Season 3 of PFS2 Begins October 9th at PFS Smackdown

Greetings Pathfinders! It is time once again for our monthly PFS Smackdown at Valhalla’s Gate in Columbia, Missouri. We will be meeting on October 9th at 11:00 AM for the first slot and 3 PM for the second slot. Valhalla’s Gate has expanded their Saturday hours to 7 PM which means we can now do two scenarios at Smackdown. Therefore, this month we will offer Intro 2: United in Purpose which picks up where Intro 1: The Second Confirmation left off in the first slot. This is a Level 1-2 repeatable scenario which does not require Intro 1 to have been played. Lore wise they connect to each other, but are completely separate scenarios in all respects.

The second slot is the intro scenario to PFS2 Season 3: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries. A recently inducted Pathfinder field agent makes a startling discovery as pleas for assistance flock to the Society’s Grand Lodge from across the Inner Sea. You are part of a team of Pathfinders sent to assist in parsing the ongoing damage to the Society when a staunch ally requests your assistance. Stepping into a problem close to home, you and your fellow agents quickly uncover a larger plot set to tear the Society apart and that it’s up to you to raise the alarm! This scenario is a repeatable L1-4 which starts the Season 3 metaplot. Best of all, both scenarios in October earn you bonus AcP which you can use to purchase Uncommon and Rare ancestries, spells, items, and who knows what else!

We plan to offer at least one of the Season 3 metaplots every month while also offering scenarios we missed out on during the pandemic. October’s Smackdown is an excellent opportunity to get started in this thrilling saga. Here’s a quick hint: Seven of the first eight scenarios for Season 3 are metaplot scenarios. Some are parts of a specific 2-part story arc as well. This just makes it so much easier to schedule scenarios! There is even a Level 3-6 story arc so we need to get some characters leveled up for those.

A couple of housekeeping things to go over: As we are going back to two scenarios per Smackdown, we are going to switch back to 5-player table limits. Time is a major issue and that was one thing that helped out significantly. Another thing is that the first slot GMs will be let into VG a bit earlier so they can set up. Players are not allowed to enter until 11 AM. Please understand this is a privilege we asked for and one we do not want to abuse.

Also, to reduce time we are going to use RPG Chronicles to issue chronicle sheets from now on. This is something very easy to use which saves a lot of time at the end of sessions. The designer behind it is doing some fabulous work. I have spoken with him several times about this new tool and future applications for it. As an event organizer, this thing is priceless. The only people who need a subscription for it are the GMs. They can choose a paid sub or not, but the paid sub includes a few bonus tools like auto-emailing the chronicle sheets to players and a Chrome or Firefox extension which can be used to report the games to Paizo. Needless to say, I am using a paid subscription due to the sheer volume of games I am reporting. This is a great tool for GMs. I will make a post about how players and GMs can use the tool later in the week. Right now, we are just rolling it out for use in October. It is also mobile-friendly!

Finally, since we are going to be in two back-to-back scenarios ending at 7 PM, I am pretty sure some of us are going to be hungry at the end. We can’t eat at the game tables per store rules, and several of us usually stand around outside talking for a while, so let’s start a new tradition! After the game, lets go eat somewhere. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to be elegant. It just needs to be a place where we can go and hang out while we get some food. Columbia is fortunate enough to have a lot of different places to eat. So, if you want to do this, start thinking of a place to eat. Share that in the Facebook page and let’s get some use out of that thing!

Just a quick note: The Absalom Lodge is having a special Opening Weekend Conclave in Quincy, Illinois on October 2nd at the newest game store in the area, Tri-States Games & Hobbies which is owned and operated by two of our very own Pathfinders. Remember, these scenarios are repeatable!

Also, our Quincy Venture-Lieutenant Steve Ingram is seeking GMs for Gamehole Con which will be held in Madison, Wisconsin on October 21-24. If you are interested, contact him at stinger780@yahoo.com and let him know.

Finally, there are two new books coming out which I will announce soon. The Dark Archive playtest is underway for the Psychic and Thaumaturge classes until October 29th which means you could playtest one of these at Smackdown.

As always, invite your friends to play with us at Smackdown! See you on the 9th if not sooner! Sign up for October’s PFS Smackdown on our Warhorn page now!