Contributor
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Hello and Welcome!
I am so glad that you are playing your first character! There is a whole page of Character Options for Organized Play and a Guide to Organized Play, but those can be sort of overwhelming to sort through the first time. So let's go through your questions a few at a time.
Are there any restrictions on what ancestries, classes, backgrounds, etc that you can use when building out a character? Are we limited to just common, or are uncommon and rare available?
Common options are a great bet, but there are uncommon and rare options available too, especially in Ancestries.
ANCESTRIES THAT ARE FREELY AVAILABLE WITHOUT A BOON
From the Core Sources (see the Character Options page), players have Access to all common ancestries and to the following uncommon options:
Player Core
versatile heritages: nephilim (formerly aasimar and tiefling) and changeling; both heritages grant Access to one additional language (see Languages below).
Player Core 2
ancestries: catfolk, hobgoblin, kholo, kobold, lizardfolk, ratfolk, tengu, and tripkee
versatile heritages: dhampir, dragonblood, and duskwalker
Note: the leshy and orc ancestries are common ancestries in the Player Core and therefore are freely available.
The following ancestries are available if you own a copy of the corresponding source book:
jotunborn from Pathfinder Battlecry!
poppet from Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar
strix from Lost Omens: Ancestry Guide
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Contributor
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BACKGROUNDS
You will want common ones for this, but keep in mind that in addition to the backgrounds in the Player Core books there are also backgrounds in the Lost Omens World Guide that you can freely use. And if you own the books, you can use common backgrounds from other sources.
CLASSES
All classes are legal in PFS Play.
You can also look at the Character Creation Guidelines in the Lorespire Guide for more information,.
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Contributor
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How do I determine what starting equipment I start with? I've been running nothing but pre-gens that are fully equipped, so I'm not sure what to start with. Do I just figure out my starting gold and spend it in a shop?
You have 15 gold, plus whatever your character may have earned while it was a pregen. (Assuming that you took official credit when you played in previous GenCons, you would have gotten emailed chronicles for your character that earned a bit of gold - likely 14 gold for a level 1 adventure.)
There are Class Kits listed in Player Core and Player Core 2 that have suggested equipment. They are a great place to start, and will likely use up most of your starting 15 gold. If you don't do the Class Kit, at least pick up an adventurer's pack. It's got some great basics.
ONE MORE NOTE: If you took character credit at previous GenCons, and the character number that you played did at least 2 adventures, you can also equip yourself with a free Wayfinder. All PFS characters earn a wayfinder after their 2nd adventure.
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Contributor
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PLEASE ASK MORE QUESTIONS!
We're a friendly bunch here on the forum, and I just threw a ton of information at you. Why don't you tell us what sort of character you are building? We can give you feedback on whether the options you selected are legal, or if they might need a boon to unlock.
Happy character building!
Hmm
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Contributor
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I was looking at doing a lizardfolk ranger, but haven't dove into it too far yet as far as backgrounds and such because I didn't want to go too far down a path and find out it wasn't "Organized Play Legal". I was interested in the Woodstalker Lizard folk heritage for the Take Cover and Terrain Stalker feats and either the Lizarfolk Lore for Survival and Nature/Occultism boosts or Parthenogenic Hatchling for the disease resistance. I was thinking about going with Animal Companion though which animal I'm not sure yet.
All of that is Society Legal without a boon! Now about Animal Companions... Animal Companions eat your class feats because they require class feats to level up and require actions to command, so you want to make sure that you are getting your worth out of them. I have several characters that I have built around animal companions, and they can be a great option, but just be aware of what you are trading out for them. Because animal companions can find it difficult to keep up with to hit and damage, their support benefit may be the most important mechanic to your ranger.
What sort of ranger are you going for? There are some animal companions with excellent support benefits that might work well with your ranger style.
Bird
The bird can be a great companion for an archer ranger. Its support benefit of adding persistent bleed and dazzled to your targets is great. Keep in mind though that you will have to spend actions on hunt prey and command animal, so you will have to plan your turns carefully.
If you are doing melee, you might find the Cat and the dromaesaur interesting for the ability to make your enemies flat-footed.
There are lots of other animal companions that can be cool supports to different combat styles, but those three are generally excellent.
I hope that all this helps!
Hmm