This is a continuation of my trip to PaizoCon in long detail. You can find Part 1 here.
The Hotel
Like most Marriott, the Seattle one is a nice hotel. It is comfortable, nice and - unlike the Denver Hotels - has a staircase right next to the elevator! JOY OH JOY! You don't have to wait endlessly.
From the conference rooms to the room I shared with LPJ, was at least a half a mile! This was good for my wasteline, but absolutely horrible between slots! Me and my propensity for chatting endlessly...
But I really liked the hotel. Food prices were very high and from most account the Dennys was vile. I won't go into details, but it involves a number of (usually failed) Fortitude saves.
Lucky for me, I brought my own food. I stopped at WalMart to get some provolone, some ham, a small bottle of mustard, and bread. That kept me fed for most slots: lunch/dinner. So I only had to cover one or two meals at the hotel... Not a gastronomical delight but great for my pocket and I find these sandwiches tasty... So, a win!
A big win.
NeoExodus Special "As if it could get any worse"
Above: Trovaska at the start of the adventure.
Few things really caused me more anxiety than the NeoExodus Special. For the third year, the plot could potentially be changed based on the actions of the players. And guess what? This year did not disappoint... Between the playtest and the game-time event, I tried to guess what people would do. And again I was in for a surprise. There are 2 major choices in the adventure. Choices that could make thing go either way. I was also worried about having too much boxed text in the adventure: it does include a lot more than our usual adventures.
One detail never to forget is that the political element in NeoExodus is something I always worry about "will the new players "get" what I'm trying to do." They did.
So with a lot of trepidation did I set up the table. It was great to see the Soceys at the table.
And so the story went on. I will post a narrative for what happened later.
I was surprised and in 1 of the 2 choices, the players chose the option I preferred. I had a great time.
Above: Trovaska at the end of the adventure.
Playing Pathfinder Society
I got to play the Gencon special for PFS with my 13th-level seeker that went through the Retirement Arc. It was a lot of fun. I got to play with a team of guys who were all used to playing together. And the cheese was laid on THICK. And I mean... VERY THICK! All I had to do was go invisible, cast haste and wait for the fights to be done. I did use some battle field-control magic, and tried to back up the party whenever I could. It was a lot of fun. I cannot say that I do not have cheese of my own - I did. But limiting the baddies' movement was all I needed to do.
Our table just pwnd the encounters one after the next. BIG TIME. By using (some would say "wasting") my spells I did manage to run out of 5th level slots, but I finished the adventure with a fair number of spell slots still available. Thus Katharan is now a 14th level sorceress! So much new cheese to lay upon the world!
We had wands but no "real" healer. We did not really need any either. I didn't take any damage per se. I got feebleminded. Which allowed me to go and fetch me a sandwich in my room as I babbled.
My table mates had some very optimized characters, but were a blast to play with (usually such players are not interesting and bore me to tears). I just stood back and allowed them to do their thing - as if Katharan even did anything else! And thing they did. Overall our cohesion was good and poor Jon Choy got his monsters' butts kicked repeatedly. He tried. He really tried.
Sorry Jon. (I'm really not, but don't tell him)
I can't wait to see more of this Season 5 stuff. Seem interesting to say the least.
On Saturday night, I did manage to get myself onto an impromptu table of 4-EX Day of the Demon after missing it many times here in the Springs. As an added bonus, my good friend Everett (VL for Colorado Springs) was the GM. I played PFS-Katja, the PFS version of my character from my Thursday-night Reign of Winter game. She's just so fun to play and I have a blast playing her all the time. With so many sessions behind my belt, I know who she is so well.
Someone posted on Facebook that they thought I *was* like her until I broke character at a break. My pride was touched... I had a fun time even if I did have to force Everett to make the attack with "I would not hesitate against you, don't hesitate against me!" But we fought back from the brink. Epic you say? Yes. Yes it was. I'm not too sure how the story ends because by then, I was just dead tired.
Which leaves me only one last post!
JP
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