Specifically, the time of the year where I get asked to run a whole lot of Pathfinder in a hurry so people can get their characters leveled up and ready to play in GenCon exclusive events. It's a bit weird, because:
a) I don't run Pathfinder at GenCon.
b) I actually do not really like Pathfinder.*
c) I am only asked about this time of year, usually with the goal of shoving about 9 game sessions into 4 so paperwork can be filled out and people can go, "Yay! I have an official character for PFS!"
d) I really want to run them in Dungeon Crawl Classics adventures as a member of the Road Crew, then have their characters get consumed by the hilarious grinders that game system is famous for.
Anyway - prep for GenCon time! It is coming!
* = Mostly due to an innate disdain for game systems with alignments or classes. Although, to be honest, I have read some incredibly well thought and well presented explanations of why both are good for gaming. When not written by Pathfinder or D&D Fanboys they can be quite enlightening. An alignment system can be construed as an elegant shorthand for determining who the "good guys" are and what a general character interaction for a specific situation may be. While I completely disagree, it is a good point. I was reminded of the Dragonstar d20 setting, where the Imperial Rulers decreed that the results of a "Detect Alignment" spell were not admissible in court. I thought it was an interesting point of view. Meanwhile, on "Judge Judy in Rassilon" - "Your honor, the defendant is Chaotic Evil!" Judge responds, "Clearly they are guilty, execute them."
And follow on, a class can be handy when someone has a vague idea of what they want to play, and no one wants to spend hours trying to figure out how to achieve that effect. I am still haunted by a GURPS "session" a friend ran a few years ago, which entailed about 5 hours of character creation, and then no one wanted to actually play the adventure. And I do not think we ever did, I think the following week we played Savage Worlds.
