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Hopefully no one is tired of all my posting yet, but I'm really enjoying and excited about the Pathfinder Soceity.
The questions I have now are about order of doing scenarios. Knowing that it turns in seasons, but older season have some things that don't really track anymore (like old factions) is it better to run them in order or okay to jump around even in the current season.
Second is it considered better to play a scenario before GMing it to avoid spoilers?
As always thanks!
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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It can be fun to run old scenarios in order, because there are some ongoing storylines. Following them in-order can be nice. This becomes more noticeable around season 4.
It's decidedly a "nice to have" not a "must have" feature though.
I do find it preferable to play before I run. If I'm going to run something before I play, I want to have significant cooldown time in between so the scenario isn't too fresh in my mind anymore.
Finally, if you're going to play something you've already run, TELL THE OTHER PLAYERS. Imagine there's a puzzle and you're keeping quiet about the solution because you don't want to spoil it for the rest. Which is good. But other players see you "giving up" and follow your cue and the game basically grinds to a halt. Or there's an NPC that needs to be sweettalked and you're shutting up, but you have good social stats. So other people are trying to push you to go talk to the NPC.
Basically, let other people know they need to step up to the plate more, because your hands are somewhat tied.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Some of the early scenarios set the ground work for later ones. (For example The Devil We Know series introduces some characters who later show up in Destiny of the Sands.)
Somewhere on here there is a list of scenarios that form cohesive story lines, and it would be best to play those in order.
It is definitely better to play the scenario first. However, it happens. I will be running a scenario I haven't played Thursday because we had 14 people sign up and only 2 GMs. If you do run the scenario, and then want to play, make sure the GM knows, and do your best not to use knowledge you gained from playing it. It is probably a good idea in this case to wait a few months. Running it one week and playing it the next, it is going to be real hard not to give things away.
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First of all, we are all happy you are posting a lot! :D It is awesome you are excited and enthusiastic about the campaign. I am too. Cheers!
It is perfectly ok to play the scenarios in any order you want. There are benefits from playing in chronological order, for sure, but it isn't completely necessary. The scenarios are designed to be episodic. If you want a more campaign-like feel, where the overall story arcs are important, you can find several suggestions here in the message boards. (Search for PFS campaigns). Here's one such thread.
Personally, I strongly recommend starting with Season 2. All of the seasons have been pretty good, but this one was my favorite for some reason.
Regarding GMing before playing, I try not to GM before I play a scenario. Sometimes it cannot be helped, though. Someone has to GM. With the groups that I play with, I try to GM about once every 4 sessions or so. If everyone does that then we will get to play 75% of the scenarios before GMing them, and we will always have enough GMs.
Explore, Report, Cooperate!
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On the whole GM before playing thing. Just remember at someone has to do it sometimes. Or no one would ever be able to play.
On that, though, there are so many scenarios out there that if you rotate through your GMs as to who runs a new one first, then you should rarely have to do this.
If you have only a small pool of players and GMs, then you for sure should spread the wealth.
Do I prefer to play first? Sure, who wouldn't. Do I do it the other way anyways? Of course!
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Yeah, I know the OP's concerns. I'm more then willing to run the We Be Goblins trilogy since I've already played those before for a non-PFS campaign. But I'm planning on also GMing Crypt of Everflame, which I've never played in. Which is kind of a shame. Then again, as someone else mentioned at some point or another EVERYONE gms something before they play it. It happens in local non-pfs campaigns. It happens in organized play too. Always has, always will.
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Here are some suggestions for when you're playing something you've already run (this is in addition to the "tell the GM and other players" rule):
* Try to avoid metagame knowledge. If you know the monsters that are coming up, it's very easy to prepare for them, either with gear ("I don't know--I just feel like picking up smoked goggles for no particular reason...oh, hey, look: a monster with a gaze attack!") or spell preparation ("I know I usually prep Grease, but I just feel like Burning Hands today...Oh, is that a swarm?"). Resist the temptation.
* If one of your characters happens to have the right build to just wreck the scenario, consider letting the other players vote on which character you play. (Assuming you have more than one in tier, of course.) For example, if you already know that the bad guy happens to be your ranger's favored enemy or that your cleric's domain power happens to negate the enemy's primary tactic, you might be tempted to play that character--or not play that character!--based on your foreknowledge. If the other players don't know, they can honestly choose the best character for the party balance. (I think that deliberately choosing weaker options based on metagame knowledge can be just as bad as deliberately choosing stronger ones.)
* Try not to correct the GM, or be very nice about it. You don't want to get into "Well, that's not how I read that" arguments, because every GM will have a slightly different interpretation and spin on NPCs. However, if you think the GM might have made a mistake on tier or 4-player adjustment, politely ask them if they're sure. If they say yes, then discuss it with them after the session.
* If the GM is clearly struggling with the scenario, consider asking if they want to step away from the table to discuss how you handled it. Always have these discussions out of player earshot, and always go by what the GM says when you return to the table. (And if the GM doesn't want your help, say, "No problem" and move on.)
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Here are some suggestions for when you're playing something you've already run (this is in addition to the "tell the GM and other players" rule):
Good suggestions. I'd like to add a couple
1) if an occurrence comes up when you really can't help but metagame one way or the other then tell the players and have one of them "drive" the character for a bit. For example, if you know that the exact placement of your character is about to be very important, have somebody else move your character.
2) if an opportunity occurs for you to take a different path through the scenario try and convince the group to take it (in or out of character). Within reason, of course.
3) if you notice that you're playing the character in an unusual way, take a step back and see if you're unconsciously using meta knowledge.
4) ask the GM to politely push back if they notice something. You're human, you WILL use meta knowledge a bit. Its impossible not to.
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It is the hardest thing to separate the knowledge and information of what one has experienced, either directly or through an agency such as a character in a game.
With this in mind, do not attempt to play a session you've GM'd when you've little bandwidth (such as lack of sleep, having judged the three slots prior, etc). It will be exceedingly difficult to maintain persona integrity and focus in such an event, and the potential for accidental disclosure will be much greater.
Also, try to get a 'feel' for where the *party* is going, and follow that lead. No two tables are identical, and the GM experience you may have had in the previous slot may be quite different from what your play experience is -- ie, if one table death-vagrants and the other is the Absalomian Diplomatic Cadre...
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Or even a mix of the two. My lodge tends to alternate between "Diplomacy for the non-violent win" and "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Sometimes this is within the same scenario. Even with the same characters it can be a case of Jekyll and Hyde.
Also keep in mind that meta knowledge is a heavy burden to deal with for everyone. I remember an old 2nd edition AD&D game where the group had six party wipes in a row trying to complete one adventure, all against the same medusa. It was damn hard to walk each new adventurer into that lair with ever increasing number of statues as if they had no prior knowledge of the danger that lay within. As a group we sighed in relief when someone finally had a character manage to escape and survive long enough to warn the town of what was within the cavern.
When in doubt though follow the rest of the table's lead. That, and do your best to stay in-character. If hyper preparedness is within the personality already established for your character, great. But try not to pick up gear pre-session in that case other then restocking consumables used last session such as potions, rations, torches, and the like. Let what is already on hand be your preparedness level, even if you normally buy gear pre-session.
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If hyper preparedness is within the personality already established for your character, great. But try not to pick up gear pre-session in that case other then restocking consumables used last session such as potions, rations, torches, and the like. Let what is already on hand be your preparedness level, even if you normally buy gear pre-session.
While this does not preclude the possibility of buying, say, alkali flasks if one has encountered oozes previously with said character, try to resist the urge to pick up every 'I win' or 'at least have an easier time of things' item for the given scenario.
Some will argue that as a Pathfinder one should have had all that training, but that sort of hand-wavium makes my stomach kind of churn.
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And if your wisdom is 7, probably not something that would occur to the character. Similarly a low to average Int may mean this never occurs to the character until they encounter X situation. Kahel never considered cold weather gear until he (guess now she O.o) ran into a glacier in a tropical jungle. And Xao the Monk never thought about carrying potions of Mage Armor until a wizard asked "Why aren't you carring that?" He'd never had to consder the option before. His natural wits and agility had been more then enough in the past.
On the other hand, buying a Melee Contingency Kit just makes sense to some fighters. They've heard the horror stories of adventurers who were ill prepared for something they encountered, so try to always carry the right tool.
Or as the saying goes... Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman, then always be Batman.
Course that's only if you've already established the character as the "Adam West Bat Utility Belt of WTF" type in scenarios when you had no prior knowledge of what was coming up.
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Or as I said, other then replacing consumables you've actually used (which I try to do at the end when the GM gives me my chronicle and before everyone leaves) you should only take what you already have into a scenario you've GMed already.
Now, if there's an In Character way to justify it, such as the VO telling you your heading into a frozen wasteland I'd see no problem with picking up something you don't have that would be helpful for that local. But not getting equipment tailored to what creatures you as a player knows lay ahead.