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I have a question about access. I know all characters have access to +1 weapons. What about masterwork weapons? Do we have access to them?
Nathan
Every character in Pathfinder Society Organized
Play begins the campaign with 150 gold pieces worth of
spending cash. All of the armor, weapons, and equipment
in Chapter Seven of the PH are available for purchase as
well as any of the items listed in the Equipment section
of Chapter 5 in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting
hardcover. You may not select items from outside of these
lists during character creation.
Thanks Norg!
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Oh, just remember another question:
I noticed on the PA charts that there isn't any actual discount to buying items. Does this mean that the ONLY way to gain items is through finding it in the adventure or buying it from our PA charts? If I want a Minor Wondrous Item not on my PA chart am I just screwed?
OP, for balance reasons, has limited access to magic items. There are no "magic item stores" in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. You're not "screwed"--everyone is treated equally and we shall endeavor to sprinkle magic items into scenarios that appeal to all player types over the course of the year.
You should also look on pg 23 of the guide for the base shopping list--of course that doesn't include wondrous items, which have been known to break OP systems faster than a freight train through a fruit stand.
Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing.
Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing.Oh, just remember another question:
I noticed on the PA charts that there isn't any actual discount to buying items. Does this mean that the ONLY way to gain items is through finding it in the adventure or buying it from our PA charts? If I want a Minor Wondrous Item not on my PA chart am I just screwed?
OP, for balance reasons, has limited access to magic items. There are no "magic item stores" in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. You're not "screwed"--everyone is treated equally and we shall endeavor to sprinkle magic items into scenarios that appeal to all player types over the course of the year.
You should also look on pg 23 of the guide for the base shopping list--of course that doesn't include wondrous items, which have been known to break OP systems faster than a freight train through a fruit stand.
I cannot disagree with you strongly enough. Clerics are not obligated to dispense their spells in any particular fashion. That being said I look forward to seeing how Paizo plans to handle healing. Please keep in mind they understand they are running scenarios at a convention, and they want people who are paying to playtest their new game idea to have fun. Healing is unlikely to be very similar to how it may be handled in your home game in my opinion. And you're always going to be fully healed from one scenario to the next.
It is always good to point out that the best defense is a good offense too. :)
Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing.
No one's stopping you from buying a bunch of scrolls of CLW. Of course, that doesn't help characters with a couple of levels of ranger or paladin who can't use scrolls.
It's entirely possible that they provide healing for you in the module, or the module has fights spaced far enough in time for natural healing to work. I'd try it first before complaining too much.
Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing.No one's stopping you from buying a bunch of scrolls. Of course, that doesn't help characters with a couple of levels of ranger or paladin who can't use scrolls.
Unless you are aware of something I am not, yes, yes they are stopping you from buying any magic item including scrolls, potions, etc...
They even removed Scribe Scroll from Wizards.
The following feats are not available in Pathfinder
Society Organized Play:
Brew Potion
Craft Magic Arms and Armor
Craft Rod
Craft Staff
Craft Wand
Craft Wondrous Item
Forge Ring
Leadership
Scribe Scroll (Wizard PCs select Spell Focus at 1st level
instead.)
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Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing.
I still don't understand this mentality.. I have never once (in completing AOW and STAP, and 3/4 through both the PF APs, plus DM campaigns before that) bought a wand of cure x wounds. Our clerics have gone into boss battles with no spells left at all. (the end of champion's belt comes to mind, or cleric wasn't there that day, so we did the entire adventure without her - same thing with halls of harsh reflections) and we never once had a player die. Sure there were a few fights where most of them were in the negatives, or it ended with one person (usually the wizard who was out of spells and shooting crossbow bolts at the time) standing with just enough time to bandage everyone up to prevent death, but that's what makes a good story. Its not worthwhile unless at least one PC goes into negative numbers.
Unless you are aware of something I am not, yes, yes they are stopping you from buying any magic item including scrolls, potions, etc...
Every character has access to +1 weapons/armor, level 0 or 1 potions/scrolls/oils, and silver/cold iron weapons (and possibly a couple of other things from the DMG I might be forgetting). I don't have the document in front of me, but it's listed before the prestige awards stuff.
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Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing.No one's stopping you from buying a bunch of scrolls. Of course, that doesn't help characters with a couple of levels of ranger or paladin who can't use scrolls.Unless you are aware of something I am not, yes, yes they are stopping you from buying any magic item including scrolls, potions, etc...
They even removed Scribe Scroll from Wizards.
The following feats are not available in Pathfinder
Society Organized Play:
Brew Potion
Craft Magic Arms and Armor
Craft Rod
Craft Staff
Craft Wand
Craft Wondrous Item
Forge Ring
Leadership
Scribe Scroll (Wizard PCs select Spell Focus at 1st level
instead.)
BUT from the organized play document:
In addition to items listed on your current or two previous chronicles, you may always purchase the following items or equipment:
+1 weapons (2,000 gp + 300 for the masterwork weapon cost + item cost)
+1 armor (1,000 gp + 150 for the masterwork armor cost + item cost)
+1 shields (1,000 gp + 150 for the masterwork armor cost + item cost)
Potions of 0 or 1st level spells at caster level 1 (50 gp or less)
Scrolls of 0 or 1st level spells at caster level 1 (50 gp or less)
Oils of 0 or 1st level spells at caster level 1 (100 gp or less)
Alchemical silver weapons (gp cost varies, see DMG Chapter 7)
Cold iron weapons (×2 gp cost)
Unless you are aware of something I am not, yes, yes they are stopping you from buying any magic item including scrolls, potions, etc...Every character has access to +1 weapons/armor, level 0 or 1 potions/scrolls/oils, and silver/cold iron weapons (and possibly a couple of other things from the DMG I might be forgetting). I don't have the document in front of me, but it's listed before the prestige awards stuff.
Ah, yes, but to be clear, this is not at character generation. This is post scenario.
After the Scenario
Step 3: Spoils of War and Buying Equipment
In addition to items listed on your current or two
previous chronicles, you may always purchase the
following items or equipment:
+1 weapons (2,000 gp + 300 for the masterwork weapon
cost + item cost)
+1 armor (1,000 gp + 150 for the masterwork armor cost +
item cost)
+1 shields (1,000 gp + 150 for the masterwork armor cost +
item cost)
Potions of 0 or 1st level spells at caster level 1 (50 gp or
less)
Scrolls of 0 or 1st level spells at caster level 1 (50 gp or
less)
Oils of 0 or 1st level spells at caster level 1 (100 gp or less)
Alchemical silver weapons (gp cost varies, see DMG
Chapter 7)
Cold iron weapons (×2 gp cost)
Ah, yes, but to be clear, this is not at character generation. This is post scenario.
Sure, but you're not going to be buying a wand of CLW at character generation, either. So scrolls are a semi-valid replacement.
it was mentioned elswhere in the document that you can buy these types of things before or after the adventure, i think
Ah, yes, but to be clear, this is not at character generation. This is post scenario.
I do not see it, but would be glad to be proved wrong.
Aside from the standard materials that I will need as a GM, what of the Paizo material will I need to bring?
I've printed out my modules and will have them there. My biggest question is regarding the faction missions. Will I need to make six copies of the faction assignments so that I can hand out the missions? Will the missions be handed out by the marshal instead of the dm?
Just cut up the mission sheets and hand them out. If there are multiple players from that faction, they can share a hand out. Then collect the handouts at the end of the scenario.
I'll have some spare handouts (12 total) but that won't cover all of the players.
If you start your character at an age that puts them in an older category (middle age or older), do you have to modify your ability scores accordingly? Or are aging penalties/bonuses not used?
Yes, you would have to modify their stats per the PH.
I have another question about release schedules, though. According to what I've seen, new modules release for home play the last week of each month - when does that begin? The GenCon mods release next week, and I assume that's the "August mods," but what about September? I'm having trouble seeing how the convention/store release schedule can work properly if the next round of scenarios is due to homes in less than 6 weeks...Organized conventions and in-store games receive their pdfs in advance of the official release in order to attract players to their venues. In theory, these should be available to them by the end of August.
For now, stores will have to run PFS games like everyone else. Sometime later this year we'll launch a system for tracking stores and offering stores the ability to take part in a 6-week exclusivity system for free to run events in their stores. September's scenarios release to the public the last week of September.
it was mentioned elswhere in the document that you can buy these types of things before or after the adventure, i think
Ah, yes, but to be clear, this is not at character generation. This is post scenario.
You purchase new items either during or after the scenario. Either way, everything you buy has to be tracked on the current chronicle, which is why you have to buy items only when you have a GM available (who is running or just ran you through a scenario) to sign off on your chronicle.
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Had a brain fart, posted this in a different thread.
I've also seen people reference the SRD as a valid source of material; is this documented in the OP file? I've scanned it to some degree and while I see reference to the PH for valid character options, I don't see the SRD referenced anywhere. Is the SRD valid, or strictly the PHB for character generation?
Maybe I should have put this in the "Dumb Question" thread, I'm excited about trying Pathfinder Society but know precious little about the Pathfinder setting.
So... what deities (and therefore domains) do we have to choose from? The PFS guide basically says to just use the Player's Handbook-- so are we using PH Greyhawk gods???
--Eloiwyn
Maybe I should have put this in the "Dumb Question" thread, I'm excited about trying Pathfinder Society but know precious little about the Pathfinder setting.
So... what deities (and therefore domains) do we have to choose from? The PFS guide basically says to just use the Player's Handbook-- so are we using PH Greyhawk gods???
--Eloiwyn
The PFS will use the deities of Pathfinder. You can find a listing of them and their domains in either the Runelords Player's Guide or the Crimson Throne Player's Guide (both free downloads).
1) The DM can run the session as many times as he wants, but each player (not character) can only play a scenario once.
2) One scenario accomodates 4-7 players.
3) I don't think there's anything wrong with having a single-faction party, even though it would make it easier for everyone in the party to get prestige.
I have 12 players who can't wait to get in on this. My dumb questions are:
How many times can I run the same scenario?
and
How many players can I run in any given scenario?
also:
What happens if all of the players are in the same faction? Should this be avoided?
Thanks.
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OK, by my figuring, there are 11 months of play, 2 sessions per month for 22 adventures possible. You advance a level after 3 levels of play, that would mean that in one year if you play all 22 games you would be 7th level.
The following year, after 14 adventures you will hit the level cap of 12 and retire that character and start a new one. Essentially 36 adventures and you're retired.
That doesn't sound too bad to me at all.
That sounds super fast to me. My 16th level PC in Living Greyhawk has over 190 mods played. Retiring a character after 36 is just way too fast.
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I’ve got a couple of questions regarding PFS organised play scenarios. These are no doubt answered somewhere else, but I seem to be missing it.
Anyway, how many players / characters are each scenario designed for? (An answer above suggests 4-7 players, is that right?)
Are pregenerated characters included with the scenarios (for convention play where some players may not be members of the PFS)?
Can I run a PFS game at a con if not all / none of the players are registered PFS members?
Can you play a character in a mod if you've already GM'd that mod?
No.
Or does the first person to GM any given mod sacrifice his privilege of playing in that mod?
Yes. It's called "eating" the scenario, apparently.
Play the scenario first, then run it.
Almost every team I saw at GenCon ran with 6 PCs, however in the last event I played our GM offered to sit a seventh if they showed up. I would suggest that at least one of these scenarios would be totally unsurviveable with a party fewer than 6 PCs, and the others would be incredibly difficult for 4. They may be possible for 4-7 players, but I would definitely suggest they might not be fun for fewer than 6. (Note this is not a challenge to anyone, just my experience at GenCon. YMMV)
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Play the scenario first, then run it.
Almost every team I saw at GenCon ran with 6 PCs, however in the last event I played our GM offered to sit a seventh if they showed up. I would suggest that at least one of these scenarios would be totally unsurviveable with a party fewer than 6 PCs, and the others would be incredibly difficult for 4. They may be possible for 4-7 players, but I would definitely suggest they might not be fun for fewer than 6. (Note this is not a challenge to anyone, just my experience at GenCon. YMMV)
Hmmm ...
I'm looking to run these at a local con, and they require that the scenario be run with 5 players (no more, no less I as I understand it).
They also require that pregenerated characters be available.
Play the scenario first, then run it.
Almost every team I saw at GenCon ran with 6 PCs, however in the last event I played our GM offered to sit a seventh if they showed up. I would suggest that at least one of these scenarios would be totally unsurviveable with a party fewer than 6 PCs, and the others would be incredibly difficult for 4. They may be possible for 4-7 players, but I would definitely suggest they might not be fun for fewer than 6. (Note this is not a challenge to anyone, just my experience at GenCon. YMMV)
Hmmm ...
I'm looking to run these at a local con, and they require that the scenario be run with 5 players (no more, no less I as I understand it).
They also require that pregenerated characters be available.
As far as I can tell there is nothing to prevent you from running this with pre-generated characters. I just think the appeal of running a pre-gen through a "Living World" is less than the appeal of running your own character through a "Living World".
Quite frankly, people would not need to be a part of the Pathfinder Society to enjoy being run through these scenarios. It just helps a lot.
I know first hand that changes were made to one of the scenarios at GenCon on the fly. I was told it was due to time constraints, and they removed an encounter. This also happened to be in the scenario that was considered by most to have been the most dangerous (frankly, I'm not sure how a 1st level party would get everyone through it with 6 people, we played it with 4 2nd level PCs, and it was much more manageable, though one of the 1st level PCs had to be brought back from the brink of death even then.)
I am not sure how Paizo is handling changes on-the-fly, but it would appear that when they are at the Con they do whatever they need to do to ensure people are able to enjoy themselves.
This was certainly the best organized event (GenCon) that I've ever attended. When we arrived for our round at 8 AM Eastern Time on Friday morning all of the judges were already seated at their tables awaiting their PCs. I've never seen that in 12 years of Con gaming.
Hmmm, so what's the story on prestige classes and the like? Any chance some of the little crunch that has been produced in Paizo products will make it's way into the OP as well?
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Play the scenario first, then run it.
Almost every team I saw at GenCon ran with 6 PCs, however in the last event I played our GM offered to sit a seventh if they showed up. I would suggest that at least one of these scenarios would be totally unsurviveable with a party fewer than 6 PCs, and the others would be incredibly difficult for 4. They may be possible for 4-7 players, but I would definitely suggest they might not be fun for fewer than 6. (Note this is not a challenge to anyone, just my experience at GenCon. YMMV)
as I replyied in the other thread, I ran a party of 4 PCs through silent tide and they cake walked it
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Thanks. What about July? Will there be no scenarios because that month is off season? Also, when can we register as DM's?
I believe July will have 2 scenarios, but I am not sure. Josh said that there would be a "30-day amnesty" period in order to transfer characters from 3.5 to Pathfinder RPG rules.
I also read somewhere that no one needs to register as a DM. Someone needs to download the scenarios and run them, and that's it.
But I'll admit to still being unclear about the specifics.
Josh, I don't suppose you'd kindly take a few and spell it out for those of us running a little slow...or un-caffeinated, as the case may be. :)
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If you start your character at an age that puts them in an older category (middle age or older), do you have to modify your ability scores accordingly? Or are aging penalties/bonuses not used?
Yes, you would have to modify their stats per the PH.
Could you fix this? If not for season 0, for season 1 at least. Effectively, this rule is nothing but free mental stats to casters.
Few examples:
Druid with Str 7, Dex 7, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 16 converted to middle-aged becomes Str 7, Dex 7, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 16. Changes to stats +1 Int.
Cleric with Str 7, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha becomes Str 7, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 16. Changes to stats +2 Cha.
And this doesn't yet include Int 18 wizards.
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You can't reduce your stats below 7 with anything means that if some feature (like a racial penalty) would reduce it to below 7 you can't lower it that far. The same would apply to aging effects.
So you'd still recieve the physical stat penalties going from 8 to 7 without getting the extra 2 points for character build.
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Similarly the cleric with stats Str 7, Dex 8, Con 11, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 14 could become something more than with middle-aging. Observe. I put the points used in brackets.
Original:
Str 7 [-4], Dex 8 [-2], Con 11 [1], Int 16 [10], Wis 16 [10], Cha 14 [7]
Same stats when middle-aged, but before the modifiers:
Str 8 [-2], Dex 9 [-1], Con 12 [2], Int 15 [7], Wis 15 [7], Cha 13 [3]
As you can see, four (4) points are still left for the character to be spent. One can boost Charisma to 15, making it 16 after the modifiers, or do the following (brackets indicate the use of left-over points):
Str 9 [+1], Dex 11 [+2], Con 13 [+1], Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 13
Resulting this. This time brackets tell how much points it *would* cost to get a stat like that:
Str 8 [-2], Dex 10 [0], Con 12 [2], Int 16 [10], Wis 16 [10], Cha 14 [5]
Well, just look at that. We just found a way to make a 25 point character. What makes this baffling is that the middle-aged buy is in better shape than it's younger counterpart. Although in real life that could be possible, fantasy is fantasy, and old people are frail.
Thanks. What about July? Will there be no scenarios because that month is off season? Also, when can we register as DM's?I believe July will have 2 scenarios, but I am not sure. Josh said that there would be a "30-day amnesty" period in order to transfer characters from 3.5 to Pathfinder RPG rules.
I also read somewhere that no one needs to register as a DM. Someone needs to download the scenarios and run them, and that's it.
But I'll admit to still being unclear about the specifics.
Josh, I don't suppose you'd kindly take a few and spell it out for those of us running a little slow...or un-caffeinated, as the case may be. :)
July will have 2 scenarios.
The amnesty period for character's to be transfered to Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from 3.5 will likely be mid-August to mid-September 2009. So the July 2009 scenarios will be the last 3.5 scenarios.
No one needs to register as a GM. Their PFS # counts as their GM number and we track who GMs an event.
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So you'd still recieve the physical stat penalties going from 8 to 7 without getting the extra 2 points for character build.Of course. It doesn't make my point any less valid. See the two example stat rows above. Making the characters middle-aged upped their stats without any drawbacks.
In LG they ignored the age adjustments. You could make your PC any age your wanted and it would be the same point cost. Keeps it simple and protected from abuse by those who would want to milk the ability points.
The next update to the guide will state that while you can make your character of any age, characters in Pathfinder Society Organized Play never receive a stat boost from doing so. IE, middle age characters use the same point buy and racial advantages as characters that are in their 20s. Yes, this is a change from a previous post.
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
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The next update to the guide will state that while you can make your character of any age, characters in Pathfinder Society Organized Play never receive a stat boost from doing so. IE, middle age characters use the same point buy and racial advantages as characters that are in their 20s. Yes, this is a change from a previous post.
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
What does this do to characters that already are built with the age adjustments per the original post?
Are they grand-fathered in, or do they have to make adjustments to fit with the new interpretation of stat buys?
To me this is merely a "Wait, no, it's not acceptable. Take that back, don't do middle-aged people, please." If it will be denied eventually, there's no point to try and get a short-lived joy out of being an old guy with minor stat boosts. It would be unnecessary reconstructing anyway.
