Dear DovahQueen: My group is all in for Pathfinder 2. How are we supposed to wait two years for it? –Conductor of the Hype Train

Dear H-Train: Patiently.

Ok, in all honesty, lemme ask you this: what will PF2 let you do that you can’t do now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty excited too; goblins happen to be one of my all-time favorite races, but have you explored every story and setting type already available to you? You’ve probably already been playing in your traditional fantasy setting as represented almost every fantasy game ever, but have you been part of a steampunk setting? What about an aquatic-based campaign? Have you ever GM’d a post-apocalypse setting? Sure, some of these are clichés, but if you haven’t roleplayed in them yet, those could be some good ways of prolonging the life of the current PF. Likewise, you could always dig into Starfinder for a change of pace. Lastly, has everyone in your group been a GM? This could be a good chance to encourage a noobie GM to take over.

 

Dear DovahQueen: I like the friends I play Pathfinder with and I like Pathfinder, but I don’t like playing Pathfinder with those friends. I’m thinking of leaving my Pathfinder group but still playing Pathfinder. The question is: How? –Totally Not a Murderhobo

Dear We’ve All Been There: Before anything else, you’re going to have to figure out how to join or start a group without these friends if you don’t want to lose them. Folks don’t tend to much enjoy feeling abandoned or betrayed. If you can tactfully back away, or if they’re ok with you moving on, then it shouldn’t be too hard to get in on another gaming group.

First though, you gotta decide if you wanna start a group or join a group. IE: do you have other friends you’d wanna teach to play or do you want to make new RP friends? Personally, I prefer the former, but it’s not always an option. It’s alright if you can’t talk other people in your life into throwing dice with you. There’s still some really easy ways of getting back into a regular game. Locally, check out your comic book or gaming store. Most towns or cities have one, and there are normally groups who meet for games. Some stores even have designated nights for roleplaying games. It’s a good place to start looking around. Going outside and talking to people isn’t exactly known to be a strong skill for a lot of us, so you might instead trying looking for local gaming groups on social media. If you type in <your city’s name> and “gaming” or “roleplaying,” I’d be awfully surprised if you weren’t able to locate a bunch of local people also just trying to roll plastic. Post an LFG in one of these circles and see if nobody bites.

If you can’t get your local options to yield results, consider joining an online game. Again, let’s use social media to find a group, but this time you might expand your search to just <favorite game> and “group” or “network.” Post an LFG here and see if you can’t join or start a game via roll20.

 

Dear DovahQueen: I want to play a class from Occult Adventures, but I don’t want to be the token occult character like Raven from Teen Titans. Is there a way to encourage my GM to give me some occult stuff to do without overstepping my bounds as a player? –Only a Little Spooky

Dear 2Spoopy: Did you ask them? I know it sounds simple, but that’s your first and best option. Only they can tell you: “Yeah, that sounds fine; I can work with that” or “Ehhhh I’d really rather you stick with something more traditional.” Now the best way to get them more inclined to go for this would be to do your homework before you even ask them. If you lead the question with a mostly developed character that is interesting and conducive to their story, you’ll be more likely find them willing to work with you. Come to the table with ideas for them too incase they struggle to envision how you’d fit into the story or how they could accommodate. If you want this character to work, then its your job to make it easy for them to incorporate the occult into the game.

 

 

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