Prestige and First Steps.

[Thefurmonger]

Hey all.

So last night my wife and I played part 1 of first steps.

All in all it went well, the last encounter was really rough with only 4 PCs, 2 of whom were not well built at all (Guntank and a Magus who never cast a spell)

Anyway we survived, and when doing our chronicle sheets a question came up.

Do we get Prestige for the adventure?

If so, can we spend it? (A wand of cure light would help a LOT)

The GM said that he thought that you did not, and just got it all at the end of the third part.

However at least one of the players from the game will not be doing part 2 or 3.

So Does he get his 2 points now and we dont?

The GM ended up giving them to us and saying that he thought we could spend them, but was not sure.

[Enevhar Aldarion]

This has come up a few times before and, to add to the confusion, the text in the three scenarios conflicts a bit on how this is done too. But from what I have seen posted, the way it is done is that, yes, you get your prestige at the end of each scenario, but the total you earn for the three scenarios is not reported to your faction til the end of the third one when you pick a faction for the character. So you can use the prestige for the generic items from the Guide, but you cannot use them for any faction-specific items from the Field Guide til after playing all three.

[Thefurmonger]

Excelent.

Thank you for the reply.

So I am good to go for spending 2 PP to buy a wand of cure light.

Thanks again for the quick reply

[Feegle]

Enevhar is correct. You get the prestige, but it is not reported to your faction until the end of Part 3. You can spend it on non-faction things as per normal (ie: as if you had a faction already).

[TetsujinOni]

End of part 3 should be reconsidered. New players should be able to join any three games and not be penalized when they pick a faction before FS1 or FS2, or if their first three adventures are WBG, MoTFF, FS(1,2, or 3).

Is the correct rule that you get your prestige with your faction when you set your faction, period?

[Enevhar Aldarion]

It would be an unusual situation for someone to not play all three parts with a character, but it can and does happen, and it is not illegal to play only one or two parts. So, while I do not think it is in print anywhere, when someone is not able to play all three parts of the series, whatever prestige they earn still counts towards their faction total.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

I don't think its that unusual of an occurrence. I myself didn't get to play all three with one of my Chars, and at least three others I know of didn't complete them at the same con.

[TetsujinOni]

I disagree entirely on the 'unusualness' of that situation - The choice between "content that we've run five times this year" and "content that's new to the players at the table" isn't weighted in favor of First Steps 1-3, time the Nth.

I wouldn't want that to result in some eviler-than-me GM invalidating the prestige awards on a partial set of FS1-3 chronicles.

[ilovelamp1985]

We're actually running this for our new game we're starting up tonight in Cleveland.

So I had a question to add, I'm playing mostly just to fill out the table and be there to introduce myself to the new players as the Cleveland VC. So my question is, do I need to make a new first level PC to play in this (we are running part 1), or can I use one of my two first level PCs that each have 2 scenarios already under their belt?

Anyone know how that works?

[Chris Mortika]

Hi, James.

You can run a 1st-level PC through Part 1 (he's already have a faction; that's fine). Once you receive the Chronicle sheet, your PC will be 2nd level and won't be able to play through the rest of the First Steps series. You'll need to use a different (1st level) PC.

[Jiggy]

As I understand it, any 1st-level PC is legal.

[ilovelamp1985]

Thanks Chris and Jiggy, that's what I assumed, but I wanted to be sure before I head up to the game tonight.

[Chris Mortika]

Having said that, however, you're the VC of the area, and it might seem ... privileged ... for you to sit down at a game where everybody else is struggling to make do with 150 gp and you have something over 1000 gp for your character.

I recommend coming in on equal footing.

[Jiggy]

Chris Mortika wrote:

Having said that, however, you're the VC of the area, and it might seem ... privileged ... for you to sit down at a game where everybody else is struggling to make do with 150 gp and you have something over 1000 gp for your character.

I recommend coming in on equal footing.

On the other hand, the players might be happy to have a "Big Damn Hero" on the team. Kind of depends on the players.

But you're right, coming in with a "freshie" would be safest.

[ilovelamp1985]

I've got a fresh level 1 monk that I whipped up quickly last night to bring to the game, I'll ask the players what they prefer as I'm going as much (if not more) for their enjoyment as my own.

We are going to be at the table minimum of 4 players, so I wouldn't be surprised if they want me to play one of my better equipped PCs. But I agree that having a fresh level 1 just in case will probably the safest bet. I mostly just wanted to double-check to be sure that it was legal to play with a PC that already has a faction.

[noswald]

From the first module (shortened):

While each adventure in the series is a self-contained story, they are intended to be played in order by brand-new PCs without any experience or Prestige Points. ... This series may only be played at the normal advancement rate of 3XP per level, meaning a PC completing the series will advance to 2nd level...

I read this as you should play it with a new character, but could play it with another 1st level PC.

[TetsujinOni]

Noswald: I am of the opinion that that passage should be stricken from the scenarios as harmful.

Including the "Play at normal only", since it would let MotFF become relevant again as some have been championing elsewhere.

[noswald]

I agree that something needs to be changed. My opinion is that you should only play with new, 1st level characters and only have the option to play at the normal advancement. They way we do it here is that you create the character and don't use the character again until you finish First Steps.

Back to the original topic, while you don't have a faction, we have ruled that you get the prestige, but can only spend it on generic rewards.

[jerdog]

From the conclusion of First Steps, Part I:

First Steps, Part I wrote:

Success Conditions

In order for the PCs to earn their Prestige Point for
completing the adventure, they must have completed at
least three of the four tasks on Ambrus Valsin’s list.
Faction Missions

There are no faction-specific missions in this scenario,
as PCs playing through the First Steps series have not
yet chosen factions, so any PC who meets the scenario’s
success conditions earns a second Prestige Point for
completing the scenario. When a PC earns her third
Chronicle (after completing A Vision of Betrayal), all
previously earned prestige will be reported to her
chosen faction.

It is clearly intended that the PCs will earn two prestige points as long as they completed three of the four tasks.

[JohnF]

Enevhar Aldarion wrote:

It would be an unusual situation for someone to not play all three parts with a character.

I'm sure I'm not the only player who, for scheduling reasons, ended up with a character who'd already played one scenario before I was able to get a seat at a First Steps table. That meant I was only eligible to play two of the parts.