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Join Paizo at Gen Con 2024!

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Hello, Pathfinders and Starfinders! We hope you’re all excited for PaizoCon Online in just a few weeks, but we’re here today to talk about another event. Gen Con 2024 is taking place August 1-4 in Indianapolis and, as always, we’ll be out in force to bring the games to you!

Signups for all Gen Con events open on Sunday, May 19 at noon Eastern time, and based on past years, tickets to our events will sell out fast. We don’t want you to miss out, so today we’re taking the time to highlight some of our most exciting events so you can wishlist them if you so choose! If you have general questions about registering for events at Gen Con, please visit their website.

Illustration by Lucas Villalva Machado: Society members gathered around a game table covered in small yellow hologram mini figures of adventurers surrounding a mini hologram dragon.


Programming

We’ve got a handful of exciting on-site panels and live shows happening at Gen Con this year! For folks who can’t attend, these live events will be recorded and uploaded onto our YouTube channel after Gen Con.

A Drift Through Space-Time—Starfinder Second Edition Playtest Live Show
Thursday, Aug 1st at 2:00pm EST
 Thurston Hillman, Creative Director of Starfinder, leads a party of Pathfinder AND Starfinder Second Edition heroes through an adventure that crosses the boundaries of space, time, and magic.

Starfinder Second Edition Roadmap Panel
Friday, Aug 2nd at 1pm EST
Join the Starfinder development team for a journey through the cosmos and a look into the future! This panel will reveal upcoming products in the Starfinder line as we embark on the exciting journey of Starfinder Second Edition!

Playtest Makes Perfect (What Makes a Good Playtest) Panel
Saturday, Aug 3rd at 2pm EST
As we kickoff the Starfinder Playtest, the Starfinder development team presents a panel about what makes a good playtest! This panel will discuss how playtest rulebooks differ from standard releases, what makes for good playtest feedback, and how to get more involved.

On top of these on-site panels and events, Paizo will also be hosting a handful of panels on twitch.tv/officialpaizo. Be on the lookout for a virtual programming schedule closer to the con, as we finalize dates and times for the streams!


Gaming

As always, all our gaming will take place in the Sagamore Ballroom! We’ve expanded our space from the previous few years, allowing us to squeeze in more game tables, a character creation station, a VTT demo area, and even a satellite booth!

You can view all our gaming offerings at this link. Here are some of our featured spotlight events!


Pathfinder Second Edition

At Gen Con, we’ll be closing Year 5 of Pathfinder Society with our finale adventure for high-level characters. We’ll also be launching Year 6: Year of Immortal Influence with two brand-new scenarios that are fully compliant with the Remaster ruleset! Bring your new Player Core 2 characters and jump right into the action!

Our Pathfinder Special is always a packed house, and this year, we’re getting nautical! Characters from 1st through 8th-level can join us for our Saturday night marquee event. This event absolutely will sell out, and while we’ll try to seat as many walk-ups as possible, we make no guarantees. Note that we have pregenerated characters only up to 5th-level, so those playing at 7-8 tables must bring their own characters or be reseated.

Our Pathfinder Academy offers fun for the whole family! Kids from 5-18 can join our experienced GMs for Pathfinder Society adventures with custom kid-friendly pregenerated characters and can learn how to adventure with the best of them!

We’ll also be offering a limited number of Pathfinder Quests! These shorter adventures have more seats reserved for walk-up players, though we have some early tickets on sale as well. Dip your toe into Golarion and join us at one of these tables!

Starfinder First Edition

PaizoCon features the launch of Starfinder Society Year 7: Year of Era’s End! While this is our final year of first edition play, there’s a bright future on the horizon for Starfinder Society. You can check out our introductory scenario, or join us for a new release at Gen Con!

This year’s Starfinder Special is a simple survey mission to a newly discovered planet. Surely nothing could go–wait, did you say Swarm? Oh no! Characters from 1st through 4th-level can join us for our Friday night interactive special event.

Starfinder Playtest

Be the first to experience the Starfinder Playtest at Gen Con Indianapolis! Purchase your playtest book at our booth in the exhibit hall or the Sagamore Ballroom, build your character, and bring them to one of our playtest scenario tables! We’ll be offering two-hour sessions of the first two playtest scenarios; we’ll also be offering short demos of the Starfinder Playtest in Hall C from 8am-6pm. These demos are first-come, first-served, so show up early to grab a spot!

Board Games

More of a board gamer? No worries! Paizo’s board game offerings will also be on offer at Gen Con! Join us for a demo session of Elemental Stones or Goblin Firework Fight and see if you can beat our demo team at their own game!

We can’t wait to see you at Gen Con this fall! Expect more information about all our programming as we get closer to the show. May the odds be ever in your favor this month, and don’t forget: event signups open May 19 at noon Eastern!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Rue Dickey
Marketing & Media Specialist

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Tags: Conventions Gen Con Organized Play Pathfinder Second Edition Pathfinder Society Starfinder Roleplaying Game Starfinder Society
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Radiant Oath 1/5 5/55/5 ****

The Glass Cannon will also have a live Starfinder 2e Playtest on Saturday at 5pm.

https://www.gencon.com/events/254264
Wayfinders 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ***** Contributor

I am so looking forward to offering Starfinder Playtest sessions at GenCon!

Hmm
*

Wait, do you mean last high level for the season, or last high level EVER? I feel the pain of not enough high tier content for Pathfinder, and it seems to be getting worse. It's somewhat demotivating to work so hard on a character, get to a good point, then get told that you wasted your time if you didn't also play APs to mix in your levels, because you aren't getting any higher level stuff. I know you're trying to keep new folks churning in, but please, throw a bone or three to the high-level players who don't always have weeks to devote to play an AP.
Paizo Employee 5/55/5 ** Organized Play Coordinator
2 people marked this as a favorite.
PMSchulz wrote:
Wait, do you mean last high level for the season, or last high level EVER? I feel the pain of not enough high tier content for Pathfinder, and it seems to be getting worse. It's somewhat demotivating to work so hard on a character, get to a good point, then get told that you wasted your time if you didn't also play APs to mix in your levels, because you aren't getting any higher level stuff. I know you're trying to keep new folks churning in, but please, throw a bone or three to the high-level players who don't always have weeks to devote to play an AP.

If you mean this sentence:

Quote:
At Gen Con, we’ll be closing Year 5 of Pathfinder Society with our finale adventure for high-level characters.

What I mean is "this is the finale for year 5, and it is for high-level characters." I can assure you that we will have plenty of content for high-level characters in future.

3/5

Just noticed that Paizo raised the ticket price for the Starfinder and Pathfinder specials 66.67%. From $12, to $20. Any reason other than supply and demand?
Swiftbrook wrote:
J. Any reason other than supply and demand?

Rising costs, perhaps. Rental fees, sponsorship fees, staff salaries, basic costs of doing business at Gen Con.

Hello! Will the Special on Saturday night be the same format as in the past?

i.e., multiple combats where progression is determined via the entire room?
Paizo Employee 5/55/5 ** Organized Play Coordinator
no good scallywag wrote:

Hello! Will the Special on Saturday night be the same format as in the past?

i.e., multiple combats where progression is determined via the entire room?

Broadly, yes. As far as I know we're not doing anything radically new this year, though of course every special is different!

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

I have to say, the amount of seats for most of the PF2 events is very concerning! With the registration opening this weekend, I'm seeing most scenarios only having 5 spots per slot.

It's been a few years since I've been to GenCon, but prior to PF2 and Starfinder I remember Paizo running multiple tables per scenario per timeslot and filling up but we could reliably get in and play Pathfinder the whole con as a group of four if we wanted to. How in the world are groups coming to GenCon to really play PF2 several sessions a day supposed to get in with so few spots available?
Paizo Employee 5/55/5 ** Organized Play Coordinator

Most slots have around 30-35 tables of PFS2 running, which has room for 150+ players. Any scenarios only showing 5 seats are likely older scenarios. We're always looking for more GMs to help increase our numbers and show Gen Con that we should be given more space! Details on volunteering to GM are available in this blog.

HMM, 3 live panels and not on Twitch Live?? Are there any live or pre recorded panels for GENCON?

Seems Paizocon has a way lot more, is this the intent?

Thanks

Tom
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Alex Speidel wrote:
Most slots have around 30-35 tables of PFS2 running, which has room for 150+ players. Any scenarios only showing 5 seats are likely older scenarios. We're always looking for more GMs to help increase our numbers and show Gen Con that we should be given more space! Details on volunteering to GM are available in this blog.

It's not the total seats that's the primary concern, but how they're distributed and what that means come registration. While we may have 150 spots, most of the sessions only have 5 seats. Which means some Sunday we have to guess/hope/pray that we're one of 5. It would have been much better to have fewer "options" with more seats each to start, but I totally get what you're saying.

Are you suggesting that the limiting factor isn't the size of the space and being spread between 3+ systems, but rather the number of volunteers? Is it reasonable to assume more tables can be filled as more people volunteer and that we should keep an eye out past Sunday for additional openings?
Paizo Employee 5/55/5 ** Organized Play Coordinator
TRDG wrote:

HMM, 3 live panels and not on Twitch Live?? Are there any live or pre recorded panels for GENCON?

Seems Paizocon has a way lot more, is this the intent?

Thanks

Tom

The Blog wrote:
On top of these on-site panels and events, Paizo will also be hosting a handful of panels on twitch.tv/officialpaizo. Be on the lookout for a virtual programming schedule closer to the con, as we finalize dates and times for the streams!
Paizo Employee 5/55/5 ** Organized Play Coordinator
Sadronmeldir wrote:
Alex Speidel wrote:
Most slots have around 30-35 tables of PFS2 running, which has room for 150+ players. Any scenarios only showing 5 seats are likely older scenarios. We're always looking for more GMs to help increase our numbers and show Gen Con that we should be given more space! Details on volunteering to GM are available in this blog.

It's not the total seats that's the primary concern, but how they're distributed and what that means come registration. While we may have 150 spots, most of the sessions only have 5 seats. Which means some Sunday we have to guess/hope/pray that we're one of 5. It would have been much better to have fewer "options" with more seats each to start, but I totally get what you're saying.

Are you suggesting that the limiting factor isn't the size of the space and being spread between 3+ systems, but rather the number of volunteers? Is it reasonable to assume more tables can be filled as more people volunteer and that we should keep an eye out past Sunday for additional openings?

I am suggesting that there are a number of factors in how many tables we run, and that volunteer GMs is the one I have the most control over. I will also say that there are a number of sessions I have asked Gen Con to add additional tickets for which have not yet been processed, so more seats may indeed open up after Sunday's rush.

Verdant Wheel ***

PFS Special sold out in like 15 minutes!

Spewed from the algorithm, if we want to try and get actual tickets, what is our next step? Hunt and peck?

=)
Paizo Employee 5/55/5 ** Organized Play Coordinator
rainzax wrote:

PFS Special sold out in like 15 minutes!

Spewed from the algorithm, if we want to try and get actual tickets, what is our next step? Hunt and peck?

=)

Keep checking back to see if people cancel their tickets! Additionally, you can show up with generic tickets and we'll do our very best to seat you. The earlier you start queueing up, the more likely it is you'll get a seat.

*

Just looked at site…everything sold out for PF2…no sense even going….just wasted $175
Lantern Lodge
Unklbuck wrote:
Just looked at site…everything sold out for PF2…no sense even going….just wasted $175

"If you need to exchange or refund your badge, please contact Customer Service directly and they happily will assist you. Refund requests must be made by email.

You can request to refund your badge when badge registration opens on February 11, 2024. All badge refund requests must be made by the end of day on June 14, 2024, at 11:59 pm (Eastern). Absolutely no badge cancellation requests will be honored after June 14, 2024, at 11:59 pm (Eastern).

Refund requests received prior to the deadline will be issued a refund and credited back to the original credit card or system credit used for the purchase, less any administrative fees. System credit is non-transferable, non-refundable, and never expires.

All badge refunds are subject to a $10 administrative fee per badge refunded. There are no exceptions. Badges refunded to system credit do not incur a fee. Badges are not eligible to be rolled over to the next years show."
*

Good to know thx…not a complete bust then
Scarab Sages 2/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Oregon—Portland

There are always a good number of no shows. Go early and queue up for the slots you want. Especially by Saturday, when people are starting to feel the pressure from overloading their schedule.

And people are constantly changing their plans and dropping tickets—there are 15 to 20 PFS games open right now in the event list. Just keep checking.

Still waiting for the live or canned Twitch stream schedule, just watched the latest Paizo stream and the disturbing, "all panels will be on Youtube a week after".

So what can we watch live on Twitch at GENCON for a LOT of us who can't make it there?

Thank you

Tom
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Hey uh, do we have a stream schedule popping up in the near future? I'd like to continue my tradition of writing up panels but I need to get hours sorted out with work since we're super short-staffed and I can't just take the entire time off to do it.
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