paizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)paizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)2021-11-16T00:32:21Z2021-11-16T00:32:21ZPathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG): Taldar Land of Intrigue (4 stars)Dragon78https://paizo.com/products/btpy9wzs?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Taldor-the-First-Empire2017-12-26T04:39:37Z<p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Not one of my first choices(or second, third, etc.) but still a good read none the less.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Not one of my first choices(or second, third, etc.) but still a good read none the less.</p>Dragon782017-12-26T04:39:37ZPathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG): Gives Taldor enough Detail to be Playable (4 stars)Ring_of_Gygeshttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9wzs?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Taldor-the-First-Empire2017-12-19T22:14:47Z<p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I wrote a lengthy review that the website ate and I don't have the energy to redo it.</p>
<p>The short version is that previously published Taldor material was thin to the point that to set a game in Taldor you would have to basically create the nation from scratch. This book fixes that problem. If you want to run a game in Taldor it is essential, if you want to run a game in the Inner Sea where the PCs can go to Taldor it is very useful.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I wrote a lengthy review that the website ate and I don't have the energy to redo it.</p>
<p>The short version is that previously published Taldor material was thin to the point that to set a game in Taldor you would have to basically create the nation from scratch. This book fixes that problem. If you want to run a game in Taldor it is essential, if you want to run a game in the Inner Sea where the PCs can go to Taldor it is very useful.</p>Ring_of_Gyges2017-12-19T22:14:47ZPathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG): Glorious! (5 stars)Purple Dragon Knighthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9wzs?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Taldor-the-First-Empire2017-12-08T05:50:38Z<p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>This book is rich with culture, history and geography! this reads like a novel, and I find every page containing interesting trivia and long awaited answers to my most Taldane of questions!</p>
<p>The Golden Age of Taldor map is brilliant, and we also get a full timeline for Taldor. Interactions with other cultures is discussed, and a section on religion give us hints on who is considered to be the true 'Taldan Pantheon' (with a satisfying nod to Aroden and its 'arcane' clerics... must... build... one... :) )</p>
<p>The map of Taldor and its prefectures will also become an invaluable tool to any GM running a game set there, which only further aggrandizes its sister achievement and masterpiece: a full geographical section on each prefecture of Taldor, as well as supplementaty information on the provinces (apparently in Taldor, both Bill and Hillary bow to the elephant cavalry!). This section is, for the lack of a better word, a veritable tour-de-force!</p>
<p>Then we have a section on various sites within the Empire, and the coolest harpy cleric of Groetus I've ever seen (when she told you she'd give you the moon she wasn't kidding gents!) This section is a great idea generator for GMs wishing to run their own campaigns or supplement published Taldor-based adventures with a spiffy sidequest or two...</p>
<p>At the end we have a small bestiary which will allow druids and rangers to proudly call their next pet 'titanboar' or 'fading fox' or 'emperor stag'. Selective breeding is a thing in Taldor, and not only for their horses, but for their game too! but for the rest of the bestiary I'll stay silent so as not to spoil that most excellent new bathrobe wearing undead. 'New bathrobe'-wearing undead; or new 'bathrobe-wearing undead', as in new undead? hmmm... hmmm.... who can tell? [/goldblum mode]</p>
<p>Taldor deserved a lore-only book like this. Your mechanical queries can be addressed by the dozens of books preceding this one, but the knowledge gained within these pages will turn the most bland barbarian into a hardcore or unchained Ulfen devotee of the Lion Throne!</p>
<p>Taldor is Avistan.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>This book is rich with culture, history and geography! this reads like a novel, and I find every page containing interesting trivia and long awaited answers to my most Taldane of questions!</p>
<p>The Golden Age of Taldor map is brilliant, and we also get a full timeline for Taldor. Interactions with other cultures is discussed, and a section on religion give us hints on who is considered to be the true 'Taldan Pantheon' (with a satisfying nod to Aroden and its 'arcane' clerics... must... build... one... :) )</p>
<p>The map of Taldor and its prefectures will also become an invaluable tool to any GM running a game set there, which only further aggrandizes its sister achievement and masterpiece: a full geographical section on each prefecture of Taldor, as well as supplementaty information on the provinces (apparently in Taldor, both Bill and Hillary bow to the elephant cavalry!). This section is, for the lack of a better word, a veritable tour-de-force!</p>
<p>Then we have a section on various sites within the Empire, and the coolest harpy cleric of Groetus I've ever seen (when she told you she'd give you the moon she wasn't kidding gents!) This section is a great idea generator for GMs wishing to run their own campaigns or supplement published Taldor-based adventures with a spiffy sidequest or two...</p>
<p>At the end we have a small bestiary which will allow druids and rangers to proudly call their next pet 'titanboar' or 'fading fox' or 'emperor stag'. Selective breeding is a thing in Taldor, and not only for their horses, but for their game too! but for the rest of the bestiary I'll stay silent so as not to spoil that most excellent new bathrobe wearing undead. 'New bathrobe'-wearing undead; or new 'bathrobe-wearing undead', as in new undead? hmmm... hmmm.... who can tell? [/goldblum mode]</p>
<p>Taldor deserved a lore-only book like this. Your mechanical queries can be addressed by the dozens of books preceding this one, but the knowledge gained within these pages will turn the most bland barbarian into a hardcore or unchained Ulfen devotee of the Lion Throne!</p>
<p>Taldor is Avistan.</p>Purple Dragon Knight2017-12-08T05:50:38ZPathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG): Mixed bag. (3 stars)Crodgehttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9wzs?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Taldor-the-First-Empire2017-12-07T19:50:54Z<p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Lots of flavor. Lots of geography. Not much substance. If you are running a game in Taldor, it's probably a good idea to get this book. </p>
<p>The bestiary in the back feels out of place. IMO use that space to talk about the specifics of Taldor nobility. </p>
<p>There are no mechanics in this book (save the bestiary), which makes it feel out of place IMO. A lot of Campaign Setting books have mechanics in them these days. </p>
<p>Bit of an odd duck. 3 out of 5 stars.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Lots of flavor. Lots of geography. Not much substance. If you are running a game in Taldor, it's probably a good idea to get this book. </p>
<p>The bestiary in the back feels out of place. IMO use that space to talk about the specifics of Taldor nobility. </p>
<p>There are no mechanics in this book (save the bestiary), which makes it feel out of place IMO. A lot of Campaign Setting books have mechanics in them these days. </p>
<p>Bit of an odd duck. 3 out of 5 stars.</p>Crodge2017-12-07T19:50:54ZPathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG): Disappointed (1 star)Shivokhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9wzs?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Taldor-the-First-Empire2017-12-01T03:22:52Z<p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I was really hyped to hear one of my favorite locales on Golarion was getting revisited. After all it had been more than 8 years since Taldor was explored and given the new 68 page format of the country sourcebooks I assumed many details could be explored. </p>
<p>Unfortunately this book did not impress me at all. It was lackluster and pretty bland, no wow, no pizzazz. It did not inspire any additional interest in Taldor.</p>
<p>The book is divided into four parts so Ill briefly talk about each of them without giving too much away.</p>
<p><i><b>Life in Taldor</b></i> – The first section details a history of the people of Taldor and lightly touches on the nobility and titles of Taldor. I was especially disappointed in this. Nobility and titles in Taldor are a cornerstone of this nation, something that make it distinctive in character from other nations, a highlight of that nation and yet the titles section was given a half-page description of generic noble titles, many titles previously describe we not even written about or mentioned. </p>
<p>The history of its Imperial house was non-existent, there was no list of Grand Princes, nothing descriptive of noble houses. I mean at this point I don’t know the name of the imperial house of Taldor because it remained as skeletal in description as what is found in the Inner Sea Guide. There was just nothing.</p>
<p>Gone was any mention of The Bearded as the ruling social class as it was ret-conned and minimized like the banning of Sarenrae. It fails to detail any of the more than 50 Grand Duchies and their locations other than 12 that correspond with the primary prefectures that it states are in the Empire. </p>
<p>The history section is mainly a descriptive rehash of events that have been already covered in other books, there were very few new events detailed within. More could have been included for an empire that is six thousand years old. The description of the Taldan people was literally two paragraphs long and the other two pages spent on the topic were on Chelaxans, Andorans and other surrounding nations and races.</p>
<p><i><b>Gazetteer </b></i> – The Gazetteer generally does a good job at describing the twelve main prefectures of Taldor and it adds some details, new cities and locales and personalities. One of my favorite parts was some details on the ruling nobles of the prefectures. The cities described were mainly just that descriptions – there were no details on population, racial make-up, no flavoring whatsoever.</p>
<p><i><b>Adventures in Taldor</b></i> - This part is a good but brief description of some key locales within Taldor. Each locale is given a one page description, with details and major NPC descriptions which is probably enough to get a GM to build his own adventures around. </p>
<p><i><b>Bestiary </b></i> – This part is really unnecessary and should have been relegated to the upcoming AP. The monsters are lackluster. Taldor is supposed to be an Empire that tamed its heartland so the real monsters should be the humans within. But the book doesn’t do much in that aspect.</p>
<p>There is no mention of the lands directly to the east of the empire. How they may have affected the empire or anything. The updated map was pretty good I did like that they included some locals from the novels and pathfinder scenarios, except that Yanmass still has two locations in previous maps - one next to the river and another away from it. Even the novel Shy Knives have it located near the river. So I am not sure if Yanmass is a port city or a city in the center of the plains.</p>
<p>Overall this book is a huge disappointment for a nation whose ruling class is supposed to be a distinctive feature that is supposed to add to the character of Taldor. Yet it does very little to fill that gap, it leaves Taldor feeling generic and boring.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I was really hyped to hear one of my favorite locales on Golarion was getting revisited. After all it had been more than 8 years since Taldor was explored and given the new 68 page format of the country sourcebooks I assumed many details could be explored. </p>
<p>Unfortunately this book did not impress me at all. It was lackluster and pretty bland, no wow, no pizzazz. It did not inspire any additional interest in Taldor.</p>
<p>The book is divided into four parts so Ill briefly talk about each of them without giving too much away.</p>
<p><i><b>Life in Taldor</b></i> – The first section details a history of the people of Taldor and lightly touches on the nobility and titles of Taldor. I was especially disappointed in this. Nobility and titles in Taldor are a cornerstone of this nation, something that make it distinctive in character from other nations, a highlight of that nation and yet the titles section was given a half-page description of generic noble titles, many titles previously describe we not even written about or mentioned. </p>
<p>The history of its Imperial house was non-existent, there was no list of Grand Princes, nothing descriptive of noble houses. I mean at this point I don’t know the name of the imperial house of Taldor because it remained as skeletal in description as what is found in the Inner Sea Guide. There was just nothing.</p>
<p>Gone was any mention of The Bearded as the ruling social class as it was ret-conned and minimized like the banning of Sarenrae. It fails to detail any of the more than 50 Grand Duchies and their locations other than 12 that correspond with the primary prefectures that it states are in the Empire. </p>
<p>The history section is mainly a descriptive rehash of events that have been already covered in other books, there were very few new events detailed within. More could have been included for an empire that is six thousand years old. The description of the Taldan people was literally two paragraphs long and the other two pages spent on the topic were on Chelaxans, Andorans and other surrounding nations and races.</p>
<p><i><b>Gazetteer </b></i> – The Gazetteer generally does a good job at describing the twelve main prefectures of Taldor and it adds some details, new cities and locales and personalities. One of my favorite parts was some details on the ruling nobles of the prefectures. The cities described were mainly just that descriptions – there were no details on population, racial make-up, no flavoring whatsoever.</p>
<p><i><b>Adventures in Taldor</b></i> - This part is a good but brief description of some key locales within Taldor. Each locale is given a one page description, with details and major NPC descriptions which is probably enough to get a GM to build his own adventures around. </p>
<p><i><b>Bestiary </b></i> – This part is really unnecessary and should have been relegated to the upcoming AP. The monsters are lackluster. Taldor is supposed to be an Empire that tamed its heartland so the real monsters should be the humans within. But the book doesn’t do much in that aspect.</p>
<p>There is no mention of the lands directly to the east of the empire. How they may have affected the empire or anything. The updated map was pretty good I did like that they included some locals from the novels and pathfinder scenarios, except that Yanmass still has two locations in previous maps - one next to the river and another away from it. Even the novel Shy Knives have it located near the river. So I am not sure if Yanmass is a port city or a city in the center of the plains.</p>
<p>Overall this book is a huge disappointment for a nation whose ruling class is supposed to be a distinctive feature that is supposed to add to the character of Taldor. Yet it does very little to fill that gap, it leaves Taldor feeling generic and boring.</p>Shivok2017-12-01T03:22:52Z