Changes Are A'Coming and Gen Con Volunteers Still Needed!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

There are some big changes in store for the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, beginning in Season 5—the Year of the Demon. We highlighted a few of them in a sneak peak on the Know Direction podcast last night but we also wanted to make sure those who did not listen to it were aware of the changes.

Campaign Announcements

Below are a few of the changes we wanted to bring to light that are coming down the pipe in the next few months, culminating at Gen Con in August.

• We are removing two factions from the campaign as character choices. The first to be phased out will be the Lantern Lodge faction. When Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-21: Way of the Kirin is released in late May, members of the faction will get to participate first-hand in the culmination of their faction's plot. At PaizoCon in early July, Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-23: Rivalry's End will similarly conclude the Shadow Lodge faction's involvement at a PC organization in the campaign. Members of each retiring faction will receive a special boon in their respective retirement scenario exclusive only to members of the affiliated faction.
  
  Members of eliminated factions will be able to join one of the eight remaining factions at no cost of Prestige Points, and must do so by August 14, 2013. Characters will be able to keep faction-specific traits, boons, vanities, and prestige awards received while members of the Lantern Lodge and Shadow Lodge, with one exception. The "no one left behind" prestige award found in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide will no longer be available for play.
  
  
• There will be a fundamental change in how faction missions work in scenarios. The biggest change is that individual scenarios will no longer provide faction mission handouts except in rare circumstances. Scenarios will be written with the Pathfinder Society's goals in mind first and foremost, and many will also involve the specific interests of one or more, much like Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-11: The Disappeared and Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-13: Fortress of the Nail involved the entire society working toward a goal that had special significance to members of the Cheliax faction. Choices and successes will matter and we are instituting additional reporting conditions that will allow us to help the player base shape not only the future direction of the campaign, but also the fundamental beliefs and directions of their own factions.
  
  
• We are reviewing a change in wealth earned in scenarios, specifically regarding characters playing outside their designated subtier. We have several ideas in mind and are requesting feedback from the player base to find the best solution to the problem. We encourage anyone interested in participating in this process to visit the paizo.com messageboards to add your input to the discussion.
  
  
• We want to ensure the community is aware that we will continue to sanction past Pathfinder Adventure Paths over the coming months. The next to be released for sanctioned play will be the Skulls & Shackles Adventure Path, and the current plan is to continue working backward in order of release until all APs released under the Pathfinder RPG rules are legal for Pathfinder Society credit. In addition, we will continue to sanction future releases of APs when we can and when it makes sense for the campaign. We are currently reviewing the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path to see if it is possible to sanction an adventure path that relies heavily on the use of the new Mythic rules scheduled to release at Gen Con.
  
  
• Finally, we are revamping the format of the Chronicle sheets awarded for reading novels in our Pathfinder Tales fiction line. Instead of providing a distinct Chronicle sheet for each individual novel, we will begin releasing Chronicle sheets that cover four novels. Each new Chronicle sheet will release with the first novel of a four-book series, and contain information on the three novels that will be released later in the year. Each novel with have a boon or unique item tied specifically to the flavor or location of that novel. A player who brings a copy of a novel to a Pathfinder Society game along with the associated Chronicle sheet gains access to the novel's boon, and can apply that boon to any of her characters. When a GM has initialed all four novels on a single Chronicle sheet, the player can select one of the four boon as a permament or reusable boon which she can assign assign to one of her characters.

The first of these new-format Chronicle sheets will cover Liar's Blade, Pirate's Honor, Wizard's Mask, and King of Chaos, and should be available in the next few weeks. We'll release a new Chronicle sheet shortly after Gen Con to cover the next batch of four novels coming out later in 2013 and early 2014.

Gen Con Volunteer Update

Speaking of Gen Con, I still have a few volunteer positions left to fill. I have a small number of tables remaining that need Pathfinder Society GMs, including one Tier 1 GM spot left to fill. So, if you need free crash space at a hotel, a free 4-day badge, paizo.com store credit, four free GM-exclusive goblin t-shirts, a copy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures hardcover, and a special GM boon that alternatively opens the grippli as a legal character race or grants you a one-time complete character rebuild, please email me. This spot is likely to go fast!

Additionally, I have just been allocated two additional hotel rooms at the Omni for volunteers interested in running Pathfinder Adventure Card Game demos in the Paizo booth during exhibit hall hours. If you are looking for a share of a free hotel room, a free 4-day badge, as well as paizo.com store credit, your choice of a copy of the Mythic Adventures hardcover or the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and four purple volunteer goblin shirts, please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com. I have enough room for eight such volunteers for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.

As always, we look forward to trying to create the best organized play experience we can for all of you. Please head over to the Pathfinder Society messageboards and let us know what you think. Thanks again for being the best fan base any gaming company could ask for.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play Part XV: Spread the wisdom of Tian Xia within the Inner Sea

Monday, June 27, 2011

While the Pathfinder Society makes its home in the Grand Lodge of Absalom, its membership comes from and travels to all corners of the known world. Outside the Inner Sea region, one of the highest concentrations of Pathfinders is on the continent of Tian Xia, and specifically in the metropolitan city of Goka. Most Tian Pathfinders operate independently of their brethren in Absalom, but occasionally agents cross the Crown of the World, make the treacherous naval voyage south around Casmaron, or simply teleport to travel between the two hubs of activity. The Lantern Lodge represents Tian interests in the Inner Sea region, ensuring that Pathfinder Society agents far to the east of the Decemvirate’s direct view are considered in organization-wide affairs.

When we first announced the forthcoming Jade Regent Adventure Path, one of the first questions to pop up on the Pathfinder Society forums was whether the campaign would be going to this distant land. The answer is undoubtedly yes, my loyal Pathfinders, but we won't be abandoning years of development in the Inner Sea region; the campaign is still going to be based out of Absalom.

But we've got Asian-influenced archetypes in Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat, and the new ninja and samurai alternate classes in the latter, so we needed to find a way to justify these characters existing in the Inner Sea region, and explain why we hadn't seen them around before. The simplest solution was to introduce a branch of Pathfinders focused on Tian Xia or from there, who may have just recently set up a presence in Absalom.

Thus, the Lantern Lodge was born. Headed by a Gokan venture-captain named Amara Li, the Lantern Lodge represents Tian interests in the Inner Sea and promotes cooperation between Pathfinders on both sides of the world. Whether the Lantern Lodge provides a home away from home to natives of Goka, Minkai, Nagajor, or the fractured Successor States of Imperial Lung Wa while they venture into Avistan and Garund on their own explorations, or whether it provides resources for Pathfinders from the Inner Sea region who want to experience the wonders of Tian Xia, the Lantern Lodge has an important role to play within the Pathfinder Society as a whole.

At this point, there are no plans to add Tian Xia-based PC races to the campaign, but those who want to play a ninja, samurai, or exiled Tian noble now have a faction whose missions fit their flavor, all within the context of the Pathfinder Society as a whole. Instead of swearing allegiance to a country thousands of miles from their homeland, they can remain loyal to the lands that birthed them on the other side of the Wall of Heaven mountains.

Two new factions down, three to go! Next week, we'll look at the Sczarni, the loosely organized Varisian criminal network, and see how they fit in with the Pathfinder Society. What could these two organizations possibly have to gain from allying with one another? Find out next week—same path-time, same path-channel.

Mark Moreland
Developer