Curious about PFS

[cscase]

Hey all,
I've been curious about PFS and wanted to see if I could ask you guys a question or two. I did check out Trenloe's thread for new players as well as the Season 5 guide from Paizo's site, signed up for a PFS number, have looked over the core rules tome.

A few questions, if I may:

What scenarios are being run at any given time, generally speaking? Do most people play only content from the current season? Is it allowed or common for people to run stuff from older seasons?
Is there any continuity from season to season, any larger story arc being followed? If so, would a new player find it hard to just jump in at any point because of that?
What percentage of people are playing with pretty much set groups as opposed to those open to sign-ups from random players?
Is it hard to find a level 1 game? It seems like there'd only be so many goblins and kobolds that experienced players would want to kill.
Is it considered bad form or lazy to play a pregen, just from a player etiquette standpoint? Would DMs rather see you show up with a character you made, or is it not a big deal either way?


Thanks!

[Malkavian_Andi]

What scenarios are being run at any given time, generally speaking?That depends completely on the GMs. A GM can of course only run those scenarios he has already purchased. In Fanatasy Grounds, the GM must also invest some time to prepare the scenario, so GMs will only run those they have already found the time to prepare for. Some of the veteran GMs here on FG have a lot of scenarios prepared, though, and often offer to rerun them, depending on their free time.


Do most people play only content from the current season? Is it allowed or common for people to run stuff from older seasons?Again, it depends on the GM. Some like to advance the main storyline and run the latest scenarios, some just run any scenarios they find entertaining.
Gerally, it is allowed to run any scenario that hasn't been retired. Theoretically, you could see anything from scenario #1 from Season 0 to the latest scenarios from Season 5 ;)


Is there any continuity from season to season, any larger story arc being followed? If so, would a new player find it hard to just jump in at any point because of that?There is indeed a bigger story arc tied to each season, and the goals of each faction depend on what is happening. In some scenarios, the PCs' actions can even influence the development of the current story arc.
But don't worry, it's not difficult at all to just jump in and play. The current events can mostly be summarized in one or two sentences and that only adds flavor to why the PCs have to go on a given mission.


What percentage of people are playing with pretty much set groups as opposed to those open to sign-ups from random players?I'd say that a lot of people on Fantasy Grounds often play with kind of a set group, but not because they choose to, but because the PFS community on FG is small enough to bring the same people together more often.
In general, everyone here is open to new players. In fact, new players are always very welcome because they make the PFS campaign grow.


Is it hard to find a level 1 game? It seems like there'd only be so many goblins and kobolds that experienced players would want to kill.At the moment, it's quite easy to find a level 1 game on Fantasy Grounds. There have been quite a few new players lately, so GMs offer to run more tier 1-5 games again.


Is it considered bad form or lazy to play a pregen, just from a player etiquette standpoint? Would DMs rather see you show up with a character you made, or is it not a big deal either way?It's ok to show up with a pregen, but at some point you might want to play your own character, giving that character your own personal touch and a unique personality.
Personally, I don't mind people playing pregens (I won't judge their style of play), but I don't play pregens myself, because I like to play a character I have built myself.
If you're entirely new to Pathfinder, playing a few pregens can be a good way to get to know some of the character classes and the way they work.

[Skellan]

I think the post above pretty much answered everything :) But welcome to the Society. If I can help with anything let me know. Hope to see you in game soon :)

[Nickademus]

Just to expound on what Andi has said:


Is there any continuity from season to season, any larger story arc being followed? If so, would a new player find it hard to just jump in at any point because of that?
It should be noted that while there is a story arc, the level range of the scenarios does not follow the arc chronologically. So it isn't possible to play a single character through the arc. Thus hopping in at any point isn't really an issue as you will have to go back once you have a higher-level character and play the tier 3-7, 5-9 and 9-11 scenarios anyway.


What percentage of people are playing with pretty much set groups as opposed to those open to sign-ups from random players?
I've seen no more than 3 characters familiar to me in a session. How many players with different character I could not tell you as I'm not good with names. But there is a bit of variety involved.


Is it considered bad form or lazy to play a pregen, just from a player etiquette standpoint? Would DMs rather see you show up with a character you made, or is it not a big deal either way?
Pre-gens are fine, but making a character will help you understand how to use it better. The pre-gens fall a little behind the curve of the scenarios, (while most player seem to power-game their characters well beyond it) so the pre-gen can end up feeling weak and foreign unless you've used it a few times to be familiar with what it can do. Still a viable option though if you don't have a character in the level range (except Valeros; he sucks).

[Trenloe]

What scenarios are being run at any given time, generally speaking? Do most people play only content from the current season? Is it allowed or common for people to run stuff from older seasons?
To give you an idea of what scenarios get played, look at this thread: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?16931-***-Game-Announcement-thread-***-Subscribe-to-get-email-udpates This is where GMs announce their games - if you subscribe to the thread you will get an email notification of new games posted.

[cscase]

Thanks guys, very much, for the info and kind welcome. I'll see about coming up with a character or two and be on the lookout for a game. Are there any particular sorts of characters that are more or less in demand than others? For example, are healing classes more needed, or is class makeup not typically an issue for most groups?


Thanks again!
Scott

[Nickademus]

With easy access to wands of cure light wounds in Society play healers are in less of a demand. Anyone with cure light or infernal healing on their spell list can keep the party up between encounters. Healers are now mostly for burst healing during the combat, though it is also feasible for a 'healing class' to enjoy more of its non-healing abilities and spells because of this as well. So pretty much play what you want. The most important thing to remember are the three rules of the Pathfinder Society:

1. Explore
2. Report
3. Cooperate

This means that your character should be able to get along with the party and a neutral-aligned organization that employs members of all types (it has been said that some NPC Pathfinders are evil-aligned). So be careful when making a character with strong religious or moral convictions. In the end, ask yourself if the character would want to work for the Pathfinder, would complete their training curriculum, and would be assigned to dangerous missions as part of a team effort. If you answer no to any of these, then the character is probably better for an adventure path or module than Society play.

[Skellan]

Yeah I'd just play what you want. You can also change anything about your character uo until you reach 2nd level, so you have scope to experiment