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Post by mrmoulder on May 27, 2015 7:39:48 GMT -8
Heya Jackers
I just found a local gaming club, having played with my friends for 20+years, Im up for some new eyes and ears, and as I almost always GM, it would be nice to scratch that payer itch I feel now and again..
However they play PFS, I have played PF but not PFS before so I know the rules etc. I have become somewhat of a wrench thrower, thank you Happy Jacks Podcast.
My questions are:
1. Is the adventure paths railroadie..is it possible to step off the rails, ofcause the story must be finished in 4-5 hours, but that should be possible anyway..
2. What are the criteria for completing an adv.path, just accomplish the goal (steal the key) or do it have to be (go to city, talk to Blacknosed Bob, get permission from Bobs mom to go to the mines, fight the goblins, get the missing hair come for bobs mom...fight..get...fight...get the key-> win)
3. could it be possible to run a PFS as a normal game (read the adventure, take the main plot and just run with it?)
Best
Mex
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Post by lowkeyoh on May 27, 2015 8:58:08 GMT -8
The premise of PFS is that you are adventurers that work for a guild called the Pathfinders Society. The mission starts with you getting an assignment that you need to accomplish. Because of this, the missions are railroady. Here's what you need to do, go do it. There's little to gain from stepping off the rails for several reasons. One, you don't get to keep any loot you find. Two, a lot of modules are linear in nature, so lateral wandering doesn't get you closer to the goal. Three, a lot of locations are exotic and there's not a lot of people around or things to interact with.
The level of railroadyness is going to depend on the GM but the path is set and you'll be progressing though the encounters usually in order. You are discouraged from skipping encounters because you earn gold based on completed encounters and not for the total adventure. If you skip fighting the witch in the spooky hut by sneaking past it that's fine, but you just lost out on part of your total rewards.
Each adventure path is different but it's usually 'go get this' and on the way you get into a fight on the path, a fight in the abandoned monastery, and a fight in the vault. There are roleplaying and puzzle solving encounters that are worth gold but a majority of the encounters are fights.
Yes you absolutely could run PFS as a normal game with or without modification. There are a ton of fantastic modules in PFS with beautiful maps and cool plots. Any one of them could be the start of a campaign.
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Post by the0gekko0state on May 27, 2015 9:07:29 GMT -8
I played in one game of PFS so I can sort of answer. Also there is a rule book on the paizo website that has rules specific for PFS play. Some character creation rules and things like that.
1. It's pretty railroady but I think with a good GM they can get pretty off the rails just like any game. All depends on the players. I played in one where we had to go into a underground vault and find some info. So it was pretty railroady.
2. There was a set goal and a sort of timeline for the one I played. But I remember looking at ones on the paizo website and thought that they might play as just a regular adventure. The goal in ours was to infiltrate a library of a secret group and then find the secret entrance to an underground dungeon. Then it was a dungeon crawl. Also had to make it back out with out anyone seeing us and leave.
3. You totally could! All the adventures are available on paizo's website. I thought about picking a couple up to play with friends. There are some that link to form longer adventures.
A word of caution, just from my experience, it attracts all kinds of people. Good and bad. Unfortunately the game I played in was really a father and son/ daughter game. With a random 10 year old and a old veteran. But it can be worth it. I've heard of really good experiences too.
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Post by mrmoulder on May 28, 2015 5:46:09 GMT -8
Thx for the answers...
Just been looking on char gen...OMG there is a lot...an actual shit ton of material ( haven't played pf for 3 years)
Might reconsider, just because of all the rules/limitations .
I imagine the power creep is still out of porpotions?
Also I was wondering if it was allowed by pfs to go of the rails, as long as the goal was achieved and the bad guys defeated??
I have a feeling this is ending up as always...Im gonna GM another game...
Best MM
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Post by the0gekko0state on May 28, 2015 8:53:47 GMT -8
Yeah Paizo has been pushing stuff out every year. Two - three hard covers and tons of splats. I haven't kept up with it either, other than knowing what's been released. I bought the hero lab character builder and just used the core book, which is all it comes with at entry level, which is good as well. It is a "who can build the best character" kind of thing.
I think you can go off the rails but only so much. I think as long as the goal is reached it shouldn't be a problem.
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Post by squeatus on May 30, 2015 11:14:58 GMT -8
Thx for the answers... Just been looking on char gen...OMG there is a lot...an actual shit ton of material ( haven't played pf for 3 years) Might reconsider, just because of all the rules/limitations . I think they just released a second version of Society play which permits the use of only the Core Rulebook. I'm not sure if it's in response to the relative simplicity of 5E organized play, or if it's recognizing that it's hard to introduce new players when you start with a 600 page rulebook and add on about another 15000 pages in material that is all errata'ed to hell....and that if you'd like to run a game, you need to be aware of all of it.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Jun 7, 2015 6:05:58 GMT -8
I would not want to be the GM who has to wrangle all of that material. I would definitely want Core book only at my table. But I'm also just not into becoming that intensely versed in PF rules. I've seen some society games be a lot of fun others are annoying rule/munchkin fest slogs. Always nice to give a new group a try. What's the worst that could happen...
We await your gaming nightmare.
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jaiden0
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 131
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Post by jaiden0 on Feb 1, 2016 12:23:53 GMT -8
I played PFS at a con and it was fun. Yes it's got rails, but so does every con game. I see it as methadone for RPG fans. it's better than nothing, and maybe you can meet some good players/GMs you want to invite over to do the hard stuff.
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Post by mrmoulder on Feb 1, 2016 13:24:11 GMT -8
I gave up...after finding 358 books, where only this was allowed if your char. was alive in 1. Edition, and then only if he had purple hair...bla bla...
It is an insane amount of rules, exceptions to rules, splat books, you need to be partial familia With..to much for me!!
But hey if you enjoy it...power to you..
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Post by Bill Roper on Feb 1, 2016 15:03:39 GMT -8
I am going to do my duty as a host and play in a Pathfinder Society game at the upcoming con so I can actually speak to the subject with some personal experience. I made a 1st level Swashbuckler character and I even have my Pathfinder ID card, so I guess I'll see how it all goes. I'm NOT going to be changing my role=playing style, so it will be interesting to see how the GM/system handles someone who is interested in character development and not just loot!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2016 22:42:41 GMT -8
I am going to do my duty as a host and play in a Pathfinder Society game at the upcoming con so I can actually speak to the subject with some personal experience. I made a 1st level Swashbuckler character and I even have my Pathfinder ID card, so I guess I'll see how it all goes. I'm NOT going to be changing my role=playing style, so it will be interesting to see how the GM/system handles someone who is interested in character development and not just loot! Just remember that some people are there for different things than you. Try and support their play styles while staying true to your own. If you know avoiding encounters will cost the group loot (and some people want that loot), dont play the guy who will try to role play out of the encounter or sneak past it. Perhaps you constantly seek to test your own skills while boasting constantly. Whatever you decide, remember it is a group game filled with strangers. A little bit of going along to get along will get your much further then a dogged attempt to stick to your current style. No one likes the guy who shows up on their turf and presumes to preach how they should be doing things. Even if it ends up being tabletop mini's, try to find the fun that is there to be had. You might find those nerds with the suspenders and tape measures were onto something.
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Post by Bill Roper on Feb 9, 2016 16:11:42 GMT -8
I am totally going to support play styles of all kinds and won't throw any more wrenches than I normally do in a game. That said, my character is a SWASHBUCKLER who's main resource for special maneuvers is PANACHE so you can guess that, at the very least, I'll be damned flamboyant. I am definitely not going to be preachy or say people are playing wrong. I'm there to learn about how PFS rolls as much as anything !
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Post by HourEleven on Feb 10, 2016 17:21:04 GMT -8
I've run quite a bit of PFS, and it really comes down to 2 things:
The GM and the Module.
Some of the modules are written to be able to be very RP heavy, others are just combat festivals. Some are serious rail road tracks and they are written so you can't leave them, and some are open ended problems. There's some solid modules and there's some real crap pile ones.
Luckily, the way it's put together generally assures a good game (the PCs are all assigned the task, so no one has a motivation to split off and everyone's faction has a task so each PC has a secondary motive in the same direction as the plot).
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Post by ilina on Feb 18, 2016 23:07:18 GMT -8
PFS is so Deviant from the real Pathfinder Experience that i cannot truly recommend it. and Slow progression is actually better than fast. effectively, by spending 6 adventures at a given level instead of 3, you double to amount of time you get to play your favorite character and get to double the potential amount of gold you earn from encounters. you also double your prestige earnings.
PFS is also easier and more robotic than a real campaign. since you can play the same adventure once per character per level range and a lot of the modules are designed the same way, you can literally metagame most of them by learning about the writer. plus, most of the monsters are horribly weak for their CR. there is a blatant love for humans with class levels as big bad villains, NPC builds tend to be intentionally not minmaxed, they tend to shy away from specific core and splatbook monsters. and well, the Wizards, Arcanists, Clerics, Oracles, Sorcerers and Druids aren't doing some of the stuff they could be, plus there tend to be no summoner, gunslinger, or paladin villains.
the popular classes i remember reading about include the slayer, which is a hotfixed rogue, the oracle, which has multiple dozens of potential builds, the druid and cleric, which are front line combatants with spells, and the arcanist, which is a hotfix to wizard and sorcerer. but witch and barbarian are also fairly popular. just expect the majority of fighters you encounter to be lore wardens or tacticians, because perception, diplomacy, a day job skill for extra money, sense motive, stealth and acrobatics are highly important skills as is having a rank for the class skill bonus in climb and swim.
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