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Still working toward mine. Started 2/2/2013. Projected 5-star accumulation puts it late 2015. May be later if I do not do weekly online games anymore (which I haven't been doing). May be sooner if I power-GM the local cons. Hoping to do Genghis, at the least, if PFS returns to it. It is still a good birthday present.
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1st PFS GMing 4/26/2010: #1-33 Assault on the Kingdom of the Imposible @ Game Theory Raleigh NC
150th GMing 2/7/2014 #3-26 Portal of the Sacred Rune. @ a home game in Cary NC. I think this may have been my 160th game, but it was the game Steve Miller, The VC of Raleigh observed my GMing so I could be awarded my 5th star.
I took my time. T
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My first table was Oct-18 2008 Mists of Mwangi at a home game.
My 150th gm point was earned at Oliver Con (a gameday on Cape Cod) on September 2, 2012.
I had thought it was at Council of Five Nations in Schenectady, NY on October 6, 2012, but there were a few conventions I gm'd at that did not get reported and while I was VC I added tables as I could for them.
Becoming a VC was how I earned my stars. I had just earned 2 stars by Sept 2011. I played PFS in a monthly home group and at a few conventions each year up to that point.
Then I became a VC and went from 30 points to 150 points in one year. I'm at 243 points now and most are due to running games most every weekend during my service as VC. I've only earned 17 points since stepping down at the end of August 2013, but I should be at 250 by early July 2014.
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My First game was Aug 28, 2008 Silent Tide at Gen Con UK 2008
Next time I GMd was Gen Con Indy 2009 Aug 13, 2009 then almost another year when I finally moved to somewhere I could get a game going locally on Jun 19, 2010.
My Qualifying game was Aug 16, 2013 Pathfinder Society Special: Siege of the Diamond City Gen Con 2013.
I did not actually get the 5th star until Nov 21, 2013
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Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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I took a while, as I enjoy playing as much as I enjoy GMing. I had also seen a lot of GMs burn out in other OrgPlay systems and I didn't want to go that route, nor encourage others to head down that road, so I was very active in making sure I had a large core of GMs at my PFS game days.
My first session was December of 2009. I ran my 150th table at Tacticon in August/September of 2013. I GM'd 2 or 3 times per month during that time, and played 2 times per month consistently. The only time I GM'd more than average was at conventions, where I actually *don't* like playing, for whatever reason. I would GM all 9 sessions at local conventions, and never felt like that was too much (a wife who was willing to run food and drink for me helped immensely). Every single credit was earned with local players, which made it extra fun for me.
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I have seen GMs racing to get that 5th star, people that just GM a bunch over a couple years to get that 5th star, and others that just take their time. So, how long did it take to get your 5th star? What scenario, Convention, venue, etc...?
Like many others here, I started PFS before there was even a Star recognition system. The first scenario I GMed was Frozen Fingers of Midnight (still one of my favorites) at Pandemonium Fury on 19 September, 2008. Back then PFS was still using the 3.5 Edition D&D rules. 4th Edition & LFR had launched and many people were on the fence. Finding a PFS game was not as easy as it is now.
The former PFS Campaign Coordinator, Joshua Frost, announced the creation of the GM Star recognition system on 10 March, 2010. Back then if you had 100 sessions reported (4 Stars) you were eligible to be directly observed by Joshua & evaluated for your 5th Star. That meant that you had to travel to GenCon, PaizoCon or stalk Joshua at some other venue he was attending. You didn't have to get to 150 sessions first. It was actually much more difficult, especially for some of the outstanding international GMs. Eventually Mike Brock came along and established the system that we have today.
When Joshua Frost announced the GM Star system I already had 160 sessions under my belt. I had to wait until PaizoCon 2010 to get evaluated on 18 June 2010 when I ran City of Strangers, Part 1. So it technically took me 21 months to reach my 5th star. During that period I organized or volunteered to GM PFS at 17 conventions.
Face-to-Face vs. Online GMing is like John Henry vs. the steam-powered drill. If you want to race someone to 5 Stars, Online is the way to do it. I have spent thousands of dollars on convention costs, fuel, miniatures, maps and hotels. But the guy with the steam drill is going to 'knock that steel on down' a lot faster than me. You can wax poetic about the virtues of Face-to-Face play, but the steam drill is the way forward.
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Doug Miles - Venture-LieutenantO.O
What the crap? When did you go back to being a VO? Does someone have some dirt on you or something?
A couple of factors changed my position on the matter. 1) I got the wedding & first anniversary behind me, 2) The step-children are now school-age, and 3) I have a persuasive and enthusiastic VC.
Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Hmmm.... Let's see...
First session GM'd was August 2011 Master of the Fallen Fortress
My 150th table was GenCon 2013, just under two years.
I participated in a couple of weekly games, one private, one public, and a couple of monthly game days as well as a few cons/bigger game days here and there.
Developer
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Session 1: April 11, 2010 running #7: Among the Living at a friend's house
Session 150: August 17, 2012 running Race for the Runecarved Key at Gen Con. My 5th star was announced at Gen Con right before I ran Race for the Runecarved Key, Part 2. I may have qualified a little earlier, but I feel that particular table felt appropriately exciting to remember as the "150th" game.
I GMed all of half a dozen games online. The rest were through conventions (about six per year on average), coordinating two game days a month, and doing the occasional home game.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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Session #1: May 11, 2011 running #1: Silent Tide for a small group of friends. We had just learned of Pathfinder and had never heard of PFS.
Session #100: Jul 8, 2012 running my favorite scenario at the time, #3-26: Portal of the Sacred Rune for a couple friends along with Kyle Elliott and Todd Morgan, at Todd's hotel room at PaizoCon 2012.
Session #150: Jan 16, 2013 running #3-EX: The Cyphermage Dilemma at our FLGS. I didn't get my 5th star then though, because I still needed to GM 10 specials/exclusives.
Special or Exclusive #10: Aug 15, 2013 running Ruins of Bonekeep—Level One: The Silent Grave for Kyle Baird and a bunch of other miscreants at GenCon 2013.
I've never GM'd online, but likely will some day. Playing online has been pretty awesome. My GM sessions came from participating twice a week at our FLGS, running "Module Maddness" weekends, and attending a few conventions each year.
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So far I think I have the longest time period from First game to Date getting 5 Stars
Aug 28, 2008 - Nov 21, 2013
It's understandable. First, you only had dial-up in Greenland so downloading your scenarios took 3 days. Online play wasn't even an option. Second, you had to contend with most of your players going to sea during the summer halibut season. Work comes before play.
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My very first game as GM was 28th November 2009 at Dragonmeet, London - Voices in the Void. I had been introduced to the game by Dave Harrison and was keen to play more - or GM - so I not only GMed at Dragonmeet but also became organizer straight away to be able to play in the other slot.
My first star took me until PaizoCon UK in July 2010. I did ask Joshua Frost to draw the star on my PFS card and to sign it (I still have this card and never bothered to print another one out).
By that time I had turned my home group to PFS which resulted in several new players as well as a regular stream of more credits.
Second star was at Conception 2011 - one of the 10 scenarios that I GMed there. I learned since to better pace myself - but there seemed to be just too much demand. This was Sniper in the Deep with some bubbly at the table.
Star 3 should have been around September 2011. I toured most conventions here in the UK - Conception, UK Expo, PaizoCon UK, OddCon, CrispyCon, Dragonmeet and had regular games at my place - but was sharing these games now with a second GM.
I had invited some friends - including both VCs for a nice weekend of gaming at my place.
Star number 4 was on the 10th of March 2012. I had invited back friends to stay at my place and was thankful I was allowed to GM the Cyphermage Dilemma for that special occasion.
The fifth star was 2nd February 2013 - at Conception again. I did the Dawn of the Scarlet Sun for credit 150/151.
I gathered the credits in multiple ways:
A regular group at home - the PFS format allowed to introduce new players when older ones dropped out
The Junior League - also at home - a group of young players - friends of my son who got introduced
Regular Con attendance in the UK
And even a few games elsewhere - Essen October 2010 and Karlsruhe Jan 2014 as well as one game at GenCon 2011, GMed cold as short notice stand-in (I was at GenCon to become European DF distributor - so hadn't booked anything game related ahead).
Not everything worked. The 'local aka 30 miles away) university didn't work out as I felt I was trespassing. Rocket Con was only a single time to spread (unsuccessful PFS).
My home group went through several iterations of players in this time - partly because people dropped out but also because the place I worked (and had several players from) did shut down.
We are still running - I hope to finish Dragon's Demand in Campaign mode next week and I'm asked to do an Adventure Path after that. Junior League currently is in hibernation as the children moved to new schools and had more demands there - but I try to build up a new group at a local game store (there hadn't been any such store in a 50 mile radius until late last year).
And I'm in the process to get one or two of my players to try GMing to have a second local GM again (apart of my son whom I only use sparingly).
The lack of local GMs means I GM more as I play - but I try to keep it at a 2:1 ratio to ensure I have a decent amount of games as player as well - which means I don't GM as much at conventions at the moment - happy to let new GMs do the job but I'm always available if there is an urgent need.
Looking back - every single star was celebrated in some way and it was a steady development. I started slowly with maybe 1/2 credits per month, went to >50 credits/year when approaching the 5th star and should be stable now around maybe 40+ credits a year (provided I actually report some backlog from my home game).
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Session #1: Sep 13, 2009 - #23: Tide of Morning at RIW Hobbies in Livonia, MI
Session #100: May 22, 2011 - Pathfinder Module: Cult of the Ebon Destroyers @ my home. Poor DougDoug and Dan Luckett.
Session #101: Jun 11, 2011 - #2-EX: The Midnight Mauler- PaizoCon 2011
Wow, so you only needed to GM a hundred games to get a 5th star back then?
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Wow, so you only needed to GM a hundred games to get a 5th star back then?Session #1: Sep 13, 2009 - #23: Tide of Morning at RIW Hobbies in Livonia, MI
Session #100: May 22, 2011 - Pathfinder Module: Cult of the Ebon Destroyers @ my home. Poor DougDoug and Dan Luckett.
Session #101: Jun 11, 2011 - #2-EX: The Midnight Mauler- PaizoCon 2011
Kyle Baird was born with 5 stars
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Several senior GMs at the time realized that it would be very awkward for the campaign leadership to deny someone his or her 5th star. "You've just run 100 games for our fledgling product. Thanks. Here's your 4th star. But we don't think you're good enough for a 5th star." It would alienate the very people who have devoted the most time to their enterprise.
So, rather than make it a rubber stamp, campaign leadership made the requirement for the fifth star almost impossible to get:
Upon earning his fourth star, a Game Master gains access to exclusive scenarios that can only be run by Paizo staff, Venture-Captains (see chapter 7), and four-star GMs for 1 full year before being made publicly available for all GMs to run. Four-star GMs who have run 50 special or exclusive scenarios (over the course of their careers) are awarded a fifth star for their dedication to the campaign. Five-star GMs are the cream of the crop. There will be special five-star GM events and possibly even future five-star GM rewards (in addition to the existing four-star GM rewards).
When that announcement came, my heart sank. It would be several years before I would be able to run the exclusives 50 times, especially with all the other 4-star GMs also clamoring for the opportunity to do so. So, I set my sights on getting to four stars, and figured I'd be satisfied with that.
I'm pretty happy with the current rules. A fifth star is difficult but certainly obtainable. (And there have also been, until this past year, guidelines for how active a 5-star GM would need to be in order to keep that fifth star. I wonder how many current 5-star GMs would have dropped to 4-star status if those maintenance requirements were still in place.)
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A couple of factors changed my position on the matter. 1) I got the wedding & first anniversary behind me, 2) The step-children are now school-age, and 3) I have a persuasive and enthusiastic VC.Doug Miles - Venture-LieutenantO.O
What the crap? When did you go back to being a VO? Does someone have some dirt on you or something?
As Venture Captain of one of the country's most active lodges, I have a responsibility to provide the very best Venture Officers available. I got lucky enough to have Doug in my lodge, and he happens to be the very best.
Xath
P.S. compromising photographs go a long way as well...
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A special can be the Paizo/Gen Con specials or the SP released (most) years for 4-star GM's. Example, two years ago it was the Cyphermage Dilemma. Last year it was Day of the Demon. This year it is Bonekeep lvl 1. To qualify, a GM must run any combination of these 10 times (while they're still specials and not available to run for the general public, just to be clear).
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A special can be the Paizo/Gen Con specials or the SP released (most) years for 4-star GM's. Example, two years ago it was the Cyphermage Dilemma. Last year it was Day of the Demon. This year it is Bonekeep lvl 1. To qualify, a GM must run any combination of these 10 times (while they're still specials and not available to run for the general public, just to be clear).
** spoiler omitted **
That is good information! Thanks Sior! I signed up to run the Season 3 special thinking I would get one out of the way but apparently not. That makes getting 10 specials all the more difficult. Not sure its worth the effort, actually.
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Thank you for pointing that out, TOZ. I thought it had to be the current one, not any of the past multi-table specials. (Also, once again I mixed up the x-SP with eh x-EX... D'oh!)
I like the requirement. It shows that you're actually active in the community rather than just running for your own gain. As in you're going out of your way to run these specials at Paizo/Gen Con or in your community (online or otherwise). The specials definitely take more planning and prep, Bonekeep included.
If anything, I think it's getting easier. It seems to me that the Season 5 closer may be able to be run by anyone, not just 4-stars, so you may be able to start working toward 10 before you hit 100 games. (and therefor spread the love out so not everyone is making a mad rush to run the specials soon as they release...)
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I'm hoping they lower the number of specials with the change of the season since they gave us Bonekeep to run. It's a lot harder to find victims then players.
We've got plenty of brave (read foolhardy) players, myself included. We're too addicted to our rate of play to not take any of the choice scenario runs you offer us.
I GM'd my first game June 5, 2013. But at my current rate I expect to have the 150 game requirement in about a year, and a good chunk of play credits to go with it. Hopefully we can get some specials stirring around here.
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In February/March 2015 the next Exclusive should come out. Ambitious GMs will schedule sessions in advance of the scenario being released. Offer to slot zero it for your VOs and local workhorse GMs. Getting those 10 Exclusives/Specials has become more difficult as the number of regional 4-Star GMs & VOs increase. You guys have my sympathies. Back in 2011 I ran 2-EX The Midnight Mauler 14 times in a two month span. A lack of competition in the marketplace helped. Keep an eye out early next year for the new Exclusive and run the hell out of it, fellas.
And I thought DougDoug was a machine...man. 150 games in only 3 days is intense ! ;)1st game GM'd: June 12, 2011.
150th game GM'd: June 15, 2011 (Free RPG Day).
Does a game still count as completed if the party wipes in the first 20 minutes?
Because assuming seven hours set aside for biological concerns such as eating and sleeping each that day, that's roughly... One game completed every 20.4 minutes.
Basically what I'd describe as a Gygaxian approach to GMing. ;)