paizocon.co.uk

The Minnesota Peony Society (MPS) is a regional peony society based in Minnesota. Its stated mission is to promote interest in and appreciation of growing peonies, through educational programs and events for both members and the public. If you grow peonies in Minnesota or want to learn more about peony culture, MPS offers educational resources, an annual events calendar, and membership that includes a newsletter and member-only events.

What MPS Offers

The society's website organizes its content into several areas:

• Peony Culture — growing information, including a page on Winter Loss In Minnesota and one on 2025 Peony Leaf Curl
• Resources — MPS Exhibition Results, APS Awards, Peony Growers Handouts, Peony Societies, and MN Regional Societies
• News and Events — the annual calendar plus posts on past activities
• Membership — details on joining
• Volunteer — ways to help the society

The site also links to social media and notes that all are welcome to become members.

Annual Events

MPS publishes a calendar of events. The 2026 calendar listed on the site includes:

The fall root auction is described in detail: at 11:15 a.m. there is a fall peony care session with a peony dividing demonstration, then the auction starts at 1 p.m. The auction is open to all, and a link to the final auction list is available in the Events section. The society describes it as a chance to bid on new peonies for your garden.

How to Get Involved

1. Become a member. Membership includes a newsletter subscription and special member events, per the site. The Membership page is the place to start.
2. Attend a public event. The cut flower show and the fall root auction are open to all; the picnic and garden tour is members only.
3. Use the educational resources. Peony Culture pages, grower handouts, and exhibition results are available on the site.
4. Volunteer. The site has a Volunteer page for those who want to contribute to the society's work.

Where to Find More

• Exhibition results: Resources page → "MPS Exhibition Results"
• Regional societies: Resources page → "MN Regional Societies" and "Peony Societies"
• Grower handouts: Resources page → "Peony Growers Handouts"
• Event details and auction lists: the Events section

The site footer is dated © 2020 Minnesota Peony Society, and recent posts include 2025 Art In Bloom and summaries of past fall root auctions.

Starfinder is Paizo's science fantasy tabletop roleplaying game, set in a futuristic universe and built as a companion to Pathfinder. You can start playing it by picking up the core rules, then joining a local game or an organized play event — in the UK, that means conventions and local clubs, including PaizoCon UK and the UK Games Expo. The easiest entry point is the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, a worldwide science fantasy campaign where you can sit down at a table without needing your own group.

What makes Starfinder different from Pathfinder

Pathfinder is fantasy; Starfinder takes the same d20-based tradition and moves it into a science fantasy setting. That means starships, alien species, and futuristic gear alongside magic and classic fantasy elements. If you already know Pathfinder, the vocabulary and structure will feel familiar — the shift is in setting and tone rather than a completely foreign rules culture.

The Alien Archive is the key supplement for player-facing options here. It supplies alien races, and it's the source of the convention boons described below.

What you need to actually play

At minimum:

• The Starfinder core rulebook — races, classes, and gear. According to PaizoCon UK's news page, Starfinder rules sold out in most games shops after launch, so availability can be tight; check with your local shop or order ahead.
• The Alien Archive if you want the wider range of playable alien species.
• Dice, a character sheet, and a group — or an organized play table, which supplies the structure for you.

You don't need to own everything before your first session. Organized play exists precisely so new players can turn up and learn.

Starfinder Society: the organized play route

The Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild is a worldwide science fantasy campaign — the Starfinder equivalent of Pathfinder Society. It's the most practical way to start if you don't have an existing group, because sessions are run to a shared campaign structure and you can play at conventions, clubs, and games days rather than recruiting friends first.

The PaizoCon UK site describes Starfinder as having "hit the games conventions and the local clubs in a big way" in the autumn following launch, and notes it is played and demonstrated at most games conventions and local games groups in the UK. So the realistic starting move in the UK is: find a nearby convention or club running Starfinder Society, and book or turn up as a new player.

Convention boons and playing an alien

One Starfinder-specific feature worth knowing before you attend an event: Alien Archive boons.

• At game conventions, Starfinder GM boons offer alternative alien races you can play.
• Player Alien Archive boons exist alongside them.
• Boons are spread according to where the game takes place in the real world — so what's available at a UK event depends on the event's location.

In practice this means the character options open to you at a convention can differ from a home game, and can differ between conventions. If playing a specific alien species matters to you, ask the event organizers which boons are in play before you build a character.

Where to play in the UK

PaizoCon UK describes itself as a games convention for Pathfinder and Starfinder players and a source of information on Pathfinder and Starfinder activity in the UK — useful as a hub for finding where games are running, not just as an event.

A practical first-session plan

1. Decide your route: one-off convention demo, or a recurring club/Society game. Convention first is lower commitment.
2. Check what's running at your chosen event or club, and whether it's Starfinder Society organized play or a home campaign — the expectations differ.
3. Ask about boons if you want to play an alien species, since convention boons vary by location.
4. Build a character from the core rulebook, or use a pre-generated character if the table offers one.
5. Turn up early and tell the GM you're new. Organized play tables are built to absorb new players.

Common sticking points

• Rulebook availability. Rules sold out in many shops after launch, so don't assume your local store has a copy on the shelf.
• Assuming Pathfinder knowledge transfers completely. The setting and available species are different; check the Alien Archive options rather than importing assumptions.
• Expecting the same boons everywhere. Boon distribution is tied to real-world location, so a character option from one convention may not be legal at another.
• Waiting until you have a full group. The Society campaign exists so you don't have to — that's the whole point of organized play.

PaizoCon UK is a games convention in the United Kingdom for Pathfinder and Starfinder players, and it also acts as a source of information on Pathfinder and Starfinder activity in the UK. If you already play either game, or want to start, it is the kind of event where organised play, local clubs and campaign news come together. The site's news items point to three main ways to take part: attend the convention, join organised play through the Pathfinder Society or Starfinder Society, and follow campaign developments that players can influence.

What PaizoCon UK is for

The convention is built around Pathfinder and Starfinder, the two roleplaying games published by Paizo. According to the site, it is both a convention and an information hub for Pathfinder and Starfinder activity in the UK, with Birmingham appearing among its associated keywords.

That dual role matters. A convention gives you a date and a place to play. The news side tells you what is happening in the wider organised-play campaigns, which is useful if you cannot attend every event but still want to follow the story.

What happens at the convention and in UK organised play

The news items on the site describe several strands of activity:

• Pathfinder Society organised play. This is the worldwide campaign for Pathfinder. The site notes that Starfinder rules sold out in most games shops and that Starfinder then hit games conventions and local clubs "in a big way" in the autumn, with the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild described as a worldwide science fantasy campaign.
• Campaign storylines that players affect. One news item covers the Scarab Sages, a faction that replaced the old Osirion faction. Its premise was to recover gemstone artifacts storing the memories of long-dead sages, recruit strong minds to host those memories, and revive the ancient order of Jeweled Sages. The site states that the mission now moves towards a decisive outcome and that "how it ends entirely depends on you."
• New factions and allies. Another item describes how, in Season 8, Pathfinders travelled the Planes of Air, Water, Fire and Earth and encountered the Concordance of Elements. That group is now an ally and is recruiting.
• Rewards for playing and running games. Starfinder GM boons and Player Alien Archive boons are described as coming, offering alternative alien races to play. At game conventions, Starfinder GM boons will be spread according to where the game takes place in the real world.

For a UK player, the practical takeaway is that organised play is not limited to one annual event. The site points to games conventions and local games groups across the UK as places where Starfinder and Pathfinder are played and demonstrated.

How to take part

1. Start with organised play. Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society are the campaign structures behind most convention and club games. Playing in a Society game gives you a character tied to an ongoing worldwide story rather than a one-off session.
2. Look for a local club or convention. The site says you will find Starfinder played and demonstrated at most games conventions and local games groups in the UK. That makes a local club the lowest-effort entry point if you are new.
3. Attend PaizoCon UK. The convention itself is the concentrated version of all of this: multiple games, organised play, and news about where the campaigns are heading.
4. Consider running games. The GM boons described for Starfinder are aimed at people who referee at conventions, with rewards tied to the real-world location of the game.
5. Follow the campaign news. Storylines such as the Scarab Sages finale and the Concordance recruitment are shaped by player results, so reading the news tells you what is currently at stake.

What to check before you commit

The site's news items do not state ticket prices, registration deadlines or membership requirements, so treat those as things to confirm directly rather than assume. What the site does support is the shape of the event: a UK convention for Pathfinder and Starfinder, backed by organised play campaigns and local club activity. If you want a single starting point, pick whichever is closer to you — a local games group for regular play, or PaizoCon UK for the full convention experience.

Birmingham City University (BCU) is a large, practice-based university in Birmingham, in the UK's West Midlands. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and Clearing routes across a wide range of subject areas, and it positions itself around work experience, industry-standard facilities and social mobility. If you want a university that emphasises applied, career-facing learning in a major UK city, BCU is worth shortlisting; if you want a small, campus-contained or research-intensive institution, it may be a weaker fit.

What "practice-based" means at BCU

BCU describes itself as having "a focus on practice-based learning." In practice, this means courses are often built around applied work, industry-standard facilities and placement or work-experience opportunities rather than purely theoretical study.

The university backs this up with several claims on its own site:

These are BCU's own cited figures, so treat them as the university's positioning rather than independent verification. The practical takeaway: BCU is a reasonable choice if work experience and facilities matter more to you than, say, a traditional research reputation.

Study levels and subject areas

BCU covers both undergraduate and postgraduate study, plus Clearing options that include HNDs, Foundation Degrees and Degree Programmes.

Subject areas listed on the site include:

• Accounting, Finance and Economics
• Acting and Theatre
• Architecture
• Art and Design
• Business and Management
• Computing
• Construction and the Built Environment
• Education and Teacher Training
• Engineering
• English
• Fashion and Textiles
• Film, Animation and Photography
• Games
• Health Professions
• Jewellery
• Law
• Marketing
• Media and Journalism
• Music
• Nursing and Midwifery
• Psychology
• Social Work and Community Studies
• Sociology and Criminology
• Sport and Life Sciences

That spread is broad enough that most applicants will find something relevant, but the strength of the offer is concentrated in creative, health, business and built-environment fields rather than, for example, pure sciences.

Postgraduate study is framed around three motivations: pursuing a passion, advancing a career, or changing direction. BCU runs postgraduate Open Days if you want to explore that route.

How to apply, including Clearing

The main routes described on the site are:

1. Standard application — for most undergraduate and postgraduate courses, via the usual UCAS or direct postgraduate route.
2. Clearing — for courses with places still available. BCU states Clearing is open from 2 July 2026, with places available to start "this Autumn, or in January 2027." You search courses, then call 0121 331 6777 to apply. The hotline is open weekdays 9am–5pm. If you already have your results, you can also apply online.
3. Open Days — an Undergraduate Open Day is listed for 10 October, covering courses except Sport, with booking required.

Personal statement support

BCU offers a free Personal Statement guide that includes subject-specific examples from real students and guidance on using AI safely. This is useful if you are applying through the standard route and want a concrete starting point rather than generic advice.

Next steps if you are considering BCU

• Search courses by UCAS points, search term or subject area to see what is available, including in Clearing.
• Book an Open Day (undergraduate or postgraduate) to see the campuses and facilities.
• Check scholarships — BCU runs scholarship schemes that may provide extra funding and support; eligibility needs checking on their site.
• Take the virtual tour if you cannot visit in person; it offers 360-degree tours of facilities across campuses.
• If you are starting this September, the "Starting at BCU" section covers what to do before arrival, timetables and welcome week.

One practical caveat: the site does not publish tuition fees, entry requirements or scholarship amounts in the material available here, so confirm those directly with BCU before making a decision.

Pathfinder is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) in which one player acts as the Game Master (GM) and the others each control a single character, typically an adventurer exploring the world of Golarion. You can start with the Core Rulebook, a set of polyhedral dice, and a character sheet, then either run a game for friends or join an existing group through the Pathfinder Society organised play programme. The sections below cover what the game is, what you need, and how UK players can find a table.

What Pathfinder actually is

Pathfinder is a cooperative storytelling game rather than a board game with a fixed winner. The GM describes situations and controls everyone who is not a player character; the players describe what their characters attempt, roll dice when the outcome is uncertain, and the GM applies the rules to decide what happens. Play usually runs in sessions of a few hours, and a single story can span one evening or a campaign of many months.

The default setting is Golarion, a fantasy world that supports everything from dungeon crawls to political intrigue. The rules are published by Paizo, and the wider Pathfinder line includes adventures, supplements, and organised play scenarios.

Pathfinder and Starfinder

Starfinder is a related game from the same publisher. It shares much of Pathfinder's underlying approach but moves the setting into a science-fantasy universe. If your group prefers starships and alien species to swords and sorcery, Starfinder is the parallel option, and the two games are often played by the same communities.

What you need to begin

You do not need a large collection to start. A typical first game needs:

• The Core Rulebook — the main rules for creating characters and resolving actions.
• A set of polyhedral dice — commonly d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20, plus a percentile die.
• A character sheet — one per player, recording abilities, skills, hit points, and equipment.
• Something to write with and a surface to play on — paper maps or a grid mat help once combat starts, but are not strictly required for a first session.

One person takes the GM role. If nobody wants to run a long campaign immediately, a short published adventure or a single scenario is a lower-commitment way to learn the rules together.

How organised play works

The Pathfinder Society is the game's organised play programme: a shared campaign in which players can bring the same character to different tables, at conventions, clubs, or local stores, and have the results count. This is the usual route for someone who does not already have a home group.

The same model applies to Starfinder through the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, described as a worldwide science fantasy campaign. Organised play is also where special content appears: at game conventions, Starfinder GM boons have offered alternative alien races for play, distributed according to where the game takes place in the real world.

Following an ongoing story

Organised play campaigns have long-running plots that players influence. One example from the Pathfinder Society is the Scarab Sages, a faction that replaced the older Osirion faction. Its premise was to recover gemstone artifacts holding the memories of long-dead sages, recruit strong minds to host those memories, and revive the ancient order of Jeweled Sages. The faction's story moved toward a decisive outcome shaped by player results.

Factions can also change status between seasons. In Season 8, Pathfinders travelled the elemental planes and encountered a group called the Concordance of Elements; that group later became an ally and began recruiting as a new faction. Following these developments is part of the appeal of organised play, because the outcomes depend on what players do at the table.

Finding games in the UK

Pathfinder and Starfinder activity in the UK runs through conventions, local clubs, and games shops. PaizoCon UK is a games convention for Pathfinder and Starfinder players and a source of information on activity in the UK; its news covers organised play developments, faction storylines, and Starfinder's spread into UK venues.

Starfinder in particular reached UK conventions and local clubs in a big way in the autumn following its release, after rules sold out in most games shops, and it is played and demonstrated at most UK games conventions and local games groups. If you are looking for a table, a convention is often the easiest entry point because games are scheduled and run for newcomers.

A practical way to start

1. Decide whether you want fantasy (Pathfinder) or science fantasy (Starfinder).
2. Get the core rules and dice, or borrow them at a convention table.
3. Look for a Pathfinder Society or Starfinder Society event at a UK convention, club, or shop, and ask to join a beginner-friendly scenario.
4. If you would rather play with friends, pick up a short adventure and take turns running the game.

The main obstacle for new players is usually finding a GM rather than learning the rules, which is why organised play events exist: they supply both the GM and the table.