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Go read up on new old vampires relationship map? Specifically, Malk_Content is referring to Vampire: The Masquerade (VtM). The new edition of VtM (i.e., 5th edition) integrates a relationship map into its character creation and some mechanics. Their description of how it works and its ability to foster player engagement is spot-on!
So really the lesson is: Talk to your players. All the time. SAME ICON! And excellent advice! There's countless real-world situations that are complicated by a lack of communication, and TTRPGs are certainly one of them. Players won't get what they want out of a game if they don't speak up, and players often won't speak up unless the GM gives them opportunities to. Go read up on new old vampires relationship map and implement it in every game you run. I'm running a lot of V5 at the moment, but for some reason it never occurred to me to use the relationship map elsewhere. You're spot-on in that it's a great visual aid for juicy roleplay opportunities!
Your advice could apply to either PF2 or TTRPGs in general. Your advice could also come from a player's perspective; what advice would you give your GM to best enrich your experience at the table? The biggest advice I have is to read everything (e.g., rulebooks, adventures, lore, character options, statblocks, my players' character sheets); this may seem like common sense, but it didn't come naturally to me. This doesn't mean you have to comprehend every single word, just touch it with your eyes, per se; it's hard enough finding time to play, let alone time to parse all that content. You'll surprise yourself with what you're able to recall, and your game will be richer for it!
superhorse - what you describe was already the case under the old sanctioning model. Oh shoot, really? I had no idea! I wasn't aboard for PF1, so I only know what bits and pieces I've read about the old sanctioning model. I’m not saying that an event coordinator is trying to schedule things under the new system into a game day slot. I’m saying event coordinators have been scheduling modules (and sometimes AP parts) under the old system into game day slots, and they can’t do that with the new system as presented so far. And that is a problem. It does seem like a problem that event coordinators can no longer schedule sanctioned Adventures and Adventure Paths in PFS slots under the new sanctioning model, since that results in a lot of unusable content for those who primarily play PFS. Though it sounds like the old sanctioning model also resulted in a lot of unusable content simply because sanctioning took so long! I feel I better understand the need for either a volunteer sanctioning workforce or an entirely different model.
This isn't PFS, this is a way for a home-group to claim a small amount of PFS credit for some post-game bureaucracy. This is also how I feel. I was looking forward to having my players use the same characters throughout Adventures, Adventure Paths, and PFS Scenarios. However, considering the level of effort it would take to make this feasible, I understand why the developers took this route; it seems we're lucky to get a sanctioning model at all this go-around. This model does have a bright side, though: Players who typically play in home games don't have to start from scratch if they decide to play PFS; I would certainly find that alienating. This somewhat bridges the gap between players who only play private games and players who are actively engaged in organized play!
Because I'm a technical writer and was bored at work, I made an attempt at giving this a proper write-up, and even developed a version to use in Downtime Mode. Enjoy! Exploration Tension Pool:
Whenever the party spends 10 minutes in a dungeon, add 1d6 to the tension pool. The GM can indicate that the tension pool increased by saying "time passes, and then..." before describing the results of a 10-minute spend. If the dungeon's denizens have a low state of readiness, give the party their first 10 minute spend in each location for free. When the tension pool contains 6d6 or the party undergoes a course of action that would attract undue attention, roll the tension pool. If any dice show a 1, a setback occurs. If a setback occurs and the tension pool has 6 dice, remove all dice from the tension pool; otherwise, remove 1 die.
Downtime Tension Pool: When the game enters downtime mode, remove all dice from the tension pool. The first day spent in downtime mode does not contribute to the tension pool; increase this to a free week if there are no urgent plot elements. For every day spent thereafter, add 1d6 to the tension pool. When the tension pool contains 6d6 or the party undergoes a course of action that is particularly disruptive, roll the tension pool. If any dice show a 1, a setback occurs. If a setback occurs and the tension pool has 6 dice, remove all dice from the tension pool; otherwise, remove 1 die. When the game exits downtime mode, roll the tension pool. Then remove all dice from the tension pool.
Although Pathfinder 2e is my new go-to system, I still have a long-standing group of players that much prefers OSR rulesets (think rehashes and creative takes on 1970s D&D). My favorite OSR ruleset is The Black Hack by David Black, which I've been using to run Pathfinder Adventures and Adventure Paths. It works like an absolute charm! I don't need to do extensive prep, I get even more use out of my investments, and I have the chance to get more familiar with locations and plotlines for when I run them in Pathfinder (OSR games tend to move at a comparatively faster pace). In what ways have you successfully used Pathfinder products to supplement non-Pathfinder efforts? Or, what have you pillaged from other products and successfully implemented in Pathfinder?
I think it's important to handwave and hurry past instances where mechanics changes affect story continuity because—at the end of the day—trying to map every mechanics change to the setting and story (both past and present) is a veritable rabbit hole. However, for players who need that justification, I think the key is to be vague and brief: - The PC was always able to do that, and has probably done it before, but never within the scope of a session we've played.
I'd rather be blunt (i.e., "I can't explain the difference, sorry") or provide a plausible excuse than comprehensively map these differences. Because if you give in-depth reasoning for one, then you have to do them all, which is quite daunting (especially if we're considering errata within a system too).
Simply iterating on the same game engine was not enough. The 3.5 engine has had its day, and as a team we decided that it was time to modernize, to create a version of Pathfinder that was more than just tinkering around the edges. This line of thinking is why Pathfinder 2e is the first time I've revisited anything d20-based in nearly a decade. The 3.5e engine left a bad taste in my mouth, despite extensive play. The 4e engine was my favorite iteration, but I often felt like a minority in that regard; I gave Pathfinder 2e a try based on comparisons made between the two. Pathfinder 2e gave me everything I missed about 4e, but nothing I didn't: - Classes that feel diverse and highly customizable instead of homogenous
I wouldn't have ended up trying and loving Pathfinder 2e if the developers hadn't committed to giving the game a fresh identity. I'm really happy they did it "the hard way" despite the associated risks and gargantuan effort.
I'm sure someone's asked this by now, but I couldn't find a thread, so I'll put it out there: RotRL was one of my favorite campaigns I've ever run, but we only got so far before we stopped about 7 years ago. I want to pick it back up again with the same players now that my passion for Pathfinder has been rekindled. Does anybody have super quick-and-dirty recommendations for converting RotRL to PF2? I don't think I have the patience for a full hack, nor do I think many people do. Like, if you had three main points, what would you do to hack it? |