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

[jdrakeh]

I get the impression that the Pathfinder adventure paths have sort of a "novel in rpg form" feel to them. They do remind me of the Dragonlance series of modules for 1E and 2E AD&D, in the how they are structured.

Unlike the Dragonlance modules, however, I am under the impression that the Pathfinder modules do not advance the setting timeline any.

 

[ggroy]

Unlike the Dragonlance modules, however, I am under the impression that the Pathfinder modules do not advance the setting timeline any.

At least not yet.

Hopefully it will remain that way. (Wishful thinking on my part).

So far I like the "sandbox" feel of Golarion. It reminds me a lot of the original Forgotten Realms grey box when it was first released. In a 1E AD&D FR game I played in at the time, the DM largely used the FR setting as a sandbox.

 

[Dimitris]

For a description of the world check also the Pathfinder World Wiki (thanks to PAIZO's very friendly Community Use Policy).
PathfinderWiki

 

[jdrakeh]

At least not yet.

Hopefully it will remain that way. (Wishful thinking on my part).

Not necessarily (wishful thinking, that is). HarnWorld (Lythia) has been around since the early 1980s and the timeline has never been advanced, nor meta-plot introduced, not even during subsequent rules revisions (HarnMaster via Columbia Games is in its 3rd edition) or the introduction of entirely new rule sets (HarnMaster Gold via N. Robin Crossby).

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

.....in terms of a hook, which is what it seems like you're looking for, the Golarion setting would fit into the "generic D&D" category, whatever that is. If you want to look at just the contents of the setting and ignore the quality, you're missing a huge part of the world. For example, Cheliax is a nation that has been overrun by demons. That one-sentence description doesn't make it sound like anything different from a dozen homebrews that have something similar. It's the high quality of the presentation and adventures in that region that set them apart.
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Basically, Golarion is a huge D&D playground, where there are dozens of interesting places and hundreds of different adventures. The same could be said of many other settings, both published and homebrew. What Golarion offers that many other settings do not is high-quality, innovative writing and adventures. If you want to ignore that quality, you're ignoring a huge part of that product line's appeal.

How much quality a product has means nothing if one doesn't actually like what the product does. I've read enough reviews about RPG products to know that I could have absolutely no use for what the product describes, not wanting it in any way, but someone else will still go on about how great it is. Someone saying how great a product is meaningless if that's all they do. It leaves those of us in the dark about what the product actually contains having no context for their "greatness" speech.

And that's all the people who've written reviews about Pathfinder do: say that the product is great. It could be "Exact Generic D&D Fantasy Clone #3278" and I wouldn't know. I need to know what's in it, and be told in such a way that I can understand what parts are causing people to single it out in comparison to similar settings.

 

[ggroy]

Not necessarily (wishful thinking, that is). HarnWorld (Lythia) has been around since the early 1980s and the timeline has never been advanced, nor meta-plot introduced, not even during subsequent rules revisions (HarnMaster via Columbia Games is in its 3rd edition) or the introduction of entirely new rule sets (HarnMaster Gold via N. Robin Crossby).

I'm not familiar with Harnworld (Lythia). Was it popular enough to spawn off a line of novels?

In the case of Pathfinder Golarion becoming very popular, it would probably take a lot of restraint on Paizo's part to minimize the proliferation of canon. A case in point would be possible future Golarion novels, and whether they're willing to put in a lot of editorial oversight to minimize canon proliferation. It would be a shame if Golarion ends up becoming another Forgotten Realms, with all the canon proliferation and the eventual "canon lawyering" ruining it.

Under the post-Gygax regimes at TSR and later WotC, I get the impression that editorial oversight on canon proliferation in Forgotten Realms was either minimal or nonexistant. (Some may argue that the same thing happened with Dragonlance and TSR/WotC's other novel lines). If the main overreaching goal was to sell novels and make the most amount of cash as fast as possible, it wouldn't be surprising to see them not giving a damn about canon proliferation.

 

[an_idol_mind]

And that's all the people who've written reviews about Pathfinder do: say that the product is great. It could be "Exact Generic D&D Fantasy Clone #3278" and I wouldn't know. I need to know what's in it, and be told in such a way that I can understand what parts are causing people to single it out in comparison to similar settings.

Considering the vast amount of territory and different themes covered in the Pathfinder campaign setting, maybe it would be better for you to explain what you are looking for in a setting. Golarion ranges from traditional D&D realms to Egyptian, Arabian, and Asian-style nations to places inhabited by demons and pseudo-robots. Some areas are more detailed than others, so maybe knowing what you're looking for could give people an idea of what to recommend (or not recommend) regarding the setting.

 

[an_idol_mind]

In the case of Pathfinder Golarion becoming very popular, it would probably take a lot of restraint on Paizo's part to minimize the proliferation of canon. A case in point would be possible future Golarion novels, and whether they're willing to put in a lot of editorial oversight to minimize canon proliferation. It would be a shame if Golarion ends up becoming another Forgotten Realms, with all the canon proliferation and the eventual "canon lawyering" ruining it.

I think there are a few things to keep Golarion and similar setting from running into the pitfalls that the Realms did.

For one, there's consistency in the Paizo staff. One of the problems that the Realms had in TSR's days was that there were a lot of different people working on novels and accessories and not a lot of quality control/solid editing from TSR (at least in my opinion). That led to a lot of continuity gaffes and inconsistencies. Paizo's staff seems to have more of an eye to detail, which has helped so far.

For another, there's the fact that Paizo has made good use of their vast setting. The adventure paths have been scattered around a lot, as opposed to Forgotten Realms novels and adventures that continually focus on the Dales, Waterdeep, Icewind Dale, and other frequented areas while ignoring vast stretches of the setting. That means that there isn't one or two areas constantly changing while the rest of the world is ignored.

There's also the fact that the adventures, while they do have repercussions should the players fail, have not been cataclysmic in their nature. Part of the problem in the Realms is that so many novels and adventures have global repercussions. Realms-shaking events got so common that they had their own acronym. The Pathfinder setting has avoided those so far, and as a result the setting changes are more modular and personalized to adventuring groups - what changes in Rise of the Runelords shouldn't have a lot of effect on a group running the Legacy of Fire, for example.

 

[kitsune9]

I've read reviews of the Pathfinder setting, but they don't mention much to distinguish it from a whole lot of other standard D&D-style settings. Other than being well-written, richly detailed, having few game mechanics in the book, having no high-level NPCs, a variety of places and cultures to choose from, EDIT: doesn't have legacy baggage, and EDIT: having ongoing support what does it offer?

What is the point of the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting over any similar worlds?

I have the setting book and I find it to be a FR-ish setting with some elements of other campaigns thrown in. I think they pull it off rather nicely. They also try to appeal with a wide variety of audiences. If you want Chaos and Demonic Wastes ala Warhammer/Eberron, they have the wastelands to the north. If you want the Savage Frontier, you have the northern lands. If you want guns with your magic, you have a small nation that manufactures pistols and some steam technology. If you want an Egyptian campaign, there is Osirion. If you want a big bad evil empire/organization, there's Cheliax. If you want Waterdeep, there's Absalom. If you want Planescape, they describe the other planes of existence in detail. If you want Spelljammer, they discuss the other worlds of the solar system, some of them quite inhabited. They even make allusions to Call of Cthulu with aliens, deep space, and madness.

They have more and it's an interesting setting. It will be the setting for my next campaign when I wrap up my Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign.

 

[jdrakeh]

I'm not familiar with Harnworld (Lythia). Was it popular enough to spawn off a line of novels?

It has seen one novel, two magazines, a wargame, multiple atlases, two computer apps (a character generator and a campaign manager), and two rule sets from different publishers (including three revisions of one) since its initial release in 1983. Now, granted, that's nowhere near as much love as D&D gets, but it's far more love than many other RPG systems that aren't D&D get. Also, it's still in print!

[Edit: I should note that HarnWorld itself is system independent, being entirely devoid of stats, though its basic cosmology makes some systems a better fit for it than others.]