Pregens: Always an option?


Pathfinder Society

Grand Lodge

2 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

Is it always an option to play a Pregen?

My friend does not want to build a PC, and would rather opt to play a Pregen.

Is this always an option, outside of Scenarios that a 7th Level Pregen would be too low?

Grand Lodge 5/5

Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Yes.

3/5

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Is it always an option to play a Pregen?

My friend does not want to build a PC, and would rather opt to play a Pregen.

Is this always an option, outside of Scenarios that a 7th Level Pregen would be too low?

They could play a level 7 in a with a bunch of 11s. it can be rough for them.

Grand Lodge

Okay. Is there some sort of place in the guide, I can point to?

A few Judges have tried to say otherwise.

My friend has played many games with Pregens, without trouble, but I would like to avoid any in the future.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Okay. Is there some sort of place in the guide, I can point to?

A few Judges have tried to say otherwise.

What is their objection? Providing a citation would be easier if we knew what we're arguing against.

Grand Lodge

That my friend must compile his XP, and build a PC.

Grand Lodge 5/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber

"Oh no, I forgot my binder" grab pregen

"Oh no, I seem to have misplaced my chronicle sheets" grab pregen

"Oh no, I seem to have forgotten the character sheet and item tracking sheet, and it will take at least an hour or two to rebuild it from these chronicle sheets and select all the items I think I have" grab pregen

As far as I'm aware a GM cannot force your friend to compile his XP and build a PC.

Grand Lodge

Well, yes, but it has been tried.

3/5

There are lots of Gms that do not know proper rules.

I have a friend that plays extremely often and ONLY plays pregens.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

PFS Roleplaying Guild Guide, p5 wrote:
If you don’t have time to create a new character or simply wish to try out a new character class, you may choose to use one of several level-appropriate pregenerated characters

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

Note that there ARE rules about which PC gets credit from an adventure played with a pregen:

- 1st-level pregen credit must be assigned to a 1st-level PC
- 4th- or 7th-level pregen credit must be assigned to a PC that is lower level than the pregen

So if your friend assigns all his credit to his XXXXXX-1 PC without thought to the level, he might be unintentionally breaking those rules.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber

And that's easily solved by just assigning each pregen credit to a new number, even if that means you end up with 200+ level 1 registrations :)

Grand Lodge

Thank you for that page reference!

I am glad I have something to point to, so I can keep playing with my friend.

Sovereign Court 4/5 5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I continue to be amazed by the intensity with which some GMs dislike people playing pregens if it isn't absolutely necessary.

Dark Archive 5/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber

I despise the combination that can come from certain storylines and pregens. I despise the notion of sending away players who want to hang out with their friends and play a game a lot more.

Liberty's Edge 4/5

You can't use chronicle boons with pregens, you get no day job and the Grand Lodge gets too much undeserved love, so I see reasons why some would suggest you build your own PC. They may also see errors when reporting (for reasons given above).

Level 9+ modules would not be playable as there would be no pregens in tier.

Anyhow, if pregens are your thing, go ahead and keep playing them.

Scarab Sages

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Without the full story, several people here are not understanding the situation BBT. I spoke with the GM quoting the rules to you last night. The GM in question is wondering how many chronicles your friend has on his -1, which is the only character number your friend has ever put on paper. From what I understand, your friend only plays the same pregen every time, and is still applying credits past 3XP to his now greater than level 1 character. Your friend must make a -2 or -3 after getting 3XP on his -1, or play a higher level pregen. This is an issue with reporting, not with playing pregens. You are required to adhere to the rules of the campaign, even when playing pregens.

Guide to Organized Play, page 21 wrote:

If you play a 1st-level pregenerated character, you can apply the credit to a newly created character of your very own. If you play a non-1st-level pregenerated character, you choose one of your characters to assign the chronicle to at the end of adventure, and then apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played. You may not assign a Chronicle sheet earned with a pregenerated character to a character that was already at the level of the pregenerated character or higher. If you have multiple Chronicle sheets from pregenerated characters, they are applied to your character’s Chronicle sheet stack in the order played when your character reaches the appropriate level, even if this would advance your character several levels. You may also opt instead to apply the Chronicle sheets earned with a non-1st-level pregenerated character to a 1st-level character with the amount of gp gained reduced, and any character specific boons earned must wait to be utilized until the character is of the same level as the subtier on the Chronicle sheet unless otherwise noted. You do not lose access to any of the Prestige Points, or items listed on the Chronicle sheets that were earned during the adventure, but you do forego downtime.

Keep good records of your character and make sure to bring all of your Chronicle sheets to every event or session of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. If you forget your Chronicle sheets, you will be unable to play your character, though you may be able to play a pregenerated character or start another character within Society rules. GMs rely on accurately kept Chronicle sheets to keep the campaign honest, fair, and fun for everyone. So keep your records safe, keep them accurate, and keep them with you when attending Pathfinder Society Organized Play events. (We suggest a binder that can be completely sealed between scenarios.)

Your friend has stated his disinterest of the campaign as a whole, and had his head on the table, as if sleeping, for a large portion of last nights session.

Silver Crusade 5/5 5/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria

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FAQed, this issue crops up so often, that an entry into the PFS FAQ might be warranted.

1/5

Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

I would rather they spend time FAQ-ing things that are contentious, not those on which there is general agreement among those who read the PFS RP Guild Guide.

Grand Lodge

I was sure he put it towards a new number.

Grand Lodge

He has additional numbers, and has been good with alternating his number.

Now, my friend has terrible insomnia, and whilst he was worse for wear this time, he had been up for over 24 hours, and may have put a wrong number.

I don't like your last line, as it paints a very poor picture of my very good friend.

Having a condition should not mean one cannot enjoy PFS.

Shadow Lodge

blackbloodtroll wrote:
Is it always an option to play a Pregen?

No.

But only because there are no pregens to play in a level 9+ module.

Grand Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
James Wygle wrote:
blackbloodtroll wrote:
Is it always an option to play a Pregen?

No.

But only because there are no pregens to play in a level 9+ module.

Yes. I noted that in the "outside of Scenarios that a 7th Level Pregen would be too low" line.

4/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

BBT -- thanks for posting your question here to clarify the rules. I had the distinct pleasure of being your GM last night. I had fun and hope you did too!

I just wanted to let you know that, yes, it's perfectly fine to play a pregen week-to-week rather than creating a character. There are a couple of caveats though:

  • First, chronicle sheets cannot be applied to a pregenerated character.

    Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide, pg. 31 wrote:
    All players receive a Chronicle sheet unless, at the GM’s discretion, they are replaying the module or Adventure Path for no credit. If a player uses an existing Pathfinder Society character for the adventure, he must apply the Chronicle sheet to that character immediately. A player who uses a pregenerated character must apply the Chronicle sheet to a 1st-level character or hold the Chronicle sheet until his character reaches the level of the pregenerated character.
    Essentially, no boons can be used from received chronicle sheets unless they're applied to a non-pregenerated character.
  • Second, for reporting purposes it's helpful to try and keep things orderly with regard to which PFS character number he uses for that scenario. That's already been belabored in this thread already, but I wanted to mention it. Honestly, it's completely legal to list a brand new -X number every week.
  • Third, your friend was collecting checkboxes on a Grand Lodge faction card for his pregenerated character. Last night, I allowed him to use one of the rewards from the faction card to keep things moving smoothly, but I'm not 100% certain that was correct. I believe (though I can't find a direct reference to support it) that faction card rewards are intended to be treated like boons. And, because every use of a pregenerated character is technically a brand new start with that character (no gear carries over, no boons, etc.), I suspect it's probably not allowed to check boxes off on a faction card from scenario to scenario with a pregenerated character. (That might be worthy of an FAQ though.)
  • I sincerely hope your friend feels better. It seemed like he was having a pretty rough time dealing with the lack of sleep, and I think it may have made it harder for him to have as much fun as he deserved. Let me know if I can do anything to help.

    Grand Lodge

    Thank you.

    1/5

    Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber
    Dustin Campbell wrote:


  • Third, your friend was collecting checkboxes on a Grand Lodge faction card for his pregenerated character. Last night, I allowed him to use one of the rewards from the faction card to keep things moving smoothly, but I'm not 100% certain that was correct.
  • Some Google-fu revealed the following:

    Mike Brock ruled that pregens used for adventures do not qualify for a faction journal check. (That whole thread answers some great journal card questions.) I don't know if that ruling has been revisited. To my knowledge (and searches), it is not in the FAQ, nor is it in the PFS RP Guild Guide (Season 7).

    Even if this were revisited later, journal cards are still tied to a single PC (and thus, character number), so checks earned with one character number wouldn't apply to a card for a different character number. (As mentioned in this thread, people who repeatedly play pregens may wish to change up character numbers on occasion to not cause problems for their table's reporting.)

    Faction Journal Card (Season 7), p. 1 wrote:

    These are a special way to track your character’s contributions to her faction. ...

    Your character can use the Faction Journal Card for her faction ...
    ... you can only check one box per adventure.

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