Finding a Balance

[Hmm]

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm having trouble maintaining a balance in my brain between PF2 -- which is constantly changing -- and SFS and PF1.

I'm having trouble keeping them all straight! How do the rest of you maintain a balance between scheduling and GMing in three systems?

Hmm

[BigNorseWolf]

Balance of the crowd. Instead of running one person back and forth accross the see saw sort out different people to hold still. (only works in large groups really)

I'm mostly online these days so the starfinder dms are running starfinder the pfs 1 dms are running pfs 1 and the playtest dms are running the playtest.

[andreww]

I am running a mix of PF1 and Playtest stuff. Largely it is fine as the PF2 playtest rules bear such little similarity to the PF1 ruleset.

[Illeist]

It's honestly exhausting. I'm running all three systems as well, and I have definitely noticed that I'm slower to give rules feedback and that my feedback isn't as reliable when I do. I don't have a great solution besides dropping a system, but I have a lot more freedom to do that than a VO, since you're required to be in the campaign leadership of all three systems.

[Jhaeman]

I dropped out of the playtest, so I just have my regular PFS table and my regular SFS table. I find that having different visual cues (GM screen, dice, dice tray, shirts, etc.) for each system make it easy for me to remember which game I'm running and what the rules are. Plus, I know if I make any mistakes I'll have four or five others at the table instantly correcting me :)

[TriOmegaZero]

I have my VAs schedule tables of each and let GMs sign up for them. So far, I have not had to run anything but PF1.

[Wei Ji the Learner]

I've stepped back from the Playtest for a few reasons, so that's one stressor removed.

I've been prepping more Starfinder of late, and I have a separate GM screen and binders of information for that game versus Pathfinder, so it's relatively easy to keep them apart.

Not saying I wouldn't run both PF1 and SF at a given convention, just that generally speaking I'm trying to fiocus on one or the other.

Having to bounce back and forth between PFSPT and PFS1 at GenCon over eight slots was not an enjoyable experience I would wish on any GM.

It was a valuable learning experience, though!

[Woran]

I do my best.
If I dont know, I ask someone to look it up.
If its not clear and we cant look it up, we go with what is logical. (It was A in PFS, so I assume it would still be A in SFS)
If I get it wrong, I am happy to be corrected. There is still left over 3.5 knowlege, shadowrun rules and other weird bit floating in here. It gets worse when I'm tired (I often call it Dangerous Terrain when I'm tired instead of Difficult Terrain for example).

I just make do. Altough i have minimized playtest stuff as there is only so many phisical games I can do without falling over.

[Ascalaphus]

Starfinder is slowly overtaking P1 in what I do. I'm ambivalent about the playtest, but it hasn't gained much traction here; when I do it it's with the Germans on Roll20. The German-accented ranting in English on Discord when they're not happy about something is quite an experience :P

We still run into the occasional difference between Starfinder and P1, like yesterday when we concluded Starfinder doesn't have rules for aiding AC/to hit in melee because we couldn't find any.

Was there ever a comprehensive List of Differences?

[Quentin Coldwater]

After trying the playtest twice I'm keeping my hands off it. It has potential, but I'd rather see the kinks worked out first before I'm going to try it again. I find Starfinder and Pathfinder 1 similar enough that I don't see much of a problem. There's tiny differences, but so far nothing I can't wrap my head around. I'm also running a 13th Age campaign once a month that's similarly subtly different enough that keeping them separated is an easy task.
Funnily enough, 13th Age is a combination of D&D 3.5 and 4.0, which also has a lot of features that are now found in PF2 as well So the transition from PF1 to PF2 will be less frustrating, I hope.

[JDDyslexia]

For the time being, I'm staying away from the Playtest. By the time I had a chance to get about halfway through the Playtest book I got at GenCon, two errata had already been pushed out by Paizo.

I'm going to wait until at least the new year to dive back into the Playtest and get caught up with the changes that have already been pushed through. I feel like committing myself to learn the playtest system this early is going to do me a disservice when I try to GM for it.

[numbat1]

I thought I was doing ok until I fell behind with the Playtest changes. I am still scrambling to catch up as that is the system I GM the most. This is partly because people keep looking for GMs for it.

It is actually reassuring to know that others are finding it a challenge too. Makes it less of a personal failing.

Even when I am playing rather than GMing, I find myself starting to question things or mix up terms. I need a better mental filing system.

[Kate Baker]

I GMed five different scenarios over all three systems at our Labor Day weekend Con, and I don’t think there is a good way to keep them all straight. Just do your best, and a player will probably let you know if you’ve got something off.

[Hmm]

I've been doing my best, but my mental bandwidth is really narrow right now due to real life stuff. I've made the decision to concentrate on Starfinder for the moment, and pick up Playtest and PF1 again after things settle down. Like Numbat, I was doing fine until the recent Playtest changes, which coincided with the aforementioned real life stuff.

I've decided that I don't need to run it all, or at least not all the time.

:)

Hmm

[pauljathome]

I'm relying to a huge extent on my players to catch me making mistakes.

Sometimes I'll explictly just ask "Uh, in Starfinder does this provoke?".

It was particularly bad when I came back to Starfinder after a 6 week or so hiatus :-(.

Fortunately most of my tables has somebody a little less confused than I am :-). And pretty much EVERYBODY has various books open on various electronic devices so finding an answer to a question is usually pretty quick.

But yeah, it is tiring.

Btw - I hope the Real Life Stuff isn't anything too bad. If appropriate, keep in mind the one True Commandment of Gaming - Real Life Takes Precedence. Always :-)

[CigarPete]

It's the main reason I've avoided GMing PFS2. I will happily learn the system once it's no longer changing, but I don't have time or brain share for three systems, one of which is constantly changing and with an expectation of major change in 9 months.

[RealAlchemy]

I believe that in all three systems balancing is still an acrobatics check.

[Cellion]

I've been following the PF2E Playtest developments pretty closely despite not doing much GMing for that game, and I've noticed that concepts and concerns from 2E are accidentally bleeding into my 1E game. Particularly when it comes to more esoteric rules situations.

Weirdly though, my Starfinder GMing and playing has made its Will save vs. Confusion and I haven't had any issues with the system. Perhaps because its more distinct in my mind? Or maybe its just that its ruleset is a little less complicated in the areas that tended to cause the most trouble? Or maybe its because I GM and play it the most out of all three systems and therefore the rules are always fresh in my mind?

Not sure. But I'm happy that its not causing any problems for now!

---

One thing I've noticed is that with the frequent rules changes for the playtest (and the lack of an online rules database for the system), I'm having a very hard time keeping the rules of that game straight.

[DM Livgin]

I had a wonderful plan: our entire (small) lodge switched over to the Playtest and it has been going great. Except for the local convention this weekend... After running the playtest constantly I'll be GMing at the special, we will see what interesting mistakes I make.