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Hello! I've been playing PF for a little over a year now, and I love it! I'm going to be coming to seatle with my brother in law and I, and we want to play in the same society games.
Here are my questions,
If we roll our 2 characters, will be allowed to register those characters together at games? I've read that sometimes people give you the character that you're to play.. that doesn't interest me at all.
Do we really have to have all the books involved with our characters present with us at game time? Would cheat sheets/print outs work? I don't really want to lug our library to Seatle.
Will we know what races are offered as a *boon?* yet? or would it be safe to assume we should just use the CRB races.
Any other tips for 2 newb society members? we've both played a ton of PF.
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Oh yeah. I'm addicted to planning out my path. I use hero lab to create my leveling path so I'll have a bunch of sheets ready. Is it frowned on to use an iPad for sheets? I know some people are very true to the medium, and I appreciate their efforts, but an iPad is way easier to use and carry than umpteen penciled in char sheets.
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Remember to read up the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play on character creation. PFS is like one huge worldwide homebrew, with its own custom rules. Seen way to many players who has not read the guide, even with a dozen games under their belt.
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I went to a con recently with my laptop, which I am lucky enough to be able to plug in as it chews through its battery in less than 3 hours.
Other people use tablets which they don't plug in though, and I asked if/how they're capable of staying alive all day. I think the answer was that if you make an effort to not keep the screen on all the time, it can do the time. Not sure if it was Android or iPad, didn't think to check.
A good backup, if you can do it, is to have your character sheet on your phone (ideally not through the internet, which can be slower to load when you need it at a moment's notice). Same goes with your PDFs on either your tablet, your phone, or both.
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"will we be allowed to register those characters together at games?"
When the "lottery" starts and you get to select which events you "want" you can pick one buddy. This makes it so you can only get events if the two of you can get it together. This is primarily for cases of a parent and a young kid that should not really be separated from the parent.
I think this severely limits what you get in to. The way lottery works is, you list and prioritize events. "They" go though the list of names, first person gets their highest pick, next person gets he highest available pick, and so on until they go through the list enough times to fill all the slots. Popular stuff fills fast. When they get to a "Buddied" name there needs to be two spots at your top rated currently available table.
FYI ... first they lottery non-PFS "celebrity games" ... big wigs running cool games. Mostly with provided charters, or they tell you to bring a valid character of X level. Once the dust settles on that, you get a chance to fill remaining slots with PFS games via lottery. (I don't think you pick PFS during the initial lathery)
You would both have plenty of fun at your own tables though too, so don't worry too much about being buddied.
Also .. have you done any play-by-post? There are plenty of good PFS and non-pfs games running here on these forums. Good way to level up some characters and have some fun when not playing face to face. I have one character I've played face to face, but this year I am also taking some characters I've been leveling up on the forums.
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RyanH: Can you explain this lottery concept to me?
Im coming to Paizocon for the first time this year. I bought my E Ticket a few days back (and then didnt actually get it for a while... troubles apparently). Im travelling by myself (sorta a 34 day American trip), thus I wont have a buddy. Now is this going to penalise me because I dont have a buddy in this Lottery?
My Con experience is normally as follows:
Convention puts up list of games being run in certain timeslots. I enter my admission into some database then attend printing out a copy so i know which rooms I need to be in and so on.
This lottery concept makes me think, I pay my money to attend and then at the very start of the con they pick names out of some giant lottery ball and If my name is picked out Im in... which for such a huge amount of attendees would take a long time.
As I dont know whats running yet (when would such information come out for Paizocon )Im kinda a bit lost.
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Playing by post doesn't offer me any fun beyond 'grinding' I play pathfinder specifically for the social interaction. Hopefully we can play together a few times.
This lottery should be mentioned and more described before accepting payments as well. What if I were coming with a whole family that wanted to play with a new GM? I'd love more clear info regarding it before I really react.
As far as battery life goes, it's a non issue for me. I have a portable charger that's more than enough to sustain me for a day or 2.
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Disclaimer: All of this is just from my understanding and observation of having attended. I could be wrong, and they could certainly change how it works.
Having no "buddy" is better.
The ability to add a buddy is really to take care of a situation where someone needs to be together. I go with my 10 year old and I don't want to send him off on his own.
The lottery is done online prior to the con.
In May or June they will post on the site all of sessions available. You can read them and assess your interest. You then mark which sessions you want to go to and which are most important.
First pass are the celebrity events, non-PFS, but like Jason Bulmahn running a game or something.
They go though the list of names, first person gets their highest pick, next person gets their highest available pick, and so on until they go through the list enough times to fill all the slots. Popular stuff fills fast.
For example, If there is a really popular event that everyone marked as #1. The first six (or whatever) people would get in, then person seven would get there 2nd choice (since choice one was filled).
After the lottery (and you will get 1 maybe 2 if you're lucky.) they then post all the PFS sessions and you can easily fill your 3 days with PFS.
Your schedule is then available on line to peruse. You show up at the con and go to your sessions already knowing what you have.
You can wait outside at the time of each event and fill empty slots at tables (unclaimed or don't show). I hear that people have gotten games every session by doing that.
Having a buddy hampers you a little in that when they look at your name and you marked a session as what you want, there need to be TWO slots at the table to accommodate you. You, having no buddy have the advantage of being able to get into a table with just one seat available.
Again, the lottery will be opened up on the boards in the near future. Watch the PaizoCon forum ... link on the left.
NOTE:
1. It's important to select many sessions in the lottery. If you pick one thing and mark it #1, it's likely to be gone, and if you picked nothing else, you get nothing else.
2. It's important to really prioritize your events ... if you mark everything #1, then when they get to your name on the list, they won't know which one was your main priority and will have to randomly assign. If it's a 5 point scale I would mark one #1, one #2, a couple #3s, then a bunch of 4's and 5's that would be ok fallbacks.
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I certainly prefer the face to face play. The php is just a limited time commitment way for me to show up to the con with more than one character (I don't do PFS locally, just at cons) Opens up the number and type of sessions available to me if I can sign up for level 1-3, 3-5, 5-7 slots. I've actually been surprised that the level of roll play is significantly higher in pbp then I've seen at con-tables! The RL social interaction is certainly different.
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Thanks Ryan. It is really a bizarre and alien concept to me :) I guess we just dont have enough players in Australia for something like that to ever happen. (Im kinda glad though, it sounds akin in paperwork to doing my taxes )
Thanks for the info on the Buddy. I was more concerned that Buddy players might get preferential treatment to sit on tables.
Having a 'celebrity' DM does not really fuss me: Although I would like to meet this Thursty fellow.. seems like an interesting fellow.
Some follow up questions
A) Is all gaming done in one large room? Ive seen photos of other American cons and they seem to go for the 'One big room, lots of tables ' policy. How does anyone hear the gm?
B) What happens if the gm does not show? Do I get shoved to another lottery. ?
C) Do they generally tend to put up a lot of the same scenario at the same time (ie 5 Horn of Aroden's on in the same timeslot) or do they tend to spread stuff out?
D) I try to avoid excess Sugar. Do I need to bring my own healthier choice or do they cater for that nowadays?
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the lottery system still sounds about as poorly designed as getting a hotel for comic-con, but that's the system and Ill abide. We'll make use of the buddy system though, and Im sure we'll have a great time. As long as the GM's are getting into it and the players are as well I have no doubt it'll be fun.
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The lottery system really isn't bad, csy, even with a buddy. Like RyanH, I go to PaizoCon with my son as my buddy. Last year we entered the lottery and only got one of the lottery events(and got to play a great game with the author of the Way of the Wicked AP). For our other games, we looked at the PFS scenarios available, picked the ones we liked, and we were done.
As others have said, if you pick higher-level games and only have low-level characters, you'll have to play pregenerated characters of the appropriate level, but they have them printed out and ready to go for you.
Last year was my first con of any sort, and the lottery and game selection process were easy to use and worked out well. And we had a blast and are going back this year!
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My experiences at PaizoCon last year:
PFS is a bunch of tables in a single large room. A bit noisy, but bearable. Works well for the Special, like last year's Siege of the Diamond City. Raises the excitement for that kind of game, where all the tables work together on the same goal.
There was another room with a bunch of tables for general PF non-PFS stuff. It also gets a few of the oddball PFS games. I played NeoGenesis with JP as GM at one of the tables in that room, and a special PFS scenario with John Compton as the GM at another table in that room.
There was a separate room for board games, which was also where the Adventure Card Game was being demoed.
That doesn't count the rooms for panels and such, nor the ability to go outside the Con area for a pickup game.
Heck, at the 4th of July party that the local VC hosted, the night before, I saw at least a couple of pickup PFS games going on...
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Kinevon; I thought the specials debuted at Gencon? Was Siege the exception to the rule last year?
What exactly is an oddball PFS game?
This is all sounding very awesome, but at the same time getting very worried that im gonna get burned by the lottery :)
Siege was an exception last year, where they tested it out, and I understand increased the difficulty for some tiers due to some of the results gathered, like the table I was at, playing sub-tier 10-11, being given some of the then sub-tier 12-13 enemies to deal with during Act 2. We had some really good synergies going at my table, even between some of the pick-up players.
Oddball PFS game, for me specifically, was a PFS legal game, which actually gave my PC played a PFS legal chronicle, but numbered as 4-99, and it was, IIRC, a one-shot game. It was one of the lottery games, IIRC.
And the lottery is only for a limited portion of the games available at PaizoCon, and, even in the unlikely(IMO) event that you don't get anything in the lottery games, you will still have plenty of normal PFS games available to sign-up for. And that portion of thesign-up, IIRC, uses a system similar in effect to using Warhorn, where you see how many tables are available at each slot, and can sign-up to play, very similar to Warhorn.
Along with the NeoGenesis game and the UnChronicled PFS game, which were both lottery, IIRC, I was able to sign up for the 4 Lissalla scenarios, including 4-26, at PaizoCon. If you want to play in the Special, you will need to get a ticket as soon as possible after they start selling them, there were only 150 tables last year, and they sold out fairly quickly.
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Kinevon: Which is in addition to the E ticket just to go to Paizocon? Ive done that bit already. Thanks for all this information btw, I want to be prepared as I can before I go.
Yeah, but, IIRC, it was no extra charge, it is just that there is limited seating for the Special. I think it was just more in the way of get your registration in for it quick.
Yeah, I know, 150+ tables is limited? Yes, yes, it is. You would think that 900+ player seats, along with 150+ GM seats, would be a lot...
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<< That said, if you just want to play Pathfinder Society games, then you can ignore the lottery altogether and play in every slot at the con. The lottery is only for special games (like the previously mentioned games run by Eric Mona, but also for other non-Pathfinder systems, like the Metamorphosis Alpha and Call of Cthulhu games that I run each year. :) >>
But PFS tables can fill up too ... you should still use the second pass on the lottery to sign up for what you want, then you know you have a seat at games you chose. Otherwise there will be a scramble each session to get a table and it may be more random in terms of level and such (may be something you played).
Use the lottery to sign up for PFS as well.
Keep watch in the paizocon section of the forums (link on the left) to see when the lottery opens up
Thanks everyone for the insights.
I'm looking for some advice; I'll probably be bringing two of my kids and 2-3 of my nephews as well. We're enough for a full table by ourselves! How should I go about keeping everyone together if we want to play PFS (and get credit/advancement)?
The buddy system for the lottery probably doesn't mean much for our little mob. Is there a way to just sign up for a table? I mean, it would be cool to do something in the Special vein but mostly just for me.
Oh, one other question; we've been home-brewing since the Living Greyhawk days... can you bring advanced characters to this event? How does official/sanctioned advanced work exactly?
Thanks!
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The lottery system does not allow for more than two. You'd have to ask Paizo, but I don't think it's likely they'd open the can of worms of accommodating groups.
You could show up before sessions and see if a whole table is open.
One of you could DM for PFS credit your own table (you can do that at home though!)
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Keep watch in the paizocon section of the forums (link on the left) to see when the lottery opens upThanks everyone for the insights.
I'm looking for some advice; I'll probably be bringing two of my kids and 2-3 of my nephews as well. We're enough for a full table by ourselves! How should I go about keeping everyone together if we want to play PFS (and get credit/advancement)?
Thanks!
So the lottery doesn't apply to PFS events at all. In fact for PFS events players are expected to muster themselves into groups of 6. So you'll be just fine.
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So the lottery doesn't apply to PFS events at all. In fact for PFS events players are expected to muster themselves into groups of 6. So you'll be just fine.Keep watch in the paizocon section of the forums (link on the left) to see when the lottery opens upThanks everyone for the insights.
I'm looking for some advice; I'll probably be bringing two of my kids and 2-3 of my nephews as well. We're enough for a full table by ourselves! How should I go about keeping everyone together if we want to play PFS (and get credit/advancement)?
Thanks!
That's not true. There is a pre-registration process for PFS. While you can (any many do) muster at the event, If all tables were filled during online pre-registration and everyone showed up the mustering folks would be screwed.
But, all tables don't fill and all people don't show up.
However, if you showed up to muster as a group of six, you may get a table together. I don't konw how many completely empty tables there are though. You can see after the lottery how many seats of each table (even for PFS) are taken.
There is also a chance to swap spots with people after the lottery.
In my two PaizoCons, every PFS game I played I pre-signed up for during lottery. Last year, I signed up with my son as a buddy and we filled every session with PFS and non-PFS ... all via lottery.
(You know, now that I think of it, maybe you just pick PFS seats as available, and it's not lotteried, just ahead of time??? In which case, if you were early you could get a group of six signed in to a PFS table ... though you need an account for everyone and each account would need to pick the table)
Does anyone remember, do they lottery the PFS tables, or is it first come first served online? I think you get to just select sessions that are open.
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Oh, one other question; we've been home-brewing since the Living Greyhawk days... can you bring advanced characters to this event? How does official/sanctioned advanced work exactly?
Thanks!
The way PFS works is that you start characters at level 1, using the rules provided in the Guide to Organized Play available on this site. There are pregens that you can use, some of which you can possibly play at level 4 or 7, but with few exceptions you can only play a scenario once for credit, so it is always better to play with your own character. With this much time before Paizocon, you can read the instructions and run games for your group prior to, so that you all have your own characters to take with you.
After the Lottery results are announced, they then open up things for switching. In the past, this is when the PFS events have been added, so people don't lottery into them, but sign up online, first come first served. Then, the tables that have spaces left are filled at the door.
Okay, I think I'm tracking (spent most of my Low Fantasy points on Str/Dex/Con during my Army days; not much left for Int...).
Sounds like we just wait for the PFS events to be added and then try to sign up online for the same table a bunch of times.
Andrea-- thanks for the help with advancement; that's what I thought but wanted to make sure!
Anyone have a guess: how many PFS sessions/modules before leveling from 1 to 2?
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Anyone have a guess: how many PFS sessions/modules before leveling from 1 to 2?
As mentioned, no guess, each scenario gives 1 XP, it takes 3 XP to level.
PFS scenarios, and Free RPG Day modules, all give 1 XP.
Older PF modules that are sanctioned give 3 XP for completion.
AP segments that are sanctioned give 3 XP per book.
The Dragon's Demand module, since it is the new 64 page format, actually has three sanctioned segments, for 3 XP each.
GMs can get regular PFS credit for running PFS scenarios and sanctioned material, so that a GM could have a PC at the same level and general gold as his players. It makes rotating GM duties less onersous, and also allows a GM to play at con at the same table as his players, if things worl out all right.
Note: As a game is always at risk, it is possible to need to start new PCs at some point.
Shipyard Rats, P1, has an encounter that, with a mostly 1st level party especially, seems targeted to wipe the party. 6 2d6 negative channels is an awful lot of damage in a single encounter, even if the PCs make the save every time.
Crypt of Fools, P3, has an encounter that seems to have a lot of problems, and some of them are from the same problem with the negative channeling cleric in Part 1, and that is a narrow encounter area, leading to an attrition style of combat. And having the big bad having multiple attacks that can neutralize a PC on a hit is not going to help.
NPC hits, PC fails his save, NPC finishes taking out that PC whose AC just sank into the ground; move up, rinse and repeat. Meh. And here I thought that not being authored by Josh Frost would reduce the TPK potential. Foolish me.
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After the Lottery results are announced, they then open up things for switching. In the past, this is when the PFS events have been added, so people don't lottery into them, but sign up online, first come first served. Then, the tables that have spaces left are filled at the door.Okay, I think I'm tracking (spent most of my Low Fantasy points on Str/Dex/Con during my Army days; not much left for Int...).
Sounds like we just wait for the PFS events to be added and then try to sign up online for the same table a bunch of times.
As a note you don't sign up for a specific table at Paizo.com you just sign up for an adventure during a slot.
So you'll all sign up for say 3-14 Death by Pie (level 1-5) on the morning slot for Saturday
(Assuming Paizo Con musters the same way it did last year) On Saturday morning you'll locate the mustering area for level 1-5 adventures. It'll probably have a big sign and there will be a Paizo volunteer (a marshal) with a clipboard. If you already have 6, go up to them and once they acknowledge you, let them know you have a table of 6 for Death by Pie and that you all have tickets.
If you have less than 6, let the players know you're looking for 1 more to make a table for 3-14 Death by Pie. Almost certainly you'll have a volunteer in no time to fill out your table, then approach the marshal and let them know you have a table of 6 etc.
The marshal will tell you to go to some table number. There will be ~35 tables in the big room behind them and your table should be in there some where. There is likely a sensible scheme as to how the tables are numbered but the marshal may or may not know it.
After you're done with your game remember to thank your GM and start getting ready for your next slot/food/whatever.
Thanks Rob.
Indeed; thanks everyone.
Pirate Rob wrote:
"As a note you don't sign up for a specific table at Paizo.com you just sign up for an adventure during a slot.
So you'll all sign up for say 3-14 Death by Pie (level 1-5) on the morning slot for Saturday."
If I'm reading that correctly, that's a broad spread for an adventure (1st thru 5th level characters?); I thought I had read about 1-2 or 4-7 which kinda made sense. But 1-5 sounds unworkable (or just crazy imbalanced).
Is the schedule out yet to see what options will actually be offered?
Is it worth running my kids through an AP or two to level them up to at least 2nd for survivability?
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If I'm reading that correctly, that's a broad spread for an adventure (1st thru 5th level characters?); I thought I had read about 1-2 or 4-7 which kinda made sense. But 1-5 sounds unworkable (or just crazy imbalanced).
Is the schedule out yet to see what options will actually be offered?
Is it worth running my kids through an AP or two to level them up to at least 2nd for survivability?
1. The scenarios are further broken down into sub-tiers, so that 1-5 scenario has encounters for 1-2 and 4-5, and we kludge parties into one or the other based on what the average level of the PCs equals.
2. I think there may be a blog post listing what is being offered, but not an actual by-slot roster.
3. If you can do so via sanctioned content it is not a bad idea. Once they play the character at 2nd level there is no chance to make adjustments however. A run of Murder's Mark or another 1-2 module will accomplish what you want.
Edit: Found the scenario list.
For PaizoCon 2014, we plan to make this bigger than last year! I am scheduling 210 tables of Pathfinder Society over three days. We will be offering all season five scenarios multiple times, including the debut of the final four scenarios for season five.