Is the Generalist school option strictly better than not picking a school? The Organized Play guide treats schools as an optional character choice, but even if you don't like Spells/Scrolls/Swords, it seems like you should always at least take Generalist for the expanded free consumable options. Is there some downside or trade-off I'm missing?

Is there a fairly simple guide anywhere on how the PFS / Organized Play system works? It is royally complicated to try to get involved. I have a paizo.com account and a -0001 character thought up, and it is just insanely difficult to figure out just how the system works so that i can play with him!

There’s dozens of hits on google because of each region having its own organization with their own write-up, but frankly they seem to be written for people who are already involved or familiar with some form of organized play.