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Race retirements are more trouble then they're worth. I dislike that they encourage GMs and players to stockpile characters -- doing evergreens to churn out future GM babies sounds like more work than fun. The game is supposed to be about the joy of playing!I also dislike the idea of having to check character start-dates. I'd rather see options expand than contract.
I'm with this. The inaccessibility of aasimar and tiefling characters significantly undermines my enjoyment of PFS, especially since I can't really afford a couple hundred dollars for a boon (when they're even available).
As for this season, in anticipation of retirement, I'm trying to get two of each geniekin. I don't have any Tian Xia races locked in yet, so I'd like to get one or two of those on the off chance we lose any of them. It's very stressful. :/
check yer PM
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Hard product support return to conventions, albeit a reduced amount.
There was a lot in this post I disagreed with, but this is the idea I really need to comment on.
Back when Paizo still did hard product support, it was a nightmare for us folks overseas. Our then-VC ended up paying customs fees out of pocket for massive packages of books (some of which we had great trouble in even giving away - the Pathfinder Tales books really have not taken off here and once someone has a CRB they're unlikely to need another). Said then-VC also didn't own a car and still doesn't, so there was also the matter of transporting packages of books with weights in the tens of pounds first to storage somewhere and then to the convention. That's not even mentioning the fact physical items can get stuck or delayed in the transport process: we never went through the situation where con support arrives after the con, but it would have been another kind of nightmare entirely if we had.
So I vastly, vastly prefer the current system of giving out store credit. People actually get what they want to get and no one is shouldered with paying all of the customs fees.
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Hard product support return to conventions, albeit a reduced amount.There was a lot in this post I disagreed with, but this is the idea I really need to comment on.
Back when Paizo still did hard product support, it was a nightmare for us folks overseas. [snip]
So I vastly, vastly prefer the current system of giving out store credit. People actually get what they want to get and no one is shouldered with paying all of the customs fees.
I absolutely get it. I remember getting a lot of product in years past. Hard product support really did need to be reduced & gift certs are a fine replacement. Books are pricy. Books are heavy. Shipping is expensive. Books are pre-determined vs gift certs puts the decision in the hand of the consumer.
But the answer wasn't to reduce it to zero. Not in all cases, anyway.
I liked the feeling I got when witnessing a new player win a CRB, or a veteran player winning the latest hardback. But we didn't need umpteen hardbacks and twice as many novels. And Paizo doesn't need the financial burden of shipping all that. Figure out some ratio of CRB-to-tables, and latest product-to-tables and ship that quantity, if its desired. We just closed out a ~22 table/3 day Con. We could have made good use of, say, two full-sized CRB [available to new players only], two Healer's Handbooks, and two novels. That's shipped in a shoebox practically and is very good PR for the company. Incidentally, I won a gift cert, so I'm not sour grapes here. For those conventions, such as those overseas, that still don't want to bother, you could opt for zero hard product & equivalent value in gift certs.
While gift certs are nice, mandatory cutting hard-product convention support to zero was ill-advised IMO.
Cutting hard-product to zero and replacing with noticeably-lower-total-value gift certs has been perceived as ... distasteful. It cost us VOs, for certain. I believe it's cost Paizo revenue/players.
Venture-Lieutenant, Massachusetts—Boston Metro
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He is saying that he has started up his own nursery of GM babies in anticipation of changes at GenCon, and that he thinks others should do so as well.
However he acknowledges that not all regions can have enough game tables to absorb a GM prepping multiple tables of the same evergreens, over and over.
Well sort of minus the evergreen part. My rational was that if you GM a 1-5 twice every month you end up with a decent number of baby characters especially if you GM the 1-3 evergreens. You are right about the regional thing because I forgot that my region has more tables in a given week than some regions have in an entire year.
EDIT:Its also why I GM as often as I do. Even with what I assume is the same convention being mentioned repeatedly we still have so many people wanting to play.
Can we get "combat heavy/no RP" warnings too?
** spoiler omitted **
Truth be told I've been happy this season as they strike a nice balance. Most of them have a heavy skill element to them while retaining combat as either an option or something that is included. Mind you some of the combat has been bizarrely wonky but still its a nicer balance.
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I've loved the combat/interaction balance these past two seasons. It is a welcome rebalancing from the early Seasons of the Murderhobo. I'd like to see Season 9 try to throw some bone(keep)s back to the fightfightfight side of the house while still keeping some Faithless and Forgotten/Bid for Alabastrine love for me and the rest that like to be able to talk it out.
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I've loved the combat/interaction balance these past two seasons. It is a welcome rebalancing from the early Seasons of the Murderhobo. I'd like to see Season 9 try to throw some bone(keep)s back to the fightfightfight side of the house while still keeping some Faithless and Forgotten/Bid for Alabastrine love for me and the rest that like to be able to talk it out.
While I like adventures that aren't all combat, I think recent seasons had a pretty good balance. But this season, maybe starting towards the end of last season with a couple that you mentioned, seems like it's gone too far in the opposite direction, with not enough mandatory combat.
That's why I said I'd like to see at least two mandatory fights in almost every scenario. I can think of 5 scenarios out of the last 25 or so published that don't meet that minimum requirement. I haven't even played all of the scenarios published in that time, so I'm probably missing a couple. For a game of this type, where combat is a major focus, that's a lot less combat than I think most people are looking for.
Just thinking of earlier seasons, I can think of several scenarios that were considered very combat light and skill heavy at the time, yet still had two fights in them. And there's one adventure from season 1 where you could talk your way out of every fight except one (and the optional encounter), but nobody every realized that, so most groups murderhoboed their way through six combats. I think those are better balanced from a combat/non-combat perspective than F&F3 or a couple of the season 8s that I've played recently.
The Disappeared
The Blackros Matrimony
The Sun Orchid Scheme
The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment
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Venture-Agent, Minnesota—Minneapolis
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I really intensely dislike mandatory combats, both as a player and GM.
I find it much more interesting as a GM when I get to see how different groups approach the same situation. Will they try for stealth, trickery, or just force their way through.
In my opinion, combats are time consuming and frequently uninteresting.
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Fromper just out of curiosity what scenario are you talking about because if it is what I think it is the BBEG was in fact optional.
You mean the one from season 1 where most people murderhobo their way through 6 encounters, even though only one of them (and the optional encounter) require combat?
It's the first fight that's mandatory (when you're supposed to let the bad guys "win" and steal the homing beacon from you).
And you're right. The BBEG is optional.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Massachusetts—Boston Metro
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Fromper just out of curiosity what scenario are you talking about because if it is what I think it is the BBEG was in fact optional.You mean the one from season 1 where most people murderhobo their way through 6 encounters, even though only one of them (and the optional encounter) require combat?
** spoiler omitted **
And you're right. The BBEG is optional.
No I meant the other one you were talking about.
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I am hoping that they announce PFS: The Musical.
Hmm
Something familiar,
something peculiar,
something for everyone:
a scenario, tonight!Something for killing,
Something for hauling,
something for everyone:
a scenario, tonight!Nothing that's real! Nothing that counts!
Bring on the fighters, wizards, and rogues!Old season-1 games,
New season-8 games,
Nothing third party or from home!
Real life tomorrow,
Scenario tonight!Missions from Adril,
Missions from Drandle,
Missions from everyone:
a scenario, tonight!Something that's swarming
Something that's haunting,
Something kills everyone:
a scenario tonight!Nothing that's banned! Nothing unplanned!
Nothing without the reference on hand!Nothing that's peaceful,
Nothing that's graceful,
No simple milk-runs to assign!
Open up the dice bag,
a scenario tonight!
Inconceivable Theater (an amateur troupe based in Burlington, Vermont) will be performing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum this summer.
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I am hoping that they announce PFS: The Musical.
Hmm
Something familiar,
something peculiar,
something for everyone:
a scenario, tonight!Something for killing,
Something for hauling,
something for everyone:
a scenario, tonight!Nothing that's real! Nothing that counts!
Bring on the fighters, wizards, and rogues!Old season-1 games,
New season-8 games,
Nothing third party or from home!
Real life tomorrow,
Scenario tonight!Missions from Adril,
Missions from Drandle,
Missions from everyone:
a scenario, tonight!Something that's swarming
Something that's haunting,
Something kills everyone:
a scenario tonight!Nothing that's banned! Nothing unplanned!
Nothing without the reference on hand!Nothing that's peaceful,
Nothing that's graceful,
No simple milk-runs to assign!
Open up the dice bag,
a scenario tonight!
Something funny happened on the way to the session.
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Re: Having options for diplomacy and kinder solutions....
I'm feeling this acutely due paying for the privilege to suffer through Faithless & Forgotten III at a convention this weekend. ** spoiler omitted **Some of you will cheer this and defend it immediately, if only out of knee-jerk fanaticism. That's fine. That's your thing. It's not my thing.
Paizo will continue to publish this "adventure" style. I ask that it be marked as potentially all-RP, or low-combat-potential or skill-check-heavy so I can avoid it. OR, perhaps, so I can seek it out when choosing a scenario for those requiring a primer on the PFS skill system, the squeamish, or children?
Im of two minds on this. As a player, I, sometimes enjoy being able to talk out of combat. Not every combat, and honestly if it where once, maybe twice per game, I think thats ideal. It gives people the chance to shine in that arena without screwing over other players and characters. As a DM, I really hate when one or more players ask something along the lines of "can we just fight something now".
One of the things that White Wolf did with their adventures I really liked was to include a 1-5 ratio for how much a given adventure or scene was intended to be Physical, Mental, or Social. I had advocated for this being adopted last time, I think, and still think its a good idea, under the assumption its not manditory, but simply the base assumption for a give scenario.
I think another issue is that a lot of DMs either do not consider allowing for negotiating out of combat as deviating from running a scenario as writen (and its a grey area because of the creative solutions guideline and some scenarios actually do allow it), and also that some DMs have a bias for more of one thing than another. That doesnt mean they are wrong, but Ive also seen some things fly in different games more for the intent of allowing something to be skipped or allowed I felt was not really intended. If it works and people have fun, its all good, we just need to be weary that everyone is having fun, which can be difficult, especially in PbP.
I would support a focus where there is at least one "manditory" (challenging) non-boss fight combat and one challenging option to talk your way out of or otherwise avoid something that is meaningful. Neither are 100% required, but is intentionally written for this.
Personally, I find the open sandbox style to be the more problematic issue, as it tends to eat up a lot of table time and also make prep much more difficult, while being more hit or miss.
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All Adam Daigle, all the time.More predicted announcements: They're going to tell us the title/theme for season 9. Now let's all try and guess what it is.
Season 9: Year of the Flumphs!
They have had Kyle Baird locked away in John Compton's basement working on a full season of PFS scenarios. He was almost done writing them, but he escaped, and they're looking for a replacement volunteer.
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
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They have had Kyle Baird locked away in John Compton's basement working on a full season of PFS scenarios. He was almost done writing them, but he escaped, and they're looking for aAll Adam Daigle, all the time.More predicted announcements: They're going to tell us the title/theme for season 9. Now let's all try and guess what it is.
Season 9: Year of the Flumphs!
replacementvolunteer.
I have a basement?
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I have a basement?They have had Kyle Baird locked away in John Compton's basement working on a full season of PFS scenarios. He was almost done writing them, but he escaped, and they're looking for aAll Adam Daigle, all the time.More predicted announcements: They're going to tell us the title/theme for season 9. Now let's all try and guess what it is.
Season 9: Year of the Flumphs!
replacementvolunteer.
That explains how Baird escaped!
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Venture-Agent, Minnesota—Minneapolis
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I have a basement?They have had Kyle Baird locked away in John Compton's basement working on a full season of PFS scenarios. He was almost done writing them, but he escaped, and they're looking for aAll Adam Daigle, all the time.More predicted announcements: They're going to tell us the title/theme for season 9. Now let's all try and guess what it is.
Season 9: Year of the Flumphs!
replacementvolunteer.
Obviously it is a secret basement. Best start searching for secret doors!
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I have a basement?They have had Kyle Baird locked away in John Compton's basement working on a full season of PFS scenarios. He was almost done writing them, but he escaped, and they're looking for aAll Adam Daigle, all the time.More predicted announcements: They're going to tell us the title/theme for season 9. Now let's all try and guess what it is.
Season 9: Year of the Flumphs!
replacementvolunteer.
This is what happens when you rid yerself of the bandana, John. NO MORE SUPERPOWERS.
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Contributor
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This is what happens when you rid yerself of the bandana, John. NO MORE SUPERPOWERS.I have a basement?They have had Kyle Baird locked away in John Compton's basement working on a full season of PFS scenarios. He was almost done writing them, but he escaped, and they're looking for aAll Adam Daigle, all the time.More predicted announcements: They're going to tell us the title/theme for season 9. Now let's all try and guess what it is.
Season 9: Year of the Flumphs!
replacementvolunteer.
At the very least, no more infinite ammo.
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I have a basement?They have had Kyle Baird locked away in John Compton's basement working on a full season of PFS scenarios. He was almost done writing them, but he escaped, and they're looking for aAll Adam Daigle, all the time.More predicted announcements: They're going to tell us the title/theme for season 9. Now let's all try and guess what it is.
Season 9: Year of the Flumphs!
replacementvolunteer.
<grin>
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Speaking of the tapestry, I'm still waiting for the inevitable "Whatever happened to Hao Jin?" scenario.
At some point we will realize that the Illuminati the Sovereign Court has been working behind the scenes to resurrect the Ruby Phoenix. Hell, she's even on their sigil faction logo.
Season 9: Year of the Risen Phoenix.
(It's like a combination of seasons 3 and 4. Ninjas! Varisia! Tapestries!)
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Speaking of the tapestry, I'm still waiting for the inevitable "Whatever happened to Hao Jin?" scenario.
It got taken to the cleaners, the Pathfinder Society Ninja Carpet Cleaners...