What is the general starting level in pathfinder society

[ErisAcolyte-Chaos jester]

This is my first actual character in pathfinder and I need tips on what to play. Was thinking of playing a sword saint ronin samurai but I need to know what kind of level you need to start out in pathfinder society. Is it 1-5 or is it a fixed level 1 start?

It would also be good to know what I CAN play, with pathfinder societies general limitations. Here is a list of the books I have right now.

Core rule book
Advanced players guide
Advanced race guide
Ultimate combat
Ultimate magic
Blood of angels
Blood of fiends
Blood of the moon
Blood of the night
Champions of purity
Champions of balance
Faiths of balance
Faiths of purity
Faiths of corruption
Dragon empires primer
Bestiaries 1 to 4

[Pirate Rob]

All player characters in Pathfinder Society start at level 1.

The Guide to Organized Play is a free download and contains all the specific rules for Organized Play.

Additional Resources has information on what material from additional books is legal.

[Saving Cap'n Crunch]

Level 1. You can apply XP to character you don't play through GMing and playing as a pregen until a character hit level 2.
The Antipaladin is banned, along with any evil characters (but not characters worshiping evil gods, but who wants negative energy channeling?) For more information, click Pathfinder Society and head over to Additional Resources (what's allowed for PFS play).

[David_Hodge]

G'day Eris,

All characters in PFS start at level 1 and level up after playing several scenarios (depending on if you are playing normal or slow experience track).

As to what you can play, first have a read of the Guide to Organised Play (found here) which gives you the specific character creation process, as well as the other PFS specific rules (such as limitations on crafting and so on)

After that, head over to the additional resources document, which details which publications and what rules/feats/items and so on are legal for play in the organised play campaign.

Above all, have fun, welcome to the Pathfinder Society, if you have any other questions feel free to ask

[Quadstriker]

In pathfinder society, all generals start at level 1.

Please read the Guide to organized play and check the additional resources for optional content. You'll find the answers to all your questions there.

[BigNorseWolf]

Sword saint is a horrible, horrible archtype. Ijiatsu strike only works on a blue moon and doesn't do all that much anyway. Find a way to get a more fun mount than a horse. Despite the very hefty penalties in PFS or swapping archtypes, the swordsaint in my home pfs group finally dropped it.

[Tuna Slaad]

Just make sure that you have the watermarked PDFs handy with your copy of the additional resources listing, as required in the guide, with your level 1 character.

[Chris Mortika]

First of all, welcome. It's great to have you in the campaign, and I look forward to sitting at a table with you.

Second, everybody's chimed in with good answers: start at 1st level, and after every three adventures, your character will rise 1 experience level.

I'm going to assume that, with the library you've already assembled, you know enough about the Pathfinder game system to play the type of character you enjoy. As long as it's legal, do what makes you happy.

And I'll amend Tuna Salad's caution: bring either watermarked copies of the relevant pages from the pdfs, or bring the physical books with you. Your table GM might not be as familiar with all the cool things your character can do, and you'll need to supply reference materials for her.

And hey, would you do me a favor? After your first two or three sessions in Pathfinder Society, would you drop back here and let us know how it's going for you? What scenarios did you play, what were the fun parts, what questions you still have? All that?

[GM Lamplighter]

... and this is why I love this community.