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State of the PaleIt might not always be apparent what we have accomplished as a region, even when our characters' TUs reset on January 1 each year. A few players suggested that we on the Triad give an annual update — a "State of the Region Address", so to speak — to remind ourselves of what the Pale has done (or failed to) and to share our plans for the coming year. This update would make the Triad more accountable to you and perhaps less distant or mysterious. In that spirit, here is our first official... A look back at 2005, and a look to the coming year. Last year was Year Five of the Living Greyhawk campaign (LG). The campaign is more popular than ever, with even more people playing around the world, and the Theocracy of the Pale was no exception. In March 2005, players had to convert their characters to comply with the new Complete series of books (Warrior, Divine, Arcane, and Adventurer) after a few years of working with the five earlier softcover "builder books". The conversion allowed players to experiment with their character builds, and some even made radical changes. New D&D books, such as Frostburn, continued to be incorporated into the campaign. The previous year, 2004, saw the conversion to D&D version 3.5, but we don't plan to have any more conversions this year! The Pale Triad continued to collaborate and share the administrative workload. Donovan and Derek, who joined in March 2004, settled into their editing and planning roles with a year of experience, and the veteran Lance carried on as the Point of Contact (POC) and the meta-organization (meta-org) coordinator. We went through a confusing period at the end of 2005 and beginning of 2006 — Lance resigned and Donovan was promoted to Metaregional Coordinator — but when things settled again, Lance had decided to stay on and Shelton Yee had filled Donovan's vacancy. Shelton brings literally decades of experience in organizing people and events, as well as his gaming experience, so we look forward to seeing his handiwork play out in better conventions for you this year. The new Triad is still fine-tuning how we share the responsibilities, but so far it has gone pretty smoothly. A few weeks ago, Lance resigned, and this time it is going to stick. Everyone, thank Lance for all his hard work of the past three years, and wish him well as he returns to civilian life! Shelton and I have called for applications for Lance's replacement. Shelton is taking over the administration of meta-orgs and he is our acting POC in the meantime. Once we have chosen the new third member, we will figure out who will be the permanent POC. The Pale Triad was not the only body that had a change of roster, as Craig Hier stepped down from the Circle and John Jenks (of the Nyrond Triad) moved in to take on the office, representing our meta-region (Nyrond and Her Environs) in the campaign as a whole. Pale authors were prolific in 2005. The Pale produced eight rounds of regional scenarios (including one two-round scenario), four rounds of introductory scenarios (again, including a two-rounder), three Interactives (one-time-only events at conventions), and four two-hour and three four-hour "minimissions". (The four-hour "minimissions" are as long as typical LG scenarios, but they don't go through review by the Circle, can't unlock any Limited material such as magic items or feats, and may be played only at conventions. Publishing minimissions like these allows us to give you more opportunities to play and allows more authors to participate in crafting the regional storyline.) Of course, prolific authors keep their Triad Editors busy reviewing their drafts, and Donovan served admirably as the Scenarios Editor and chief point-of-contact for writers. Also, two of the Year-Five NMR metaregional scenarios were written by authors from the Pale. Donovan and Derek also fielded some questions from the Bandit Kingdoms Triad, to coordinate the Pale's role in a BK plotline involving the Grand Theocracy of Dimre, heretics in the eyes of the Pale's Church. The compartmental structure of the regions in LG means that we don't always get to coordinate with our neighbors as much as we could, or should, but we hope that the adventures improve when we pull back the curtain a little and show what's happening across the border. Ratik, for example, was reinstated as a player region just a few weeks ago, so we will look for ways to involve them in our plotlines along the Rakers. We are planning for another full schedule of Pale scenarios in 2006. Since we reliably produced eight rounds of regionals last year, we have earned a ninth round this year and we intend to use all nine. We also have plans for five Interactives, at least four new minimissions (both the two- and four-hour kind), and four new introductory scenarios, but we are still working on finding authors for some of those intros. Some storylines are coming to a close, while others are just getting started. Most players in the Pale live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and our best-attended conventions of the year are in that area too, but we have dedicated contingents in Santa Cruz, Tracy, Sacramento, and Reno. The Pale was represented in some RPGA-only events (such as Theocracy by the Bay or Winter Weekend in the Pale) and in larger ongoing conventions (such as KublaCon or ConQuest SF). Small RPGA conventions were run in Reno and in Las Vegas in 2005, and we want to continue to support those players so they stay connected to the Pale community. A new RPGA-only convention in Tracy, called Palish Confessions, is being planned for this June. Of course, LG isn't played only at conventions, but also at smaller gatherings in homes or game stores. Dedicated volunteers have been running regular gamedays (or game-nights) at stores in Oakland and in Santa Clara, bringing in dozens of new players who in turn become new judges or authors. In 2005, Theocracy by the Bay (TbtB) won the Winter Fantasy Expanded Premiere for the West Coast. Thanks to the initiative and effort of organizers Robert Wiese, Bart Scott, and Cedric Atizado, TbtB was the only place on the West Coast where you could play the special scenarios for LG and other RPGA campaigns that had premiered at Winter Fantasy near Washington, D.C. Three new Core scenarios were offerred exclusively to TbtB for several months as well. The added attraction of these special games brought attendance at TbtB to a new high. TbtB won the Expanded Premiere again for 2006, and we had another great weekend March 31 to April 2. Las Vegas was the site for Crossing Paths 2005, the border convention between the Pale and Nyrond, our neighbors to the south. Players from near and far gathered to play scenarios from the two regions. Each region is allowed one "bordercon" each year, with specific rules for where it may be held. In 2002 and 2004, for example, the Pale participated in the Unlikely Allies bordercon with the Duchy of Urnst in southern Oregon. The Pale will be having another bordercon with Nyrond this October in Las Vegas, thanks to the efforts of Lance White. During 2005, the meta-orgs pretty much hung in limbo, given the conversion to the Complete books as well as a major change in campaign rules regarding the structure of meta-orgs. Thanks to Lance and a host of meta-org writers, eighteen meta-orgs were made available in February 2006, including a new organization for Pholtan Druids: the Shapers of Sun and Stone. And there is still more to be done and more to be revealed. The Pale Triad also produced several documents to supplement the general rules of the campaign or to inform players about the history and atmosphere of the region. These documents included updates of the "Pale Regional Themes" and "Pale Regional Rules" documents, and well as the new "Pale Rulings for Some Prestige Classes". Summaries of retired Pale scenarios were also produced and made available online, so players and judges can remind themselves of what they played, or maybe see what they missed out on. Some parts of our Pale Gazetteer, which premiered in late 2004, have been outdated for several months, but we intend to update it soon. One aspect of the Pale that has caused a lot of contention was the "holy symbol law". We on the Triad have been steering the Pale back to a more traditional Pholtan stance, which includes intolerance of other religions. Displaying a non-Pholtan holy symbol would always have been discouraged in the Pale, but now it became illegal, punishable by a fine and confiscation of the symbol. We have received comments from many players who thought the fine unfair at low APLs, so we have now tiered the fine by APL. Low-level characters that break the law should find the fine less of a burden, while high-level characters should still be rightfully concerned about the Pale's attitude to non-Pholtans. We hope that you enjoyed playing in the Theocracy of the Pale last year, and we look forward to making this region even better — with your help. The Pale Triad, April 2006: | ||
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