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So, I just got my email back from GenCon about the Paths We Choose and I noticed it mentioned
"contributes directly to the ongoing storylines of the Andoran, Cheliax, Osirion, Qadira, Sczarni, and Taldor factions.
Also with a note that it plays differently based on the factions present at the table.
Leading me to believe we'll see the end of the Silver Crusade, which makes sense since our WorldWound campaign is over and
The other missing faction is the Grand Lodge. I wonder if they'll still be around but perhaps more as the no-secret society option rather that what they currently are. Leaving it a good option for pregens and players who wish to "opt-out" of the faction system.
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The Silver Crusade is about using the PFS towards good/healing/beneficial reasons, and doesn't really have too much to do with the Worldwound (any more than any other faction, besides have the most divine types).
I'd say Osirion too. It's just kind of boring, and not needed as a faction. And now that Osirion, (the nation) has opened up to outsiders to come raid (under the absolutely idiotic idea that said explorers will return those relics to Osirion than sell them abroad), I'm not sure the faction even has a point anymore. I was surprised honestly, it made the cut instead of the Shadow Lodge.
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The Silver Crusade is about using the PFS towards good/healing/beneficial reasons, and doesn't really have too much to do with the Worldwound (any more than any other faction, besides have the most divine types).
I'd say Osirion too. It's just kind of boring, and not needed as a faction. And now that Osirion, (the nation) has opened up to outsiders to come raid (under the absolutely idiotic idea that said explorers will return those relics to Osirion than sell them abroad), I'm not sure the faction even has a point anymore. I was surprised honestly, it made the cut instead of the Shadow Lodge.
Meanwhile I like Osirion and there is not another faction that does what it does. On the other hand Cheliax and Taldor tread, basically, the same territory, why do we need both?
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Meanwhile I like Osirion and there is not another faction that does what it does. On the other hand Cheliax and Taldor tread, basically, the same territory, why do we need both?The Silver Crusade is about using the PFS towards good/healing/beneficial reasons, and doesn't really have too much to do with the Worldwound (any more than any other faction, besides have the most divine types).
I'd say Osirion too. It's just kind of boring, and not needed as a faction. And now that Osirion, (the nation) has opened up to outsiders to come raid (under the absolutely idiotic idea that said explorers will return those relics to Osirion than sell them abroad), I'm not sure the faction even has a point anymore. I was surprised honestly, it made the cut instead of the Shadow Lodge.
No offense. I just don't see really much difference between Qadira and Osirion, except Qadira seems to me to be more focused and has an specific goal while Osirion seems (again to me) to have a rather generic goal that isn't very focused. Being that both nations tied to those factions are fairly similar, located fairly close, and their peoples are pretty similar (and have a long history together), basically working towards the same thing, It seems like the Qadira Faction could absorb the Osirion Faction and focus on gaining power for both, or the two could merge? Take this as less "Osirion sucks" and more of a "I don't see it, maybe you could help show me" sort of thing.
As far as Taldor, I kind of agree, (I've made a lot of posts about that recently, more the nation than the Faction), but the issue is that it seems a lot of people at Paizo have written a lot of outright contradictory things about Taldor without realizing it, and there really is no good, correct idea about it. As far as the Faction itself, Season 5 has given it a pretty amazing goal and focus, to unify and rally everyone else to assault the Worldwound, and earn it's los power and respect. To me, it's finally starting to look like they could do something very cool with the Taldor Faction, (or they could absolutely not, too). It does cover a lot of the same ground as Cheliax, to a certain point. So I get what you are saying. In my opinion, though, it's a lot less than Osirion & Qadira, (and in my experience Taldor, Cheliax, and Qadira are much more popular options, but could be wrong).
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No offense. I just don't see really much difference between Qadira and Osirion, except Qadira seems to me to be more focused and has an specific goal while Osirion seems (again to me) to have a rather generic goal that isn't very focused.
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In my opinion, though, it's a lot less than Osirion & Qadira, (and in my experience Taldor, Cheliax, and Qadira are much more popular options, but could be wrong).
Just goes to show how things vary by locale. Around here, Osirion is the second or third most popular factions, and I've literally never sat at a table with a Qadiran.
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Just goes to show how things vary by locale. Around here, Osirion is the second or third most popular factions, and I've literally never sat at a table with a Qadiran.
True, true. I've heard that before, it's just something I'm not familiar with.
I've got 4 games going on right now online that I'm running, with another 4 I'm playing in as a player. This is just online play, but all the games are random GMs and Players for the most part.
Andoran: 4
Cheliax*: 6
Grand Lodge**: 9
Osirion: 3
Qadira: 2
Sczarni: 1
Silver Crusade: 6
Taldor: 4
*: There is one player in multiple games that always plays Cheliax, partially because "its the closest to Evil we can get" and partially because he loved the old faction missions it used to get.
**: doubles as both the Society Stoogie Faction and also the Factionless Faction. Most players I go with note that it's either the Factionless part or the ability to take a trait that gives Perception (or rarely Sense Motive as a Class Skill, the single most important skill in the game), so grain of salt and all that.
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The Silver Crusade is about using the PFS towards good/healing/beneficial reasons, and doesn't really have too much to do with the Worldwound (any more than any other faction, besides have the most divine types).
Interesting that we have different perspectives on this.
I looked at the OP guide and it just talked about benevolence.I read the faction letters and the faction missions and see things like the World Wound as the driving cause for the Silver Crusade.
They want the Pathfinder Society to use their artifacts to fight the great evils of the world, instead of just collecting them and letting them gather dust.
What cause is more emblematic of the Silver Crusade than the Mendevian Crusade?
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The Silver Crusade is about using the PFS towards good/healing/beneficial reasons, and doesn't really have too much to do with the Worldwound (any more than any other faction, besides have the most divine types).Interesting that we have different perspectives on this.
I looked at the OP guide and it just talked about benevolence.I read the faction letters and the faction missions and see things like the World Wound as the driving cause for the Silver Crusade.
They want the Pathfinder Society to use their artifacts to fight the great evils of the world, instead of just collecting them and letting them gather dust.
What cause is more emblematic of the Silver Crusade than the Mendevian Crusade?
I was just referring to the overall goal of the SC. If you look at most of the Faction Letters, they will have similar things as the Worldwound is kind of what's going on now.
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So, I just got my email back from GenCon about the Paths We Choose and I noticed it mentioned
"contributes directly to the ongoing storylines of the Andoran, Cheliax, Osirion, Qadira, Sczarni, and Taldor factions.
Also with a note that it plays differently based on the factions present at the table.
Leading me to believe we'll see the end of the Silver Crusade, which makes sense since our WorldWound campaign is over and
I think the faction list for the Paths We Choose is more because those factions had choices made that impact where they will ended at from season 5 and where they will start in season 6.
I don't think they removed any factions, just the 2 non-listed factions likely tied up all lose ends before Season 6 Starts.
Besides the only time they removed factions in the past, did they not warn ahead of time that 2 were being removed?
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Whilst the Lantern Lodge end may have seemed organic, I can tell you know that the Shadow Lodge one at least to me did not come across as an organic end.
Definitely. It was ..muddled. The stuff with the shadow lodge went down, and the big reconciliation is.... the 10 will give you some vague help to get over it?
Shadow lodge for life!
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Whilst the Lantern Lodge end may have seemed organic, I can tell you know that the Shadow Lodge one at least to me did not come across as an organic end.Definitely. It was ..muiddled. The stuff with the shadow lodge went down, and the big reconciliation is.... the 10 will give you some vague help to get over it?
Shadow lodge for life!
Torch was right! Bring back the Shadow Lodge!
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and the fact that G Torch is back now helping/taunting the society (anymore than that would spoiler it) is kinda... paining me. it just makes me feel like his going away scenario was not really.
You do not see Amara Li popping over from Goka to hang.
Lets be honest. Have any of us seen any decrease in the societies attempts to hoodwink teams it is sending out in recent scenarios? Have you found something that the mission giver should have told you about ?
I think the Shadow Lodge going away hurt the society as it is starting to fall back into poor habits
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Whilst the Lantern Lodge end may have seemed organic, I can tell you know that the Shadow Lodge one at least to me did not come across as an organic end.Definitely. It was ..muddled. The stuff with the shadow lodge went down, and the big reconciliation is.... the 10 will give you some vague help to get over it?
Shadow lodge for life!
Not sure if muddled is the right word.
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Not sure if muddled is the right word.Whilst the Lantern Lodge end may have seemed organic, I can tell you know that the Shadow Lodge one at least to me did not come across as an organic end.Definitely. It was ..muddled. The stuff with the shadow lodge went down, and the big reconciliation is.... the 10 will give you some vague help to get over it?
Shadow lodge for life!
Me either. I was actually rummaging through a thesaurus for the right one. Tacked on? Makeshift? Nonsensical? Hand waved? Deux es machinad? Gnome underwear business modeled where you have A C and NO idea what the hell happened at B?
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Torch was right! Bring back the Shadow Lodge!Whilst the Lantern Lodge end may have seemed organic, I can tell you know that the Shadow Lodge one at least to me did not come across as an organic end.Definitely. It was ..muiddled. The stuff with the shadow lodge went down, and the big reconciliation is.... the 10 will give you some vague help to get over it?
Shadow lodge for life!
I have to agree with this. I really should run this or at least read it because what my GM did with it was a little weird, though he may have done it right. I walked away thinking "Torch is right, what the BLEEP is wrong with the society.." which to me means you need the shadow lodge more than ever.
Lantern Lodge I was fine with though.
I haven't played the new torch stuff though so I'd like to see how it plays out. I wouldn't mind seeing them come back, I think they are still "relevant" to the society, and may even be the good guys.
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Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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Torch was right! Bring back the Shadow Lodge!
I would also be totally fine with someone killing Guaril Karela and Torch controlling the Sczarni by putting one of his half-orc mercenaries in Guaril's place.
And btw, we could really need a non-human faction head. ^^On Osirion, I see reasons why they could remove it (although I hope they don't. I like having the 8 PP Raise Dead lifeline). Season 5 had some scenarios that mentioned Amenopheus focusing on other stuff and being released from the Ruby Prince's service. This could mean he will eventually abandon the Society completely, but it could also just mean a change of the Osirion faction's goals. Maybe "Paths we choose" will have an impact on Amenopheus' decision on how to go on regarding the Society.
I came into PFS play after The Shadow Lodge and Lantern Lodge factions were removed, but I really like the Shadow lodge concept and would have made a few characters in the faction.
If a faction had to go I would vote Sczarni, I rarely see characters from it and have no interest in it myself. But frankly I see no point in removing factions, you are bound to annoy hundreds of people and the gain seems to be nothing.
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Let's not forget Sczarni, either... I rarely see members, but for me it is the only faction worth my time. I don't care for politics, countries, alignments, slavery and whatnot. I just want to survive in this harsh world and Sczarni is helping me (and all of my PCs) do that just fine. I've always seen it as somewhat of a "People's faction" in a sense that every farmer/simpleton can join and is literally part of "The family", no questions asked.
Story-wise big things could be happening seeing the recent assasination attempt on Guaril Karela and some of the faction stuff going on in season 5. Also Mendosyan is in obvious need of a new underground network.
All in all I hope the faction won't get the same fate as the Shadow Lodge did, and by the gods, if Torch shows his ugly cut-up face once more I swear I will personally make sure the Family puts a price on his head.
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Taldor and Silver Crusade are my must-keep factions. I need places for all my knights, artists, and goody-goody characters.
As much as I dislike Cheliax, all my friends love it, and they would be sad if it disappeared, so I guess I hope they keep it....
I can't think of any other faction I would wish ill of. Grand Lodge is really boring and generic as-is I guess.
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I just hope that they either make factions important again or eliminate them completely.
For most of my characters I have to look at their character sheet to even remember what faction they are in. Their faction very rarely matters at all, even in Season 5 adventures. In faction driven major stories like the Destiny of the Sands it really didn't make a difference if one was playing an Osirion or not.
The old faction missions had a lot of issues but at least characters felt like they belonged to a faction.
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On a more serious note, my factions that I would absolutely leave as-is are the Taldans and the Sczarni. I dig the whole "empire in decline" thing they have going on, and the push by Gloriana Morilla in season 5 seems like it could be fairly worthwhile. The Sczarni are my go-to faction, they seem to me more worthwhile than the other factions.
I would have liked to make some Shadow Lodge PC's, but missed the boat on that by a bit. I'm playing the conclusion of a certain season 5 series (I've already GM'd it), and know who I'm going to try and convince the table to vote for. This prson I'm voting for may or may not be somewhat infamous, with some rather nasty scars all over their face.
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I prefer factions that seem to have global goals rather than local ones. Cheliax wants to bring order to the world, Andoran wants to bring freedom to the world, Silver Crusade wants to bring goodness to the world, Grand Lodge wants to bring the Society to the world, Qadira wants to bring legitimate trade to the world, and Scarni wants to bring illegitimate trade to the world.
Osirion, on the other hand, just seems to want to get its stuff back from the world and Taldor just seems to care about Taldor. Which, to me, makes both of them somewhat uninteresting. If Taldor stopped trying to rebuild itself less and put more emphasis on bringing Culture to the world it might work better. I'm not sure how you can fix Osirion.
What I would dearly love to see is a nature based faction.
I prefer factions that seem to have global goals rather than local ones. Cheliax wants to bring order to the world, Andoran wants to bring freedom to the world, Silver Crusade wants to bring goodness to the world, Grand Lodge wants to bring the Society to the world, Qadira wants to bring legitimate trade to the world, and Scarni wants to bring illegitimate trade to the world.
Osirion, on the other hand, just seems to want to get its stuff back from the world and Taldor just seems to care about Taldor. Which, to me, makes both of them somewhat uninteresting. If Taldor stopped trying to rebuild itself less and put more emphasis on bringing Culture to the world it might work better. I'm not sure how you can fix Osirion.
What I would dearly love to see is a nature based faction.
I have it, from a reliable source, that they are doing away from the Nation based factions.
What I take this to mean is: Andoran wanting to bring Freedom to everyone might stay around. Factions like Cheliax, Qadira, and Taldor are going to be majorly overhauled. Maybe even, done away with. *gasp*
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I'm totally fine with them overhauling Taldor. There's a lot of potential there for compelling story. A revitalized Taldor would have interesting repercussions for the balance of power in the Inner Sea. Right now, it's basically a non-entity for every country that doesnt begin with a "Q" and end with "adira."
All those former Chelaxian territories like Andoran and Galt are also former Taldan territories. It could make for a wonderful setup for a proper politcally-motivated European-style war in the Inner Sea :D
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Osirion, on the other hand, just seems to want to get its stuff back from the world and Taldor just seems to care about Taldor. Which, to me, makes both of them somewhat uninteresting. If Taldor stopped trying to rebuild itself less and put more emphasis on bringing Culture to the world it might work better.
That's exactly what Taldor is doing, sir. Civilization spread throughout Golarion when Taldor sent out her Armies of Exploration. Without Taldor's influence, in fact, you'd all be talking gibberish, instead of the true, noble tongue of Taldane. Oparra is the center of the world when it comes to true art and culture! Why, our people we refined and cultured at a time when most of your ancestors were banging rocks together and spitting paint at their hands in caves.
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In my opinion, Qadira and Sczarni could be removed with few repercussions.
Qadira has done nothing interesting or unique, ever. They're still the same "u gib moni" faction that they were in Season 0, while every other faction has moved on from their original goals, or at least had some development
Sczarni? They're the mafia. Why is the Society allowing themselves to be used by the mafia? Why do I have to risk my life protecting a crime lord? The people I'm protecting him from have a really good reason to hate him, and after hearing what they have to say, I'll take a shot at him if I ever get a chance.
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In my opinion, Qadira... could be removed with few repercussions.
As previously stated, if this happens, I will burn this town. That is one of the "few" repercussions. :P
I'd like to see a flare up in tensions between Taldor and Qadira, but I've always found the faction interesting but, of course, that might be personal roleplay beyond the scenarios.
I am looking forward to The Merchant's Wake. I love scenarios in Qadira, and hope this is a good one.
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When I first started doing PFS this year, my first impression of Taldor was "Meh" but after GMing a few Taldor scenarios and seeing Lady Gloriana Morilla's push for rising Taldor back up with her own Army of Exploration, I was inspired and decided I am making a Taldor character with the chronicle sheets I'm getting from the Dragons Demand.
Since most of the players in my area are new to Pathfinder, the dominate faction has been Grand Lodge. Followed with Andoran, Silver Crusade, and one Osirion.
No Cheliax, Qadira, or Sczarni yet. Other then my future Taldor character, I had one person sign up as Taldor but they only played one or two games and never game back. The ones here most likely to be Cheliax or Sczarni are the same ones that would rage against the rules of organized play since they can't be the character they really want to be, such as a LG Paladin that has harm touch instead of lay on hands or a murder hobo.
I'm sure the other factions will gain members in time with my group but unfortunately the one faction that really has not made any appearance in our scenarios yet has been Qadira. And perhaps for that reason I will have to get Wake of the Merchant just to give my group and myself some exposure to them.
So, I just got my email back from GenCon about the Paths We Choose and I noticed it mentioned
"contributes directly to the ongoing storylines of the Andoran, Cheliax, Osirion, Qadira, Sczarni, and Taldor factions.
Also with a note that it plays differently based on the factions present at the table.
Leading me to believe we'll see the end of the Silver Crusade, which makes sense since our WorldWound campaign is over and ** spoiler omitted **
The other missing faction is the Grand Lodge. I wonder if they'll still be around but perhaps more as the no-secret society option rather that what they currently are. Leaving it a good option for pregens and players who wish to "opt-out" of the faction system.
I don't really pay a ton of attention to the "factions" much since most of my PFS play is so disjointed but i wonder if it is at all possible that at the end of season 5 that Taldor and the Silver Crusade could get merged?
As for someone who just finished playing Destiny of the Sands 1-3 i can either see very big things next season from the Osirion Faction or them completely withdrawing from the Society.
Could be that that all six of them are being absorbed by the Grand Lodge. It would be in line with what has been happening to factions since the beginning of Season 5.
-Matt
This could be quite interesting. As it stands now it seems like most of the faction are pulling in different directions along political lines which has really nothing to do with the "Pathfinder Society" credo of Explore, cooperate and report, or some such mumbo-jumbo.
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I run a game every Sunday at my FLGS on the west side of Vegas. Tallying my reported sessions:
Grand Lodge 14, Sczarni 8, Andoran 5, Osirion 4, Silver Crusade 2
I haven't had any Cheliax, Qadiran, or Taldor at the table. Not that these numbers mean much, the sampling size is so small when compared to worldwide PFS play this representation is anecdotal at best.
The Osirion faction is my favorite, so obviously I would hate to see them go away. However, their fate depends on the collective, and it is what it is.
Could be that that all six of them are being absorbed by the Grand Lodge. It would be in line with what has been happening to factions since the beginning of Season 5.
With the decision to de-emphasize PFS factions, do they matter anymore?
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Could be that that all six of them are being absorbed by the Grand Lodge. It would be in line with what has been happening to factions since the beginning of Season 5.With the decision to de-emphasize PFS factions, do they matter anymore?
Still not sure where this belief that they de-emphasized Factions came from. To me, with the new format, Factions actually have meaning, where before their differences were fairly meaningless. Meaningless in that there was nothing significant in the scenarios that backed up what the factions were about.
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Still not sure where this belief that they de-emphasized Factions came from.
I've had level 3 characters when i asked them what faction are you, the player said "Uhhh.. whats a faction?"
If you're not playing the right scenarios with the right character it can seem like the factions are pretty irrelevant.
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Still not sure where this belief that they de-emphasized Factions came from.
I've had level 3 characters when i asked them what faction are you, the player said "Uhhh.. whats a faction?"
If you're not playing the right scenarios with the right character it can seem like the factions are pretty irrelevant.
And the most important faction is M.I.A. :(
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I run a game every Sunday at my FLGS on the west side of Vegas. Tallying my reported sessions:
Grand Lodge 14, Sczarni 8, Andoran 5, Osirion 4, Silver Crusade 2
I haven't had any Cheliax, Qadiran, or Taldor at the table. Not that these numbers mean much, the sampling size is so small when compared to worldwide PFS play this representation is anecdotal at best.
The Osirion faction is my favorite, so obviously I would hate to see them go away. However, their fate depends on the collective, and it is what it is.
Same with mine. It was just a random sample set, but does show, in my experience at least, common trends.
The Grand Lodge though, is basically 2+ Factions at once. Those loyal to the PFS organization, the Factionless Faction, and also that one Faction that grants a lot of the better mechanical options.