Digital Adventure Releases
The following adventures will be available on February 22, 2023.
Pathfinder Society
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-09: Killer in the Golden Mask*
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-10: Arclord's Abode*Starfinder Society
Starfinder Society Scenario #5-14: Ghost Level Delve*
Starfinder Bounty #7: Voyage on the River Between*part of a subscription
The Replacement of Ehu Hadif
Two weeks ago, the deadline for First Seeker Candidates officially passed! Our submissions for this event are now closed.
We had a total of 95 candidates submitted to be the new First Seeker, which is incredible! The most represented species were androids, vesk, humans, halflings and skittermanders. At press time, we’re still selecting the final candidates for the election. Once we’ve made our choices and contacted the winners, we’ll be sure to email everybody who submitted to inform them. I can’t wait to announce the candidates!
Rules Updates
Orcs in Organized Play
As we announced two weeks ago, in honor of the upcoming ORC License, orcs are now a freely available player ancestry in Pathfinder and Starfinder Society! For Pathfinder (second edition), the boon has been retired, and a free resurrection has been added to previously-purchased boons. We did the same thing when we made leshys freely available in 2021, so we’re delighted to provide this benefit now. In Starfinder Society, previously-created orcs may use the boon to take a +2 bonus to any one stat, as described in the Starfinder Society FAQ.
Any players who purchased these boons in January of 2023, prior to this change, may request a refund of their Achievement Points by emailing orgplayreportingerrors@paizo.com. Boons purchased before January 1 will not be refunded.
Finally, despite the ambiguity in the initial announcement, orcs will not be a playable race in Pathfinder Society (first edition). While we appreciate the community’s enthusiasm, the depiction of orcs in first edition content does not reflect our current values. Our portrayal of this ancestry has evolved over the years, and their initial presentation as aggressive, callous, and domineering isn’t something we want to encourage in our Organized Play programs. I offer my personal apologies for the lack of clarity in the first announcement; I wrote it very quickly during a very busy time without fully considering the implications, and I won’t make that mistake again.
Dragonkin in Starfinder Society
Recently, we were made aware that while most dragonkin choose to form a partner bond, canonically it’s not required. Additionally, asking players to choose their dragonkin’s partner from character creation presents a burden to newer players, or those who want to tell the story of forming that bond with a fellow adventurer.
As a result, we’re updating the SFS rules on dragonkin to read as follows, effective immediately:
When you create a dragonkin character, you may select another player’s character to form your partner bond with. Mark down that character’s Organized Play number on your character sheet. If that character is permanently slain, then you can select a new partner bond by marking a new Organized Play number on your character sheet between sessions.
A dragonkin adventurer may choose not to form a partner bond, or they may choose to form one later in their adventuring career. Once a partner is selected, they may not be replaced unless they are permanently slain.
Starfinder Society 1-99: The Scoured Stars Invasion
One last treat for the Starfinder community! Our multi-table interactive specials are some of the most sought-after scenarios, and they often serve as a draw for conventions around the world. Recently we’ve been allowing the special to be replayed a limited number of times, but when our first Starfinder interactive was released, this was not the case. Based on community feedback, we’re happy to correct this.
Starfinder Society Special 1-99: The Scoured Stars Invasion may now be played or GMed twice, one in each level range (1-4 and 5-8). This means you can earn a total of four Chronicle Sheets if you play and GM the special twice at different tiers. As always, a character may not have multiple chronicle sheets from the same adventure. This text will be added to the product page immediately; due to production timelines, it is unlikely to be added to the PDF anytime soon, but it is on our list to update.
If you’re interested in taking advantage of this immediately, the play-by-post community will be offering the special at their upcoming convention, Outpost VI!
Sanctioning Update
New Content
This month saw the release of the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Adventure Path compilation, and with it, the sanctioning for the adventure! Much like Abomination Vaults, the chronicle sheets and boons are nearly identical to those published with the first printings. Otherwise, it’s been a quiet month for new content! Work is underway on sanctioning Treasure Vault, which should be ready for street date next month. After that we’re hoping to get starting on Lost Omens: Firebrands, the Drift Crisis Case Files for Starfinder, and are starting to eye up the Drift Hackers and Gatewalkers Adventure Paths.
Age of Ashes
Three years ago, we posted our sanctioning documents for the first Adventure Path for Pathfinder second edition: Age of Ashes. Completing this document was actually one of my first tasks as a brand-new Paizo employee! As a reward for completing the various volumes of this adventure, players were granted new boons which unlocked various character options.
As it’s been three years, we thought it was time to open these up a little further. Players may now spend their Achievement Points on brand-new boons to unlock certain options from the Age of Ashes Adventure Path! These boons unlock the uncommon character options that haven’t already been printed in other rulebooks. The full text of the boons is available on the Pathfinder FAQ page. Enjoy the new content!
Pathfinder Beginner Box
When the Pathfinder Beginner Box was released, our hope was that it would be used as-is to introduce players to both the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Pathfinder Society. As such, we sanctioned it with specific rules regarding character creation, and we provided an extra Achievement Point incentive to run it.
Now that it’s out of its initial release, it’s clear that while it’s great for introducing players to Pathfinder, the players who come to us for Pathfinder Society are more interested in exploring other options. As such, we’re updating the sanctioning rules. The Beginner Box is now sanctioned fully in campaign mode, meaning that players may bring any characters the GM permits to play the adventure. These can be characters built using the Beginner Box rules, but do not have to be. Additionally, while it will remain repeatable, we’ll be reducing the Achievement Point reward to the normal value: 4 for players and 8 for GMs. We hope this better serves the community’s needs!
To anticipate the question, we won’t be making the same change for the Starfinder Beginner Box. Due to the significantly altered ruleset in this product, it wouldn’t be feasible to expect a standard Starfinder character to be any easier to use in the Beginner Box.
GM Recognition
GM 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 one GM earn their 5th Nova for SFS.
5th Nova (SFS): Marcel de Groot
Conventions
This month we began recruiting volunteers for major conventions! Applications are now open for PaizoCon Online and Gen Con Indianapolis. If you’re interested in GMing at either of these shows, we’d love to have you!
We’ve also got a calendar full of local conventions around the world, which you should check out to see what’s happening in your area! This month I’m excited to attend DunDraCon in Santa Clara, California and GenghisCon in Denver, Colorado. Getting to meet the local communities is one of the best parts of my job, so if you’re near either of those shows, come out and say hi!
Okay, that’s quite enough from me. Until next time - Explore! Report! Cooperate! and go play some orcs!
Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator
February 2023 Organized Play Monthly Update
Thursday, February 2, 2023
