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I'd say use your best judgment. The upside about playing it at a convention is the atmosphere, but playing it online or any other non-convention slot lets allows for a more relaxed slot. I think True Dragons and Serpent's Rise would really benefit from being able to run a bit long and not have to worry about forcing everything in before the end of the slot.
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I don't see what's so special about either of them that they can only be run by 4-5 star gms. Though I will say that my GM screwed up the final encounter in serpents rise and we killed the BBGG (big bad good guy) in 2 rounds because of it.
They're special in that they are a perk for attaining 4 or 5 star status and donating that much time to the campaign. Once they have been out for a year, I would expect them to be available to run by the general populace, just like 2-EX, 3-EX and 4-EX were.
At GenCon, they were able to be run by any GM volunteer and counted as a special then. Now they are considered exclusives, and have the star restrictions but can be run anywhere.
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I don't see what's so special about either of them that they can only be run by 4-5 star gms. Though I will say that my GM screwed up the final encounter in serpents rise and we killed the BBGG (big bad good guy) in 2 rounds because of it.They're special in that they are a perk for attaining 4 or 5 star status and donating that much time to the campaign. Once they have been out for a year, I would expect them to be available to run by the general populace, just like 2-EX, 3-EX and 4-EX were.
At GenCon, they were able to be run by any GM volunteer and counted as a special then. Now they are considered exclusives, and have the star restrictions but can be run anywhere.
I suppose it could be seen as a perk.. I feel like it's just more punishing for smaller PFS societies that don't have the privilege of having GMs with that many stars. Those scenarios weren't any more/less difficult than any other random scenario.
For those that didn't go to gencon, from an area without any GMs of that stature, they won't be able to play those scenarios until they're too far gone to be relevant.
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I don't see what's so special about either of them that they can only be run by 4-5 star gms. Though I will say that my GM screwed up the final encounter in serpents rise and we killed the BBGG (big bad good guy) in 2 rounds because of it.They're special in that they are a perk for attaining 4 or 5 star status and donating that much time to the campaign. Once they have been out for a year, I would expect them to be available to run by the general populace, just like 2-EX, 3-EX and 4-EX were.
At GenCon, they were able to be run by any GM volunteer and counted as a special then. Now they are considered exclusives, and have the star restrictions but can be run anywhere.
I suppose it could be seen as a perk.. I feel like it's just more punishing for smaller PFS societies that don't have the privilege of having GMs with that many stars. Those scenarios weren't any more/less difficult than any other random scenario.
For those that didn't go to gencon, from an area without any GMs of that stature, they won't be able to play those scenarios until they're too far gone to be relevant.
Even though I'm not a 4/5 star GM (soon!) doesn't mean that the most dedicated subset of our GM's shouldn't get something special as a reward. As far as them not being that special, the PC's get to play as Aspis Agents and Kobolds, thats plenty special enough to me.
Edited for tone.
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I don't see what's so special about either of them that they can only be run by 4-5 star gms. Though I will say that my GM screwed up the final encounter in serpents rise and we killed the BBGG (big bad good guy) in 2 rounds because of it.They're special in that they are a perk for attaining 4 or 5 star status and donating that much time to the campaign. Once they have been out for a year, I would expect them to be available to run by the general populace, just like 2-EX, 3-EX and 4-EX were.
At GenCon, they were able to be run by any GM volunteer and counted as a special then. Now they are considered exclusives, and have the star restrictions but can be run anywhere.
I suppose it could be seen as a perk.. I feel like it's just more punishing for smaller PFS societies that don't have the privilege of having GMs with that many stars. Those scenarios weren't any more/less difficult than any other random scenario.
For those that didn't go to gencon, from an area without any GMs of that stature, they won't be able to play those scenarios until they're too far gone to be relevant.
One solution discussed when we first announced these was to incentivize a high-star GM to travel to your area, whether for a convention or a larger game day (perhaps a mini-con involving several slots at a game store over the course of a weekend). I know many of these GMs who would happily participate in exchange for basic travel expenses (gas money and a place to sleep, for example) and an opportunity to be a celebrity judge running some really great adventures.
This might not work as well for some of our younger lodges in certain parts of the world, but perhaps the new campaign coordinator can work out a fair way to bring these adventures to those regions--much like how the restrictions for certain convention exclusives is lower in certain lodges outside the US and EU.
Ultimately, these are exclusive with publically defined qualifications. If nobody in your area qualifies, the path to earning that privilege is clear. If that's not a viable goal over the course of the next year or so, contact your region's (or neighboring) venture-captain and see what can be done to bring a 4+ star GM to your venue.
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One solution discussed when we first announced these was to incentivize a high-star GM to travel to your area, whether for a convention or a larger game day (perhaps a mini-con involving several slots at a game store over the course of a weekend). I know many of these GMs who would happily participate in exchange for basic travel expenses (gas money and a place to sleep, for example) and an opportunity to be a celebrity judge running some really great adventures.
This is a thing that I have done before and will do again.
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One solution discussed when we first announced these was to incentivize a high-star GM to travel to your area, whether for a convention or a larger game day (perhaps a mini-con involving several slots at a game store over the course of a weekend). I know many of these GMs who would happily participate in exchange for basic travel expenses (gas money and a place to sleep, for example) and an opportunity to be a celebrity judge running some really great adventures.This is a thing that I have done before and will do again.
And if anyone wanted me to do as well, I'd try to work it out.
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And if anyone wanted me to do as well, I'd try to work it out.One solution discussed when we first announced these was to incentivize a high-star GM to travel to your area, whether for a convention or a larger game day (perhaps a mini-con involving several slots at a game store over the course of a weekend). I know many of these GMs who would happily participate in exchange for basic travel expenses (gas money and a place to sleep, for example) and an opportunity to be a celebrity judge running some really great adventures.This is a thing that I have done before and will do again.
I'd also be interested... in fact, you might be able to get a few of us from Minnesota to come along!
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Is there a compiled list of 5 star GMs anywhere? I'd like to find out if there are any 5 star GMs in my area, and who they are, so if need be, I could try and organize something at a local game day.
I'm signed up to play True Dragons of Absalom next month at a con, but so far there are no GMs signed up for the table. Also, I'm the 8th player and wait-listed.
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Have you tried contacting your local VC. I bet if he's on top of things he might know the answer :)
I was thinking about this the other day, we don't actually have a whole lot, due to doing a good job sharing GMing responsibility.
There's Mike Azilino and Joshua Archer but neither of them is particularly available.
Pirate Rob (Berkeley)
Andrea Brant (Manteca)
Scott Kysh Brentwood
Josh mcillwain Fresno
Will Johnson (Fresno)
David Li* (Gilroy, but travels a lot)
Eric Bennet* (Sacramento)
*May be waiting for paperwork
Both David Li and Eric Bennet will possibly be at Pacificon and willing to GM True Dragons, I think they are waiting to make sure their promotion is official first though.
People who are close:
James Anderson (Berkeley, should make it at Pacificon)
Phill Cha (Still needs a few specials, but is getting close)
Roy Rydbeck (San Bruno, Has well over 150, still needs some specials)
Venus deCoy (Davis, needs a few specials)
Also special thanks and apologies to whomever I forgot.
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I believe Doug Miles keeps a list and may have a more updated list than this one, but it ought to be close. (Note: this is also his I'm just linking it) 5 Star List
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Back to the OP a bit. I'd recommend not running Serpent's Rise in your area if you are planning to run Siege of Serpents at a local con/game day soon. There are massive spoilers for the Siege of Serpents in Serpent's Rise.
Conversely, there are also massive spoilers for Serpent's Rise in Siege of Serpents. :)
I don't see what's so special about either of them that they can only be run by 4-5 star gms.
The fact that only 4 or 5 star GMs can run them is what makes them a special.
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I don't see what's so special about either of them that they can only be run by 4-5 star gms. Though I will say that my GM screwed up the final encounter in serpents rise and we killed the BBGG (big bad good guy) in 2 rounds because of it.They're special in that they are a perk for attaining 4 or 5 star status and donating that much time to the campaign. Once they have been out for a year, I would expect them to be available to run by the general populace, just like 2-EX, 3-EX and 4-EX were.
At GenCon, they were able to be run by any GM volunteer and counted as a special then. Now they are considered exclusives, and have the star restrictions but can be run anywhere.
I suppose it could be seen as a perk.. I feel like it's just more punishing for smaller PFS societies that don't have the privilege of having GMs with that many stars. Those scenarios weren't any more/less difficult than any other random scenario.
For those that didn't go to gencon, from an area without any GMs of that stature, they won't be able to play those scenarios until they're too far gone to be relevant.
Just as an anecdote:
I live in an area that, as far as I can find out, has a single 4 star GM available (me, oddly enough), and no 5 star GMs close by. (Our former 5 star GM is not involved in PFS anymore, and his 5 star status was the cause of a furious debate on these forums more than once, but he returned to single star status during the time period when 5 star status required annual renewal).However, I was able to play the Kobold special yesterday, online, with a 5 star GM, (James McTeague, see his posts in this thread), so you don't have to be in an area where you have to sit at a table local to the 5 star GM, they can run it online. All you really need for that is some free time, and Internet access. James used Roll20 and Google Hangouts, but there are additional options for both VTT and voice chat available.