PaizoCon 2015 Report: A New Beginning


Pathfinder Adventure Card Game General Discussion


1 person marked this as a favorite.

(In General Discussion since it's a bit generic though it focuses on the Card Guild, please move if you think it's appropriate)

I decided to attend PaizoCon 2015 mostly because it's near my place. I decided to volunteer because it was fun and because I wanted to have the experience to run more events.

I, uh, didn't realize how the event signup system worked and thus had no events scheduled at all. At a convention where in fact a lot of the things you do is scheduled, this is kind of a disaster. Technically everything is scheduled though you can walk up to some stuff and play - just not the popular stuff. Luckily, I was volunteering for most of the time at the convention anyway, and didn't have any interest in PFS play currently, it takes up too much of my brain bandwidth at the moment. So I filled my time with PACG.

On Thursday, there's an unofficial meet and greet at AFK Tavern, which is a really cool place. AFK is basically a gaming pub, which I've really only seen around the Seattle area. There's probably other places that have this type of thing, I just know of 4 or 5 places around here that are like that. I got to meet Sarah Bull, the PACG and PFS VL for Boise Idaho, and her crew. Grabbed some sushi nearby and had fun, even though it took around an hour for me to get there because of traffic.

Got to talk to some of the local PFS crew, most of whom I knew already, and some of the out of town people, including the RPG Superstar 2015 Monica Marlowe. Got to listen to funny stories - funny stories are always fun.

Then I went to the hotel bar and chatted with Tanis and a bunch of the Paizo employees - Brian Campbell who edits all those Organized Play scenarios you enjoy, Cort Odekirk who manages the tech team, Julie Iaccarino who is also part of the tech team, Jessica Price and Erik Keith. More fun stories!

I get off work early the day after and prepare for my first slot. I managed to fail to notice that registration ends at 6pm and thus don't have my badge or anything the first time. But it's okay, I was able to get in and stuff and get set up. Figured I'd need lots of healers for later, I pull out my Class Deck Kyra and ran her through 1-1A and 1-1B. Sat at a table with a Merisiel, Seoni (RotR) and Olenjack. Yes, I have a Rise of the Runelords character at my table :). We actually forgot the cohort existed but managed to finish 1-1A anyway. Geoffrey West, the PACG VL for San Diego was our "pit boss" so to speak and was very helpful. I was actually kinda clueless at first, in the sense I don't have much clue on how the event organization side works, but he's a pro.

Kyra also realizes that not everything is a Demon. It can be tough sometimes.

The morning after, I manage to get both cartmanbeck and Sarah Bull at my table :) That was fun. cartmanbeck was playing Harsk WotR and Sarah was playing Valendron. We also had a Tontelizi at the table. We go for 1-1C and 1-1D (Sarah had to leave early).

The goody bags were amazing. All the attendees got one and they had a class deck in each of them. Not to mention some Pathfinder Battles minis, a novel, etc. Having the Class Deck there really incentivized people playing PFSACG even if people haven't played much PACG at all, so that's really nice.

I then demoed a bunch of Wrath of the Righteous games to some players who have either never seen the game before or have only played Rise of the Runelords. Vic was hanging out in the room on and off between panels so I took the opportunity to ask him for some rules clarifications. It's a lot easier to clear things up in person.

Some overflow players came in - First World Bard and his fiancee were there, and another couple too. Tanis came in and showed off Ekkie - we were definitely excited.

Liz Spain also came in and let us playtest some Alchemists. We had fun with the scenario (it was one of the WotR base set's). She even stayed until she absolutely had to leave, which was very nice of her. Highlights: the incompetent Corrupt Crusaders managed to take not 1, but 2 Animals hostage. "Do what we say, or the Frog gets it!"

The banquet was very cool, but others have covered it and I don't really have anything more to say about that. Actually that's not true, Obsidian Entertainment's PACG crew was there and the stuff they showed was pretty epic.

Start Sunday. 1-1E was the first scenario I failed (like ever actually). It was really heartbreaking for the group too because if only the last two cards were rearranged, the scenario was very beatable. But that's the nature of close games.

Redid 1-1E during the demo room time on Sunday (more overflow people) and finished just in time to demo the game to some more people. That was pretty epic, I enjoyed that (I'm sorry, I totally forgot your names)

Leveled up a Wu Shen a bit, but she's really not suited to WotR. Demons immune to Poison pop up way too often for her to use her ability. I may do some testing on my own for her or try to solo her to make up for some of the mistakes I made as well with regards to her build (look for a portion of my PACG OP guide to say this: Wu Shen: Weapon Proficiency: Take it. Take it. Takeittakeittakeit. Not optional.).

I didn't have a volunteer slot on Monday. I played a few games to get another Cleric up (Heggal this time). Got to see some Mummy's Mask - Gaby was playtesting that, though I didn't join. It was also the first time I met Gaby in person. I did try to get up a few times because I think my brain was still in volunteer mode, but FWB's fiancee set me straight. I appreciate that.

I really like the changes made to the Season of the Righteous that make it easier for people who can't make it every week to play. And I made off with quite a bit of swag. I actually didn't realize how much I would like the PACG deck box until I actually had one in my hands.

By the way, there's a PFS boon that works in the PACG now! But you have to be a GM to get it. It's a PFS/PFSACG hybrid boon, which means you can use it in both.

That's it! To everyone I met but forgot the names of, I apologize. Thanks a lot to Tanis for making everything so much fun! And to everyone I met at the con that I previously only knew the handles of.

To everyone on the forums that hasn't come: please come! It's a lot of fun and you get quite a bit of stuff :)


Sounds fantastic. Would have loved to come but sooooooo far away ...

Grand Lodge

Sounds great! Definitely going to try next year to go.

A bit jealous now ... :-(

Dark Archive

I really want to go. It sounds amazing. Maybe next year for me as well.


I wish I could go. I need to start saving up for future events.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Adventure Card Game / General Discussion / PaizoCon 2015 Report: A New Beginning All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion