What is the official ruling on a “home base” in PFS?

[Hobbun]

The PFSOP indicates that as long as you have a home base, you can purchase an Alchemist’s Laboratory. However, it doesn’t specify what the stipulations are in having a home base.

The closest I’ve seen in regards to official is on a search I found a poster had made reference to Mike (or Mark) indicating that all Pathfinders have a place to free place to stay at their lodge, but the poster could not give a link to the post by Mike or Mark on the subject and I could not find anything on it when doing a search.

On another thread, someone indicated that the Artisan Shop vanity should be enough to justify a home base. But again, it was not something that has been stated officially. And to be honest, I’m not sure I want to spend 5 PP for that.

I just want to avoid any confusion or the dreaded ‘varied by table’. If the official ruling is no, I’m ok with that, at least I know where I stand. I just don’t want it be no because it is a gray area and therefore you need to assume the worst.

[Jiggy]

Looking for this?

[Hobbun]

I’m not sure to be honest. I only heard secondhand through another poster what they indicated on what Mike/Mark had said about having a place to stay. I’m not sure if this is the post they were referring to or not.

But am I reading Mark’s post correctly in that unless you have a vanity, you cannot have a home base that has something with a mechanical benefit (i.e. Alchemist’s Laboratory)?

[Hawkwen Agricola]

No, your reading it wrong, he's saying that since they provide no mechanical benefit, you can say you own a home, townhouse, or what have you and say that is where your excess gear is stored.

[Jiggy]

He explicitly said that you could leave excess gear/gold at an unspecified home, yet that would technically provide a "mechanical benefit" to folks like my 10 STR kitsune who would not be able to carry much cash without being encumbered. So I think when he says "no mechanical benefit", he's meaning something more like you can't claim a bonus to, say, Diplomacy to gather information "because I'd totally hear stuff at the bar I own in my backstory", or you can't run away from bad guys and hide in your Bat-Cave just because in your backstory it's hidden someplace nobody would ever find.

But he did explicitly say you can have a place to perform your day job. I think a common-sense reading of his comment means you don't have to spend 5PP before you can use a legal mundane item of trivial gp value; you're not a hobo, so you can do whatever would be a reasonable assumption of anyone who has a home.