SCOCK's page

My group was TPKd after deciding to push onward when resting was an obvious choice. We are doing a full restart with new characters and a better understanding of the mechanics and playtest rules.

It appears that you must pass a Fort check to regain consciousness. First Aid only mentions the gaining of 1 hp. The addition of the recovery DC to a monster stat block would be an efficient addition.

Correct. Those things happened and it makes no one a villain.

"NOW ENTERING!" A Gnome with a deep, bellowing voice grabs your attention at the nearest doorway.

"He has served all Factions in Absalom. He has cleared the Mists of Mawangi! He thawed the Frozen Fingers of Midnight, is the Gillmans foil and Riddleports Bane! This hero is a traveller of the North and member of the Snowmask Clan. He has unlocked the Infernal Vault and NOW steps out of Wraths Shadow. SCOCK Yogerking!!!!

A 6'2" Half-Orc, kicks the gnome aside with a thud (best 1pp ever)and steps into the (social) battle. "I'm Half-Human dammit"

OK, OK everybody relax. I'm the big bad VC in question. Let's get it out of the way, I screwed up the 'always having your weapon at the ready' rule. No excuses, thanks for the ruling from up high. Of course you can attack when your weapon is drawn without a move action.

So last Saturday, I have this 25 year veteran player at my table. No prob,I got this. Personally, I like the guy and have had fun being a player at his table. He GM's for the Society regularly and is a contributor to the PFS overall. I have asked him "Use your vast RPG wisdom to help me provide the structure PFS requires." Instead, he studies all the gray areas of the rules and continually pushes the boundaries. Kinda frustrating but it comes with the job, I've got it handled. *smiles* Great, lets have some fun.

Not to be, as the party mix led to a high difficulty setting and frustrations quickly followed. You bet, at some point I said "You can't negate quick draw." I also said "If I'm wrong, don't hesitate to link me the post or whatever and I'll improve my GM style. For now, lets move on." Not to be, as this player blew up my table with rules arguing beyond the "I always have my weapon at the ready!.. argument". Lexica Rose said it all in the other thread. Buzzcop also shined some light in the above post. Thank you for stepping up and voicing your opinion. Sorry, I was late to the discussion.

Now that everyone has smelled Reno's dirty laundry. Let me finish with, please don't lets this get(more) blown out of proportion than it already has been. The buses have done their work and I encourage everybody to move on. (Show's Over!) Everybody involved enjoys this game on a high level. No need to vilify. Reno is a small city and I look forward to enjoying another game as players or in whatever configuration of GM/PC set-up happens. I'm surprised about the amount of (negative)attention our little game has gotten and I think we can both make adjustments to better serve the PFS as a whole. I certainly will be. *Picks up his Gnome, stuffs it into back-pack and leaves* mumbling something about having to prep tonight's game.

Complete set here with nothing broken. Just a sore tumb from putting wings on the Blue dragon. The collection grows!

This is the appeal of PFS. Some would argue that Mods or scenarios or adventure paths, whatever you want to call them are limited, with possible outcomes restricted. While the free-form adventure gives players and GM's ultimate flexibility at a moments notice. I think most people would agree that that the free form adventure is preferred overall. I certainly enjoy it. Unfortunatly, the free-form game or 'home game' that I run is only weekly at best and subject to the schedule of the 5 people playing in it. This can get frustrating, as most people know, holding a core home game together for extended months or years can be very difficult.
Enter: Pathfinder Society. The structured, open-world gaming with a level playing field, wherever you play it. Sure, there are some weird rules (like buying back loot) but the benefits of hundreds of available players, with a balanced power scheme, allows waaaay more playing opportunities after the home game has ended for the week (or month). You can take your character anywhere the Society is played and sit down with other gamers and have a fun time. That's the appeal.

Was wondering if the Scorcerer archtype 'Sanquine' is legal for Pathfinder Society play.

It was fun, with some of the best 'Role-playing' at the CON. "You have Bismirched my lady's honor, prepare to have your ass meet the ground!"

I'm going for 4 stars in 1 year, from PaizoCon to PaizoCon. I'll be 3 stars on Friday and have 6 months to get my other 40 sessions.

Keep up the good work!

Way to go! Keep up the good work.

*Re-posted from my local wbsite*

Hello Fellow Pathfinder. I wanted to start a thread for suggestions about areas of improvement in the local Pathfinder Society. Let me start with some GM tips and suggestions.
First. GMing is a volunteer position and fully appreciated, however it also carries a great deal of responsibility. Players invest a lot of time and emotion into their characters, as we all know, so the handling of their 'reality' is a difficult job sometimes. I would hope we can keep all criticism constructive and avoid alienating anybody that is stepping up to help. On the other hand, being a great GM requires the ability to continually improve while manitaining a 'thick skin' to less than polite rules-lawyering.
The PFS has framework and structure, it is for me, one of the best things about it. Maintaining the structure with consistency of improvement is a high priority for me. Please, do not hesitate in providing feedback and suggestions. My door is always open as they say.
Now, it has been brought to my attention that some glaring flaws have appeared in this early stage, of this local chapter, of the PFS. All the details can be discovered by participating in the 'messageboards' on Paizo.com, as it is clear some of you have already posted there *smiles*. Mistakes have been made in some character deaths and let it be known the buck stops here, with me. If one of your characters met their demise and you felt the GM had been malicious or ignorant of the rules, please lets talk about it and get it resolved. Deaths can be reversed in some cases. Malicious Game Mastering will not be tolerated, and I truly hope nobody has been a victim of it.
To current and hopeful GM's. Please prepare. Read your Scenario twice minimum, and make sure it is the current version. Study any unfamiliar spells, feats, or rarely used rules. Have a solid understanding of skill usage, combat maneuvers and magic use. Own a Core Rulebook and bring it to your game. Be nice. Introduce yourself. Don't form emotional attachments to the bad-guys. Strive for improvement. Keep a good attitude. Most importantly, you are not alone. It is not your singular responsibility to 'entertain' a table full of grumps, you are a player too and get to have fun. Everybody is responsible for the 'vibe' of the table they are sitting at, lets keep it a fun 'vibe'. That my goal!

Got it! Thanks for the support guys. Still learning the ropes for sure. Add a 'complete' understanding of nonleathal to the list of facts I am NOW an expert at. *smiles* Clearly the buck stops here on the wizardpop incident, my bad. Everybody will be happy to hear the good news. Here is my overall point I'd like to make. While this was happening at the event, the table it was happening at was abuzz with excitment & laughter. The epic fails and max damage rolls were met with cheers and groans. The guy playing the Wizard was in costume, laughing his funny-ass wizard laugh and having fun! He has played multiple more times after this happened and I hope to enjoy his company in the future. Therefore I disagrre with the whole 'vibe' the original post was trying to convey and will always strive for fun and fairness.
Now...."Roll for Initiative!"

Here is the deal. He was playing the pregen wizard. It was First steps #3. He faied all 4 saves epic style while wearing gear from within the wagon and rolled near max damamge (23). It killed him. He was not asked to leave the table. He was not dejected. The title to this thread contains the word 'advice'. Here's some. Talk to the people runnining the event. I was there. The entire 'crew' was all about promoting the fun all-inclusive nature of the Society. Any concerns would have been handeled on the spot and many were. The original poster was in 'earshot' of all this 'straight up murder' while his personal GM experiences have been "fantastic". Make no mistake, mistakes have been made and will be made again, just know, this VC is dedicated to quality improvement wherever it can be found.

Hello and thanks for the comments. Thanks for attending the first Con this group has been able to volunteer and partacipate in. We are a 'new' group of players and GM's in this region, some getting their 'first shot' at GMing. Rest assured, GM quality is a top priority for me and we are always looking for veteran talent to get involved.
Constructive critism is always welcome and I continually strive for improvement.

I was there at SNAFU during the games your talking about. In your first example, there were 6 PC's and for what ever reason (I'm not sure) the wizard was odd man out of the wagon. The guy playing was not a 14 yr old kid. He is a college student and a very fun player. He has played multiple sessions and has a level 2 or 3 character. He had 5 Fortitude saves, wich he admits he failed every one. The rookie GM, did the right thing. He stopped the game, and asked me what to do. I confirmed the bad luck rolls and confirmimed that the character was indeed dead.

Having said all that. We are not promoting, rewarding, or encouraging Steps 1 or on any level, malicious Game Mastering. I strive for the opposite. All inclusive gaming with the only thing required being a good attitude. Structure and framework are some of the Society's attraction. So, while I'll 'fudge' to avoid killing a brand new player, freezing to death is also a very real possibility. I hope you continue to enjoy PFS in the region and please don't be shy about approaching with issues or joining the local hub of PFS scheduling. http://www.meetup.com/Reno-RPG-and-Board-Gamers-Club/ Thanks again for the input, now..."Roll for Initiative!"

I just returned from PacifiCon yesterday, what a blast. A truly incredible event that encompassed much more than PFS. Minature wargamming was incredible to see on a massive scale, along with huge rooms filled with all manner of board gaming. Personally, I enjoyed 4 solid days of either running or playing PF Society games. My character survived a Coup de gras' with a high Fortitude save. Epic! I was more than a little worried, no doubt. I was able meet and enjoy the company of many new friends, similar to my experiences in Reno since taking over the Meet-up site, just crammed into one long weekend instead of the last 3 months.

Congrats to the local group that played at Heroes on Sat, a personal thanks for supporting the Society, in my absence, at this early stage of development. I will be putting on another big 'Open Seating' event at my new favorite location the Comic Kingdom in about 10 days! Feel free to e-mail any Scenario requests or high-level needs (3 or higher).

SNAFU is coming to Reno is just over 3 weeks! This is our Convention. Make no mistake, I plan on invading this Con with every resource I can muster. That includes everybody reading this message, Society member or not, Reno locals or distant members from the bay area and Sac. This event is taking place at the Grand Sierra Resort in central Reno. Table top gaming, board gaming, LARPing and more! Sept 28 thru the 30th, make your plans now. http://www.snafucon.com/ for all the current details and registration.

Scott Yauger

I was searching under the products tab for 'Rise of the Runlords'. 6 pages available with page 3 or 4 coming up blank. Posted this after a couple of attempts. I was also using 'newest first' as a filter. Hope this helps!

The new projectors (around 500 bucks) are not the 'poor mans' solution, but WOW! 5 pounds and it hangs from the ceiling from a couple of plant hooks straight down. Blast the Paizo PDF map layer down and cover with a fog of war layer. Remove the fog with a wave of your mouse just far enough and presto, slow reveal, no time sinc, beautiful detail, rough terrain, everything. Dont forget, amazed players. Portability, lamp life, initial cost are BIG downsides but it beats waiting for the Microsoft Surface!

WOOOO! Thank You Verdigris, Painlord and Sarta for being special guest GM's at the first Reno Society Open Seating event! Great turnout and energy in that room, no doubt. I learned a ton and had some fun. 4 full tables of excitement and role-playing. More to come!

Hi and welcome to the NEW Reno RPG and Board Gamers. Scott Yauger is the new leader of this group and he is doing a great job of stirring up activities and attracting new members. We have an event on August 4, at Hero Games in Sparks. http://heroesgamesandhobbies.com/

It is a Pathfinder Role Playing event and there will be many game tables running.
http://www.meetup.com/Reno-RPG-and-Board-Gamers-Club/events/68965242/

There will be celebrity DMs from the Bay Area who are official big-shots with Paizo and Pathfinder Society play. Pathfinder is considered the most popular iteration of D&D now and is blowing other systems out of the water. http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG

Many games will be short, introductory games introducing the Pathfinder Society. There will be piles of pregenerated characters lying around so you can just walk in, pick one and try a short game. Of course, you can make a new PC of your own, as well, but you should make it "Pathfinder Society legal" since this is an open world. Once you have a character in the Society, you can transfer it to any other table or game around the world (and in Reno). See the official character generation rules for more details: http://files.meetup.com/1519621/PZOPSS0000E.pdf

We would love to have you show up on Saturday, the 4th at least to check things out. There is no charge or obligation. Come and meet other players, GMs, and the Paizo-curious :) Just RSVP now and try to make it.

See you August 4th at Hero Games (Sparks)!

Cordially,
Thomas (and Scott)

I'm going to be explainig it to my group like this. "The (Sold/Gained) and (Bought/Cleared) boxes at the bottom of your Chronicle are for the Society Items you just turned in, or previously turned in. The items actually listed on the sheet, the ones I was nice enough not to cross off." (power trippin) "The rest of the 'mundane items' are already calculated into your 'max gold'" "Now quit micro-managing and Roll for Initiative!"

Got it! Max Gold means just that. Thank You!

Let me ask it this way. (I'm glad this thread has 'noob' in the title) At the end of Step 1. Everybody got max gold,(417) no prob. So no matter what they sell for 1/2 price (10 sets of masterwork thieves tools from the warehouse) Their gold should never exceed the Max number for that scenario? That cant be right can it? Items sold for 1/2 includes everything they find correct? or just stuff they actually purchased with the 150 starting gold?

The standard money you get from the module is what is written on the chronicle. The items listed on the sheet are items you can now buy at the price listed on the sheet without needing yo meet the PA threshold for those specific items. You get no extra gold for them.

It's kind of a running gag that most of those items aren't any good for you by the time they make it onto those sheets. Less true at low levels, moreso at high.

You should have between 400 and 550 gold from your first mod (on average). You add that to whatever was left after buying your starting gear and that is your new current total.

I've got a question about the gold, you can probably answer Clint (or anybody) My example is First steps #3. Chronicle sheet says Max gold 401. Got it. At the end of each encounter it has a gold award, they all add up to 401. What about the extra treas? Bog mother had 8 Amethysts worth 150gp. Is the assumption that that value is incorperated into the final max number? I just got through the first 3 steps with the Reno locals (good times) and this was the only point of confusion. The guys from step one, wanted to sell all the masterwork lock pick sets the found in the warehouse, is another example. Thanks in advance!

Hosted my first society game tonight, what a blast. I got people fired up in this town and had an open 'meet and greet' at my house. I already had a GM shortage on my first event! Not to mention chairs, flip mats...hell glasses so people could get a drink of water. It was a great vibe in the house and Step 2 is the day after tommorrow for the lucky seven that got on the table. Lots of people are excited, me included. I just recieved an e mail from the local guys running a CON here in Reno for Anime. SNAFU....Sierra Nevada Anime F U? I guess. Regardless...I'm invading that CON for sure!(end of september) Gonna set up my own little PaizoCon with as many sessions as I can cram in. Verdigris is coming in Aug and I hope to impress her with a good turnout. Currently it looks like three tables minimum, maybe more! Reno Plays Pathfinder now! WOOO!

Flying into sea/tac at 7:00 with a friend. Were gonna train/bus it to the Marriott unless we run into some of you fine folk on the plane or in the terminal. Then "lets split a shuttle!"

Great Info....It will get used for sure! "Exact Change". See you at PaizoCon!

Hero Lab is well worth the money if you take the time to get familiar with the program. Use it as a GM to keep track of buffs and Initiative order, among other things. As a player you can build and 'validate' PC's quickly. Invaluable at my game table.

Reno plays Pathfinder! Visit this site to RSVP your spot today! Reno RPG and Board Gamers Club

Bring on the future! Table-top surfaces that read the 'bottom' of the die you roll on it. Shows the light spectrum as you move around. Keeps track of loadouts, initiative, and buffs. The big 'distraction' of any new technology is the learning curve. Once everybody 'gets it' the game will roll smoother.

I snagged the Web Administraor position for the Reno 'Meet-up' RPG groug! (over 150 members). Good timing with the original guy moving out of state. There is also a 'Pathfinder Society of Northern Nevada' Facebook page. Feel free to join and stay in the Reno loop.

Clicking panic trying to get my 'buddy' in the same open tables. Good job to the crew fixing the 'Glitch' in such a short amount of time (24 hrs). We're Going to PaizoCon!

Nope, sounds good so far. Have you downloaded This sheet yet to give to the store owners and/or organizers that you are going to talk to? If not, do so. Also download the PFS Guide to Organized Play if you haven't done so already.

If possible, try to get to one of the games in Sacramento and/or any of the other Northern California Lodges to get some PFS experience in before hand. Some of them can be found here.

When you have the place nailed down, we can look at getting you set up with posters. Stephen White, the VC out of Melbourne Australian, has some great community use posters that are easy to use.

Oh yea! The owner of Heroes has the 'One' sheet and I made him a little 3 ring binder with the 'Guide to play'. I'm gonna stop by again as soon as I have the incredible fliers from your source finished! Awesome stuff. (Special Guest GM: 'Verdigris' running the 'Early Sign up' table) is going on the fliers. That store needs a sign-up sheet as well and some more of my PFS smiling face hanging around. Still working on hijacking the local meet-up site web-host position or researching warhorn. One other thing, does your husband want to GM a session? I dont think we'll have more than 2 tables to start, but who knows? I'll GM any overflow in either case...no worries, maybe he just wants to hit the Casinos for the afternoon. Looking forward to it!

Great! I'll be there for the first one. Congratulations on your new Venture-Captainship, as well!

Thanks! Getting immediate support from fine folks like yourself helps a lot! I'm stoked your going to make it (pressure off me to GM immediatly)it really helps legitimize the whole thing.

Thank You! I looking forward to getting some fun gaming rolling here in Reno. I kinda feel like Wesley Crusher getting the big chair. I know this site has unlimited resources (you guys) for me to take advantage of and I will. I've already recieved a great deal of help in many areas. I confirmed the local gamestore for twich a month and am attempting to become the new web host for the Reno 'meet-up' site. 150+ 'Reno Dice Chuckers' on the site already (including myself). One thing at at time...no stress. I want to give Painlord props for his posts and let everone know my goals of inclusive gaming, friendly environment, and dont forget proper itroductions at the table!

It's confirmed! Aug 4 at 'Heroes' in Sparks, NV. Afternoon timeslot. Hopefully, we're going to be running PFS games the 1st and 3rd Sat. of every month. BOOYA!

Oh heck!blush Stars only mean what they mean. In this case, it means I get out more than my husband. He's a much better judge in my book and he's only got one star... so is Howie, btw, and he's only got the one (currently, it could be two by the time August gets here).

I am very happy to be there and to GM and help with organizing if needed, but if you want rockstar GMs, we should make you a shopping list... idly wonders what Painlord is doing the first weekend in August...

Have you been in contact with a Venture-Captain yet? I see on the list that Reno is still looking for one of it's own, but there are others you could and should reach out to all around you.

For instance, while Reno is in Nevada, and Nevada does have Venture officers they are 7 hours away. Still, you should contact them and see what they have to say.

Additionally, Mike Azzolino, the VC of Northern CA is in San Francisco, which is about 4 hours away, and Brent Holtsberry, the Venture-Lieutenant out of Sacramento is even closer. I suggest contacting any and all of these men and see what Star power they can bring out your way. I will still be there, and I'll help in any way I can, but you can do better.

btw, I checked with none of these people regarding their availability, but I can vouch for the awesomeness of the Northern California Officers, as well as the rock star coordinator of the area, Painlord.

*psst* That Lady Ofelia is a awesome judge too. Add her to the list.

Painlord..got it.

There is Now! Starting in Aug 2012. Keep checking back on your next road trip!

Being new to the messagboards and PFS in general, this thread has already helped get things started in the right direction for my area! Thanks people, keep up the good work!

Wow! Great thread. I'm always striving to be a better GM, this is great help for sure.( I'm still pretty new. ) Most players would be lucky to have anyone from these posts GM for them.

SCOCK wrote:

verdigris wrote:

SCOCK wrote:

First Sat in Aug. Location still to be determined. Afternoon game. Thats plenty of time to go to PaizoCon, get the word out on the Society here in Reno, recruit more GM's, and study the whole time!

hmmm... that's also enough time to schedule a weekend in Reno. :)

Hope you booked already. Hot August Nights is also the 1st week of Aug. Every classic car you can imagine will be here. One of the few times a year the town is maxed out! Thank goodness I have a DM's assistant quarters available for event volunteers. (It's a tent)

Oh heck, I haven't, but it looked like I can still get a room if I hurry. I'll talk it over with my husband tonight and see if I can swing the vote for an overnight. If not, it's still a good road trip for an afternoon session, drive home that night and sleep in our own bed. I appreciate the offer of assistant quarters, though.

ooh, and seconding Howie's idea above. They're much closer than I am so you might get some excitement building there too.

You have the 2 stars so that would put me in the tent. Hope you make it, just confirm with the hubby and you'll be GM #1 at the event.

You might consider communicating on the Sacramento Yahoo group also to drum up a road trip. Handy Link.

B!%$$in! Thanks Howie. Great idea! My membership is pending approval!

SCOCK wrote:

First Sat in Aug. Location still to be determined. Afternoon game. Thats plenty of time to go to PaizoCon, get the word out on the Society here in Reno, recruit more GM's, and study the whole time!

hmmm... that's also enough time to schedule a weekend in Reno. :)

Hope you booked already. Hot August Nights is also the 1st week of Aug. Every classic car you can imagine will be here. One of the few times a year the town is maxed out! Thank goodness I have a DM's assistant quarters available for event volunteers. (It's a tent)

First Sat in Aug. Location still to be determined. Afternoon game. Thats plenty of time to go to PaizoCon, get the word out on the Society here in Reno, recruit more GM's, and study the whole time!

This will be an introductory level game for Society members. (Free to Join!) The Tier 1 'In Service to Lore' module will be used to start new characters on their journey to become great adventurers.