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I've been debating trying to run an online game for awhile now (real life time constraints and a rotating shift make it hard to run a proper one). Since noticing they can be run for pathfinder society credit I took a look at the rules and I have a few questions I'd appreciate clarification on.
First out of curiosity.
1) Obviously only campaigns specifically marked as allowed can be run but I didn't see wrath of the righteous on the list at all either as allowed or not. I assume this is because mythic rules aren't allowed in PFS and thus the module as a whole is banned?
Then the ones I'm concerned about.
1) It says
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.
But (and leaving aside the fact it's referring to the wrong adventure path) then later it says for the first two modules (Brinewall legacy and night of frozen shadows) you can play a pregen character and apply credit to one of your own when they reach an appropriate level. Here's what I'm unsure of though it says you can run it as a home game without worrying about PFS and treating it as if you'd played a pregenrated character.
So does that mean if you play it as a home game you can only apply the first two modules to a PFS character and not the later ones e.g. Hungry storm or can you apply those rules to all lvls e.g.giving aforest of spirits Chronicle sheet to a PFS legal character when they reach lvl 10 for having completed it with a non PFS character?
2) It says playing each module of an adventure path from beginning to end earns a player a number of xp and prestige points is this a bonus in addition to the ones they gain for completing the modules?
3) Related to the above it says
Players who do not complete each game session earn 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 fewer XP, and 1 fewer Prestige Point for each session missed. This also applies to players who join later sessions; they receive 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 fewer XP, and 1 fewer Prestige Point for each session missed. In both cases, players earn a minimum of 1/3 gold pieces, 1 XP, and 1 PP. If a character earns more XP than she needs to reach her next level, she may not choose to switch advancement tracks at the new level earned.
Does this apply to the above I.e. You miss one session and don't receive the awards from that as well as only receiving 1 less bonus xp and Pp at the end?
4) When it says
Since sanctioned Adventure Paths are multi-session events, Pathfinder Society characters may not be used in other Pathfinder Society events until they receive a Chronicle sheet for the sanctioned content. GMs are advised to work with players who miss the final session of the module or Adventure Path in order for those players to receive their Chronicle sheets.
I assume this only means during the time your playing that module I.e from when you start Brinewall to when you finish you can't play something else but you can play other modules between when you finish Brinewall and start night of frozen shadows to take them from lvl 2 to lvl 5?
5) Given PFS rules I assume the last two modules are only for seekers and not regular characters?
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1. Wrath of the Righteous is not sanctioned and can't be played for PFS credit.
2. PFS characters get gold, XP and PP only as listed on chronicle sheets and must buy any items they want to carry into the next adventure, replacing what they would get from the module in a non-PFS campaign.
3. A PFS character gets 1/3 less of the gold granted on the chronicle and reduced XP and PP for each session the player missed. This is the only reward they would otherwise get for the session.
4. Jade Regent #1 and Jade Regent #2 are two separate sanctioned PFS modules. edit: You can play and gain credit for other adventures in between as long as the character ends up in tier for Jade Regent #2.
5. If the indicated level for a sanctioned module is 13 or above, it can only be played by Seeker characters. edit: It looks as if Jade Regent #5 can be played by 11th level characters who are not yet Seekers.
Venture-Captain, Netherlands
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I will try and answer your questions to the best of my ability. I will break it down in to parts to hopefully help with explaining the rules.
Obviously only campaigns specifically marked as allowed can be run but I didn't see wrath of the righteous on the list at all either as allowed or not. I assume this is because mythic rules aren't allowed in PFS and thus the module as a whole is banned?
So far no portions of Wrath of the righteous is sanctioned. Meaning you can not play any part of it for Society credit.
1) It says: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.
But (...) then later it says for the first two modules (Brinewall legacy and night of frozen shadows) you can play a pregen character and apply credit to one of your own when they reach an appropriate level. Here's what I'm unsure of though it says you can run it as a home game without worrying about PFS and treating it as if you'd played a pregenrated character.
I think part of the confusion here is the two ways you can play an adventure path.
The first way is that you play it as a normal home campaign. You use the story, but you can basically play by any rules you wish. You dont even have to use the Pathfinder rules if you dont want to.Once you complete parts that have a chronicle sheet, you can hand that to your players. So once you finish LARPing (just an example!) trough Brinewall castle, you hand your players a chronicle sheet that they can apply to a character of the appropriate level.
The second way is that you only use the parts that have been sanctioned content. To use the Brinewall castle example again: You prepare and run that part, and only that part from the Brinewall legacy book.
You make up a reason why Pathfinder agents would be there, and then run them trough the castle using all the Pathfinder Society rules.
So does that mean if you play it as a home game you can only apply the first two modules to a PFS character and not the later ones e.g. Hungry storm or can you apply those rules to all lvls e.g.giving aforest of spirits Chronicle sheet to a PFS legal character when they reach lvl 10 for having completed it with a non PFS character?
You can apply every chronicle to a character. It gets weird at the higher levels, because most Pathfinder society play ends after level 12.
Also the highest level pregens are level 7 so you cant use a pregens for the higher parts.If you time it right, you could run the same PFS character trough all parts of sanctioned Jade Regent content.
If you play on campaign mode, you can still apply all credit to the same character. But again you will need to do some planning.
2) It says playing each module of an adventure path from beginning to end earns a player a number of xp and prestige points is this a bonus in addition to the ones they gain for completing the modules?
No. There is a max amount they can earn, and that is 3 XP and 4 PP. You can only earn less, not more.
3) Related to the above it says:
Players who do not complete each game session earn 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 fewer XP, and 1 fewer Prestige Point for each session missed. This also applies to players who join later sessions; they receive 1/3 they receive 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 fewer XP, and 1 fewer Prestige Point for each session missed. In both cases, players earn a minimum of 1/3 gold pieces, 1 XP, and 1 PP. If a character earns more XP than she needs to reach her next level, she may not choose to switch advancement tracks at the new level earned.
Does this apply to the above I.e. You miss one session and don't receive the awards from that as well as only receiving 1 less bonus xp and Pp at the end?
As there is no bonus for completing all, this is not relevant.
The way they calculated it in one thirds is that things in Pathfinder Society all get calculated based on 4 hour slots.A normal PFS scenario is four hours long. You earn 1 XP for that, and a maximum of 2 prestige.
An sanctioned adventure path section should take about 12 hours to run. Hence the 3 XP and 4 prestige (its estimated that you do not always get max prestige.
And if you cant play a 4 hour section, you miss out 1/3 of the rewards.
4) When it says
"Since sanctioned Adventure Paths are multi-session events, Pathfinder Society characters may not be used in other Pathfinder Society events until they receive a Chronicle sheet for the sanctioned content. GMs are advised to work with players who miss the final session of the module or Adventure Path in order for those players to receive their Chronicle sheets."
I assume this only means during the time your playing that module I.e from when you start Brinewall to when you finish you can't play something else but you can play other modules between when you finish Brinewall and start night of frozen shadows to take them from lvl 2 to lvl 5?
Yes, you are correct. From the time you start to the time you finish a sanctioned part, the character is what is called 'locked in'.
It cant be played anywhere else, but once that section is done, you are free to use that character in another game.Do note, if you play in campaign mode, this has no effect what so ever, as you are using your own character, and not a PFS character.
And yes, you are free to join later on for night of frozen shadows as long as that character still has the right level. If you level that character up too much in between, you cant play it for the part of Frozen Shadows.
BUT: Frozen shadows wont take your character from lvl 2 to lvl 5.
As said, a chronicle gets you 3 XP. So your character only gets one level if they complete the whole of Night of Frozen Shadows.
Even if you play campaign mode (so with pretty much your own rules), it is adviced that players should already be level 4 when starting the book.
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Thanks for the replies but I'm still not clear on non PFS play for PFS sheets. My problem is it specifically states only the first two modules can be done with pregens but then says you can house play as if you were pregens. So can you only award Chronicle sheets for home play on the first two modules or all of them?
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Venture-Captain, Netherlands
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The only reason it specifically states that you can do the first two modules with pregens, is because there are only pregens for level 1, 4 and 7.
You can use the level four pregen for Brinewall Castle and the level 7 pregen for Ravenscrag.
The Hungry Storm lowest level is level 8, so you can not use a pregen. So from that point on you need your own character to play it.
You can award Chronicle sheets for home play for all modules. But if you want to play all modules, people will need to use their own characters.
I also think you might be confused by the language. Is english your second language? If so, what is your first? Maybe I can explain it in your native language.
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As mentioned, Wrath of the Righteous is not sanctioned for PFS, nor are there any plans to sanction it at any time in the future.
Adventure Paths, and more recent (64 page) modules, can be played for PFS credit in one of two modes:
PFS mode, where you are only running the sanctioned content, as covered in the information on the Chronicle/Rules, using PFS PCs, or, for the lower level games, PFS pregens. In general, in this case, the PC playing is the one who earns the PFS chronicle, which gives up to 3 XP, 4 PP, and whatever maximum gold is listed for that part of the AP on the chronicle.
Note that the only legal pregens for PFS are provided by Paizo, and are 1st, 4th, and 7th level. And the legality of playing with pregens is only for those instances where playing just the sanctioned section, using PFS PCs.
If played with a pregen, credit can be given to a regular PFS PC either when they reach the level of the pregen, or, the gold can be lowered to 1398, access to items listed on the chronicle remains, but, for any boons on the chronicle, unless they specify otherwise, only become available when the PC reaches the lowest level for the chronicle.
Now, playing the entire AP or 64 page module in what is called home game mode, where the GM sets his own rules, which do not need to conform to PFS rules, and, indeed, it does not even need to be run using the Pathfinder rule set, means that the PCs used are not PFS PCs, and earn XP, GP, and items as normal for a home game. As the home game completes playing a section of the AP that is sanctioned for PFS credit, the GM and each player can be issued a chronicle for that segment, and it can be assigned to any PFS PC at a legal level to have played the segment or lower. If of legal level, the chronicle is applied immediately. If 1st level, the chronicle can be applied as per the playing a pregen part above. If the PC is 2nd level or higher, but not high enough level to have played it, the chronicle is on hold until that PC reaches the lowest legal level for that chronicle, when it is applied in full.
When playing in home game mode, the GM should use his own rules, or the game system rules, if any, for what to do when a player's PC dies permanently.
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English is my first language I just tend to be rather literal and I'm still wrapping my head around the PFS rules. I wasn't aware that PFS pregens had to be pathfinder supplied ones and only came in specific levels so I thought it was more of a "Pregens can only be used for X and Y" than a "Pregens don't come above lvl X so they can only be used for modules below that limit".
So I can run the campaign with normal rules and then award character sheets for each module thanks. I'll just need to keep an eye on any abscences during the relevant part and reduce rewards appropriately on the sheet.
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The good news from this.... is that there is absolutely NO need to confine yourself to PFS rules in running Wrath of the Righetous. We're running in a home game of the AP that's being run by 5 star Judge Valory Michael Lazar, and he's taking full advantage of that freedom.
I strongly urge you to do the same.
Actually I'm looking at running a mythic jade reagent game and realised I might be able to award Chronicle sheets to the players. WoTR came up because from what I could see it was the only AP not mentioned at all in that page, there were others there that didn't have a "sanctioned for use" note but it just wasn't there at all.
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Actually I'm looking at running a mythic jade reagent game and realised I might be able to award Chronicle sheets to the players. WoTR came up because from what I could see it was the only AP not mentioned at all in that page, there were others there that didn't have a "sanctioned for use" note but it just wasn't there at all.The good news from this.... is that there is absolutely NO need to confine yourself to PFS rules in running Wrath of the Righetous. We're running in a home game of the AP that's being run by 5 star Judge Valory Michael Lazar, and he's taking full advantage of that freedom.
I strongly urge you to do the same.
Given that it's been confirmed that you don't really even need to use Pathfinder when running a sanctioned AP for credit in home game mode, running a Mythic version of one is totally fine.
Just be aware that it's going to be a ton of work to adapt a non-Mythic campaign to Mythic.
Yes, yes it is I've been working on this for awhile I just wanted to clarify things now that I've become aware I can also give/get Chronicle sheets for GM'ing this so if something was incompatible or required changes I could do it now rather than having to redo everything.
I'm at my second draft run through now.