Has anyone had to deal with negativity spillover from PFS?

[Mikaze]

Towards Sheila Heidmarch or the Pathfinder Society in general?

Reading PFS threads, I'm finding myself wondering if I need to do more to establish that Sheila and the local Pathfinder branch are not that, beyond telling the players to ignore the problematic bits of Seekers of Secrets and fleshing out Heidmarch and her manor staff some more.

Has anyone actually had to deal with that bad PR though? Running this AP with a more heroic spin.

[Rogue Eidolon]

We sort of just ignored all of Sheila's evil acts from PFS. Then again, the team was ridiculous peace-mode and wound up trying to redeem / not attack the vast majority of everything (I think we killed 0 things other than undead and evil outsiders in Part 1, and we even redeemed Ash in Part 2), so we probably weren't typical overall. Evil-Sheila would have just been a big problem for us. I'm sure some groups just use the PFS version, but probably not most. Granted, our group also desperately did not want to combine the Sihedron until we used communes to Shelyn, Sarenrae, and other good aligned deities later in the campaign, so again, not typical.

[Mikaze]

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

We sort of just ignored all of Sheila's evil acts from PFS. Then again, the team was ridiculous peace-mode and wound up trying to redeem / not attack the vast majority of everything (I think we killed 0 things other than undead and evil outsiders in Part 1, and we even redeeemed Ash in Part 2), so we probably weren't typical overall.

I am instantly in love with your group.

That Ash bit is a story waiting to be told, eh?

[Rogue Eidolon]

Mikaze wrote:

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

We sort of just ignored all of Sheila's evil acts from PFS. Then again, the team was ridiculous peace-mode and wound up trying to redeem / not attack the vast majority of everything (I think we killed 0 things other than undead and evil outsiders in Part 1, and we even redeeemed Ash in Part 2), so we probably weren't typical overall.

I am instantly in love with your group.

That Ash bit is a story waiting to be told, eh?

Yes! It wasn't easy, and we had to ask for help from the Succubus-Blooded Tiefling Paladin of Shelyn PC from a completed Council of Thieves campaign who was a friend of one of the PCs. That was after the wizard tricked/convinced the troglodytes into worshiping Shelyn. She actually convinced the one who was longing for his wife's return from the boggards to become the new priest of Shelyn. But it might eat up space here that isn't really about Sheila Heidmarch...We took sooo many people back to the Temple of Shelyn. Ardy too in Part IV, but apparently that's actually written in as a thing to do. The Fey Sorceress adopted the Redcaps and Giants after that one too. Obviously we didn't redeem Yamasoth :P

[Mattastrophic]

In my group's case, we just finished the final fight of the sanctioned portion of Book 6. Sheila Heidmarch is in prison right now for her role in the whole affair, and our group, all PFS characters, really isn't sure about whether we want to change that. She is kinda guilty of what she is accused of, as far as we know.

My aristocrat will probably help her out, but only if its understood that Sheila owes her big-time.

-Matt

[Rogue Eidolon]

Mattastrophic wrote:

In my group's case, we just finished the final fight of the sanctioned portion of Book 6. Sheila Heidmarch is in prison right now for her role in the whole affair, and our group, all PFS characters, really isn't sure about whether we want to change that. She is kinda guilty of what she is accused of, as far as we know.

My aristocrat will probably help her out, but only if its understood that Sheila owes her big-time.

-Matt

That's the trouble with the sanctioned version I guess, instead of playing the whole AP. Our group desperately didn't want to combine the seven until we did a bunch of communes, and we had lots of contingency plans (and Cordelia had spam-cast tons of rampart spells to create a tidal wall, and we planar bound lots of friendly celestials). We managed to have 0 innocent deaths, barely, with all our preparations. Also we made a new friend (the scylla, given Cordelia looked like Sorshen, and we later worked to redeem her).

[Mattastrophic]

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

That's the trouble with the sanctioned version I guess, instead of playing the whole AP. Our group desperately didn't want to combine the seven until we did a bunch of communes, and we had lots of contingency plans (and Cordelia had spam-cast tons of rampart spells to create a tidal wall, and we planar bound lots of friendly celestials). We managed to have 0 innocent deaths, barely, with all our preparations. Also we made a new friend (the scylla, given Cordelia looked like Sorshen, and we later worked to redeem her).

Yeah, we kinda had to shove another high-level module into our schedule because one of our players is behind in levels. Our GM did a good job of having our group return to Golarion at the end of Moonscar only to be presented with this disaster-in-progress. It fit right into this continuing story we have going, and it worked out for what it was.

Cordelia looks like Sorshen? Someone in the group talked about how that goes down in the earlier books. Oh man, I can't wait for her to show up at the Winter Masquerade I'm running.

Anyways, our perceptions of Sheila Heidmarch from our PFS experiences certainly guided our response to the disaster she created, though I would say that my group wasn't a bunch of meanies like the PFS boards would have you think PFS characters are.

-Matt

[Andrea1]

Could you give more info on the Sheila buisness?

[Rogue Eidolon]

Andrea1 wrote:

Could you give more info on the Sheila buisness?

You mean the PFS business that leads to her reputation? She's just generally evil with remarks like "having one pathfinder killed was annoying, but if I let you all die, it would make me look careless" throughout Season 4, but her crowning moment of villainy is in Race for the Runecarved Key when she employs massive levels of evil throughout the special.

[Mattastrophic]

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Andrea1 wrote:

Could you give more info on the Sheila buisness?

You mean the PFS business that leads to her reputation? She's just generally evil with remarks like "having one pathfinder killed was annoying, but if I let you all die, it would make me look careless" throughout Season 4, but her crowning moment of villainy is in Race for the Runecarved Key when she employs massive levels of evil throughout the special.

Admittedly, that Runecarved Key performance can be attributed to either Tim Hitchcock, Kyle Baird, or both. I'm leaning towards Tim, because that behavior is very fitting with other things he's written about the Society higher-ups (i.e. Eyes of the Ten IV).

Just thought I'd throw that out there. Hitchcock Sheila might be a different Sheila.

-Matt

[Rogue Eidolon]

Mattastrophic wrote:

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Andrea1 wrote:

Could you give more info on the Sheila buisness?

You mean the PFS business that leads to her reputation? She's just generally evil with remarks like "having one pathfinder killed was annoying, but if I let you all die, it would make me look careless" throughout Season 4, but her crowning moment of villainy is in Race for the Runecarved Key when she employs massive levels of evil throughout the special.

Admittedly, that Runecarved Key performance can be attributed to either Tim Hitchcock, Kyle Baird, or both. I'm leaning towards Tim, because that behavior is very fitting with other things he's written about the Society higher-ups (i.e. Eyes of the Ten IV).

Just thought I'd throw that out there. Hitchcock Sheila might be a different Sheila.

-Matt

Linda once, playing as Sheila in another scenario, had her claim RftRK was the Spider disguised as her trying to get the key for the Consortium while slandering the PFS's good name.

[Mikaze]

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Mattastrophic wrote:

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Andrea1 wrote:

Could you give more info on the Sheila buisness?

You mean the PFS business that leads to her reputation? She's just generally evil with remarks like "having one pathfinder killed was annoying, but if I let you all die, it would make me look careless" throughout Season 4, but her crowning moment of villainy is in Race for the Runecarved Key when she employs massive levels of evil throughout the special.

Admittedly, that Runecarved Key performance can be attributed to either Tim Hitchcock, Kyle Baird, or both. I'm leaning towards Tim, because that behavior is very fitting with other things he's written about the Society higher-ups (i.e. Eyes of the Ten IV).

Just thought I'd throw that out there. Hitchcock Sheila might be a different Sheila.

-Matt

Linda once, playing as Sheila in another scenario, had her claim RftRK was the Spider disguised as her trying to get the key for the Consortium while slandering the PFS's good name.

At this point, I think if anyone asks about PFS Sheila, I'm just going to say that was a faceless stalker saboteur.

It's not like I'm not going to be adding in those guys anyway.

[Mikaze]

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Mikaze wrote:

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

We sort of just ignored all of Sheila's evil acts from PFS. Then again, the team was ridiculous peace-mode and wound up trying to redeem / not attack the vast majority of everything (I think we killed 0 things other than undead and evil outsiders in Part 1, and we even redeeemed Ash in Part 2), so we probably weren't typical overall.

I am instantly in love with your group.

That Ash bit is a story waiting to be told, eh?

Yes! It wasn't easy, and we had to ask for help from the Succubus-Blooded Tiefling Paladin of Shelyn PC from a completed Council of Thieves campaign who was a friend of one of the PCs. That was after the wizard tricked/convinced the troglodytes into worshiping Shelyn. She actually convinced the one who was longing for his wife's return from the boggards to become the new priest of Shelyn. But it might eat up space here that isn't really about Sheila Heidmarch...We took sooo many people back to the Temple of Shelyn. Ardy too in Part IV, but apparently that's actually written in as a thing to do. The Fey Sorceress adopted the Redcaps and Giants after that one too. Obviously we didn't redeem Yamasoth :P

that group

;_;

Cherish those players.

Quote:

The Fey Sorceress adopted the Redcaps

Oh God how

[Rogue Eidolon]

Mikaze wrote:

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Mikaze wrote:

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

We sort of just ignored all of Sheila's evil acts from PFS. Then again, the team was ridiculous peace-mode and wound up trying to redeem / not attack the vast majority of everything (I think we killed 0 things other than undead and evil outsiders in Part 1, and we even redeeemed Ash in Part 2), so we probably weren't typical overall.

I am instantly in love with your group.

That Ash bit is a story waiting to be told, eh?

Yes! It wasn't easy, and we had to ask for help from the Succubus-Blooded Tiefling Paladin of Shelyn PC from a completed Council of Thieves campaign who was a friend of one of the PCs. That was after the wizard tricked/convinced the troglodytes into worshiping Shelyn. She actually convinced the one who was longing for his wife's return from the boggards to become the new priest of Shelyn. But it might eat up space here that isn't really about Sheila Heidmarch...We took sooo many people back to the Temple of Shelyn. Ardy too in Part IV, but apparently that's actually written in as a thing to do. The Fey Sorceress adopted the Redcaps and Giants after that one too. Obviously we didn't redeem Yamasoth :P

that group

;_;

Cherish those players.

Well I'm one of them--it's a group that follows my own usual style.

Quote:

Quote:

The Fey Sorceress adopted the Redcaps

Oh God how

Well Roy wound up dying to some qlippoths, one of our few deaths of a non evil outsider non undead.

Dat Group, Short Version:

After the random encounters on the way there, only the Fey Sorceress went into the monastery, disguised as a redcap worshiper of the Lantern King. She managed to convince Roy that dipping your cap in qlippoth blood gives you the ultimate power if you use a special cap-dipper that was really just a Traveler's Any-Tool. All the redcaps assaulted those two qlippoths on the first floor, and eventually Roy died. Since the Sorceress kicked major ass and was obviously strong, the "other" redcaps announced her as the new leader when she took the Deathbill. Even the redcap bard was more amused by Roy's death than anything, and she was the only redcap we took with us when we went below. After recruiting the rest of the giants for free food, we went up and the party convinced the medusa cleric of Mestama that we were serving Mestama and that Ardy had given a false duration for his ritual and was really planning to complete the ritual one day before she expected, so she wouldn't be able to co-opt the ritual. Part of this we figured out from things she said along the way. She said it was time to go meet Gethuspia, so down we went, with the redcap bard and medusa cleric, who helped us by opening the Doomsday Door.

We were doing okay until we reached the Gongorian qlippoths. They decided we weren't supposed to be there, including the medusa, and in brutal chaotic evil irony, they successfully polymorphed any object the medusa into stone. Oh, and she was still carrying all her stone salves. And the Doomsday Key. So yeah. The GM ruled we couldn't use dimensional magic to leave without it because otherwise people could just D-Door into this area.

Anyway, having skipped over an entire level of skulk cultists and stuff, we managed to get some more support on the next floor. We found a cleric of Zon Kuthon being tortured by kytons who made everyone say "that guy reminds us of Mikaze" since he wants to redeem Dou Bral and thinks Zon Kuthon martyred himself to save Shelyn. Also, the sorceress suggestioned an evil mystic theurge of Nethys to join our cause. He was a sleazy sexist and was looking forward to a reward that amounted to being sent to the temple of Shelyn and sequestered ("surrounded by beautiful women all the time"). The fey sorceress also suggestioned the bogeyman to join us because if everything was a qlippoth, nothing could feel fear.

On the lowest floor, we befriended some weirdo will-o-wisps and a mummy cleric of Groetus. We would later bring Jasper to have a religious pow-wow with the mummy. They wouldn't come with us, but the mummy agreed to pre-buff

Our team, now foolishly underleveled because we had not even leveled once since starting the module, nor rested, wound up coming face to face with Ardy. It wasn't easy, but we had a lot of allies, so we won. Then we desperately used walls of force and stone to block off Yammy from using his insane auto-wins and closed the portal. On the way up, we fought a bunch of other things like drakes and qlippoths and werebears (who we saved naturally) and skulk cultists. The theurge got us control of the Clockwork Golem, which Cordelia added to her Clockwork "Army" (she had Fixy from Part 1, and Guardy and Peeky, gifts from the Ardocs in Part 3).

Afterwards we found stupid-wouldn't-wait-for-us ranger girl and her father, who were shocked that we had already finished the dungeon. The Fey Sorceress learned how to create a demiplane to house her new redcap and giant friends. We delivered Ardy, Mystic Thuerge guy, and the cleric of Mestama to the temple of Shelyn while bidding the bogeyman fairwell. We spent a long time convincing Ardy of the error of his ways, and those were the last people we redeeemed...until the first encounter of Part 5...

[Mikaze]

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Well Roy wound up dying to some qlippoths, one of our few deaths of a non evil outsider non undead.

** spoiler omitted **...

:D

I was wondering how Kafog would fit into all that. Oh wow. :)

Quote:

until the first encounter of Part 5

WARABELEARAGVBLAEL

[Rogue Eidolon]

Mikaze wrote:

Rogue Eidolon wrote:

Well Roy wound up dying to some qlippoths, one of our few deaths of a non evil outsider non undead.

** spoiler omitted **...

:D

I was wondering how Kafog would fit into all that. Oh wow. :)

His new name was Gein Kaworm (literally it was changed to that on the initiative counter) after being Polymorph Any Objected by a Gongorinan in the final encounter into a worm. He managed to present a "holy" symbol of ZK etched in the dirt for some channeling despite his unfortunate wormalady. It was a fun RP between him and some of the Shelynites as to his...uhh...creative theology, after he got un-wormed.

Quote:

Quote:

until the first encounter of Part 5

WARABELEARAGVBLAEL

? What is this, speaking in tongues?

[Mikaze]

Temporary loss of articulation due to overload.

And yeah, one of the things I'm really looking forward to is the discussion and debate between him and the resident Shelynites in one of our Star groups. Really glad to see that's taken off for other folks already! :)

Thanks for taking the time on these fill-ins by the way!

[Rogue Eidolon]

Mikaze wrote:

Temporary loss of articulation due to overload.

And yeah, one of the things I'm really looking forward to is the discussion and debate between him and the resident Shelynites in one of our Star groups. Really glad to see that's taken off for other folks already! :)

Thanks for taking the time on these fill-ins by the way!

No problem! I'm heading to bed, but I'll tease Part 5 by saying this--the super-peaceful barbarian (Blade of Mercy Sarenrae to always do nonlethal) from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords was shocked to use his Helm of the Mammoth Lords to befriend mammoths, and he rode disguised as a fire giant on that pyrohydra Gegganalag who we befriended in Part 2 by feeding him and nursing him up to health. This fearsome mount earned him the respect of the giants and allowed the more-socially-adept sorceress and Cordelia to get them to join "King Memory" in his "magical feast hall", a volcano-themed Magnificent Mansion.

Maybe I should do a campaign journal some day when I have more time...I just feel like nobody ever reads those ever...

[Zaister]

I'm just coming across this as I'm starting to prepare for an upcoming Shattered Star campaign. I'm not really familiar with PFS (basically there's nothing around here to play PFS), though I do own all the scenarios. What exactly are these evil acts of Sheila, or which scenarios contain them?

[Victor Zajic]

Having played through said PFS stuff, I never viewed it as Sheila being evil. She wasn't being particulary good either. She has the pathfinder agents to put the goals of the society first, above the laws of land or the ideals of heroism. Which I think is an accurate representation of how the society acts. It is, in no way, a goodly aligned organization that goes around helping people.