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This one may be a bit crazy.
Okay, so there are several scenarios out there that require pregenerated characters that are part of that scenario.
Given that they are pregenerated and not player characters, would it be possible to convert some of them to an 'evergreen' format?
I realize that they are sometimes intended as 'special situations' but it has often felt during them that playing it 'cold' with very little in player-prep doesn't bring out the full 'story' that is trying to be told during them.
Thank you very much for any insights or thoughts you may have on this in advance.
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I don't think it's a good idea. These scenarios often derive their "punch" from a surprising story or revelations about the characters. They don't have nearly that much impact on the second run.
The essential feature of an evergreen is that it's built to be different every time. Pregen specials aren't built like that. Actually because they always have the same pregens they may be even less divergent than regular scenarios with a grab-bag of PCs.
The problem you're looking at ("players with unfamiliar characters") should be solved in a different way. We've had good results with signups in advanced, followed by the GM sending out a short description of each pregen (usually the top-left italicized text on the sheet) and picture of each pregen, and letting all players pick one. After they're all divided up the GM sends the player his character a few days in advance so the player can study up on it.
In addition, PFSPREP has pretty good player aids for these characters, including extra description of abilities and lists of "handy stuff this particular pregen can do in a combat round".
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I've had the 'luck' of playing these at 'release' conventions. A few of them were decent, and a couple of them were downright atrocious.
I can't help but wonder, which is why I suggested this, if exposure to the characters a second time would help with that.
The other alternative would be to just stop playing at 'release' conventions, but then the chances of actually ever *playing* them diminishes greatly due to the star-gate.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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The star gate on the most important ones (Serpents Rise/Ire, Maelstrom Rift) is 4, so a VL with 3 stars is already allowed to run. Considering the complexity of those scenarios, I think that's doable and actually a good ground floor. They really aren't scenarios that should be run by a beginner.
They're also all big scenarios; Rise and Maelstrom fit more comfortably n 6 hours and Ire is better at 7-8 hours. Running it with a pre-scheduled group at a game day with pregen pre-distribution will really give you a much better experience.
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The star gate on the most important ones (Serpents Rise/Ire, Maelstrom Rift) is 4, so a VL with 3 stars is already allowed to run. Considering the complexity of those scenarios, I think that's doable and actually a good ground floor. They really aren't scenarios that should be run by a beginner.
They're also all big scenarios; Rise and Maelstrom fit more comfortably n 6 hours and Ire is better at 7-8 hours. Running it with a pre-scheduled group at a game day with pregen pre-distribution will really give you a much better experience.
I wish that would go in the blurb about them for PaizoCon/GenCon, and special slots set aside for them that took that into account. Trying to *play* one of those 'cold', much less *run* one is... not all that fun.
However, because they are restricted, the chances of seeing them *otherwise* is next to nil for most folks.
Contributor
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I don't like cons all that much (although I probably like them more than a lot of people).
But I like GMing pretty much no matter what, and I thirst for race boons, so I run whatever I can get the GM chair for. (The one time I really got to go all-in on a con, I GMed seven out of eight slots, and that only because I couldn't get the last one.)
One of these years I'll make it to Gen Con... and then I'll get to see if there's a tier higher than 1. I'd GM every slot if I could. ^_^
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Kalindlara,
Speaking as a wise old bird who has learned this wisdom far too much over the years, save at least a little bit of time for sleep/rest.
Far too many conventions I have burnt in the past with the candle at both ends and by the end of the weekend (even with successful running of all tables) I've had such horrible con-crud that I'm surprised the CDC didn't throw me into quarantine.
What eventually 'squared' 'time off to rest' with me was using the mental construct of 'it's GM prep to be well-rested for my players'.
Back on track.
How do we get the pregens for such scenarios earlier without ruining the effect for play, then?
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Contributor
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I got enough advice from folks beforehand that when I played Serpent's Rise (the only pregen special I've ever played), I did very well with 322. But I didn't see the character sheet or anything.
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I lucked onto 322 because I was late to the table and 'no one wanted to play her'. She seemed 'too complicated' and 'her stuff doesn't have good durations' were the reasons no one wanted to try her out.
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That was one of the BETTER experiences of 'cold play'.
That and the Dragonspeaker from True Dragons, because I had already played a bard to that level, so it was pretty easy to figure out.
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I lucked onto 322 because I was late to the table and 'no one wanted to play her'. She seemed 'too complicated' and 'her stuff doesn't have good durations' were the reasons no one wanted to try her out....
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That was one of the BETTER experiences of 'cold play'.
[/ooc]
I think I was at that table with you. I volunteered to play the Magus for the same reason -- too many moving parts for most of the players to feel comfortable with. That and I wanted to give an Eldritch Scion a test drive.
My main memory was how overwhelmed the Brawler player was with all the possible choices for picking up combat feats.
