If you have a character in range for game you must apply pregen credit to 1st level?

[Dhjika]

This rule was quoted to me this last weekend.

So if you had a 3rd level character and the game was going to be playing tier 6-7, you can't play a pregen 7th and apply that credit when a character gets to 7th level, but must apply it to a new 1st level character - because you had a character in level range for the mod?

Is this actually the rule? And can someone let me know where it is stated - or was I quoted the rule differently than it was.

I thought it was if you had a character in the level range being played not all the tiers of the game - but even that might not be right.

TIA

[Sniggevert]

It's if you have a character in the Tier for a scenario, so that 3rd level character in your example of a 3-7 scenario, and you play a pregen, you can not give the credit to THAT character. You apply the credit to another character you have (or new character #) that is below the scenario's level range (but not within).

You can choose to hold it till 7th level (with the 7th level pregen) or apply it to a 1st level character. The only stipulation is the character getting credit could not have legally played the scenario in question.

[Yiroep]

My response is a bit of a wall of text, but provides applicable sources.

Wall Of Text:

I really don't like the rule, but the person you talked to didn't get it quite correct.

Bolding the parts that matter more. I am quoting the whole ruling so it doesn't get out-of-context.

Guide to Organized Play on Scenarios wrote:

All Pathfinder Society players must register themselves and their characters online at paizo.com/pathfindersociety. When you register, you’ll receive an official Pathfinder Society Number. Keep your Pathfinder Society Number handy and bring it with you to every Pathfinder Society event you attend. Paizo uses this number to record the adventures your character has completed and the prestige she has gained. Each character you create has a unique number appended to your Pathfinder Society Number, so if your number is 6734, the second character you create will be 6734–2.

If you’re beginning your Pathfinder Society experience at a public convention or game store event, your event coordinator will provide a temporary card with a Pathfinder Society Number and confirmation code on it. You can use this card until you get a chance to register your character. When you register your character at paizo.com/pathfindersociety, enter this number and the confirmation code, and your early adventures will be automatically linked to your new official record.

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 available at paizo.com/pathfindersociety or from your local event coordinator. If you play a 1st-level pregenerated character, you can apply the credit for her first adventure to a newly created character of your very own. If you play a non-1st-level pregenerated character, you apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played. You may not apply a Chronicle sheet earned with a pregenerated character to a character that was already at the level of the pregenerated character or higher, as you should have used this character for the scenario instead. The one exception is if you have multiple Chronicle sheets from pregenerated characters, they are applied to your character’s Chronicle sheet stack all at once 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 to 500 gp (or 250 gp for characters using the slow advancement track). You do not lose access to any of the Prestige Points, boons, or items listed on the Chronicle sheets that were earned during the adventure. Any equipment that’s listed on the pregenerated character sheet may only be sold to clear conditions such as death during the play of a sanctioned event, and any remaining gold does not carry over at the end of the adventure.

So for scenarios, there is nothing about having to use your character.

However, for modules and adventure paths...

Guide to Organized Play on Modules wrote:

For modules and Adventure Path content below 9th level, if you do not have a character in the correct level range, you may use a Pathfinder Society pregenerated character, available on paizo.com or the 1st- and 7th-level iconic characters on pages 275–297 of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. You must apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played. If you play a non-1st-level pregenerated character, you may apply credit from the pregenerated character to one of your 1st-level characters, with the gp gained reduced to 1,398 gp (or 699 gp for slow advancement track characters). If you play a non-1st-level pregenerated character, you may apply the credit to your character as soon as she reaches the level of the pregenerated character played. Equipment listed on the pregenerated character sheet may only be sold to clear conditions, such as death, during the play of the module and any remaining gold does not carry over at the end of the module.

Alternatively, if you are participating in a Pathfinder Adventure Path with an ongoing group undertaking the entire, six-book campaign, you may receive credit for playing the sanctioned portions of the adventure as if you had played a pregenerated character. In this case, GMs running the Adventure Path are not bound to the rules of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign (such as 20 point buy, unavailability of hero points, etc...) when running the campaign or the sanctioned portion of the adventure. Pathfinder Society characters and characters from an ongoing Adventure Path campaign may not play in the same adventure.

So the answer is:

- For scenarios, you can choose to play a pregen if you have a character in level range, but you can't apply credit to a character who is the level of the pregen or higher.
- For modules, you must play your character if they are in level range. (This is the rule I despise)

"What if I forgot my character/chronicles?" There's provisions for that, too.

Guide to Organized Play on "Do Not Cheat" wrote:

Do not falsify rolls, do not falsify your Chronicle sheets, and do not add new items to your inventory without buying them properly. Do not lie to a GM under any circumstances. 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.

[Belafon]

Yeah. I quoted it a little wrong. Andrew has summarized it correctly.

I'm not entirely sure what the intention is of that one line.

Quote:

You may not apply a Chronicle sheet earned with a pregenerated character to a character that was already at the level of the pregenerated character or higher, as you should have used this character for the scenario instead.

As it reads you could have a 6th level character and play in a 3-7 scenario with a level 7 pregen. Apply the chronicle to that character and just not get it until it hit level 7. (Ditto if you had a level 3,4, or 5.) But that seems to fly against "you should have used this character for the scenario instead."

Maybe a candidate for cleanup in the next version of the guide?

[Don Walker]

Andrew, I suggest that you bring this incongruity between Scenarios and Modules/APs to the attention of the VOs and PFS leadership.

I'm certain that the intent is to have the rules for Scenarios, Modules, and APs work the same as much as possible.

In the last revision (v5.0) the phrase "newly created" was removed, but apparently only from Chapter 6. I believe the intention was that it should have been removed from page 6 as well.

The issue of whether you can use a pregen and then apply the Chronicle to one of your lower level PCs that would have been able to play the adventure was meant to work the same for Scenarios, Modules, and APs. You are not supposed to use a pregen for an adventure if you have a character that could play instead. This is so people must use their PC and risk death rather than a pregen, whose death could be switched over to a new PC number.

There is an easy way around this rule which you quote above. Just leave your level appropriate PC at home. You don't have a PC you could use with you, so here is a pre-gen.

Personally, I think the player is only shorting themselves if they opt to use a pregen (to protect their PC) instead of actually playing their PC. It is just one more game in which they used a pregen instead of getting to actually play their PC.

The rule should be made the same for all adventures, but I'm guessing it will be the Module version that is used. Though, how it could actually be enforced is beyond me.

[Chris Mortika]

There's all sorts of good reasons to choose not to play a character who's in-tier for an adventure, from party balance, to not wishing to level out of a scenario sequence (imagine a PC with 14 xp, who has played through Quest for Perfection I and II).

I'd like to steer clear of the suggestion that people play pre-gens instead of their own characters, simply to avoid risk.

Don wrote:

Personally, I think the player is only shorting themselves if they opt to use a pregen ...instead of actually playing their PC. It is just one more game in which they used a pregen instead of getting to actually play their PC.

In general, I agree. But there's also a lot of fun to be had in playing one of the pre-gens.

[Don Walker]

Chris Mortika, agreed.