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its... entirely voluntary if you don't like dealing with 6ths.
I love slow track. I hate the 1-5 slog before the character really starts to work and want to have a functional character in as many scenarios as possible
It gives you options to play more games when you need it (huh, if i do Terrible dactyls on full speed i'll level out of next weeks Orcs on Ice with my ice witch... better stay home)
I think slow track is an awesome thing, and I'd additionally like to see a fast track where you can level up with a single XP (perhaps restricted to early levels, perhaps not). There are inevitably going to be people who enjoy one part of the level range more than others, and there should be a way for them to exercise control over how quickly they get there and how long they stay there.
Venture-Lieutenant, Florida—Jacksonville
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As a player who has had more than a few GM blobs come out.. I like Slow advancement.. it lets me play that character longer
I mean, you pile up do for a 3rd, 4th, or higher character you might want to play them out.
My ‘Runelord’ started play @5th level and now that I’m 10th, I want more than 6 sessions as an Mover/Shaker/Empress Maker...
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I wouldn't really care for a fast track, but I could see the benefits of giving extra XP as well as gold when you play in a tier higher than your characters. That would make it easier for a player that missed a few sessions to catch up to their group.
I would like to see a good implementation to this. At a single table lodge the always makes it and mostly makes it players start to spread out.
I think the good implementation is to talk to the high level characters about slow track though...
Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Omaha
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I started playing when the change was made to slow track from effecting the whole level to a game time decision. I like slow track and want it to remain.
This being said, I don't think slow-track should be available for 2.0 until 2 A1E (that would be year twp After 1st Edition).
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I've never used slow track, but I don't see any detriment to letting others do so if they want. I think some kind of fast track would be nice. I've often been in the situation where we only have one table so all the regulars end up with a stack of level 6 characters because we aren't able to run high tier without excluding newer players. It would be nice if there was a way for newer players to catch up so they can play higher tier games with the old timers.
fast trackWe already have a fast track of sorts, GM credits. It allows you to skip levels pretty much however you want. Many GMs use their credits to skip level one which is arguably the least interesting.
Agreed, and I've done that with my SFS GM credit (although ironically I haven't actually gotten a chance to play any SFS since I accumulated the required credit!).
I still think there are issues with this as a "solution" though.
First, it doesn't actually require any less play time to level up. It just means you're spending that time GMing instead of as a player. Some people (myself included) have very limited time they can play. I basically play (and GM, historically about 1/3 of my play time is spent GMing) at cons and in scattered game day games over the course of a year. No regular weekly games at all. Playing at this rate means that I level up characters REALLY SLOWLY. For people in that position saying "oh, you don't need to play those levels, you can just devote an equal amount of time to GMing instead" isn't an answer, because the issue isn't the playing, it's the TIME.
Second, some people just don't like GMing. I'm not one of those people, but plenty of them exist, and I'd prefer to avoid having solutions that aren't available to them. Similarly, there are people who are just bad at GMing, and I'd prefer not to put them in a position where they feel that the only way to accomplish something they want is to sign up for something they don't enjoy and are not good at. It's already unfortunate that this sort of thing happens with regard to some kinds of boons.
At this point it feels like the early levels of SFS and PFS are a grind to me. I think that's unfortunate. Because of the variable XP requirements for levels in 5e this isn't nearly as much of a problem in Adventurers League, either you level up quickly (a couple of games to get to level 3) as a PC or you can apply some trivial amount of GM credit XP to skip the first few levels.
I haven’t played a lot of 5E/AL, but what I have, leveling seemed to be at about the same rate
Level 1 in 5e lasts from 0 to 300xp. If you're playing anything other than an intro adventure (their equivalent of quests, short 1 hour mini-adventures that come in a set of 5) you hit that after a single 2 or 4 hour module. If you've played 3 quests you've maybe made it to level 2 and if you've played 4 you definitely have.
Level 2 lasts from 300xp to 900xp. A 2 hour tier 1 (levels 1-4) adventure from the latest season of Adventurers League gives out a minimum of 450xp and a maximum of 600xp, so you can make it from level 2 to level 3 in one 2 hour adventure if you get max xp or in two of them if you don't.
Assuming you're starting from scratch you can hit level 3 in 4-6 hours of play time, depending on what modules you're playing.
The early levels of 5e are DRAMATICALLY faster than they are in PFS.
Also, GM credit from Adventurers League is in chunks of XP that scales up as the level of the adventure does, so it's super easy to run an adventure or two and have enough to build a 2nd or 3rd level character.
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I personally only rarely use Slow Track. But if others want it the cost to me is pretty minimal (makes filling in chronicle sheets a little harder).
Some people obviously like it and are gaining by it. Doesn't matter to others. Seems a pretty straight forward case that it should be kept :-)
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Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis
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I love slow-track and miss it in SFS.
I use it almost exclusively for GM credit. I like getting the credit for GMing, but I still want to play my characters after they are past first level.
I have occasionally used Slow Track when playing because there is a scenario that I want to play and need to stay in tier for, but that is very rare.
I know others like to use it in order to get more of the Faction Journal Cards (FJC) filled in. Although I use the cards, I really don't feel they are that critical. I like filling them in, but don't feel that is a good enough reason to slow track.
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Slow track seems counterproductive for the launching of a new campaign but quite useful for a campaign that wants to indulge people with all sorts of preferences with respect to how fast they want their characters to level.
I'm a fan of keeping it for people who want it, but I could see an argument against starting the campaign with it.
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Slow track seems counterproductive for the launching of a new campaign but quite useful for a campaign that wants to indulge people with all sorts of preferences with respect to how fast they want their characters to level.
I'm a fan of keeping it for people who want it, but I could see an argument against starting the campaign with it.
I agree, I think it's good once we're 2-3 seasons in.
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I love slow track for GM credits! I also miss it in Starfinder for my GM credits. I know, I could have decided to not take a chronicle for the tables I GM.
My preference is obviously in this: yes, please give me slow track. With a boon system like the one in SFS I also think that balancing boons is less of an issue.
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Slow track is something that affects no one but the one doing it, so there is really no reason not to allow it both in SFS and PFS2. I see no good argument against it at all. If you don’t want to do it, then don’t. Pretty simple really. If people want to slow track right from the beginning, I say let them
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I also want to see the slow track option kept, even though I likely won't use it right away; I've used it extensively on characters once they get past their tipping point levels (whatever level the character's build "clicks" at, usually 5th-7th in PF1S). It's helped me control the number of new characters I have to make while stretching out my PCs' PFS careers long enough to develop some kind of attachment to the character as more than a stat block.
Re: the concern about not having enough content if slow track is allowed; my thoughts.
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Personally, I wish 6 xp per level was the default, and then you could slow track on top of that.
(And do not even get me started on modules for quick leveling.)
I would like to think I am a nice person, in general. But when people show up to play 7+ and have no clue how their character actually works, because they have emerald spire’d it, it makes me want to beat them with a rule book.
Please note; I am not referring to optimizing, tactical play, or the like. I’m talking about the simple fundamentals of their character. Like reloading. Or opportune parry and riposte. Or power attack.
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Except, in the case of a pregen, it is acceptable. Someone may be trying a new class, etc. And that is fine. There is no expectation of them knowing the class.
GM credit chars, however, do not get a pass. GM credit or not, if you have not taken the time to understand the character’s basic mechanics, you should not be inflicting it on the table.
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And pregens also provide a way for situations such as the group with players with a lot of level 6 characters as they wanted other folk to be able to play with them. They could pay a 3-7 scenario with the other players using pregens.
I for one am a big fan of slow track. I like lower level play more than higher level. I also like spending more time at lower levels as that lets me get the feel for a characters a bit more. They grow with the play and can make interesting choices early on in their (mechanical) growth.
It isn't for everyone, but it works nicely for me.
I do get that it may mess some boons a little, but given folk now know about slow track, that can be taken into account. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the keep vanity from a module - which to be fair is probably over powered anyway.
Please keep slow track and bring into SFS too.
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I do get that it may mess some boons a little, but given folk now know about slow track, that can be taken into account. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the keep vanity from a module - which to be fair is probably over powered anyway.
There are a couple of boons in SFS so far that could pay out at a lower character level than intended with slow play, but I don't see either of these creating a problem or seeming inappropriate for the number of games played.
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I love slow track and would miss it very much if it went away. I tend to use GM credits to get to level 2 (sometimes 3) and then I play slow track for the rest of that character's career. I really enjoy having a long time over which to get to know and enjoy a character I've made and I'd hate to lose that.
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I use it for a few of my characters.
Situations, in addition to the Ferret's ones that I see it handy:
1: a completionist to try and actually finish off a faction card
2: one boon in particular that you can use in the place of a day job
3: to try and get a series of scenarios in with the same group of characters when one would level out if they went fast track
Honestly in terms of power generation, you are going to be way behind the track of another character with the same number of scenarios, so I don't think it is that much of an issue.
Gold wise, even at high levels, that is 150x3= 450gp a level, which you can easily blow in potions/wand charges etc.
I would understand if PFS2 doesn't do this in season one though. SFS already has an issue with not enough levelled characters to easily get tables for the tier 3-6 scenarios. Folk have been used to having hundreds of scnearios to pick from, so spreading play over multiple characters. And again, that is fine, espcially with a new system as you get a feel for it. But it does mean that there will be a lot more lower level scenarios required to be out there, and allowing slow track in season one will just make that worse.
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I've had to use slow track *a lot* in PFS to try and keep 'thematic storylines' on the same character
Unless the OPT is going to ensure that storylines are able to be completed by a character in reasonable order as well as allow players to complete arcs that they may have 'outleveled' there will always be a spot for 'slow track', imo.
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I am slow tracking my Scarab Sage to accomplish his faction card goals before 12th level.
I have slow tracked my cleric through Dragon's Demand and Plunder and Peril chronicles to avoid shooting up levels without really playing her.
I slow tracked a chronicle of Tears at Bitter Manor to fit both GM credits on a new character.
My players have slow tracked characters on scenarios to prevent their characters from leveling out.
I believe it is a valuable option for players once things really start going in a campaign. It's less useful at the start, of course, but we may as well have it there rather than add it later.