James Jacobs
Adventurer
All of the domains are updated and now part of the core game, so no worries there. Beyond that, the vast majority of the Campaign Setting should fit into the PRPG with very little problem.
Pathfinder 1E The Pathfinder Campaign Setting ??
All of the domains are updated and now part of the core game, so no worries there. Beyond that, the vast majority of the Campaign Setting should fit into the PRPG with very little problem.
johnnype
First Post
Keep in mind most regions only get two pages. Two. Two pages to describe a country. Not enough for me.Thank you for the responses. I am sold on the setting with the whole barbarians and tech from a space ship angle, everything else is just bonus
Let me be the dissenting voice here. I get the kitchen sink approach is the best way to make the biggest number of people happy. I don't like it but I get it. My recommendation is instead to focus on a specific region and delve deeper into that instead of the campaign setting book. For example, get the Cheliax Companion and instead have 32 pages devoted to the region instead of the 4 pages it gets in the PFCS. Add to that the Council of Thieves AP (6 issues long), The Council of Thieves Players Guide (free) and you're good to go. I admit, much of that is not setting material but I do believe you will get to know at least part of the setting a lot better than you would with just the PFCS.
Another example is Katapesh a region of Golarion. In the PFCS it gets two pages. Instead you could buy the 64 page Chronicles Guide on the region,AP with the adventures that take place there and the 32 page Players Guide.
In the end I guess it depends on what you want. If you want a very, VERY high level look at very, VERY large area with not a lot of detail so you can give it your own then the PFCS might work for you. I found it lacked detail, far too vanilla and kitchen sinkish in the extreme but that was the design goal so I guess they achieved it. There is a lot to like but I only started enjoying it when I got a much more zoomed in and detailed look at the different regions in the supplements.
YMWV.
kitsune9
Adventurer
I totally see your point. I haven't picked up their supplements of their region books, but books that focus on a region or large country is a big thing for me too. When FRCS first came out in ye olde days, I scooped up all those region books TSR put out. I know that when I am ready to run my Golarion campaign, I'm definitely going to be scooping up the region books.
Well, the campaign setting also has a lot of info on races, planes, history, religions and so on; of course, this info will be found in supplements, too (Companions, Chronicles, Gods and Magic, Elves/Dwarves/Gnomes/Etc. of Golarion). However, like you said, all the basic info needed to run your campaigns is there -- in that regard it's no different from any other campaign setting book/guide. If you want to run a more detailed campaign, you have the "region books" and player's guides to help you there, but it's all additional material. Now, if you only buy the Chealix guide and try to run say, 'Bastards of Erebus', you might run into trouble if the players ask about neighboring kingdoms (maybe there are NPCs or PCs who hail from Taldor or Andoran) or if the module refers to them.
Even though it's a "kitchen sink" setting in the same sense FR is/was, I think Golarion manages to get away with it pretty well without coming off as a badly cooked-up "mish-mash" of influences from Real World, fantasy stories and other settings (something FR initially had trouble with). As far as details (or the lack of them) go, it's a new setting; so far the APs and Companions have not simply dealt with all the regions.
In terms of quality, I've found Golarion to be a well-written world that has a lot to offer; it's as good as the best of my FR books. The biggest difference, IMO, when comparing these two settings is that Paizo doesn't even try to dwell as "deep" into the setting or reveal every little secret and mystery that FR did -- the books offer me a detailed look at every region without listing half the buildings on the city map or statting nearly every prominent NPC. Or without publishing the whole member roster of half the major organizations. Now, I've been a long-time FR fan, and I always considered this a strength of the setting, but I don't think I want Golarion to follow in the Forgotten Realms' footsteps. And I'm glad that Paizo doesn't even try to do that; instead all that "required" information is in the setting book, and local color and details published in the supplements (Chronicles) -- while going "deep enough", at least for me -- yet leave me a lot of room for creativity.
And you sneakily designed the prestige classes with the HD and BAB already compatible with Pathfinder. Just combine and replace the class skills as needed and it's all Pathfinder-ready.
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