Might Need to Look Into a Bigger Island...


Pathfinder Society

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5/5 5/5 ***

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Ladies and gentlemen, ‘tis my pleasure to announce to you all the naming of a second 5-Star GM in the North Star State, Andrew Christian! Andy has been a Venture-Lieutenant since the days of Ryan Bolduan, going above and beyond to run awesome games for players across the Twin Cities metro area and as far north as Anoka where he founded our game day at Village Games. He's a blast to play under, dedicated to running a fair and fun game for everyone at the table, and in his spare time does an exceptional job as a store coordinator and convention organizer.

As Andy's fame spreads far and wide, or at least from Indianapolis to Seattle, I encourage you all to share awesome stories about his awesomeness. Congratulations, Andy; I look forward to the games to come!

4/5 5/5 **

Congrats, Andy! Welcome to the island.

The Exchange 5/5

If Dragnmoon gets past the laser-sharks around 5-Star Island and 5-Star Space Station doesn't get funded, it's gonna get awfully cramped at 5-Star Time Share Condo. Welcome aboard Mr. Christian. Thank you for your long and distinguished record of service.

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Thanks!

So I know it will take awhile, but can you burrow under the sea floor? I'm not a real strong swimmer and sharks give me the willies.

Dark Archive 5/5 5/5

To the only GM to kill my characters multiple times, I say congratulations Andy.

Well done.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Congratulations!

So, that makes 3 this week, right? We could rent a boat and split the fair. :D

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Seth Gipson wrote:

Congratulations!

So, that makes 3 this week, right? We could rent a boat and split the fair. :D

Ooh! And then we can avoid the sharks! WIN!

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/5 RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8

jon dehning wrote:

To the only GM to kill my characters multiple times, I say congratulations Andy.

Well done.

Killing your VL's characters should be a rite of passage for all new VCs.

Well done Andy!

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

Congrats, Andy!

Andy was my second GM ever for PFS, and if I wasn't hooked on the first game I played, I was by the second. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing games that Andy has GMed over the last year. He's always managed to keep things "interesting", though I haven't been "lucky" enough to reach the level of "interesting" that Jon Dehning has with Andy.

I've learned a lot from Andy over the year, both as a GM and as a player. He's always willing to help a GM figure out difficult scenarios (and perhaps players, too!)

Now, don't take this wrong, Andy, but the biggest thing that I have learned from you as a GM is to be humble (those of you that only know Andy from his presence on these forums may be surprised by this, but he does have a completely different personality IRL than on the boards)! Admitting that as a GM you make mistakes, and allowing yourself to learn from them is a talent that few people actually have.

One of the best conversations we've had was when I was in the process of prepping Rivalry's End (after you had run it for my table). There were a few things I asked you about, and you were very straight foward with what happened, which honestly allowed me to run my table far better than I would have been able to do had I not talked through it with you (I still made the same mistake as you did in regards to Halberds not being a reach weapon, but oh well).

Talking with Andy more recently allowed me to reverse a fatal mistake that I made in the running of a recent scenario (as a slot-0 for Con of the North). I was able to reverse a death that should not have happened, because of my error.

So, all in all, congratulations, Andy! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it!

Liberty's Edge 4/5

Welcome andy!!

Grand Lodge 5/5

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Congrats!

1/5 Venture-Captain, Germany–Hannover

Congratulations!

Dark Archive 2/5

Congratulations.

Sovereign Court 5/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

This is getting out of hand!

Wayfinders 5/5

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Nice work and congratulations!!!!!

4/5 *

Congratulations Andrew!

5/5 5/5 ***

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Kolossal Ego wrote:
This is getting out of hand!

Then get Kolossal Hands!

Silver Crusade 2/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Jeez, the amount of 5 stars is getting scary, I mean they are the only ones who can kill my character.

The Exchange 5/5 RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

I'll tell you what I learned from a couple of conversations with Andy: how to balance keeping an eye on rules enforement and still emphasize this fun around the table. GMing next to him at several conventions, I can see that all of his players are enjoying themselves, and he still keeps a tight ship.

What advice do you give, to newer GMs? What advice do you give, to people with D&D or Pathfinder experience, building their first characters in PFS?

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/5 **

Awesome!! Congrats!

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Congrats Andrew!

I can always get you guys a flight to the island, as long as you guys sneak me in... ;

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Uh... Being the new guy and all... Do I really want to let the Dragnmoon in? I mean they might revoke my membership card... Or have me assassinated by sexy mice creatures

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Membership cards are non-revocable, assassination on the other hand...

5/5

Congrats Andrew !

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Andrew congratulations on your achievement.

A collection team is being dispatched to your location.

You will be welcomed to 5-star 'island'. Make sure to stay up to date on your daily briefings as long as you are on the 'island'.

Doug,

I am pleased to report that my 'negotiations' with certain un-namable entities are going well. We will soon have the fourth and fifth sites online. These are sites codenamed 'ski-lodge' and 'nightmare bunker'.

The shoggoths are actually very good at housekeeping and you get used to the smell surprisingly rapidly.

5/5

Get your shots and pack some quinine.

Congrats, Andrew! Thanks for all your hard work as a GM, organizer, and bulwark against power creep.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Congratz Sir!
Well done.

(Word for the wise, make certain they when they take your measurements for the Jacket, have them double check those numbers)


Congratulations Andrew. But why do you yet have only 4 stars? ;l)

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Chris Mortika wrote:

I'll tell you what I learned from a couple of conversations with Andy: how to balance keeping an eye on rules enforement and still emphasize this fun around the table. GMing next to him at several conventions, I can see that all of his players are enjoying themselves, and he still keeps a tight ship.

What advice do you give, to newer GMs? What advice do you give, to people with D&D or Pathfinder experience, building their first characters in PFS?

New GMs: Mainly I try to tell them not to worry so much about whether they are rules masters or not. To just ensure that the table is having fun. System mastery will come with time and experience. Don't be afraid to make a mistake.

Anecdote: My wife ran her first scenario ever (Pallid Plague) and made a mistake with how bane works. She is still reading game rules like you would read English. So she thought when it said a 50' radius and a duration of 1 round / level, that everytime someone stepped within 50' of the badguy, that they had to make a roll against bane or take the penalties. She took charge of the table and said, "well this is how we've been doing it for 3 rounds, so lets just keep going this way, and you can explain it to me later." That -1 wasn't so debilitating, and the scenario is relatively easy, so nobody cared. Afterwords we explained that it was a burst spell, and the duration was only for how long the penalty lasted for each person affected. She felt horrible on the ride home. I explained to her all the mistakes I made in the scenario I ran later that same day. I've been GM'ing for almost 30 years, and PFS for 2 years at that time (was already a 4-star). And that made her feel better. That you are allowed to make mistakes, its how you handle them that matters, not that you made one.

Additionally, I usually advise new GM's what the most important things to pay attention to are, during prep time. Pay attention to flow and transition. To me those are the most important things to pay attention to while prepping a scenario. All the other details are important, but you can have the scenario down pat--the stat blocks down pat--but if you don't do the flow and transition well, you'll run out of time and lose the interest of your players as the flow bogs down during the story. Remember, you are telling a story, and the players are the primary protagonists. They should feel like they are partaking in the story, not like you are just reading off some stats to them. Once you have flow and transition down, everything else falls into place (and you'll have time while the players are figuring out what to do, to make sure you have how the hazard in the next room works).

As for those with previous roleplaying experience in building a new character for PFS for the first time?

I would have to say that I assume they know the roles and rules well enough, that they can create a healing cleric, battle wizard, skill monkey, or tanking melee guy with some proficiency regardless the rules system. So what I focus on is the campaign itself. I tell them what being a pathfinder is all about, and a bit about the world (like where Absalom is, and what its all about) and about the factions and stuff. So they can be better prepared to use their already learned system mastery to build a character that better fits the campaign we are playing, rather than a character that fits some other campaign. Indeed, if they have some idea that doesn't quite fit, I will help them figure out how to have the best of both worlds: the character they are set on playing, that also fits into the Pathfinder Society campaign roleplay wise.

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Oceanshieldwolf wrote:
Congratulations Andrew. But why do you yet have only 4 stars? ;l)

It will probably take a few days for Customer Service to get around to clicking the check box to grant me the 5th star on my visible profile.

Grand Lodge

Well done!

Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane

Congrats!!!

1/5

I have played at Andy's table numerous times, and always have had fun times.
The Green Market, Hellknights Feast (with the guy who wouldn't leave the cellar), and Port Godless were all great sessions.

Congrats Andy!

4/5 5/55/5

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Congratulations, Andy.

Scarab Sages 5/5

Congrats Andrew!! Thank you for all your hard work for PFS. And thanks for the many hours of entertainment you give me reading your posts!

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

Kudos to the formerly Mustachioed-One!

4/5 ****

Max grats, all the grats!

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Congratulations, and thanks for all of your hard work.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Andrew Christian wrote:
Uh... Being the new guy and all... Do I really want to let the Dragnmoon in? I mean they might revoke my membership card... Or have me assassinated by sexy mice creatures

I heard they delete your Paizo account and make you start from scratch to get to 150 again. :/

5/5

Congratulations Andrew! You zoomed right past me!

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Andy,
Now I know we have had our epic differences and debates hehe and even our faux pas in the past and became friends out of it. I want to say that the epic 5th star could not come to a better person. You have shown me what can happen from miscommunication and that emotion and text do not translate well. Better to deal with things in person rather then in text when it comes to coordinating PFS. :)

I have enjoyed having you GM for me and GMing for you in turn, the few times it has happened that is that we can actually find the time to play hehe. It is with sincere and great pleasure that I would like to extend my hand and congratulate you in achieving the ever elusive 5th star!! It is an honor and a privilege to know you and come out as friends to boot :)

Thank you sir!! It is truly appreciated! :)

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Thanks Kip! I agree with you 100%.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Congratulations Andrew! Excellent advice.

*

Well done Andy

5/5

I wonder how I've never had you as a GM... we'll have to fix that.

4/5

Congratulations Andy! I always have a great time when I play at your table.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Kyle Baird wrote:
I wonder how I've never had you as a GM... we'll have to fix that.

Neither of us have had Andy for a GM. We should coordinate to be on the same table and tag team him.

I have an Andoran PC that would be perfect. ;-)

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

Eric Brittain wrote:
We should coordinate to be on the same table

Count me in. I have a reach fighter who has Weapon Focus (table variation) to try out ;-)

Congrats Andy!

Liberty's Edge 5/5

I'd love to GM that table!

Grand Lodge 5/5

I want in on that table too! I have some...fun stuff. He was fun to chat with during the Fantasy Football draft :P

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