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Nothing's really expected from you if it's your first time, hell my first time I didn't even know what pathfinder was lol but the people were nice and helpful. If what you are using is not in the corerule book I would bring either the book it's from or a print out from the pdf. Other than that, most people are nice and will likely help you if there's something you don't understand.
Since you are playing a caster, I would suggest printing out your spells so you can reference them during the game. Perram's Spellbook is a good place print off whatever spells you need. And yes all your spells are prepared at the start of each session.
To check the validity of your character you can check the Additional Resources page (or click the pfs logo on the left) it lists what is and isn't legal for use in pfs. Or I could check it if you don't mind posting your character. Also if you haven't yet I would suggest reading the Guide to Organized Play, it explains about how a lot of things work such as gold, loot, factions. Some people roleplay their characters, some don't, so it's up to you if you want too or not. PFS is open to anybody who wants to play, though if someone causes too much trouble they may be asked to leave. But that goes for just about anything. Now the above is just my own experiences, so yours may vary.
Do you have any other questions?
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I have been reading the online material from Paizo, so I don't have a hard copy. Do I have to bring a hard copy of the rules to the table, or people would help me with he rules? i.e: If I need to know how much I need to roll for X, or how much Y costs, or what the effect of Z is.
Not required, usually someone will have a hardcopy. And most people who participate in PFSOP, in my experience, are helpful to the new players.
I have created my first character, a wizard, but I am worried that I messed up somewhere and people would scream at me for "cheating". Is there a way to validate my character?
There are several resources available for automated/assisted character generation, PC Gen is a freebie (I think) that can be useful to make sure you don't have any gross mechanical errors in your PC build. HeroLabs, which is a paid program, is also a good resource for this kind of thing, as well.
Wizards need to prepare spells for the day, do I prepare my spells before the session, at the start of the session, or would my character actually have to sleep 8 hours during the game and prepare the spells during the scenario?
Typically, many (unfortunately not all) GMs will allow you to adjust your memorized spell list (within the limits of your spellbook) to better match the information gained from the Venture Captain mission briefing, and you can always, if the scenario is posted, use the public blurbs to try and memorize spells appropriate for the scenario description.
Some scenarios/modules cover multiple days, so those are easy to adjust a memorized spell list on the fly.
I just ran a scenario yesterday where the PCs have off-screen but acknowledged travel for a couple of weeks before the scenario events start to happen, and, during this scenario, the actual events were far enough apart (the PCs have 3.5-4.5 days of travel during the scenario events) that the PCs usually had all their resources available for most, if not all, encounters.
Do people actually role play their character, or is it just roll dice, kill monster, move on? I don't mind either way, but I hope people understand that I probably won't be the best role player since is my first time!
As mentioned, some do, some don't. It also depends on the GM, as well as the players.
As I mentioned, I have never played an RPG before, so I am really not sure what to expect or even if these events are open to complete new players. The only thing I do have is a set of dice because they weren't that expensive.
Most of the time, PFS games will be open to new players. Sometimes you may not be able to join, f it is a small location with only a single table, and it is running something that none of the pregens can participate in.
Remember that your new PC starts at 1st level, with a 20 point buy, 150 gp, etc., as specified in the PFSOP Guide to Organized Play.
Scenarios come in Tiers, typically 1, 1-5, 3-7, 5-9, 7-11 & 12.
A first level PC can play in a Tier 1 or 1-5 scenario, but not any of the others. There is a set of pregenerated PCs available at 1st, 4th & 7th level, so, usually, using one of the pregens, if your PC is not of appropriate level, will allow you to participate.
The Tier 12 scenarios, and some of the modules (which have tighter level allowances), won't be open to lay to anyone without an actual PC of the appropriate level.
Any advice you can provide I would greatly appreciate it!
Additional advice can be found by going to a few of Painlord's threads, mainly the one for What to Expect at a PFS Event, and the on eon advice for what your PC should consider bringing with him/buying as money allows.
One last note: Wizards are not an easy class to start with, as their utility is very strongly based on the player's figuring out which spells would be most useful in the upcoming game session.
If you guess/select correctly, it can feel great. If you guess wrong, you can be left standing at the sidelines feeling like a supernumerary to the party.
Do NOT hesitate to ask both the other players at the table, and your GM, for advice on spell selection, especially while still learning the basics of the game system.
Additional advice can be found by going to a few of Painlord's threads, mainly the one for What to Expect at a PFS Event, and the one on advice for what your PC should consider bringing with him/buying as money allows.
That thread can be found here. As Callarek mentioned, wizards and casters in general are not the easiest to start with, as your effectiveness is based on how well you pick and use your spells.
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If you want to be sure your character is up to snuff, post him in the advice section here. A pre-game audit would probably help you out so that your character sheet is error free, and so you haven't forgotten anything vital. (I've seen wizards who realized they had no spell component pouch until mid-adventure)
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If you don't want to worry as much about spell selection, a sorcerer with the Arcane bloodline is a decent choice. You still get a familiar/bonded item, and you can even take that alternate bloodline to get Int to casting, in case being the smarty-pants is central to your character concept.
I've always had better experience teaching new players using spontaneous casters with a set list of spells known, but YMMV. I'm not much of a fan of Vancian casting anyway, so I'm more than a little biased.
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I am wondering if I am able to keep my shield on my back or something while I use my two handed weapon. Then later, I can switch to my main hand and a shield for more protection. If allowed, I believe I would have to spend some actions drawing my weapons and stuff, but I wasn't able to figure out if carrying a shield makes it impossible to use a two handed weapon.
I see no reason why you couldn't do that. While it's strapped to your back (or otherwise stowed), you wouldn't get any benefit from it, but it doesn't sound like you were looking for something like that, anyway. It's fundamentally no different from switching from a longbow to a sword and shield, and I see nothing in the rules that says you can't do that, either.
Yes, it would take some actions to make the switch:
- A move action to stow the two-handed weapon*
- A move action to ready the shield (at least; your DM may rule it takes another move action to retrieve it from your back)
- A move action to draw the one-handed weapon (if your BAB is at least +1, you can draw the weapon for free as part of a regular move)
* - Where you're stowing it is another question...it's not like you can easily sheathe a greataxe. ;-) Alternately, you could just drop the two-handed weapon on the ground (a free action), though there's always the issue of whether something might happen to it before you come back to retrieve it.
(All of that info on actions in combat is on p. 183 of the CRB.)
Another option you could think about is using a buckler with the 2handed weapon. The upside is that you deal 2handed weapon damage and get a shield bonus to Armor Class, but the downside is that you suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls with the 2handed weapon while using the buckler.
Benefit: You can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon), but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so. This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you lose the buckler's Armor Class bonus until your next turn. You can cast a spell with somatic components using your shield arm, but you lose the buckler's Armor Class bonus until your next turn. You can't make a shield bash with a buckler.
A small correction to the above. You take a -1 penalty to attack rolls while wielding a 2 handed weapon and a buckler (assuming no other penalty's apply). Also you lose the ac bonus from the buckler until your next turn when you make an attack with a 2 handed weapon or any other weapon held in your shield hand (unless you have 3 hands).