Greetings! I'm a long time pathfinder (and dnd 3.x before that) GM and player, but I'm considering organising some sort of PFS group in my area. I have a few questions first. Sorry if any of these are a bit basic :D ;
I'm looking at making a Varisian Bard. I have the RotRL 3.5 Player’s Guide in which the Additional Resources lists the equipment as being legal but there is no mention of the Varisian race (ie Humans who start with Common and Varisian as languages). Does that mean that I cannot play a "Varisian" if I don't have these rules from another source (I don't)? I assume I can just say I'm Varisian and just not speak Varisian?
Claiming GM credit- I’m running a Skull & Shackles campaign for my home (non PFS) group, so do I get to claim GM credit for the sanctioned parts of each module? If so, do I apply the chronicle sheet directly to my character and gain the XP, prestige and gp (and other boons) written on the sheet as if I'd played it myself?
How about other modules (eg. We Be Goblins?) I’ve GM’d it and other sanctioned modules for my non-PFS home game, can I claim the GM credit for these?
What about the players from these games (Modules and APs)? Can they put the player credits towards new PFS characters?
Finally (for now!) I see some Pathfinder Tales novels have Chronicles- I own Prince of Wolves, does that mean I can apply the chronicle? The chronicle grants 0 XP/gp/prestige but has a boon which gives a bonus when interacting with lycanthropes and the option to buy a magic rapier, do I just get these boons? Just for reading the book? What about if I have multiple characters?
Sorry for the wall of text and thanks in advance!
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Welcome KidDangerous! I started the local group in my area and had some of these same questions, so I will do my best to answer your questions.
With your bard I believe what you would do is make a human bard and select one of you starting languages as Varisian. Since being Varisian is just a nationality you would basically just say you are from that country.
For claiming credit for Skulls & Shackles you apply the chronicle to a character that hasn't had the chronicle before, kind of like applying a chronicle when you play a pregen, more specific rules can be found in the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play.
I am not sure if you can apply credit from modules that you have already run. I think it has to be decided at the time you play/GM the module but i am not 100% certain on that.
Same as above.
For the Pathfinder Tales novels, you get the chronicle for just owning the book, but I believe you have to apply it to a certain character when you use it, and then it's benefit is over. ie. you can't apply it to all your characters.
If I am wrong on any of this please correct me.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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You can apply the chronicles for the novels to as many different characters as you like, although this is handled differently for the newer ones. Here's another thread about that question:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qda1?Pathfinder-Tales-Chronicle-Sheets#1
Concerning the modules/APs you have already run:
- Neither you nor your players can receive PFS credit for the sanctioned modules you have run in your home campaign, because those have to be run with either a PFS character or a PFS pregen. If you run a sanctioned module in a home campaign, it can't count as a PFS session.
- "We be Goblins!" and Adventure Paths get a little bit trickier, because APs can be run in campaign mode and "We be Goblins!" is always run with the goblin pregens provided in the module. I'd say it depends on how recently you have run those. To me, it doesn't look too good to dig up a home session of "We be Goblins!" from last year and apply PFS credit retroactively.
For the APs, there's also the important part that you can't retroactively gain credit for sanctioned parts that you have run before they were sanctioned for PFS. But if you started running the AP just recently, go ahead and give your players and yourself a chronicle. Remember, though, that most AP chronicles are for higher-than-level-1 characters. This means they can be applied to a 1st level character, but in that case will have to have the gold reduced as described in the Guide to Organized Play.
Thanks for the responses! So let's see if I've got this right..
If I want to specifically play a Varisian human, I'd need to buy the inner sea world guide and take it with me to each session?
I'm playing S&S at the moment on 'campaign mode' so we use our own non-PFS characters but can claim credit for our PFS characters as if we had used a pre-gen. If they are a lower level character, the gold is reduced (or could I "hold" the chronicle for when they get to the right level?).
The modules I can't claim for but I could in theory run them again with a PFS group and claim the chronicles as normal. I could even run We Be Goblins multiple times and players could claim the chronicle multiple times (for different 1st level characters).
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Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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If they are a lower level character, the gold is reduced (or could I "hold" the chronicle for when they get to the right level?).
The moment they get the chronicle, they choose which character they want to apply the chronicle to. If that character is within tier, they apply it immediately. If the character is below tier, they have two options:
- If the character is level 1, they can reduce the gold and apply the chronicle immediately.- They can choose to hold the chronicle until the character is in tier.
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Go to The Additional Resources Page HERE and scroll down about 1/3 to look at the downloadable S&S rules.
"All players must use an existing Pathfinder Society character (without modification) within the legal character levels range
for the specific Shattered Star adventure being played. For the sanctioned content in “The Wormwood Mutiny,” “Raiders of the Fever Sea,” and “Tempest Rising,” if you do not have a character in the correct level range, you may use a Pathfinder Society pregenerated character, available on paizo.com. You may apply the credit for the adventure to a Pathfinder Society 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 adventure and any remaining wealth does not carry over at the end of the sanctioned content.
Alternatively, if you are participating in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path with an ongoing group undertaking the entire, six-chapter 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, you can either play the 6 individual sections using PFS rules or you can play the entire AP in a home game setting (using the PFS rules or not) and get credit for them in PFS. You need to report it, which means you and all the players will need to register for PFS numbers, and all will get Credit. As has been mentioned, you will need to apply credit to valid characters, or have the characters hold the Chronicle Sheets until they are ready. For example, the second Chronicle Sheet Raiders is for characters levels 5-7. If you apply it to a first level Character, they have it, but can not use it until they hit 5th level otherwise, at which point the automatically get it in full, and automatically raise to 6th level.
Check out that Resources page for which other Modules you can run for PFS credit, (on the Right side of the page), though if you ran them in the past, it might be too late to get credit for, (you need to report them for all the players and need their PFS numbers and to be able to give them Chronicle Sheets).
For the Novels Chronicle Sheets, they only apply to 1 character each, and as ha been mentioned need to be signed off on. I'm pretty sure you can sign your own as a DM, or have one of your players with a PFS number do it for you. That shouldn't be an issue.
And as has been mentioned, to make a Varisian, simply say you are playing a Human (Varisian) and you get Common (Taldan) and Varisian languages for free. I believe that is in the PFS Guide to OP.
"Step 3: Languages
Your race and class selection impact what languages you start with. All characters gain Common as a free language. You gain free languages granted by your race, ethnicity (for humans), and class (e.g., Druidic for druids)."
So technically, yes you need to own and bring a copy of the ISWG, but it's so common that I doubt anyone would require it just for that.