Races and Classes, Sub-Classes and Archtypes..

[DaManx]

I am sorry in advance if this horse has been dead and buried, but I am new to this process and I have looked through so many texted based pages of data for simple answers to my questions.

Is there a place that tells what classes are available and what races, what archetypes can be played and which sub classes?

Again, sorry for taking up anyone's precious time for having to read my sure-to-be-redundant questions.

[Z...D...]

here you go. tells you what is not allowed. Also to play the class/archtype/race, you must have the resource it is coming from.

[Slothsy]

No worries! There's a lot of information to learn about PFS.

The place you're looking for is the Additional Resources.

Most (but not all) classes and archetypes are allowed. However, races are restricted to all the races in the CRB, plus Nagaji, Wayang, Tengu, Kitsune, Ifrit, Oread, Undine and Sylph.

One of the forum regulars, BigNorseWolf, has also put together a guide for newbies here.

Edit: Important clarification - PFS rules says that you must bring with you a copy of the rules you're using when you attend a game. This can be a physical copy of the book, a print out of a PDF or the pdf itself on a tablet, phone or other device. If you're using a pdf, it should be watermarked with your name and email address (because the only place that legally sells the pdfs is paizo.com, and all paizo.com PDFs are watermarked).

[DaManx]

Z...D... wrote:

here you go. tells you what is not allowed. Also to play the class/archtype/race, you must have the resource it is coming from.

Yes, that is the page that gave me the headache

[Z...D...]

DaManx wrote:

Z...D... wrote:

here you go. tells you what is not allowed. Also to play the class/archtype/race, you must have the resource it is coming from.

Yes, that is the page that gave me the headache

Yeah, it is alot to take in at once. But luckily the PFS community is very supportive. You can pretty much ask any question and get multiple views on it, and no body will try to rail road you.

And I wish I had that guide prior to playing. Definitely adding that to my resources.

[captnchuck67]

you can also check here
Semi official help http://www.archivesofnethys.com/Default.aspx

[Ascalaphus]

@DaManx: it can be overwhelming. Here's a workflow that can help to make it more manageable though;

1) Browse websites like Archives of Nethys looking for stuff that interest you. You can also use Herolab. In both cases, you should do the verification steps because they're third-party information sources, so you need to check and make sure.

2) If you run into something interesting, look for the "Glyph of the Open Road" symbol, which the Archives use to mark that this item is legal. Archives will also tell you which book and page the thing you found came from. Herolab should have a similar function.

3) Verify that it's legal - look it up in the official source, the Additional Resources. Archives is good but even good people make mistakes. (Also, it's lagging behind but working on catching up.

4) Verify that it really works like the third-party source wrote it works. Look up the item in the original book. Sometimes Archives gets it wrong. (Feel free to borrow a friend's book to check.)

5) Check for Clarifications - sometimes things get changed or clarified for PFS use. Look here and check if the item you're interested in is mentioned.

6) Now, if you're convinced you want it, buy the book, as PDF from Paizo or as physical book. In the long run, I recommend PDF because you automatically get updates on new prints, and because it's easier to carry PDFs on a tablet or laptop than a stack of books. This will start to be an issue when you create more characters and gain levels.

[Mike Lindner]

Lau covered it very well. There is one more source of information though, the PFS FAQ.

[RealAlchemy]

Lau Bannenberg wrote:

@DaManx: it can be overwhelming. Here's a workflow that can help to make it more manageable though;

1) Browse websites like Archives of Nethys looking for stuff that interest you. You can also use Herolab. In both cases, you should do the verification steps because they're third-party information sources, so you need to check and make sure.

2) If you run into something interesting, look for the "Glyph of the Open Road" symbol, which the Archives use to mark that this item is legal. Archives will also tell you which book and page the thing you found came from. Herolab should have a similar function.

3) Verify that it's legal - look it up in the official source, the Additional Resources. Archives is good but even good people make mistakes. (Also, it's lagging behind but working on catching up.

4) Verify that it really works like the third-party source wrote it works. Look up the item in the original book. Sometimes Archives gets it wrong. (Feel free to borrow a friend's book to check.)

5) Check for Clarifications - sometimes things get changed or clarified for PFS use. Look here and check if the item you're interested in is mentioned.

6) Now, if you're convinced you want it, buy the book, as PDF from Paizo or as physical book. In the long run, I recommend PDF because you automatically get updates on new prints, and because it's easier to carry PDFs on a tablet or laptop than a stack of books. This will start to be an issue when you create more characters and gain levels.

I do an extra step just because I like the format of another site better than Archives of Nethys. I look it up on PFSRD to see what looks interesting, then open another tab to Archives of Nethys to check legality once I know what I'm looking for, and then confirm on Additional Resources.

[Otagian]

I'm a big fan of people using d20PFSRD. Their name changes make it a lot easier to tell when I should ask for a player's copy of the source book.