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So I've been doing tabletop games off and on for about 7seven years and pathfinder for fourish, almost always as a GM in some pretty heavily houseruled settings/rulesets. I've recently started as a player in PFS and signed up to GM a scenario (3.19: The Icebound Outpost) at the end of August.
I imagine I'll have about ten scenarios as player under my belt by then. Combined with a couple years of on-off GMing, should that prove sufficient experience to run a PFS game?
What sort of preparation goes into GMing a PFS scenario above and beyond what you'd do for a home campaign? I've never actually run premade scenarios before, meaning I could always make stuff up if anything went off-rails.
In short, o veteran pfs GMs, help me not suck in my pseudo-debut in two months.
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Buy a cake with TPK in big bold letters as part of the icing. After you kill the party, start eating the cake and do not share any. I deserve to be shot.
Prep prep and more prep. Read tactics and write down a quick description of the spell's you may not know. And for any spells requiring a save and the dc is not listed, calculate and list. Remember that everyone is there to have fun and that you will mess up a bit here and there. Try to be the best story teller you can be without trying to be perfect.
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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So I've been doing tabletop games off and on for about 7seven years and pathfinder for fourish, almost always as a GM in some pretty heavily houseruled settings/rulesets. I've recently started as a player in PFS and signed up to GM a scenario (3.19: The Icebound Outpost) at the end of August.
I imagine I'll have about ten scenarios as player under my belt by then. Combined with a couple years of on-off GMing, should that prove sufficient experience to run a PFS game?
Yup.
What sort of preparation goes into GMing a PFS scenario above and beyond what you'd do for a home campaign? I've never actually run premade scenarios before, meaning I could always make stuff up if anything went off-rails.
In short, o veteran pfs GMs, help me not suck in my pseudo-debut in two months.
There are a number of errors in PFS scenarios, as well as a certain amount of confusing writing.
the PFS GM discussion board has lots of helpful discussions about various modules, including what to do about errors.
For Example
These three
Threads
Also early scenarios did not publish the stat block for monsters or NPCs written up in other books, (they are getting better about that) or for monsters that have had templates applied. (They don't seem to be getting better about that.)
Make sure you have the monsters stats printed out and available, with any templates already applied, and with notes about any confusing powers they may have.
pfsprep.com is helpful for this.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Some useful rules to have under your belt:
Faction missions used to be a way to get extra prestige. They effectively do not exist any more. The scenario will talk about them a lot. Ignore them. They have been replaced for older scenarios by the "Secondary Success Conditions" document.
Read the Guide to Organized play, especially the part about subtiers. It is tricky and the rules depend on what season the scenario is written for. Players can no longer chose to play up or down except in some really rare corner cases.
Important rules Everyone forgets:
While the goal of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play
campaign is to provide an even, balanced experience to all
players, doing so would require all PCs to be exactly the
same and all GMs to be restricted to a stiflingly oppressive
script. We understand that sometimes a Game Master
has to make rules adjudications on the fly, deal with
unexpected player choices, or even cope with extremely
unlucky (or lucky) dice on both sides of the screen.
As a Pathfinder Society GM, you have the right and
responsibility to make whatever judgements, within the
rules, that you feel are necessary at your table to ensure
everyone has a fair and fun experience. This does not
mean you can contradict rules or restrictions outlined in
this document, a published Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
source, errata document, or official FAQ on paizo.com.
What it does mean is that only you can judge what is right
for your table during cases not covered in these sources.
That means that if there are two reasonable ways to read a rule, and the player cannot present you with a clarification FAQ or Forum post by someone on the design team, it is your decision which way the rule works. Sometimes a player will try to convince you that "PFS is RAW so you have to let it work the way I say it works" or "Go look it up on the board, that's how it works." That isn't the rule. If there is a post on the board that clarifys it, the player needs to go find it and show it to you.
Additionally, the GM may consider utilizing terrain and
environmental conditions when those effects have been
written into the flavor of a scenario but the mechanics that
are normally associated with them by the Core Rulebook
have not been added to the encounters. GMs are always
encouraged to reward role-playing and flavor when
adjudicating the reactions of NPCs or the outcome of ingame
encounters.
If it says there is driving rain, but it doesn't say there is a penalty, you can either assess the penalty in the rule book, or you can just ignore it if you feel it would get in the way of a good story.
Creative Solutions
Sometimes during the course of a
scenario, your players might surprise
you with a creative solution to an encounter (or the
entire scenario) that you didn’t see coming and that isn’t
expressly covered in the scenario. If, for example, your
players manage to roleplay their way through a combat and
successfully accomplish the goal of that encounter without
killing the antagonist, give the PCs the same reward they
would have gained had they defeated their opponent in
combat. If that scene specifically calls for the PCs to receive
gold piece rewards based on the gear collected from the
defeated combatants, instead allow the PCs to find a
chest of gold (or something similar) that gives them the
same rewards. Additionally, if the PCs roleplayed past
an NPC who carries a specific potion or scroll that
the PCs might be granted access to on the scenario’s
Chronicle sheet, don’t cross that item off the sheet—
instead, allow the PCs to find the item elsewhere
as a reward for creatively resolving the encounter
without resorting to combat.
Never punish the players for being creative and getting through something without fighting. You often only have a very short time, and combat takes a while. The fewer combats you can have, the more interesting things you can get to in an evening. That said, some people are just there for the combat, so if the group wants to fight, let them.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Rules no one knows about :)
PC's can't get away with murder just because there are no rules for it in the scenario
Venture-Agent, Minnesota
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Hello Fellow PFS GM!
Thank you for stepping up!
I love the PFS Prep site, because chances are that someone else will have collected and calculated all the templated monster stats for you. I love the PFS GM forum here because chances are that some other smart people have GMed a given scenario and talked through common problems with the scenario already.
I like to read the rules on the loot given out in an adventure in advance in case there's something odd, so I can explain to the players what items do.
So, once I've done that, folded up my paper minis and drawn my map, I concentrate on story. Where can I have fun with the NPCs? What can I do with silly voices and mood and atmosphere? How can I make this experience fun for 6 complete strangers to play?
Little things can make a huge difference. One adventure that I GMed was full of mites. As their standard tactic, everytime the PCs entered a room where they were, they cast Doom. I looked it over and thought... well, if they're going to do this EVERY time, we might as well have fun with it.
I said to my players, "You see some mites. They try to cast doom on you." And then I raised my hands in jazz hands and in a high-pitched spooky voice, called out "DOOOOOOOOOOOM!" It got to the point where every time I said, "You see some mites..." the players all raised their hands in jazz hands and shouted, "DOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
Set the mood. Describe the atmosphere. Tell them about the sticky floor in the seedy bar, or show the goblin straining as he drags the dwarven war axe that is bigger than he is. Have fun and your players will too.
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Venture-Agent, Minnesota—Minneapolis
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In addition to all the above, I would add review the rules you don't often use or that you commonly house rule. Make sure you keep the house rules you use separate from the rules that PFS uses.
If there are chase rules in the scenario, make sure you review them. Especially with chase rules, you want to be able to keep things moving. Check if any of the skill checks are trained only. Remember the exceptions to the rules as well. Knowledge checks of DC 10 or less can be done attempted untrained, as can Handle Animal checks with domestic animals.
If there are poison rules in the scenario, check if any of the treasure helps with that. Make sure you review the rules for onset and recovery.
The above are just a couple of examples.
Assuming there is another GM or the coordinator around, don't be afraid to ask them for help or advice.
I also find it very helpful to introduce myself and then ask each player to introduce themselves and their characters to everyone at the table. Try to do everything you can to maintain a friendly and fun environment.
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I hardly play spellcasters. So if there is a spellcaster in a scenario, I make a cheat sheet with spells they are most likely to use. That way I dont have to waste time to look it up during play.
This +10000!!!
And I do play a lot of spellcasters.... Better safe than sorry on knowing how the spells work. Also can be really good to have write ups of all items found... Better if you have cards to hand out!,
For frostfur goblins, try and name the little guys... Give them some personality. Have them latch onto a specific character each, and drive that character bonkers!
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So I've been doing tabletop games off and on for about 7seven years and pathfinder for fourish, almost always as a GM in some pretty heavily houseruled settings/rulesets. I've recently started as a player in PFS and signed up to GM a scenario (3.19: The Icebound Outpost) at the end of August.
I imagine I'll have about ten scenarios as player under my belt by then. Combined with a couple years of on-off GMing, should that prove sufficient experience to run a PFS game?
What sort of preparation goes into GMing a PFS scenario above and beyond what you'd do for a home campaign? I've never actually run premade scenarios before, meaning I could always make stuff up if anything went off-rails.
In short, o veteran pfs GMs, help me not suck in my pseudo-debut in two months.
I only starting GMing PFS a couple of years ago, after many years of running Pathfinder at home. Here's how I approach PFS Gming:
Scenario
I read the scenario through three times:
The first is just a quick one to understand the plot and decide if I need to do any other background reading (eg if the PCs are going to Riddleport, I like to read up on Riddleport).
The second is where I make notes in the margin and then use a highlighter pen to highlight the text I can't afford to miss. I make sure I name everyone NPC just so don't have to make it up when a PC asks 'what's your name then?'
The third time is when I look at the stats, paying particular attention to Feats, abilities, and Spells.
After I've done that I then head over to http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ and copy/paste all the feats, spells, abilities, conditions, monsters, and any other rules into a word document that I can print landscape and clip it to the inside of my screen (yes, I have all the books, but I really don't want to be flipping back and forth mid game).
Then I head over to GMPrep and and see if anyone has anyone has created something I would find helpful (there might be some rules 'sub-system' in the scenario, and someone has created a summary etc.)
I print out the chronicle sheet x8 (there's always someone that makes a mistake filling it out - ME!), and 1 copy of the reporting sheet (I pre-populate the event ID and my GM details)
Maps
For maps I much prefer to have them printed to scale, cut up, so I can lay them down especially. It's more attractive, and quicker (important if you're running to a time slot at a con).
Minis
I bag up all the minis I need into a ziplock bag so I don't need to scrabble around in game. I try to make sure they as accurate as possible. I also take some gemstone markers (swarms, or other things), the iconics - in game someone has a pregen, and a few others for summoned monsters.
I also take a couple of empty Chessex dice boxes - great for flying creatures.
Sound
Yes, I love using sound in game, but it's not always appropriate. If I think I can, I make sure it's all on my iPad and have a fully charged bluetooth speaker to hand. ;)
The whole point of this to a make the GMing of the game as seamless as possible at the table.
As for making stuff up - you'll still need to (nothing big, but don't be surprised if someone wants to speak to the local blacksmith, or casts speak with animal on a passing sparrow!)
I think that covers it.
I hope you find that useful, but whatever preparation you do, don't forget that you're supposed to have fun as well! :)
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So I've been doing tabletop games off and on for about 7seven years and pathfinder for fourish, almost always as a GM in some pretty heavily houseruled settings/rulesets. I've recently started as a player in PFS and signed up to GM a scenario (3.19: The Icebound Outpost) at the end of August.
I imagine I'll have about ten scenarios as player under my belt by then. Combined with a couple years of on-off GMing, should that prove sufficient experience to run a PFS game?
Eyup. Only qualification you need is a pfs number. How else do you think I got in...
What sort of preparation goes into GMing a PFS scenario above and beyond what you'd do for a home campaign?
Read the scenario, read the scenario, read the scenario. Try to get a "voice" for all the characters, understand their motivations, wants, and what they're doing.
Not springing any house rules on your players: you may have a perfectly sensible house rule, but someone's build could rely on some very technical points in the rules as they are.
The scenario may use some rarely used/unknown rules like underwater fighting, the diplomacy "how much do i like you" tracker, spell like abilities, supernatural abilities...
The scenarios themselves may have some funny rules and subsystems unique to that scenario like a customized chase scene, a town with a torch and pitchfork o meter,
I've never actually run premade scenarios before, meaning I could always make stuff up if anything went off-rails.
It does happen in pfs sometimes. Steer them back if you can. If you can incorporate what they did to change the plot but still have the same fights go for it. I once had my group do a scenario backwards because they picked a fight with the end boss right off the bat.
In short, o veteran pfs GMs, help me not suck in my pseudo-debut in two months.
Repeat the magic mantra... close enough for state work. Close enough for state work...