I am very experienced with Pathfinder playing home games but want to try my hand at a Gencon game.
What do you recommend?
What is normal mode vs core mode?
Thanks!
jwf
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My first PFS game was at Gencon but I played We Be Goblins because it mentioned it used pre-made characters (I didn't know at the time that there were pre-made chars available for all PFS events).
I will second Gary's suggestion about finding a local event. There is the local event page you can search, the Warhorn.net is also helpful. Also your Regional Coordinatir might be able to point you in the right direction for local PFS.
However I will suggest for starting PFS at a convention to try out The Confirmation, The Wounded Wisp, and The Sliverhex Chronicles. All three are designed for new players and they will have level one premade chars at Gencon so you can jump right in. (I believe Silverhex might not be on the gencon event page as I think I heard it might be free event being offered throughout the convention except during some of the specials at night). If after that you free up too it, some of the Tier 1-5 scenarios might be good, like Scions of the Sky Key (a 3 part scenario story).
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
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Core mode is only using the Core Rulebook for everything.
Specifically, you are allowed to build with the Core Rulebook, character traits web enhancement, and the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play.
Even if you build with only these options your character must be registered as such on your My Pathfinder Society page in order for it to play games in the Core campaign.
What is the hardest thing to get used to when playing in a PFS game?
Is knowing the exact rules of play more important?
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What is the hardest thing to get used to when playing in a PFS game?
Is knowing the exact rules of play more important?
. In a sense, yes. Since you will likely be playing with different people each game, it is important for consitency of play that the tables follow the rules as best as able. That being said, it's not as important for a player to know all of the rules. GMs should be carrying a lot of that responsibility.
The hardest thing for me about PFS is the lack of free-form roleplay. Sure, you still get some of it, but you have to complete a mission in a 5 hour time slot. You don't have as much time to 'craft a story' when compared to a home game.
As far as playing your first game at gencon... Go for it! I did two years ago. There will be enough knowlegable people around that can show you the PFS basics if you can't find a game before the con. Someone already mentioned the best starting points (Confirmation, Wounded Wisp), but don't be afraid to try anything that peaks your interest.
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Knowing the exact rules for everything is totally not important.
Knowing how your particular character works is good, and I would expect it once you gain a few levels.
I wouldn't expect a new player to even know how to roll/read a d4 let alone understand how to grapple, how concealment works, or even what grease does.
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What is the hardest thing to get used to when playing in a PFS game?
Getting along with people you don't know. But playing with people you don't know is one of the must fun parts of Organized Play. You get to meet new people all the time.
Still, it's hard to have fun when the person next to you hasn't had a shower in a few days. Or the GM comes to the table unprepared (known as running cold).
As may have been mentioned, know the rules for your PC and have a good idea what you want to do on your turn. You don't need to know how most spells work if you're a fighter, but you do need to have your Power Attack numbers figured out in advance. Nobody likes to wait when your turn come up and then you start to figure out what you're going to do. Yes, things happen and you to change what you're going to do, but it's better to think of something to do before your turn then start thinking when your turn comes around.
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Since no one has mentioned it yet...
Download the free Guide to Organized Play. It tells you all the unique rules of Pathfinder Society play. The current version was published before Core play was introduced, but as people above have said it's basically playing with just the Core Rulebook for character options. If you want a simpler experience it's a good way to start. If you want to see absolutely crazy character builds at the table with you, play Normal.
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What is the hardest thing to get used to when playing in a PFS game?
There's a whole bunch of new terminology that crops up that you have to pick up with and go
Venture captain: the person sending you out to di..erm.. explore. As a pathfinder you have to complete the goals they give you
Faction: A political organization/internal philosophy about what the society is really about. To do good, make money, unite all peoples within our nation...
Faction mission: stuff people have to do to further their organization/philosophy. You get little mechanical benefits for doing it, and PFS players are insane completionist that must do them all!
Factionhead: Someone running one of the political factions.
4 am wakeup call: A typical method for venture captains to get the oddball group of adventurers together.
Adventures are written for a variety of character levels, because sending level 1 character with level 11 characters against an ancient red dragon is just going to get them killed, but if you demand a party of ALL level 6 characters you won't have enough people to play. Adventures will have a tier: a hard limit on what level characters can play. Most have tiers 1-5,3-7, 5-9, and 7-11. They overlap and thats on purpose so a group can advance its members more or less together.
Within those tiers you have subtiers, the bottom and top halves of the tier. 1-5 has subtiers 1-2, 4-5 for example. The average party level and some funny rules you don't need to worry about determine the subtier. The adventure will have the same monsters more and people or less, but in tier 1-2 you might fight a pack of wolves, tier 4-5 will have a pack of dire wolves. In tier 1-2 The Black Barron will be a level 5 fighter, in 4-5 he'll be a level 7 fighter.
Geek Sudoku: Not a term but a process you will see. People with a lot of characters have a lot of choice about who to play. They will try to balance out the party level (all level 5s? My new guy is staying home) party composition (all figher party? Yeah. Its cleric time) , often nudging the average party level up for more gold and challenge.
Prestige: A measure of the favors your faction owes you. 2 prestige means you can requisition a wand of cure light wounds or infernal healing. 5 prestige will get them to send a shadowlodge team to recover your body, and 16 prestige will get them to bring you back from the dead. You can usually earn about 2 prestige per mission.
Fame: A measure of how well known you are in the society. Mostly it sets your purchase limit. Doesn't matter how much money you have the new guy they don't know is NOT getting a vorpal sword out of their shop. Its equal to ALL the prestige you've ever earned and is more or less permanent.
Chronicle sheet: the official "I played this game" record. Will tell you how much gold you got.
Boons: Chronicle sheet. Little perks you get for doing stuff on the adventures. Usually applies to the character
Boons, convention: Bigger boons that apply to the player. Let you do something really cool like play a normally forbidden race.
Is knowing the exact rules of play more important?
Only if they're odd or relate to your character. If you have a critter you have to know how handle animal works, if you're a sunder happy half orc you should have the materials and hardness chart glued to your forhead. Figuratively. Put the glue down.
You are a member of the pathfinder society: a lose collection of murderho..erm.. adventurer archaeologists, explorers treasure hunters, adventurers and vagabonds from across golarion. You make a character. Go on an adventure, get a sheet. Get three sheets you level up.
Character creation rules.
20 point buy , so no one in new york shows up with the all 18s that "Their brother saw me roll fair and square in california". No item creation. Start at level one. You can redo your character in between sessions till level 2. Jacks and one eyed kings wild. Start with 150 gold... you know what you have your weapon some scale mail a sling and a rope. Someone else is carrying the rest.
Show up early and have some way of making sure they know you're there for pfs: ask, or if you're the shy type print out the first page of the guide and carry it on a pile of papers.
hat to expect, lets say the game starts at 7
Game starts at 7
6:55 people start to trickle in
Folks eat, gossip, get settled in.
7:15 Geek soduku! People finalize how many people they have for which table. The veterans will then decide who's playing what character, trying to balance out levels, tiers, and party composition. The DM desperately tries to sneak in one more reading of he scenario
7:30: people get going. There's a mission briefing that one person will be paying attention to while most players find dice and minis check character sheets, phones,and chronicle sheets to make last minute purchases. You will get a flurry of 5 or six mispronounced names without much clear idea whether drendle drang is a person you're talking to, a place you want to go, or a particularly nasty curse you want to avoid.
You'll have a chance to ask questions, gather information and make knowledge checks to get some idea of what you're in for.
There will be ~ 4 encounters, usually some mooks for one fight, a trap or three, some sort of a skill or social challange, some sort of strong monster thats usually more likely to kill you than the boss, and then a solo or near solo boss fight. These will inevitably involve some "i'm over here he's over there what are you doing how are you searching how does that rule work" while trying to keep the game moving.
The encounters will test adventuring basics. Can you attack at both melee and ranged. Can you deal with swarms and other unusual creature types. Can you deal with damage reduction and incoporeal critters.
10:30 the boss fight starts! Hurrry!
11:05 The dm hurridly signs chronicle sheets and hands them out with a "go ahead fill them out"
Grab stuff get out the door hang out in the parking lot for a bit to come back to reality then head home.
For a convention, a table tent. A little piece of paper with your name on it. You may want to write "new to PFS but not pathfinder" under it so that the dm knows if they have to explain something PFS specific to you.
