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I had a great PFS experience playing 5 slots at Gen Con this year. Having the full list of scenarios and mustering points made finding my muster points very easy. One of my GMs was marginal, but he made up for it in improvising something interesting from the Medium's haunt channeler ability. My only complaint is in how solo tickets were handled. I was told to wait until the same time as generics to be seated despite there being tables with 1 or 2 seats available. I mostly used generics outside the specials, but I bought an actual ticket for one scenario thinking that would take off some of the rush of getting seated at the start time. Once a table of 4 is seated, it seems like actual tickets should be sent as soon as possible to an appropriately sub-tiered open table. It's not a big gripe, but it is one worth consideration I think.
That is a good point, Mike. I’m very curious about your comment that for linear play you look to cons. So to your perspective, in our circumstances, bursts of PFS campaign continuity, like 3-parters, are best experienced at cons? That's my preference. Continuity is the greatest strength of a home campaign, and organized play's greatest strength is being able to play a modular story in a single sitting with metaplot tying things together. I am very open to any ideas you may have. Feel free to email me any criticism or comments that might be personal, or too specific to our group for general interest. Nah, nothing too big. My only real beef is that there are more people quite capable of GMing who just don't do it. That's not on you, that's on them. :)
I'm GMing a group of 5 teenagers (including my daughter) plus my wife. Daniel Vance - human cleric of Milani
The entire party is CN or CG with the exception of the monk. The half-orc, ratfolk, and bard, started a rat breeding scheme after the proclamations came out.
I ran it twice at Gen Con. I don't think clues 2 and 3 were helpful at all because both times they figured out those two details before getting them. I think the most important clue is that the puzzle requires also using the stairs. Since their future selves are sending back the notes, I made that a clue to replace 2 and 3. One group figured it out from that and the other didn't. The portal puzzle seemed the most rushed in terms of game development, but there were other obvious things that this was still being edited for Gen Con.
Close beneath the shrine of Kro’akoth lies a serpentfolk stronghold currently in the clutches of a mutant serpentfolk priest. A three-way struggle for dominance is developing between the rival sects in this level and the level above. Warhorn sign-up: https://warhorn.net/events/mike-b-online-pfs/schedule/2015/06/12/sessions/7 7434 Between 24 and 48 hours before the game begins, you will receive an email that includes the Roll20 link to the game and that requests the following details. Character name and level
If you do not respond at least 12 hours before the start of the game, you may lose your seat to one of the waitlisted players.
The only two characters in tier for a 6-7 playing-up scenario are casting magic missile as their go-to spell of choice.I'm assuming that's without metamagic? Because you can do some rather silly things with metamagic enhanced magic missiles. Agree, but that's in support of other good melee characters. We had one out-of-tier melee character (mine) that was a Dirty Trick build (which I stated before we started). I should really correct my statement though because I didn't learn that these casters had magic missile as their main schtick. "You know you're in trouble when you are in the first around of combat and..."
I might be one of the lucky ones. I did an export of my scenarios with a nifty bookmarklet a few months ago while reviewing what I needed to qualify for my 5th star. I was able to locate what I was missing and fix everything except #23925 Blackros Matrimony because it was the only one that I did not report myself.
Having GMs track down their missing games on their own is not a solution. Paizo said that the cleanup was to fix data integrity problems. Whether those problems are fixed or not, I don't know, but there certainly have been some major NEW problem introduced. As someone who was working to get to 5 stars at Gen Con, fixing data that I've already put into the system is a disincentive.
In the ruins of Xin-Bakrakhan—seat of power of the Runelord of Wrath—the Pathfinder Society stands on the verge of a great discovery, but first the brave agents exploring the ruins must survive ages-old dangers and contemporary threats to return with the knowledge and wealth they’ve unearthed. Roll20 link will be sent out once the table is full to the first six players (one spot saved for someone I'm trading sessions to GM/play). Each of those players needs to provide the following at least 12 hours before the start of the game. Waitlist players will be asked for the same information if one of the other players does not respond by that time: Character name and level
Any time frame on fixing this? thanks. Yeah, I don't see how I can even report any scenarios. Just went to report a session of 6-06, and it says the following. One or more characters cannot play this scenario due to being the wrong character/scenario type. Nothing tells me which character that is or why. Is this caused by having ANY characters that are not registered and do not have their campaign selected? If so, it will never be accurate for our local games because many of our players do not register their characters.
Actually, you can, Jeff. If you go to "My Account" on the WinterWar site, you'll see your tables with how many people are registered (assuming Bob told the WinterWar staff that you are GMing those tables). I can see the number of players on all my tables, and all but my Friday afternoon slot are full.
Galahad0430, could you please cite the rule in question? I believe it falls under the "Don't be a jerk" rule. If you have a legal character in terms of build, level for scenario, additional resources, chronicle sheets, and inventory tracking sheets, how are you as a player violating any rule? The words "character sheet" only appears in a few places: multiple mentions of pregenerated characters, duties of the GM to look over character sheets, importance of reporting sessions for rebuilding lost character sheets. That's it. The only context would be forum posts from campaign leadership that home games can restrict players however they want because they are on private property and that public venues need to be as public as possible save for problem players. The broad category of people using Hero Lab does not equate to problem players. Period. The problem player categories that relate to Hero Lab exist no matter what form a character sheet takes. There are zero interpretations of the Guide that would allow a GM to ban players from their tables as a category of player because every citation against HeroLab is not unique to HeroLab, nor do I believe they are necessarily more agregrious or more frequent.
While this thread has been heated and head-scratchy at times, I've immensely enjoyed the vast majority of PFS games I've played. Some of the best gaming stories I tell are from PFS right alongside the home-brew campaigns I've done. While my gaming group of more than 15 years now has a hard time getting together to play more than once every few months, PFS gives me an opportunity to still have fun gaming regularly and to have met some other wonderful people, too.
As for the spells and feats, the main problem is that herolab gives a print out of it, but it was incomplete, meaning that the player in question was given a false sense of being prepared for the game. Only to realize during the game that herolab gave him an incomplete description. That's user error in my opinion. HeroLab gives two different options for outputting spells and feats. For feats and abilities, there is a checkbox to turn full descriptions on and off. Although it does truncate longer ones, but typically that's obvious because there's no period. For spells, there is a brief description printout version and a full rulebook printout version. I always do the full version for players that don't already know their spells from memory. These were just an isolated case or two, most of the time using whatever 3rd party character sheet, your own personal excel sheet or herolab is fine. GMs could however be given a bad impression of a 3rd party character record system if it has errors often enough. I believe that's exactly what I think is happening for most of the people against HeroLab. HeroLab is no worse than hand-done character sheets and is better in most cases, especially when used as a game-play aid.
I don't think there's any way I could play my master chymist without HeroLab[...]Mind. Blown. Howso? I should probably have included the words "without making mistakes" or "and still enjoy playing the character".
Sorry to the Luddites, but there's going to be more mobile devices at your tables as time passes, not less. System mastery is a terrible reason to use against HeroLab. Just the other day, I had to look up the mechanical effects of being dazzled while GMing an online game. When I'm playing, I get a really fast answer by looking at the condition in HeroLab and it adjusts all the appropriate places automatically. I don't think there's any way I could play my master chymist without HeroLab due to the variety of buffs and modifiers he has going all the time, typically four to eight different ones. I pay close attention to how HeroLab works and what it's giving me for numbers. All the same mistakes that can happen with it are the same ones that can happen with a paper sheet.
I would simply not play with this VL or these GM's. If I had a player ask me as their GM to interpret the spell as they suggest, I would laugh at them and say, "Nice try!" As a GM using it on PC's, it is gray at best by their interpretation, and gray areas should generally be ruled in favor of the players due to this portion of the Guide: The leadership of this organized play community assumes that you will use common sense in your interpretation of the rules. This includes being courteous and encouraging a mutual interest in playing, not engaging in endless rules discussions. While you are enjoying the game, be considerate of the others at the table and don’t let your actions keep them from having a good time too. In short, don’t be a jerk.
Emerald Spire Level 2, The Cellars, by Ed Greenwood (1-3)
When: Saturday, January 10, 9am CST (GMT-6)
Roll20 link will be sent out once the table is full to the first six players. Each of those players needs to provide the following at least 12 hours before the start of the game. Waitlist players will be asked for the same information if one of the other players does not respond by that time:
I am running this scenario in a couple of days. I was wondering about the first trap when the PCs climb down the crevice. The way I am reading it is if at least 2 PC climb down the wall with in 10 minutes of each other they set off the trap. But if they climb down the roots they are fine. Is that right or am i misreading it? However they climb down will set off the trap if movement is there from two different creatures in a 10 minute span. It's a pretty nasty trap for 1st level characters.
If someone is still providing a fun table, abides by the PFS rules, and doesn't cut corners for their own benefit, I don't think it's an issue. If someone's doing it just to get four stars (five star review might get a sideways glance), they could just as easily make fake characters with fake sessions or exploit the "campaign mode" of AP chronicle sheets if they're going to be so devious. The only real benefit is a bonus to shirt/folio/etc re rolls and access to a single exclusive scenario. My numbers - 115 tables of credit
No barbarian is replacing all the things a rogue can do. If he does, he's down below the rogues's damage output. The only class that comes close is a bard, particularly certain archetypes. However the bard plays a very different combat role. PFS is definitely not the place for rogues to be their best. The scenarios and modules where rogues shine have more sandbox potential and creative solution potential than a Three Fights and a Bag of Gold scenario. That's the nature of things for a class that is a jack-of-all-trades.
Big +1 to you. My now 15th level rogue is no damage output monster because lots of d6's will never keep up with +30 and more damage from two-handed power attacking raging barbarians or smiting paladins. What I always enjoyed though was the diversity of heroic things I could pull off: casually getting over 30 on every Perception, that one time with the that one thing and Disable Device (in two different scenarios, once while blind), talking us out of a bad situation many times (with bluff or diplomacy), seducing the Wyrm Queen. I think my favorite was casting Vanish, Escape Artist through an arrowslit, Stealth over to the BBEG, Sleight of Hand the artifact, and Escape Artist back out the window. Sure, I did massive damage a few times, but those aren't as interesting. That's the same way I feel about my paladin with a great axe. Sure, it's fun to say those big damage numbers, but that's not the part of the story that typically gets retold. Rogues are fun if you enjoy a character that can do a lot of different things but won't often swing combats one way or the other.
Hard Mode makes character death likely. Antimagic shell is a reasonable expectation to encounter when you know you are going to fight a Runelord, one of the most powerful wizards to have ever lived. I don't think the tactics used were according to RAW though. When I look up Simulacrum, it is a level 7 sorcerer/wizard spell. As a GM, my RAW means that if a spell meets the category of a bullet, you don't go farther down the list. I wouldn't let a player do what the GM did which means a GM can't do it either. At best, it's a gray rule which then goes to the "Don't be a jerk" rule applying to GMs as well as players. No matter what, the cost of the Simulacrum would be 500gp per HD or 11,500gp which is higher than what Limited Wish allows you to ignore. That rule alone should have prevented it.
Yay Mike! We are playing our level 4 ratfolk rogue and magus. I'll play either my greed wizard 3 (transmutation) or oread occultist 3 (pretty good melee fighter for a couple more levels before full BAB classes pass him up). Although now that I see that it features the Sovereign Court, I think my most likely character is my gnome fae sorcerer 5 in the Sovereign Court.
Friday afternoon: Hall of the Flesh Eaters GM
Saturday morning: Hall of the Flesh Eaters GM
Sunday morning: Seagang Expedition player
I'm putting together plans for props for Hall of the Flesh Eaters. Test run this Sunday. All flesh must be eaten.
Just in case my group is reading this.: Since we've had some progression, I wanted to say how I'm playing this out. After some special oils were delivered to rub into the armor, it began to improve. It also prepared the armor for Phase 2.
By the end of Phase 1, the armor was all crafted from parts of a crag linnorm (mentioned in Book 6 actually). Each was suitable for the character's class and +1 as well as some sort of wondrous item power built into it: bane baldric for the inquisitor, improved feint for the slayer, elemental metamagic rod for the magus, and soothsayer's raiment for the oracle. For Phase 2, each time they take negative energy damage (hit points, drain, or ability damage), the armor takes a step towards their transformation into a graveknight by gaining another ability, typically a weaker version of what graveknights can do. 1. Energy damage - Ruinous Revivification/Channel Destruction - energy type appropriate to the character, either energy damage they've recently taken or recently dealt, fire is the default.
All but the oracle is currently at step #2. In our next session, they will be fighting a high level cleric of Shub-Niggurath, and I expect them to bump a couple more spots. However, when I had the armor trigger the Devastating Blast on a critical hit, the party learned that the armor is cursed via a high Detect Magic/Spellcraft and that Adivion Adrissant is perhaps not their friend.
I think trying to shoehorn this party of either outright evil (or neutral with evil tendencies) characters is not going to work well with the storyline as written. There are sooooo many points at which they will try to join the antagonists that I just don't see it finishing. Here's what I would suggest.:
This will take much more preparation than a first-time GM might be able to do, but it's what I would do in this situation. I would have the PC's be recruited by the antagonists.
In books 3, 4, 5, and 6, the antagonists run into problems besides what a group of heroes is actually accomplishing. Book 1 - Play as written. Kendra ends up abandoning them. Have Vrood contact them about a secret society that he is a member of and that he has a task for them if they are interested. Book 2 - The Whispering Way went to Count Caromarc to get him to help them. They ended up using force and took control of the Beast to steal the Seasage Effigy. Make the book this set of encounters instead. Book 3 - Vrood introduces the Whispering Way and says he has another task for them if they are interested in joining. Vrood asks the party to visit Ascanor Lodge to foment conflict amongst the werewolves as a distraction. The lodgemaster owes the Whispering Way favors anyway, so they can use that to stay there and cause problems for the less-evil werewolves. The party arrives as Feldgrau. Book 4 - Vrood asks them to take the Seasage Effigy to Illmarsh to trade it for the Raven's Head mace with the skum. (Vrood is killed by heroes after they leave.) Basically they become the black riders described in the book. This can be run just about as written although the Dagon priests may not be hostile. Book 5 - With Vrood dead and their continued help, Adrissant invites the party to help him find the last descendant of Tar-Baphon. The vampires are enemies of Adrissant's plans, so this one can also probably be run just about as written with the witches being allies instead of enemies. Book 6 - I haven't read a lot of this one yet, but I would have the party eventually join Adrissant for the ritual. Their task is to protect him while he completes it just as a party of adventurers arrive, perhaps a Pharasman group or undead hunters. Honestly though, I don't know why the necromancer would be at the funeral of his "old friend." There's no way that Lorrimer would have been friends with this guy based on what is said about him. (I kind of want to run this as a campaign now, too.)
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Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 188 posts (194 including aliases). 3 reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 22 Organized Play characters. 1 alias. 