Only had one day but had a blast. Played some great games and met some interesting people. All hail Tom!
|
Quest for Perfection P3 was a an awesome run last night! My players rocked it and had a really good time.
Today, we bust into Thornkeep : The Forgotten Laboratory.
We've managed to handle the HUGE load of walk in sign ups!
EVERYONE plays!
If you're still wondering if it's worth the trip, the answer is absolutely YES!
|
|
Thornkeep:Forgotten Laboratory by Jason Bulmahn
Played a double slot this afternoon & evening.
My players were kind enough to let their GM/Podcast Host off for a couple hours smack-dab in the middle of the game, to run to the studio and record Chronicles Live! 002.
My custom Alchemically Altered Goblin Barbarian miniature was a big hit!
A six player table with two Summoners and an animal companion makes for crowded battlefields. We all had an outstanding and hopefully challenging romp under Thornkeep.
|
|
We are home.
What a weekend!
We ran 12-14 tables strong for all 10 slots.
We issued 53+/- PFS numbers to first timers.
We had a record number of first time PFS game masters.
This is all good.
We saw a record number of prominent Bay Area RPGA/LFR players join us for most (if not all) of the weekend!
There was a new energy in our space that wasn't there before.
This is outstanding!
My last game:
Thornkeep:Enigma Vaults by James Jacobs
This episode in the Thornkeep dungeon crawl features (IMHO) the most incredible BBEG of the entire book. I loved James' boss so much that I created a custom miniature for today's telling of the tale! I'll keep it spoiler free and simply tell you that my players were blown away. I feel very lucky to have the players mustered on my table! My cast consisted of good friends, a store coordinator, a Venture Officer and a couple very talented players I had never rolled bones with prior. They successfully navigated a 'B-Line' path straight to the debut of my specially crafted figure!
The battle to follow was EPIC!
I'm not really sure what was so dramatically different, but the level of happiness and fun that I witnessed players having this year was considerably higher than last year. Feedback of Season 4 was (dare I say it Mark?) mostly positive! Our percentage of growth isn't seeing a slowing or decline, in fact quite the contrary!
An amazing thing about our region is the tight-knit nature of the tribe. Each year at DDC, the staff of KublaCon (our big one) have our first of the year staff meeting. PFS in the Bay Area is blessed by the unbelievable love we receive from my Kubla-Family! This year, we won't be satisfied with just blowing the doors off the place. This year, we're going HUGE by LARGE by AWESOME. I say it every year and couldn't mean it more than ever,
"Don't you dare miss KublaCon! It's not like regular Conventions. It is the benchmark event."
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
At first I was hesitant about doing PFS at a con. I mean, it's the same game I play every week, right? Totally wrong. PFS is a great fit at Dundracon. Loads of new people, good people at the desk willing to help get you into stuff; it was great.
One thing that was particularly good was how PFS interacted with the main con's lottery system. Getting into the scheduled games at Dundracon is... somewhat chancy. So people often end up with an empty timeslot. Enter PFS - no lottery required! Just show up at the door, look for an open slot, and join in! Even if there's no open slots, they'll see what they can do. (First time I went over, they were full up, so I jumped in as another GM for First Steps for some new people).
Plus, as a short 4 hour timeslot, it's easy to work into the next lottery round of games.
Next year, we should put a sign where the game lottery results are posted that says something like "Didn't get into what you wanted? We've got open seats over here!"
|
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Here are a few pictures from the weekend:
Welcome to PathfinderSociety at DunDraCon!
Cherry seems unsure whether she is channeling her inner Dalek or a Cyberman.
If you could get past the scariness of encountering these two at the desk, you could have a good time ...
This is the main PFS room - there's another room with four more tables next door, and even that wasn't enough space - at peak times a couple of extra tables were set up in the hallway.
In the picture sharp-eyed viewers can make out VC Azmyth (handing out a boon), at least one other venture officer, and eight full tables of folks enjoying themselves. You can also see the youngest future pathfinder. She was probably the best-behaved person at the con; both my wife and I had the pleasure of her company at tables we were running, and she caused absolutely no trouble apart from being distractingly cute.
Just across the hall from the PFS area was a large room dedicated to miniature gaming. Some of the setups there had figures considerably scarier than anything our GMs threw at us.
Meddle not in the affairs of lizards ..
The last table I played in at the con. Here you can see a wild-shaped druid (carrying a musket master inquisitor), the druid's animal companion, a summoned monster, and Kita Sharpclaw. Also present are a two-weapon fighter, my Monk, and the two unfortunate guards that were tasked with blocking our progress. One of them is down and out, and the other is grappled by Kita. I believe this is part-way through the first round; by the end of the next round the remaining guard had been repositioned under water, had taken full attacks from the fighter and the monk, and been bitten in half by a dinosaur.
|
*casts Message to all readers*
Although my voice is still non-existent, I do want to thank all the GM's and players who attended DundraCon! This was my first venture, and I can definitely look forward to putting this on my convention list in the future. I was happy to help out where I could in judging and placing people wherever they needed to be.
I would like to personally thank Josh, Cherry, Az, and Andi for getting together a wonderful show that made room for all, new and old, and the ones looking for a new home as well. I had a friend who had been wanting to join Pathfinder Society for a while, and although I was on opposite schedules with them, they loved the games they were able to get into and is looking forward to more gaming with us in the future!
It was great to meet players from all areas, including the Fresno area! I am so looking forward to running for the Fresno area in March and for all of you to join us in Sacramento in April for ConQuest Sacramento!
This is going to be a great year for Pathfinder Society in the Bay Area! I look forward to it!
|
Season 4 is extremely good. I was impressed, this coming from someone who has been in since day 1.
Aw John thanks for taking that photo and being part of the best two tables all weekend.
Special thanks to Fabian Franco who ran those excellent tables!
Always a pleasure playing with Will J. and Mr. Kendall who dogged my steps all weekend.
Thanks Joshua for organizing, Azmyth as well who gave me that boon just in time. I used it for something magnificent, total fluff.
Kudos to everyone who ran and played Society at DunDraCon 2013. Every con has been consistently better than the last surpassing a very high bar.
-Alex Draconis
Here are a few pictures from the weekend:
Welcome to PathfinderSociety at DunDraCon!
Cherry seems unsure whether she is channeling her inner Dalek or a Cyberman.
If you could get past the scariness of encountering these two at the desk, you could have a good time ...This is the main PFS room - there's another room with four more tables next door, and even that wasn't enough space - at peak times a couple of extra tables were set up in the hallway.
In the picture sharp-eyed viewers can make out VC Azmyth (handing out a boon), at least one other venture officer, and eight full tables of folks enjoying themselves. You can also see the youngest future pathfinder. She was probably the best-behaved person at the con; both my wife and I had the pleasure of her company at tables we were running, and she caused absolutely no trouble apart from being distractingly cute.Just across the hall from the PFS area was a large room dedicated to miniature gaming. Some of the setups there had figures considerably scarier than anything our GMs threw at us.
Meddle not in the affairs of lizards ..
The last table I played in at the con. Here you can see a wild-shaped druid (carrying a musket master inquisitor), the druid's animal companion, a summoned monster, and Kita Sharpclaw. Also present are a two-weapon fighter, my Monk, and the two unfortunate guards that were tasked with blocking our progress. One of them is down and out, and the other is grappled by Kita. I believe this is part-way through the first round; by the end of the next round the remaining guard had been repositioned under water, had taken full attacks from the fighter and the monk, and been bitten in half by a dinosaur.
|
Meddle not in the affairs of lizards ..The last table I played in at the con. Here you can see a wild-shaped druid (carrying a musket master inquisitor), the druid's animal companion, a summoned monster, and Kita Sharpclaw. Also present are a two-weapon fighter, my Monk, and the two unfortunate guards that were tasked with blocking our progress. One of them is down and out, and the other is grappled by Kita. I believe this is part-way through the first round; by the end of the next round the remaining guard had been repositioned under water, had taken full attacks from the fighter and the monk, and been bitten in half by a dinosaur.
That's me on the dino! The water in the cave kept getting my powder wet and making me misfire, so I found some high ground.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What a con! I was thrilled to see the Northern California PFS community come together for this incredible weekend. All those people mentioned above? They are every bit as great as the others have said. Maybe even more because we were so busy, no one could ever see everything going on at once, but no matter where you looked, there was someone somewhere going that extra step to make sure others were having fun and having a blast in the process.
We had brand spanking new GMs that jumped in feet first to run games. We had experienced players helping new ones get settled in to play. We had veterans sharing their minis and maps and pens and space; whatever it took to make sure everyone played.
I didn't see him mentioned so I want to give a special shout out to Richard Flynn, VL from Sacramento. Though not scheduled to be there, he came down to lend a hand and was right there in the thick of things with the rest of these amazing people.
We have Bookwyrm in March, Conquest Sac in April, and then the big one, Kubla Con on Memorial Day weekend; I can't wait to work and play with everyone again.
|
|
I had a great time, thanks everyone.
In John's Dino-pic above there is a Large T-rex(animal companion), a huge air walking allosaurus(wild shpaed druid), a summoned huge ankylosaurus. And a gunslinger riding the allosaurus. There is also a large black lizard (another wild shaped druid I think).
It was a bit overkill against 2 guards, but they kept singing songs of bravery so they had to be disposed of quickly.