I'm used to playing powerful games, to having access to anything officially published in the system I'm playing, only playing with close friends, using online sources and not owning the materials, never played a module, and never played a published campaign setting. I feel intimidated to embark on learning this, and going forward with this, but I love to play. Anyone that could give me advice and insight to their personal experiences with PFS especially starting out and getting a hold of things, would be greatly appreciated.
So, even though fighters are pretty awful from all the insanely powerful stuff that exists in these table top games, I love to be the ordinary guy who doesn't have magical/supernatural mumbo jumbo via class abilities, and perhaps I'm a racist, but I hate being any other race other than a human (I've been criticized for not playing a different race or class that is more fantasy based when playing a fantasy game). I am also due to my affinity to this race and class.... a feat FIEND!
My ideal set-up would be a Fighter who specializes in using a longbow. I currently am trying to figure out exactly what is and isn't legal in PFS, and would like it if people could give me advice for some optimal builds that relate to my interests in regards to what is legal of course. The Defensive Strategist trait doesn't seem to be legal in PFS, and that is upsetting since I enjoy using light armor until I can get Mithral Breast Plate. I would like to have a good strength score in order to receive the benefits of the Adaptive enhancement on my bow, but I don't know if it' legal. I also don't know if it's possible to figure out upgrading a quiver, or an efficient quiver in the game to have the abundant ammunition spell always on it.
I would appreciate any insight anyone could give on any of this.
First of all 99% of PFS is not tough enough that you need much optimizing. Take a look at the pregens. If they are significantly stronger than you're used to making you may want to put a little more work on optimizing, but if you're already above them power wise I wouldn't worry to much.
Second of all, this thread is much more appropriate to the advice forum.
3rd, welcome to PFS! I hope you have lots of fun.
I debated the advice forum or the PFS general discussion. I think I would get more attention on the Advice, so perhaps it was a mistake writing this here. A friend told me that Tiefling is legal, and you get the benefits of having darkvision, but I'm not sure what is and isn't legal regarding alternative racial things traits and such.
I really do hope this is worth it, and it opens doors for me to play more often with other peoples personal groups.
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I don't know the Defensive Strategist trait, so cannot say if it is legal or not. Source would help.
Adaptive, as long as you own Ultimate Equipment, is legal for PFS.
Permanent is not legal for PFS, nor are custom items, so I don't think a permanent Abundant Ammunition would be PFS legal.
My own build fo rthis tends to go Str 16, Dex 18 at first level.
Feats:
Human: Point Blank SHot
L1: Precise Shot
F1: Weapon Focus (Longbow)
After the first scenario, if possible, spend 2 PP to get a darkwood masterwork composiute longbow (Str +3)
F2: Rapid Shot
L3: Deadly Aim
F4: Weapon Specialization (Longbow)
L5: Point Blank Master (APG)
F6: Manyshot
L7: Clustershot or Snap Shot
F8: Improved Critical (Longbow)
L9: Combat Reflexes or Snap Shot
F10: Improved Snap Shot
L11: Improved Precise Shot
F12: Greater Weapon Focus (Longbow)
Note that my main PC did not take this exact track, since he took a level of Cleric of Desna (Travel & Liberation domains) at second, and took a level of Ranger at 11th so he could get a Fighter feat at 12th level, when his BAB hit 11...
How to optimize -> Adivce
What's legal in PFS -> Guide to Organized Play + Additional Resources.
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Fighters can make great archers. You just need to have the feats to help you, and the equipment to work the (non-magical) mojo.
First off, the campaign rules are in the Pathfinder Society Guide to Organized Play (link here for download). What is and is not legal for play is listed in the Additional Resources (link here).
Depending on the books you own you can use many of those. For a fighter archer, I would suggest the Core Rule Book (CRB) link here, the Advanced Player's Guide (APG)link here, and Ultimate Equipment (UE)link here.
You can use the online PRD (link here) or other websites to help you find the feats, traits, and other things, but then you have to actually get the book or PDF.
Heyo, welcome to the institution.
To see if something is legal
1) See where it came from. In this case adaptive is from ultimate magic
2) Go to Additional resources. Look for the book its in.
3) You see that everything is legal except what's called out as illegal (some entries are worded the other way around) so most of the books is good. There's no mention of adaptive, so it works.
You can also go to Archives of nethys. See that funny looking round white glyph in front of the adaptive enchantment and most of the other enchants but not in front of breaking? That means its legal for PFS (according to the sites owner, anyway, but there's no reason he's more likely to screw up reading the additional resources than you are. )
Download the guide. It will help.
Don't be afraid to ask questions afterwards. If someone just refers you to the guide just wait, someone will usually be along with a more helpful answer, but it takes more time to look up, link, and layout than it does to just tell the new guy he's doing it wrong.
More or less you build a pathfinder society archer the same way as you build one in any other campaign. Very few of the PFS specific rules affect archery builds (as opposed to say, necromancers or druids)
It sounds like PFS will be easy mode for you. Not much need to go all out with the DPR.
PFS has a lot of social, exploring, knowledge, discovery and other questy type elements to it. If ALL You know how to do is pump arrows into things you're going to be bored for the non combat portions of the evening. Have at least 1 combat trick and 1-2 out of combat tricks.
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I have had good success with an archetype for fighter called the Weapon Master (link here found in the APG) as an archer. The archetype loses out on armor training, but gets weapon training early, and Reliable Strike is a solid ability.
For any archtype, equipment is important. As you play Pathfinder Society (PFS) you will earn prestige points. For an expenditure of 2 prestige points, you can purchase an item of up to 750 gold piece value. I encourage you to look at a masterwork darkwood mighty composite longbow STR +3. A sweet weapon obtainable at first level. You may want to wait until you have gotten a Cure Light Wounds wand first.
Feats for an archer:
Point-Blank Shot (Combat) - CRB - Level 1
You are especially accurate when making ranged attacks against close targets.
Benefit: You get a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot (Combat) - CRB - Bonus Fighter 1
You are adept at firing ranged attacks into melee.
Prerequisite: Point-Blank Shot.
Benefit: You can shoot or throw ranged weapons at an opponent engaged in melee without taking the standard –4 penalty on your attack roll.
Note: Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other.
Deadly Aim (Combat) - CRB - Bonus Human
You can make exceptionally deadly ranged attacks by pinpointing a foe's weak spot, at the expense of making the attack less likely to succeed.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all ranged attack rolls to gain a +2 bonus on all ranged damage rolls. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every +4 thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the bonus to damage increases by +2. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus damage does not apply to touch attacks or effects that do not deal hit point damage.
Rapid Shot (Combat) - CRB - Bonus Fighter 2
You can make an additional ranged attack.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Point-Blank Shot.
Benefit: When making a full-attack action with a ranged weapon, you can fire one additional time this round. All of your attack rolls take a –2 penalty when using Rapid Shot.
Weapon Focus (Combat) - CRB - Level 3
Choose one type of weapon. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple (or ray, if you are a spellcaster) as your weapon for the purposes of this feat.
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.
Weapon Specialization (Combat) - CRB - Bonus Fighter 4
You are skilled at dealing damage with one weapon. Choose one type of weapon (including unarmed strike or grapple) for which you have already selected the Weapon Focus feat. You deal extra damage when using this weapon.
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, Weapon Focus with selected weapon, fighter level 4th.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.
Point Blank Master (Combat) - APG - Level 5? or 8
You are adept at firing ranged weapons in close quarters.
Prerequisite: Weapon Specialization with selected ranged weapon.
Benefit: Choose one type of ranged weapon. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when firing the selected weapon while threatened.
Normal: Using a ranged weapon while you are threatened provokes attacks of opportunity.
Special: Starting at 6th level, a ranger with the archery combat style may select Point Blank Master as a combat style feat, but he must have Weapon Focus instead of Weapon Specialization in the selected weapon.
Combat Reflexes (Combat) - CRB - Level 5? or 8
You can make additional attacks of opportunity.
Benefit: You may make a number of additional attacks of opportunity per round equal to your Dexterity bonus. With this feat, you may also make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed.
Normal: A character without this feat can make only one attack of opportunity per round and can't make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed.
Special: The Combat Reflexes feat does not allow a rogue to use her opportunist ability more than once per round.
Manyshot (Combat) - CRB - Bonus Fighter 6
You can fire multiple arrows at a single target.
Prerequisites: Dex 17, Point-Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When making a full-attack action with a bow, your first attack fires two arrows. If the attack hits, both arrows hit. Apply precision-based damage (such as sneak attack) and critical hit damage only once for this attack. Damage bonuses from using a composite bow with a high Strength bonus apply to each arrow, as do other damage bonuses, such as a ranger's favored enemy bonus. Damage reduction and resistances apply separately to each arrow.
Snap Shot (Combat) - UC - Level 7
With a ranged weapon, you can take advantage of any opening in your opponent’s defenses.
Prerequisite: Dex 13, Point-Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: While wielding a ranged weapon with which you have Weapon Focus, you threaten squares within 5 feet of you. You can make attacks of opportunity with that ranged weapon. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when making a ranged attack as an attack of opportunity.
Normal: While wielding a ranged weapon, you threaten no squares and can make no attacks of opportunity with that weapon.
Improved Snap Shot (Combat) - UC - Level 9
You can take advantage of your opponent’s vulnerabilities from a greater distance, and without exposing yourself.
Prerequisite: Dex 15, Point-Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Snap Shot, Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: You threaten an additional 10 feet with Snap Shot.
Normal: Making a ranged attack provokes attacks of opportunity.
Improved Precise Shot (Combat) - CRB - Level 11
Your ranged attacks ignore anything but total concealment and cover.
Prerequisites: Dex 19, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, base attack bonus +11.
Benefit: Your ranged attacks ignore the AC bonus granted to targets by anything less than total cover, and the miss chance granted to targets by anything less than total concealment. Total cover and total concealment provide their normal benefits against your ranged attacks.
Normal: See the normal rules on the effects of cover and concealment in Combat.
Greater Snap Shot (Combat) - UC
You can prey on any gap in your foe’s guard with impunity, and with even greater range.
Prerequisite: Dex 17, Improved Snap Shot, Point-Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Snap Shot, base attack bonus +12.
Benefit: Whenever you make an attack of opportunity using a ranged weapon and hit, you gain a +2 bonus on the damage roll and a +2 bonus on rolls to confirm a critical hit with that attack. These bonuses increase to +4 when you have base attack bonus +16, and to +6 when you have base attack bonus +20.
Greater Weapon Focus (Combat) - CRB
Choose one type of weapon (including unarmed strike or grapple) for which you have already selected Weapon Focus. You are a master at your chosen weapon.
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, Weapon Focus with selected weapon, base attack bonus +1, 8th-level fighter.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls, including those from Weapon Focus.
Special: You can gain Greater Weapon Focus multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.
Pin Down (Combat) - UC
You easily block enemy escapes.
Prerequisite: Combat Reflexes, fighter level 11th.
Benefit: Whenever an opponent you threaten takes a 5-foot step or uses the withdraw action, that opponent provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If the attack hits, you deal no damage, but the targeted creature is prevented from making the move action that granted a 5-foot step or the withdraw action and does not move.
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Clustered Shots (Combat) - UC
You take a moment to carefully aim your shots, causing them all to strike nearly the same spot.
Prerequisites: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When you use a full-attack action to make multiple ranged weapon attacks against the same opponent, total the damage from all hits before applying that opponent’s damage reduction.
Special: If the massive damage optional rule is being used (Core Rulebook 189), that rule applies if the total damage you deal with this feat is equal to or exceeds half the opponent’s full normal hit points (minimum 50 points of damage).
Disrupting Shot (Combat) - APG
With a well-placed shot, you make it harder for a nearby opponent to cast spells.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Point-Blank Shot, fighter level 6th.
Benefit: If you ready an action to shoot an opponent casting a spell within 30 feet and successfully hit that opponent with a ranged attack, the concentration DC to successfully cast the spell is increased by +4.
Far Shot (Combat) - CRB
You are more accurate at longer ranges.
Prerequisites: Point-Blank Shot.
Benefit: You only suffer a –1 penalty per full range increment between you and your target when using a ranged weapon.
Normal: You suffer a –2 penalty per full range increment between you and your target.
Impact Critical Shot (Combat, Critical) - UC
With a series of ranged attacks, you bring your foes to their knees or force them to move.
Prerequisite: Dex 13, Point-Blank Shot, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit with a ranged attack, in addition to the normal damage your attack deals, if your confirmation roll exceeds your opponent’s CMD, you can push your opponent back as if from the bull rush combat maneuver or knock that target prone as if from a trip combat maneuver. If you choose to bull rush, you cannot move with the target. Your maneuver does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Normal: You must perform a bull rush combat maneuver to bull rush an opponent, and you must perform a trip combat maneuver to trip an opponent.
Pinpoint Targeting (Combat) - CRB
You can target the weak points in your opponent's armor.
Prerequisites: Dex 19, Improved Precise Shot, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, base attack bonus +16.
Benefit: As a standard action, make a single ranged attack. The target does not gain any armor, natural armor, or shield bonuses to its Armor Class. You do not gain the benefit of this feat if you move this round.
For equipment, I suggest weapon blanches link here. There is also Ghost Salt weapon blanch in the Pathfinder Society Field Guide (another excellent book).
As far as a build, I started the human
STR 16
DEX 16+2
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 7
Pretty stereotypical.
By my experience, it's not necessary to thoroughly optimize an archer in PFS. A longbow archer will almost always be top of the pack in terms of DPR regardless of how you build it, whether you go myrmidarch magus, zen archer monk or weapon master fighter. Just get Rapid Shot, Manyshot, and Clustered Shots, and you're set.
I personally choose the weapon master because of the early bonus to attack and damage it gets at level 3.
I do have a lot to learn, but I am really concerned with owning the material. My friend is willing to let me borrow his core rule book, and from what I read, I just need to print out from an official source things as an alternative for having the books on hand. Are GM's strict with reviewing your character sheet and making absolutely sure you brought all the materials, and am I mistaken with printing out things? Like I definitely can't afford to buy every book, and I can't expect to borrow every book that I use for my character from my friend, and bring it to the game. I just want to build my character legally, and have fun.
I have no concept on the economy and how to properly buy things in the realm of PFS since I've only played peoples homebrew campaigns. I expect that I will need to logically have space for the items and money I acquire, feed my dude, adhere to taking off my armor when I sleep, etc. and I've never had anyone be strict with those things. Also, I've never in my life used wand or UMD and really hate the idea of doing it. I get anxious real easy over small things, but being self aware that I do allows me to keep going.
Also, is it possible to commission a player or buy a created magic item? I mentioned getting a quiver of abundant ammunition made (which I'm not even sure how much that would cost) and that would be something greatly desired. Being able to get unlimited weapon blanches and special ammunition that aren't magical is something I greatly desire.
You can't just photo copy it from a book. Print out refers only to watermark PDFs that have your name on them.
If you borrow your friends book its legal because there's no way of knowing its borrowed, and fulfills the primary purpose of showing the DM what the feat/item/whatever does.
Cash goes for gear. You get a more or less set amount per adventure.
Room and board is covered for the character.
You don't need to UMD your own wand. You buy a wand, when you get hurt you hand it to the cleric/bard/druid and say "three hits please!" Healing a rotating batch of newbs that don't bring their own healing gets expensive after a while, because it comes completely out of your own pocket otherwise. (my druid keeps the 4 wands he's burned down to 3 charges or so spread out in different places accross himself and his animal companion)
Buying stuff:
You buy stuff from the society. The good news is that you can get what you want with few restrictions. If you want a shocking bursting holy ripsaw glaive you can probably get one by the time you have the gold for it. The downside is you can't get custom items. The efficient quiver is fine because is a standard magic item, but you can't order say, a cloak of elven resistance that combines the cloak of resistance and elven kind.
Item crafting is banned: its simply too easy with the infinite down time between sessions for characters to take craft wondrous item and effectively double their number of magic items.
Also, is it possible to commission a player or buy a created magic item? I mentioned getting a quiver of abundant ammunition made (which I'm not even sure how much that would cost) and that would be something greatly desired. Being able to get unlimited weapon blanches and special ammunition that aren't magical is something I greatly desire.
It is not possible.
Crafting and custom magic items are not allowed in PFS.
Pretty much any attempt to get "unlimited" amounts of most resources are going to fail. The closest is the Abundant Ammunition you mentioned, but you'll have to get used to casting it at the beginning of every combat. A lot of ranged combat characters get wands of that spell for this purpose.
-j
Being able to get unlimited weapon blanches and special ammunition that aren't magical is something I greatly desire.
For an archer, I highly recommend the Elves of Golarian book with all the trick arrows, most of which are legal in PFS. Durable Arrows are the go-to ammunition for all my archers: you can recover these nearly 100% of the time, which makes getting special materials worthwhile.
Weapon blanches are already extremely cost-effective for ammunition, so I wouldn't worry about trying to get those unlimited. Also, there's an open questions on whether abundant ammunition would replicate the blanch or just the arrow, so expect table variation there, anyway. (If you try to do the blanch after you cast abundant ammunition, you'll use up a chunk of the spell time applying the blanch.)
For a variant of abundant ammunition, look at the Conserving weapon property from Ultimate Combat ("When the wielder misses with a ranged attack, the fired ammunition teleports unharmed to its quiver, case, or pouch"). Since this says the actual fired ammunition returns to the quiver, the blanch would be intact (since the blanch lasts until you hit the target).
Feat-wise, I'm a big fan of Point Blank Master and Improved Precise Shot. Clustered Shots is also nice, but most types of DR can be covered by the weapon blanches, so it's a second-tier feat for me.
Spell-wise, the best archer spells are Gravity Bow and Aspect of the Falcon. None of my archers have run out of ammo with Durable Arrows, so I don't usually bother with Abundant Ammunition. These are Ranger/Druid spells, so a Ranger dip gets you wands of these without using UMD.
Latenerfectly clear. If I don't show up with absolute proof on a pdf with my name on it, or the book that is the source of even a commonly known feat, then I can't participate or at least use whatever it is within that game session? There is no leeway?
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Latenerfectly clear. If I don't show up with absolute proof on a pdf with my name on it, or the book that is the source of even a commonly known feat, then I can't participate or at least use whatever it is within that game session? There is no leeway?
You don't need to bring a Core Rulebook. So if you build a character that is Core only, you are fine.
Also, in most cases no one is checking the watermark on the pdf. So as long as it *is* watermarked, you are probably fine. (That one will depend on locale though.)
Is pfs that nitpicky though? Will there be someone that will scrutinize every last detail and make sure I personally brought official sources? What are the consequences for not having even one thing not backed by this?
If you are playing Pathfinder you really should own the books, either in hardcopy or PDF. Playing PFS without owning the books is the equivalent to pirating a video game, IMO. You may not think it hurts anyone, but it does, and it's not like Paizo is swimming in cash like EA.
Although I doubt anyone is going to run you out of the game session if you don't own the books, by rule, yes, they can make you leave or prevent you from playing. But it's really just bad form to play the game and not own them. If you want access to everything, then buy all the books. If you can't afford them, buy the Core book and start there.
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Is pfs that nitpicky though? Will there be someone that will scrutinize every last detail and make sure I personally brought official sources? What are the consequences for not having even one thing not backed by this?
If you don't have a copy of the source for a particular Trait, Feat, Item, or Spell, the GM is within their rights to disallow use of that particular thing for the adventure. Usually you can still play the character, and it usually isn't that big of a problem. (I've had that happen when I thought I had packed the Sourcebook for a spell, but hadn't. Since the GM was unfamiliar with the spell, it couldn't be adjudicated without it.)
If you are using an entire Class or Archetype that you don't have the source for, you will probably not be able to play the character at all.
Each venue is different in how strict they are or whether they audit. My advice is to show up with a Core character at your local PFS, and see how it goes. There's every chance that you'll make friends with others at the table, and they will help you out.
I rather not have a discussion about ethics, and rather get advice on expectations so I don't waste my time or anyone else's. To dispel anyone from thinking I'm a cheapskate, I've invested plenty to have others who gm to own the materials needed, and I've also given gifts to other players. I play simple and never felt the need to personally own the books other than to borrow occasionally to study the rules. Human fighter is pretty straight forward, and to buy materials just for my personal use just for a few minor things is an ridiculous price, and a hefty burden just to play pfs.
My goal is to expand my pf experiences with new people, hopefully have them invite me to play in their personal gemes, share positive experiences to persuade my friends and others to pay with me (even convert systems), and above all else I want to have fun.
I have other friends reluctant to play too due to stressing out about this aspect and that's upsetting to me.I can't imagine us showing up with all the books then finding out we reach need our own copies even though we all night them for the group, if that day would even ever happen.
Ps.
I bought pf munchkin, then spent all my money on that game. While stopping to discuss pf and munchkin the other week I got an insane priced parking ticket following my pf session being cancelled. I just want to play pathfinder!
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I have other friends reluctant to play too due to stressing out about this aspect and that's upsetting to me.I can't imagine us showing up with all the books then finding out we reach need our own copies even though we all night them for the group, if that day would even ever happen.
As long as you have a copy at the table, you're fine. I have never seen a problem with friends sharing books.
Is this more I'd an issue with the rules being available rather than you personally owning then? If otter players/gm/game store has the material available then I'd that acceptable?
You can build a perfectly viable and extremely dangerous archer with the core rules, if you're worried about stress.
You'd need to tote along maybe one or two other books otherwise for some specialty stuff like archetypes or clustered shots.
==Aelryinth
A lot of my questions also extend past myself, as mentioned before with including my personal friends, and convincing others to participate. I suppose trying to find the GM's before getting involved and discussing what they're willing to slide would be a good idea.
I'm aware that a majority of the essential/good stuff for this character is in the CRB, but that archetype, and other feats (clustered shots) are something I would really like to have for the long term investment.
Anyone have advice on how to go about joining a faction, especially one for someone Chaotic Neutral that likes to thug and bug?
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I don't remember where it was, but the campaign coordinator did post a thing on owning books. Basically they understand new players want to try out the game before purchasing and its perfectly fine to play a few games before you buy all the books.
The number one reason you must have the books is that you can't expect your GM to know every rule, especially if you're pulling options from 10 different splatbooks. So when your GM asks you how does that ability work, you can pull out the rules and show them.
As far as how strict GM's will be on enforcing rules, that varies widely.
As far as optimizing an archer, you don't need to, you chose one of the highest damage dealers in the game. What you need to figure out is what you can contribute out of combat. Fighters get the shaft on skill points and class skills, and pfs scenarios include a lot of "skill challenges." If you focus completely on combat, you will be probably be having a hard time contributing to half the session.
Sczarni is basically the mafia, they are CN thugs and thieves, so welcome to the family.
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As far as optimizing an archer, you don't need to, you chose one of the highest damage dealers in the game. What you need to figure out is what you can contribute out of combat. Fighters get the shaft on skill points and class skills, and pfs scenarios include a lot of "skill challenges." If you focus completely on combat, you will be probably be having a hard time contributing to half the session.
Agreed.
This will be your biggest challenge with optimizing your character. PFS scenarios include a wide variety of challenges, and many scenarios include skill-based challenges that determine success or failure.There's your incentive to make a second character with different abilities!
Longbow Fighters (vanilla, Archer, or Weapon Master) with basic archery feats are all strong choices.
Intimidate might be fun to use out of combat. It's a common choice for Fighters. The core Feat Intimidating Prowess can help a Fighter, as well as Skill Focus: Intimidate. You have room to play around with feats, especially since you went with archery.
You don't need the Adaptive enchantment. That's mostly for characters that change their Strength stat frequently with spells, rage, or other shenanigans. Just get a masterwork composite longbow that matches your Strength bonus and your set.
Please be sure to read the PFS Guide to Organized Play that Pirate Rob linked to above.
The "bring all of your resources" restriction is not a huge deal, especially if you play with friends. Sharing resources is legit, and printed pages of your (or your friend's) watermarked .pdf copies are relatively inexpensive options.
I've never seen a GM make a huge deal out of having all of your resources there. But, as others have said, the main point is to make sure that your GM has access to the rule or option that you are using.
Never seen someone audit a character sheet either, but where I play people just expect that you know what you're doing.
Welcome!