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The CRB, LOWG, and B1 can be used without ownership. Link
The pregens can be used without ownership.
What constitutes proof of ownership is detailed in that page.
But rather than focus on the letter of the law, I focus on the fact that it's a good thing to support creators of good content.
I also point out the $50 CRB will easily provide 100+ hours of entertainment, and encourage everyone to buy it even if they aren't technically required to.
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2-6 players +1 DM. 7 player tables were banhammered last year.Thank you! What about player resources that can be used i.e. ownership?
Most folks have a tablet or a kindle or something they can show the source on. You don't really need to check every source they're using 9that would not be feisible) but if they're pulling spells from every obscure book in the game you should be able to see if they've ponied up for a few PDFs to keep paizonians in beer and pizza.
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The CRB, LOWG, and B1 can be used without ownership. Link
The pregens can be used without ownership.
What constitutes proof of ownership is detailed in that page.
But rather than focus on the letter of the law, I focus on the fact that it's a good thing to support creators of good content.
I also point out the $50 CRB will easily provide 100+ hours of entertainment, and encourage everyone to buy it even if they aren't technically required to.
Thank you!
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Most folks have a tablet or a kindle or something they can show the source on. You don't really need to check every source they're using 9that would not be feisible) but if they're pulling spells from every obscure book in the game you should be able to see if they've ponied up for a few PDFs to keep paizonians in beer and pizza.2-6 players +1 DM. 7 player tables were banhammered last year.Thank you! What about player resources that can be used i.e. ownership?
That is true as well!
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The CRB, LOWG, and B1 can be used without ownership. Link
The pregens can be used without ownership.
What constitutes proof of ownership is detailed in that page.
But rather than focus on the letter of the law, I focus on the fact that it's a good thing to support creators of good content.
I also point out the $50 CRB will easily provide 100+ hours of entertainment, and encourage everyone to buy it even if they aren't technically required to.
That is even less if they get the pocket version of the CORE book as well.
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| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
If you get going let me know I'll add you to the Flat rolling surfaces map
Which thankfully should be getting relevant again...
Venture-Lieutenant, Nebraska—Bellevue
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... but if they're pulling spells from every obscure book in the game you should be able to see if they've ponied up for a few PDFs to keep paizonians in beer and pizza.
I'm sure you didn't mean anything by this comment, but I dislike this perspective for a couple of reasons.
First, this isn't about ponying up extra dollars for beer and pizza. We should buy the products to support the production of the game - salaries, production costs, Org play costs, etc. Legitimate business expenses are about more than beer and pizza.
Second, I don't view that as the key rationale behind the rule. In org play, your GM is not obligated to own and bring all the rule books a player might use to build their character. By the end of PF 1st ed that represented hundreds to thousands of dollars (and substantial physical weight). Your GM is obligated to make technical rules decisions based on your character's mechanics.
The rule is there to set a standard of player courtesy to their GM. You should own and bring a copy of the rules your character uses so you can make those rules available to them - should they need to adjudicate how your character's (possibly obscure) class feat might interact with the other (possibly obscure) archetype feat another player brings.
This rule helps lighten the burden on the people who volunteer to GM the games we play AND supports the company that produces the game and writes the scenarios that we enjoy.
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From a Guide Perspective:
The intent of the guide is that someone walking up to the table for the first time should be able to sit down and play with a pregen using *only* the Welcome to Pathfinder Society.
By their second or third game, they should have read at least the Community Standards and Expectations and Player Basics
If they want to make their own character, they should read Character Creation
Someone who wants to GM should obviously have read Game Master Basics
Everything else is either optional, or only needed in unusual situations.
Those 5 sections are the core information that should be known by every player / GM. (It has been a while since I checked, but if I remember correctly, that worked out to be something like 7 "pages" of information for players, and another 3 "pages" for GMs.
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From a Guide Perspective:
The intent of the guide is that someone walking up to the table for the first time should be able to sit down and play with a pregen using *only* the Welcome to Pathfinder Society.
By their second or third game, they should have read at least the Community Standards and Expectations and Player Basics
If they want to make their own character, they should read Character Creation
Someone who wants to GM should obviously have read Game Master Basics
Everything else is either optional, or only needed in unusual situations.
Those 5 sections are the core information that should be known by every player / GM. (It has been a while since I checked, but if I remember correctly, that worked out to be something like 7 "pages" of information for players, and another 3 "pages" for GMs.
This is very helpful!
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Is there a reference handout or something for players?
Trust me, if I could make it any shorter, I would have :)
But all of these can be found on the main Guide Table of COntents.
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Not official but definitely less head spinning than the official guides
Pathfinder Society 1 Newbie guide
Starfinder Society Newbie guide
Sorry i don't know pf2 well enough to do one for that.
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Making sure they have an Org Play number, and know how to register their character, how to find the Guide to Org Play. Give them a chance to ask questions they have have. Any local customs about how, where and when to sign up for games and mention that they are expected to own physical copies or pdf of resources. We often work that in mid session locally as we highlight the retail incentive program. Part of that is intentional to space out the information so it isn't all at the beginning or end of the session. I try to read the person as well to get a sense of how well they are handling the information dump from myself and the other players.
From a Guide Perspective:
The intent of the guide is that someone walking up to the table for the first time should be able to sit down and play with a pregen using *only* the Welcome to Pathfinder Society.
By their second or third game, they should have read at least the Community Standards and Expectations and Player Basics
If they want to make their own character, they should read Character Creation
Someone who wants to GM should obviously have read Game Master Basics
Everything else is either optional, or only needed in unusual situations.
Those 5 sections are the core information that should be known by every player / GM. (It has been a while since I checked, but if I remember correctly, that worked out to be something like 7 "pages" of information for players, and another 3 "pages" for GMs.
These are pretty complex in terms of "basic" information, IMO.
If I had to describe what was "basic" information, I'd choose:
1. You play a character, who has a different set of abilities and knowledges than you as a player do. The GM will describe what your character senses, and you should describe to your GM what your character does (or intends to do).
2. The other people at your table are playing your character's teammates, not competitors. The foe is set by the scenario and controlled by the GM, but the GM is a neutral adjudicator. Don't be a jerk.
3. The specific set of rules used is Pathfinder Second Edition, but don't worry about the nuances of the rules. Describe what you want your character to do, and the GM will tell you how that maps onto the rules.
4. Pathfinder Society is a subset of Pathfinder in which people have agreed to limit certain options to make GMing uniform across many geographic areas. At the end of the game, you will get a Chronicle, and you can take that Chronicle to any other Pathfinder Society game and have the credits and boons recognized.
5. If you enjoy playing the game, please support Paizo by buying the books.
Things I'd argue are NOT basic information:
1'. All the websites. I'm sure there's a one-time player out there who thinks the game we play is called Warhorn because so many people throw that out as the first website new players should visit. Yes, we want people to register their character on paizo.com, but that can always be done once someone has shown the inclination to show up more than once.
2'. Incentive programs. The #1 thing that will keep people coming back is if they're having fun. That if they play enough, they can X or Y is a very minor draw. Highlighting all the cool stuff that everyone at the table EXCEPT for the new player has is not without social reputation risk.
3'. Pathfinder Society rules layered on top of Pathfinder rules. PFS-specific rules should be considered as a negative, something that we put up with in order to have long-term stability and uniformity of games. I wish characters were forbidden from choosing factions or using downtime until 2nd level - it's just so much explanation for such little benefit.
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Just to put things in perspective, I believe someone from Paizo once said that only 30% of all PFS numbers had more than one credit assigned, which means that for every 3 new players at the table, only 1 will come back. Converting 1 out of 2 instead of 1 out of 3 new players to repeat players will grow the player pool by 50%.
There's really no point information-dumping people unless you've locked up a commitment to return.
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You should own and bring a copy of the rules your character uses so you can make those rules available to them
Much less an issue now that Archive of Nethys is an official rules source and pretty much has everything that has been printed for 2E. At this point, the only reason to provide ownership is to assure that Paizo is getting their silvers and coppers.
Converting 1 out of 2 instead of 1 out of 3 new players to repeat players will grow the player pool by 50%
Not to be too pedantic, but I think you meant 17%, the difference between 33% (current rate) and 50% (hopeful rate).
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The rule is there to set a standard of player courtesy to their GM. You should own and bring a copy of the rules your character uses so you can make those rules available to them - should they need to adjudicate how your character's (possibly obscure) class feat might interact with the other (possibly obscure) archetype feat another player brings.
Even long-time players don't always get this. And you don't just need to have the original source available for the GM, you should also make some effort to be able to clearly explain how the bits you're using work. It's ultimately your responsibility to know how your character's specific schtick works, not the GM's.
In the last few months before we had to move all our OP games online, I had an interesting talk with one of our younger PF1 players. He owns a ton of stuff on PDF, and glories in his powerful combos built from obscure and far-flung rules. He mostly played combat monsters, but was excited to try out a new character who he had deliberately built as a support role instead, just to see if he could have fun with something outside his usual wheelhouse. However, it used an archetype from one of the last few 1E hardbacks, one I didn't own and had never read. He was aware that it had some weird rules, so made a point of showing up early to discuss the character with me, since I was GMing that day's game at the store. I thanked him for that, but had some trouble getting my head around the rules from a cold read of the PDF, and he struggled with explaining clearly how his character was supposed to work (a recurring issue with this player). As patiently and kindly as I could, I explained that this put a pretty big burden on the GM and other players, because stopping to look up and interpret new rules would eat into our limited play time. I was pleasantly shocked that he saw my point, and after some consideration, he chose to play a different character that day. The next time we ran a low-tier game at the store, he brought his weird new combo again, but this time he had a much more solid grasp of his archetype's rules, and had prepared index cards to pass out that summarized the buffs and debuffs that defined his character's schtick. He made it fun to have his PC at the table, instead of a chore--it was an amazing turnaround!
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Should they bring their chronicles with them>
Players must bring their records with them in paper or electronic form. Those records can take whatever form that player finds best suits them. GMs must however always issue chronicles, as those chronicles serve as backup for whatever record keeping system the player uses.
Record-Keeping
Organized play characters rely on good recordkeeping to ensure accurate information while playing. Several methods of tracking exist, but the most prevalent is the Chronicle. Every organized play published or sanctioned adventure contains a Chronicle, though players can choose alternative tracking methods and keep the Chronicles as backup.Upon completing an adventure, players each receive a Chronicle sheet from the GM. This sheet includes a summary of the adventure; indications of any choices made along the way which may impact the future of the campaign, and a log of rewards earned while exploring. It also provides areas for notes, purchases, and the acquisition/removal of conditions. Players using other tracking methods should ensure all the data on the Chronicle is reflected in their records.
Record Format
Players may choose to keep their records digitally or in paper files. If stored digitally, players must be comfortable with GMs handling their device while reviewing records. If in paper files, all pages must be carried to games.
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Electronic=PDF?
Whatever form best suits the player and can be accessed by the GM. PDF is usually good for that.
You could also keep them in some sort of online tracker, catalog them on a website, store them in word (assuming you are willing to hand your device with word on it to the GM if he needs to check something.)
In short, we want this to be as accessible to as many people, on as many technologies as possible.