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Wishful thinking? Core supplements and packages?

P

Prethen

Well-known member
I have yet to buy any extra supplements for Hero Lab/Pathfinder installation, but I'm eyeing some of the core supplements (such as Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, etc.). Is there any chance that Lone Wolf might group more than one of them together in a cheaper package? Maybe even something like a Choose 2/3/4 type package for better rates?

Also, for PFS play, it's required to prove that a player owns a particular resource. I've been told that a purchased addition to Hero Lab fulfills the requirement to own a resource, however, how does a player prove that resource is owned? This assumes the player does not have an iPad or tablet device to show a running version of Hero Lab. Perhaps the printed out Hero Lab character sheet showing the extraneous details provided by Hero Lab are okay?

Last question...if a purchased supplement through Hero Lab is considered a legal resource, is there any chance that the actual resource (such as the Advanced Players Guide PDF) might be made available to the purchaser without additional cost?

Thank you.
 
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Well as for proving you own the resource, you wouldn't be able to have it on your printed out character sheet if you didn't own it. For example, if you have a trait from Ultimate Campaign and it's on your Hero Lab printed character sheet, it's a given that you own Ultimate Campaign for Hero Lab.
 
Dracones said:
Well as for proving you own the resource, you wouldn't be able to have it on your printed out character sheet if you didn't own it. For example, if you have a trait from Ultimate Campaign and it's on your Hero Lab printed character sheet, it's a given that you own Ultimate Campaign for Hero Lab.
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I agree with you there...that does make sense.

It would be awesome since the resource was effectively purchased so it could be consumed by Hero Lab that the PDF could be made available to the purchaser as well (okay...maybe for a decent discount at least, like no more than $5?).
 
Actually, owning a supplement for Hero Lab such as the Advanced Players guide or the like does NOT fulfill the requirements for owning a book for PFS. I am hoping at some time it WILL be legal but at this time it is not. Having purchased all the add-ons and the like for Hero Lab and owning most of the books and PDF's for PFS. I have spent quite a bit of money. :)

Below is from the FAQ for PFS regarding owning the books.

Can I use photocopied pages from books, printed copies of PDFs, et cetera to satisfy having a source book that covers the rules used to create my character?

A player must have a physical copy of the Additional Resource in question, a name-watermarked Paizo PDF of the book, or a printout of the relevant pages from a name-watermarked PDF, as well as provide access electronically or a physical copy of the current version of the Additional Resources list, as advised in the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

A print out is not a photocopy. It is exactly what it advises. It is a print out from a watermarked PDF that, when printed, shows the name of the person (and their email) on the top or bottom of the page. A photocopy of a physical book that does not show a watermark does not fulfill the requirement. This includes a photocopy of a book you borrowed from a friend, checked out of a library, or any other copy you obtained and photocopied or scanned pages from.

If a family member, significant other, or other members of the same household living together (such as college room mates) are playing at the same table, they may share the same resources instead of having duplicates of the same resource at the same table. If it is a group of friends that always plays together at the same table, as long as there is at least one sourcebook that covers each rule for every character at the table, it fulfills the requirement. For example, if they all play Chelaxian characters and utilize rules from the Cheliax book, and they are all playing at the same table, then they only need one Cheliax book at the table, and that book can be either physical or an electronic, watermarked copy. However, if they are playing at different tables, each person at a different table will need a physical copy, a PDF copy, or a printed watermarked copy of the relevant pages with them, that covers anything they choose to utilize in the build of their charactert. And if it needs to be clarified, watermarked PDFs may not be distributed electronically by anyone. If two members of the same household wish to share a PDF, and find themselves playing at separate tables, one can utilize an electronic version on an iPad or similar item, while the other utilizes a printed watermarked copy.

A screenshot of your downloads page, coupled with links to the appropriate PRD pages would cover both purposes if you choose to utilize such a method.

Hero Lab, or any other form of electronic character builder, is not a legal source to fulfill any of the above requirements. Electronic character builders are tools to assist participants in a more streamlined and efficient way to build a character.
 
Prethen said:
Bummer! Yeah...I think that's needlessly expensive!

...hence, the spirit of my questions.
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If you buy a HL license and buy the pdf you still pay less than if you purchased the book outright. So your actually getting a heck of a deal as electronic copies are way more usable than a dead tree... :)
 
Prethen said:
Bummer! Yeah...I think that's needlessly expensive!

...hence, the spirit of my questions.
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I do not agree that it is needlessly expensive. I agree with Shadow Chemosh. It is less expensive then the paper product.

Paizo is in business to make money. I do not blame them for not wanting a third party to become "official" for one of their programs featuring their game system. Hero Lab is infinitely a great product for creating characters and I think it does it extremely well. While the supplements for Hero Lab are great and for character creation they work well. But they miss a lot of the needed material to be able to look things up on a moments notice to get rules clarifications that the actual book will have.

So having the supplement is good.. I think that having it be official is a long way off if it ever becomes so. Can I say this is good or bad.. well it is what it is and having the material at hand is important for the player and the GM alike. I think needless is a bit harsh :)
 
Prethen said:
Bummer! Yeah...I think that's needlessly expensive!

...hence, the spirit of my questions.
Click to expand...

A big reason that the requirement is there is that for a GM running a PFS game he doesn't have to own everything. If a player shows up at the table with Amazing Feat of Kill Everything he needs to be able to point to the PFS approved hard copy(or watermarked PDF) to show the GM that the feat is actually legal.

This prevents players from just inventing things up and it means that the GM doesn't have to own every companion to run the game.

I haven't personally run into a situation with PFS were I've had to show my books. Especially since with Hero Lab my character is pretty much validated by the software. Though nothing in the software prevents you from adding a Amazing Feat of Kill Everything, but a GM isn't likely to ask for a source unless you have something odd on your character sheet.

Though this might be different depending on where you play PFS. There may be some groups out there that are real sticklers about the rule, but I think most groups are sort of going for the spirit of things rather than a "You don't personally own Ultimate Equipment so you can't buy item X" type thing.

As for selling the PDF + HL rules, the companies are different for each. A lot of work goes into the HL rules and you're paying for that. Paizo puts a lot of work into writing up the books and PDFs so when you want that, you're paying them for that.

Though as it happens Paizo puts the content out there online in the SRD so you pretty much can just buy the HL addons and use the web for the rules if you really want to go that route. But you need to find a play group that's cool with that.
 
I completely understand what you guys are saying. I suppose (as I already noted in my topic title) that it's just wishful thinking to get some amount of economy from doing such purchases.
 
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