. We hope you enjoy this new adventure!
Looking forward, there are two Pathfinder rulebooks coming out in December: Lost Omens: Monsters of Myth and the long-awaited Absalom, City of Lost Omens. We hope to have the sanctioning for both of these ready for street date; they're a pretty light lift, so I'm very hopeful. On the Adventures front, we're also starting to work through the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, and hope to have more to share on that soon.
Nova Update
Last year, we announced that we’d be adding one high-level scenario per year to the qualifying scenarios for Nova credit. We intended for this to be our end-of-year scenario each year; however, in looking at the plan for this year, the final scenario of the Data Scourge metaplot is (spoilers!) a 5-8, which is not quite high enough level to qualify for our requirements. As a result, we are adding the Nova tag to Starfinder Society Scenario #4-09: Through Sea and Storm. All previous and future runs (up to three) of this scenario will count towards the 10-scenario requirement for Nova qualification. Thanks to the VOs who pointed out this potential snag to me!
GM Recognition
Upcoming Conventions
Campaign Service Coins
At SkålCon at the end of October, we awarded two new Campaign Service Coins. These Coins are given to volunteers who go above and beyond the typical volunteer duties to support their communities and Organized Play. Nominations are always accepted; volunteers may be nominated by emailing organizedplay@paizo.com with their name, region and a description of their service. As we begin to return to physical events, we hope to resume awarding these in-person, so letting us know what upcoming events they’re attending is also useful.
Congratulations to:
Aerine Caerwyn, who now holds a Campaign Coin and Organized Play ID #850
Sean Pearson, who now holds a Campaign Coin and Organized Play ID #851It also came to my attention that we never formally announced the two recipients from last year’s SkålCon Online, so I would like to formally recognize:
James Anderson, who now holds a Campaign Coin and Organized Play ID #840
Tineke Bolleman, who now holds a Campaign Coin and Organized Play ID #841GM Ranks
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 dependent). A conservative estimate of the time needed to reach the 5th milestone is 650 hours!
This month, we had two GMs earn their fifth star for Pathfinder Society (first edition), and one GM earned their fifth nova for Starfinder Society.
5th Star: Idaho, Joshua Blazej
5th Nova: Hilary Moon MurphyCongratulations to our new 5-rank 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 .
Until next time - Explore! Report! Cooperate! And enjoy the holiday season!
Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator
December 2021 Organized Play Update
Thursday, December 2, 2021
