Musings of a possible GM

[JaysonFour]

What with the upcoming switchover to PF2, and all the uneasy rumbling it's causing among players, is there still any possible value to wanting to earn my GM's stripes so I can be able to run PF1 Society content? I have a lot of good memories, and now that I finally have a lot of time and a way to run games (online, possibly in person if I can find a blasted table that's big enough), it just seems a waste to let all of these scenarios and adventure paths just sit there and rot.

I mean, there's some 300-odd Society scenarios out there, and piles of Adventure Paths that are good for Society credit. But to hear people say it- "Oh, everybody's played everything already, PF2 is going to kill the game, everyone's playing Starfinder, the sky is falling, etc."- it just makes me second-guess the idea of wanting to learn to run Society games. There are always going to be newbies to the system, and somehow I don't think PF2 is going to kill everything dead quite instantly, so I figure "Why not? At the very least if the PF1 Society closes down, I have a massive, massive pre-made campaign on my hands and I can run people through that- you can't just toss ten years of stuff in the trash... and there will always be people who love PF1 much like there are always people who play 3.5 and can't stand any newer edition because of reasons.

But I'm still kind of antsy about it- it's like, I want to, but is there going to be that much of a player base for it? And are there any plans to release the Pathfinder Society scenarios in bundles of some sort instead of just buying by the individual scenario?

[Ascalaphus]

I can't say what the reaction to PF2 will be for any specific area - some may switch right over, others may keep going on PF1 for a long time, and yet others may do both in parallel for a time.

Online, you can bet PF1 will keep going for quite a while still.

"Is it worth it" - yes. If you have a fun afternoon running a game, then that was a fun afternoon. Regardless of whether you earned points that may or may not mean something half a year later. Just focus on enjoying the GMing itself and it'll all work out :)

[JaysonFour]

I mean, I guess I could always run the scenarios and hand out Chronicle sheets even if the PF1 Society shuts down because it's one heck of a way to keep track of everything- not to mention it would be a really fun way to guide some newbies through ten years of storylines. I mean, you might have to adjust in some places as far as old-school faction missions and the like, but it might just involve a little tweaking to keep things working here and there. I mean, obviously it would take more than one character per player to go and run through everything, even on slow progression.

I mean, I'm not going to get a chance to play a lot of these scenarios and specials and everything, but if I can run them for others, that's a real close second. And maybe it'll finally get me off my rump and into writing some fiction of my own based around an agent or agents of the Society working through each of the seasons.

Is there any specific test I have to take to be able to run a Society scenario, or is it "just pick it up, don't flub it too bad, and get your paperwork sent in on time"?

[Ascalaphus]

There's no test, but there is a rulebook: the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide (quite a mouthful). It explains in more detail how stuff like chronicles work and what the specific rules for organized play are.

You can find it here

[Blake's Tiger]

Online (especially Play-by-Post) is going to have an appetite for PFS1 for a long time.

PFS1 isn't shutting down, so they're still tracking tables (and there are some unrevealed decisions about other thingd). The only thing that is certain is no more PFS1 scenarios.

If you want a gentle introduction into GMing, particularly PbP GMing, the Flaxseed Lodge holds GM School periodically.

[JaysonFour]

I'll look up when the GM school next meets, then! I was thinking about primarily running PbP games, but you never know if the interest is there for a table IRL. I mean, there's a university close by that has a game night every Friday that I might be able to get a table together at during the school year, and there's more than one friendly local game shop in the area that has open gaming tables I may be able to get a session at, too.

[Elinnea]

My advice: if you're eager to try GMing PF1 society scenarios, just do it, and ignore the hand-wringing and cries of despair from the forums. (Okay, I exaggerate. Maybe.) Don't let it get you down, and play what you want to play. You seem like a motivated person, and if you're excited about what you want to run, you'll probably be able to get some players excited too. I just started PFS a year or two ago, so the vast majority of the scenarios I don't know anything about. That's a lot of content that I'd love to explore, and I'm sure there are others out there like me.

Also yes, the pbp community will definitely have an audience for PF1 for a long time to come. You're quite welcome to join us at the Flaxseed Lodge!

[Xathos of Varisia]

Some are incessantly whining about change because they just hate the idea of change. Here's how it is going to work.

If you want to play a game, you need a GM. If the GMs are offering PF2, you either play PF2, or you don't play at all, or you whine about no one offering PF1 and only offering PF2 and still don't play.

Personally, I'm sick of the whiners. I run a lot of games online. I think it's fair to say I'll be running PF1 and PF2 for some time, but over time most of my games will end up being PF2 as the content comes out. If people want to play PF1 only, then they can learn to GM the PF1 games. If not, then see above.

I think most players will play both editions and be happy to play a game whether it's PF1 or PF2.

If you run the sessions, they will come.

[GM Hmm]

The Lady in Red steps into the room, looks around, and offers Jayson her hand. "If you want to GM PBP, come and join us. I know you'll be fabulous."

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Flaxseed Lodge will host 1e so long as there are players and GMs for it. Heck, we still host core games. If you click my avatar, you can find out quite a bit about the Play-by-Post community. If you wish to GM, go do it! We're looking forward to having you come join us.

Hmm
Venture Captain,
PBP -- Online

[Redgar's ACG Characters]

For what it is worth, the last couple of days there have been players eager for PF-01 online GM Pick Up Games. (On the Discord, pfschat.com, for games played on Roll20). I think there will be a demand for scenarios to be run.

[Richard Lowe]

As Redgar notes, we get usually at least 3-5 brand new players a week asking about starting out playing Pathfinder or Starfinder Society on the Organised Play Discord server, there's plenty of players and plenty of GMs (we average 3-4+ games a day generally between pre-planned and pick up games).

Be it play by post or virtual tabletop (like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds) there will be tons of 1e content online for the foreseeable future, there's plenty of scenarios and with all the APs recently sanctioned and those soon to be there's even more opportunity for people who are interested to play in campaigns as well.

I'm sure there will be a lot of PF2 being run as well, but from what most of our GMs have said that will be in addition, frankly it's a great time to jump in as it sounds like the number of games is just going to keep growing, regardless of what format or version you prefer!

[JaysonFour]

I'm looking at both PbP and Roll20 to run some games on. I'll need a bit to figure out just how to get the blasted maps to snap to screen on it, but otherwise the interface looks pretty darn easy to run with. Once I hammer out the details and am not a complete newbie with the Roll20 system, I want to start running some Society games there- preferably starting from Season 0 and working my way on up: I mean, I remember when I played 'Murder on the Throaty Mermaid' at Marmalade Dog and I had an absolute blast- that's the kind of excitement I want to bring to the table. (I mean, cripes, that scenario is a fixture at M.D., seems like there's always at least one table of it.)

I downloaded the free Quests and the free First Steps module off the Paizo store, and I still have a gift certificate for ten bucks, so I figure I'll hang onto that until either I get my feet under me and need to start picking up paid scenarios (where else can you get a month's worth of adventures for the price of a pizza; and let's face it, the local pizza joint has been dropping the ball a lot lately- inedible frisbees come to mind), or for GM School if I need to pick up a scenario for that.

And yeah, there will be a lot of PF2 run, and I expect I'll give it a shot once it has its legs under it (and I have the $$$ for a copy of the Player's Guide)- and Starfinder, too. But I can grab and run PF1 scenarios and adventure paths and run those while I wait, heh.

[BigNorseWolf]

JaysonFour wrote:

I'm looking at both PbP and Roll20 to run some games on. I'll need a bit to figure out just how to get the blasted maps to snap to screen on it

How to make a roll 20 table has a section on that complete with pictures and the magic chant

close enough for state work.. close enough for state work...

Quote:

but otherwise the interface looks pretty darn easy to run with. Once I hammer out the details and am not a complete newbie with the Roll20 system, I want to start running some Society games there-

Eyup. Definitely take the time to PLAY some games on roll 20 before trying to dm it. The DM is going to do a bunch of things that may seem weird.

getting started on roll 20

[Whisperer in Darkness]

so if you go back and read the pre-PF1 release chat it's not kind on the whole. Thus I am prone to believe that with the time and expertise put in on the project PF2 won't be a klunker. However, PF1 really needed the APG. Thus time will tell and probably the first supplement will iron some things out.
I'd say roll with the tide. It is just a game and PF1 will be there as a safety net. GM stars will persist as will reporting AND GM stars are good on rerolls and GM boons. We know replays are going to go up on average as new content stops (that's only sensible).

Online games are easier to form up than brick&mortar hosted games. The format is not as engaging as it's just chat and a map (all the body language is gone). I'd start simple or play some until you are comfortable with the setup. And then there are scripts...

[Hmm]

VTT still has voices and clever players who describe what they are doing.

PBP has amazing body-language -- it's more in depth than live play, and incredibly addictive as well.

Live play and PBP both tell great stories, but one is like seeing the movie and the other is like reading the book!

Hmm

[GM Blake]

Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:

PBP has amazing body-language -- it's more in depth than live play, and incredibly addictive as well.

So addicted!

I have two young children and work half of the weekends each year, so convincing my wife to let me abandon her with the kids on the weekends that I'm off is a negotiation, but I can play PbP in my spare time whenever that time might be or while letting the baby crawl around the study floor with her toys.

[Wicked Brew]

Could not agree more with HMM and GM Blake. Not only do I find myself way more immersed in my character and story in PBP, but it fits into my schedule nicely. I just do not have time to devout 4-5 hours to a game, but PBP is a perfect way to play without having to sacrifice a chunk of time. Not to mention this PBP community is just the best RPG community I have ever been a part of in my (gulp) 35 + years of gaming.

[Whisperer in Darkness]

There are different styles and each is enjoyable in what it has to offer. I've done PBP and it's okay but you do need to have some patience and enjoy reading threads and some creative writing talent. As with most writing, the various reader's interpretations will vary <grin>. conundrum of joy and frustration: that's what you wrote, not necessarily what you meant. and alas, GMs have to hunt for the crunch in the fluff, heheheee, and that takes special blinders.

[Partizanski]

PBP is something that has intrigued me for a long time, but every guide I find feels like it only tells me half the story of what I need to get started, and its hard to put it all together.

[TriOmegaZero]

Much like GMing in person, it's a learned skill. Join in as a player, watch how it flows, read previously run games, and then put what works for you into practice.

[Wicked Brew]

Totally agree with that. Also, don't be afraid to take the plunge. Hop on a game over at Flaxseed and dive in. I think you will find your fellow players will be helpful, patient and make sure you have best experience possible.

[Tim Emrick]

It's definitely worth still playing and running PF1 scenarios! I started playing PFS about 2.5 years ago, just recently hit the 30-scenario mark to earn my 2nd GM star, and have played at or run over 100 PFS tables. That still leaves a vast number of scenarios that I haven't experienced yet, especially at the higher tiers. (I got my first PC to Seeker tier late last year, but haven't had a chance to play him at that level yet.)

Among the regulars at our FLGS, a couple of them (like the store owner, who's a 5-star GM) have been playing PFS a very long time, and so have some trouble finding scenarios they haven't played outside of each brand-new season. The majority of us, however, still have a ton of stuff to choose from.

Besides the twice-a-week games at the store, PFS has allowed many of us to have a home game when we wouldn't otherwise. When my homebrew PF campaign was on a long hiatus last year, most of my players hadn't yet tried PFS. We started up a PFS home game so that we could still get in our gaming fix. Everyone got hooked on it, so ever since my campaign resumed, we've alternated that game with PFS scenarios run by other members of the group, and all of them are now regulars at the store's games. In addition, a couple of my players have started playing occasional PFS sessions with an online RPG group they're part of. Another player has started running PFS scenarios for a new group of friends he's made, at least one of whom is new to RPGs.

[Qstor]

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Much like GMing in person, it's a learned skill. Join in as a player, watch how it flows, read previously run games, and then put what works for you into practice.

I totally agree. If you play some PbP you'll get a better hang of it. Plus there's guides about GMing Pbp to help. If you get a chance to play with a great Pbp GM that will help too. I know some don't care for it cause a scenario can take like 2 months but if you make a new character say just for Pbp you can not worry about having that character available for say local IP games.

I can't justify sitting in front of a computer for 6 to 7 hours for a "live" online game. That's why I like Pbp as a GM and player, you can jump back in when your daily schedule allows.

Tim Emrick wrote:

Besides the twice-a-week games at the store, PFS has allowed many of us to have a home game when we wouldn't otherwise. When my homebrew PF campaign was on a long hiatus last year, most of my players hadn't yet tried PFS.

I find that some of our players in our area are GMs who use PFS as a chance to play. Plus I know with home games sometimes the players schedules get in the way.

[Richard Lowe]

Mike McKeown wrote:

I can't justify sitting in front of a computer for 6 to 7 hours for a "live" online game. That's why I like Pbp as a GM and player, you can jump back in when your daily schedule allows.

I would just like to add that the majority of VTT games will take nowhere near that long, we aim to have them run the same as an irl game would do, so you'll more typically see 3-5 hours for a game online (though I totally understand that this can still be too much for some people, which is why PbP is so fantastic!).

[Watery Soup]

With the caveat that I am not a PFS GM but like you considering joining, let me share my thoughts.

JaysonFour wrote:

is there still any possible value to wanting to earn my GM's stripes ...?

It depends on what "value" you're looking for. I think GMs get some kind of reward (experience, boons), and if that's the value you're looking for, I would read what would happen to those rewards when PFS goes to PF2. I don't personally know nor am I sure if anyone knows.

But for me, the big value is in just learning what some of the expectations are and having a forum to practice being a better GM. I predict over the next ten years I will GM more for my friends or kids in games that may or may not resemble PF1, but I certainly would appreciate the experience of sitting down with 6 semi random people and seeing if I can create some fun.

Secondary value to me is in giving back. Several times my games have scrounged for a GM and it would be nice to at least have the option of volunteering to break the logjam. And the more game systems you're familiar with, the more versatility you have. As a side note, I'll point out that I saw a non-zero number of D&D 3.5 games being offered at a local convention recently.

Quote:

But to hear people say ...

Who cares what people say?

Go GM the games you like. And if you like a wide variety of games, even cooler beans. It's not like once you become a PF1 GM you're going to be stuck with that choice forever.

Or maybe you'll hate PF2 and at GenCon 2032 you'll end up GMing a throwback PF1 "remember when alchemists couldn't make their heads explode" session.