Why Everyone should GM: How to Manipulate the System

[Trueshots]

Why Everyone should GM: How to Manipulate the System

Ok, we are lacking GM's for PFS games, this became very apparent when a dozen people signed up for my game in less than 24 hours after posting it. So with this post I am encouraging other to GM and I'm going to tell you why you should.

When GM'ing a game you get credit for the game as if you were a player. This allows you to play every PFS scenario 2 times instead of only 1 time. Meaning you can advance twice as far as your buddies.

But here is the real kicker for me. PAY ATTENTION!
*Assume we are playing a level 1-5 scenario
*Pretend you have a level 4 or 5 character(must not be 1-3 or this won't work).
*No matter what tier the game is played on (either 1-2 or 4-5) you automatically get loot for the (t 4-5 game).

So what does this mean? It means that if you take some level ones and two through a dungeon on subtier 1-2 and they receive their 1- 2pp, 450-500ish gold, and 1xp as a reward. What would you get? you would get 2pp, max gold for the tier 4-5 scenario, 1 xp, and No chance at death! This would most likely be2.5-2k gold maybe even more

All this info can be found on page 39-40 of the PFS players guide.

So what's my plan? I personally will take characters to level 4 and then only apply GM credits for the next 6 games to them. This insures me that I will get max gold for 6 games, thus being one step closer to my financial goals with my character and even more important one step ahead of my buddies

Some call me OCD about these things, I call myself, well, OCD about these things

Cheers Bloody Mate! (Skellans voice inserted here)

[Trenloe]

More reasons to be a PFS GM given is this thread: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ad.php?t=17109

[Trueshots]

More reasons to be a PFS GM given is this thread: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ad.php?t=17109

Yes, all great reasons, I was trying to hit on everyone's selfish nerve It is true this community here is really great. I haven't run into anyone here that has been harsh or unhelpful. But I do have concerns.
I myself am going to try to do a game every 7-10 days. I honestly don't care much for GMing, I only like building the module in FG's. I have an extremely hectic schedule which I'm sure most people do this day and age. My wife and I are both in school and we have 3 kids that we've schooled from home for years. This alone zaps my time.
The problem I've seen is there are really just a couple GM's for PFS games and the bulk (i'd say 80% at least) are Gm'd by one person, the beloved Skellan. The problem with this is I'm afraid he will wear out after a while, if so were going to be faced with a huge problem.
My problem is, because of my obsessive behavior, I spend way too much time preparing for a single scenario, so for me to be a big time GM most likely isn't going to happen. I wish there was a way to share modules built within FG's with other GM's without doing wrong to Paizo.
I'm not sure if anyone has answers, but I'm up for listening!

[lachancery]

Personally, what's putting a speed bump on how often I GM in PFS (which is none at all nowadays) is the conversion of the PDF module required into FG. I am chronically short for time, so I tend to lose motivation somewhere between reading through the scenario to master it and make it enjoyable for the players and converting it to FG...

[Bloodlust]

Yeah I wouldn't mind giving it a go but I've not GM'ed before so it's a lot of work converting scenarios AND learning the GM stuff on FG.

If someone had them all set on FG ready to go, I'd give it a shot.

[Trueshots]

Personally, what's putting a speed bump on how often I GM in PFS (which is none at all nowadays) is the conversion of the PDF module required into FG. I am chronically short for time, so I tend to lose motivation somewhere between reading through the scenario to master it and make it enjoyable for the players and converting it to FG...

Yea this is the exact reason no one GMs. You spend about 6-8 hours preping and entering info in FG'S. double that for me. The another hour or two with managing the game ( help others, answering questions, forums, etc). Then it takes 5-6 hours to run it. Then an hour or so for chronicles afterwards and entering on Paizo site. Bottom line you have 15-20 hours involved in a single game. Plus because of policy it's pointless to run a game twice, so all the work you did has just gone to waste.
If we're allowed to share file we could have say 5 GMs build 5 different games in a week. But that would produce 25 games a week making availability for 150 players to play. It's simple math if you ask me. And it's a no brainer, we'd have much more fun on this site if we did so!

[Trenloe]

Based off the OGL (Open Gaming License) that Pathfinder Society scenarios are released under the only content that can be distributed (as long as you include the complete OGL statement with it) is the base system mechanics - essentially the creature statistics.

So, we are very limited in what we can legally distribute to other players/GMs. This even includes distributing non OGL items between people who have bought the scenario PDF. Things like maps, story entries, faction missions, artwork, etc. are all considered "product identity" and cannot be distributed without breaching copyright. This applies to the few free PFS scenarios and sanctioned modules.

So, only NPC statistics can be distributed. With the creature parser, making the creature statistics within FG takes around 10-15 minutes. This is the only "Stuff" we can distribute under the OGL so we can save a GM 10-15 minutes buy providing NPC modules. This is a time saving, but is not the bulk of work that a GM needs to do to get a game together.

So, unfortunately, we don't have much of an option for sharing PFS scenario data produced by other GMs I'm afraid...

[Gondrick]

I´m willing to help out and make modules for season 0 I have all the adventures for that season. I would like to DM but I might need help with DM paizo stuff before because I don´t know exactly what needs to be in chronicles sheet.

[Trueshots]

Based off the OGL (Open Gaming License) that Pathfinder Society scenarios are released under the only content that can be distributed (as long as you include the complete OGL statement with it) is the base system mechanics - essentially the creature statistics.

So, we are very limited in what we can legally distribute to other players/GMs. This even includes distributing non OGL items between people who have bought the scenario PDF. Things like maps, story entries, faction missions, artwork, etc. are all considered "product identity" and cannot be distributed without breaching copyright. This applies to the few free PFS scenarios and sanctioned modules.

So, only NPC statistics can be distributed. With the creature parser, making the creature statistics within FG takes around 10-15 minutes. This is the only "Stuff" we can distribute under the OGL so we can save a GM 10-15 minutes buy providing NPC modules. This is a time saving, but is not the bulk of work that a GM needs to do to get a game together.

So, unfortunately, we don't have much of an option for sharing PFS scenario data produced by other GMs I'm afraid...

I completely understand but this is the problem and why we barely have a gm a week running games. In my opinion if both GMs have bought the PDF, I see no reason in the world why they can't share the FG's information literally all it is info copied and pasted from the PDF file from Paizo. Everyone has purchased the exact same info so not sure how this would effect copyright laws. The part in FG's is made by us, and I don't plan on copyrighting my work, yet......

[Trenloe]

Plus because of policy it's pointless to run a game twice, so all the work you did has just gone to waste.

This all depends on what you're looking for when you GM and play.

I very rarely apply GM credit to my characters as I enjoy playing PCs all the way from level 1 up to wherever they reach - I enjoy the journey more than the destination. So, I don't GM PFS scenarios to get a chronicle sheet, I GM because I enjoy it and I want other people to enjoy playing PFS scenarios.

Each of us play/GM for different reasons... It may be pointless for you Trueshots to GM the same scenario more than once - that's completely fine and I thank you for all of your efforts and stepping up to GM PFS games.

But, it has been shown that there are plenty of players out there wanting to play PFS on Fantasy Grounds. So, I would encourage potential and current GMs who don't mind running the same scenario more than once to do just that. There are over 120 and growing PFS scenarios out there - we don't all need to run the same ones, a GM can pick one that hasn't been ran before, prepare it and run it a few times for the community.

This is also a very good approach for a beginning GM - learn from what happened running a scenario the first time, read the rules for situations that occurred in the sessions, perhaps adjust your scenario within Fantasy Grounds and be more prepared for running the same scenario a 2nd/3rd time. Each session will be different than the last - as players will always do something unexpected. You will get to be more comfortable running Pathfinder in FG as a GM if you are running a scenario you have ran before - your confidence will grow and you will enjoy the game more...