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Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play
Publisher's product page
(Book)
Author(s)	Joshua J. Frost
Publisher	Paizo Publishing
Price	PDF: Free
Released	August 2008
Type	Accessory
Binding	PDF
Pages	35 pages
Series	Pathfinder Society
Artwork from Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play

Welcome to the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play! Within these pages you will find everything you need to bring your very own Pathfinder character to life. Whether you are new to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, or a pen & paper roleplaying game veteran, the answers to your questions about Pathfinder Society Organized Play are right here!

Current version: 3.0.3, released on April 4, 2011

Past versions

Because the Pathfinder Society is a living, changing campaign, the rules which govern it have also seen several iterations since the Society launched in 2008. Below are the various versions of the rules to date.

v 1.0 / 1.1

Serving as the guide for the Society's playtest season, this version was 32 pages in length and released in August 2008. At the time of its writing, Nicolas Logue was Organized Play Coordinator, and he shared cover credit for the version with Events Manager Joshua J. Frost. It included all the rules needed to play and run games for Pathfinder Society Organized Play (PFS) using the older Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 rules. Shortly after v1.0 was released, v1.1 came out with small errata. This was the iteration used until v2.0 came out July 31, 2009.

v 2.0 / 2.1 / 2.2

Version 2.0 was released July 31st, 2009, was 34 pages in length, and contained a new reddish cover (shown at left), replacing the picture of a dragon with that of a solar. This version was now wholly written by Joshua J. Frost. Because of the simultaneous release of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, PFS play using the old 3.5 rules was discontinued. Version 2.0 of the Guide contained rules not only for running PFS using the new rules system, but also how to convert old 3.5 characters to the new system. "Faction feats", which had existed in previous versions, were discontinued, and replaced with "faction traits". Additional new elements included the introduction of Golarion-specific deities, clarification of rules on animal companions, faction shirts, and spell durations, and the introduction of pregenerated characters. The rules on buying magical items (formally tied to factions) was simplified as well. To reward Game Masters for spending the time to prepare and run scenarios, the concept of Game Master rewards were introduced. Finally, the concept of "Additional Resources", being a list of Paizo publications that contained PFS-legal content, was initiated in this version of the Guide as well.

Version 2.1 was released on December 4, 2009 and was 36 pages in length. In addition to errata and some minor layout changes, it also introduced the "Play, Play, Play" rule as one of the fundamental structures of PFS organized play, highlighted the campaign's level cap, and expanded the list of publications containing PFS-legal content in the "Additional Resources" chapter.

Version 2.2 came out April 6, 2010, and was 38 pages in length. The new version contained minor layout changes, in addition to a more detailed explanation of the Tier 12 story arcs, new rules for replaying scenarios, special rules for the new alchemist class, news about retiring scenarios, new rules on purchasing scrolls and wands, and the maximum and minimum sizes of tables. The concept of the "GM Ranking System" was introduced as well, and the "GM Rewards" were changed to give GMs full credit for running scenarios. Finally, the "Additional Resources" section was expanded to include Paizo publications released since the release of v 2.1.