I returned to the office on Tuesday and my first priority was to resolve the outstanding issues in North Carolina. While on the road, I’d had some conversations and communication with relevant parties, but I needed several uninterrupted hours to pull the edges together. To all involved, thank you for your patience while I was out of the office.

Resolution of this issue takes several forms. First, we need to make some changes to the organizational structure of the involved area. Second, we need to make changes to the program in general, including new processes and standards. Third, we need the cooperation and support of members of the affected community in embracing these changes and moving forward.

First, let’s talk about the structural changes, which are happening immediately.

1) We are reinstating Michal Eshleman to the role of Venture-Lieutenant working with Venture-Captain Landon Hatfield. Michael will oversee operations at Atomic Games. There is a pending application for Venture-Agent of Atomic that is being processed by David Shaw.

2) We are collapsing the Southeast Region and replacing it with two new regions. The first is the Appalachian Region, which includes the states of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. David Shaw, who has been with the campaign for many years as both Venture-Captain and Venture-Lieutenant, will oversee this region as Regional Venture-Captain. The second is the Gulf Region, made up of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Del Collins will move to RVC of this region.

Next, let’s talk about the changes to Paizo organized play in general.

1) We have reiterated to all RVCs that the NDA only applies to Paizo business operations, not to individuals or their experiences.

2) We are spinning up a task force to look at documenting the heretofore-unwritten policies and procedures of being a Venture-Officer. This document, a Venture-Officer Handbook, will be driven by venture-officer input and reviewed by myself and Paizo. My timeline for this document is the end of year 2018, though I would love to have it completed sooner.

3) We are reevaluating my tasks and responsibilities to allow me to become more available to the community and more able to engage with volunteers and participants to address concerns raised by the community.

Finally, let’s talk about what we need from you and the rest of the community.

I ask that we all come together to heal the region and the program and work toward making organized play what we want it to be: the best living campaign in the world! Disciplinary actions are being taken as appropriate, but we do not and will not discuss these actions publicly. We remain dedicated to open dialog with our players and volunteers. We encourage anyone who has an issue to report it to their next highest Venture-Officer. Alternatively

we are continuing to keep other avenues of communication open and organizedplay@paizo.com (for Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society issues) and community@paizo.com (for other community issues) are methods of communication available to anyone for any reason.

—Tonya Woldridge

Organized Play Manager