CORE Campaign Organization...

[Blackfoot]

Based on the response to cmdisc's upcoming Tide of Twilight game, there's obviously room for a lot more PFS gaming happening out there. He and I have been talking about running a series of CORE games in the very near future and this is likely to kick off next week. Obviously everyone would like to play in every scenario but that isn't always an option. Timing and table size being the big restrictions. As a result I'm proposing running back to back tables once a month to allow for more people to play an individual scenario in addition to running weekly single table games. We can stagger the times or run them simultaneously depending on interest. Currently we are looking at Friday afternoons (eastern time.. evening in europe) and there seems to be a healthy amount of interest. I can also work Sunday evenings or Monday mornings (eastern time) as alternates.

What I'm looking for in this thread is a take on the interest level folks have in this plan and comments on the timing. We (as GMs) obviously have to work with the times we have available... which isn't all that flexible. Realize that we are talking CORE Campaign here.. so only the CORE Rulebook, Web Trait Enhancement, and Guide to Organized Play can be used for character building. You can call it 'hard mode' if you like.. but it makes for a simpler style of play. Characters CAN switch to the Standard PFS Campaign later on but they cannot switch back, once in the Standard Campaign you are there for good.

[JWMK]

I would be very interested in joining in on some of those sessions starting later in November (I will be traveling next couple of weeks). Haven't tried CORE, but willing to try anything, I am sure it will be just as fun! Would be great to have some regular sessions for STANDARD as well, would like to keep my guys that I have on the go leveling. Thank you for offering up your time to GM, I hope there is a great response.

JWMK

[Syaoran0503]

I would definitely be interested in playing in these session. Friday afternoons work well for me as long as it's 3pm or later. I could also do a Sunday game depending on the start time. I would prefer a Sunday game to end around 11pm Eastern Time. CORE rules are no problem; I like the simplicity sometimes.

Thanks Blackfoot and cmdisc for being willing to give your time organizing this.

[kwarner1986]

YES, CORE Interest at last. I was on a very small band wagon for the Core Games. Glad to see this will get some interest. If you need a third GM, I'll be happy to pick this one up as well.

Might run: First Steps, Confirmation, and Wounded Wisp in order for the new guys.

[Blackfoot]

YES, CORE Interest at last. I was on a very small band wagon for the Core Games. Glad to see this will get some interest. If you need a third GM, I'll be happy to pick this one up as well.

Might run: First Steps, Confirmation, and Wounded Wisp in order for the new guys.We'll probably take you up on that kwarner1986. We'll loop you into the emails regarding planning.
We are going to start out with some starter stuff but we are going to leave that behind as we level up our characters.. moving into higher tier games as we go... That said.. I'd like to offer be able to continue to offer some lower tier games intermittently even once we are running 7-11 games...

[kwarner1986]

I can get First Steps up and ready pretty quickly. I will have to invest some funds into buying the other two modules.

[Brainpolice]

I'm more interested in participating in an all out campaign over multiple sessions. If that's part of what's being discussed here, I'm down with that.

[Blackfoot]

I'm more interested in participating in an all out campaign over multiple sessions. If that's part of what's being discussed here, I'm down with that.
Not really no. This is PFC.. basically PFS but CORE only. Still one shot scenarios... but we are looking at running all or most of Season 3.

[xazil]

I'm down for running/playing Core as it fits into my schedule. I'm also happy to share any scenarios I have prepped including Confirmation/Wounded Wisp (after appropriate proof per the Paizo agreement).

[lachancery]

I've been keeping a watch on the PFS forum for a few months, hoping for evening North American Eastern Time games (9pm ET/6pm PT), but I haven't seen any get scheduled... :( If there were CORE games in this time slot, I would be playing in everyone I'm free for! :)

[bigboom]

I'm more interested in participating in an all out campaign over multiple sessions. If that's part of what's being discussed here, I'm down with that.

Brainpolice, sounds like you're looking for an ongoing Pathfinder campaign? If so, and if you haven't already, take a look at the LFG forum. There are usually quite a few Pathfinder campaigns going on, I believe.

Blackfoot, cmdisc, I'm up for playing PFS core as well. But the biggest challenge for me is game timing. I'm in UTC +7, so a US afternoon/Europe evening would be around 2 or 3am for me. Occasionally, I'll be able to make times like this, but probably not too often.

So in terms of timing feedback, ideal times from my perspective would be:
1) US morning/Europe afternoon, making it evening for my local time, or
2) US evening, making it morning for my local time, but this ends up being 2 or 3am in Europe, making it difficult for Europe-based players

Ultimately though, GM's should run games whenever they're up for running games. If I'm available for any given session, I'll definitely be up for joining in!

[cmdisc]

My schedule is flexible enough that I can game just about any day/time with enough forewarning. Running games, however, is usually limited to evenings when I can use my main desktop without the distractions of family life running about the house.

Come this Summer, the plan is to move back to the States. So as my Time Zone changes, so will the times I can offer games.

[cmdisc]

I've been keeping a watch on the PFS forum for a few months, hoping for evening North American Eastern Time games (9pm ET/6pm PT), but I haven't seen any get scheduled... :( If there were CORE games in this time slot, I would be playing in everyone I'm free for! :)

I think many of the GMs aim for the afternoon in North America because that seems to allow for the most options for Europe and Australia. But it's good that you bring this up because the standard evening GMT games don't fit everyone's schedule. Just like at the CON, having a variety of game times is a good thing. :)

[bigboom]

To help with thinking about global time zones, here is a quick and dirty general reference. It doesn't take into account the quirks of daylight savings, but maybe it'll be a bit helpful for GMs with flexible game times to plan!

Regardless of game times though, it sounds like there's interest. I hope it all comes together!

____________________________________

USA Morning Game (about 10AM EST):

Europe: 3PM - 4PM
Australia/Asia: 10PM - 1AM


USA Afternoon Game (about 3PM EST):

Europe: 8PM - 9PM
Australia/Asia: 3AM - 6AM


USA Evening Game (about 8PM EST):

Europe: 1AM - 2AM
Australia/Asia: 8AM - 11AM

____________________________________

Europe Morning Game (about 10AM CET):

Australia/Asia: 4PM - 7PM
USA: 1AM - 4AM


Europe Afternoon Game (about 3PM CET):

Australia/Asia: 9PM - 12 midnight
USA: 6AM - 9AM


Europe Evening Game (about 8PM CET):

Australia/Asia: 2AM - 5AM
USA: 11AM - 2PM

____________________________________

Australia/Asia Morning Game (about 10AM AEST):

USA: 4PM - 7PM
Europe: 12 midnight - 1AM


Australia/Asia Afternoon Game (about 3PM AEST):

USA: 9PM - 12 midnight
Europe: 5AM - 6AM


Australia/Asia Evening Game (about 8PM AEST):

USA: 2AM - 5AM
Europe: 10AM - 11AM

____________________________________

Assumes:

USA = UTC -8, -7, -6, -5
Europe = UTC +0, +1
Australia/Asia = UTC +7, +8, +9, +10
(Note that there are probably very few players in the UTC +7 time zone. I happen to be one, so I'm including it. :))

[lachancery]

Hmmm. I'm sure this question has been answered somewhere on Paizo's site, but I haven't found a link to it yet:

I understand that non-CRB item can be bought if they appear on chronicle sheets, but what about non-CRB race boons? Can they be used in the CORE campaign, or does the "CRB only" overrule the boon?

[kwarner1986]

I think, but don't quote me. You can, but it has to be a chronicle sheet only. Chronicles are the only thing that you can get that is non-core.

[Blackfoot]

Hmmm. I'm sure this question has been answered somewhere on Paizo's site, but I haven't found a link to it yet:

I understand that non-CRB item can be bought if they appear on chronicle sheets, but what about non-CRB race boons? Can they be used in the CORE campaign, or does the "CRB only" overrule the boon?
I'm pretty sure I saw that they specifically called out Race boons as a NO.

[bigboom]

By race boon, do you mean unlocking of non-core races? Page 20 of the season 7 PFS role-playing guild guide says:

Any item appearing on a Chronicle sheet earned in Core Mode play, regardless of source, is allowed to be used by a Core Mode character, except Chronicle sheets that open new races.

[kwarner1986]

I need to read the season 7 manual. That definitely wasn't in season 6. Thanks for clearing that up.

[lachancery]

There is also one specific sentence in the blog announcing the CORE campaign that says race boons are not allowed.

I'm hoping games compatible with my availability will happen; I think I would enjoy playing PFS in CORE mode - the minmaxed characters commonly seen at PFS tables are hohum...

[Syaoran0503]

Are the faction traits listed in the Guide to PFS manual legal for CORE characters? Just curious cause I'm working on a character concept and wanted to used a faction trait.

[lachancery]

Are the faction traits listed in the Guide to PFS manual legal for CORE characters? Just curious cause I'm working on a character concept and wanted to used a faction trait.
Yes, they are called out as being legal for the CORE campaign.

[bigboom]

Yes, they are called out as being legal for the CORE campaign.

Yep, just to add to lachancery's reply, the faction traits are listed in the Guide to Organized Play (now renamed in season 7 to "Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide"), which is legal for the Core campaign.

In addition, the faction traits are considered "PFS campaign traits" and the proposal here is to setup PFS Core Campaign games, so definitely legal!

[Syaoran0503]

Thanks for the answers.

Looking forward to when these games might start.

[Blackfoot]

Thanks for the answers.

Looking forward to when these games might start.
I'm planning on running a game next Friday afternoon (2pm)... or maybe next Sunday night (7 or 8pm)... (Eastern Time)

[Blackfoot]

I'm thinking that I might kick off with the Confirmation, since we have a lot of people who are new to the CORE campaign, it gives them the opportunity to get a free wayfinder (again potentially). The CORE Campaign is essentially a 'new campaign' for everyone, so you can replay scenarios you played in the Standard Campaign, receive boons again like you never got them before.. all that sort of stuff.

[bigboom]

As I'm still a novice to PFS and Pathfinder in general, I gotta say, in my short experience, the online community is awesome!

Unless I've calculated my time zones incorrectly, I think next Friday conflicts with cmdisc's standard campaign session. If you go with Sunday night tho, I'll definitely sign up!

Looks like it's time to build a new core character! :)

[cmdisc]

Yes, 6 Nov will be the 1-2 subtier table with a number of newer players. That game is set to run at 2pm EST. However, I currently have 8 people interested in that session, so if a few wanted to jump ship over to a CORE game, it wouldn't be an issue....so long as I can still maintain a legal table, that is. :p

Concerning CORE games, I will look at my schedule and see if I can offer something near the middle or end of November...probably sometime around the weekend of the 21-22 or 28-29. I am eyeing a series of Scenarios that all build around the theme of Season 3; first pertaining to gathering artifacts for the upcoming Ruby Phoenix Tournament (such as the Quest for Perfection series) and then followed by adventures that take place within the Hao Jin Tapestry (such as the Icebound Outpost). I'll know more later though.

[Blackfoot]

I was considering running at the same time as cmdisc's table on purpose. He had more than 3 tables of folks signed up so it only seemed to make sense to offer another table concurrent with that slot.

[Blackfoot]

So our efforts here are coming along nicely. We've had a great deal of interest and people are leveling up. The 'plan' is to move on to Phase 2 in the relatively near future. This will include higher tier games that will, unfortunately, lock out lower level characters.
Following The Stolen Heir and Shades of Ice we have the following levels that I'm aware of
(others feel free to post additions and corrections so we can get a feel what's out there):Jayne - 10xp - Level 4 - Ranger
Vulgar - 10xp - Level 4 - Barbarian
Zwootwick - 9xp - Level 4 - Sorcerer
Fengard - 8xp - Level 3 - Druid/Barbarian
Lucia - 8xp - Level 3 - Fighter
Geltonk - 6xp - Level 3 - Cleric
Vin Sha - 4xp - Level 2 - Monk
Neeha - 2xp - Level 1 - WizardDevlan - 7xp - Level 3 - Fighter (Second Character)
Mortimer - 6xp - Level 3 (Second Character)
Sputtwizzlefink - 4xp - Level 2 (Second Character)
Gurgleplunk - 3xp - Level 2 (Third Character)Ideally, we'd like to get as many folks as possible into the 13xp zone as we move to phase 2. So we need to bring some of those lower levels up before we move on.

[Blackfoot]

In an effort to give some of the Level 1s and 2s an XP boost.. I could run Crypt of the Everflame or Godsmouth Heresy... 3xp modules that can be played 1 time at level 2 and are replayable at level 1...
This would jump the lower levels up in line with the others pretty quickly and lock out the upper levels for the moment.
What do folks think?

[JWMK]

Can those of us who want to start a 2nd character be on the "waiting list" if you have openings with the priority going to leveling up those players that have 1 character who is low level?

[bigboom]

Blackfoot, if you're keeping track, here are my couple of CORE characters:

Jayne Cawb - 10xp - Level 4 - ranger
Devlan - 7xp - Level 3 - fighter

[Blackfoot]

Can those of us who want to start a 2nd character be on the "waiting list" if you have openings with the priority going to leveling up those players that have 1 character who is low level?I would think that would be the general concept, yeah. 1st characters 1st... second characters fill in the gaps. That way more people at least have the opportunity to play when we get to the higher level range.
Blackfoot, if you're keeping track, here are my couple of CORE characters:

Jayne Cawb - 10xp - Level 4 - ranger
Devlan - 7xp - Level 3 - fighterThanks. I added your guys to my list below.. I hadn't run for you in a while so I didn't have your numbers handy.

[Blackfoot]

I am also considering running the 'We Be Goblins!' series as a CORE offering. There are 3 scenarios that get applied to 1-2, 1-3, and 3-5 characters. They have some non-Core chronicle bennies that might be fun to have out there.

[Blackfoot]

If I were to run something tonight or tomorrow morning.. would there be enough interest to get it off the ground? For tonight.. we'd obviously need to put it together quite quickly at this point.

[cmdisc]

Where we stand right now with the Season 3 theme:

We've run through several of the Pre-Tournament scenarios such as the Quest for Perfection trio and the Shades of Ice trio (which leads up to Frostfur Captives). The 6 remaining scenarios that I'm tracking are (in no particular order):

Tide of Twilight
Echoes of the Overwatched
The God's Market Gamble
Frostfur Captives
Song of the Sea Witch
Among the Gods

This will finish out our Pre-Tournament theme and move us into the Post-Tournament half of Season 3. It is important to keep in mind how your character(s) XP is going to affect what you can and can't do in Post-Tournament. The tier range for these scenarios is going to begin to climb. If you don't have enough experience, you're going to find yourself getting locked out. If you have too much XP, you're going to find yourself having to sit out until things catch up to you.

No matter how many characters you are juggling, you will need to keep an eye on their XP progress.

The absolute minimum XP total any character should have going in to Post-Tournament is 7XP. At this level, you can play through every scenario in Post-Tournament without worrying about falling behind. However, you would have to make almost EVERY SESSION, because too many misses means falling out of range and not qualifying for the higher tier games.

If you wish to make every game, the maximum XP you can begin Post-Tournament with is 13XP. Any more than that and you are overshooting the tiers and will have to intentionally miss out while the sessions increase in level and catch up to you.

By the time we hit Post-Tournament, you have a choice to either focus on a main character or to split between two. Focusing on the main should see you to 11th level before the final scenario. Splitting between two will get you somewhere around 8th level. This all depends on how much XP your character(s) begins Post-Tournament with. The scenarios I'm currently tracking for Post-Tournament are:

The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment
The Icebound Outpost
(These two MUST be run first as they are the final 1-5 tiers that people will be leveling out of)

3-7
Storming the Diamond Gate
The Midnight Mauler
Sewer Dragons of Absalom

5-9
The Immortal Conundrum
The Haunting of Hinojai
The Golden Serpent
Wonders in the Weave I
Wonders in the Weave II
Tapestry's Toil
The Fabric of Reality
The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet

7-11
Red Harvest
The Rats of Round Mountain I
The Rats of Round Mountain II
The Kortos Envoy
Portal of the Sacred Rune

Some of these Post-Tournament scenarios are not specific to the Tapestry in their plots. But they are there as filler to give the XP/Loot awards necessary to level toward the 7-11's that will wrap up this Season.

When this is all done, guess we'll have to wait and see what comes next. ;)

And again, people interested in GMing any of these are welcome. Just contact me or Blackfoot to help coordinate.

[dmkevin]

Any GMT evening one-off Pathfinder core sessions?

[Skellan]

nice to see your gnome clan is still going strong Blackfoot. You must have a football team now

[cmdisc]

Any GMT evening one-off Pathfinder core sessions?

As I am currently GMT +2 right now for a few more months, I sort of influence the schedule so that we tend to start between 1700 and 1900 GMT during weekdays. Weekend sessions can start anywhere between 1100 and 1900.

Unfortunately, this is going to change once I move back to the states. As my evenings only work for me during weekdays, the times I can GM will not be conducive to GMT times. But weekends are a bit more flexible with what I can offer. As a player, these times are my preference, but obviously I have the choice to either not play or to flex my schedule to fit. But then the benefit of being a player is that I don't have to track a hundred different moving objects and can afford to get distracted by family here. :)

[cmdisc]

nice to see your gnome clan is still going strong Blackfoot. You must have a football team now

Yeah, I think it's actually an insidious plot of his to overpopulate the game world with gnomes so that they can be in a position to take over.

Keep an eye on him, Skellan.

[Blackfoot]

Yeah, I think it's actually an insidious plot of his to overpopulate the game world with gnomes so that they can be in a position to take over.

Keep an eye on him, Skellan.The gnomes are just cooler than everyone else.

Honestly, I was not a fan in D&D.. the wanabee dwarf backstory was lame. In PF.. they are very cool... so yeah.. I have a few of them.