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I have very quickly thrown together a crib sheet for Goblin players so that we can run this on Saturday. Please beware, it is unofficial and it may include errors. Share this if you feel it may help. Otherwise all players will need their own copy of the Playtest Rules and the six extensive revisions plus recent updates. It's linked from our Pathfinder UK website, in the second paragraph.
I am delighted to announce that Joonas Frösen, one of the UK and Europe's favourite GMs, has just achieved his 5 Star game. He is well known for travelling afar to generously run games in Lodges and clubs wherever needed. (We suspect he has a series of portals.) It's hard to see where he finds the time because he already runs a thriving group in Cambridge. Joonas Frösen ran a wonderful "Serpents' Ire" game for us, today. Here are some of the players' comments: This was a very complex adventures with many moving parts and Joonas had prepared it right up to the hilt, ready for a fast moving game without long pauses to check the text. He ran a very clear briefing subtley highlighting the key issues for missions and he did that all in-character. His table management is spot on. It's a pleasure to play with a challenging GM who does so fairly and without vindictiveness, occasionally helping struggling players. That's a rare thing. Joonas raises GM'ing to an artform. Jonas combines all the things you want from a GM. Firstly, he is an excellent storyteller and paints the world for his characters in vivid colours with his narrative. Also, he is a balanced and experienced adjudicator who makes sure things occur fairly and correctly. Lastly, he is a devious opponent, ensuring that his players never get a a free ride. Joonas really knows the system. He even understands the grappling rules! He is highly knowledgeable about the rules and he really knows the scenario. So the pace of the game is improved because he knows it so well. He is good at moving the plot forward when we were prevaricating. He kept the game right on track. He also gave us interesting and vivid descriptions of the NPCs and environment. I liked his voices. He channels brain-eaters very well.
London calling. Pathfinders needed Sunday 25 June 2017. Adventures new and old. Penderel's Oak, Wetherspoons pub, High Holborn, London WC1V 7HP.
This is a very friendly group that is the perfect place to start playing Pathfinder, or for more experienced players to try their hand at GM'ing in a supportive group. Please sign up on Warhorn and click the "Play" button if you want to join a game. This helps us plan how many tables to organise. If you find you can't make it you can click the "Withdraw" button just as easily.
"Lord Romeo" I will send you a private message via this Paizo website to tell you how you can help us in London but feel free to contact me on my public email address listed on the Pathfinder Society Coordinators' webpage. http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/coordinators
We ran the Pathfinder hall at UK Games Expo and it was a good barometer of the Pathfinder / D&D 5E state of play. We have far more Pathfinder games running at conventions than 5E but they are growing in number especially where they run a Special. They ran one at UK Games Expo and it sold out almost immediately. We have a very good VO Team in the UK and I think we do a good job of organising our players and making it very easy for them to sit down and play Pathfinder. We also make a point of making friends with the sign-up desk and recruiting new players directly. This year Richard Pett gave us his "Taste of the Blight" to run and that set us even with the D&D Special. We had the extra attraction of Ben Loomes Syrinscape sound effects. But D&D5E is certainly growing in the UK. It is such a strong brand and all the mums and dads know the name and buy it for their kids. Pathfinder only has word-of-mouth publicity. "Strahd" is also a strong selling point for old timers of D&D. Wizards of the Coast are considering a big splash here in the UK next year at UK Games Expo. This year Paizo didn't have a single logo credit on site, or on website. Their two stockists had brought very little Pathfinder product. We remain good friends with D&D5e. Generally we think the competition is healthy and keeps us on our toes. It is also a great recruitment field for players who would like a more tactical games with more choices for their characters.
We have had Core running at our conventions with very mixed results and lots of confusion. Many players just don't understand the exclusivity. They find it very inflexible. It would be a huge help if a Core Character could play in the regular campaign when there are no alternatives available, stay with the core rules and resources, and then go back and play in Core games.
Listen you Agents, out there in PaizoCon-Land, I don’t want to spoil your day but we just got an alert from from our people at Border Control. It seems like a Faceless Stalker managed to slip through and caught the flight out of Heathrow. Someone found the mangled body of "Andrew the Brit" jammed into a dicebag in the washrooms. It seems likely that it took over his appearance and stole his PaizoCon ticket. Whatever you do, don’t accept chocolate from this cad. He just wants to bury you and steal your skin.
"One or more characters cannot play this scenario due to being the wrong character / scenario type."
I'm just back from Conception with 140 game sessions to report and it's not going well. Many character numbers are causing the report to fail to save. They seem to be new character numbers that haven't yet been registered or numbers where a player is planning to create an extra character but hasn't registered it yet. The ones that are accepted come up as "RPG". The ones that aren't accepted remain blank in that column. It's a real problem because the whole game report fails to save. I can't wait for players to register their characters online and, of course, the reality is that some never will. Is there anything I can do to work around this or are you working on a fix?
I'm just back from Conception with 140 game sessions to report and it's not going well. Many character numbers are causing the report to fail to save. They seem to be new character numbers that haven't yet been registered or numbers where a player is planning to create an extra character but hasn't registered it yet. The ones that are accepted come up as "RPG". The ones that aren't accepted remain blank in that column. It's a real problem because the whole game report fails to save. I can't wait for players to register their characters online and, of course, the reality is that some never will. Is there anything I can do to work around this or are you working on a fix?
Dear French Wolf It IS a good one. I've run it three times now and really enjoyed it each time. BUT there are lots of loose ends that need tying up so that you have something to throw at the players when they want to investiate certain named personalities, and the lack of an overall map meant a bit of prep for me. You are EXACTLY the chap to run it with style and panache.
I would love to persuade Paizo to print their "read out loud" text in bold so it is easy to read even in the dim gloomy lighting we usually get at games conventions. Instead it is often printed in a brown colour which has far less contrast than black on white. It's particularly bad if you print out the scenarios in black and white for economy. The brown prints as grey not black. The type is already pretty small so it seems bad typography to make something so important paler as well.
I second that! Well done Dave -- 7 slots, wow! I ran 5 and I was well burned out. I ran a "Mists of Mwangi" and we had an orchestral session of throbbing drums (biscuit tins), beating of chests (males only), ook ooks, eek eeks, and aaaaargh aaaaarghs. Strange looks from the other games tables but good fun. The Pathfinder games seem to attract the best roleplayers and I was well entertained by the players in every game. Russ' performing mule was a big hit. Big thanks to everyone, especially to Kithran who organised the roleplaying events with charm and panache.
Hey, not fair Josh! In the UK we have been away at Conception running the Pathfinder Organized Play for the last five days. (It was great and all the 5 slots I ran were 200 percent over subscribed by players.) I would have snapped up these two recent modules with the rest of my January purchases and used the voucher you sent out. Now I try to buy them and the "Add to shopping cart" doesn't work and the expiry date has passed. Why didn't you make these new modules public last Wednesday?
We played "Stay of Execution" last night and it was great. We had a lot of entertainment from it. I had a hunch that things would wander off the plotted locations and they certainly did but that was fine. I'm glad I had spent a few minutes sketching out the overall plan of the prison or the game would have slowed down a lot. This was a brilliant adventure for roleplaying and wheeler-dealing. It was never a really tough challenge from the combats. That was partly because my players used every opportunity they could to roleplay their way through. Interestingly, because of their Faction missions, they spontaneously asked a lot of difficult questions about the set-up of the prison. Spoiler:
The Taldan players were asking how the food was taken in to the prisoners. If you have the scenario you will know why. They found a stinking load of pigswill that was due to be taken in to the prisoners and they completed one of their goals before even starting the scenario. Fair play.
The Qadiran player hooked on to the quest for the Qadiran prisoner like a bloodhound, and she spent a lot of time trying to work out how the smuggled items were being paid for by the prisoners and how the smugglers got OUT of the prison. (DMs, better prepare your answers carefully.) Our Osirion Faction character is actually an Ulfen warrior and she is not heterosexual. She fell heavily for the red headed and green eyed Enga and put a lot of effort and charm into the preservation of her life so she could carry her off. She was very, very upset to suddenly find she was not unconscious but dead. If you've read the scenario you'll guess which faction popped her. Our Andoran players refused to leave the prison without seeing Skrange so they could find some evidence of corruption. I made Skrange a Johnny Cash style half orc dressed in black and shaking his rusty cage. Alone in his tower he has been writing a book for the last fifteen years about the was he has been incarcerated by his treacherous cousin. The Andorans claimed to be agents of his publisher and offered to get it published for him. Rivak and his hairy heavies stopped the party in their tracks but they offered to get him out of jail with them. Of course that's a much better offer than getting Hadge so he accepted. Rival later ratted on the gnolls and used them as a distraction for the outside wall guards while he got away scot free. The party avoided the worst of the bugs by luring them off by feeding them the food from the barrels and holding them at bay with flaming torches and burning oil. Their plan went a little awry when the characters slipped on the greasy rubbish and fell into their own burning oil. They took out Enga VERY swiftly. They left hurriedly when the riot spilt into their area. Rivak's ambush turned into a deal and they had the required payment for Grinnd in their backpack. They sweetened the deal by sketching of him in erotic poses and leaving him the drawings. He didn't eat them. Very little blood was spilt but we had a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to running again at Conception UK next week.
I've just got hold of "Stay of Execution". It looks good and I'm running a Slot Zero this Friday before running the adventure at Conception UK, (our second biggest convention after GenCon). It reads like a very open-ended adventure. It hints at a few possibilities and I plan to work out a few of those encounters in advance. I'm quite happy to do that but I must admit I am suprised that some of this groundwork isn't provided in the module. I'm also trying to sketch out an overall map of the prison. I wonder why this basic isn't in the module. Perhaps it was cut due to space. The description is pretty ambiguous and only a tiny part of the huge complex is mapped. I appreciate that the pressure needs to be applied to the players to drive then through a certain sequence of events. OK, but my players are lively and inventive and will twist the plot as hard as they can. If I have to stop and work out the next room, or an NPC, that will slow the pace and reduce the drama. Has anyone else found that a problem, or perhaps someone else has sketched out an overall plan of the prison to share?
Hi there fellow Pathfinders. I'll be along at Conception and particularly looking forward to the Pathfinder games. I'm running 4 slots. "Slave Pits of Absalom" in Slots 1 and Slot 8, "Eye of the Crocodile King" in Slot 3 and "Stay of Execution" in Slot 7. We are playtesting "Stay of Execution" this Friday. It looks like a tricky one to run. I'm also looking forward to playing the brilliant LIHR games on Friday. I have a 3rd Level Rogue who is really keen to play the three Living Arcanis games. Slots 2, 4, 10. Anyone know of any vacancies? See you there ...
I've just run this adventure for the second time. The first time it was for a Tier 1-2 the second time for a Tier 3-4. On both occasions the players really enjoyed the adventure. The story is very engaging. They entered fully into the atmosphere and did their best to unravel the mysteries. The haunting held up well and then it slipped into a different sort of nightmare with attacks coming from all sorts of unexpected quarters. I must mention the excellent map which I printed out full size and had removable black patches over the rooms they couldn't see into. "B" died quickly at the lower tier but on the higher Tier she escaped to snipe at the party from the shadows for the rest of the adventure. "R" (teetering on the edge of the roof, surrounded on three sides, with a sword poised over him) surrendered and cut a deal with the remarkably merciful characters that he would destroy what lay inside the barricaded room. He was eventually released to run off and meet his sweetheart. They lived happily ever after. NOT SO THE PCs! In both games the players deeply resented the sudden death encounters that struck without warning, were 99 per cent certain of hitting and killing at least one player, and could easily kill half the party. Our player with a dead character took it very well but everyone made it clear that it wasn't entertaining, amusing or challenging because there was no way to avoid the threat. Spoiler:
At the lower tier it is the Lightning Bolt (5d6 DC16) and the Assassin Vine (minimum damage 8 improved Grab and follow up with Constrict min damage 8). At the higher Tier it is the Advanced Assassin Vine (+17 to hit and minimum damage 11 improved Grab and follow up with Constrict minimum damage 11). Not to mention a reach of 30 foot so no one escapes! I would like to make three suggestions.
"Blood at Dralkard Manor " 10 out of 10 for quality of adventure 5 out of 10 for balance.
I am very unclear on the Tier system and I can't find any guidance in the Organised Play Rules. If you have a table of 6 players I see you simply divide their total levels by 6. Does anything over 2 gives the players the option to choose to round up to Tier 3? Surely the DM (who knows the difficulty of the adventure, and some are very tough) can give them a hint here. But what if there are only 4 players around the table. Do you divide their total levels by 6 to compensate for having fewer players? Or by 4 and disadvantage them? And if there are 7 players do you divide by 6 and add the last player's levels to allow for them going in mob-handed. Or do you divide by 7 and allow them the advantage?
Hi Greater London Pathfinders. I recognise a lot of names from GenConUK. Please add my name to the list of DMs and Players. Funnily enough I was just looking at the synopsis for the two new Pathfinder Society modules and thinking "That's for me!". If there is a player seat available on 19 October, please slap my name on it. I'll be pleased to reciprocate with "Black Waters". I plan to run all the modules on Friday nights in Muswell Hill, North London with my regular group, and there are usually one or two seats free. Fresh blood welcome. But having a chance to play as well would be great. I guess you lot are well ahead on levels but I'll just have to make up for it in meaness and bloody mindedness.
Dear Josh I'm so, so sorry to hear you are ill. We were all really appreciative of you making the effort of coming to see us in the UK but it sounded like it was the end of a long, long schedule of conventions. Take some time out and get really well. Sometimes it takes a lot more than a Cure Light Wounds to do the trick! Rob Silk
Hey Dragnmoon (Steve)! Thanks for doing this thread. Brilliant! I don't know where you managed to fit in the time in the heavy gaming schedule. I just got back this afternoon. I guess you are re-crossing the channel tomorrow. I hope we see you again at another convention. GenCon was our biggest for the UK but Conception is the next biggest and very, very good. I'm afraid we just can't compete with the States for size except for the "Starters" at the Indian Restaurant. Just think of our Cons as "bijou". Conception website address is
I had a ball DM'ing and meeting you all. You really kept me very well entertained with some unusual approaches the plots and some excellent roleplaying of snooty Taldorans, self-righteous Andorans, shameless moneygrabbing Qadirans, Asmodeus invoking Chelaxians and tomb-robbing Osirians! I'm not sure I have pinned a name beside everyone on this message board here but I think Dragnmoon is Steve [Gillius], Paul H is Paul [Oskar Treehugger], Uzzy was Michael [Othello], Cosimo Angelo was Francois [Cosimo], Paul Watson was Paul [I never met his character], Ninjaiguana and partner I curried and drank with but to my shame can't remember names, Rob from Chech Republic [Xerena], Sarah [Akila], Andy [Fareflax], Wintegreen was Dave [Ashraf], Chris [Urision], Callum [Louis Ferranti], Nick [Szallus the Colour Sprayer], Terry T [Erasmus]. I was Rob Silk [ginger beard moustache, glasses, bad jokes]. Anyone who played on the tables I DM'd -- I still have your character initiative cards with stats which I plan to sell to the CIA tomorrow unless you send me £1,000,000 in used notes.
I'm potentially very interested in Murder on the Silken Caravan and The Silent Tide as I'll probably not get the chance to play those at Gencon. Dear Callum You would be very welcome. Naturally Pathfinder DMs get first dibs because we all need to get to grips with the Scenarios. It's very close to the date and I need to get complete tables booked for certain. On Friday Evening I plan to be running Silent Tide. On Monday afternoon and evening I plan to be running Frozen Fingers and Murder on the Silken Caravan. So far, this is flexible. I can swop these three around to fit your own interests. e.g. I could swop around and do Silent Tide and Murder on the Silken Caravan on the Monday We probably have a Taldorian Gnomic Bard; an Osirian Cleric; a Taldorian halfling sorceror and a pumped-up-heavy chain fighter of some sort. That’s about my best guess at the moment. You will have seen the scenarios have already had rave reviews from GenCon Indy but are mid to high risk. I expect you have already downloaded the "Guide to Organized Play" that gives you all you need to know abut creating characters. Do create an account with Paizo (FREE) and register for the Pathfinder Campaign (FREE) and get your character and faction registered. That way I can submit your Experience points, Prestige and rewards. If you need some directions for finding us let me know. We are at 44 Sutton Road, London N10 1HE. We have a very friendly bunch of players and at least one other newcomer. Please let me know, ASAP, if you are coming on Friday evening, Bank Holiday Monday or both. On the Monday we have lunch for you and in the evening we can call for pizza or sumink. Looking forward to seeing you.
OK, I know this is the wrong place to post it but I want to catch UK Pathfinders' attention for a second. I'm running Slot Zeros for three Pathfinder scenarios next Friday evening 7.00pm 22 August, and Bank Holiday 2.00pm Monday 25 August. Muswell Hill, North London. I've already posted it on the Slot Zero Board for Pathfinder DMs but if you are a player who can't get to play all four scenarios then you may be interested too and you would be very welcome (space permiting). I understand you get your experience and rewards which I will submit for you. I won't be running Hydra's Fang but so far you could choose which you want to play. Just let me know if you are interested.
GenCon UK now has a number of "Sell-outs" for Pathfinder Society games. It's a shame to turn players away. If anyone fancies running the mods at Gen Con I believe they may open up more tables. You can see which slots are Sold Out on the Events > By Type > Pathfinder menu link. Just email the Kithran, the (very efficient) organiser and maybe he'll squeeze you in as an extra DM. Then bring 6 mates along to play ... ;-)
So if you didn't get them in an email and you're a volunteer GM for Gen Con, check your spam filter and then email me and let me know you didn't get it. Spiffing news old chap! So what news for us Brits for GenCon UK? Do you have the email addresses of us DMs, or are you sending the modules via Kithran at ConSupport? I'm down to DM all 4 modules, so I'm really keen to get my teeth into prepping and running a Slot 0 or two would be really helpful. Pip pip.
I bought the Forgotten Realms book when we started up the Sarbreenar living city campaign, here in the UK. That ran on into a living campaign for years and we raised thousands of pounds for charities. It was the biggest and longest running living campaign over here. Then, around eighteen months ago Wizards sent us a Cease and Desist order and threatened to sue us if we continued. Incredible! We just couldn't understand it at the time but now we know why, don't we. Well you can fool some of the people all of the time and fool all of the people some of the time -- but I won't be buying anything from a company that threatens players with legal action if they use their products.
Well done, Dragnmoon. Good'n decisive. I'm in and I'll buy you a pint of Cobra! We can harden up on the number of people and call the restaurant when we see who is game for a laugh. I saw you are planning to swing-by Stonehenge while you are over. You'll enjoy it. They have a very good audio commentary you can stick in yer ear as you walk around the perimeter. I hope it's a misty day for atmosphere. I'll bring my pass for you. If you have enough time, do visit Avebury if you can. It's a huge figure of eight of standing stones that runs all the way around a village. It's much less publicised than Stonehenge but possibly even more spectacular.
Anyone hear anything about the release of the modules yet?
Sounds good to me. Reading has several bars that stay open beyond midnight for those that don't have an early start but they tend to sting you at the door or at the bar for the privelage. I'm up for a wingding on Thursady night or Friday night but I'm probably gonna turn into a pumpkin at midnight ready for the 9.00 slot the next morning. A beer and a meal and a yak would suit me well. How about a curry? Garden of Gulab is pretty good and walking distance. My DM slots for Pathfinder are --
On any evening when you're not partying I can recommend the Cthullu games that are being run in the evenings if you want a complete change and some VERY good Keepers. "Lunatic takes over the Asylum" is especially recommended for Nick!
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