Question of Books, Adventure Paths, Modules and Campaigns


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion

Grand Lodge

Hi Guys,
I am fairly new to the Pathfinder Universe and wanted to get some clarification around furthering my knowledge.

I have only played a handful of games and want to learn more of Golarian and the Pathfinder Universe from a lore & Story perspective as well as further my knowledge of how best to play.

I have the core rule book and advanced players guide though wanted to know whether the other Game books, Adventure Paths, Modules and Campaigns etc offered any background lore and story and what value these might be to a new player or if these are more orientated to GM's?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers
Siuaghan


The Rulebooks line contains almost no world information, other than the deities. The books in the rulebook line are intended to provide the framework for games set in any world.

Inner Sea Primer (from the Pathfinder Player Companion line) contains a good introduction to the Inner Sea region of Golarion, intended for players. It is generally spoiler-free.

The Inner Sea World Guide (from the Pathfinder Campaign Setting line) is a more GM-oriented introduction to the Inner Sea region, with much more information and some spoilers for things hinted at in the Inner Sea Primer.

There is a similar Dragon Empires Primer for players for the quasi-Asian part of Golarion. The Dragon Empires Gazetteer is much smaller than the Inner Sea World Guide (64 pages vs 256) as there has been much less focus and development on the quasi-Asian region. Almost all other products are eared toward the Inner Sea region, which is the analogue to the Mediterranean/Europe/Africa of Golarion.

The books in the Campaign Setting line tend to be more GM-oriented and flesh out the details of a topic. Some are regional (such as Rule of Fear, about the land of Ustalav), while others (such as Inner Sea Magic and Inner Sea Combat) span the larger region of the Inner Sea discussing how that topic is seen in each land there.

The books in the Player Companion line are more geared for both GM and players, providing player-friendly information and rules elements suitable to the subject. Like the Campaign Setting line, a Player Companion can focus on a region of the Inner Sea (like Varisia) or a subject across the entire area (liks Knights of the Inner Sea).

Adventure Paths are pretty much entire campaigns of linked adventures. They often include gazetteers on topics that are relevant to the story in the Adventure Path.. sometimes detailing a city/town, sometimes a region, and sometimes expanding the details of life for a creature or creature type. If you intend to use them, the adventures are GM-oriented and players may not enjoy them as much if they have read through them.. they will not be surprised when they should be by the plot twists, for example, and will "know" the secrets their characters are trying to discover. These volumes try to include something worth reading for everyone.

Modules are pretty much GM-oriented for the same reasons as the adventure parts of the Adventure Paths. They do provide background for the adventure that sometimes expands on the campaign setting as a whole.

Grand Lodge

Thanks Urath for the information. From a new players perspective its a shame that there are not more player focused titles to help players become more engaged with the world and lore without having to read GM books which then spoil the game. I was hoping that the adventure paths were full of background lore and information for both Players and GMs.

I liked the idea of the subscription model so I could get regular updates on the lore and adventures paths. I think I will subscribe for awhile to check it out for myself though it seems to me that it would be very helpful to players if there were a clearer separation of titles and information that cater to the different needs of players and GMs.


There is a lot of background material in the ap. They often have mini gazeteer covering areas with otherwise no info.

I would pick an area you want an adventure in then check if an ap was there. Chances are specific books in an ap will have a useful mino gazetter.

For example a quest in the arctice would be goood for a lot of enviromental challeges. One of the jade regent ap books has a mini gazettee and the map pack includes the arctic.

Trying to get it all at once would be informRion overload but iswg is a good read.

Sovereign Court

Siuaghan wrote:

Thanks Urath for the information. From a new players perspective its a shame that there are not more player focused titles to help players become more engaged with the world and lore without having to read GM books which then spoil the game. I was hoping that the adventure paths were full of background lore and information for both Players and GMs.

I liked the idea of the subscription model so I could get regular updates on the lore and adventures paths. I think I will subscribe for awhile to check it out for myself though it seems to me that it would be very helpful to players if there were a clearer separation of titles and information that cater to the different needs of players and GMs.

The inner sea guide is awesome. As an owner and reader, the GM spoiler bit I find to be a bit overstated.

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