Pregen Paladin

[Kevin Hanley]

Is there going to be an update to the ACG Guide to Organized Play that details the build of the pregen paladin? Along that note, how are iconic pregen builds going to be addressed when new class decks become available?

[zeroth_hour]

Yes.

Tanis et al has been extremely this week with PAX, and besides the Paladin deck isn't even in the stores yet.

[zeroth_hour]

If you absolutely cannot wait, here's an unofficial Tier 1 Seelah pregen to tide you over - I used the pregen Seelah in the rulebook as a base.

Weapon: Longsword, Longspear, Mace, Quarterstaff
Spell: Detect Evil
Armor: Helm, Scale Mail, Wooden Shield
Item: Holy Water Grenade
Ally: Recruit, Riding Horse, Teamster
Blessing: Blessing of the Gods x3

The Teamster is a nod to the demo deck Seelah, who has a Teamster and a Mendevian Crusader (but that's not basic)

[ryric]

I think Kevin's second question is worth addressing...are we going to have an ever-ballooning pregens section in the Guide? Do we want to go down a road where each month the Guide needs to be updated with 3 tier's worth of pregen iconics?

Maybe pregens should be moved to a second document? I'd be hesitant to recommend limiting the available pregens, because what happens if a new player shows with the newest class deck on a night where the only table running is Tier 3 or something? We'd want them to be able to play I'd think.

Maybe to save Tanis some work building pregen decks can be farmed out to the forums?

Just some random musings.

[zeroth_hour]

Pathfinder Society tends to print their pregens out onto sheets of paper; they are separate from the PFSRPG Guide to Organized Play because there are 36 of them.

By default, PFSACG either runs with people's personal sets or the store's set, and the store's set is often only a base set. It's possible that the only table(s) running are Tier 3+ tables, but that should be a less common occurrence.

There's a good idea there though: Character sheets that have the tickboxes checked that explicitly say they are PFSACG Tier 3 or Tier 5 and include a decklist that has the appropriate things marked off. There could be confusion between that sheet and a brand new sheet, but maybe it can be really really explicit.

[Theryon Stormrune]

When I print character sheets (for myself), I print the character up top and the deck list below. I edit PDFs so that each character sheet is followed by a deck list page then print it 2x1 so that I get both printed on one sheet.

If pre-gens were simply the character sheet (as is) on the top half of the page and the deck list on the bottom half, then check off the boxes for Tier 3 and 5 versions.

[Tanis O'Connor]

Yup, it's-a-comin'. Would folks prefer a monthly update to the guide just for the pregen appendix, or would you like them as a forum thread, or as a separate download that gets absorbed into the Guide for the next season? This is an issue that will recur, and I can see pros and cons to each approach.

[Parody]

I duplex print mine so the deck list is on the back side of the character sheet.

Lately I've been playing with character tents. The form factor I've liked the best for Guild play is half a sheet (so 5.5" x 8.5" folded in half to 5.5" x 4.25"). Those I'd print on cardstock and put the deck list on a separate sheet to keep with my chronicles.

Re: Pregens, keep them separate, whether on the forum or as a download. That's assuming you post pregens at all. (I don't feel that they're necessary to have right away; I'd be fine with waiting for the next season's guide.)

[zeroth_hour]

An update to the guide necessitates printing out the guide each month - and because the pregens are in the middle of it, it gets awkward. I think I would prefer the separate download (folding it into the guide each season).

I would prefer something more official-looking than a forum thread. That being said, I've never had a single person ask me for a pregen character (the one time I got close it was because the guy was going to be too underleveled to get to AD3, and I just played with him until he got up to Tier 2 thus allowing him to play AD3.

[Mandy H.]

I think that a separate download being updated once a season would make most sense to me. For one, it'd be easier on the editing staff! I also don't see people using pregens all that often, though I only have experience with my own (small) group that doesn't see many character deaths or new players joining mid-season.

[Andrew L Klein]

I'd say a PDF of its own, updated whenever a new deck comes out. Not necessarily right away, but maybe within a few weeks to a month.

Pregens might not get used as much, but the last thing we want is for someone to come to an above Tier 2 scenario, say "Ooh the Slayer looks pretty cool, I want to try him!" only for us to say "Sorry, no can do". At 6 months a season, I think once a season is much too infrequent for updates, regardless of the method.

[Theryon Stormrune]

Separate download sounds good. The guide doesn't need to be updated that often.

btw, Raz ftw! Gotz my precious Paladin deck today.

[Kevin Hanley]

I would prefer that the pregens are included in a second document, much like the RPG pregens. The document could include pre-statted character sheets for tiers 1, 3 and 5, per the guide to organized play. This way, they could be kept up without making new forum posts or guide updates.

[Iammars]

Yeah, definitely separate document. I would also prefer that it be organized like the RPG pregens in that there is a separate document for each class of pregens (makes it easier to tell which ones I have at a quick glance).

[Theryon Stormrune]

Iammars wrote:

Yeah, definitely separate document. I would also prefer that it be organized like the RPG pregens in that there is a separate document for each class of pregens (makes it easier to tell which ones I have at a quick glance).

As we get more classes, I think this is a good idea where the Tier 1, 3 and 5 version of the pre-gen exists in its own file but are combined in similar fashion to the Community Use Pregenerated Characters.