I am curious about the rule that the Society Organized Play campaign will never have characters playable past 12th level.
Paizo makes about a zillion classes and sells all kinds of products with details on how to play a character to 20th level.
The fourth part of the 12th level character arc (Eyes of Ten) is currently the 3rd best selling event listed on the scenario top sellers, so there must be a fair amount of players out there that are enjoying that series.
So I am curious about this rule and the reasoning behind it.
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The answer that I remember seeing is that the length of time it takes to play the higher level mods doesn't fit into the alloted time slot -- part 1 of the eyes of ten series takes between 8 and 10 hours for 1 mod.
The other side of that is the amount of time it takes to write a higher level scenario .. to make it challenging and fun...
Some else's search-fu might be better than mine today and be able to find a link
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I believe it is due to the fact that accurately creating a flat CR after that point beings to break down. It is hard for the writers to create a mod that has a reasonable amount of chance for success. Party makeup greatly comes into effect after these levels and if you don't have an something essential combat can quickly break down and lead to TPKs. Further more the game overall starts breaking down. Combat begins to become more bogged down and mods that are supposed to take around 4 hours, average, are lasting greater than 8. Mid to high levels generally require more tailoring of an adventure from a GM and as such that can't always be accomplished in a setting where specific tailoring to a party isn't always available.
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Three things:
1) Time: High level play slows things down significantly and this is more and more of an issue as things progress. It's therefore more difficult to create scenarios when time is a factor.
2) Options: As players progress they get more ways of dealing with things and are able to bypass encounters completely in some cases. The more options the players have the more difficult it is to present a challenging encounter.
3) IC reasons: In Golarion 11th level+ characters are seen as powerful, well known heroes. As such they would not be field agents but would become Venture Captains in their own right. The Pathfinder Society does not send out a bunch of Venture Captains together and it's illogical to have 16th level characters doing grunt work.
I'm sure there are also other reasons
I would add 4) the pool of players to draw from gets smaller and smaller as levels get higher, and so the modules get harder to play.
The fact that it's listed as a "best seller" probably has more to do with the fact that it's a recent release rather than overall popularity. I don't believe those listing are the all-time best-selling scenarios, are they?
The other factor is the majority of players play 12th level or lower in their everyday games.
Yes, odd that may sound but the majority of players playing 3.x D&D or Pathfinder do not play to 20th level. Research by WOTC in the 3.x heyday showed that most campaigns wrap up by 12th-15th level.
Even the Pathfinder Adventures Paths don't go to 20th. Why? Well, part of it is squeezing levels 1-20 into a 6 book arc published monthly. But the other part is that Paizo is aware that the majority of players don't play to 20th level and most campaigns wrap by 15th level.
PFS play is meant to appeal to the largest demographic and the largest demographic don't play campaigns past 15th level.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I concur with many of those reasons.
However, I'll challenge FallOfCamelot's third reason. There may indeed be threats to the Pathfinder Society, or mysterious riches, that require a team of powerful agents. An adventure with 13th-level agents (venture captains or no) would possibly include trips to the outer planes, mysterious Vaults in the darklands, or mysteries in the Worldwound or the Eye of Abendigo.
FrozenTundra, there's nothing keeping you from playing "Academy of Secrets" with a 13th-level version of your PFS character, "Tomb of the Iron Medusa", with a 14th-level version of your character, or even "The Witchwar Legacy" with a 17th-level version of your character.
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Three things:
3) IC reasons: In Golarion 11th level+ characters are seen as powerful, well known heroes. As such they would not be field agents but would become Venture Captains in their own right. The Pathfinder Society does not send out a bunch of Venture Captains together and it's illogical to have 16th level characters doing grunt work.
Slightly off topic but a lot of the VCs, in the game, are a bunch of putzes. Most of them are capped around 6th or 7th level. And in at least 3 or 4 mods you save a VC. That always kinda baffled me. I mean here I am a 10th level pc taking orders from a 6th level. I know that really has nothing to do with it, but it still does confuse me. I don't know why the VCs weren't statted higher.
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Slightly off topic but a lot of the VCs, in the game, are a bunch of putzes. Most of them are capped around 6th or 7th level. And in at least 3 or 4 mods you save a VC. That always kinda baffled me. I mean here I am a 10th level pc taking orders from a 6th level. I know that really has nothing to do with it, but it still does confuse me. I don't know why the VCs weren't statted higher.
It's for the same reason that Seal Team 6 isn't manned entirely by admirals and master chiefs. Rank in the society isn't the same thing as class level.
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I don't think it'd be that hard to create a separate Organized Play model for 13th-16th level PCs.
Let "standard" PCs play 'till 12th level like they do now and then create a different model of play for High Level Scenarios.
They're already doing that now, to some extent. Several "low" level Scenarios come in 3 or 4 parts. And though some of them can be played just as a 1st part, some (as I understand it) must be played through all parts. And I believe this IS the case for the 12th level PCs. Isn't it true that when you reach 12th level you must play a full 12th level Scenario Arc (4 Scenarios, yes?).
Why not just make a 1 or 2 per year Pathfinder Module available for Organized Play for 13th-16th level PCs. Absolutely these would have to conform to different time slots -- or maybe no time slots at all except at a Con (big time slot) -- time slots are ignorable for Homegames now.
Cut out some of the 7th and 8th level spells, sure -- Society Play does that already, too.
Make it so that 11th or 12th Lvl PCs can never play up into the High Level "special" Scenarios, sure -- Society Play does that already, too.
The Organized Play model could be like this:
1st-11th Level -- Standard (the way it is now)
12th Level -- 1 12th Level Arc (the way it is now)
13th-16th Level -- certain high level Pathfinder Modules are available for Society Play. (or something)
You could even create a gimmick where all of the High Level Scenarios are specific "Faction Missions" done only by retired Pathfinders or Venture Captains and have each one be representative of not only High Level play but also Faction and Society politics. Much moreso than the Faction Missions are now.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Witchwar Legacy is not (yet) a PFS sanctioned mod =)
So?
All that means is that you don't get floating XP, gold, and PA to apply to some unrelated PFS character. You can still take your retired PC, add 5 levels, and play "Witchwar". FrozenTundra's concern is that there's nothing to do with a retied PC. I'm suggesting there is, it's just that you don't get to make some other character legally more powerful because of your continued play.
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Witchwar Legacy is not (yet) a PFS sanctioned mod =)So?
All that means is that you don't get floating XP, gold, and PA to apply to some unrelated PFS character. You can still take your retired PC, add 5 levels, and play "Witchwar". FrozenTundra's concern is that there's nothing to do with a retied PC. I'm suggesting there is, it's just that you don't get to make some other character legally more powerful because of your continued play.
Maybe I misunderstood. I didn't get the impression he was looking for off the books solutions. Off the books solutions are bounded only by the limits of your imagination 8)
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How often -- or at all -- does PaizoCon or GenCon or Origins or any of the other "big" Cons have Slots for 12th or higher level PCs in Pathfinder Society?
And is the number getting bigger each year?
People were only able to hit complete retirement as of this month. That's 3 years it has taken to reach the end of one character. They haven't needed to offer anything before. I would assume that we will start seeing some more special events for retired characters to start showing up next year.
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How often -- or at all -- does PaizoCon or GenCon or Origins or any of the other "big" Cons have Slots for 12th or higher level PCs in Pathfinder Society?
And is the number getting bigger each year?
PaizoCon and Gen Con both have tables available for the tier 12 scenarios. Origins does not this year.
I believe U-Con in November will be offering at least the first 2(?) scenarios with Todd Morgan as GM. I also think that Gamicon in February will at least offer the last 2. :-)
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At this point, there are no PCs that have retired from PFS play. Until we get significantly more people reaching 12th level and retiring their PCs, we won't be diverting development resources to creating 13+ level events. When we do, however, PCs will still be 12th level (with significantly higher-than-12th-level wealth).
I feel like I should share some of my background, so people know this is not my first rodeo.
I am NOT bragging in any fashion, I am just trying to show that I've seen more than a little of what various campaigns do and have done, so have some idea of what is possible, what is popular, what is successful, and what has not worked well at all.
I've been playing organized play campaigns since the late '90s.
I've run organized play events for everything from small home-setting game days with 1-2 tables to mid-sized conventions with 6-20 tables, to large conventions like GenCon and Origins. I've written about 20 scenarios for various campaigns.
I played a fair bit of the old RPGA Living Jungle and Living Death campaigns (these had their quirks, were very "specific" in setting, but were popular and fun).
I played the RPGA Living City campaign under 2nd Edition rule, through its conversion to 3e, all the way until it ended. I had a few campaign administration positions to help run it for more than 5 years.
I was involved with Living Greyhawk since its inception all the way through its first story arc completion.
I played the Blackmoor campaign until it got so silly I couldn't stand it any longer (magical candy canes and top hats do that to me).
I got into the Arcanis campaign about a year after it began and played it in 3.x rules until its first arc ended at Origins 2009. I've played a number of scenarios that are currently available under their new rules system.
But in every one of these campaigns there were large numbers of players that wanted to play higher level adventures. Not everyone, but lots and lots of them. I marshaled 20+ tables (6+ people per table) of a high level 2 round event at GenCon the last year it was in Milwaukee ('02, iirc).
At the Acranis finale' in '09 there were like 30 tables (6+ peeps per) that played characters that were level 19 or 20.
So I have a hard time believing that there is not enough interest in playing games past 13th level from a gaming product produced and promoted like Pathfinder/Society is - I am guessing more players that have been exposed to this product than these pre/early internet campaigns ever had, its much more visible and available right off Paizo's web pages.
Yes, it is harder to write events for a higher level party, yes it takes a bit of a more experienced judge to run a scenario well, and yes it may take more than 4-5 hours to play an event (though this last point does not have to be the case for all scenarios). But these should not be deal-breakers for making higher level play an (even if infrequent) option for this campaign.
I am saying, it is do-able and I see in Paizo a chance for a company/organization to finally do it as "right" as possible. They are an actual company (not some half-formed "company" run by two dudes) they have publishing power, editors, designers, artists, experienced/involved regional volunteers, and a large fan base of active players. No one, not even WotC had the resources/ability to support an organized play campaign like this.
I just want the powers-that-be to see that there IS demand for quality high-level adventures in their Society campaign. I can list 30+ people that would play it if it were available (and I certainly do not know as many gamers as I used to when I went to a lot of conventions!). Maybe these numbers aren't enough to get their attention but if the general reasoning for not producing anything past 12th level is lack of play/pay interest, I'd like them to let us know that.
As a player I want to play story-arc driven and "important" events. I've done enough of the "save the damsel" or "there is a monster in them-thar hills, go kill 'em and his horde is your reward" adventures to be bored by that most of the time. I want some teeth in my scenarios. I want true danger and challenge. I want continuity and consistency in the campaign world. I want risk and reward that is innovative and appropriate. And usually, this is better done when characters are higher level.
I'll respond to some specific comments/options others offered in a while......this post was far too long as it is already ;)
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I feel like I should share some of my background, so people know this is not my first rodeo.
I am NOT bragging in any fashion, I am just trying to show that I've seen more than a little of what various campaigns do and have done, so have some idea of what is possible, what is popular, what is successful, and what has not worked well at all.
I've been playing organized play campaigns since the late '90s.
I've run organized play events for everything from small home-setting game days with 1-2 tables to mid-sized conventions with 6-20 tables, to large conventions like GenCon and Origins. I've written about 20 scenarios for various campaigns.I played a fair bit of the old RPGA Living Jungle and Living Death campaigns (these had their quirks, were very "specific" in setting, but were popular and fun).
I played the RPGA Living City campaign under 2nd Edition rule, through its conversion to 3e, all the way until it ended. I had a few campaign administration positions to help run it for more than 5 years.
I was involved with Living Greyhawk since its inception all the way through its first story arc completion.
I played the Blackmoor campaign until it got so silly I couldn't stand it any longer (magical candy canes and top hats do that to me).
I got into the Arcanis campaign about a year after it began and played it in 3.x rules until its first arc ended at Origins 2009. I've played a number of scenarios that are currently available under their new rules system.But in every one of these campaigns there were large numbers of players that wanted to play higher level adventures. Not everyone, but lots and lots of them. I marshaled 20+ tables (6+ people per table) of a high level 2 round event at GenCon the last year it was in Milwaukee ('02, iirc).
At the Acranis finale' in '09 there were like 30 tables (6+ peeps per) that played characters that were level 19 or 20.So I have a hard time believing that there is not enough interest in playing games past 13th level from a gaming product produced...
FT ... Read Mark's response .. I believe he summed it up.. it's not so much a matter of "us PFSer's being scared" of high level play, there aren't an awful lot of lvl 12 plus's out there that are in one area to be able to play some of the higher games.
All your qualifications aside, this is PFS not any of the other Living Campaigns that are now in the past. I'm not saying that PFS is better than allllllll the others, but PFS should be expected to conform to the layout of the other games.
In additional PFS is still a relatively new campaign, let's give it time to grow and the company time to meet all our expectations w/out berating them for not being another game system
*steps off the soapbox*
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I have to agree with the statements that there just aren't enough 'high level' PCs right now to make it worth investing resources into high level play.
I also played quite a bit in Living City, Living Greyhawk, and Living Arcanis (the latter two from inception to end, as well). Higher level PCs were not common place for LG or LA until their last 1-2 years. And it was very common for those characters to be left unused until conventions because they were still rarities.
That said, I agree PFS has a structure, company, and fan base capable of doing high level play correctly.. And part of doing it correctly is investing resources in it when the time is right; I know the game day I attend would struggle to seat a table of 12s, much less 13s.
Thea, that was exactly the kind of response that makes many (most) people despise coming to these message boards. Sorry I did not refresh my browser for an updated response from someone else less than 2 minutes before posting mine, I am not such a constant troller of these boards to have to see every response within seconds of it being posted, but thanks for the "advice".
And where exactly did I say anything about PFSer's being "scared"of anything?
You should note that I never demanded nor even asked that PFS do anything exactly like any other campaign. I just said that there were successful concepts that could be empowered in PFS, too. Too often I've seen/heard where folks in PFS (and most often on these board) by default say they won't do something just because some "other" campaign did. Well that's just foolish, other people that have run campaigns well in the past have ideas that can be borrowed and utilized to excellent results.
And I challenge you to point out where I am berating anyone for anything. I am simply stating that some folks do want to see play options past 12th. I demanded nothing, on any time-line.
I decided to say this on these boards because the majority of what most people say to this is nay-saying this notion and I don't think the majority of posters represent the majority of the actual players.
And if you think a campaign that is going into its FOURTH year is "new" then I am not sure what to say. Yes, it is still developing, and it should constantly do so, but that does not mean players (even ones that do not post 18 times/day) should not be able to share ideas and opinions without being jumped on like unwanted varmints by the daily talking pundits.
You're not the only person with a soapbox. I was very intentionally very civil about my suggestions in my original post(s), I expect the same in return.
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Until we get significantly more people reaching 12th level ....
But we still need to know as much as can be told to us!
My interest, for example, is in whether or not I want to spend LOTS of time developing a character for Pathfinder Society in local games even though I really don't like organized play -- just so that I can have a decent level PC to take to Conventions.
That's what I did with Living Greyhawk, too. Built up a handful of PCs to fun-to-play levels at our horrible local RPGA events (most boring, tedius sessions I ever played in!) so that I could have them for Conventions.
I'd like to build a few Pathfinder Society PCs locally (fast track) and then start taking them to Cons where (slow track) I can play them for YEARS.
But it's only worth my time if I really can keep the PC (or 2) for years at Cons. If I can only run a PC one time at a Con at 12th level before I have to start over it's amazingly not worth it.
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Thea, that was exactly the kind of response that makes many (most) people despise coming to these message boards. Sorry I did not refresh my browser for an updated response from someone else less than 2 minutes before posting mine, I am not such a constant troller of these boards to have to see every response within seconds of it being posted, but thanks for the "advice".
And where exactly did I say anything about PFSer's being "scared"of anything?
You should note that I never demanded nor even asked that PFS do anything exactly like any other campaign. I just said that there were successful concepts that could be empowered in PFS, too. Too often I've seen/heard where folks in PFS (and most often on these board) by default say they won't do something just because some "other" campaign did. Well that's just foolish, other people that have run campaigns well in the past have ideas that can be borrowed and utilized to excellent results.
And I challenge you to point out where I am berating anyone for anything. I am simply stating that some folks do want to see play options past 12th. I demanded nothing, on any time-line.
I decided to say this on these boards because the majority of what most people say to this is nay-saying this notion and I don't think the majority of posters represent the majority of the actual players.
And if you think a campaign that is going into its FOURTH year is "new" then I am not sure what to say. Yes, it is still developing, and it should constantly do so, but that does not mean players (even ones that do not post 18 times/day) should not be able to share ideas and opinions without being jumped on like unwanted varmints by the daily talking pundits.
You're not the only person with a soapbox. I was very intentionally very civil about my suggestions in my original post(s), I expect the same in return.
I'm sorry if you felt that I was attacking you .. I looked at the times when I posted, between yours and mark's post and with the length of your post knew that you were both probably typing at the same time.
I felt I was being civil .. but as I have no real opinion (apparently) I will bow out of this conversation.
At least I've never called anyone a troller... yet....
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If I can only run a PC one time at a Con at 12th level before I have to start over it's amazingly not worth it.
You can run your 12th level character for 4 scenarios (25 hours). You can also play them in Tomb of the Iron Medusa (12+ hours), and Academy of Secrets (12+ hours). All of this w/o leveling up your character and still collecting wealth. Is 50+ hours of play at level 12 worth it?
I've been playing organized play campaigns since the late '90s.Far as I know, that puts you near the bottom of the list for Organized Play experience.
A little bit more than me, certainly. But nowhere near the top compared to lots of folks here -- especially not Erik Mona and Lisa Stevens.
I am not saying I am the most experienced org play person there is, but I do think I have more than most. I am saying I have been around for some time and am still coming back for more.
And here I thought Paizo was interested in selling product. And while I may be "old" I'm not out of playing this game yet.
I fully understand that I am not really in Paizo's ideal demographic, but I do buy product so think I have some right to share my interests and ideas. So I am not going to sit by and be told that since I am no longer 22 my input has no value (and that is no "slight" to you, W E R, I'm just saying I will not be shy because I am older than the "standard" gamer).
As far as the holy Erik Mona goes I've spent (literally) hundreds of hours running/playing/organizing events with him during those late 90's early 2000's so I have a pretty good idea what his experience is :)
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Director of Brand Strategy
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Also, you're all pretty. We require no level of experience in organized play campaigns to participate in the discussion here, and take comments and suggestions from new fans and grognards under the same level of consideration. If this is going to be a discussion of what options people would like to see for post-retirement play, that's cool. If, however, the discussion continues to degrade into sniping at one another about whose opinions are more valid or arguing about putting words in one another's mouths, this thread will be over. I've answered the actual question posed in it, and will gladly continue to do so, but not if the tone of the thread doesn't improve dramatically.
I think what would make everyone happy is a statement like, "As of right now, levels are capped at 12. There are a few things a 12th level character can do right now. Eventually, when there's enough demand, we will expand play to 13th level and higher. We don't have the numbers for that yet. When we do, we'll talk about it more."
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There actually has been at least one level 12 only module, and I've heard there will be more.If we're going back to the makeing suggestions theme ..
I think it would be interesting to have a lvl 12 only module playable over the course of a weekend at a con-- more of a home campaign style than strictly pfs style.
Which module are you talking about? I'm thinking we might be thinking of two different things
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Director of Brand Strategy
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I think what would make everyone happy is a statement like, "As of right now, levels are capped at 12. There are a few things a 12th level character can do right now. Eventually, when there's enough demand, we will expand play to 13th level and higher. We don't have the numbers for that yet. When we do, we'll talk about it more."
We currently have no plans to ever increase the level cap to 13 or higher. We do have plans to provide additional opportunities for retired, 12th-level PCs to continue to participate in the campaign. They will do so at 12th-level, however, no matter how much they play beyond retirement.
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We currently have no plans to ever increase the level cap to 13 or higher. We do have plans to provide additional opportunities for retired, 12th-level PCs to continue to participate in the campaign. They will do so at 12th-level, however, no matter how much they play beyond retirement.
Are there any concerns with balance for the level 12's in these future events? A retired level 12 who's played a few modules in addition to the level 12 arc will be significantly more powerful than one who hasn't.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Mark, I don't have a pig in this fight, but ...
If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate some background behind that decision. Living Greyhawk started with a level cap of 18, and then reduced that to 16. 12th level seems, relative to other organized play campaigns, low. I know you weren't at Paizo HQ when Josh and Nick determined to cap the campaign at 12th Level, but I'm curious as to your reasons for holding the line at that?
If it's a question that levels 13 - 16 are harder to GM, then that seems like the kind of situation where the experience of 4-star GMs or venture captains might be put to good use.
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FT, I think there are many valid answers above.
The 2 key ones, IMO, are the time needed and the need to skew a module more specifically to your players in high level play. PFS is available for many playing options, but 2 of the key ones are convention and store play. In those environments, predictable session durations and flexibility on party makeup are key. So a High Level scenario which truly captures the best things about high level play is likely to be less useful in those venues.
To be honest, there are also some financial considerations on Paizo's end. High level encounters are going to take up more word count, both for stat blocks, and to cover more of the options available. To maintain the standard format of PFS scenarios, it is likely that they would have to have a longer document. So they can either chop non-enounter essential word count (possibly lowering quality), raise the price of the product, or take a (likely) loss on the product.
Further, as you said, they wish to sell product. Having people retire and start new characters is a good way to encourage them to get the new shinies out there.
This could be revisited down the road, as more players cap out. But I suspect that even if it did change, it would be a gradual adding of a level or two. In the meantime, the module play is the best solution.
EDIT: I got multi-ninjaed here, but I think it is all still valid.
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Mark, I don't have a pig in this fight, but ...
If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate some background behind that decision. Living Greyhawk started with a level cap of 18, and then rediced that to 16. 12th level seems, relative to other organized play campaigns, low. I know you weren't at Paizo HQ when Josh and Nick determined to cap the campaign at 12th Level, but I'm curious as to your reasons for holding the line at that?
If it's a question that levels 13 - 16 are harder to GM, then that seems like the kind of situation where the experience of 4-star GMs or venture captains might be put to good use.
If the cap were to be raised over 12, it wouldn't happen w/o a reboot of the campaign. As it is now, if you've finished the level 12 arc, your wealth/level curve goes screwy and wouldn't transfer to level 13 very well.
While I enjoy running tier 7-11 most of all, I believe that I'm an exception to the rule. Concentrating on lower tier material brings in more players. Concentrating on higher tier material will retain more players. I'm left wondering at what point in the life cycle of PFS does Paizo shift resources toward retaining players instead of gaining new players?
To me, gaining new players sells Core Rulebooks. Retaining players sells supplemental books (APG, UM, UC). It would seem that at some point (in the very near future?), the economics would support a decision to focus on selling the supplemental books.
As another side note, but somewhat relative to this discussion, I absolutely HATED prepping for Cult of the Ebon Destroyers. It was too much to prep at once and feel confident that I could provide my standard player experience. BobBob is going to prep Tomb of the Iron Medusa for Origins. I pity him. If I have it my way, I will never prepare another module for PFS purposes.
I think what would make everyone happy is a statement like, "As of right now, levels are capped at 12. There are a few things a 12th level character can do right now. Eventually, when there's enough demand, we will expand play to 13th level and higher. We don't have the numbers for that yet. When we do, we'll talk about it more."We currently have no plans to ever increase the level cap to 13 or higher. We do have plans to provide additional opportunities for retired, 12th-level PCs to continue to participate in the campaign. They will do so at 12th-level, however, no matter how much they play beyond retirement.
I understand you do not currently have plans... but no matter how many good reasons there are (and there are a lot!) to not go past 12, you must see that eventually the demand will be there. I foresee it as inevitable, if you want to keep PFS healthy, that play progress beyond 12th level. I hope you and anyone else involved with the crafting of the PFS all see this, sooner than later. As others have mentioned, capping the level relatively low dissuades some people from starting to play.
Some of my most fun in organized play was at levels 13+. Knowing that I could get my character that high was an incentive for playing that campaign. Not everyone gets a chance to play those high levels in home campaigns.
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I have only played PFS at cons and am thus a paltry 5th level, so please correct me if I am wrong, but this is something that occurred to me. Previous "living" campaingns were well alive. One of the draws was your characters have an effect on the story line of the world. The higher level you were the more influence you could have. I especially felt this way about living arcanis. Running around with a 15th level Val I felt like I could influence major events.
That being said I am not sure that PFS is a "living" campaign in the same sense and I am not sure that Golarion is set up for earth shaking events. It seems to me that the design philosophy is different. The world will keep chugging along regardless of PC actions and story arcs aren't designed to have a large impact on the world. I am pretty sure that I have "heard" the developers talk about this on several occasions and I hope I am not mixing up the philosphy regarding other Golarion products and the PFS. If this is the case, low to mid level play is really the design intent and high level play is not appropriate as much as it may be fun/doable/desirable for some.