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Am I correct in my understanding of the current rules that even though a PC is level 12, the player of said character is not required to retire said character, he just ceases to gain XP? Will there be more Tier 12 scenarios developed in the future to accomodate such PCs?
Yes, after a PC levels to 12 they no longer earn XP. The level-12-only scenarios will be multi-part arcs which at the conclusion the PC may be retired, but does not have to be. I am sure there could be one arc of Tier 12 scenarios released each Season.
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Am I correct in my understanding of the current rules that even though a PC is level 12, the player of said character is not required to retire said character, he just ceases to gain XP? Will there be more Tier 12 scenarios developed in the future to accomodate such PCs?Yes, after a PC levels to 12 they no longer earn XP. The level-12-only scenarios will be multi-part arcs which at the conclusion the PC may be retired, but does not have to be. I am sure there could be one arc of Tier 12 scenarios released each Season.
Excellent, thanks for the reply. Though the characters I'm DMing are a long ways off of hitting 12th level, the question had been raised before so I wanted to check. I also really like my Paladin character and I prefer to play him as much as possible, even if he would cease gaining XP.
I have wondered something similar but have not tried to look up yet what I want to know. Anyway, does a character stop earning XP as soon as it reaches level 12 or can you still earn XP from three more scenarios so that you would have enough XP to be level 13 if it were allowed and then stop earning XP?
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I have wondered something similar but have not tried to look up yet what I want to know. Anyway, does a character stop earning XP as soon as it reaches level 12 or can you still earn XP from three more scenarios so that you would have enough XP to be level 13 if it were allowed and then stop earning XP?
Does it make a difference? There's no difference I can see between 33xp and 36xp.
I have wondered something similar but have not tried to look up yet what I want to know. Anyway, does a character stop earning XP as soon as it reaches level 12 or can you still earn XP from three more scenarios so that you would have enough XP to be level 13 if it were allowed and then stop earning XP?Does it make a difference? There's no difference I can see between 33xp and 36xp.
It makes a difference if someday the level cap is raised. So while Joshua said it is very unlikely to happen, he also said it is not impossible. So if the day ever comes, being able to take your level 12 character out of retirement to immediately become level 13 versus having to play through three more scenarios before being able to play whatever high level scenarios are released with a level cap increase would be very nice for players with no patience.
The moment you hit level 12, you stop gaining XP. At that moment, only Tier 12 scenarios are legal for play for you. Once you reach level 12, the first Tier 12 arc of four adventures will result in your retirement. There will be future events for retired PCs.
I will clarify this further in the next guide update.
Yes, the retirement is mandatory.
The first arc can end with the PCs achieving something very cool in the Society--a something that effectively retires them. We've talked about what cool thing could happen at the end of future arcs as well, but don't have any specifically scripted beyond the first.
We want veteran, experienced players to cycle back down to level 1 every 18 months or so. You can still maintain your high level PC and there will be Tier 12 and retired events at major conventions, but we need those players to drop back down and help bring up newer players into the higher tiers. The more cycling we see like this, the more experience veteran players we'll have.
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Yes, the retirement is mandatory.
The first arc can end with the PCs achieving something very cool in the Society--a something that effectively retires them. We've talked about what cool thing could happen at the end of future arcs as well, but don't have any specifically scripted beyond the first.
We want veteran, experienced players to cycle back down to level 1 every 18 months or so. You can still maintain your high level PC and there will be Tier 12 and retired events at major conventions, but we need those players to drop back down and help bring up newer players into the higher tiers. The more cycling we see like this, the more experience veteran players we'll have.
Thats...actually fairly intuitive, I like that. According to this, players are basically expected to play twice a month: Not an unrealistic goal. I just find it that the players I often DM back home in the states often play once (if not twice!) a week, so they would probably be a small exception to that.
Still, thanks for the answer!
I'm sure this has come up, but with only two scenarios coming most months, players will be forced to cycle back down anyway since, to keep new low-level scenarios coming out you're going to be limited to one Tier-12 arc per year. I really doubt a significant number of players will flatly refuse to make 1st level characters when that's still going to be a requirement to keep playing for eight months out of the year. Most cons will probably not offer entire Tier 12 arcs either.
Actually, the fact that we have 28 scenarios a year is why we have a level 12 cap. Once you expand the levels beyond that, you stretch out the intervals wherein the scenarios drop back to level 1 and build up again and decrease the number of 1st level adventures available for new players. The combination of the 12 cap and our frequency is what forces the 18-month cycle of making new characters--although, to be fair, it's only an 18-month cycle for those who play every single scenario as they are released.
As for cons, most smaller cons will offer whatever new low-level scenarios are available. The average level for Pathfinder Society PCs isn't high enough yet for 100-person cons to run anything above Tier 7 unless they know that they have a hardcore group of higher level players.
One issue I'm running into is there are a lot of 7-11 mods coming out. How many people have more than 1 7-11th level character? I'm running into this issue as my high level character just hit 11th and I have about 4 story arcs I've started and only 3 mods till I retire. So there is 1 arc I have decided I'll finish up with her.
This hurts my willingness to go to gamedays and cons because I have less to play. Not that I have already played the mods but that I'm ineligible, or soon will be and I’d like to finish arcs (one in particular). All my alts are 1st, and where there has been some 1-7's come out recently, organizers are going to have to "spread the love."
I guess I'd like to see more of an emphasis on the low level stuff. This may be a personal problem, though, I'm just curious if anyone else who started early in year zero are experiencing the same problem?
...Also, If you can only play 1 arc after retirement, I may want to hold-out until there is a story arc that is more suited to the motivations of my character. Thus limiting that aspect of play opportunity as well for me.
Director of Brand Strategy
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One issue I'm running into is there are a lot of 7-11 mods coming out. How many people have more than 1 7-11th level character? I'm running into this issue as my high level character just hit 11th and I have about 4 story arcs I've started and only 3 mods till I retire. So there is 1 arc I have decided I'll finish up with her.
To date there is only one arc for tier 7-11 (Echoes of the Everwar). The other arc is for tier 1-7 (The Devil We Know). Next month a tier 12 arc starts (The Eyes of the Ten) and another 1-7 arc will start in June (City of Strangers).
And quite technically, the Tier 7-11 scenarios are not written to be played by Tier 12 characters. Tier 12 characters represent the ultimate achievement and, as such, they are rewarded by getting to play through a scenario arc that includes authors like Erik Mona that ends in their retirement and readies them for special Tier 12+ events for retired characters only.
As for the balance of scenarios, I maintain a spreadsheet where I've planned out years of Pathfinder Society by Tier. If you play every single scenario as it releases, you'll need to start a new 1st-level PC every 18 months. This cycle keeps low-level scenarios in the mix. If you're level 11 right now and your 1st-level alts have only played 1 or 2 scenarios, then you have plenty more Tier 1-7 or Tier 1-5 scenarios out there to play through.