Core Rulebook
I second the Core Rulebook. :-)
City of Strangers. But it's pretty much equal with about a dozen others.
Core. Without the CRB being what it is, nothing else could be.
The inner sea world book..no doubt..
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There's gonna be a list here...
1. Core Rulebook. *dons the Captain Obvious costume*
2. The Great Beyond. Todd Stewart, I want your baby oysters.
3. Distant Worlds. James Sutter, I want your baby otyughs.
4. Advanced Player's Guide. The best d20 splatbook, ever. One that has something for everyone regardless of what he or she is playing. Also, archetypes.
5. Inner Sea World Guide. *still wearing the Captain Obvious costume, now grinning silly*
6. Combat Pad. I can't count how many minutes of my life were saved by this product.
7. Bestiary Box. Funny thing is, I don't have one yet, but the idea is so brilliant that it hurts.
8. Lords of Chaos. James Jacobs, I want your ... no, no, NOOOOOAAAARGHHHHHH *SPLORTCH* Where are you sticking those tentacleoooooonooooo *SHLOKA SHOLKA SPLORTCH*
9. Burnt Offerings. Best 1st level D&D adventure ever? Why, yes.
10. Flip-Mat Basic. Again, why the hell didn't anybody do that earlier?
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6. Combat Pad. I can't count how many minutes of my life were saved by this product.
Yep, definite agreement with you there!
7. Bestiary Box. Funny thing is, I don't have one yet, but the idea is so brilliant that it hurts.
Again, while I may not actually buy this, it does seem excellent and had it come about before I bought a load of PDFs and created my own paper miniatures I would have bought it straight away. I am even tempted to buy it even though I have D&D 4e's Monster Vault (as I much prefer stand up pawns to the flat pogs with just a partial monster pic).
Other than those, I have actually seen how useful the face cards can be - I have used them in a RuneQuest Glorantha game and a Legends of Anglerre game.
Map packs and flip mats are also pretty good, but many lack flexibility in how to arrange them - those that have that flexibility are my favourite. City Street Flip Mat + Shops map pack for the win!
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I would like to say the Advanced Player's Guide. I loved a lot of the options that became available. Everything from class archetypes, to brilliant new classes (Summoner, Witch, you all know though), to a wealth of new items and options for player purposes (Muleback Chords, I'm looking at you!).
However, every time I open that book, or any other for that matter, I almost always open the Core Rulebook. Core is where it really took off and became something grand, and proved it's worth amongst the cavalcade of books out there. It really is an amazing foundation to stand on, from both the perspective of a GM or player.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Alrighty, we are all here because we love Paizo products, right? They make great stuff and that is why Pathfinder is our game of choice.
But amongst all of those jewels in the Paizo treasure chest, there is always one that stands out as your favorite.
Mine would have to be "Distant Worlds". This product supercharged my imagination and left me hungering for more. I would love to see a full hardcover expansion of this material. From the cover to the info contained within, it was tantalizing to say the least. This book rocked on toast!
So now that you have heard mine, what is your favorite and why?
ET
For me, it's Player Companion: Paths of Prestige. The prestige classes listed in that book are some of the best writing that Paizo has come up with in a while, and I LOVE them.
I vote for the Advanced Player's Guide. It's just what I look for in a splatbook: more feats, more spells, more classes, plus a few variants on existing classes and races.
My favorite product so far is either Rise of the Runelords AE, or Bestiary 2. Bestiary 2 has probably my all-time favorite monster art, especially the new dragons. Rise of the runelords is just a gorgeous book all around. Good looking pages, good maps, well written and so far a complete blast.
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Core Rulebook.
Faction Guide. I'm an MMO nut, so I love the idea of using Factions to provide built in 'quest givers' that are part of a storyline and not just random folk standing around. Every player potentially having their own faction, particularly for PBP style play, and therefore having their own sub-goals, and mission rewards, sounds very cool.
I would have to say the Advanced Player's Guide. That is the book that took Pathfinder from being a 3.5 revision to its own game.
My favorite has to be the issue of Dungeon Magazine that included the first Age of Worms adventure, for the simple reason that if that adventure hadn't been so awesome, I would likely never have bought any other Paizo products.
Pathfinder Tales: Death's Heretic
I'd have to go with the Core, but if I have to go with a close second, it'd be the Advanced Player Guide, which featured the Alchemist, and the game has been nothing but fun since...
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I'll answer the question when we reach February 2014 and the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path has run its course and its support material has been released. :)
In the meantime, I'm going to have to copy/paste most of Gorbacz's list, minus Distant Worlds (haven't read it in detail yet), putting Princes of Darkness and Lords of Chaos at joint 8th, and replacing Burnt Offerings with Skinsaw Murders.
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Ruleswise, definately the APG. I know a lot of people hold up the Core Rulebook or the GMG as great books, and they are, but with no disrespect intended towards any of the contributers, most of the best stuff in those books has existed for about a decade (in the case of the Core Rulebook) or for almost four decades (most of the GMG advice).
In the realm of the campaign setting, easily Distant Worlds.
Kthulhu, I usually hear people hating on the GMG. I like it a lot though.
Anyway, I like the Bestiary 1. Got most of the important monsters, the layout is better then 3.5 Monster Manual, and the flavor text has good tidbits of ecology and lore.
APG here. I love many of the Paizo books, campaign setting or no, but the APG had the right combination of good production values, quality material, and just sheer chutzpah to make an awesome book.
Excluding material I've been lucky enough to work on, my favorites are:
Book of the Damned I - Wes made Hell interesting and novel after a bazillion takes on the plane and devils over the years. The Ihys stuff was really nifty.
Book of the Damned II - anything involving James Jacobs and demons is pure unadulterated win. Nocticula, Zura, Jezelda. A trifecta of please eat my soul.
Dark Markets - I really like this book. The combination of horn of Africa feel, plus gnolls, plus the pactmasters is just a novel and really cool book.
Wes's upcoming Artifacts book - [redacted]
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Hmm...
Rules book: APG. The Core Rulebook was great but it was adapting someone else's work. The APG was where we stoped having D&D 3.75 and started having Pathfinder.
Setting Book: City of Strangers. It's by far and away the best setting book Paizo have ever released and is chock full of the strange and unusual.
Accessory: Combat Pad. It's awesome.
Flip Mat: Town Square. Really beautiful map. Not too cluttered, not too sparse.
AP volume 1: Brinewall Legacy. A really nice mix of exploration and dungeon crawling with some fun encounters.
AP volume 2: Sixfold Trial. An totally off the wall and very fun adventure with a setup that is totally unlike anything you have ever seen before or since.
AP volume 3: Broken Moon. A nice mystery to unravel and a cool mid campaign showdown to set up the rest of the AP.
AP volume 4: End of Eternity. A fine example of how to do a sandbox adventure correctly. Evocative and cool.
AP volume 5: Skeletons of Scarwall. Book 5's of campaigns tend to be a bit of a weak link but SoS is probably the least taxing thanks to some clever encounter design and a fun setting.
AP volume 6: Descent into Midnight. Yes really. I want to put Sound of a Thousand Screams here but it is such a disconnect from the rest of the AP that I can't laud it as the completion of an AP. Descent Into Midnight suffers from Memory of Darkness fatigue but actually it's the most satisfying conclusion to any AP. The opponents are interesting, the players have the ability to choose their route and the final encounter is fun. It really is one of Paizo's hidden gems.
Best AP volume as a standalone adventure: Sound of a Thousand Screams. It's a great adventure, it just doesn't fit with the rest of Kingmaker. That said it really has a lot going for it and invokes some truly wonderful imagery.
PFS scenario: Shadow's Last Stand II: Web of Corruption. I played this at Paizocon UK and enjoyed it more than any other PFS scenario I have played. The revalation of the Spider at the end was my favourite PFS moment ever. Great mod.
Pathfinder Module: Feast of Ravenmoor. Just a really creepy Wicker Man style adventure. Very cool.
Miniature: The Goblins. Perfectly done and very cool.
As a DM, the Bestiary(s), So well laid out that my job is a lot easier, and the art is awesome.
As a player, loving Advance Race Guide right now, A truly mouth-watering pallet of interesting character ideas.
Setting, either the Inner Sea Guide or Distant Worlds... I'm torn. I would love a large hardback book version of distant worlds along the lines of the Inner Sea Guide, as that would be my new fav.
Honorable Mentions: Core, APG, UM, UC, And the Book of the Damned (Vol. All)
Minis: Got to agree with the FallofCamelot, the goblins are great!
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AP volume 6: Descent into Midnight. Yes really. I want to put Sound of a Thousand Screams here but it is such a disconnect from the rest of the AP that I can't laud it as the completion of an AP. Descent Into Midnight suffers from Memory of Darkness fatigue but actually it's the most satisfying conclusion to any AP. The opponents are interesting, the players have the ability to choose their route and the final encounter is fun. It really is one of Paizo's hidden gems.
Slightly off topic, but I totally agree with you. Went back and read this adventure and it really is great!
Also love the ending that you can set up anywhere from "Full Success" to "Partial Win" to "Oops... Bad Guys Destroy Everything." Fantastic ending! Wish more of the APs were set up that way to allow for varied endings instead of an "All or Nothing" approach. Shrug.It really is a shame that many of the groups I know (including my own) never got passed the trainwreck of Memory of Darkness. I think you're right in that this one is truly a hidden gem in the AP line.
Sorry for the off topic!