PAC society seasons

[akwhsu]

Hi guys,

I am a relatively latecomer to the PACG scene. Bought the 2nd edition last year and have started going back to the original adventure base sets for more content.

I understand we can purchase pdf files of the card game society seasons and that we can use the class decks. Given the cost of having to buy the class decks, I have a few questions:

1. Do you find that the seasons add content that is good enough to invest time in?

2. If it is worth it, does it matter if I simply use the base set characters rather than the class decks?

I guess the bottom line is - I would like your overall opinion of the seasons. I plan on getting most if not all of the adventure base sets and their adventure expansions, so there will be plenty of 'adventures' to choose from so I don't think replayability will be an issue for us. Cost is also not an issues because the seasons are quite cheap to buy.

Thanks

[Whipstitch]

akwhsu wrote:

1. Do you find that the seasons add content that is good enough to invest time in?

2. If it is worth it, does it matter if I simply use the base set characters rather than the class decks?

I guess the bottom line is - I would like your overall opinion of the seasons. I plan on getting most if not all of the adventure base sets and their adventure expansions, so there will be plenty of 'adventures' to choose from so I don't think replayability will be an issue for us. Cost is also not an issues because the seasons are quite cheap to buy.

Thanks

Congratulations on discovering PACG!

1. It may depend on how much you will play the game. For me, once I'd played the APs (Adventure Paths) included in the box sets, I wanted new game content. To answer your "bottom line", the seasons greatly expand the stories behind the APs, as they have several paragraphs of story text per scenario instead of what can fit on a single card. They will also offer new "cards" (appearing in the pdf, which can be printed and used or just referenced by a proxy, as described in the pdf) and occasionally a new mechanic for play (a new rule for just a single scenario) to jazz things up a bit. All of this make the seasons a worthwhile investment for me.

2. If you are only playing at home, not in Society play (at a gaming store or convention, say), you don't need a class deck. However, class decks not only offer up more characters, but new cards for those characters, which can provide weapons, spells, items, etc. not found in the box sets. This can benefit in one of two ways:
A) You can add class deck cards to the box set while playing with a corresponding class character, allowing new cards to be found during exploration.
B) Having a class deck also provides another variation in play. The experience of playing through an AP using Society rules (upgrades after a scenario come from your class deck rather than keeping the specific cards acquired during play) can be one more variation to add to replay-ability.

It's also worth noting that box set characters are often tooled to the box set in which they appear, and may have powers which are useless or ill-suited to other box sets. This doesn't mean they can't be used in any Adventure you want, it's just that the class deck characters are designed to be a little more universal.

My suggestions:
Just as different players will have different favorite box sets, the same is true for seasons. Share which sets you have, and players may comment which available season for those sets was a favorite. Try a season and experience the difference.
When your ready to think about a class deck or two, go to [url=https://paizo.com/products/btpy914x?Community-Use-Package-Pathfinder-Adventure-Card-Game-Character-Sheets[/url]. You can download a free pdf which has character sheets for all the class decks. You can look them over and see which deck has characters that appeal to you before you buy.
(These sheets are also handy to have to reference your character powers when playing, and you can print them for box set characters, too.)

I hope this helps you!

[akwhsu]

Thanks for the detailed response.

And yes we do play at home with 4 players.

I think I will hold off on the seasons until we have played enough of the base adventure paths, since they are digital so can be obtained anytime.

Really interesting perspective on the class decks. I wish they weren't so expensive. I feel that (for me at least) if I am going to get it, then I might as well get ALL class decks. Seems like a mismatch if only 1 or 2 players get a class deck (and even then they have limited choice if I only get a few) and the rest don't.

[Davor Firetusk]

Some of the older class decks can be found pretty cheap on the secondary market. I got most of mine for about $5-10.

[IronGiant]

akwhsu wrote:

Hi guys,

1. Do you find that the seasons add content that is good enough to invest time in?

2. If it is worth it, does it matter if I simply use the base set characters rather than the class decks?

Thanks

In addition to the other good advice given, I will add that though I like some of the class decks, a better deal is the "Character Add On" decks available with the base sets, since they give more characters to play with and some are really good with their "assigned" box. If you get all the 4 original base sets and their Character Add On decks you'll have enough characters to swap around all 4 of the original base sets. But! I still mix and match characters between boxes and have a great time doing so.

And on the Seasons: totally and completely worth it. You get to reuse your entire box set with new stories and some new banes too. Save a tree, buy a season!

[eddiephlash]

If you have Core and Curse, I strongly recommend season 6. It has some really fun scenarios and gives you new powers that, IMO, fix the Base.

I'd also recommend the Mummy's Mask seasons, Plundered Tombs and Factions Favor as they both really expanded the concepts brought to the MM box set.

If you're still hungry, there are a few one-off scenarios and mini adventures for Core+Curse which are all worth checking out (included in the above links).