Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Chronicles setting: what does it offer?

[Dark Mistress]

Well to be fair on avg only 10 or fewer of the Chronicle books are about the world at least 2 are map books. The AP's have typically about 8-10 pages of some world info and the Companion books are only done bi monthly. So even with all that you are talking about around 950 pages. Plus some of those books are not really needed at all for the world.

Things like new takes on monsters, new takes on magic items, a book about dragons. Yes they are all set in the world but you don't need them to know about the world, plus they are mostly generic enough to fit any fantasy world. If you take out those books you end up closer to about 700 pages, that are specificly about the world setting.

Thats still a lot and I am not saying it is not. I only wanted to point out it is not as bad as it might seem at first glance. Plus so far they haven't advanced the timeline of the world, nor has any of the products had a effect on the world. Aka you don't need product X to understand how product Y came about. Well beyond the main campaign book of course.

 

[Tharen the Damned]

There is a lot of material, but you do not need all this material. You could run dozens of campaigns just with the information provided in the Gazetteer.
Or, if you are interested in one area of th world, buy the corresponding books and that is it.
Another good thing is that even though there is a lot of material, there are alos a lot of gaps and white spaces in regions that have books.
This is deliberate (as far as I understand) to help DMs to insert their own ideas and make Golarion their own.

 

[ggroy]

It is inevitable that tons of material will be published for a popular setting, especially when the owners of the setting see huge dollar signs.

If Forgotten Realms did not become popular back in the 1E AD&D "grey box" days of the late 1980's, I doubt TSR would have continued publishing tons of splatbooks, modules, and novels for the setting.

 

[DragonLancer]

First off, let me apologise for the thread necromancy but I figured better than start a fresh thread.

Secondly, I'd like to say thank you to you all. I've been pondering a new campaign setting since I have found myself losing interest in my two favaourites (Dragonlance and Scarred Lands). I had initially looked at Golarion but thought it a hodge podge and didn't bother. After reading this thread this morning I decided to go back and look at it. You've changed my mind and I have new setting to thorw on my players and forked out £80 on Golarion material this afternoon.

 

[Crothian]

In the pasty couple months I've acquired all the Player companion and Pathfinder Chronicles books. They are well written, interesting and usable for gaming, as well as being full color and looking great. We are starting Kingmaker in September so I'm trying to get well versed on other areas so the place seems more like a world to me and not just the River Kingdoms.

It is a little too in depth and crowded to make it easy to just glance through and get a good feel for the world though. Even the little descriptions in the Gazetteer they first came up with I felt seemed to miss the point on summing up what some of the countries are. There is a lot of built in history that seems to matter that can be a little tough to understand and follow at times.

 

[DragonLancer]

In the pasty couple months I've acquired all the Player companion and Pathfinder Chronicles books. They are well written, interesting and usable for gaming, as well as being full color and looking great. We are starting Kingmaker in September so I'm trying to get well versed on other areas so the place seems more like a world to me and not just the River Kingdoms.

The only books my FLGS had left in stock were the gaz and the guide to Korvosa, so I will probably use that as my starting point for the next campaign as I will be more familiar with it.
Everything else I could currently afford with saved cash has had to be ordered online so hopefully should get it by the end of the week.

It is a little too in depth and crowded to make it easy to just glance through and get a good feel for the world though. Even the little descriptions in the Gazetteer they first came up with I felt seemed to miss the point on summing up what some of the countries are. There is a lot of built in history that seems to matter that can be a little tough to understand and follow at times.

I'm only just over half way through the gaz right now as I sit here reading and it is very in depth but not too much that I'm getting lost in it. Keeping a track of the history and backstory is being the hardest bit right now and I have to keep flicking back through to double check, but that's cool.
Oddly the gaz reminds me a fair bit of the old ICE Middle Earth supplements. There is an awful lot of information and background but at the same time there is still huge expanses of room to drop in whatever the GM needs to.

 

[lyle.spade]

It's a reasonably generic setting, like Greyhawk or FR. The big advantage, to me at least, is that it's my chance to get in on the ground floor, so to speak. I was never able to get into Greyhawk or FR because the backlog of information about them made they practically inaccessible to a newcomer. Golarion presents a similar style of setting, without all the baggage.

Good call -- I share your sentiment. I tried to get into FR during 3/3.5 days, and ended up picking up (and loving) Eberron when it first came out, and our campaign was on the ground floor with that world. Having recently, happily, switched from 4e to PF, I'm eager to start fresh with a new world. It's nice be able to build along with the publishing of new materials.

 

[Arevashti]

I think all that there is to recommend the Pathfinder setting has been covered already. It's epic, classic without being excessively run-of-the-mill, and devoid of baggage.

 

[AJCarrington]

Just as an FYI, the updated/revised setting book is now due to hit in February 2011.

AJC

 

[Melkor]

a place where a sci-fi spaceship has crashed,

If you don't mind me asking:
• Where did this occur?
• Which supplement details it?

Thanks!