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I play PFS at a monthly session at the local game store. When the area Venture-Lieutenant was running to get us started, everything was fine. Now that he's stopped showing up, though, the primary GM isn't reporting anything. I've been through six scenarios and hit level 3, but my events page online says I've only completed First Steps.
I've talked with him about it, but nothing's changed. It doesn't really make a difference for playing with the local group, but if that's what this was about I'd just play in home games; I really, really don't want to show up to Gen Con, decide to drop in on a session, and get told my character's not legal because the records show him several levels below where he is. I do have all the chronicle sheets (though I have to twist his arm to get him to sign them at the end of sessions) if that makes a difference. Do I have any recourse?
The chronicle sheets are the important thing, and are your permanent record of your character and his exploits. The web site reporting is really mostly for Paizo's benefit, as it tells them about how the scenario was completed and gives them data on how many people are actually playing PFS.
If it bothers you, and talking to the GM about it hasn't helped, you might consider talking to the area's Venture Officer.
I say this as a new GM who's been somewhat lax at reporting himself - had to figure out what everybody's PFS numbers were a few weeks ago to get everything in.
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Email the VL who set up the game. If you don't hear back, email the VC. If you don't hear back, email Mike Brock. Include the information about the difficulty in getting your Chronicles signed.
Fortunately, the Chronicle sheets are the official record, so if your GM never reports anything your character is okay. But he should still be reporting.
Also, consider deleting this thread; about a billion people are going to pop on here in the next 20 minutes and tell you that you should've handled this privately, despite the fact that you didn't know who to handle it with. :P
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Email the VL who set up the game. If you don't hear back, email the VC. If you don't hear back, email Mike Brock. Include the information about the difficulty in getting your Chronicles signed.
Fortunately, the Chronicle sheets are the official record, so if your GM never reports anything your character is okay. But he should still be reporting.
Also, consider deleting this thread; about a billion people are going to pop on here in the next 20 minutes and tell you that you should've handled this privately, despite the fact that you didn't know who to handle it with. :P
Why? He's not bashing anyone. He's not calling anyone out by name. He's asking a legit question.
He now has his answer. There's no reason this has to get into telling him it should be private.
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The only time online records are useful is when you lose all your chronicle sheets (and this has recently happened locally : a friends car was broken into and he lost all of it. It perplexes me while people would steal them).
The issue is, a lot of VC's and VLS set up these events. They then recruit the gms for the games and expect them to make sure everyone signs in on the sheet in a legibile form. WE gms then pass these sheets back onto the VC and VL. So If we dont see the VC/VL for sometime then we can have a backlog of sheets. Some VCS/VLs can disappear for months at a time.
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Just because nobody has mentioned this yet - it's very important that your Season 5 scenarios are reported. Otherwise the PC's actions and the conclusion events of the scenario do not matter one bit.
Hardly matters; we seem to have stopped doing new scenarios since the Glass River Rescue and spent the last couple of months doing Mists of Mwangi and Voice in the Void for some reason. Perhaps I should offer to just buy the scenarios myself if we're reduced to recycling stuff from Season 0. :p
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Just because nobody has mentioned this yet - it's very important that your Season 5 scenarios are reported. Otherwise the PC's actions and the conclusion events of the scenario do not matter one bit.Hardly matters; we seem to have stopped doing new scenarios since the Glass River Rescue and spent the last couple of months doing Mists of Mwangi and Voice in the Void for some reason. Perhaps I should offer to just buy the scenarios myself if we're reduced to recycling stuff from Season 0. :p
It sounds like you're made of just the stuff needed to be a store coordinator! Find a fellow gamer from your group and see if he can share GMing and buying the scenarios and kindly let the other GM off the duties.
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Yeah, if the current organiser isn't keeping you guys up to date with the awesome Season 5, you're really missing out.
I'd recommend finding another competent player and creating a small team of GMs that can take turns in 'burning' scenarios for one another. Share the load. It's not realistic to expect one GM to constantly run games for players without getting any games in return.
Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Hardly matters; we seem to have stopped doing new scenarios since the Glass River Rescue and spent the last couple of months doing Mists of Mwangi and Voice in the Void for some reason. Perhaps I should offer to just buy the scenarios myself if we're reduced to recycling stuff from Season 0. :p
You might want to take a look at what season 5 scenarios are out. So far there are only 2 1-5 scenarios this season. You yourself said you just hit level 3. Your GM wasn't slacking, there just hasn't been any current 1-5s for him to run. The Blakros Museum arc is a very popular arc, which is probably why he's been running it. Just because its old doesn't mean it isn't a good scenario.
I myself enjoy running those scenarios and I use them as go to scenarios at newer locations because they are fun and a good way to introduce characters/players to the world/game. Your GM might even been working towards showing you the cool metaplot arc that takes place in season 4. You're about the right level to start that and the Blakroses are an important part of it.
Before you think that you've been "reduced to recycling stuff" you might actually ask the GM why he's been running what he has, you might be surprised.
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You might want to take a look at what season 5 scenarios are out. So far there are only 2 1-5 scenarios this season. You yourself said you just hit level 3. Your GM wasn't slacking, there just hasn't been any current 1-5s for him to run. The Blakros Museum arc is a very popular arc, which is probably why he's been running it. Just because its old doesn't mean it isn't a good scenario.
Hardly matters; we seem to have stopped doing new scenarios since the Glass River Rescue and spent the last couple of months doing Mists of Mwangi and Voice in the Void for some reason. Perhaps I should offer to just buy the scenarios myself if we're reduced to recycling stuff from Season 0. :p
No, the fact that
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Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Martinsville
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Are you talking about Mist of Mwangi?
The initial save for the Mists is the one needed, unless someone wears a scarf over their mouth or have some other way to avoid breathing in the Mists. If a character/person makes the save, they can't be effected by it for another 24 hours. (hence why you meet one of the clerks in the office that is uneffected) The effect that a failed save has wears off once the source is neutralized, or when they are out of the mist for a day.
Be patient with the GM as reporting this stuff can sometimes be a frustrating time sink.
For reference, when you fill out the entries of the reporting slip...
- print the PF number clearly, with a dash and the character number after it.
- Do not fill out the Prestige box, this is for the GM to fill in once the scenario is over (with the number 0, 1 or 2)
- Put down your Faction that your character is in currently. (Some early seasons have the Grand Lodge, Szcarni and Silver Crusade take on other faction missions, fill in your actual faction, not the one you took on in it's place)
This will make reporting easier and less likely to be messed up.
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"Okay, I guess we scratch ourselves and fling poo."
They didn't die, but they were functionally useless. The last two to not suffer the transformation elected to herd the victims outside and abandon the adventure. Out of curiosity, I rolled a d20 experimentally for every room in the place to see what would probably happen had we gone on, and failed on the fifth one.
Are you talking about Mist of Mwangi?
** spoiler omitted **
Be patient with the GM as reporting this stuff can sometimes be a frustrating time sink.
For reference, when you fill out the entries of the reporting slip...
- print the PF number clearly, with a dash and the character number after it.
- Do not fill out the Prestige box, this is for the GM to fill in once the scenario is over (with the number 0, 1 or 2)
- Put down your Faction that your character is in currently. (Some early seasons have the Grand Lodge, Szcarni and Silver Crusade take on other faction missions, fill in your actual faction, not the one you took on in it's place)
This will make reporting easier and less likely to be messed up.
That would have been really great to know at the time.
At any rate, I've been patient since May of this year. If the reporting process really takes seven months (as opposed to the day or so when the VL was running the first sessions) then color me shocked. Coming here to ask was not my first resort; I've talked to him about it at every session for months on end.
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If the reporting process really takes seven monthsIt takes about 5 minutes per game, in my experience.
Before I was reporting for my area, there was sometimes a week between event and report. Now that I'm reporting, I try my best to get them reported same day.
It doesn't take a lot of time to report, but I can't be mad if not everyone is like me and takes a little bit of time. Several weeks though, that would cause me to email the VO and event coordinator to see what's what.
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If the reporting process really takes seven monthsIt takes about 5 minutes per game, in my experience.
Unless you are running 10 tables every day, it doesn't take that long to report tables, and reasonably could be done in 15 minutes to half an hour immediately after the game day is over.
I ran a con of 47 tables last year at Con of the North (7 tables per slot) and I had all tables reported at the end of each slot and before 11pm Sunday of the Convention.
Every coordinators personal life is different, and they may have family that want their attention after being away from the house for several hours. So it may take them a couple days to report it.
In some cases, internet access may be an issue, and they have to go to the library or something such.
But there really is no excuse to not report a game day in a reasonable amount of time. Each circumstance will define what is reasonable.
But keep in mind, for current season scenarios, if they aren't reported within a month or two of release, then the results will not matter for the future of the campaign.
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If the reporting process really takes seven monthsIt takes about 5 minutes per game, in my experience.Before I was reporting for my area, there was sometimes a week between event and report. Now that I'm reporting, I try my best to get them reported same day.
It doesn't take a lot of time to report, but I can't be mad if not everyone is like me and takes a little bit of time. Several weeks though, that would cause me to email the VO and event coordinator to see what's what.
Yeah, I can respect that, but the point is it's one of those things where it's over quickly if you just do it. The trouble comes when you put it off and then it piles up and then you've got two dozen games and you can't find two hours to put them all in.
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Yeah, I can respect that, but the point is it's one of those things where it's over quickly if you just do it. The trouble comes when you put it off and then it piles up and then you've got two dozen games and you can't find two hours to put them all in.If the reporting process really takes seven monthsIt takes about 5 minutes per game, in my experience.Before I was reporting for my area, there was sometimes a week between event and report. Now that I'm reporting, I try my best to get them reported same day.
It doesn't take a lot of time to report, but I can't be mad if not everyone is like me and takes a little bit of time. Several weeks though, that would cause me to email the VO and event coordinator to see what's what.
Two Dozen does not take 2 hours. At most 30 minutes.
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Two Dozen does not take 2 hours. At most 30 minutes.
Two dozen in 30 minutes is a best case scenario.
Issues that save time:
Fully filled out and readable scenario sheets
Characters that are registered online
A good connection and responsive Paizo webpage
Preregistered scenarios
Issues that eat up time:
Unreadable scenario sheets that let you guess which char it is or even have you to check back with a player
Incomplete filled out sheets - especially missed out char numbers that let you trial and error a few numbers until the right name appears
New characters / players. You need to fill out the name and faction
Slow Paizo webpage - I have seen it to take 5 sec to fill in the details for a player (maybe it is because I'm in the UK)
Finding the right scenario if it isn't in the drop down and is a module
You save yourself a lot of time if you are organized, ensure well filled out sheets and if you have repeat players that have every character registered.
My last con took me around 1 hour for 12 tables - not counting the e-mails back and forth with a GM who filled out his number wrong and wondered his game hadn't been reported.
That on it's own took me 15 minutes extra - 2 e-mails written, 2 e-mail read, 2 extra log ins to the the reporting pages, double check of the reporting sheets (which off course hadn't been in a neat pile or filed away).
But yes - doing it straight away is the best way to get it done quickly. At home the best is straight after the game via iPad and while I have the players still in their seats to check their numbers or factions.
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Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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"You all think you're monkeys."
"Okay, I guess we scratch ourselves and fling poo."They didn't die, but they were functionally useless. The last two to not suffer the transformation elected to herd the victims outside and abandon the adventure. Out of curiosity, I rolled a d20 experimentally for every room in the place to see what would probably happen had we gone on, and failed on the fifth one.
He made everyone who hadn't succumbed roll again at every door.
This clearly looks like your GM didn't read that part correctly at all.
First, as already mentioned above, the mists call for exactly one save when a character first breathes the mist.Second, unless a character is an arcane caster who strongly relies on his spells, the effect doesn't make them useless at all. Fighter types even get better because they gain a Strength bonus and natural attacks.
When described correctly, this effect can lead to some cool roleplaying.
When I ran Mists of Mwangi, one of the characters who failed their save was a barbarian, and the player really had fun playing his character's ape-like behavior (even moving through the museum by climbing along the ceiling). Also, the bards were smart enough to cover their faces when they saw the strange mist.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Flite,
How do you handle that, when the Event already has an event code? Don't you need to log into the Paizo system with the organizer's ID?
To the Original Poster: Did the event code change when the GM changed?If not, then the new GM might not be able to report the sessions. (I'd started PFS at a local game store.When I stepped aside from GMing / attending a couple months ago, we had to retire that event code and start a new one for the new organizer.)
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You CAN. You may not be supposed you, but you're more than capable.
As the reporting system is not an official record, it doesn't really make much of a difference if the event code is off. Unless there is something on Paizo's end I don't know about, reporting the table with a different event code is not as bad as never reporting the table.
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My recommendation is to offer taking over organizing the event from him. He can still GM, but you'll handle the reporting.
It's entirely legitimate to play PFS scenarios without playing PFS -- the scenarios are available for everyone to purchase and run, not just sanctioned PFS events. However, if there's a disconnect in expectation between you and the guy running the event then maybe you should discuss what's important to each of you and why.
As others have said, your paper Chronicles are the official record of your character. The online reporting is just a backup of that record.
More importantly, however, and the part that everyone always seems to gloss over, is that the reporting system tells Paizo how many people are playing PFS and how often. They then make decisions about budget allocation for PFS based on those numbers. I'm hopeful that someday we'll grow to the point where we can get 52 scenarios a year, plus Specials.
Report those events, folks. Make sure Paizo knows how much we love playing the game.
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If the table is being run at an organized convention, making sure all tables are reported for that convention may be important for Paizo's purposes in tracking attendance there. But for private games or local gamedays, I can't see correct event codes being a huge issue. I strive to make sure they are correctly reported, but making sure they GET reported takes precedence when needed.
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If the table is being run at an organized convention, making sure all tables are reported for that convention may be important for Paizo's purposes in tracking attendance there. But for private games or local gamedays, I can't see correct event codes being a huge issue. I strive to make sure they are correctly reported, but making sure they GET reported takes precedence when needed.
+1.
You can have them reported before everyone leaves the gameday, in most cases. Smartphones are tech. Most places have wi-fi, anyway. Find a way.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Correct, you would need to do this going forward, and have the GM put the new event code on all the chron sheets from then on out.
It would be really nice if Paizo would let us designate multiple people as event hosts who could upload records.
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You put it on a different event.You can do that, so long as the Chronicles don't already have the old event code, or you reissue new Chronicles. (I'munder the impression that players can't just scratch out information on the Chronicle sheet after the GM signs it.)
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if he's not reporting the events afterwards he's probably not setting up the event code before hand. (i usually make the event as I'm reporting it)
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A lot of places use the same event code over and over again for their regular game days, though. My store has been using the same code for four years.
Yes, but a different event code doesn't matter as long as it matches the chronicle sheet.
I might even go out on a limb and say that the event code (itself) doesn't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. So long as it matches the chronicle, you're golden.
I'm sure there are seven or eight different event codes that all mean "PFS at Ground Zero Omaha."
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Since the Event Code isn't required information, according to the Guide, then who really cares if the old ones match. Just try to make sure the name of the event matches the chronicles, and everything else should sort itself out. The chronicles are the official record, they don't have to be changed to conform to the "backup".
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Event Codes can make Mike Brock's and Venture Officers job easier in case of issues with chronicles. Especially with players who never activated their PFS number.
So Event Codes can be important, though hopefully they never will be for most players.
As for the original topic, your only hope may be to ask the GM to let you do it, or to get a Venture Officer to ask the guy to report it.
Though you should be fine as the paper chronicles are what are the most official. Though obviously if something happens and they disappear you're going to be out of luck.
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One thing I would suggest is to scan in your Chronicle Sheets so that if they are ever lost, stolen or destroyed you can at least print them out again. I always scan in mine.
Another good idea is to snap a picture of the tracker sheet with your phone before its handed in because little pieces of paper have a way of getting lost sometimes.
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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if he's not reporting the events afterwards he's probably not setting up the event code before hand. (i usually make the event as I'm reporting it)You put it on a different event.You can do that, so long as the Chronicles don't already have the old event code, or you reissue new Chronicles. (I'munder the impression that players can't just scratch out information on the Chronicle sheet after the GM signs it.)
Bad doggie...
Events should be setup on Paizo a month in advance so people who know how to use this message board can visit the events page when traveling and find a game most anywhere. That's partly why the chronicles and such are set up the way they are. I can go anywhere, anytime, and play a game...IF i know it's available. Isn't this the season of low attendance? Why? Many people are traveling that's why and they can't find a game because GM/Coordinators aren't setting up the event on Paizo well in advance.
/rant over
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A lot of places use the same event code over and over again for their regular game days, though. My store has been using the same code for four years.
Execellelnt Benn Roe. Since taking over as VC, I'm pushing 'my' Saturday hosts to create one event and just add the calander days to it and use it over and over and...
That way there's no guessing what the event code is, they can fill out the chronicle sheet properly and go back anytime to report a session if they get distracted by 'shinies' OR the player can contact the VO and say, "This one wasn't reported, can you report this session for us?"
P.S. VC (VL too?) can go into any event created by another host/GM and report a session. We're here for you my subjects. It's good to be the King!
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Events should be setup on Paizo a month in advance so people who know how to use this message board can visit the events page when traveling and find a game most anywhere. That's partly why the chronicles and such are set up the way they are. I can go anywhere, anytime, and play a game...IF i know it's available. Isn't this the season of low attendance? Why? Many people are traveling that's why and they can't find a game because GM/Coordinators aren't setting up the event on Paizo well in advance.
/rant over
Usually the other game is listed on the website, so if anyone uses this website to try to find a game (beyond asking "Hey, anyone in this area?" ) should see at least one game, and directions to the warhorn site.
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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if he's not reporting the events afterwards he's probably not setting up the event code before hand. (i usually make the event as I'm reporting it)You put it on a different event.You can do that, so long as the Chronicles don't already have the old event code, or you reissue new Chronicles. (I'munder the impression that players can't just scratch out information on the Chronicle sheet after the GM signs it.)Bad doggie...
Events should be setup on Paizo a month in advance so people who know how to use this message board can visit the events page when traveling and find a game most anywhere. That's partly why the chronicles and such are set up the way they are. I can go anywhere, anytime, and play a game...IF i know it's available. Isn't this the season of low attendance? Why? Many people are traveling that's why and they can't find a game because GM/Coordinators aren't setting up the event on Paizo well in advance.
/rant over
I'll bring this up at the pre-game meeting. Leaving for the game day in about fifteen minutes; I'll be back posting how it went after if anyone cares. :)
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I do know, but thanks. :)
The session actually went pretty well, though the GM had put in next to no prep time and is kind of bad at reading. :p We only had a four person table owing to it not being the usual day of the month and people missing the reschedule, but in some ways that's an improvement. The VL popped in for a bit (couldn't stay, unfortunately) and we got some things sorted. He's going to handle reporting himself, and GM duties are going to be spread around a bit more (I'm going to take a table every two or three sessions, for one; I'm pretty good at it but so far haven't done it much because I joined PFS to get a break from GMing all the time in the first place), so hopefully it should start to work better. Thanks for the advice, everyone. :)
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** spoiler omitted **
Are you talking about Mist of Mwangi?
** spoiler omitted **
Be patient with the GM as reporting this stuff can sometimes be a frustrating time sink.
For reference, when you fill out the entries of the reporting slip...
- print the PF number clearly, with a dash and the character number after it.
- Do not fill out the Prestige box, this is for the GM to fill in once the scenario is over (with the number 0, 1 or 2)
- Put down your Faction that your character is in currently. (Some early seasons have the Grand Lodge, Szcarni and Silver Crusade take on other faction missions, fill in your actual faction, not the one you took on in it's place)
This will make reporting easier and less likely to be messed up.
That would have been really great to know at the time. ** spoiler omitted **
At any rate, I've been patient since May of this year. If the reporting process really takes seven months (as opposed to the day or so when the VL was running the first sessions) then color me shocked. Coming here to ask was not my first resort; I've talked to him about it at every session for months on end.
I would love to say that I have sat down immediately after every game and had them reported, it has sometimes taken me a month to get it done. I am a nurse and I work full time, I am a student and attend college full time, I am a mom and for some reason my kids think I have to do that full time, as well as my husband thinks I should be a full time wife, and my growing older mother taking care of my mentally disabled brother believes I am to be a full time daughter/sister. Sometimes life waylays us and as much as we would like to think we are the heroes we portray in our campaigns; we aren't.
I wish I had an easy answer for you. Scan your chronicle sheets into your computer, make extra copies, offer to set up the sessions and report them yourself...
I hope your issue gets resolved soon, good luck and hope to game with you in the future.
I understand all that, and I think we've reached a satisfactory solution. I'm not near Texas, though, so unless you travel for conventions it's unlikely. I'd be honored if the chance occurs, though. :)