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When it comes to comparing PFS play to home play it's been hard for me to think of how to bring the best elements of both under one roof. There are obvious challenges to this. Pathfinder is amazing because you get to play professionally written and crafted modules. Additionally pathfinder does an incredible job of creating a level and fair field for organized play (which is sometimes lost in home games). Unfortunately in the process I think you sacrifice a few things that make RPGs so fun in the first place. In conversation with my fellow players at PFS events I have found they believe the same things are missing.
A small issue is ownership and more specifically property ownership. In a home game you can often attempt to buy a land holding or climb the ladder of nobility and even build a settlement or keep. Now for obvious reasons being a noble, owning a castle or making giant waves in the world doesn't make too much sense when playing in the PFS. However why couldn't someone own a bar, ship or be a weapons merchant? Why couldn't they be a smith? Don't these types adventure too? The main problem is managing character wealth right? What if the place you owned (after spending the appropriate PP and GP) merely gave you a circumstantial bonus when dealing with others of the same merchant type or a discount on similar good?
Another issue in PFS is influence. In a home game you make choices that change the world. In PFS your character has little to no influence over the course of a season. Essentially my PFS character goes through module after module walking a predetermined path. What if there were options within the modules that influenced an overlying mutli-season plot.
FOR EXAMPLE: Say PCs tracked down a thief brought him to trial and at the end of trial got to choose his fate. Incarceration or forgiveness. After each group played this module or scenario the GM reported with choice the PCs made. At the end of a season it turns out the PCs overwhelmingly chose his incarceration. In the next season he's back and out for revenge at a surprise point during another module.
(this could also go to a larger scale) Say two venture captains of opposing factions wanted the same information reported. Both offer separate rewards and have different intentions of dealing with the information.
The final issue that I end up with is PVP. It's something that would be incredibly fun to participate in and I fully understand the reasons why it doesn't work during module play. What if there were tournaments once in a while? What if they worked by level tier. Also you couldn't gain xp from these but you can get some treasure and a bit of fame (for winning). The same characters couldn't compete in more than 1 a season....
At the end of the day I enjoy PFS. These are just some ideas I have and an attempt to get a conversation started. Thanks for reading.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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First off, have you checked out the Pathfinder Society Field Guide?
It has rules for Vanities, which cost PP, and allow the player to gain a noble title, acquire servants, own a manor house/ship/tavern/farm/island, etc. It's pretty close to what you're looking for, and the PFS Field Guide is one of the books Society GMs are assumed to have access to, so you shouldn't have any issues using that material any where you play.
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I can answer your first question with, in the Society Field Guide, they do have vanities that can be purchased such as a tavern, or house and give you bonuses to certain die rolls. This allows people to add some flavor to their characters and still have a benefit from it. I'm slowly adding vanities to my characters to increase their RP ability.
EDIT: blast it... ninja'd
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Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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For the ownership of property, please see the PFS Field Guide. In the back PC's have the ability to purchase said properties/businesses with PP.
As for the influence, check out some of the Blog posts about the coming season. PC actions will be influencing the factions and their goals. I think the Campaign staff are feeling the same way as you, and they're working to include it in the coming seasons.
I'm not touching the PvP. There have been enough lengthy threads about that.
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Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Ok, I think you're asking, what does PFS bring to your store? Yes?
PFS brings the world to your store. By running PFS you're saying, "Here we are!" There are players all over the world playing the same campaign, and by running PFS you're welcoming them to your store if they're in the area.
Running PFS in your store (and making sure events are registered/reported here on Paizo) will show players that you're Pathfinder/Paizo friendly and they'll come to your store to buy books. (Which is your goal, right? To make money?)
It gives players a chance to try different characters. It'll let more people try their hand at GMing.
Yes some of the "house rules" can seem strict at first glance, but PFS allows a lot more things than some of my home game GMs have ever allowed.
One of the rules Paizo has made is players are supposed to own the books they use. If someone has a summoner they should have the APG, Bestiary, and any other book they use something from. This requirement will mean they might need to buy more books from you (again, one of your store's goals, right?)
As for the last sentence, I'll try to figure it out. PFS characters can't make magic items. Since Item creation throws off the wealth level of characters and usually needs strict GM adjudication, item creation feats are banned.
For the last part, scenarios released over the last year or so have special options that can be reported. Paizo gets the results and it has affected scenarios that have been released after the earier ones. Example, 5-01 characters had to choose between supporting one of two merchant organizations. They were aiming to use the winner in a later scenario. It ended up a tie, so both merchants from 5-01 were in the later scenario and made it a more drastic choice between them.
That's the kind of thing that PFS player choices make. Important NPCs or situations that get reported can change depending on how the players play each scenario.