Sell me on becoming a Pathfinder Society GM

[redneckdevil]

Ok been GMing pathfinder for bout 2 years now but mainly doing homegames. First time ive actually gotten to official play as a player was basically 2 weeks ago on Fantasy Grounds. It was nice but felt weird, im guessing because im so used to GMing. Anyways ive started investing in Fantasy Grounds and xfering modules that i own over onto it.

I have been toyimg with the idea of GMing in a pathfinders society game but as a father of 4 kids and working full time, i dont get to get outta the house often hence its a blessing my ayers come to my house. Been thinking about branching out and maybe running a few games here and there every other week for a society game but i'm starting to feel a lil uneasy with the differences in a society game vs a home game such as exp, boons, etc. Classes and overall game rules dont bother me since i basically lurk for quite some time in the rules section, its basically tbe changes on how to run the gane thats got me a lil eh about. I guess ive gotten to a place im very comfortable and a lil bit wary about feeling like a "newbie" again even though i know tbe rules for combat, classes, etc.

So i ask yal to sell me on GMing society games online with fantasy grounds. Tyvm for your time.

[Trenloe]

Yes, there's some admin to do for PFS games both as a GM and a player. The main admin for the GM comes after the game - working with the players to complete their chronicle sheets and reporting the game on Paizo.com. The great thing about being an online PFS GM is that you don't have a time constraint in which you have to do this - i.e. in a face-to-face game you have to give physical sheets out to people after the game, online you have time to work with the players to get the sheets right and can also ask questions here on the forums, or PM me if you need guidance.

To be honest, the admin side is a PITA, but once you done it one time it gets a lot easier... The Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play describes the process.

So, that is the bad bit out of the way... The advantages are the usual advantages of being a GM, but with no commitment to running a regular games - just organise your players for the one off, run the game and do the admin and that's it; until you decide to run another game. If you choose to run one of the games that a previous GM has prepared they may be willing to share their module with you, so your prep time is significantly reduced: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20244-Private-sharing-of-PFS-scenario-data-available-modules

And, if you play PFS yourself, you get to apply a GM chronicle sheetto one of your PCs the first time you run a specific scenario, allowing you to level your PFS PCs quicker, or makes it easier to experiment win certain PC builds by allowing you to get a PC to a certain level without playing them (if you GM enough games).

Like with anything, it gets easier the more you do it. We have plenty of experienced PFS GMs on this forum who are always willing to help a newbie PFS GM get going... If you like GMing it's a great way of getting your GM fix.

[Skellan]

I will second what Trenloe said. The admin side is a PITA. I have started using a prechronicle to collect the information and it has made the process easier for me so i don't find it too bad now. (a minor pita hehe)

These are my thoughts on pfs - other gms may view things differently:
GMing pfs is different to running a home game as you can't change creatures, stat blocks, DC's etc and have to run it as written. This is so players get pretty much the same experience no matter which gm they get. Is this what you mean about changes on how to run the game? There is some scope for some table variation, and GM's can add circumstance bonuses, environmental effects, alter tactics, starting locations and cater for creative solutions to encounters if they think it will make the game more enjoyable. But it is a quite a rigid style of gming that's different to running a home campaign. However, it does make it fair for everyone. There aren't many changes to the Core rules for pfs. Some things aren't allowed like crafting (probably because people would exploit it to get lots of loot) but most rules are the same.

PFS is different to playing a full home campaign, it doesn't have the immersion and freedom you get with a home game but pfs has its place. I always think of it like a tv series, where you have stand alone episodes but with a larger plot arc that you influence. As Trenloe said, it makes roleplaying accessible if you can't commit to regular game. I love it because because I can fill up gaps when I am free with roleplaying sessions. Its also lots of fun, there are tons of great people out there playing pfs, and the community here is awesome. I have had many, many hours of enjoyment from it. Plus, I got to fight in a huge siege with over a hundred other players (one day I hope we will do specials at FG con).

If you did want to give gming pfs a try, I'd be happy to help. I have tons of scenarios built for fg. You would need to buy the pdf but they are only a couple of bucks and I think they are a bargain :)

[redneckdevil]

First off tyvm for the responses.

What i mean by me changing, is me going in and reading and adding events and/or tweeking so that the story is better fleshed out. Alot of modules when ur reading has this rich story to it but alot of it is never shown to the players as its written. Sometimes bbeg or important events are fleshed out in backstory only but alot of times have things omitted from the players that they dont have a full or better view of the importance of said characters or events.

Reading over i see alot of how the society runs and rules is exactly how i run in my home games lol. So far im guessing i would have to keep better track of what the players get, learn the new exp rules, and know what can be kept and what cant from games.

Mmmm tbh i have 2 questions.
1. Are u allowed to tweek anything to flesh out what gms get to see as in what i was talking about?
2. How often do u experience the "horror" stories of players so optimized and tweeked out that they just stomp through your whole game without breaking a sweat? Seem to read this alot on the forums but im hoping those just happen only rarely or alot less than...u know what i mean?

[Trenloe]

Mmmm tbh i have 2 questions.
1. Are u allowed to tweek anything to flesh out what gms get to see as in what i was talking about?
2. How often do u experience the "horror" stories of players so optimized and tweeked out that they just stomp through your whole game without breaking a sweat? Seem to read this alot on the forums but im hoping those just happen only rarely or alot less than...u know what i mean?
1) There are usually various knowledge checks throughout the scenario, especially at the beginning of the game, that can give the players a better idea of what the scenario is about and what they might be facing. You can also give general Golarion info to set the scene too. Later season scenarios (4 and 5) will often have handouts that tie the scenario events into the over arching storyline for that season. By all means give out extra info if the players specifically go looking for it, have a bard with bardic knowledge, and/or make good roll knowledge/gather information checks. Its also perfectly acceptable to give a epilogue of the scenario background at the end to clue the players up on what was going on.

But, don't add events to the scenario - as Skellan says, you should run it as written with the only areas you are allowed to modify being tactics and use of the environment during encounters.

2) Occasionally someone will "bring the cheese" to the table - usually optimised gunslingers, summoners or zen archers - so you can usually see them coming. Gunslinger power has been reduced a little with the change in rule on weapon cord use, and certain summoner (and other class) archetypes are banned.

If someone has designed their PC to be good in certain situations and those situations come up in the scenario then fair play to them. But, if there is a very optimised combat machine that walks all over everything and makes it less enjoyable for the GM and the players then it is a shame but you just have to cope with it. As you have the opportunity to review PCs before the game you can get an idea if there might be any such characters in your game.

I think the main thing you may come across is PCs spread across the 2 subtiers in a scenario. If it is a combat heavy scenario then the higher level PCs will obviously do more than the lower level ones. There are some recent (season 4 and 5) scenarios that don't have lots of combat in them - you can soon tell the PCs who are purely optimised for combat in those scenarios! If you're concerned about just a combat fest try to run some of the less combat heavy scenarios.

[redneckdevil]

I can run all kinds and be comfortable. Ive enjoyed some modukes where my players had hardly any combat whatsoever and ive done some dungeon crawls where their was really hardly any time or room to roleplay.
i guess number 2 was my biggest worry because it seemed from reading on the forums that it happened ALOT. And im om with that per se as long as i can see it coming. I guess a big advantage with a home group u know whats being played and can adjust and plan towards what they have whereas Society u run as is and get a brief notice what to expect. I guess the reason why i enjoy GMing is because i love to entertain and i was worried that cheese will override my ability to.

Well ill say right off since i have experience with having DMs in my group who have played for many years and a couple who love seeing big numbers or lots of dice that i have experience with cheese and can handle it. I was worried that i was going into something where they were the norm which im gauging isnt and thats great. Im cool as long as i know what to expect and im to expect to see and play allowing it every so often and i have no problems with that as long as i get more "normal" groups more often lol.

Well tyvm to both of you, i believe i am gonna make the jump into thanks to yal. I believe the best thimg for me to do is to read up on the material and create a character and play a few games to get experience seeing how its done. Tyvm.

[Blackfoot]

That sounds like a good plan. Good luck and happy hunting.