I’ve got exciting news for you today from the world of Play-by-Post gaming and the Pathfinder Society. It was recently announced on Paizo’s messageboards that they’ll be hosting the an online Pathfinder Society Convention. Awesome!
Why?
First of all, Conventions give out cool boons. Boons are rewards granted to a character at the end of a scenario. Most conventions give out special boons. Sometimes even the chance to use a special race on a future character. But, getting to a convention can be a problem. There’s none near me, that’s for sure.
Second, this convention is hosting 115 tables of gamers. Most are hosted on the Paizo messageboards, but some on other platforms like Mythweavers. There’s even a few tables running entirely in Spanish or French.
Third, this convention is hosting a huge variety of games. Core and Standard Pathfinder games are up for grabs, with Standard being most popular. There’s also the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game available to play and a bunch of Starfinder games. Also, there’s the Solstice Scar Special. These game options are all spread across a variety of tiers, meaning whatever level your PFS character is, there’s sure to be a game open for them.
Fourth, and for some the most compelling reason, it’s first come first served. This is usually the case with PFS, but by play-by-post there’s always more players than there are games. This means for some, getting into a play-by-post PFS game can be hard. Maybe they always fill up before you get home from work, or maybe you just constantly get passed over for other players. Whether you have trouble getting into games or not, the beauty of OutPost is you don’t need to get chosen to play. You simply sign up and you’re in. This is especially awesome for groups of players. Want to play online with a friend? Sign up for the same game. Done. Easy.
Finally, Pathfinder’s awesome! Haha.
The convention is called OutPost and it’s games start on March 5th, and run until they are complete, with a maximum end date of April 30th. There’s a limit of three games each player can sign up for, which is great. It ensures no one hogs too many games or overburdens themselves. But admittedly, I wish I could sign up for more, haha. I decided to sign up for three games, and after choosing a few, I realized something: my kids might want to join.
d20 games can teach kids a bunch of awesome skills. Reading, writing, spelling, math, strategy, creative thinking, problem solving, teamwork… The list goes on. But the one thing it doesn’t teach my kids? How to use a computer. Usually this isn’t a problem for children, as most get plenty of screen time these days. But mine don’t. My son, who is in grade one, had a computer class the other day and he told me he had barely managed to sign into the laptop by the time some other kids had finished their work. Alright, MAYBE he’s old enough to practice on our laptop at home. Haha.
And wouldn’t this be the perfect place? He’s always asking to play more Pathfinder. He needs to practise his spelling (and his coding, believe it or not), and he needs to get used to typing on a computer. Perfect.
I asked if he’d like to, and both of my kids were thrilled. Mr. Ice and Bunny Paras were ready and waiting for adventure. After a quick check with my husband, he decided he’d be willing to try it out if he could play with our kids. Enzo Jeggare had agreed to the mission.
I quickly hopped onto the online sign up sheets and checked the GM names. …None that I recognized. So I found one that had four open spaces, was for level one characters, and that I knew contained NO WEREWOLVES. As recently discovered, my daughter has a thing about werewolves. Not long afterwards, a GM I knew would be great as a GM for my kids signed up to host a game that was also level one. After checking with my kids, they decided they wanted to play in both, so I quickly signed us up for a second. My husband passed on the extra game. I warned both the game’s GMs that there would be children playing at their tables, and soon got an enthusiastic welcome for my kids from both. Things have fallen into place wonderfully.
Soon I’ll get to play alongside my kids in a Pathfinder game without also GMing. This is unheard of. I’m thrilled! And my kids? They began immediately tossing around character concepts for their second PFS characters.
So what ARE we playing?
Our experienced Pathfinder trio, Bunny Paras alongside her trusty parasaurolophus Paras, the ever-cold Mr. Ice, and occultist Enzo Jeggare alongside his summoned servitors, are joining up with two other characters to take on an old Pathfinder scenario from Season 0. I chose my character Everbloom to team up with them. Everbloom’s a kitsune kineticist capable of blasting her enemies with razor sharp flower petals and leaves, lashing vines, and tree branches. She’s a part of the Dark Archives faction–the same as Enzo. Plus, I thought my daughter would love to meet a fellow kitsune. The Season 0 adventures only allows five people to play, so we’ll be joined by only one other person who seems to be an oracle. We’ll be playing Black Waters, which is the sixth scenario ever written for the Pathfinder Society. Intended for level 1-5 characters, this scenario will be sending our Pathfinders into an elite school that was destroyed by an earth quake over a decade ago. Now half-flooded and known as the Drownyard, they’ll need to navigate the haunted, flooded ruins in order to find an ancient treasure lost in the disaster. Although a bit spooky for most young children, my kids have played through the entire first book of Carrion Crown
For our second game we had signed up for Delirium’s Tangle (Season One, #45). Also an old scenario, this game would allow for five players maximum, and we would fill up three of those slots. Delirium’s Tangle is intended for level 1-5 characters and sends a group of Pathfinders on the hunt for Nuar Spiritskin, a famous minotaur prince who has gone missing–but don’t tell anyone! Apparently the minotaur is lost in an infamous underground maze, and he’d be terribly embarrassed if word got out that he couldn’t find his way. This scenario is written by Crystal Frasier and is also available for purchase on Paizo’s website for only a few dollars.
I decided to play my fighter, Juno Berik, a dwarven woman who thinks far too highly of herself and is atrocious at social encounters. She’s a ton of fun to play, and I thought my kids would get a kick out of interacting with her.
My son decided to make a forgetful old wizard named Fuzzy with his owl familiar Bobby. Why is he named Fuzzy?
“My name? Oh dear! I can’t recall. It’s all a little fuzzy you know. A-ha! That must be it! Fuzzy! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
With his memory problems, Fuzzy is constantly asking Bobby for advice. “What was that spell again?” “Who is that person?” “Where are we going?” The list goes on. And the ever helpful Bobby always replies immediately with a calm: “Hooooooo…”
Just the thing to spark Fuzzy’s memory!
My daughter came up with about ten character ideas ranging from Fuzzy’s equally old and forgetful sister, to an gnome ninja and everything in between. In the end she discovered a picture on Pinterest and became inspired. Pictured in the side bar, this young girl is much older than she seems. As a child, the young noble played around her family’s vast estate alongside her stuffed rabbit Miss. Whiskers. One day they happened upon a fairy ring and found themselves far from home. There they met brownies and pixies and other fey. They played games, and played tricks and had fun, fun, fun. The experience filled the young girl with magical powers–which she believed came from Miss. Whiskers. Eventually, Naysha and Miss Whiskers found their way home, but Naysha was forever changed. Despite the passage of time, she
never seemed to grow up. She appeared to be a young girl even as an adult woman, and her love of play, imagination and tricks never diminished. With a heart full of childish joy and wonder, Lady Naysha and Miss Whiskers have become quite a topic of discussion around aristocratic circles. Lady Naysha works as a magician part-time, bringing wonder and joy to children of all ages, and for the Pathfinders the rest of the time, discovering new sights, sounds and treasures. When she’s in trouble, Lady Naysha can call upon her fairy friends for aid, allowing them to play dirty tricks on her enemies, can summon small woodland creatures (rabbits, most likely) and can heal her companions. All thanks to her beloved Miss. Whiskers! Lady Naysha is an oracle of whimsy.
I love both their creations!
For my final game I signed up for the Unseen Inclusion with my half-orc monk, Kenza Bloodborn. The Unseen Inclusion is a season nine scenario (#9-04) which sends a team of Pathfinders into the haunted ruins discovered under a construction site in the Thuvian city of Merab. Tasked with not only learning about the newly discovered ruin, but also putting the unquiet spirits to rest, Kenza’s going to have her hands full. Intended for characters from levels 1-5, this scenario is of particular importance for members of the Scarab Sages and contributes directly to their story-line. In a few months the Scarab Sages Faction will be retired, and its members will be forced to join other factions instead. A member of the Scarab Sages herself, my beloved monk will have to find a new faction to call home in the coming months. For now, I’m excited to get this introspective Osiriani a chance to play among some of her faction mates. Written by Mike Kimmel, the Unseen Inclusion is available for a few dollars on Paizo’s website, here.
OutPost is going to be a load of fun, and slots in its games are filling fast. But for now, there’s still openings. For more information on OutPost you can check out this post on Paizo’s message boards here. To see what games are still available, click here, then click the tab on the bottom labelled Entry.
At the moment of posting, there’s plenty of room to play in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and in Core Pathfinder scenarios. If you’re into Core adventures I’d recommend joining Black Waters (tier 1-5), or one of the Scarab Sages scenarios up for offer: The Unseen Inclusion (tier 1-5) or Salvation of the Sages (tier 7-11). For mid-level play I’d recommend the highly adaptable repayable scenario, Beyond the Halflight Path, (tier 3-7) which takes place in my favourite city on Golarion, Kaer Maga.
There’s a ton of Starfinder openings. For those of you looking to play a scenario that introduces you to the factions at work in the Starfinder Society I’d recommend joining the Commencement (tier 1-2). But for those of you looking for a more thrilling adventure, I strongly recommend signing up for Cries from the Drift (tier 1-4) or Yesteryear’s Truth (tier 1-4). Both are lots of fun.
Standard PFS scenarios are clearly the most offered and popular game choice at OutPost. It’s my format of choice, as well. Despite that, there’s still plenty of spots up for grabs. If you’re interested in low level play I’d highly recommend joining GM Rinaldo’s Murder on the Silken Caravan (tier 1-5), which is a great adventure run by a very friendly GM. I’d recommend picking up a hot-weather outfit for that one, as it takes place in the Qadiran desert. Echoes of the Overwatched (tier 1-5) is also great fun. For mid-level play I’d highly recommend To Scale the Dragon (tier 5-9, bring cold-weather gear!), Voice in the Void (tier 3-7), the previously mentioned Beyond the Halflight Path (tier 3-7), or GM Gustavef’s Song of the Sea Witch (tier 3-7). For high-level play I’d highly suggest Ancient’s Anguish (tier 7-11).
I hope you give OutPost a chance, and help make this convention a success! Already signed up? Got a favourite PFS Scenario to recommend? Is a favourite scenario of yours missing? Let me know in the comments below!
See you there!
Jessica
d20 Diaries 
4 thoughts on “OutPost 2018”