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Today on Arizona Pathfinder Society: Convention Edition I miscalculated how much time it would take me to prep a total of 40 individual maps for Phoenix’s convention this weekend (yeah... have fun at Paizo Con without me guys xD). Many of the GMs I got to volunteer are new to GMing, and so I offered to prep their maps for them if they’d give me some money to help cover the cost of laminating sheets (even with their help I still spent $50 of my own money on the laminating sheets and I’m not even GMing this Con, I’m in HQ >.< ). So... needless to say when I went to GM Saturday, I still had a lot of work to do and took my laminator, scissors, tape, printed maps, and the laminating sheets to the store... I worked while GMing. Until all of a sudden, I didn’t have to anymore. At one point one of my players grabbed the stack of sleeved map tiles and fed them through the laminator for me. Another player grabbed the scissors and began to trim the maps. By the end everyone was helping in some way or another and when the store closed they came back to my apartment to help me finish. It was 3am before we were done. Additionally, when they found out I had to still spend my own money on the laminating sheets, one of them covered my snacks and dinner that night. If that wasn’t enough, as they were leaving, my players told me how much they appreciated the work I put into Society so hey can have good experiences at my tables. Not going to lie, I cried a little at that one. I have an amazing community and I feel blessed to have players that will stop and help the new members or recruit friends to come play. But these displays of appreciation for me—that got me. It was nice to know I was appreciated <3
I really need to visit the forums more, Hilary, that's hilarious xD Happiness for the day: It's now officially been almost a full school year since I started Flagstaff's branch of PFS (we end term in 2 weeks-ish), and my little Society that started off with me not knowing if I'd have a table that night or not has now grown to the point where I need to consistently plan for 2 tables and call up my friends to see if they'll GM. The group is really very positive, doesn't really argue a ton, and generally respects whatever ruling I have to decide on when disagreements occur. I've had a rough term health-wise, and PFS has been my escape and honestly the group I have is really supportive and helps get me to and from games when they can (I have a visual impairment so I can't drive myself, and so they'll offer me rides when they can :3). Tonight the veteran players helped my table of entirely new players build their characters before going to play at their table. It was very fantastic and heartwarming to see! Anyway, I just wanted to share the positivity that's been going on here in my little section of the world :3
So... it's my first time with a PC death at my table, I was terrified that my player would be really upset, the Society here is really new and I didn't want to scare off a new-ish player... He looked at me and said "Hey, it happens. I was going to make my dash two anyway, now I really have to." and I'm am so grateful and happy that they took it well. I honestly have the best little Society group because they are all really relaxed and understand that sometimes the dice just aren't on your side.
Thanks Hilary!
an overview of the whole crazy thing That is a beautiful document. Mind if I borrow some of the sections that mine is missing? I'll credit you! <3
Chronicle Zero? It's basically just a sheet that has some of the society specific information -- like magic item purchasing -- rules in a convenient and easy to reference sheet so they don't have to reference the manual every time
So... I'm a bit of a "Dungeon Mom" as the other players at my store have noted. And I have a tendency to over-prepare for scenarios and my players. I also bring cookies lol That being said, one of my favorite things I've done is create a "New Player Packet" for the players who start their society adventures at my store. I give them:
Additionally I bring:
Just in case we don't have time to build a character before we start. That being said, I feel like I'm missing something... Is there anything else nifty that my fellow GMs bring to the tables for their new members?
Hey Wolf, I really genuinely tried to add a pin myself, but could not find the "additions" button. So I'm here to ask you to put a pin in for: The Geekery
We play the First and Third Saturdays of the month from 6pm to 10pm (they'll keep the store open late if we run long) We do ask that they use the Phoenix Warhorn to sign up for games (made it easier on my VC to keep it all on one board xD)
I'm super excited! I get to start the branch of PFS for the city I'm attending school in this weekend. I loved being part of that community when I was back home, and so I'm really excited to get to introduce it to this part of the state.
I'm not going to read the whole thread, because I'm 100% certain that there are people whose views are different than mine, and that's okay. What I will say before I post this is that I, personally, am a very lawful good person. The rule for Society Play exist because they are an effort to keep people at a semi-even playing field so that new players are less intimidated by people who may know more about the game. So that characters are equally useful. Give us a place to meet other players so that if we prefer homebrew we can maybe make friends there to invite over to our house to play with homebrew rules. etc. The reason we audit is to ensure that players are 1) keeping honest and 2) to ensure that this balance is maintained to the best of our abilities. That way someone who is brand new can come in and contribute similarly to someone who has played for years. The idea behind Society Play is to expand the fan base and introduce new people to the game that we all love to play. The sacrifice we, as people who have played for a while, make is to not be able to roll stats, have arbitrary gold amounts at the GM's discretion, and must show that we achieved what we said, earned what we did, etc. I think it's a very fair trade considering the opportunities Society Play creates for people like me who have moved often and lost more home groups than I care to count due to scheduling conflicts. Society allows me to take a character that I love and have put a lot of thought into, and travel anywhere in the world and be able to find a game. That's an amazing thing! Especially when you factor in that with my visual impairment it makes meeting people really difficult (most people aren't really willing to drive out to you to meet you for the first time, that's something people get more comfortable with once they know you better... and unfortunately I am incapable of driving since I'm not able to see very well and all). So by auditing, you did the right thing, because you just held them to the rules. After all, Society Play is no different than any other hobby. Bowling teams have rules, Pottery classes have rules... By participating in Society Play you are agreeing to abide by Society Play rules. If you don't want to, then you can always play a home game. You don't have to lose your hobby if you don't like the Society's rules, because there's always the option to play at home with friends by whatever rules (or lack thereof) that you want. While enforcing the rules as a GM will often get you a few negative looks from your players when it clashes with their desires, what you're really doing is standing up for the other people who may have wanted to do something awesome but didn't because they actually followed the rules. You're keeping things fair and equal. That is a beautiful thing! Additionally... I did skim some of the comments and I know disabilities were brought up. And I get that sometimes things can be harder for those of us with impairments (both the visible and invisible kind). However, I have found that most people are generally kind enough to help when I need it. If none of the players volunteer to help someone when an auditing error occurs, the GM should step up to do so. Because as a GM you are, in a way, a representative of the Society (because that's how the player will perceive it, even if you don't). At that point, you helping out someone who is disabled not only reflects well on you as a person, but on the Society as a community. So if people are finding that they've got a player or two that doesn't seem to keep up with their chronicles, or fills them out incorrectly, or whatever the case may be, we can always go that extra step to volunteer to help them correct it! That will earn you a new friend, make the society look good, and keep things on an even playing field. That is far more helpful than asking the Society to change how it works. Because the reality of the situation for us disabled people is this: the world isn't going to change to accommodate us, we have to be responsible for knowing what we can do and ask for help with what we can't. It is near impossible to account for all disability types in accommodations most cases. There is always someone whose disability won't be covered. And an accommodation that will help one person might hinder another. It's an impossible balance to keep up with. As someone who is legally blind, I do what I can, and ask for help with what I can't. That's all I can do. I don't expect different treatment or for anyone to go out of their way. I just ask. And if I get the help, great. If not, I ask someone else later. And so on. (And if you're wondering how I can type and read in the forums, let me tell you about two wonderful pieces of technology: Screen enlarging, i.e zooming, and Screen Readers, i.e. it reads the screen for me if enlarging doesn't help). That's my 2 cents on the subject... as someone who actually does physically struggle with these things but still manages to make it work. :) |
