Pathfinder Society has been growing at a rapid pace here in Melbourne, Australia. Nowadays, there's hardly an empty day on our calendar in which a PFS session isn't running in a store somewhere across metropolitan Mebourne.
I'm very proud of our community, and even moreso of the GMs whose effort makes this possible.
One such person is Jena Wills, who has been an active member of our Society for 12 months now. Recently, Jena offered to check out a new store, Next Level Games in Dandenong. Although Jena regularly attends games at our other PFS venues, she has quickly made NLG Dandenong her home turf, which has been fantastic, because it extends our Society to a corner of Melbourne that neither myself nor VL Andrei could hope to cover ourselves. NLG Dandenong is now hosting up to three PFS sessions per week.
As Melbourne's player-base and scheduled sessions continues to grow, I know Jena will become a valuable member of our team. I hope some of you will have an opportunity to join Jena at a PFS game in Dandenong or one of our many other gamedays and events across Melbourne.
I'd like to welcome Andrei Buters as our new Venture-Lieutenant, Melbourne Australia.
Andrei has been making great strides bringing new players into our hobby with evening PFS sessions at Good Games Melbourne, regular appearances at Good Games Blackburn, as well as rallying GMs when scenarios need scheduling. Local players know Andrei for his impressive character sketches as much as for his entertaining character roleplay.
Andrei will be inheriting the position from RyanK, who I'd like to thank for his help over the past year in his role as VL. Ryan has been a key member of our Blackburn PFS community, known for his dreadlocks, gnomes and strong rules knowledge. Ryan will continue to be a regular member of our Blackburn PFS group, but less of an organising capacity, as he juggles a weekend work roster with his social life.
Sometimes a printer break-down can be a blessing in disguise.
Now my old HP printer was pretty good, colour double-sided A4 - automatic double-sided printing is not only a great paper saver, it's less to carry and takes up less shelf space over time. But when preparing scenarios with maps, or printing flyers for conventions, sometimes you need more than A4.
It took me a couple of months looking around for the combo of features I needed for the right price, but last week I bought an Epson printer that does colour double-sided A4, colour single-sided A3, and two paper trays, so I don't have to keep changing between paper types.
Now normally, maps of this size would require 8x A4 pages, printed on card-stock, laid out side-by-side on the table, or sometimes I'd take a USB stick into my local Officeworks and pay for them to be printed and laminated.
This time, however, 4x A3 pages, laminated .. sweeet!
Note: use Posterazor for slicing large maps into separate pages.
I only realised after I'd printed and laminated both maps on separate pages, that I could have printed the second map's pages on the reverse side of the first map's pages before laminating for convenience, easier storage and carrying around, and halved both paper and lamination costs - after all, both maps printed on four A3 pages, and were from the same scenario. I'll have to remember that for next time.
Looking forward to printing and laminating some A3 flyers for my next convention too.
Arcanacon 2012
Australia Day long weekend
Thursday 26th through Sunday 29th January, 2012
Collingwood College, opposite Collingwood town hall, only a brief walk from Collingwood train station
It's that time of year again! The 2012 Convention season kicks off in Australia with Arcanacon held over four day on the Australia Day long weekend!
Each Pathfinder Society game plays for 5 hours duration, and therefore requires two standard Arcanacon sessions to play, please refer to the timetable below for Pathfinder session times:
Thursday 26th January 2012
Session 1: 4:05pm to 11:00pm
Friday 27th January 2012
Session 2: 9:00am to 3:55pm (lunch-break 12noon-12:55pm)
Session 3: 4:05pm to 11:00pm (dinner-break 7pm-8pm)
Saturday 28th January 2012
Session 4: 9:00am to 3:55pm (lunch-break 12noon-12:55pm)
Session 5: 4:05pm to 11:00pm (dinner-break 7pm-8pm)
Sunday 29th January 2012!
Session 6: 9:00am to 7:05pm (lunch-break 12noon-12:55pm)
Note: Sunday is a special event: Blood Under Absalom, which requires three standard Arcanacon sessions to play!
Thursday, Friday and Saturday sessions will be chosen on the day, but will include intro scenarios for new players, new releases and popular favourites, so something for everyone!
Players may arrive and sign up on the day, however pre-registration enables us to anticipate player numbers and provide sufficient GMs to run tables. Note: Sunday's Blood Under Absalom special is anticipated to book out - pre-registration is strongly recommended!
You may join the Pathfinder Society without any prior game experience by playing one of seven pre-generated characters - Kyra human cleric, Valeros human fighter, Merisiel elven rogue, Ezren human wizard, Lirianne half-elven gunslinger, Reiko human ninja, or Hayato human samurai.
Alternatively, if you’re already familiar with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, you can create your own first-level character and bring it with you to the game. If building your own character, you will need to refer to either the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box or Pathfinder RPG Core Rules and the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organised Play which describes the point-buy system, starting hit points, factions and traits, and other rules important to building a character for a world-wide shared campaign.
Most Pathfinder sourcebooks contain options you may use for your character, including new classes, archetypes, feats, traits, equipment, spells etc. If using a rule from a source outside the Core Rulebook, you must have a legal copy of that book with you at the table for the GM to refer to, and it must be listed as allowed on the Additional Resources page, otherwise your character won't be permitted to use that class, feat, spell etc during play.
Pathfinder Society Organised Play Factions - Almost as important as your choice of race and class is your character’s Faction - one of ten allegiances who assign you secret side-missions
If you've already been playing Pathfinder Society at previous events and have a higher-level character (make sure to bring along your Chronicle Sheets!), every opportunity will be made to group higher level characters together at one table. However, due to player numbers and character levels, it won't always be possible to play a scenario at your preferred character level, so players should be prepared to play a back-up, lower level character, if a higher level table is unavailable for your session.
You may continue your character's daring adventures at Pathfinder Society gamedays held every week at Good Games Blackburn and Geelong stores.
If you have any questions about character options or Pathfinder Society events, please don't hesitate to contact me or post your questions or comments right here.
Unicon has a special place in my heart, because it was the first convention in which I ran Pathfinder Society, and this year will be my fourth year doing so.
Date: Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th October, 2011 (that's this coming weekend!)
Location: Melbourne High School, just a short walk from South Yarra train station.
This year, we're focusing sessions on First Steps, a series of three scenarios designed to introduce characters (and their players) to the city of Absalom and it's surrounds. Over the course of these three scenarios, you'll be sent on errands by each of the ten faction leaders. By the end of the series, your character should have a good idea which faction to ally with.
We'll also have a few other scenarios up our sleeves to run as the need arises, including several new releases.
Online registration for Unicon has already closed, but places are still be available for players who walk in on the day.
Whether this is your first game of Pathfinder Society, or if you're bringing along a Society character played at a previous convention, we'd love to see you!
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
Pathfinder Society 4-Star GM
Venture-Captain, Australia
I GM a lot of tables, and even get to play a few - in recent months I've been gaming every Saturday and every Sunday. I've seen a lot of scenarios over the last three years, and something has occurred to me in recent months - I've been walking away from the table thinking "Wow that was a good game! I haven't played a scenario that good since ... well, last week, really".
By "better", I mean more background, better storytelling, engaging characters, encounters that were built for diplomacy instead of a carefully targeted fireball or power-attack. These were more than just a series of combat encounters leading you to the mission's objective.
I first noticed this with City of Strangers Parts Iand II. Miss Feathers and Dakar were stand-outs in this two-parter, though the Duskwardens were also interesting, and the companion book City of Strangers offered these scenarios the kind of support one is used to seeing from an Adventure Path.
Is it just me, or have scenarios been getting better recently? If you happen to agree, what do you put it down to?
I have a few thoughts / pure speculation:
Golarion is maturing as a campaign, become more established, there is more in-print background to draw from, Paizo have a better sense of where it's heading than they could when it had just started, and so do we as players;
Responding to player feedback - City of Strangers was very well received - prompting Paizo to place more emphasisis on background and character than previously;
I print scenarios double-sided, and they used to fit comfortably in 10-page plastic sleeve booklets with a plastic sleeve page or two to spare. Nowadays I have trouble fitting all the pages into the 10-page sleeves. Recent scenarios have increased page-count than previous seasons, allowing for more background and character development;
Tier 1-7 scenarios required precious space for multiple stat-blocks. Tier 1-5 and Tier 3-7 scenarios reduce stat-blocks, space that can now be used for background and character development instead;
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, and I'm just hitting my stride as a GM, recognising and drawing out roleplaying opportunities more than I might have previously?
and I'm sure Mark Moreland has had a positive influence on the line (cheers, mate!)
Auscon II Brisbane - 1st & 2nd October, 2011 - is seeking Pathfinder Society GMs to run tables at their event.
Please don't delay, October might seem a way off yet, but the guys at Auscon want sessions scheduled ready for players to get their teeth into online pre-registration by the end of July.
Note that Paizocon 2011 Brisbane is is also scheduled 13th to 16th October, so I'd like to coordinate with GMs to ensure we're not scheduling scenarios you've previously run at Auscon two weeks earlier.
Any Brisbane folk available to GM Pathfinder Society at eitherAuscon II Brisbane or Paizocon 2011 Brisbane, should contact me (you'll find my contact details on the PaizoConOz 2011 Brisbane event page), and I'll put you in touch with Andrew at Auscon. We're very keen for Pathfinder Society to become a regular feature of gamedays and conventions such as these, but that can only happen with GMs to run them. With two Pathfinder events in October, here's your chance to build the Pathfinder community in Brisbane!
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
Pathfinder Society 4-Star GM
Venture-Captain, Australia
Watch this space over the coming weeks for further announcements as information becomes available.
Note: PaizoConOz is scheduled two weeks apart from Auscon II (Brisbane) and Sydcon 2011 (Sydney) both running on 1st and 2nd October. Auscon II in particular is seeking Pathfinder Society GMs to run tables at their event. I'd like to coordinate with GMs at these events to ensure we're not scheduling scenarios you've previously run at either Auscon or Sydcon two weeks earlier.
Any Brisbane folk available for GMing Pathfinder should email me (you'll find my contact details on the PaizoConOz event page), and I'll put you in touch with Andrew at Auscon. We're very keen for Pathfinder Society to become a regular feature of gamedays and conventions such as these, but that can only happen with GMs to run them. With two Pathfinder events in October, here's your chance to build a Pathfinder community in Brisbane!
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
Pathfinder Society 4-Star GM
Venture-Captain, Australia
Conquest 2011, Melbourne's Easter games convention
Friday 22nd - Monday 25th April, 2011
Melbourne High School, South Yarra
only a brief walk from the South Yarra train station or Toorak Road / Chapel Street tramlines
It's that time of year again - six sessions of Pathfinder Society running over the Easter long weekend.
Session Times:
Note: standard Conquest sessions are 3-hour duration. However, Pathfinder Society scenarios require 5-hours to play. Therefore, you'll need to book two standard Conquest sessions (9am-3pm or 4pm-10pm) in order to play a Pathfinder Society scenario.
Friday 22nd April 2011
Session 1: 12:30pm to 6:30pm
Saturday 23rd April 2011
Session 2: 9am to 3pm (incl. lunch-break)
Session 3: 4pm to 10pm (incl. dinner-break)
Sunday 24th April 2011
Session 4: 9am to 3pm (incl. lunch-break)
Session 5: 4pm to 10pm (incl. dinner-break)
Monday 25th April 2011
Session 6: 9am to 3pm (incl. lunch-break)
Special Guest
On Saturday, Matt Goodall, RPG Superstar 2010 winner, will be GMing his winning entry: Cult of the Ebon Destroyers, a full-length Pathfinder Module requiring a full-day, eg four standard Conquest sessions (9am-10pm), to play. This session is available for existing 7th-9th level characters, or you may create an 8th-level version of an existing Pathfinder Society character, or you may use a 7th-level pregenerated character.
4-Star GM Exclusive
The Midnight Mauler is an exclusive adventure to be run only by 4-star GMs and Venture-Captains for its first year.
Other confirmed scenarios include:
- The Heresy of Man series
- Shades of Ice series
- Murder on the Throaty Mermaid
Additional scenarios will be chosen to suit character levels on the day. To give some indication of the range we have to choose from, prepared scenarios are listed on the Conquest 2011 Melbourne event page, though actual availability may vary on the day.
Beginners are always welcome, and pregenerated characters will be available for new players or anyone who arrives unprepared.
Players already familiar with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game are encouraged to create their own character to play at the event. The Guide to Pathfinder Society Organised Play provides some additional rules for buiding a character for an organised play campaign, including ability point buy, starting gold, hitpoints, Traits and Factions. The Additional Resources page lists other Paizo Publishing products containing equipment, traits, deities, spells, feats, and classes that are legal for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, including the Magus, Gunslinger, Ninja and Samurai classes from the Ultimate Magic and Ultimage Combat playtests. The Advanced Players Guide has also been hugely popular expanding the game with the Alchemist, Cavalier, Inquisitor, Oracle, Summoner and Witch base classes. A blank character sheet might also come in handy.
If you've already been playing Pathfinder Society at previous events and have a higher-level character (make sure to bring along your Chronicle Sheets!), every opportunity will be made to group higher level characters together at one table. However, due to player numbers and character levels, it won't always be possible to play a scenario at your preferred character level, so players should be prepared to play a back-up, lower level character, if a higher level table is unavailable for your session.
Players may arrive and sign up on the day, however pre-registration is preferred to give us some idea of player numbers so we can provide sufficient GMs to run tables. Online registration is now open!
Pathfinder Society numbers will be available for new players, or you may signed up for Pathfinder Society membership online here at Paizo and bring your number along to the game.
Feel free to use this thread to ask questions, introduce your characters, etc prior to the event.
Hope to see you at Conquest!
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
Pathfinder Society 4-Star GM
Venture Captain, Australia
