|
Surprised that Sczarni aren't on the chopping block. I've yet to see a single PC pick that faction. Is there some Sczarni player region I'm unaware of?
I'd say either Cheliax, Osirion, or Taldor from the leader correpondence. Of course it could only mean a change of faction leader. So it's only speculation and Mark^2 might be messing with us.
I'd hate to see Cheliax go. While I'm not a fan of the faction nor do I have any characters who belong, I must say some of the best roleplayers I've encountered in PFS are members.
Sczarni? Haven't seen a single solitary one. Lantern Lodge? Passing season 3 fad. Shadow Lodge/Grand Lodge? Pffft. Silver Crusade makes a good home for the paladins and LG clerics, and would make for an excellent foil for Cheliax, moreso than Andoran. Qadira vs Taldor is pure gold, and Qadira vs Andoran fits too.
Osirion.... *crickets chirping*
|
|
Surprised that Sczarni aren't on the chopping block. I've yet to see a single PC pick that faction. Is there some Sczarni player region I'm unaware of?
I'd say either Cheliax, Osirion, or Taldor from the leader correpondence. Of course it could only mean a change of faction leader. So it's only speculation and Mark^2 might be messing with us.
Sczarni seems to be the favorite for the jerk CN type characters (jerk characters, not jerk players), from what I've seen, though they are still relatively rare because Qadira is more interesting in general for money-grubbing characters. Personally, while they're a solid fit for Season 4, I think they're the one with the weakest flavor justification to be one of the top 10 most influential factions all the way down in Absalom and to be recruiting all these non-Varisians.
That said, I've seen no clues at all that Sczarni has a chance of disappearing.
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
|
I've never seen a single Sczarni either. It would not be missed. People have fun with Cheliax, even if it is troublesome.
What about the traits and vanities associated with factions that are being removed? Lantern Lodge has some of the best, and if it's being removed...
Venture-Lieutenant, West Virginia—Charleston
|
Surprised that Sczarni aren't on the chopping block. I've yet to see a single PC pick that faction. Is there some Sczarni player region I'm unaware of?
I'd say either Cheliax, Osirion, or Taldor from the leader correpondence. Of course it could only mean a change of faction leader. So it's only speculation and Mark^2 might be messing with us.
Sczarni seems to be the favorite for the jerk CN type characters (jerk characters, not jerk players), from what I've seen, though they are still relatively rare because Qadira is more interesting in general for money-grubbing characters. Personally, while they're a solid fit for Season 4, I think they're the one with the weakest flavor justification to be one of the top 10 most influential factions all the way down in Absalom and to be recruiting all these non-Varisians.
That said, I've seen no clues at all that Sczarni has a chance of disappearing.
Well, there is one clue that the Sczarni may be leaving. If you look at their report, they mention that they are getting a lot of Varisian recruits, but there is no recognition back in Absalom. When the campaign moves away from Varisia, it could very well move away from the Sczarni, too.
|
|
Interesting to hear what factions people have locally - I just looked at our lodge's stats, and Grand Lodge has twice the amount of earned prestige of the next-highest faction, which is Andoran, closely followed by Silver Crusade. Cheliax, Qadira, Shadow Lodge, Osirion, and the Lantern Lodge are all in the middle, with the bottom being Taldor (second last) and Sczarni (last).
Of course, maybe the Taldans are actually numerous but incompetent, and that's why they rate so low... ;)
|
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
|
For reference, my local VC (in Asheville, NC) has started keeping a tally of Prestige Points earned for each faction at our game days. Here are the most recent numbers:
10.) 49PP - Taldor
9.) 70PP - Qadira
8.) 76PP - Cheliax
7.) 102PP - Sczarni
6.) 114PP - Grand Lodge
5.) 117PP - Andoran
4.) 119PP - Silver Crusade
3.) 154PP - Osirion
2.) 167PP - Shadow Lodge
1.) 176PP - Lantern Lodge
(I imagine there's a lot of local variation. In particular, I've heard that most of the Lantern Lodge points come from one single player who makes almost all of her characters Lantern Lodge. Even her Hellknight.)
|
|
Well, there is one clue that the Sczarni may be leaving. If you look at their report, they mention that they are getting a lot of Varisian recruits, but there is no recognition back in Absalom. When the campaign moves away from Varisia, it could very well move away from the Sczarni, too.
I did notice that, so I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out they were one of the ones to go. I know at least one local player who will be horrified, though--I think every single one of his characters is Sczarni.
I know a lot of people have mentioned Osirion, but it's relatively popular here. People seem to really like that "Risen" vanity--I've seen people get dumb just to get killed and then raised with that title.
Seriously, if Cheliax and Osirion are cut, my fiancé will probably just ragequit. Those are her two favorite factions.
|
|
I've never seen a single Sczarni either. It would not be missed. People have fun with Cheliax, even if it is troublesome.
What about the traits and vanities associated with factions that are being removed? Lantern Lodge has some of the best, and if it's being removed...
I see Sczarni characters all the time, I just don't play any.
|
I think it would be a shame if Osirion is cut. To me, their goals have always line up well wih the most with the society as a whole. Osirion is the faction of exploration (with a little grave robbing thrown in), and it makes a lot more sense to me that a member would join the pathfinders than most Andorans, Chelaxians, Silver Crusade, and probably Taldans. It is, after all, EXPLORE, report, cooperate. Osirion has also seemed popular in all th regions I've played (mostly in the southeast us).
Sczarni also seems popular locally, though we did have a glut of rogues for a while. I've seen very few non-Paladin Silver Crusade members, and I think the main Paladin locally is actually Andoran.
I could see Lantern Lodge being dropped, though it would get rid of some great traits (Weapon Style). Honestly, though, my problem with Lantern Lodge is that I end up doing too many Qadiran missions, which never seem to be that interesting.
|
I ran a FtF game last weekend with a group of PFS newbs. One guy was fully ready to join Sczarni... until he met Madame La BDSM and fell in love. (While his companions dealt with the scenario challenge at that point, he was arranging a post-scenario rendezvous... would have happened if the character hadn't died.)
|
Venture-Captain, Germany–Hannover
|
I think Cheliax and Quadira have the best fluff and Madame La BDSM is really cool.
Unfortunately, Grande Lodge and Osirion have the only traits that make Perception a class skill, which is really kind of the winning argument sometimes. That might be seen as optimizing, but for martial classes that have low WIS and perception not as a class skill, it´s a very big bonus.
So far my characters are either Quadiran or Grand Lodge, one because of a trait, the others because the fluff. Elves just wouldn´t be chelish i think.
|
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
|
Unfortunately, Grande Lodge and Osirion have the only traits that make Perception a class skill, which is really kind of the winning argument sometimes.
There's a religion trait (Eyes and Ears of the City) too, but you have to worship Abadar. There might be one or two more obscure ones out there as well.
Please provide transcript.
|
My PP by Faction for both GM and Player credit.
Total for Andoran 61
Total for Cheliax 13
Total for Grand Lodge 18
Total for Lantern Lodge 27
Total for Osirion 45
Total for Qadira 16
Total for Sczarni 22
Total for Shadow Lodge 24
Total for Silver Crusade 18
Total for Taldor 6
I think 61 on my 1 Andoran character is pretty awesome. I never realized how much he had before, lol.
|
Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
|
So if Osirion gets cut, should we expect mass ritual suicides of Osirion members before the deadline?
AKA, getting The Risen before it's too late! :)
Hmm... But once you become "The Risen" you can't change factions... Will be interesting to see if Osirion is cut how they deal with that. ;)
|
|
oooh since we are all doing it...
For most PFS games in San Antonio, but not all of them since all 10 started giving out Fame. Notice the extreme popularity of Grand Lodge versus the other factions.
Total for Grand Lodge 649
Total for Andoran 371
Total for Osirion 342
Total for Shadow Lodge 329
Total for Silver Crusade 318
Total for Cheliax 269
Total for Lantern Lodge 240
Total for Qadira 225
Total for Sczarni 188
Total for Taldor 113
|
|
Lantern Lodge and Osirion seem most likely as drop targets. We'll find out in 30 hours, though.
Based on the content of two sets of faction messages, I'm going to put my chips on Cheliax and Osirion.
Though, it would be nice to instead see the Lodges Whose Storylines are Over, the Opt-Out Lodge, and/or the Easy Mode Crusade go instead.
-Matt
Developer
|
We'll be making formal announcements in blog posts over the coming months for every topic on Mike's bulleted list, and it's likely folks who do listed to the podcast will post about them on the message boards before we make those blog posts. But since the show is recorded live, by viewing it and joining in the conversation, you may have the ability (at the podcast's discretion) to direct questions to those of us in campaign HQ as part of the interview.
|
|
but, are they all his? Like I said, I have an Andoran 6 total, and have never had an Andoran character...
He's level 12, having just completed Eyes part 1.
So 11x6= 72
-2 cause he has a module on him= 70
-1 cause his first session was Masters of the Fallen Fortress= 69
+X where X= the number EotT1 gives you...
Hmmm...I dont remember missing that many faction missions. Gonna have to recheck this...
|
|
Yep, always figured something was odd with Grand Lodge... my personal total includes
"Grand Lodge 23" is my GL total... this with having no Grand Lodge PCs, and about a 1/4 of my games before season 3.
Most likely what is happening there is you forgot to mark off your faction so the coordinator just use grand lodge as a default instead of waiting for it to be auto filled.
Are all your characters added to your account with the correct factions?
Was there ever a time you added characters to your account after playing them and after the games were reported?
This same logic will work for Andoran as Default prior to season 3.
|
I found an old blog post (exactly one year ago, in fact) that said that the faction mission results tallied, and the PP gained for the faction will be compared to the maximum amount will be what's important. And if a faction does really poorly, there might be some negative consequences, even getting the boot. So that might be one reason for some factions leaving.
Then again, those status updates might be useful clues as well, unless they're purposefully misleading. Based on them, Taldor, Osirion and Cheliax seem to be in trouble. Though in the case of Osirion and Cheliax, it might be more of a case of the faction leader changing, as those problems seemed a bit personal.
And then there're the "boring" or "not relevant" reasons, based on which a lot of people seem eager to kick at least Lantern Lodge out.
So I'm really confused about what's going to happen, but we'll find out tomorrow, eh?
|
|
Well since everyone is betting I will put my two cents in.
Grand Lodge I am personally not a fan of this faction that is not really a faction. This would be my first pick to go.
Andoran The GI Joe faction. I think this has a lot of potential to be greater than it is. I would be sad to see this go and I doubt it will
Osirion I think of all the faction this seems to mirror what the pathfinders are about. The flavor is a little weak, but I would keep it.
Shadow Lodge This faction I think is very neat, but also I feel let down with the flavor of it. I could see it going since it seems an anti-thesis to pathfinder society
Silver Crusade I like the idea of this faction. The altruistic values definately have thier place. I am working on a character concept for this faction. This faction gives players a reason to roleplay pure good, and I could see it going but would be sad by it's loss.
Cheliax Omg this faction has flavor. The faction missions for this group is what I show new people to let them see the style the factions have. I would understand why this got the boot, but would be sad because I doubt it will be replaced by something with as much taste.
Lantern Lodge This faction is as boring as grand lodge. They have almost no flavor. It feels like "put generic asian faction here". I would not be upset if this got removed. It feels like to me people feel obligated to play this if their character has an eastern history.
Qadira I like the idea, but I feel they never developed a strong personality and thus are now bland. Another faction I have no strong feelings for.
Sczarni This is a faction with interesting faction missions. I believe if you have open minded players this is a lot of fun to have around with the criminal taste. I would be sad to see this go. The unique name and players that refuse anything "not good" hide this gem.
Taldor This is another fun faction. The city of strangers faction mission is one of the best faction missions out there. I feel sometimes the writing is weak, but not everything can be great. This is a faction I do not see going and would be sad to see go.
|
|
Our YouTube channel, where the recording will air life on Wednesday, April 17th, at 8:00 pm EST, 5:00 pm PST, can be found here.
But since the show is recorded live, by viewing it and joining in the conversation, you may have the ability (at the podcast's discretion) to direct questions to those of us in campaign HQ as part of the interview.
We monitor the comments on the video as it airs. If anyone has questions for Mike, Mark, or John, this is your opportunity to ask them.
|
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
|
Surprised that Sczarni aren't on the chopping block. I've yet to see a single PC pick that faction. Is there some Sczarni player region I'm unaware of?
I'd say either Cheliax, Osirion, or Taldor from the leader correpondence. Of course it could only mean a change of faction leader. So it's only speculation and Mark^2 might be messing with us.
FWIW our first batch of lvl 12s were all Sczarni.
Personally, I think Lantern Lodge is a dry faction, and wouldn't be sad to see it go.
