Pathfinder primer anywhere?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


So, I am a pretty new player to Pathfinder, and while reading threads and shopping for books I have to say I am pretty overwhelmed. I tried to find a sticky or FAQ about this somewhere, but maybe someone can point me in the right direction.

The hardest thing for me right now is deciphering what all the different product lines are. I see modules, adventure paths, campaign setting, chronicles, etc... and honestly it gets hard to differentiate what they are for a new player.

My question is is there a "primer" of sorts for this somewhere? My current understanding/questions are:

"Pathfinder RPG" - core books and general items related to the system and rules mostly
Pathfinder Campaign Setting - products about Golarion, the world and its characters. Not necessarily about the rules
Pathfinder Adventure Paths - how are these different from modules/scenarios?
Pathfinder Player Companion - different from core line of books?
Pathfinder Modules - how are these different from adv paths/scenarios?
Pathfinder Tales - ?
Pathfinder Chronicles - ? Same as Campaign setting?
Pathfinder Society - Organized Play. Good on this one, as I play at my local one :)

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

This maybe?

Dark Archive

Nelyna wrote:

So, I am a pretty new player to Pathfinder, and while reading threads and shopping for books I have to say I am pretty overwhelmed. I tried to find a sticky or FAQ about this somewhere, but maybe someone can point me in the right direction.

The hardest thing for me right now is deciphering what all the different product lines are. I see modules, adventure paths, campaign setting, chronicles, etc... and honestly it gets hard to differentiate what they are for a new player.

My question is is there a "primer" of sorts for this somewhere? My current understanding/questions are:

"Pathfinder RPG" - core books and general items related to the system and rules mostly
Pathfinder Campaign Setting - products about Golarion, the world and its characters. Not necessarily about the rules
Pathfinder Adventure Paths - how are these different from modules/scenarios?
Pathfinder Player Companion - different from core line of books?
Pathfinder Modules - how are these different from adv paths/scenarios?
Pathfinder Tales - ?
Pathfinder Chronicles - ? Same as Campaign setting?
Pathfinder Society - Organized Play. Good on this one, as I play at my local one :)

Pathfinder Adventure Paths: 6 longish adventures tied together to form a long campaign (narrative arc), together with thematic articles on specific geography, creatures, etc.

Pathfinder Player Companions: setting related products aimed for players rather tham GMs. They have usually less crunch (rules) and more fluff (infos).

Pathfinder Modules: adventures set in Golarion, but not tied together in a long-spanning narrative. One shots.

Pathfinder Chronicles: yes, pretty much the same as the campaign setting, but more focused.


Gorbacz wrote:
This maybe?

OOOh, that would be pretty close! thanks!


Gorbacz has a good link there. That page is missing Pathfinder Chronicles, because as I understand it that line changed names to Pathfinder Campaign Setting about two years ago.

For the record, Adventure Paths are kind of groups of six linked modules, but that doesn't even do them justice. Each one gets your characters through a few levels, so by the end you're around level 16 or 17. But that's only half of the publication - they also include articles on game systems, setting information (Gazetteers and Gods, for example), new monsters, and fiction. APs are about half-adventure and half-"Dragon Magazine" with no ads.

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