Velsa's page

WE had this happen in our Rise of the Runelords Game... It is frustrating as much as a player at that table as a it is a GM... Honestly after 4 hours of dealing with when ever his turn came up having to re-explain the last 3 players moves and what is going on... I got so frustrated I was visibly upset and pushed to call it for the day.

Rats of Round Mountain 1 and 2 (if you are interested in a possible bonus). We just finished these and it can be quite challenging.

Chris,

I have re-read my post a few times now and feel I need to clear up a few of your assumptions and misconceptions.

1. My post is expressing the feelings I have for the current system and a plea to make it better because I believe it is lacking.

2. I am not new and no where in the post did I state I was new, your assumptions to prove your point is not appreciated. ( I have been playing for almost 2 years 4-5 times a month)

3. You accused me of having a entitlement mentality. I understand that labeling people and making assumptions about their personality makes it easier to dismiss them

4. I feel that my post wasn't complaining and neither did my wife because I didn't want to come off that way... I am not sure if you are bias because I don't like a system which you obviously do or if maybe I didn't communicate it properly.

5. The GMs that ran these games were at least 2 stars (2 of them 4 stars) and have characters deep in the retirement path and have either played eyes of the ten or played and ran eyes of the ten. They are great at what they do and I don't fault them at all.

So I will sum up what I was trying convey.

1. Faction missions in 0-4 required people to participate in the story by trying to complete a common goal even if it is secret from 1/2 the table. By having them in front of you it makes them accessible and easy to collaborate with other players of your faction. Faction missions in season 5 require people to go read the letters on a vague goal and go to the paizo website and read the blurb about the adventure to see if it pertains to you. This makes it less accessible and since you don't know who is in your faction it is hard to work on your faction with others.

2. Not getting information from your faction up front and communication from your faction makes people feel disconnected vs getting a letter from your venture captain each week.

3. This not just my opinion but matches the opinions of multiple people at both LGS's I play at.

I don't believe we are the only group that feels this way about the new faction missions and felt it best to express it in a constructive way ( see my first post asking them to update the process to make it better not change it back). If by some chance we are the only one who dislikes the change then I will happily listen to constructive posts and possibly ways we can make it better for our players

I am sorry you feel "faction missions" are failing. To be honest in my area they work great. It is everyones responsibility to read and understand the guild to organized play and if they don't they should ask. The PFS leadership has taken great strides to make sure everyone know what the season goals are. They have put them on the website, they emailed them out before season start and they have included them in the Guide to Organized play on page 18. I am not sure what else you expect PFS leadership to do to get this information to people.

The problem is that it is inconsistent. You are given a mission in front of every adventure from season 0 to 4. Now in season 5 sometimes there might be something pertaining to your faction if somehow you ask the right question. And it is information you only need to have for 1 season.

I am unsure how you felt that season 0-4 added a bond between players for faction missions as my experience was it usually distracted from the overall story, gave away plot points and usually had people more worried about finding their faction mission for the 1 extra prestige. There is still a challenge to overcome in the form of the secondary mission that players don't usually know and builds team building by making sure that the entire table is going for the same goal for the secondary prestige point. Most of the people in my area and surrounding areas like the changes and I doubt this is going to change.

The faction mission gave new players a reason to interact with the GM and with fellow faction members. I don't know about you but I have grabbed new players in my faction and involved them in a season 1-4 faction mission loosening them up for the rest of the game. I have also seen people on there faction mission alone interact in ways they wouldn't normally interact because they have a mission to complete. Now with a secret secondary mission and a wide sweeping faction mission now they don't have to interact and don't know if they even need to for there wide sweeping faction mission.

This is going to sound harsh, but far to often if you don't get every gold, item, prestige point and special boon you feel you have failed. Well I am sorry to tell you that you shouldn't be getting everything and it borders on an entitlement attitude to think you will.

I am slight offended that you make that conclusion. In my first post I didn't complain about not getting the boon or not getting a prestige point in fact I have been given the opportunity it complete a faction mission because I was new and had enough integrity to be honest and not take the point. I stated that it was frustrating not just for me but 3 other GMs and 5 other players at my table and 3 previous games. The upsetting part for everyone is that unless the ask every NPC about there factions sweeping mission there is a good chance they will miss it. Especially when I is cryptic and doesn't make sense story wise. My faction mission had someone involved with something doesn't make any sense for the character involved.

In any case I am not asking for this to be tossed out completely but instead fixed. Ie something that reminds players of the faction mission in beginning or it the clue is in the getting started so people have a chance to catch it instead of depending on a random chance.

I have played a couple season 5's recently and have found the faction missions to be less then stellar. In the 4 games I have played no one completed their faction missions and most of them left feeling defeated (myself included). Most of them failed because they didn't know how season 5 worked. Some of us failed because the piece of the puzzle needed to even know there was a faction mission was presented in a tiny part of the story that had nothing to do with the adventure. The rest failed because they had no idea what their faction's mission was (requiring them to go to a website to find the letters).

After the last game I played I tried to figure out what the faction missions add to the game. Seasons 0-4 added a bond between players, helped newer players get into the game and feel part of something bigger, gave room for new interactions between players who wouldn't normally role play, and gave players a challenge to over come. I don't see these with season 5. I can't say I knew what faction anyone at my last table was until afterward when found out that we all failed. The martial characters had little interaction if any because they didn't have a goal they just kind of sat back and watched the show. The goals for the mission within the Scenario were hidden... After the Adventure I guessed at what it would take to complete my factions mission. I had no clue because in a 3 hour game the only hint was 1 line deep in the story. The newer players who play season 0-4 expect a letter from their faction leader letting them know how to help the faction out and when they didn't get one and were told they failed there is a bit of disappointment in there eyes.

The new faction missions don't add fun, challenge, or new interactions but seem to add frustration , disappointment and apathy. I love playing pathfinder and yes this change won't make me quit or play less but it does make it less fun then it use to.

So I ask you the leaders of the Society to think about changing the faction missions next season. It doesn't have to be the same as season 0-4 but something better then current system so that again we can get some new interactions, new challenges, and most of all some more fun.

:( it is sitting at personalizing... click again in 10 seconds.... and never downloads :(

Velsa wrote:

Patrick Harris @ MU wrote:

Velsa wrote:

What happens if you lose your sheet before a game? I know I keep my characters on my phone so I can re-print my stats sheet... and my PDF's are on there as well so I have my resources... but if I lose my ITS am I just screwed... I don't have the signatures any more. Does my character suddenly become naked and therefore I should just quit the game?

1. The ITS does not get signed.

2. Keep the ITS with your Chronicles. If you lose your Chronicles, you are pretty screwed. Losing the ITS with them will seem a minor issue in comparison.

But as it stands I keep all my Chronicles stapled back to a stat sheet from the level they were done at and now I don't have to bring everyone of those to each module will I need to start bring 3-4 binders to each module?

If you use a lot of consumables, you might want to consider using a spreadsheet that you can access on your phone, sure.

But if you're like me, and you tend to just buy one big item per session, then your ITS will last through, what, 10, 20 Chronicles? It's just a tiny little addition ...

... and yes, you do need to bring your Chronicles, actually. They prove your character is what you say it is. This is hardly a new requirement.

Let me rephrase I don't keep them in my possession when I walk into the store they are in my trunk in a binder. We only have so much room on the tables... so now I have to have my Stat sheet out and room for my dice and 2 binders...

In a given module as a funny dwarf paladin I use Potions of fly, resist energy, acid flask, Alchemist Fire, Rope, Anti-plague, Anti-Toxin (some of these for forgetful adventures)... I looked at my chronicles and I would say each one starting at about 4 I have 3-4 lines of items.

Velsa wrote:

What happens if you lose your sheet before a game? I know I keep my characters on my phone so I can re-print my stats sheet... and my PDF's are on there as well so I have my resources... but if I lose my ITS am I just screwed... I don't have the signatures any more. Does my character suddenly become naked and therefore I should just quit the game?

1. The ITS does not get signed.

2. Keep the ITS with your Chronicles. If you lose your Chronicles, you are pretty screwed. Losing the ITS with them will seem a minor issue in comparison.

But as it stands I keep all my Chronicles stapled back to a stat sheet from the level they were done at and now I don't have to bring everyone of those to each module will I need to start bring 3-4 binders to each module?

What happens if you lose your sheet before a game? I know I keep my characters on my phone so I can re-print my stats sheet... and my PDF's are on there as well so I have my resources... but if I lose my ITS am I just screwed... I don't have the signatures any more. Does my character suddenly become naked and therefore I should just quit the game?