Chronicle Resource Adjustment

[Clasher]

I ran a module this past weekend and had a player who wanted me speed run it as he was playing it to get the 3XP to level up for his next game. It got to the point the other players complained and others factors came up increasing my eagerness to end the session ASAP,

I came up with an idea to have two NPC's show up to bargain with the party on information for them to get the precise location of the BBEG lair entrance in exchange for some gold.

OOG: 10% off their max gold. I wanted the player to get his exp but they honestly have not fought enough challenging encounter throughout the mod with aforementioned player rushing and the party not going into the right ares.I felt an adjustment somewhere was justified in PP,XP,or Gold.

The player refused the offer without consulting the group I might add, and I didn't push the reduced reward(s) when I realized it wasn't fair to the party overall. In addition, I wasn't sure if I was overstepping my GM boundaries. So now I want clarification.

Are GM's allowed to make Chronicle adjustments to Max Gold,XP,or PP?

P.S. I realized I should have been a better enforcer on his behavior at my table. I'm still a novice GM.

[Bbauzh ap Aghauzh]

You can only modify things if:

Gold can be modified if they don't experience or "succeed" at an encounter. If they completely skip an encounter (not bypass, but completely skip) they won't get the gold for it. In modules you can modify gold by 1/3rd for every "session" they missed.

XP can be modified if they die before they've started (and the team succeeds at) their 3rd encounter. In Modules you can modify experience based on how many "sessions" they missed.

PP can be modified only by how many "sessions" they missed.

The Guide to Organized play has an entire chapter on modules. I'd suggest reading it for a full explanation.

But basically it is assumed that each module takes roughly "3" sessions to run it. Which is why its worth 3 XP, roughly 3x Gold, and 4 PP.

If in your estimation the player only participated in 1/3rd the module, then you could dock them 2 XP, 2/3rd Gold, and 2 PP.

If in your estimation the player only participated in 2/3rds the module, then you could dock them 1 XP, 1/3rd Gold, and 1 PP.

And yeah, if a player was asking me to speed run the module in one session so he could get all the rewards at the expense of the other players actually enjoying the module, I'd ask them to leave the table.

[Chris Mortika]

Hi, Clasher.

If you're going to invent new NPCs to short-circuit the storyline, you should offer the adventure as a home game, and not worry about Chronicles or such. It stops being a PFS adventure at that point.

[Pirate Rob]

Organized Play Guide:

Playing a module or sanctioned content from an Adventure Path from beginning to end earns a character 3 XP and 4 Prestige Points if that character is on the medium advancement track, or 1-1/2 XP and 2 Prestige Points for characters on the slow advancement track. There are no Day Job checks when playing a sanctioned module or Adventure Path.

If a character dies and is brought back to life, the GM must determine the rewards for that character. The minimum possible reward is 0 gp, 1 XP and 1 PP on the medium advancement track or 0 gp 1/2 XP, and 1/2 Prestige Point on the slow advancement track. If a character participates in more than 2/3 of the module, she should receive the full rewards. GMs and active players are encouraged to hasten the return of any characters waiting to be raised from the dead. Players who do not complete each game session earn 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 less XP and 1 less Prestige Point for each session missed. This also applies to players who join later sessions; they receive 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 fewer XP and Prestige Point for each session missed. In both cases, players earn a minimum of 1/3 gold pieces, 1 XP and 1 Prestige Point.

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Basically if they play at least 2/3rds they get full rewards.
1/3rd to 2/3rds they get 2XP, 3PP and 2/3rds gold.
Below 1/3rd they get 1XP 2PP and 1/3rd gold.

You are not allowed to make other adjustments to their rewards. While you should reward creative solutions and ensure the PCs are able to get the information to continue you should not be adding NPCs that accept gold in exchange for skipping content.

[Bbauzh ap Aghauzh]

As for creating "fluff" NPC's (if they go into a random bar, you can certainly create the bartender or one of the bar maids, for roleplay purposes).

But Chris and Pirate Rob are correct, you cannot create new NPCs specifically for skipping content.

[David H]

Unfortunately, I gotta say no to much of that.

Having the player goad you into rushing things just for the XP is poor behavior on their part, and, bluntly, letting that affect your GM'ing was a mistake on yours Clasher. But you did acknowledge that yourself, so kudos on the self-reflection at least. Your goal as GM is for everyone to have fun, and I would have gone with Andrew's notion of having the player leave if he was interested in the XPs, not the good times, and would bring down the game towards that goal.

As the other GM's above me noted, those are the correct procedures for handling such an issue.

Outside of a few instances (We Be Goblins, some of the Thornkeep dungeons), most modules take more than 1 session 4-5, 3 on the average, so take that into consideration.

Good luck in your future tables!

[Clasher]

Chris Mortika wrote:

Hi, Clasher.

If you're going to invent new NPCs to short-circuit the storyline, you should offer the adventure as a home game, and not worry about Chronicles or such. It stops being a PFS adventure at that point.

It was Godsmouth Hersey with actual in game NPC's

Mod plot spoiler:

The tengus Izzik and Skezza. The section states they could join the party for a share of the gold at my choice.

I wanted to try it in one 7-8 hour session. My prior modules were split into two parts and worked much better. It didn't help that I was sick and came close to cancelling the session outright, it was a one shot game, and two players started an argument with one leaving.

In hindsight they should've received 1/3 everything and I should have told the player his next game's credit is not an issue for me and he will get what they fairly deserved.

Thank you everybody.