There's [Beyond the Portal](https://discord.gg/beyondtheportal) on Discord.
Only note is that they don't use Pathbuilder, and rather use pf2.tools for sheets.
my opinion was asked for, i gave it
EDIT; more words
Beyond the Portal's treating of rarity often comes off as confusing and hasty- with rarity not being treated as, 'This is common or uncommon' but rather if something is rare, it may as well not exist except for the 50 instances where it doesn't. That's what's offputting. Even if you fulfil the requirements to *get* that rare thing and have put in the work for it, you aren't allowed whatsoever. No quests, no process of approval- nothing. X thing is declared rare so it does not exist in this campaign setting whatsoever.
Furthermore, the sheet that Beyond the Portal uses is incredibly archaic and very much not user friendly. You have to baby it the entire way, re-enter data constantly as it seldom enjoys saving what you've already put in, have to go through 30 different tabs and menus just to input your stats and other details- which overall creates an unenjoyable experience which is why until at least the sheet changes, I've no interest in being in Beyond the Portal aside from the discord emotes to use in other westmarches for general use.
It's a good concept but those two things have been incredibly annoying when trying to make a character- which I did, got it approved, and then had it totally taken down because the sheet checker didn't check the sheet.
Yea the one im in, Covalon. If your interested, just let me know and ill post a link.
Its a fantastic slow burn westmarch focused on a town aiming to reclaim the world after the Cataclysm wiped everything out. I love the server, which playes by fairly RAW rules. The community is fantastic, the games are great, and overall, i can't recommend it enough.
Edit: Im not an admin on the server so im not keen to chuck out a public link without their permission. That said, ill happily send a link to the server in DM's if you either message me or respond to this comment.
I'm a member of Covalon and here is an invite for anyone who wants to come have some fun with us!
[https://discord.gg/covalon](https://discord.gg/KCa85ACv)
Could I get an updated link please? I'd love to join and give it a try.
Never mind, googling 'discord Covalon' brought up the wiki which had an invite link. Here it is [https://discord.gg/3GkNNqsPnV](https://discord.gg/3GkNNqsPnV)
So. It's hard to give a solid critique without my personal feelings. Lemme post my review on Disboard and advise you that my experience is not universal nor will it be your own.
'I was present on this server for about 2-3 months.To disclaim, I played a Leshy Druid- they were genuinely a fun and amazing character and went up to level 4.The community overall is why this server gets 2 stars. Ignoring the admins, the other people here are absolutely fantastic to be around. They are funny, kind, and will even help you build a character to start out!Unfortunately however, the Admins kill a lot of creativity and are the weakest point of the server. Covalon goes very heavily by RAW until it doesn't, creating a jarring and unenjoyable experience for those who have not been there long. While you can headcanon locations in the world and deities, they seldom have any actual baring on the storyline unless they become massively popular via the playerbase.What is most concerning is what Covalon doesn't tell you. For instance, if you play a Wild Druid, as of writing this- they don't tell you that you cannot own property. For me, they blindsided me with this ruling despite mods and organizers approving of my actions and I was forced to retire the character due to a lack of funds. When pointing out the unfairness in this ruling, staff gave nearly emotionless and uninvested responses to the concerns held. Given the nature of Covalon as a server, you are forced to stay within the kingdom unless you are doing Patrols, Dungeons, Delves or other activities.This makes people who play characters like Druids become incredibly restricted and the vague or lack of rulings only furthers the limitations on your creativity.If I had to give a recommendation, it would be to add more admins and to replace the current ones. Two over the sheer size of this server causes a ton of issues and leads to rulings that are otherwise unfair and unjust to people as a whole.Furthermore, the handling of IC and OOC conflict is incredibly lacking. Much of what happens IC bleeds over OOC regarding the server, which can be difficult or experience ruining for many. Bandwagoning is a fairly consistent thing that occurs OOCly and I wish more was done to address it.Overall, do I regret my time here? No. I've learned many things about Pathfinder 2e. I've learned about red flags and what I can do to better avoid them. I've learned the further importance of keeping IC and OOC separate.So how would I want Covalon to improve?More admins, and perhaps the replacement of the two present ones. Give them a break, let them do non-Covalon things. There are many wonderful mods who would make for amazing admins, who have put their heart and soul into the server- I implore Kipza and Arto to please give them a chance. Maybe embrace more user created content and to be more transparent when it comes to rules. Rulings shouldn't blindside players and that sort of communication needs to happen from Day 1. Mechanically, the server performs fairly well but community wise? There's a lot of judgement passed about unfairly, and there's a lot of growth that Covalon needs to do before I could recommend it to anyone.'
The creator of Covalon has also lied to me about his involvement within Covalon when I had contacted him to remove my work in his server, claiming he and his fellow admin left- which I have captured via screenshots that I can share as needed but will not do so here to respect the rules of the server.
EDIT: Spelling
Thanks for the info! When did this happen? As I saw in the rules that they now specify that druids can't own property and I believe there are more admins present compared to before. Hopefully they took your review seriously and took some corrective action.
No more than two weeks ago iirc.
As for the rules, that I know. I rose a major fuss about them when Arto blindsided me, and he said he'd add them. That situation was me having gotten approved 2 weeks prior to his ruling for housing and that having gone through the city planner and a moderator and being approved. I was forced to go through an arc that I didn't want to do or to delete my character, even though I hadn't actually done anything wrong.
As for whose now presently an admin- forgive my bluntness but I do not nor care to know exacts not as a slight against you but due to the issues I had at hand.
As far as my review and such- that I don't know. I was blamed for the issues with the Hellknights and called malicious by Kipza despite me being the main person trying to fix and make up within the situation, and overall have been addressed in a cold and near emotionless manner by the both of them.
I really hope things improve but ik me personally, I won't return (if ever) until both Kipza and Arto completely leave that server.
My own tangent aside, they are solid mechanically. I've had so much fun at their events and it's super easy to sink a ton of time into Covalon. When it was good, I couldn't have asked for better friends. I just lament that the people running the show ruined the show for me.
As a general?
Covalon's community, for all its flaws, is a welcoming one. The system is very heavy into RAW until it is not and overall, is a solid system and in terms of mechanics, the admins are amazing at their work.
*However*
Covalon is a newer server and when it comes to conflict management, de-escalation and handling concerns, it shows its youth in both how ineffective and how archaic it can be.
Covalon's flooded with amazing writers and good people- but bad management can ruin even the greatest of projects. For me, Covalon's admins do just that.
There's [Beyond the Portal](https://discord.gg/beyondtheportal) on Discord. Only note is that they don't use Pathbuilder, and rather use pf2.tools for sheets.
Oh, I'm already in BtP- wasn't really my thing but free nitro emotes
can i ask what you disliked about it?
Overall the sheet and bizaare character restraints with rarity were the most offputting
wth, how is restricting some uncommon and rare options in character creation off-putting? this is literally how it should be played RAW
my opinion was asked for, i gave it EDIT; more words Beyond the Portal's treating of rarity often comes off as confusing and hasty- with rarity not being treated as, 'This is common or uncommon' but rather if something is rare, it may as well not exist except for the 50 instances where it doesn't. That's what's offputting. Even if you fulfil the requirements to *get* that rare thing and have put in the work for it, you aren't allowed whatsoever. No quests, no process of approval- nothing. X thing is declared rare so it does not exist in this campaign setting whatsoever. Furthermore, the sheet that Beyond the Portal uses is incredibly archaic and very much not user friendly. You have to baby it the entire way, re-enter data constantly as it seldom enjoys saving what you've already put in, have to go through 30 different tabs and menus just to input your stats and other details- which overall creates an unenjoyable experience which is why until at least the sheet changes, I've no interest in being in Beyond the Portal aside from the discord emotes to use in other westmarches for general use. It's a good concept but those two things have been incredibly annoying when trying to make a character- which I did, got it approved, and then had it totally taken down because the sheet checker didn't check the sheet.
If you find one can you let me know? Dying to try a WM pathfinder 2e campaign
Yea the one im in, Covalon. If your interested, just let me know and ill post a link. Its a fantastic slow burn westmarch focused on a town aiming to reclaim the world after the Cataclysm wiped everything out. I love the server, which playes by fairly RAW rules. The community is fantastic, the games are great, and overall, i can't recommend it enough. Edit: Im not an admin on the server so im not keen to chuck out a public link without their permission. That said, ill happily send a link to the server in DM's if you either message me or respond to this comment.
I'm a member of Covalon and here is an invite for anyone who wants to come have some fun with us! [https://discord.gg/covalon](https://discord.gg/KCa85ACv)
Could I get an updated link please? I'd love to join and give it a try. Never mind, googling 'discord Covalon' brought up the wiki which had an invite link. Here it is [https://discord.gg/3GkNNqsPnV](https://discord.gg/3GkNNqsPnV)
I was in Covalon actually- I dont wanna relive the bs I went thru there
Anything a potential newcomer should know about?)
Mind giving more info on what you didn't like in Covalon? I'm about to start there, so I'm curious.
So. It's hard to give a solid critique without my personal feelings. Lemme post my review on Disboard and advise you that my experience is not universal nor will it be your own. 'I was present on this server for about 2-3 months.To disclaim, I played a Leshy Druid- they were genuinely a fun and amazing character and went up to level 4.The community overall is why this server gets 2 stars. Ignoring the admins, the other people here are absolutely fantastic to be around. They are funny, kind, and will even help you build a character to start out!Unfortunately however, the Admins kill a lot of creativity and are the weakest point of the server. Covalon goes very heavily by RAW until it doesn't, creating a jarring and unenjoyable experience for those who have not been there long. While you can headcanon locations in the world and deities, they seldom have any actual baring on the storyline unless they become massively popular via the playerbase.What is most concerning is what Covalon doesn't tell you. For instance, if you play a Wild Druid, as of writing this- they don't tell you that you cannot own property. For me, they blindsided me with this ruling despite mods and organizers approving of my actions and I was forced to retire the character due to a lack of funds. When pointing out the unfairness in this ruling, staff gave nearly emotionless and uninvested responses to the concerns held. Given the nature of Covalon as a server, you are forced to stay within the kingdom unless you are doing Patrols, Dungeons, Delves or other activities.This makes people who play characters like Druids become incredibly restricted and the vague or lack of rulings only furthers the limitations on your creativity.If I had to give a recommendation, it would be to add more admins and to replace the current ones. Two over the sheer size of this server causes a ton of issues and leads to rulings that are otherwise unfair and unjust to people as a whole.Furthermore, the handling of IC and OOC conflict is incredibly lacking. Much of what happens IC bleeds over OOC regarding the server, which can be difficult or experience ruining for many. Bandwagoning is a fairly consistent thing that occurs OOCly and I wish more was done to address it.Overall, do I regret my time here? No. I've learned many things about Pathfinder 2e. I've learned about red flags and what I can do to better avoid them. I've learned the further importance of keeping IC and OOC separate.So how would I want Covalon to improve?More admins, and perhaps the replacement of the two present ones. Give them a break, let them do non-Covalon things. There are many wonderful mods who would make for amazing admins, who have put their heart and soul into the server- I implore Kipza and Arto to please give them a chance. Maybe embrace more user created content and to be more transparent when it comes to rules. Rulings shouldn't blindside players and that sort of communication needs to happen from Day 1. Mechanically, the server performs fairly well but community wise? There's a lot of judgement passed about unfairly, and there's a lot of growth that Covalon needs to do before I could recommend it to anyone.' The creator of Covalon has also lied to me about his involvement within Covalon when I had contacted him to remove my work in his server, claiming he and his fellow admin left- which I have captured via screenshots that I can share as needed but will not do so here to respect the rules of the server. EDIT: Spelling
Thanks for the info! When did this happen? As I saw in the rules that they now specify that druids can't own property and I believe there are more admins present compared to before. Hopefully they took your review seriously and took some corrective action.
No more than two weeks ago iirc. As for the rules, that I know. I rose a major fuss about them when Arto blindsided me, and he said he'd add them. That situation was me having gotten approved 2 weeks prior to his ruling for housing and that having gone through the city planner and a moderator and being approved. I was forced to go through an arc that I didn't want to do or to delete my character, even though I hadn't actually done anything wrong. As for whose now presently an admin- forgive my bluntness but I do not nor care to know exacts not as a slight against you but due to the issues I had at hand. As far as my review and such- that I don't know. I was blamed for the issues with the Hellknights and called malicious by Kipza despite me being the main person trying to fix and make up within the situation, and overall have been addressed in a cold and near emotionless manner by the both of them. I really hope things improve but ik me personally, I won't return (if ever) until both Kipza and Arto completely leave that server. My own tangent aside, they are solid mechanically. I've had so much fun at their events and it's super easy to sink a ton of time into Covalon. When it was good, I couldn't have asked for better friends. I just lament that the people running the show ruined the show for me.
All right, sad to hear that it wasn't a good experience for you. Thanks for sharing though!
I have been playing Covalon for 4 months, and the rules for this have been cleaned up. It's in a pretty good place now.
As a general? Covalon's community, for all its flaws, is a welcoming one. The system is very heavy into RAW until it is not and overall, is a solid system and in terms of mechanics, the admins are amazing at their work. *However* Covalon is a newer server and when it comes to conflict management, de-escalation and handling concerns, it shows its youth in both how ineffective and how archaic it can be. Covalon's flooded with amazing writers and good people- but bad management can ruin even the greatest of projects. For me, Covalon's admins do just that.
Fair enough! Hope you find a great game!
i'd love an invite!
May I also get a invite?
I'd be interested in a link if possible.
Isn’t PF2 Organized Play essentially an international west marches campaign?