Pathfinder & Pathfinder Society: Impressions of a First-timer

[Luccan]

So, my chances to play D&D IRL have been restricted of late and when a friend of a friend was GMing a local PFS game, I figured it would be an excellent time to give the game a shot and dust off my in-person roleplaying. Firstly, as someone who has played plenty of 3.5, it was nice to find Pathfinder easier to get into than I expected. A few of the differences threw me off as I built and played my first character, but for the most part it felt familiar and natural. 8/10, would play again.

As to the adventure: this is my first organized play event. Ever. So I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, though I had a fair idea. I'll keep the details of the adventure to a minimum, so as not to spoil anyone. This is mostly my impressions with the actual experience anyway, so that's what well focus. Firstly, even though we were mostly strangers, it felt good to play in-person again. We were somewhat eclectic personality-wise and it lead to a little bit of tension (our GM had also had about 5 hours of sleep), but for the most part, the game ran smoothly.

The trouble I had was how railroaded it felt; again, I had some idea this would be the case, but it was very much like a "choice"-driven video game, where the path may branch slightly, but the ending is very narrow. What bothered me most about this was the lack of actual roleplay. We got some character definition in, but with 6 players at the table, I think only 4 of us got to have much personality (though that seemed to suit the other 2 players fine). It felt like we couldn't really do things the way we wanted. There was a point where we wanted to chase down a lead, only to find that it lead us back to somewhere we already been, with nothing new to do. Another time, we realized that we couldn't actually progress without talking to one specific person first. I understand why this is necessary (it was a one shot with rewards between tables, after all), but if you crave more than the bare bones of actual roleplay and choice in a game, I recommend finding a home or online game in addition to organized play.

But what really frustrated me was a single event. A series of die rolls. It seems Pathfinder or at least the PFS one-shots has adopted one of the worst 3.5isms: roll for basic competence. The challenge? Climb a rope ladder on a ship. No one was chasing us, engaging us in combat, or even heckling us. And yet, it was entirely necessary to roll for, apparently (and although I don't know the GM personally, I have no reason to believe they lied when they assured us it was in the adventure). Our cleric fell in the water and then, because it was rough water, almost drowned. Then I fell in the water and almost drowned. I did, eventually, laugh it off (it was kind of funny), but for a solid few minutes it was simply roll after roll of failure to climb and then swim. It didn't really add anything to the game, so despite it not ruining the night, I still find it annoying it was included at all. Especially since including it meant your character could die by drowning, without being in an actual fight or significant storm.

Despite my complaints, overall it was a good night. The battles were the most solid part: they swung back and forth in a few places, especially since they were so cramped, so we all felt a good sense of despair and hope. We succeeded in the end and held to our morals (which I learned actually gets you less stuff, guess my next character will be TN or CN). I'll absolutely be returning in a few weeks to play again and I'd recommend it for anyone looking to try out Pathfinder for the first time or just looking for in-person games. It won't take a lot of thinking and it might be a bit limited, but it's always fun to take up arms alongside some friends, strangers, and cheap snacks for a night of gaming.

[Rynjin]

But what really frustrated me was a single event. A series of die rolls. It seems Pathfinder or at least the PFS one-shots has adopted one of the worst 3.5isms: roll for basic competence. The challenge? Climb a rope ladder on a ship. No one was chasing us, engaging us in combat, or even heckling us. And yet, it was entirely necessary to roll for, apparently (and although I don't know the GM personally, I have no reason to believe they lied when they assured us it was in the adventure). Our cleric fell in the water and then, because it was rough water, almost drowned. Then I fell in the water and almost drowned. I did, eventually, laugh it off (it was kind of funny), but for a solid few minutes it was simply roll after roll of failure to climb and then swim. It didn't really add anything to the game, so despite it not ruining the night, I still find it annoying it was included at all. Especially since including it meant your character could die by drowning, without being in an actual fight or significant storm.

PFS always plays by RAW. By RAW, if you're not in danger, you can Take 10 on any skill check with very few exceptions. Climbing a rope is like a DC 10, so even with no ranks as long as you have 10+ Str, you can't fail.

Otherwise though, I get you. PFS is pretty linear and meh overall.

[Luccan]

PFS always plays by RAW. By RAW, if you're not in danger, you can Take 10 on any skill check with very few exceptions. Climbing a rope is like a DC 10, so even with no ranks as long as you have 10+ Str, you can't fail.

Otherwise though, I get you. PFS is pretty linear and meh overall.

Still an issue, although I hadn't considered that. I had a -1 for Str and the cleric had armor penalties.

[Florian]

PFS modules are designed around your typical con slot (4 hours) and basically for all types of players. So, yes, that makes them very compact and linear affairs based on the inherent limitations of formats that can work here. As for the other point, PFS plays strictly by RAW, so if nothing happens, take 10 / take 20 are always options.


Still an issue, although I hadn't considered that. I had a -1 for Str and the cleric had armor penalties.

Aid Another is a pretty good boost at low levels.

[Psyren]

The challenge? Climb a rope ladder on a ship. No one was chasing us, engaging us in combat, or even heckling us. And yet, it was entirely necessary to roll for, apparently (and although I don't know the GM personally, I have no reason to believe they lied when they assured us it was in the adventure). Our cleric fell in the water and then, because it was rough water, almost drowned.

"Rough water" sounds like plenty of reason to roll to me. It's not like the ship was sailing calmly along.

[Kurald Galain]

PFS is pretty diverse. Yes, some of the scenarios are straightforward dungeon crawls or a railroaded series of combats, but also many of the scenarios involve lengthy roleplaying encounters and give the group meaningful choices for the outcome. If you play a scenario released in the last year, then the GM will report your choices to Paizo (e.g. did you side with faction A or B or neither), and the most common choice becomes canon for future scenarios.

What makes PFS interesting is that it has a long overarching plot. If you play for several months, you will see locations and characters reappear, and scenarios refer to events in earlier scenarios. There is a clear sense of continuity and world coherence. Does playing morally get you the best stuff? Well that depends entirely on whom you're dealing with (e.g. if the scenario involves Liberty's Edge, then it usually does; if it plays in Cheliax then probably not).

Finally, note that Paizo lists all PFS scenarios on their site, and players get to rate these 1-5 stars. If you have the choice of which module to play, pay attention to the star rating; this makes a big difference. Since players tend to use the upper end of the scale, anything rated 3.0 or less you should probably just avoid.

[Rynjin]

"Rough water" sounds like plenty of reason to roll to me. It's not like the ship was sailing calmly along.

Rough water explicitly precludes taking 10 on Swim, yeah.

With further details, it sounds like everything went as it should. Pretty much everyone should put a rank or two in Climb/Swim at early levels; at least enough they can reliably climb a rope. IIRC climbing a rope ladder is similar to climbing a knotted rope, so its only DC 5.

[NomGarret]

That story makes a lot of sense. Pathfinder is similar enough to 3.5 that it’s easy enough to misremember which version of a spell or feat is which, or how certain uncommon rules work. The way the PFS game felt confined and railroady makes sense, too. A lot of that is the nature of organized play. In my experience that’s the same whether it’s PFS, 4e, or 5e. It strongly encourages GMs to keep to the story so everyone can have as uniform a time as possible.

[Ssalarn]

If you play a scenario released in the last year, then the GM will report your choices to Paizo (e.g. did you side with faction A or B or neither), and the most common choice becomes canon for future scenarios.


Not just canon for future scenarios, but canon for all of Golarion in Paizo's products. During one set of scenarios the players freed one of the good-aligned elemental lords. That's canon and has been and will continue to be reflected in future products that touch on the subject.

Two PFS specials ago a lot of things happened in Absalom that have changed the landscape of the city in ways that will be reflected in future products.
.-
Reporting data for season 9 has already been used to shape certain scenarios in season 10 and decide certain things that will be true in the new edition.

So on and so forth. PFS isn't just a chance to affect the canon of the organized play campaign, players actions and choices (and the associated reporting data) also inform the broader living campaign setting and can inform mechanics, NPCs, and events that are introduced in player companion, adventure path, and campaign setting books.

[Sutehp]

Yeah, I just got into Pathfinder Society Play 2 months ago in December 2018 and I was totally unfamiliar with the d20 system; almost all of my previous gaming experience is with the Old World of Darkness/Storyteller System with a smattering of D6 Star Wars. I wasn't sure what to expect for my first session of PFS Play, but the relative lack of roleplay surprised me. But most of the session was a dungeon crawl anyway, and I had never played RPGs as a combat simulator with miniatures. As playing a dungeon crawl with miniatures was a new experience for me, it surprised me how much fun I had just engaging in combat and how easily I now got bored with the roleplaying aspect when all I wanted to do was kill monsters. That was the complete opposite of my attitude and experience while playing stuff like Vampire: the Masquerade.

As for the "railroading" in PFS, I don't mind that aspect very much since each session is with different people each time, has a limited amount of time (usually 4 hours) and PFS is usually played at a comic book/gaming store that needs to be emptied out at closing time. I don't mind that the adventures have a specific script with a clear beginning, middle and end if it means that the adventure/story will be completed within a reasonable timeframe. As NomGarret said, if the "railroading" is necessary to making sure that all the players have as uniform a time as possible, that's not a bad thing at all.

And since you never know who or which classes are going to comprise the party (unless you arrange the adventure through something like Meetup, where you can ask the other players online what classes the other players are bringing), it helps for your characters to have at least a little bit of generalization so that (for example) someone can heal the party in a pinch if you're lacking a cleric.

But in any case, I'm having ALOT of fun playing Society Play. I already got my swashbuckler up to level 10 and I'm rolling a Cleric of Desna and a Bolt Ace gunslinger. Now I just need to find some level 1 adventures around here to get them started....