An Argument For Why Offering Special Boons Only At Conventions Is Actually A Bad Thing.

[Chris Lambertz]

Removed a few baiting/heated posts and the responses to them. Folks, if you need to report activity that violates our Community Guidelines, please ping [e-mail]. Thanks!

[Kerney]

Kerney wrote:

brock, no the other one... wrote:

Someone running a weekly game-day at a venue also has to spend time and money getting there.

Give VO's the ability to award a local-play specific GM boon (new one each season) to any person they deem has earned it. Has the side affect of encouraging people who run non-convention games to be in regular contact with their VO.

While I don't disagree, I'm bothered by what I see as shop bias coming into play. Its understandable that vos have their favorite shops, so don't get me wrong.

However, I've seen one shop in my fair city which hasn't seen a vo in 3-4 years. It also had the volenteer since turned burn out most deserving of such a reward.

I wander if getting such a reward would have more to do with being close to the centers of power rather than actual merit, which would create its own problems.

I am posting here because someone in my local community took offense to this post. I am saying publicly that I'm sorry this has caused offense. I will discuss this with anyone privately who knows me who wants to ask me questions.

[LazarX]

xeose4 wrote:

et the local GMs get the plane-touched, elementals, dhampirs. Reasonable stuff. Give the Con-GMs the unusual stuff like the Strix, the Gathrain, the Ghoran, fauns, androids, lashunta, kasatha, trixian, skinwalkers, kobold, lizardfolk, samsaran, merfolk, snirvblin, drow, changling, gillmen, centaur, w/e - the list is enormous.

Then you have hundreds of androids, and dhampir instead of the one-to-three of each of races that are supposed to be ultra-rare.

[ShadowDax]

There is the other side of the looking glass, "Fey Thoughts" in the Heroes of the Wild Player's Companion makes the CRB races relevant in comparison to the races in the Advanced Race Guide. It is currently not PFS legal. Those choices of skills given in Fey Thoughts are the top skills wanted in the game. Making them part of a trait instead of a class is very attractive.

Anything that makes the CRB races attractive would put a dent in the demand to the other races that are so desired by players. Making them comparable to the other races in other books would put the CRB races on an equally desired level.

This is of course if those in charge of the game do not want to make non core rule book races dominant in popularity.

Another side of the looking glass is firepower. Blood of Fiends and Angels and the like offered new options that made those races dominant in PFS. Blood of Fiends and Angels became dominant in popularity because of the firepower and ease of synergy those books gave in relation to a particular race of tiefling or Aasimar to a class.

I guess that is one reason why such races became not legal with out a boon in PFS. Too much errata of what people buy upsets the culture of the players. Adjusting from time to time in the Additional Recourses seems to go over easier in the PFS community.

[Hmm]

CONSOLIDATION of IDEAS TIME

Both groups of GMs are awesome, and both should receive rewards for their time and effort to encourage them to step up. Now let's figure out what those rewards might look like.

So... Here are some of the ideas presented in this thread so far for ways to reward non-con GMs:

• Having different sets of race boons for Gameday and Con GMs;
  
• Having boons for options like Fey Thoughts or another ability to add 2 class skills;
  
• A boon for Background Skills from Unchained;
  
• A boon for a free exotic or martial weapon proficiency;
  
• Boons for other flavorful options.

I think that the key thing that the boon has to have is Coolness Factor. All race boons have an inherent coolness factor because everyone notices that you are playing something a little weird or different. I'm enjoying my Undine Watersinger bard, Nixie, because she is an odd bard archetype that I'd never otherwise get to play. And because I can do the whole "baffled by crazy landfolk" thing when I RP.

So, other than race boons, what other cool or flavorful Gameday GM rewards can we come up with?

Hmm

[Nohwear]

Opening up Gods and Pets is another thought. I admit that I am not sure if it is a good one, but it is another option that would not require taking something away just to make it earnible.

[Jayson MF Kip]

Ridiculous idea (not in rulespeak):

Players with at least one GM star get a 21-point buy on a character each season they GM 10 (or more) events.
This increases to 22-point buy when you reach 5 stars (still recharging on seasons where you GM 10 events).

Modules should count as one, for this purpose, like they do for expanded narrative.

[Nimrandir]

I really liked the idea of getting to create a character with an extra trait or bonus language. Neither of those really has 'oomph' when presented at a table, though. However, it would be pretty funny when a 7-Intelligence fighter somehow speaks Thassilonian or something.

What about a boon that allowed for selection from a set of unique traits at character creation? Are there any cool traits from retired factions that might somehow make a triumphant return?

[Hmm]

I love the idea of providing access to retired faction traits! I still mourn the fact that my Tien bard never got a chance to work for the Lantern Lodge she so wanted to be a part of!

[Drogon]

Replay is an oft-mentioned request. A boon that grants a one-time replay would likely be well received.

[Conman the Bardbarian]

Drogon wrote:

Replay is an oft-mentioned request. A boon that grants a one-time replay would likely be well received.

You are the winner of the ironic post of the day award.

[Hmm]

I'd like to note that we have awesome VCs in my region. They offer a GM Appreciation Game Day to offer playtime to GMs who might otherwise not get much chance to play. It's a local initiative to encourage and support GMs!

[Codanous]

Conman the Bardbarian wrote:

Drogon wrote:

Replay is an oft-mentioned request. A boon that grants a one-time replay would likely be well received.

You are the winner of the ironic post of the day award.

I think this goes to show that Drogon is aware of both sides of the argument for replays.

[UndeadMitch]

I don't think that star recharges should be part of it, as I think they should make the Expanded Narrative boon available to all GM's with a star. It should still have the once a season limit, and if it becomes an issue for whatever reason they could up the number of games needed to recharge each star.

[Duncan7291]

As someone who GM's both conventions and normal sessions at local PFS group, I support this. GM's spend time and money to prep and run the various games. Additionally, GMing is not the same as playing and when I GM a game I must necessarily miss out on an opportunity to play in a game.

Boons I would like to see: (1) opening race options is always a good one, so for store GMs you could do a counter type mechanism. For every 5 tables you GM you get to play one race on tier 1 or you can not cash in and GM another 5 tables for tier 2 race or another 5 for tier 3, etc. (2) I think this is a boon already but I love the concept, allow a character of yours to buy an item from another one of your characters chronicle sheet (must not had been bought by character that originally acquired the chronicle). (3) Legacy item, you may select an item to pass on to a younger character (lower level). The item is in a broken condition but it costs less to repair than it would had cost to buy outright. Example: Armor that original cost 10k gold can be passed to new character but to repair the item it would cost 6k gold.

[Duncan7291]

Oh, and a boon to let us play evil characters. Our players already think GM's are evil so might as well play as one :)

[Alexander Augunas]

I had similar thoughts to xeose, except I think the local GM races should be based in Golarion lore. If a race is common enough to be considered a Core Race on a foreign continent (such as kitsune/nagaji/tengu/samsaran/wayang on Tian Xia), they should be a local GM reward. Weird, exotic races should be Con races, and extremely rare races should be charity boons.

[Kalindlara]

Robert Reine wrote:

Oh, and a boon to let us play evil characters. Our players already think GM's are evil so might as well play as one :)

I actually thought this might be viable as well.

If you've GMed enough to get 2+ stars, you should have a good enough handle on how to play such a character without being disruptive or causing serious interference. (Though that might be too optimistic, I suppose.) Such boons would have to be non-tradable, unfortunately, due to the increased responsibility involved.

[Duncan7291]

Just think. You can be an ex-aspis agent who is trying to turn a new leaf. Would be so much fun to play.

[Kalindlara]

Robert Reine wrote:

Just think. You can be an ex-aspis agent who is trying to turn a new leaf. Would be so much fun to play.

I think there actually is a one-of-a-kind Aspis Agent boon. ^_^

[Fromper]

Robert Reine wrote:

Just think. You can be an ex-aspis agent who is trying to turn a new leaf. Would be so much fun to play.

Isn't there already a boon for that, which still doesn't allow being evil?

A more interesting approach in that direction would be a boon that allows being an actual undercover Aspis agent. You'd have to play along with your Pathfinder mission and teammates, so no being disruptive (without your PC becoming an NPC), but your "faction" would be Aspis. Maybe this would give a bonus to bluff to pretend you're a Pathfinder, and you'd have to do something like drop off classified Society info for your Aspis contacts instead of doing a day job, getting check marks on the boon for doing so, eventually leading to something.

[The Fox]

Kalindlara wrote:

Robert Reine wrote:

Oh, and a boon to let us play evil characters. Our players already think GM's are evil so might as well play as one :)

I actually thought this might be viable as well.

If you've GMed enough to get 2+ stars, you should have a good enough handle on how to play such a character without being disruptive or causing serious interference. (Though that might be too optimistic, I suppose.) Such boons would have to be non-tradable, unfortunately, due to the increased responsibility involved.

I'm sorry, but I must disagree with this. Almost all of the GMs I know are great players who probably could play an evil character without disrupting the table, but that is not universally true.

Also, I personally don't want to see evil characters sanctioned in organized play. That's just my own opinion.

[Kalindlara]

The Fox wrote:

I'm sorry, but I must disagree with this. Almost all of the GMs I know are great players who probably could play an evil character without disrupting the table, but that is not universally true.

Also, I personally don't want to see evil characters sanctioned in organized play. That's just my own opinion.

That's perfectly fair - I put it out there for people to discuss. ^_^

[Nohwear]

Personally, I would love to be able to play a Kobold, but I fear that is simply not in the cards. :(

[blackbloodtroll]

Nohwear wrote:

Personally, I would love to be able to play a Kobold, but I fear that is simply not in the cards. :(

Well, you can, for one session, with a certain boon.

[Duncan7291]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Nohwear wrote:

Personally, I would love to be able to play a Kobold, but I fear that is simply not in the cards. :(

Well, you can, for one session, with a certain boon.

Aye, and once every 2 years I get to play a goblin :)

[Jayson MF Kip]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Nohwear wrote:

Personally, I would love to be able to play a Kobold, but I fear that is simply not in the cards. :(

Well, you can, for one session, with a certain boon.

5-Stars unlocks Kobolds already- -and not just for you; for anyone at your table!

[Kalindlara]

Jayson MF Kip wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Nohwear wrote:

Personally, I would love to be able to play a Kobold, but I fear that is simply not in the cards. :(

Well, you can, for one session, with a certain boon.

5-Stars unlocks Kobolds already- -and not just for you; for anyone at your table!

Was this just announced?

I'm surprised I haven't heard more about it! ^_^

[TOZ]

That was mean.

[zefig]

Kalindlara wrote:

Jayson MF Kip wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Nohwear wrote:

Personally, I would love to be able to play a Kobold, but I fear that is simply not in the cards. :(

Well, you can, for one session, with a certain boon.

5-Stars unlocks Kobolds already- -and not just for you; for anyone at your table!

Was this just announced?

I'm surprised I haven't heard more about it! ^_^

you probably have.

[TriOmegaZero]

Kalindlara wrote:

Yeah... playing a pregen in one adventure (and then once outside it) hardly counts as "playing" a kobold.

It absolutely counts, unless you are using a different definition of 'playing'.

It can certainly be said to not be enough playing of kobolds for some people, of course.

[Kalindlara]

Post deleted. I apologize. I understand better now.

[olePigeon]

LazarX wrote:

olePigeon wrote:

Blizzard does it for Blizzcon, I see no reason why Paizo can't offer virtual tickets to GenCon and/or Paizocon (even if not officially affiliated, just make the exclusive boons available during the virtual convention.)

Blizzard has the expertise on tap to set up such things, which require a lot of upfront investment in technology, personnell, and data connections.

And Blizzcon is a lot larger than both cons put together.

You're thinking too big. There are already virtual conventions for Pathfinder. Simply give them the exclusive PDF. There, done. You have a virtual GenCon or Paizocon.

You don't have to have streaming of live Q&A events or Metallica.