OPC Musings
Congratulations on surviving Gen Con, players! I’m assuming, anyway. Like the June update, I’m writing this before Gen Con even begins. What did you think of those new announcements? That Starfinder Second Edition sounds pretty cool! [note to future self: remove this if we don’t announce it so I don’t blow the surprise]
Seriously though, I’m SO excited to finally be able to share all the new information with you all! The new edition of Starfinder, a playtest coming up for Pathfinder, the Remaster on the horizon, and so much more. It’s an exciting time at Paizo HQ! And this blog is chock-full of information, so let’s dive right in.
Digital Adventure Releases
These adventures will be available on August 30, 2023.
Pathfinder Society
Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Unfettered Exploration*
Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-02: The Blackwood Lost*Starfinder Society
Starfinder Society Scenario #6-06: Tomorrow's Seekers*†
Starfinder Bounty #9: Burning Ambitions*part of a subscription
† released early to Venture Officers to run during the month of August
Convention News
This section usually lives at the bottom of the blog, but there’s some news I wanted to make sure had a prominent place! The OP team’s travel schedule for the rest of 2023 has been locked in. Here’s where you can come out and meet us!
August 18-20: I will be at Dragonflight in Bellevue, WA somewhat unofficially.
September 1-4 (Labor Day weekend): I will be attending Gateway in Los Angeles, CA.
Additionally, Josh Foster will be attending DragonCon in Atlanta, GA!
September 29-October 1: Jessica Catalan and I (as well as possibly others) will be attending SkålCon in Minneapolis, MN. A number of Paizo staffers and freelancers will also be at BigBadCon in San Francisco, though we don't have an official presence.
Finally, and perhaps most newsworthy...
December 1-3: Paizo returns to PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, PA! Volunteer applications are now open. This convention will be the first chance for you to demo Starfinder Second Edition with a member of the Starfinder team!
We'll also be running acquisition-focused tables of Pathfinder, Starfinder, and for the first time, board game demos of Goblin Firework Fight and Elemental Stones! I'm very excited to be returning to the show. Again, applications are now open, and we’d love to have you join us!
On top of all of these, the fall months are some of our most active for local conventions. These smaller conventions are a great way to meet your local Pathfinder and Starfinder community, so we recommend you check out our convention calendar to find one near you!
Sanctioning Updates
Has anything interesting been released for Pathfinder lately? Probably not, right?
Ah, well, except Pathfinder Rage of Elements. That’s pretty exciting, and it’s now sanctioned for play! Rules are available on the Character Options page, and there are new boons in the Boon Store for some of the Uncommon options.
For Starfinder Society, the Drift Hackers Adventure Path sanctioning documents have finally been uploaded, allowing you to earn credit for playing through the adventures!
Coming up next will be sanctioning for Pathfinder Adventure: Rusthenge and the Sky King’s Tomb Adventure Path, as well as Starfinder Enhanced. Now that we’re on the other side of Gen Con, we’re also going to be spending time working on the rules regarding the new Remastered books, which we hope to have ready well in advance of their release.
Pathfinder Class Playtest
The Pathfinder Rules & Lore team has announced the next class playtest scheduled for September 1! Pathfinder Society will support this playtest as we’ve supported all class playtests using the rules in the Guide to Organized Play. In short: you can build and play characters using the new rules and apply credit to your existing characters as if they were pregenerated characters.
Remember that GM participation in playtests is opt-in. If a GM chooses not to allow characters from a ruleset they’re not familiar with, that’s entirely acceptable! We hope you all enjoy the newest creations from the Rules & Lore team.
Starfinder Second Edition Field Tests
Starfinder Second Edition is coming! In anticipation of the full playtest in 2024, the Starfinder team has begun releasing Starfinder Field Tests. These bite-size PDFs are packed with information on upcoming classes and rules, as well as the design team’s goals and thoughts. You can download the first one at starfinderplaytest.com.
We just want to clarify that for Starfinder Society play, these options are not legal. Once we get closer to the full playtest, we’ll share the specifics of how Starfinder Society will support it. For now, please enjoy the previews and get ready to playtest at our conventions next year!
Pathfinder and Starfinder Society on Foundry VTT
Some exciting news for our Foundry GMs and players!
Starting August 30th, we’ll be giving Pathfinder and Starfinder Society the same premium treatment on Foundry VTT that we’ve been giving our Pathfinder Adventure Paths. Each of these modules will be a one-time purchase that will be updated throughout the season with new content as we release it, and will be available in both a streamlined version that only provides maps and tokens for those who own the PDFs as well as a deluxe version that also includes fully-styled journals containing all of the adventure content. Keep an eye on the Paizo blog for updates!
First Seeker Election
The polls have opened for the Starfinder Society’s First Seeker election! Agents are flocking from around the galaxy to cast their votes. The early polls are in, and the race is neck and neck (and neck and neck)!
While Starfinder Society Scenario #6-06: Tomorrow’s Seekers releases at the end of the month, Venture Officers have been granted early access to maximize your opportunities to play the adventure before casting your vote. We encourage you all to get out and meet the candidates! As it’s repeatable, you can even play it multiple times for credit to get the clearest view of your options. Once you’ve done so, head to paizo.com/firstseeker to cast your vote.
Pathfinder Society Year 5 Updates
With the launch of PFS Year 5 last week, the following updates have gone into effect!
- The changeling versatile heritage is now freely available to all players, due to the Society’s adventures involving the night hag Aslynn.
- More adventurers of uncommon ancestries have joined the Pathfinder Society in the past few years, so the tengu and ratfolk ancestries are also freely available!
- Additionally, in preparation for their inclusion in the upcoming Pathfinder Player Core book, the tiefling and aasimar versatile heritages are freely available to all players.
- Boons for all of the above freely available options have been removed from the Boon Store. Players who previously purchased those boons will have them updated to grant a free use of the resurrection ritual to those characters, as we have done for past ancestries.
- Finally, due to the influx of planar energy throughout Golarion, the geniekin versatile heritage has been reduced to 40 Achievement Points! This boon has also been updated to include the talos and ardandeheritages from Pathfinder Rage of Elements.
Boon Updates
Boon Request Threads
The OP team gets requests all the time for boons for character options. Now that the Boon Store is up and running, I thought it would be best to centralize those requests in one location, so I did that! There are now Boon Request threads for Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society pinned in their respective forums. Feel free to head over to favorite the suggestions you like and add new ones if they haven’t already been posted.
Seeker of Knowledge
Just a note that, now that replays are functional, the Seeker of Knowledge boons in the boon store also now work correctly! Purchasing one of these boons grants your account 4 SFS Replays, one per reputation tier. Players who previously purchased these boons should now see four additional Replays in their account as well.
Retail Incentive Program Updates
Our Retail Incentive Program is designed to help players support the game stores and venues that host our games, often for free, while earning in-game benefits. Over the past year, we’ve heard some recommendations to improve it, and I’m delighted to share the new version of the program now!
You can download PDFs of the rules for Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society now on the Retail Incentive Program page. The major changes are:
- Adding a new “heroic” tier, unlocked when a table spends of $100 or more
- Altering or replacing boons that reduced the gold cost of healing now that those benefits primarily use Achievement Points
- Making the benefits more versatile and/or slightly more useful
Overall, the intention of programs like the RIP and the Accessory Perks is to provide incentives to players and GMs to support our products and venues. The goal is not for these to be hard rules, but to encourage GMs and organizers to adopt a “spirit of the law” reading of any of these programs to ensure all players are enjoying themselves. Thanks to all the volunteers who provided feedback on these revisions!
GM Recognition
Campaign Service Coins
This month, two new Campaign Service Coins were awarded to volunteers by their RVC. We award these coins to members of the community who have gone above and beyond to provide an exceptional program to the community at large. Campaign Coins are awarded based on nominations; if you believe someone in your community is deserving of this award (whether or not they are a Venture Officer), send an email to organizedplay@paizo.com with their name and reasons
Congratulations to:
Bill Tobin, who now holds a campaign coin and OP ID #896
Brad Grinstead (bigrin42), who nows holds a campaign coin and OP ID #897Until next time - Explore! Report! Cooperate! And unlock the elemental power within you!
Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator
August 2023 Organized Play Monthly Update
Thursday, August 10, 2023
