Reroll FAQ for Pathfinder purchases?


Pathfinder Society


I'm still relatively new to PFS. During last night's game, I found out that a party member's snazzy character folio granted him a reroll. That's pretty cool! I did a search on items that grant rerolls, but results popped up with in-game spells and traits. Is there a FAQ somewhere that lists all out-of-game items that grant rerolls? Do different items with this bonus stack, like a character folio and a t-shirt?

1/5

Items do not stack, you get one reroll per session. A list of t-shirts that count, mention of the folio and the service coin as well as rules covering rerolls are available in the downloadable Guide to Society Play.


Ah, thanks!

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5

Reroll rules as of guide 5.0

Free Rerolls:

As a way of rewarding players who show their support
for the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign by
purchasing and wearing special shirts featuring campaign
insignia, faction logos, or Pathfinder branding, a player
wearing any of the shirts listed below during a Pathfinder
Society event may reroll one d20 roll during the course of
that scenario. This reroll must happen before the original
result is determined and the player must use the reroll
result, even if it is lower. Game Masters are also invited to
wear Pathfinder Society Organized Play shirts, but gain no
additional benefits other than supporting Pathfinder.
The following Pathfinder Society Organized Play shirts
are currently available.

• Andoran faction shirt
• Cheliax faction shirt
• Osirion faction shirt
• Qadira faction shirt
• Taldor faction shirt
• Venture-Captain polo
• Venture-Lieutenant polo
• Year of the Ruby Phoenix
• Year of the Risen Rune shirt
• Year of the Demon shirt
• Paizo golem shirt
• Pathfinder goblin with d20 shirt
• Pathfinder goblin song shirts (both color and black and white)
• Pathfinder goblin with red gem shirt
• Gray Maiden shirt
• Pathfinder Society-exclusive volunteer shirt
• Goblinworks Kickstarter shirt
• Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook shirt
These shirts are available for purchase in a variety of
sizes at paizo.com/pathfindersociety.

If a player is using a physical copy (not a PDF, printout,
or photocopy) of the Pathfinder RPG Player Character Folio,
he receives a free reroll. No player may receive more than
one free reroll per session.

Additionally, when a player uses a free reroll, she may
present her Pathfinder Society membership card and
receive an additional +1 for every GM star she has earned,
for a maximum of a +5.

Finally, if a player receives a Campaign Service Award coin
for going above and beyond when giving back to Pathfinder
Society, she receives a free reroll once per scenario upon
displaying the coin. She may also change her Pathfinder
Society number to the three-digit number found on the coin.


Walter Sheppard wrote:
This reroll must happen before the original result is determined and the player must use the reroll result, even if it is lower.

Hmmm... definitely not as good as I thought. Unless you're a GM and get bonuses, I don't really see the benefit.

5/5

VerdantSF wrote:
Walter Sheppard wrote:
This reroll must happen before the original result is determined and the player must use the reroll result, even if it is lower.
Hmmm... definitely not as good as I thought. Unless you're a GM and get bonuses, I don't really see the benefit.

What if you just rolled a 1 on a save...it can be a life saver.


Sniggevert wrote:
What if you just rolled a 1 on a save...it can be a life saver.

But doesn't that mean that the result has already been determined?

Shadow Lodge 5/5

You will when you roll a 1 on a save or die.

1/5

VerdantSF wrote:
Walter Sheppard wrote:
This reroll must happen before the original result is determined and the player must use the reroll result, even if it is lower.
Hmmm... definitely not as good as I thought. Unless you're a GM and get bonuses, I don't really see the benefit.

Uh...no.

Let me give you an example from the last session I GM'd.

A player's level 1 character was down, negative-hp, one point from bleeding out neg-constitution. In other words, she needed to be stabilized that round or her character would die.

Another player who had identified her dire situation dashed over, attempted a Heal Check...and obviously failed his standard action First Aid check with a roll of a two. The other two players at the table were embroiled in combat with the final baddie and in no position to help her.

The player who had rolled that two and (in his accurate opinion) absolutely failed the Heal Check to Stabilize her pulled out his Folio, rerolled...and made it.

See the benefit?


The use of the word "determined" is odd! If I roll a 1 on an attack, the result has been determined. Though, I'm sure every GM out there would allow the reroll regardless ;).

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5

VerdantSF wrote:
The use of the word "determined" is odd! If I roll a 1 on an attack, the result has been determined. Though, I'm sure every GM out there would allow the reroll regardless ;).

True! Everyone at the table does know the result, but not officially until the GM confirms it (GM get's the final say, and all that).

Given that, think of the order of operations like this.
1. Roll a die
2. Do the math
3. Tell the GM
4. Get your result.

Given that as the order of operations, as long as you shout out "Wait!! I want to reroll!" before step 4 -- you're good.

5/5

VerdantSF wrote:
The use of the word "determined" is odd! If I roll a 1 on an attack, the result has been determined. Though, I'm sure every GM out there would allow the reroll regardless ;).

It's basically, if you add up your bonuses report the result to the GM and find out from the GM you didn't make the DC/hit/save/etc., then it's too late to reroll.

If you can make an educated guess from the roll, you can make the reroll before reporting the results.


Heheh, I like your logic! Thanks, all :).

5/5

I would say the reroll essentially needs to be between steps 2 and 3. After 3 the GM is within rights to declare the result final (as reading the GM's facial expression after telling him the total can easily count as determining the results).

Shadow Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant

Majuba wrote:
I would say the reroll essentially needs to be between steps 2 and 3. After 3 the GM is within rights to declare the result final (as reading the GM's facial expression after telling him the total can easily count as determining the results).

Unless you're like me and practice an evil smirk... Many a time have players tole me what they rolled, and then worried about it then rerolled, when the original roll was sufficient and the reroll caused them to fail... >:D

5/5

Eric Clingenpeel wrote:
Unless you're like me ...

Shhhh, don't tell them the secret!

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

What I will sometimes do when someone's making an important roll is they will give me their total, and I will ask "Are you happy with that number?" And they will either use their re-roll or not, and then I'll give the results. Old habits from being a 7th sea GM where drama dice were often added to rolls.

The Exchange 5/5 RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

Hell, I will ask.

Player: I rolled a 6. With modifiers, that's a 19.
Me, with a straight face: Did you want to keep that, or use your re-roll?

And no, if they say yes, and roll a 10, for a 23, I do not tell them that the DC was 18.

3/5 *

Chris Mortika wrote:

Hell, I will ask.

Player: I rolled a 6. With modifiers, that's a 19.
Me, with a straight face: Did you want to keep that, or use your re-roll?

And no, if they say yes, and roll a 10, for a 23, I do not tell them that the DC was 18.

It's true.. a very straight face. I've seen it multiple times. It's very nerve-wracking.

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

thistledown wrote:
What I will sometimes do when someone's making an important roll is they will give me their total, and I will ask "Are you happy with that number?" And they will either use their re-roll or not, and then I'll give the results.

There have been a few times when I have asked a player, "Do you want to use a reroll?" (often while nodding my head in a very unsubtle hint). As much of anything, since most of my (few) tables have been low-level, this is a "teaching opportunity" as well as a chance to prevent something bad from happening.

Of course, it seems that the rerolls rarely really help... such as Frostfur Captives when my Paladin had to reroll his save against the <redacted> <redacted> when she/it touched him with her <redacted>. Rolled a 2 initially (natural), followed by a 3. SIGH.

Same sort of thing happened last weekend at the table of Thornkeep: Forgotten Laboratory I was running. 3 out of 4 rerolls were less than the original (the one that wasn't was a very well timed success, so made up for it!)

But, seriously, I try and suggest a reroll (before I announce the result) only when it will help.

However, maybe that would be different if I were running a 10-11 scenario ;)

Silver Crusade 4/5

Yeah, I try to be a helpful GM in general. Pathfinder isn't "us vs them". I'll only suggest a reroll if the initial roll actually failed, though I won't stop them if they insist on using one they don't need. For that matter, I also usually bring a Folio and donate my reroll to the table as a GM.

And I agree that rerolls very often don't help. In a recent scenario I played, the whole thing started with some talking, and you need to make a diplomacy roll against an NPC just to get started with the adventure. If you fail, you have to take the long way around, which makes the scenario MUCH tougher.

Having a +10 diplomacy, my PC did the talking... and got a natural 1 on the roll. This was the first die roll of the game, but I decided it was worth using my reroll, since we weren't sure how bad the consequences of failing were. The second time, I got a 4 on the die. Since not all of my allies successfully assisted, we didn't break the 20 DC to avoid hard mode for the scenario.

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

Will save to avoid eating the chocolate that my coworkers forced upon me:

Will Save: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Can I use my folio reroll on that?

Will Save Reroll: 1d20 ⇒ 2

(ok, regardless, I already knew the result, because the chocolate was being consumed as I typed this).

The Exchange 5/5 RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

I don't consider asking about the reroll to be a "GM vs. player" issue at all.

To the player, a reroll is a tool to avoid lousy rolls. To the GM, a reroll is a tool to give the player some narrative control over the story, and a tool to moderate tension at the table.

You don't want to give the players full control over the narrative, because some of them will just announce "We win." Not a lot of tension, excitement, or noteworthy accomplishments there. But giving them limited control makes it easier for everybody at the table to tell a satisfying story where they're the heroes. If the player needs a five, and rolls a 6, and it's an important roll, go ahead and ask if they want to use a re-roll. In effect, you're asking: do you want to own this roll, or let fate decide?

Don't be quick to discard rerolls as a means to control table tension. I mentioned this in the "haunting of Hinojai" thread. Every time you ask players if they want a reroll, you're driving home the point that they're at risk. It can be overdone ("no, I don't want to spend my reroll on my out-of-combat Ride check.) in which case it's just annoying. But used judiciously, it heightens the sense of danger.

Not just for that roll, though. We often want the last scene to be dramatic, and dangerous, and tense. (Erik Mona says that he can tell when there's a good session; all the players are standing up.) Well, some players see the reroll as a "get out of jail free" card, and they get a lot more anxious when they've already spent it. They feel more vulnerable. If you want the upcoming scene to put players on-edge, see if you can get them to use their rerolls before they get there.

5/5

Just this week, I was playing in a game where I needed to roll a will save versus a baddie. I had a character with a low will save, and I knew the DCs were pretty high...because that's the thing that the bad guy specialized in. That's not metagaming.

I rolled a single digit number, and before I announced my result, I said, "wait a sec" to the GM, stared at the dice for a second, and then I rerolled the dice. Unfortunately, I still didn't make it :-P

You can always pause your GM before he announces the result of your dice and consider if you want to use your reroll.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Silbeg wrote:
Of course, it seems that the rerolls rarely really help... such as Frostfur Captives when my Paladin had to reroll his save against the <redacted> <redacted> when she/it touched him with her <redacted>. Rolled a 2 initially (natural), followed by a 3. SIGH.

And I played my Paladin in The Golden Serpent, and when the <redacted> cast <redacted> and I needed a 3 or better to save, I would have loved the option to reroll that 2. The fact that it might have become a 1 doesn't make me feel any better about getting taken completely out of that fight. :P

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