Handing out faction missions

[Avatar-1]

I GM'd a game last week and since the season 5 PFS guide came out and faction missions didn't have to be actioned to get prestige anymore, I didn't bother dealing with even handing out faction missions unless players specifically asked for them.

With the pre-secondary success conditions rules, this was fine.

But it turns out that with the secondary success conditions, a lot of them align to what the secondary success mission is, or at least include some piece of useful information.

...which has the net effect of players wanting to complete the faction mission anyway, just in case it coincides with the secondary success condition.

Not sure if this had been considered, or if anyone else has experienced the same thing (either on the GM end or the player end).

[Nathan Hartshorn]

I've found it depends a lot on the players themselves as well as what scenario it actually is. When I run one I look at the faction missions and see if they'll potentially add anything to the scenario, be it roleplay or character development. I usually don't do the missions if they are games of find-the-random-object or make-the-obscure-skill-roll. Then I ask the players if they want to do them. Answer = no, best to not hand them out. Answer = yes, I'll gladly give the people what they want. I had an idea of where this was going, but I lost it in transition of brain-fingers-text. If I remember I will post more.

TL;DR - I really haven't seen this as a GM, but I've just got a group of players started and they really didn't do faction missions.

~NPEH

[Andreas Forster]

If you suspect your players want the faction missions just because one of them might have become the secondary success condition, simply don't offer to hand out faction missions.

Since season 5 started, handing out faction missions is meant to be flavor only, and not some way to guess what the secondary success condition might be.

In fact, if the players want to complete faction missions just because they might now be the secondary mission, that's almost like using plot knowledge you're not supposed to have. They're using the knowledge that often the secondary mission is the same as one of the faction missions, after all.
So in that case, don't hand out the faction missions and encourage your players to actively think about what would be wise to do in the scenario.

[Zelkor]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but when I look at one of the scenarios that use the faction missions for secondary success, it specifically says to give out the faction missions.
No player should need to ask for the faction missions when it is required, as the GM should hand it out when required.
I, as Nathan above, offer the faction missions if I think they will add to the scenario, or if the players want to do them for flavour.

[LazarX]

Avatar-1 wrote:

I GM'd a game last week and since the season 5 PFS guide came out and faction missions didn't have to be actioned to get prestige anymore, I didn't bother dealing with even handing out faction missions unless players specifically asked for them.

With the pre-secondary success conditions rules, this was fine.

But it turns out that with the secondary success conditions, a lot of them align to what the secondary success mission is, or at least include some piece of useful information.

...which has the net effect of players wanting to complete the faction mission anyway, just in case it coincides with the secondary success condition.

Not sure if this had been considered, or if anyone else has experienced the same thing (either on the GM end or the player end).

Your players have something else to worry about now. figuring out the secondary success conditions and meeting them. For those missions specifically relating to specific factions, the players have to figure those out on thier own.

[Avatar-1]

Why wouldn't the players be allowed to know what the faction leaders have to say even if it's just for the sake of completing the secondary mission? Isn't that inside info on their mission (primary or secondary) that they're entitled to?

[Matthew Pittard]

I hear what you are saying Avatar, but from the two season 5 games I have run now I have not awarded full prestige.

I recently ran Among the Living which had an interesting but not unlikely secondary success condition. They managed to complete that but it was fairly easy and straightforward.

Im going to spoiler here

Assault on the Kingdom of the Imp:

I recently played this . again as part of a Slot 0 for a new gm (we trial them out). The gm decided to hand out the faction missions and mine was to try to get the dervish tapestry from Zamir. In the original playing, our ranger at the time slew the animal companion.. then the fight was on and Zamir bought it.

Now in trying to get the Tapestry I had to bribe/diplomat with Z amir. However we had also been tasked with try to bring Zamir over if possible to join the society (Hey I listened to the briefing!). I was trying to do both here, but he was dead set on keeping the tapestry.. although I said as a fellow Pathfinder he should offer me a discount for it :)

As it happened the secondary success WAS to get Zamir on-board.. but it really happened because I was trying to complete the unnecessary faction mission

Personally I dont hand out faction missions anymore. If the group act like Pathfinders, do the right thing (not the cheap/easy thing) and generally act Heroic and follow what they are supposed to be doing (by actually listening to the briefing) then 8/10 they should pickup the secondary success.

If they want to act as Murder Hobos then maybe not.