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I run a small weekly PFS game on Saturday night at my local gaming store.
I have anywhere from 3 to 9 players show up. With the average often being 1 gm and six players. (If there were 7 players and 1 gm, we could split into two groups of 1 DM +3 players) If we have enough players and someone other then me is willing to GM, we split into two tables.
I have three players with 5th level characters and a secondary 1st or 2nd level character
Another three players with 4th level characters
Another three players with 3rd level characters, (one has two 3rd level characters on the verge of 4th level)
Five players with 2nd level characters
And I have six players who have occasionally showed up who have 1st level characters.
I am noticing what I think some people refer to as “level drift”. Any suggestions about how to handle Level drift? Thanks.
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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One question: how are you scheduling the games?
If you're simply setting the date and letting people show up, this is (largely) your problem. It is certainly more casual, and easier on you in terms of game day maintainence, but due to that people will wander in and out without worrying about where their characters are on the level chart (or in the story).
If, instead, you always schedule specific modules and announce player line-ups prior to the game day, then I would suggest making sure you run each module a couple weeks in a row, and repeat them a few weeks later, as well. That way the people who will always show up, if able, won't be able to come for day 2 (or the repeat), allowing others to play and (potentially) catch up as you offer modules that the 4th level+ guys have all played.
Emailing them a schedule and maintaining regular contact will keep people more involved, so the guys who only show up rarely (thus staying at 1st/2nd level) are more likely to come more often and keep pace.
At that point, your difficulty will be dead characters and/or brand new players. Just make sure you stress the importance of keeping characters at all tiers. Having one 1st/2nd level, one 3rd-5th level, and one 7th-9th level allows you to play in every module offered. Make sure they spread the playing love equally, and when they get that 1st level character up to 3rd, they need to start a new one right away.
In my area, I'm starting to run into players who "raced" with their first character, ramping him/her up to 10th level without maintaining a character in the next lower tier. They are now realizing the error of their ways, as they can't play very often compared to what they used to.
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Agree with everything Drogon said above.
Players should be strongly encouraged to create secondary and tertiary characters so they always have a playable character regardless of which Tier is being run.
It's also important to advertise which scenario(s) you're running each week, and which Tier(s). If your gamedays support two or more tables, it may be easier to spread characters of varying Tiers across two or more tables.
Our gamedays tend to be one-table, sometimes two. We've started alternating between low-tier for new players and mid-tier for regulars. It means not everyone gets to play every week, depending on which Tier is being played, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. a) players get to have occasional weeks off to do other things; and b) it slows the burn rate of scenarios, so players still have scenarios remaining they can play.
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
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This is what I've seen.
Game shops usually have 2 tables, one table runs high level, one table runs low level. Hopefully the high levels stick together enough to make cohesive sessions.
Since you have only 1 table, for now you can play tier 1-5 scenarios and people can play up. Once PCs get to level 6 though, it's all over. Either:
1) High levels play a low level PC
2) Everyone is level 3-4 or higher and they play up to subtier 6-7 in a tier 1-7 scenario.
Eventually, without a second table, you'll have to alternate weeks between playing high level scenarios and low level scenarios.
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You might try to start grooming a back-up GM, who has a scenario in a different tier from what you're running ready to pull out if needed. There's really no way in a drop-in game to ensure everyone gets to play their highest-level characters all the time unless you offer two scenarios.
Eventually, you'll be running into people who've already played the module and can't play for credit for that reason, so a second GM is really essential to long-term viability.
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Thank you all for your advice.
Drogon, I guess for Scheduling, I have two tools, a spread-sheet, and a “face book group”. I have gone through the scenarios and I have tried to have a loose plan for what to run. I am planning to run “the year of the shadow lodge” scenarios interspaced with other scenarios. I asked my players if they would prefer more of an inter connected story, or more episodes like “star treck”. They said they wanted both.
On the spread sheet I am keeping track of the “who what when where” etc. I have all of the scenarios that people have played separated from those no one has played so it makes it easier to pick a scenario no one has played.
One of my friends is running a “face book group” I let him know the Thursday before the Saturday night game, what I am planning to run and he posts it . People are supposed to sign up.
The reality is that only a few do….and I basically have a few regulars, with some people who drift in and out. I have played at this gaming store now for six years…It has always been that way, and I don’t expect it to change
Drogon Emailing everyone what I am going to run sounds like a good idea too. I will have to remember to encourage people to have a character at each tier.
Stephen White, Perhaps alternating between a “hight level” and lower level might be a good thing. thank you
Jason S. I think I will soon be seeing what you have described. Fortunately the players who have 5th level characters have, without my urging, created 1st and 2nd level characters “secondary” characters.
Ideally I would like two tables, One with a “higher level” group, and the other around 1st or 2nd level.
Lamplighter, I have begun to “groom” two of my players to be alternate GMs. One of them (the one with two 3rd level characters on the verge of 4th) can GM at the drop of a hat. I just have to hand him a printed scenario and he can run it with no prep time. The other player, while he will run something, he needs a week to read a scenario first. I have given him 3 scenarios to read and “keep in his back pocket” so to speak. They have helped me so far take care of the over flow the few times we have needed two tables.
Thank you all for your suggestions…..I can use all the help I can get.
Venture-Captain, Missouri—Cape Girardeau
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Back when we had a host store, our local pathfinder group would schedule almost a month in advance what we were planning on running. We ran two slots every two weeks, with our usual pattern being two low tier scenarios, one medium, one high two months in a row, then switching to one low, two mid-tier, and a high tier. We used a Facebook group to post the schedule and had members sign up, with an additional sign-up sheet at the store. This allowed us to know how many GMs we would need. A spare GM was available for each slot, ready to run anything for a newbie table... just in case. players were given a tracking sheet with their first session to help them keep track of what they had and had not played yet. Some of these tools we still use, and we have just had our "Pathfinder in the Park" event. It was a way to try and wrap up all the multi-part scenarios for players stuck in them when the store closed. Now onward to Brewfest for us!
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I definitely feel your pain, my group is separated by 2 levels and it's starting to cause problems as well.
One more idea came to mind, is the slow progression (6 scenarios per level instead of 3) for the high level PCs. I'm not sure how this works in practice however. (The feeling of running out of playable scenarios is always in my mind now. It feels like you can advance maybe 3 PCs, and slow progression eats up 2 PCs worth of scenarios). Anyway, it's an idea anyway. Even if they did that for one level, it might help.
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Arim Thayer First let me say I’m sorry your local store shut down. I remember last year discussions on re playing in PFS.
Tracking sheets? That sounds like a good idea.
Jason S. Thank you. I’m not sure how the “slow” progression would work either. While I have let my players know about that option, I think they actually like the simplified experience point system ( 3 xp = 1 level)
I just see the level drift as a problem that will be developing soon and I’m trying to get in front of it.
If I had 4 steady players at 5th level that would be easier. But on the whole I do have plenty to be thankful for. I have two players who have volunteered to GM to help lighten my load, and these players stared to make lower level characters because they saw the need for it. I didn’t need to ask nor make the suggestion myself.
Thanks for all the suggestions they have been very helpful. If you all have any other suggestions Im "all ears".
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Venture-Captain, Missouri—Cape Girardeau
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I started with 7 players. This lead to an increas to 12, then 20, then we added a whole new region (that split from us to become their own group, now numbering around 30!) and ended up with our present group of roughly 40+ players! Through all of this, the key was recruiting new players, then recruiting players into GMs. The GMs their back-up characters for credit, slowing down some of the level drift by always having a character in whatever tier range we had. Then we trained the players to do the same.
Send me an e-mail address and I'll send you a copy of the tracking sheet, depending on what version of MS Word you have.
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I use 2 Sources to help track my game and communicate with my players
Obsidian Portal for the communication
And Warhorn for the scheduling
