I recently ran a Society Scenario in which one player came with a character he had created, but the other three players played with the Pre-Gens that are available on this site.

When I report the scenario, I don't understand how to report that the other three players were pre-gens. Is it still a valid game?

-Perry

***This is an unofficial answer, but I think it it right***

You do not need to report the pre-gens, and it is still a legit game. At least, that's how I was told to do it at Paizocon and Josh didn't yell at me or send me an e-mail telling me I screwed up.

Have those pre-gen folks make really real characters soon! Pathfinder Society must grow!!

So, I'm pretty sure the official response to this is going to be "stick fingers in ear and pretend I didn't hear", but all you're reporting on the characters is their Pathfinder number, their faction, whether they lived or died, and how much prestige they earned. All it takes for someone to register a character is about 2 minutes, web access, and to chose a character name and a faction. So....if someone plays a pregen at your table and likes it and wants to continue....have them sign up on the website, register a charname and faction, and go ahead and give them the campaign sheet. They can then actually make their own legal character at their leisure before their second gae.

Somehow I doubt the powers that be will be greatly upset at their technique used to lure people into interest into their product being horribly exploited in this fashion :).

So, I'm pretty sure the official response to this is going to be "stick fingers in ear and pretend I didn't hear", but all you're reporting on the characters is their Pathfinder number, their faction, whether they lived or died, and how much prestige they earned. All it takes for someone to register a character is about 2 minutes, web access, and to chose a character name and a faction. So....if someone plays a pregen at your table and likes it and wants to continue....have them sign up on the website, register a charname and faction, and go ahead and give them the campaign sheet. They can then actually make their own legal character at their leisure before their second gae.

Somehow I doubt the powers that be will be greatly upset at their technique used to lure people into interest into their product being horribly exploited in this fashion :).

While I agree with your suggestion, and have made it myself, I won't report pregen players as playing their own PC unless the Guide to PFS says it's expressly legal.

Farabor wrote:

So, I'm pretty sure the official response to this is going to be "stick fingers in ear and pretend I didn't hear", but all you're reporting on the characters is their Pathfinder number, their faction, whether they lived or died, and how much prestige they earned. All it takes for someone to register a character is about 2 minutes, web access, and to chose a character name and a faction. So....if someone plays a pregen at your table and likes it and wants to continue....have them sign up on the website, register a charname and faction, and go ahead and give them the campaign sheet. They can then actually make their own legal character at their leisure before their second gae.

Somehow I doubt the powers that be will be greatly upset at their technique used to lure people into interest into their product being horribly exploited in this fashion :).

I would not suggest giving new players the impression that the rules for organized play should be avoided when convenient. Instead, I urge anyone who supports this alternative to voice your opinion to Josh for a revision of Society policy. While I agree with your suggestion, and have made it myself, I won't report pregen players as playing their own PC unless the Guide to PFS says it's expressly legal.

It's worth noting, although I know that it's not PFS, that Shadowrun Missions takes pretty much this stance despite, well, just about all of the pregens breaking the chargen rules (they use the ones from the main SR4 book.) They'll even let you re-do your starting character after the first session completely if it's not a pre-gen (For example, you're unhappy with something about your build.) I'm not sure it's necessary to go that far, but allowing someone to start with a pre-gen then keep one session credit while they go off for a couple of hours and make their character is hardly breaking.

Part of the logic of this idea came from reading the GM thread for PFS #11, the third riddle...the only scenario I've run, and the only thread I've read. Specifically about the question about the encounter order, and the 'official' response.

Version 2.1 of the guide book will contain rules and policies for taking a pregen and turning it into a character with appropriate XP. This will only work for 1st level pregens (obviously--but I had to say it).