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So this has not happened yet, but I anticipate at some point it will.
I have started running PFS session on weeks where we do not have enough players for our regular pathfinder game (nonPFS). Generally we run with 4-5 characters, but when we are reduced to 3, we are switching to PFS sessions with 3 PCs and a pregen.
When there is a PC death in your home game, and the player needs to make a new character, it would have to be first level. If the rest of the player's characters are of a level where they can not legally play in tier 1-2 (or even higher at later stages) how do you handle it?
Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht
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If you're running for credit, there's not much you can do. You have to stay by the book. Either do a pregen-only run with that character (not much fun), or everyone starts a new character. That is, assuming you don't have the money to raise that person.
If you're 100% sure your players won't play that character outside of your group, you could play "off the record," so to speak. Let the player make a level-appropriate character, treat PFS as a home campaign and don't hand out chronicle sheets and such, but still hand out money and XP. But that's some serious rules bending I wouldn't recommend, as that'd spoil multiple people's fun, possibly also outside of your playgroup. Say you run an adventure "off the record," and a player later plays that scenario again "officially," a lot of metagaming will happen. There's a reason why PFS only allows you to play scenarios once (apart from boon farming).
TL;DR: In the case that you can't raise the character, either everyone rolls up new characters, or break several rules of PFS. I know which I'd prefer.
Or start a separate home campaign where you can use a pregen if you don't want to continue with the "main campaign." The advantage of PFS is that you don't have to come up with a plot, and there's less tie-in with your characters, but if everyone understands it's either that or no game at all, players will accomodate.
Another option is to do a short one-off with your main campaign, but also with a pregen. Do a flash-forward, a flashback, dream sequence, whatever. Something that's inconsequential to the main story currently going on (but might make reference to later on), but also easily broken off when the entire group reconvenes. The only downside is a slight lack of focus, as players won't be in the "flow" of the narrative anymore.