Lord Percival's page

Right so no hustle, er, shirt charge.

But this shouldn't have come up at all... It wasn't/isn't legal

Guys use them in the adventure paths I play in all the time.

Hopefully they will make it legal now. No reason for it to be banned at this point.

I don't own any of these items but they come up all the time in judging. Just to be clear, your turn now ends after using the Quickrunner shirt correct? (Thankfully you can no longer switch shirts between combats)

Eh, I should have read the whole thread before replying. I will wait until the final schedule is released before I continue down this path.

I absolutely care. As someone spending $100 for a badge, $400 for a flight, and $500 for a hotel room...I expect to game at my gaming convention. I also expect to not need to volunteer my time after said $1,000 expenditure so some of the other people who have paid to attend have options to play.

I wouldn't have purchased the badge had they announced this from the start. I can get this amount of PFS at any local convention without the serious investment.

What it also said to me was the following (at the risk of ruffling a few feathers):

#1) Limiting gaming slots increases likelihood of foot traffic through the Paizo store. Unsurprisingly this was even listed as a "thing to do" during this time.

#2) Puts the onus on the players who came to game to self muster for 1/3rd of the convention AND we don't have to even reimburse those willing to donate time to our charged event.

#3) As someone who has organized multiple conventions, getting breaks for the convention organizers / volunteers off time is always an issue. Now those people can get a fair amount of time off daily.

I am willing to play / run Core scenarios Thursday or on off slots. Will be part of the Arizona contingent.

Okay I started laughing hysterically here.

Second in regards to the life oracle getting more channels that's also showing signs of not reading. Life Oracles get 1 + charisma modifer versus the clerics 3 + charisma modifier. So while it is true you do in fact get a higher DC off of it I'd like to point out that a cleric can, with either the glory or heroism domains, get a +2 bonus to said DC. So an oracle with 18 charisma channeling is comparable to a glory cleric with 14 charisma. Ultimately they're even in this case too. Now having the elven oracle be able to drop favored bonuses into channel to...

So you think being at a -2 starting channel number equals being able to channel off your casting stat?

Interesting...

The other poster may not be aware of fervor but I am. I have a cleric and the above named oracle build. The cleric is not half as good as the single classed uber healing mystic theurge.

Elven Life Oracle can add half his level to his channeling mystery. Channeling is his casting stat so he can channel more, exclude more, and have a higher DC against undead.

So basically he is 2x the healer/undead slayer the cleric is.

Oh and then he can add wizard spells to his spell lists by taking Ancient Lorekeeper.

So yes you too can play a cleric / sorcerer with better hit points and skill points all within a single class.

Level 10 life oracle channels for 9d6 from improved invisibility whenever he isn't fireballing/lightning bolting.

Yeah terrible terrible class :P

Thanks for listening Eric. If you need any assistance in enhancing high level play, I would be happy to volunteer a hand.

I have to ask the question "Adapt to what?"

Well to be blunt, every Venture Captains are parroting the line of "reporting determines playability"

Which flies in the face of:

A) Logic - You can't expect people who aren't your employees to be your source of data integrity.

B) Reality - You have multiple people who actually communicate with Paizo (which would be a fraction of your real player base) telling you that the reporting system isn't just inaccurate, but grossly so.

So you can continue the same flawed policy or you can adapt your policy to fit what is really happening within your campaign.

To give you an idea on how bad reporting is, according to my account:

My Level 12 is Level 5

My Level 9 is Level 2

My Level 5 is Level 2

My Level 2 is Level 1

The people on this message board are the small group of your players who even login to this site. Most of your players have likely never been here. Yet even those that do make it here tell you that there are MASSIVE issues with the accuracy of reporting.

Knowing this, you can only come to two conclusions:

#1. You have a large group of cheaters.

#2. Your data is faulty. As Corporate Asset Manager, one of my teams in charge of data integrity. It is hard enough to get people who are paid by you to accurately enter data time and time again. The 90% accuracy months are rare (mind you we look at data that everyone enters across the company). To expect people who have no investment outside of hobby and free time to be even in the 30% correct range is frankly naive. The person giving you the number does not perceive value in it, so you adding value only compounds the issue.

Which is more likely?

You can continue to base business decisions around a horribly flawed concept or you can adapt. As someone who would like to see Pathfinder Society succeed, I hope you adapt.

Unfortunately, I believe that maps/artwork are even more expensive than text.

If cost is an issue, then either:

A: Find volunteers. I was never paid for my position. I did it because I loved the campaign.

B: Raise the cost of the product and if the demand is there, it will support the cost. This can be accomplished in the same manner as addressing the time concerns. Make high level play two rounds in time and in cost. Problem solved.

There are no challenges that can not be overcome with some creativity.

As someone who was a primary author and stat creator for an organized play campaign that went to level 20, I personally thought the most enjoyable levels were levels were after level 7. Every mod I wrote always went to the current level cap and there was never a shortage of players wanting to play there.

I personally did not find it to be difficult to challenge PCs at high levels, though my favorite mods involved little combat at all.

Nor was 4 hour play in a high level mod that difficult. Keeping time isn't as much about the level of the players but the judge running them. Judges that are not comfortable with high level play will drag an encounter far beyond it's intended length.

This issue feeds itself. Lack of opportunities to judge high level play means that judges will not be able to handle high level play when the opportunities happen. This only further reinforces the false assumption that high level play takes too long to run.

Ultimately my experience as a campaign admin is that people most people just want to continue a character's story. Each unique character creates a unique experience. Artificial level caps breed discontent amongst your player base. People who have invested the time it takes to get a PC to high level play represent some of your most loyal and dedicated customers. Keeping them engaged in the product will only benefit Paizo long term.

Here is what I personally would like to see:

#1. High level play opportunities once every 3 months. Wether they give gold and xp or not would be secondary to the chance to play the character that on average you have played for around 18 months. I haven't looked at my 12th level PC this year. When that one play opportunity in a year comes around, it will take me some time to even get back to feeling the character. This eliminates that concern.

#2. A high level track at any interactive where it would be story appropriate. For instance, a gathering of all the members of the Pathfinder Society shouldn't have a level limit at the door.

If you truly believe that high level play requires more investment from Paizo, then simply increase the cost of the product. If the concern is that a mod will run too long, then make it two rounds even if it only has one round worth of encounters. Paizo has the advantage of coming after many past campaigns and can tap a vast amount of knowledge to overcome problems that many other campaigns have already had.

You could certainly find volunteers who would want to see high level play succeed and flourish. This would minimize your risk in the venture.