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- Chronicle sheets. Do I give the Host my mailing address and wait for it in the mail if faxing is not an option?
- Granted that as long as we play by Society rules. There shouldn't be a problem if a PFS character is played between live and online sessions?
- Speaking of which, is at all possible to bring a live PFS character to an online setting?
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1) While there are no rules against it, I wouldn't suggest just giving your mailing address to anyone. Every GM (myself included) will provide you a signed copy of your chronicle sheet in .jpg, .png, or .pdf format either via dropbox or email.
2) Correct, PFS is PFS regardless of where the game was played.
3) Yes. However, the thing to remember (which only applies to PbP format) is that you can't have one character playing in a scenario and play that same character again in another scenario while the first scenario is in progress. This is because it creates conflicts should tragedy happen to befall your character.
The thing to keep in mind is if you switch between local and online play is to make absolutely sure your chronicle sheet records are accurate, up to date, and readily accessible. I would strongly recommend scanning all your chronicle sheets and uploading them somewhere to a cloud storage server, like Google Drive. This will protect you in the event that a GM decides to challenge the legitimacy of your character.
While I haven't been directly challenged on this, I've had to explain to my local group how I was getting so many leveled character so quickly. Keeping accurate chronicle sheet records in this way will diffuse any suspicion that you could be cheating.
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Going back and forth between VTT and live games is no problem, as long as you do keep your chronicle sheets up to date. I've done that quite a bit, and have some characters that have played in both. It does mean a lot of printing to get ready for live games (I play online more often), but it's fine.
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Thanks. I was a bit skeptical on the idea of giving out my mailing address.
Many of us use form-fillable versions of the chronicles to send you digital versions. I personally use Dropbox so players can always return to download their sheets if they are lost or damaged. (Obviously I do not keep them forever, but can usually reproduce the chronicle if needed.)
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I've yet to have an online GM ask to see scanned chronicle sheets. If one asked I'd quite likely decide it was too much hassle and politely bow out of the game.
Once or twice I've provided pdf's of my character sheets (I use Herolab so this is trivial for me).
Basically, the vast majority of games rely on trust with the very occasional bit of "how did you get that?" thrown in. Pretty much like most live games, at least locally.
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I'm "that" GM. I *have* asked for chronicle sheets. Some payers have objected, but it *is* part of PFS play that you're supposed to have that stuff readily available for your GM.
(I don't always do it, but despite my age and cynicism I still have this idea that the rules are supposed to be there for a reason. If everybody just agrees you don't have to follow them (e.g. by not having chronicle sheets available to online GMs), then the rules really should be changed as they become nothing more than a time-and-hassle tax on the compliant.)
Similar to the chronicle thing, make sure you have an up-to-date character sheet available for online play.
Your GM doesn't care if it's hero lab, a scanned paper copy, a .doc, whatever, just so long as it's a complete character sheet.
I know I'm not the only GM who says you don't get a spot at the table until you send me a character sheet. It's not so important at levels 1-4, but it becomes necessary at 5+, so it's just easier to be consistent.
Good Luck, or something.
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I'm "that" GM. I *have* asked for chronicle sheets.
That is absolutely your right.
But over half my chronicle sheets are paper only. Even the ones I received in online games I likely no longer have or can't conveniently find the electronic version.
So I'd have to scan all my sheets in. Just not worth the bother to me. I'd rather not play (in general, I'm sure there are exceptions).
I WILL provide an online ITS on request. I use my own form so it lists all scenarios played in order, shows money and fame gained. So has most of the information on the chronicle sheets. Not the same, I know.
Quite frankly, given how absurdly trivial it is to cheat anyway, I do think that PFS has significantly more paperwork than necessary. But that is a topic for another discussion.
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I'm "that" GM. I *have* asked for chronicle sheets.That is absolutely your right...So I'd have to scan all my sheets in. Just not worth the bother to me. I'd rather not play (in general, I'm sure there are exceptions).
There are a handful of scenarios that have different outcomes based upon what scenarios the PCs have been in. Some of these are less than apparent to the player, and I would consider it to be showing my GM hand to ask about the individual scenarios unless I threw in a lot of red herrings. In such cases, it's much easier to ask for the certs or even just a listing of scenarios played. It's just as tedious to the GM as it is to the player to have to thumb through certs; I think more often than not, "Can I see your certs?" is not "I'm policing you," but rather "I'd like to give your PC credit for his accomplishments."
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But over half my chronicle sheets are paper only. Even the ones I received in online games I likely no longer have or can't conveniently find the electronic version.
That's not really an excuse. If you are losing track of your electronic versions, then it's just a straight up disregard for organization.
Honestly, you can get scanners or all-in-one home setups for cheap, sometimes as low as $50. Or you can do what I do, borrow from someone else. I just go to the library and check out a scanner there. I have to use it there, but its free. It only takes 10 minutes to do even when I've got a serious backlog because I haven't been in awhile.
I started it after I already had a backlog of 7 characters. Took about 30 minutes to scan, 20 to organize, and 5 to upload. Now I can carry all my 17 characters and their records on a single tablet without having to lug around massive amounts of paperwork. Any further updates now just takes minutes.
Yes, it does take a little investment in time. However, its completely worth it.
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But over half my chronicle sheets are paper only. Even the ones I received in online games I likely no longer have or can't conveniently find the electronic version.That's not really an excuse. If you are losing track of your electronic versions, then it's just a straight up disregard for organization.
I think that's a little harsh. He's not the only person out there who does not have digital copies of his certs, considering that for game days, digital copies are not legal copies of chronicles even if they're scans of the original paper documents.
Some people don't like having lots of files on their computers, external drives, online storage areas, et cetera. I'm glad that you have all your certs scanned (not being sarcastic; seriously happy that you found a way to organize that works for you), but telling someone that his method of organizing his characters is somehow inadequate is unnecessary.
Paul's acknowledged that the GM has every right to ask for digital copies, and that, unless the circumstances are extenuating, he'd rather bow out than go through that extra work. Cool. Good for him. He's not the only player with that mindset, and we shouldn't be hostile toward that preference.
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I think that's a little harsh.
Thank you.
My certs are quite well organized. But given that I play live games I use paper (printing out all my electronic ones).
Wanting to know what scenarios I've played I totally understand. That information I can provide (and occasionally have). Just not in the form of certs :-)
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I think that's a little harsh.But over half my chronicle sheets are paper only. Even the ones I received in online games I likely no longer have or can't conveniently find the electronic version.That's not really an excuse. If you are losing track of your electronic versions, then it's just a straight up disregard for organization.
I beg to differ. It's not just Paul, but goes for anyone that switches between local and online play. Lets get hypothetical for a moment here. If I were to meet someone in a local game and I ask to see their character and chronicles, then in response I get a gaggle of a mess dropped onto the table, I can almost guarantee you my response would be "What the hell is this?" I'm not going to want to look at it and run further delaying the game at the expense everyone else. Worse yet, said player has nothing to show for it. I treat digital documentation exactly the same as I would for physical sheets.
To clarify, I'm not hating on paper copies at all. All I'm saying is that if you play online, you should, nay, need to have digital copies that are readily accessible. Otherwise, you run the risk of not being able to play. Honestly, as someone who does alot of gaming online, I would rather take the hour or two of my time to get compliant with the rules than to run the risk of missing out on hours of gaming.
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Otherwise, you run the risk of not being able to play. Honestly, as someone who does alot of gaming online, I would rather take the hour or two of my time to get compliant with the rules than to run the risk of missing out on hours of gaming.
I have so far missed exactly 0 games because my chronicles aren't online. Out of something on the rough order of 50 online games (a guess, I didn't count).
As I said, I'm aware of the risk and willing to lose a game if necessary.
Its nice that you took a different option but that hardly invalidates my option nor gives you the right to dictate how I should spend my time.
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I've yet to have an online GM ask to see scanned chronicle sheets. If one asked I'd quite likely decide it was too much hassle and politely bow out of the game.
Once or twice I've provided pdf's of my character sheets (I use Herolab so this is trivial for me).
Basically, the vast majority of games rely on trust with the very occasional bit of "how did you get that?" thrown in. Pretty much like most live games, at least locally.
Note that this will vary, based on several things.
Some GMs want to abide more closely by the rules-as-written, and will ask for certs and a character sheet.
For the majority of GMs using Fantasy Grounds II, the common procedure I have seen there, as promulgated by a VO who is one of the primary organizers there, is to ask for a copy of your last chronicle.
And, as mentioned, for some scenarios, there can be benefits or banes for having played certain other scenarios before, or based on the results annotated on those chronicles.
I know that I got a lot of kickback on the PFSOC the time I asked for chronicles. Didn't lose any players for it, especially since it was more-or-less pro forma, as I was running The Accursed Halls, and most of the PCs were new for the game anyhow.
