Rob Duncan's page

Fellow Adventurers,

I would like you to join me in extending congratulations to Mr. Nathan Lindy for accepting the position of Venture-Lieutenant for Oklahoma-Stillwater.

Nathan just earned his first star as a GM and has been instrumental in coordinating three- and six- slot events in Stillwater.

He comes highly recommended from the local community and I hope you all have a chance to say hello and get to know him either in the local gaming circuits, online through VTT in Roll20, or at one of the cons.

Nathan,

Welcome aboard!

tldr; I need help figuring out if some CR3 or CR4 creatures can be beat by solo 4th level iconics.

All,

I have a small project that I need some help with. Specifically, I'm working on some solo adventures and I need to build some combat models to see if an X level Y class can defeat certain CR ratings, ALONE, without getting killed or without it being a cakewalk.

It's something like this:
http://faustusnotes.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/the-epidemiology-of-dd-what-is -the-best-ability-for-a-fighter/

Is there any sort of model that I can use to predict survivability for the 4th level iconic pregens (Ezren, Kyra, Valeros, Meri) against various foes?

I'm hoping to see if it's survivable to put a single character against:

(SET 1) rust monster, ettercap, hell hound, ogre, wight

(SET 2) worg, berghest, gargoyle, owlbear, or minotaur

Any help building the model would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't need to be at all formal.. If you have some people willing to help, you could just record a single fight and post the results.

Thanks in advance!

Robert Duncan
PFS VC-OK, Tulsa

Your friendly Tulsa VC here! I'm trying to get an idea of how many people are (1) in Oklahoma and (2) actually play PFS. If you're in Oklahoma, please reply with:

1) Roughly where you are (Eastern OK, by Tulsa, Stillwater)
2) How many people you game with
3) Days/times you run slots

I'm working to get some weekend slots going, as well as some in-store events so your feedback is needed and appreciated.

I finally got my second GM star! I've been really fortunate to learn from some very excellent GMs and Venture-Captains and have a great appreciation for people who find a calling running games. To help me celebrate, I would like to ask EVERYONE:

IF YOU HAVE NOT YET RUN A GAME FOR SOMEONE, TRY IT!

There are great threads about doing voices, how to manage the rules; there are lots of people to help you along the way! Please, please, please consider running some games over the holidays and giving some of your time as a GM to help me celebrate my second star!

I /know/ there are people out there who make some great lists on gear for characters and I need some help for my local PFS game!

Your mission: help me make the best possible gear list with the starting gold from First Steps for any or all of the following:

2d Level Half-Elf Rogue (classic sneak/stab trapfinder)
2d Level Half-Orc Cleric [Gorum: Destruction, Strength] (tank)
2d Level Wizard
2d Level Fighter

The list should be lightweight, suitable for varied adventuring, include weapons/armor, and any items that you think are needed. Please feel free to include the use of 2PP for a 750 gp purchase.

Thanks in advance for your help -- this is the part that bogs me down the most as a VC, working through people's gear lists after First Steps..

After /finally/ reporting all my past-due events, I got my first star!

To help me celebrate: if you've never GMed, please PLEASE GM for somebody else. It's very rewarding to see your name on the Chronicle Sheet and know that somebody had a great time at your table.

Let's see some stars after some names! ^_^

Great news! I got PFS slots approved for our next area con: Tokyo in Tulsa! ^_^

Bad news! I have enough time to run three scenarios instead of four.

I need your help to pick the best three to run.

Your choices are:

The Frostfur Captives
Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment
The God's Market Gamble
Sewer Dragons of Absalom

Criteria include:

Survivable for newbies
Easy to run
Enjoyable NPC interaction
SIMPLE combats
Suitable for four hour slot

I'd love to know why you prefer one over the other -- thanks for your help!

All:

I had a question come up about character creation with a cleric for PFS, namely:

One of my players wants to play a CG cleric. They don't want to worship any PF deity and want to have the following: trickery domain, strength domain, favored weapon of longspear OR glaive OR lucerne hammer.

..Can players /not/ worship a deity and just decide on domains and a favored weapon?

I'm sure there's a black-letter rule on point, I just can't find it quickly.

Thanks for your help!

-Rob

I had my first "field trip" going out to a store to help set up Pathfinder Society, and I though I would share some "lessons learned" that might be helpful to others:

1) Ask for pictures of the inside and the parking lot BEFORE you go.

My first field trip took me out to a game store that had been started in a parent company's store, which in turn had been started in a former single-story residence; the parking lot had three spaces. If I had known the size limitations and such before going, I would have been able to draw it out on graph paper, print out some posters or other materials that would help promote Pathfinder Society, and help them configure the small space.

2) Even if you have an appointment, make sure there's no other event scheduled.

Despite having an appointment, I walked straight into a collectible card game tournament and was surrounded by twelve-year olds asking me about my decks and what I was going to play. My fault: I should have made sure there was no other event that was competing for my attention.

3) Bring extra stuff.

When I arrived, the store's product line consisted of a single, unopened Beginner's Box. The manager had /seen/ Pathfinder and talked to people at Paizo and other VCs, but had not actually /played/ it.

We cracked open that Beginner Box and ran a round, but it was far from ideal. I should have brought enough stuff to GM a proper Pathfinder Society game.

4) Don't judge a book by its cover.

Even with these challenges, the manager was extremely enthusiastic and all of his regular customers had expressed an interest in playing. Having a demo game and leaving the Beginner Box set up as if a game were in progress went a long way in sparking curiosity, and I believe that they'll get a good group out of the visit.

Finally, here are some tips that might be useful:

I've gone through a ton of pregens over the past two weeks. I started putting them in a sheet protector and using wet-erase markers to make notes to keep them fresh for the next run.

The map in the Beginner's Box, when flipped over, has a nice grid that is also very useful with wet-erase markers. Dry erase smudges. A lot.

Graph paper can be cut out and laminated into templates for "area effect" spells.

Putting spells on the pregen onto laminated index-size cards helps new players use spells without having to go through the book EVERY TIME they want to cast something. Noting page numbers on the sheets for every spell is also handy.

Loaner dice will be lost. Ugly, bright colored dice do not walk off as much.

Paracord can be used to make a "dice corral".

Buy a good dice bag. Picking up dice out of a parking lot because your dice bag flipped upside down and wasn't tight = many failed perception checks to find all your dice.

I'd appreciate having /your/ lessons learned added to this thread so I can take advantage of your experiences (rather than making mistakes and learning the hard way!)

All:

With my first post to the Pathfinder boards, I would also like to ask your indulgence (without a "cool story bro" or "tl;dr").

Tabletop gaming was a major part of my childhood until I went to college, "grew up", and became "too cool". I swapped my dice bag for a golf bag and started "enjoying" an activity based entirely on driving around in a cart and trying to impress people I didn't really like with amazing clubs that improved my "game" somehow.

Rediscovering tabletop games was /not/ in my plans.. or at least it wasn't until I went up in my attic, I literally tripped on a box of the "world's oldest RPG" materials and almost fell right back out..

(*saving throw!*)

I was really curious to see what almost sent me crashing into my garage floor, so I naturally looked in the box.

When found all my old sourcebooks, I had this sudden flashback of childhood memories (it had to be nostalgia.. if it was my life flashing before my eyes, I seriously need to redo my "bucket list") and friends that have long since grown up and grown out of touch.

I started reconnecting with friends on "that big social media website" and found that even though we had totally different lives and were thousands of miles apart, we all still had fond memories of being around a table, having snacks and swapping stories.

My first set of dice was long gone and I decided to get a new set; 30 sets and a custom dice bag later, I was a little kid all over again.

But the dice weren't enough. I suddenly wanted to play again. I dragged all of my old boxed sets and campaign materials down from the attic, loaded them into my car, and brought them to my office so I could sort through them.

An incredible thing happened: other faculty members suddenly revealed a geeky and nerdy side of "I played that!!" and my students were shocked and awed by the collection in my bookcases. People I didn't really have a reason to talk to suddenly had volumes to say, and homesick freshman stuck for summer classes perked up at the idea of a game.

I told a certain bearded, Canadian librarian about this by email and he sent me back the greatest message about not taking myself seriously and to enjoy the company and friendship that his writing and my gaming brought to life.

I knew I had to pick a system and was sold on Pathfinder because of the online reference docs, the incredible Beginner's Box (which is way better than any "basic" set I ever had), and the forums here.

The Pathfinder community is probably the closest thing to my middle school gaming crowd. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've yet to see the rules lawyers and min/maxers here.. I certainly enjoy the conversations more than what goes on at the clubhouse.

With some luck, I've found people (like DFW Venture-Captain Jon Cary) who went above and beyond to hook me up with tips and ideas to start my own group or give me encouragement to get playing again.

I would have been happy just to be able to find my way back to the table after so many years, but I feel like Pathfinder players have gone out of their way to pull out a chair and welcome me back.

For reading my post and for making feel at home here: thank you.

To adventuring,
Legalbeagle