The Round 4 Rules and FAQ have been posted.
Competitors in the Top 16 may wish to get a head start on their submissions in the case they make the Top 8.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka JoelF847
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For the 2nd example of the 2 tier encounter, shouldn't the CRs be 3 apart? I think that the 3 1st level goblin warriors should be CR 1, which would make the CR 4 version 3 higher (though I shouldn't the 2nd group of goblins be 3rd level warriors to be CR 4?)
So very much like the organized play scenarios. Now the CR limit makes all the more sense in Round 3. (Besides the word limit that is)
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
aka primemover003
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I thought that was a pretty obvious way to handle it considering the runner up prize. It'll be an interesting assignment for sure, especially if you've never had any organized play experience.
--The Devil We Know Part II: Cassomir's Vrocker
I thought that was a pretty obvious way to handle it considering the runner up prize. It'll be an interesting assignment for sure, especially if you've never had any organized play experience.
--The Devil We Know Part II: Cassomir's Vrocker
Its been awhile for me.
Back during the open call for #27 and #28.
Oh man. Multiple tiers? I would have had a lot of fun with that -- it's one of the best parts of writing organized play-ish stuff to me. Alas.
Good luck, top-8-to-be!
For the 2nd example of the 2 tier encounter, shouldn't the CRs be 3 apart? I think that the 3 1st level goblin warriors should be CR 1, which would make the CR 4 version 3 higher (though I shouldn't the 2nd group of goblins be 3rd level warriors to be CR 4?)
Ross fixed this last night, BTW.
A question about Round 4, if I may. Some of the villains do not have the correct CR values. Would it be best to use the CR from the entries, or the CR as corrected by judges in their comments?
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka JoelF847
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Another question about villain CR. Since the encounter is two tiered, but the villains have only been presented at one CR, should we simply assume that they can be used at both tiers, and would have different stat blocks, but that we can simply present them as Villain Name (R3)?
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
aka primemover003
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Another question about villain CR. Since the encounter is two tiered, but the villains have only been presented at one CR, should we simply assume that they can be used at both tiers, and would have different stat blocks, but that we can simply present them as Villain Name (R3)?
No villain can stand alone against a party of adventurers and hope to live more than a round. Action economy alone tells you that. Terrain, minions, or some other reason to draw the PCs attention from them has to be present. Create your lower tier encounter, then supersize it so it plays out in a similar manner. Where your villain might be the BBEG in the first encounter, her or she might only be a tough lieutenant in the second.
--Vrock, paper, scissors
1) It's probably safer to use them at their listed CR rather than what the various judges say the CRs should be.
2) What Scott said... you probably want to have minions and allies for the villain.
For the encounter-header, the template says we should use this:
{bigger}{b}EncounterName {CR YY or ZZ}{/b}{/bigger} {such as "Underground Fire Monkey Nest"}
But comparing to other published sources, shouldn't the template say this?
{bigger}{b}EncounterName {EL YY or ZZ}{/b}{/bigger} {such as "Underground Fire Monkey Nest"}
Nooooo, EL is from 3.0 and 3.5. You're probably looking at an older PSS if it says that.
Nooooo, EL is from 3.0 and 3.5. You're probably looking at an older PSS if it says that.
Ah, yes, publication date 2008. My bad. I have since compared to something I bought recently and it's "CR". Move along, nothing to see here...
Any guest judges for round 4? I know in the past round 4 critiques, the Paizo cartographers have weighed in.
Jared Blando and Rob Lazzaretti are the R4 guest judges.
I may be completely out to lunch here, but it seems like only half of the R3 villains are even eligible for use in R4, as their own CRs prevent their use in many of the tiers allowed for use. Furthermore it seems that the lower tiers are ineligible as well, as that cannot possibly contain any of the villains. I feel like I'm missing something here, why would the R4 rules contain "legal" CR tiers which we are technically unable to use? And why do those same rules seem to chop the field of available choices by half before we even get into an design choices?
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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I may be completely out to lunch here, but it seems like only half of the R3 villains are even eligible for use in R4, as their own CRs prevent their use in many of the tiers allowed for use. Furthermore it seems that the lower tiers are ineligible as well, as that cannot possibly contain any of the villains. I feel like I'm missing something here, why would the R4 rules contain "legal" CR tiers which we are technically unable to use? And why do those same rules seem to chop the field of available choices by half before we even get into an design choices?
I think I may be able to answer this.
It appears that Pathfinder Society is much like the Living campaigns that the RPGA and other 3rd parties would sponsor. I helped to run Living Dragonstar for 3 years.
As such, each module must be tiered so that different level groups can participate in the module without the chance of TPK for the lower level or ridiculous walk-over by higher level.
As such, all the monsters and the villain must be recalibrated for the different tiers and the modules often would have different stat blocks for the different tiers.
That being the case, and that the non grand-prize winner top 4 contestants get to write a Pathfinder Society module, you need to show your moxy in tiering a module.
That being said, it doesn’t sound like you have a lot of space to completely rewrite the villain stat blocks. 1500 words is not a ton of space to do that.
That being said, it doesn’t sound like you have a lot of space to completely rewrite the villain stat blocks. 1500 words is not a ton of space to do that.
I'm thinking doing anything other than using the villains as-is (possibly adding missing pieces or fixing errors) is outside the scope of what's allowed, just like adding a few levels of sorcerer or a template to one of the villains to increase their CR would be illegal.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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I'm thinking doing anything other than using the villains as-is (possibly adding missing pieces or fixing errors) is outside the scope of what's allowed, just like adding a few levels of sorcerer or a template to one of the villains to increase their CR would be illegal.That being said, it doesn’t sound like you have a lot of space to completely rewrite the villain stat blocks. 1500 words is not a ton of space to do that.
Well, the way I read the requirements is:
1) The encounter has to use a R3 villain.2) The encounter must be tiered for two tiers at least 3 CR apart.
If this is the case, then the villain must be restated for the tiering.
3) Or, as I said earlier in this thread, you add minions to the encounter so the villain isn't alone, increasing the CR.
Bob the villain is CR 5.
For Tier 7-8, Bob has X minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.
For Tier 10-11, Bob has Y minions or X + Y minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.
Neither encounter requires you to create a new stat block for Bob.
3) Or, as I said earlier in this thread, you add minions to the encounter so the villain isn't alone, increasing the CR.
Bob the villain is CR 5.
For Tier 7-8, Bob has X minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.
For Tier 10-11, Bob has Y minions or X + Y minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.Neither encounter requires you to create a new stat block for Bob.
You might not have to restat Bob, but you would have to restat eight of the sixteen villains which were actually submitted last round (or, at the very least, present them alone and already weakened; not very climactic). Eight of last round's villains were CR9, which means that none of the bottom-tier CR brackets can accommodate them as written.
In addition, another 2 are CR 8. Unless I misunderstand, you've mandated that fully 10 of the 18 villains must appear in a fair fight (one man vs the party) if not at an actual disadvantage.
Why would you do that?
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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3) Or, as I said earlier in this thread, you add minions to the encounter so the villain isn't alone, increasing the CR.
Bob the villain is CR 5.
For Tier 7-8, Bob has X minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.
For Tier 10-11, Bob has Y minions or X + Y minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.Neither encounter requires you to create a new stat block for Bob.
Ah, ok.
Now not being super familiar with how Pathfinder has modified the CR vs EL and all that jazz, I’m assuming that at least there is some similarity to 3.x and that you can write up a CR 4 encounter for a tier 1-2, (CR at average party level = 25% party resources and each CR requires 25% more resources) so that the CR 6 villain for a tier 3-4 would probably be the penultimate encounter in a module, rather than the 1st or 2nd. Probably won’t matter for just statting out the encounter, but will matter for flavor in how you fluff out the encounter.
3) Or, as I said earlier in this thread, you add minions to the encounter so the villain isn't alone, increasing the CR.
Bob the villain is CR 5.
For Tier 7-8, Bob has X minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.
For Tier 10-11, Bob has Y minions or X + Y minions, bringing the encounter CR to 7.Neither encounter requires you to create a new stat block for Bob.
Ah, ok.
Now not being super familiar with how Pathfinder has modified the CR vs EL and all that jazz, I’m assuming that at least there is some similarity to 3.x and that you can write up a CR 4 encounter for a tier 1-2, (CR at average party level = 25% party resources and each CR requires 25% more resources) so that the CR 6 villain for a tier 3-4 would probably be the penultimate encounter in a module, rather than the 1st or 2nd. Probably won’t matter for just statting out the encounter, but will matter for flavor in how you fluff out the encounter.
Ahah! If we're talking about party level (which we are, now that I reread the rules) then that's a totally different ballgame. You could comfortably use Ankradula or the Gentleman Knave, minions and all.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
aka primemover003
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Tiers are like APL, and thus you base your Encounter CR off that (Easy, Challenging, Hard, or Epic). You leave the Villain as is for BOTH encounters and add mooks, minions, hazards, or traps to the encounter to take it up a notch.
--Vrockslide CR 8
Question: If I were to use a villain who prepares spells daily, could I alter the default spells s/he has prepared for the encounter?
Question: If I were to use a villain who prepares spells daily, could I alter the default spells s/he has prepared for the encounter?
I've discussed this with the Powers That Be, and we've decided this is allowed!
Another good solution to tiering the high-CR villains is to apply the "Young," "Hatchling," or "Chibi" templates.
:P
In case any of my fellow competitors didn't see it (I just saw it myself), Sean posted some examples of poor to good maps as well as a link to another map discussion thread on the Paizo blog.
Another quick question;
Since we have the options of half-page or full-page. What if we used half-page for the local map (5-foot squares) of our location and the second half for a hand-made world map showing it's location using miles, like SKR's example in the blog today.
Or would it be very bad to have anything but a local map on the page? I only need a half-page, but if I could add something to another half, that would be neat.
Or would it be very bad to have anything but a local map on the page? I only need a half-page, but if I could add something to another half, that would be neat.
Personally, I'd say take your cue from what's been done in prior years of the competition. Some maps have provided 3D perspectives and other accompanying elements. I don't think anyone's going to ding you if you provide something like that...as long as it serves that specific encounter location. And, all told, I think your encounter description is going to be the most important thing. We're testing your map skills here, too, of course...but mostly how they serve to support your write-up and that they give a professional cartographer everything they'd need to render a final publishable map off of it.
Another quick question;
Since we have the options of half-page or full-page. What if we used half-page for the local map (5-foot squares) of our location and the second half for a hand-made world map showing it's location using miles, like SKR's example in the blog today.
Or would it be very bad to have anything but a local map on the page? I only need a half-page, but if I could add something to another half, that would be neat.
Personally, I'd say that a 1/2 page map of a country and a 1/2 page map of a dungeon within that country is actually two maps, not one map. The R4 rules say "Describe a new Location in Golarion, a Map of that location, ...."
If I said "Give me a map of Chicago," and you handed me a map that was 1/2 Chicago and 1/2 a map of Illinois showing the location of Chicago within the state, you'd technically be complying with what I asked but you'd be showing me fewer details of Chicago than if you had given me a full-page map of just the city.
Paizo's modules have started including little inset maps highlighting what country the adventure occurs in, and you may want to do something like that if you think it's helpful, but you should really question how helpful it is in regard to your R4 submission as a whole.
I wish there was private contestants thread so we could ask dumb questions...but, anyway, I was just checking my word count in the submission tool. I didn't see anything there to upload a map. I checked the Round 4 FAQs and didn't see anything there on how to do it. I would hate to submit my encounter with no map!
Entries must be submitted through the submission tool at paizo.com/rpgsuperstar beginning at 2 PM Pacific time on February 15, 2011, and must be received by 2 PM Pacific time on February 18, 2011 (maps must be mailed to and have the same deadline as the text submission). Voting begins February 22, 2011 and ends February 28, 2011. Paizo will announce the top 4 entries on March 1, 2011.
There you go.
Thanks! See, dumb question (and I did read the rules but apparently glossed over the deadline part as trust me, I know when the deadline is :)) Now, I slink back into my hole before anyone notices...
No probs, when you are in the middle of designing something, sometimes you get so focused on that, that you miss the peripheral stuff. I know I do.
And my turn for a dumb question!
I just want to double check that the NPC Guide counts as a valid source for short-form stat blocks. I'm guessing it counts as "Published content from Paizo's Pathfinder campaign setting"? I don't see why it wouldn't, but it looks like most of the other books got called out by name, hence the trepidation.
And my turn for a dumb question!
I just want to double check that the NPC Guide counts as a valid source for short-form stat blocks. I'm guessing it counts as "Published content from Paizo's Pathfinder campaign setting"? I don't see why it wouldn't, but it looks like most of the other books got called out by name, hence the trepidation.
Probably because there is a lot of Pathfinder campaign setting books.
Probably because there is a lot of Pathfinder campaign setting books.And my turn for a dumb question!
I just want to double check that the NPC Guide counts as a valid source for short-form stat blocks. I'm guessing it counts as "Published content from Paizo's Pathfinder campaign setting"? I don't see why it wouldn't, but it looks like most of the other books got called out by name, hence the trepidation.
Exactly. :) And because the core books aren't part of the campaign setting, so we had to list them by name... and doing so also excludes preview/playtest content from the core line, like the ninja and so on. Yeesh, legalese.... :)
So yes, the NPC Guide is allowed. Remember to cite your source!
Probably because there is a lot of Pathfinder campaign setting books.And my turn for a dumb question!
I just want to double check that the NPC Guide counts as a valid source for short-form stat blocks. I'm guessing it counts as "Published content from Paizo's Pathfinder campaign setting"? I don't see why it wouldn't, but it looks like most of the other books got called out by name, hence the trepidation.
Exactly. :) And because the core books aren't part of the campaign setting, so we had to list them by name... and doing so also excludes preview/playtest content from the core line, like the ninja and so on. Yeesh, legalese.... :)
So yes, the NPC Guide is allowed. Remember to cite your source!
I predict that next year's round 4 twist is ninjas.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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I predict that next year's round 4 twist is ninjas.Probably because there is a lot of Pathfinder campaign setting books.And my turn for a dumb question!
I just want to double check that the NPC Guide counts as a valid source for short-form stat blocks. I'm guessing it counts as "Published content from Paizo's Pathfinder campaign setting"? I don't see why it wouldn't, but it looks like most of the other books got called out by name, hence the trepidation.
Exactly. :) And because the core books aren't part of the campaign setting, so we had to list them by name... and doing so also excludes preview/playtest content from the core line, like the ninja and so on. Yeesh, legalese.... :)
So yes, the NPC Guide is allowed. Remember to cite your source!
Ninja's with guns fighting zombie pirates but then having to team up against Dragons with Eidolons.
Ninjas with guns fighting zombie pirates but then having to team up against Dragons with Eidolons.
Dragons with eidolons!!!!!
That's exactly what I needed!
And they think the mu spores are the big concern. Hah!
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Champion Voter Season 6, Champion Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Champion Voter Season 9
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I predict that next year's round 4 twist is ninjas.
Round 1 = design a firearm
Round 2 = intelligent firearm using a firearm from Rd 1Round 3 = iconic pirate equipped with a Rd 2 firearm
Round 4 = encounter with ninjas lead by Rd 3 iconic (mind-controlled of course)
Round 5 = adventure detailing a pirate vs ninja war
Round 5 = adventure detailing a pirate vs ninja war
In which the PCs finally settle the age-old dispute.
Do we get a confirmation e-mail that our map was received?
Do we get a confirmation e-mail that our map was received?
Ninjas must have gotten it to prevent it from falling in the hands of the pirates.
Do we get a confirmation e-mail that our map was received?
I've received one.