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So I've been looking to play some PFS adventures to get more experience playing 2nd edition and I've noticed a lot of games listed on Warhorn that aren't linked to a convention.
Does anyone play in these games and know the etiquette for joining them? Do you just sign up and go for it?
Also if you do play PFS adventures online how do tracking of certs and like usually get handled online? Or character sheets? Do people tend to just act on trust or do they expect people to have character sheets loaded into roll20 or the like?
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Hi Morgen,
There are tons of games run online, and most are listed on Warhorn. I'll briefly sketch out what you might find there.
* Organized Play Online (OPO) Region games which are often listed on Warhorn and are announced via the Online Region discord (http://pfschat.com)
* Local lodges who have switched to online play and organize via warhorn
* Local lodges who haven't switched to online play and organize via warhorn
* Individual GMs who organize via warhorn for their own thing, not directly tied to any lodge (they'd fall under the OPO lodge if they're playing online)
For OPO games, you should definitely join the discord. There are other communities (Glasscannon Podcast, Roll For Combat Podcast community, Cosmic Critmanders, etc) who cross-post.
For local lodges, some have always used Warhorn for signups, and now they're switched to online play. Typically they'll be happy to have people walk in, but often times you'll get a few strange looks if you don't say Hi first. I'd join their event and then message the organizer and ask if they'd welcome a player from outside their local lodge. It's a bit funny with COVID and wandering in. Personally, when I travel and I'm free I try to hit-up the local lodges. Have played with four random lodges that way.
Tl, dr: Join the event and message the organizer.
Venture-Agent, Online—VTT
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Regarding character sheets, if you are not loading into a Roll sheet (not everyone will require you to), you should still at least have a scanned or PDF form if the character sheet so that it can be provided if it us desired. That being said, taking a little bit if tI'm to fill a VTT sheet is good, as it can make it easier for GMs to use tools like macros for secret checks.
Chronicles are generally emailed as PDFs. It has become fairly common practice for a lot of online games to send players a link to a sign in sheet with fields for everything that goes on a chronicle, in order to make the chronicle sheet as complete as possible when it's sent out, and avoid excess file versions.
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Right now, in Omaha, we are getting a lot of Online players joining our tables. Anyone is welcome to join our Warhorn group and sign-up for any table they would like to be on.
All we ask that everyone follow the Prime Rule of Organized Play: Don't be a jerk.
And to pickup on what HammerJack said, you will find that having the character sheet filled out for the VTT will make things go so much smoother. I know it is a pain but once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast.
Venture-Captain, Missouri—Columbia
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Not all GMs post their games on Warhorn. Some of us use a Google doc in order to gather the information to fill out Chronicle Sheets, determine challenge points for the appropriate subtiers, and to reserve a seat at the game. Those of us who do this post our games in the Org Play Online Discord looking4game_vtt_pfs2 forum.
I highly recommend making that server one of your top destinations for looking for PFS2 games.
I am going to speak for my sessions on Roll20, so this only concerns those.
While you do not have to load character sheets into Roll20 (actually, you can't), you can fill out a character sheet using the Official Roll20 Second Edition Character Sheet. That is very useful for game play as it is really a GUI for making your dice rolls in the games. There are macros which are built into that sheet. You do not have to use the sheet, but my experience in running dozens of Roll20 sessions has shown me that new players have little problems with using the sheet. There are ways to do macros yourself and you can do so, but I strongly recommend using the sheet at first.
I work off the trust factor. You want to trust me and I want to trust you. If either of us were to break the trust, that's not a good thing. So if we both act in good faith with one another, we will both benefit from that act as will everyone else at the tables. I have never had to worry about the trust being broken at my tables. The main point is to have fun and when we are all having a blast, that's a great thing.
So hope to see you online!
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Just the other day I finally converted my last pen-and-paper character to entirely digital, since I don't plan on gaming in person for at least the rest of this year.
Scanned all of my Chronicles, lumped characters together by folders on Google Drive, set up character spreadsheets that make copying/pasting easier and quicker.
It can be a daunting task if you have a LOT of characters, but once you're done, I'm already finding it easier than lugging around an accordion file folder of papers.
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Just sign up and go. You probably want to hop on whatever discord or other group is associated with the warhorn, to have as little as possible to do before the game
Most games are on roll 20, I have a Newbies guide to roll 20 here. (Currently undergoing a bit of revision. Pardon the mess)
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Etiquette question: If an Internet Rando (someone outside your geographical area and having no personal connection to the local Lodge) signs up to a full game, is that viewed positively ("Oh, cool, someone found our Lodge!") or negatively ("They're taking a space from one of us!")?
I haven't done it for practical reasons (I live on the US West Coast, so most games start at inconvenient hours), but I always wonder how it would be perceived.
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I am that Internet Rando. I've been playing in games across the country, Canada and the UK.
But I always check out the Warhorn description, first. I ran across one early on that asked for locals only, and so I avoid that one.
But if you're setting up your Warhorn for the world to view, you must be fine with the world joining your games.
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Personal Opinion:
There are pluses and minuses.
It's fun to have visitors but it is a strain on resources. Having played with us a few times (and generally having a positive experience) you know we put a lot of effort into community building.
Randoms stopping by just because our schedule happens to be convenient for them once doesn't quite do the same thing. That said even the stranger at the gate is due hospitality and some of them have been quite pleasant.
What we did have an ongoing problem was people signing up the day of an event and then no-call/no-showing. It got annoying enough that I set VPC's Warhorn to not auto-clear, and instead I manually clear people pretty quickly except for event days. On several occasions I've gotten an email from players who've signed up the day of in which case I clear them. That's largely solved that problem.
The people who have taken the time to email me have been extremely pleasant and I would be happy to have them again.
So my opinion is go for it, but send a quick email too and be polite. People have always been incredibly helpful and generous when I've physically traveled.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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If you do hope around like that, it rather behooves you to GM a game or two for any lodge you visit more than once so that you *aren't* a strain on their resources..
The exception would be if you were making a third or a fourth on a table, in which case that is more a matter of doing them a favor.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I've been the rando that drops in on a local game uninvited, and after a few times found that I don't like how weird that feels. But when you're on the OPO server, you see a lot of GMs posting invitations to fill up a few more seats for a game, and then you know that it's totally okay to come, because you have in fact been invited :)
So maybe I'm missing out on some games now because I don't sign up for some local lodges that might be perfectly willing to have me, but don't show it clearly - but I already get plenty of gaming in, so that's okay.
Online conventions are quite plentiful, and then you also know that you're welcome. Also, answering the occasional call to GM something is a nice way of paying it forward. That's how I've ended up GMing at conventions all across the world multiple times per month.
All in all, I think if you're stopping to ask "what's the etiquette" you're already a long way towards being polite and considerate.
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Etiquette question: If an Internet Rando (someone outside your geographical area and having no personal connection to the local Lodge) signs up to a full game, is that viewed positively ("Oh, cool, someone found our Lodge!") or negatively ("They're taking a space from one of us!")?
I haven't done it for practical reasons (I live on the US West Coast, so most games start at inconvenient hours), but I always wonder how it would be perceived.
I wouldn't use the term "Rando". It just sounds bad.
But we view others who join our tables in Omaha as the first, "Oh, cool, someone found our Lodge!". I personally like full tables and not all of our local player base has moved to online for whatever reason.
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I am that Internet Rando. I've been playing in games across the country, Canada and the UK.
But I always check out the Warhorn description, first. I ran across one early on that asked for locals only, and so I avoid that one.
But if you're setting up your Warhorn for the world to view, you must be fine with the world joining your games.
Yeah, you signed up on our Warhorn! Now just need to join a table! :)
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Venture-Agent, Online—VTT
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The one other etiquette thing that comes to mind is that it's always good practice to show up a few minutes early. Aside from the normal business of people getting settled and ready, that we always have, online game do sometimes have some technical difficulties to sort out (someone's audio isn't working, for example) and having a chance to knock those out without getting started late is always helpful.
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We've talked about it in our local lodge's VO meetings, and so far we've been happy to have visitors. A few time slots have 'regulars' who almost always attend, but its not locked to them, and we typically offer each new scenarios 3-4x a month, so even if a visitor gets there first, the locals don't miss out. (And if they did, which hasn't happened yet, I'd just run an extra session, and might have to reach out on the OPO discord to fill if its been played out locally. I'm not seeing it as a problem.)
Now if the percentage of visitors starts to be more than roughly 25% and we are seeing more locals unable to get tables, we'd look into the 'local only preregistration window' but its a fair bit of work juggling tags every month and we'd like to avoid that.
I agree with Hammerjack, about non-regular players at the lodge trying to show up a couple minutes earlier than usual. Every lodge has slightly different norms around how sign-in sheets are handled, etc and making sure you're not slowing the group down as we're trying to start, will always help give a good impression.
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Yeah, you signed up on our Warhorn! Now just need to join a table! :)I am that Internet Rando. I've been playing in games across the country, Canada and the UK.
But I always check out the Warhorn description, first. I ran across one early on that asked for locals only, and so I avoid that one.
But if you're setting up your Warhorn for the world to view, you must be fine with the world joining your games.
Baby steps ^_^
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It's important to be cognizant of the impact a large influx of new players might have on a small community. It's great to see new people, but being empathetic about communities dealing with change goes a long way.
Be prepared to show up early, provide digital assets like purchased boons, ITS, character sheet, and character avatars EARLY, and follow community protocols and Paizo behavior standards.
And PLEASE read the Warthorn about page for whatever event you sign up for. Some events have important info on their listing page or considerations for new community members. It's YOUR job, as a visitor, to play the game using the technologies chosen by the GM/community and to respect any other community rules that fall within the purview of legal PFS play.
All of this is just common sense courtesy and it shows you care — much like respecting someone's rules when you visit their house.
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I too have been dropping in on some non-local online games. Most have been very welcoming. The only issue I have experienced was caused by the organizer actually being too welcoming. I had signed up on a wait-list for a game that already had 2 tables full, on the off chance someone would back out. The organizer decided he needed to accommodate outside visitors to their lodge, and he and one of the other organizers decided to drop out of their games so that I and another "Rando" could join. This required them to rearrange tables so that groups had closely matching levels. This, in turn, caused several locals who had wanted to play at the same table to get split up, and the drama began. While I appreciated the generosity, I did not ask for, nor expect it. I signed up on a wait list hoping, but not expecting to play and would not thought bad of anyone if I couldn't get in. I did not want to be the cause of such drama. So, in this case, I would recommend that, while being accommodating to outside visitors is important, it should not override being accommodating to your local playgroup.
I too also recommend 'giving back,' by offering to GM games online, especially if you frequent certain online groups.
One thing I will note is to be cognizant of the fact that, because we no longer have the visual cues to see someone is about say something, people talking over each other will frequently occur.
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Etiquette question: If an Internet Rando (someone outside your geographical area and having no personal connection to the local Lodge) signs up to a full game, is that viewed positively ("Oh, cool, someone found our Lodge!") or negatively ("They're taking a space from one of us!")?
I explicitly tell the GM that I'm an interloper and I will drop if there are locals on the wait list. My goal is to grab an open seat, not to displace anyone. So far I've played 3 out of 3 times, so it has been a safe bet ;-)
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I wouldn't use the term "Rando". It just sounds badHow so? Is there a euphemism I am unaware of?
I play Xbox and Rando is used to indicate someone who you don't know and maybe is not a good player so be ready to kick them. Another term is "blueberry".
I wouldn't use the term "Rando". It just sounds bad.Cyberdrifter? E-hobo? Web-based transient? Online vagabond?
Welcome guest.
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I play Xbox and Rando is used to indicate someone who you don't know and maybe is not a good player so be ready to kick them. Another term is "blueberry".I wouldn't use the term "Rando". It just sounds badHow so? Is there a euphemism I am unaware of?
LOL. I'm not sad about having missed the whole movement towards online play on gaming consoles. The last time I played Xbox, it was just me plus three friends in a room yelling profanities at each other. Only my close friends get to make unsubstantiated accusations about my parentage.
"Internet Guest" or "Internet Visitor" it is.
(In case it's not clear, I was totally kidding with my suggestions. I didn't mean to imply anything and I really did just want to know what the most polite way to join another group was.)