What would you want in Distant Shores, Vol. II?

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Assuming of course that Distant Shores was financially successful enough to warrant a sequel, what six cities (or their nations/areas for new/unnamed cities) would you like to see detailed in a "Distant Shores, Vol. II"

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Keeping in mind the limited space for each city (9-10 pages), is there anything you'd consider critical to be included in your specific city selections that wasn't included in the city write-ups for the first Distant Shores?

[Eliandra Giltessan]

I don't know any specific cities, but I'd like to see something inside Arcadia. It would also be cool to see some Sarusan and more Iblydos.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

My picks are:

1) A city in Nurvatchta (Southern Garund)
2) Any city in Sarusan
3) Any new city in Arcadia
4) A city in Tian Xia, maybe in Minata, Nagajor, Xa Hoi, or the Valashmai
Jungle
5) A city in Vudra
6) A city in Casmaron not in Vudra, possibly within Kelesh

If either Sarusan or Arcadia isn't viable, then I'd accept another city in Southern Garund.

[Adam Daigle]

I'd like to do a city in Razatlan or detail Three Craters in the Land of Northern Lakes. :)

[Lord Gadigan]

I'll lead off with saying that I'd rather see another Gazeteer a bit more than than Distant Shores II. Distant Shores was a book I enjoyed, but I'd like to see continents and nations get detailed in the broad scale before zooming in on more cities. Having said that, I'd still enjoy Distant Shores II and would likely be jazzed by whatever world-snapshots show up in it.

I want to see something on Casmaron. My mind goes first to Kelesh since it's the huge empire that hasn't been shown in detail. Ular Kel was pretty awesome, though (and ended up being the surprise favorite of Distant Shores for me). In light of that, I think I'll put out a blanket 'somewhere new on Casmaron' request instead of a specific one.

I want to see something on Tian Xia. The nation I'm most interested in is Shenmen, but the city of note that I can think of there is the spider witches' capital, and it seems weird having Tian Xia represented by evil-capitals twice in a row. The city I'm most interested in over there is Goka, but Goka is massive like Absalom and would need an entire book to do it justice. That moves things over to Nagajor. I think it'd be cool to get a city from there. I'll add that to my list. (Minata would also be cool, but I'm sticking with Nagajor as my actual pick).

I want to see something on Arcadia. I want to go somewhere other than Degasi's trade coalition. Three Craters sounds cool, but I'm going with a place in Razatlan since 'Hispanic / Latin American nation' is one of the three main nation-types that seem to be missing for PC backgrounds in things I've run and seen run (the other two being 'British Isles' (with knights being somewhat filled by Taldor, but no obvious analogue for Irish/Scottish-background PCs) and 'Steampunk nation' (which would be kinda wonky on the surface of Golarion and might do better in a truly massive Darklands vault or something).

I want to see something from an active/rising nation in the ruins of Azlant. Azlant was huge, and I'm figuring there's *something* going on there besides ruins, aboleths, and independent island-places like the Sun Temple Colony. Maybe we could fit some British-Isle-equivalent in here amidst the waves and ruins?

I want to see something from Southern Garund. Droon is tempting, but I feel like it'd be weird having it in the same book as Nagajor (if Nagajor happens), so I'm going with a city in Nurvatchta instead. Spiders are fun!

That hits all the unmapped continents except Sarusan (which I feel abnormally fine leaving a mystery for now compared to other parts of the world since that's kind of its 'theme'; I'll likely want to know more eventually, though), and it leaves one pick. I considered Vudra, but I think there's something else I'd rather see. I'm going to go with Visheksrad. I'd like to see more of the Crown of the World, I'd like to see another dwarf culture, and Visheksrad is the largest city I can find up there on the Crown. The more I think of putting it in there, the more I like the idea.

So, formatted, ordered into a preference list, and pared down for quicker reading:
1) A city in Casmaron that we haven't heard much of
2) A city in Nagajor
3) A city in Razatlan
4) Visheksrad
5) A city from Azlant (alternatively a city from *wherever* that's British Isles themed)
6) A city from Nurvatchta

[Simeon]

A agree wholeheartedly with Razatlan. I'd also love to see a city in the heart of the Padishah Empire. Maybe also a city in the Crown of the World.

[Kalindlara]

If it helps, the impression I've gotten from Iobaria is that it's the most "Irish/Scottish" region. The art in the section on human ethnicities in Inner Sea Races was the big kicker there.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Lord Gadigan wrote:

I'll lead off with saying that I'd rather see another Gazeteer a bit more than than Distant Shores II. Distant Shores was a book I enjoyed, but I'd like to see continents and nations get detailed in the broad scale before zooming in on more cities. Having said that, I'd still enjoy Distant Shores II and would likely be jazzed by whatever world-snapshots show up in it.

Oh, I'd love more gazetteers (I'm really excited for the upcoming Qadira and Molthune & Nirmathas books). I just assumed that when exploring almost entirely new areas, in some cases entirely new continents, a Distant Shores-style book is easier because it details such discrete areas. A Distant Shores-style book also has the advantage of six different locations, so odds are better it'll have something for almost everyone.

But heck yeah, I want gazetteers too. I really, really want one on Southern Garund.

Lord Gadigan wrote:

I want to see something from an active/rising nation in the ruins of Azlant. Azlant was huge, and I'm figuring there's *something* going on there besides ruins, aboleths, and independent island-places like the Sun Temple Colony. Maybe we could fit some British-Isle-equivalent in here amidst the waves and ruins?

I thought of Azlant too. I left it off my own list as I'm really hoping we'll see some current day Azlant settlements/towns (cities?) in the upcoming Ruins of Azlant AP.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Kalindlara wrote:

If it helps, the impression I've gotten from Iobaria is that it's the most "Irish/Scottish" region. The art in the section on human ethnicities in Inner Sea Races was the big kicker there.

Now my brain is trying to envision cyclopes with Irish or Scottish accents. :)

[Kalindlara]

Somehow I doubt it goes back that far. ^_^

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Yeah, I definitely agree. But when a slaad brain locks onto something new and shiny that catches its fancy, sometimes all you can do is ride it out...

[Lord Gadigan]

Kalindlara wrote:

If it helps, the impression I've gotten from Iobaria is that it's the most "Irish/Scottish" region. The art in the section on human ethnicities in Inner Sea Races was the big kicker there.

That actually does help, thank you. I had been thinking they were more Russian/Slavic-inspired.

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

I'm really hoping we'll see some current day Azlant settlements/towns (cities?) in the upcoming Ruins of Azlant AP.

That'd be cool! I wasn't sure how much of the AP would tilt in the direction of currently-inhabited cities and Azlant-based nations versus how much would be dealing with ruins, dungeons, and aboleths.

[Kalindlara]

Lord Gadigan wrote:

Kalindlara wrote:

If it helps, the impression I've gotten from Iobaria is that it's the most "Irish/Scottish" region. The art in the section on human ethnicities in Inner Sea Races was the big kicker there.

That actually does help, thank you. I had been thinking they were more Russian/Slavic-inspired.

That's not impossible, either. We have all of about ten pages on them, and all of it is location/gazetteer content, with almost nothing on culture.

The vine-wrapped lass in the Kingmaker article gave me a slight Celtic vibe, but the woman on page 65 of Inner Sea Races, with her tartan-ish scarf, red hair and fair skin, and bronze torc really seemed to push the idea.

[Cole Deschain]

1) Three Craters in the Land of Northern Lakes, Arcadia- The Almighty Flumph has this one in his "stuff I want to do" bin, so I say let him! That, and they're apparently pretty technologically savvy in the ol' Land o' Lakes, which is a neat thing to look forward to.

2) I believe it was mentioned somewhere that Southern Garund contains some nation-states... so a city from one of them.

3) A city on Castrovel (yes, that "shore" is extremely distant, but there seems to be enough traffic back and forth with Golarion to justify it.

4) A city in Shenmen (Monster city, awaaaaaaaaay!)

5) Something in Iobaria... dunno if they really have cities at this point, but some sort of settlement to bounce off of.

6) More Vudra! Maybe a city with a less mercantile focus.

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

Now my brain is trying to envision cyclopes with Irish or Scottish accents. :)

Balor says hello.

[Zeugma]

1) Somewhere in Casmaron; possibly Kaladay. I'd love to find out what a city with a large Sweettalkers population would look like (or sound like).

2) Another monster city. Dhucharg was a surprise highlight of the Distant Shores book for me. It had so many seeds for adventure!

3) Mzali! I know there's already some information on this city, but it'd be nice to see it expanded with a nice map and additional locations, and cultural details.

4) Somewhere in Arcadia; possibly a city in Razatlan.

[Zeugma]

For my next three picks: why not a city under the distant shore, such as those mentioned in "Oceans of Golarion" from Raiders of the Fever Sea?

5) The cecaelias city of Sihuw.

6) Alohmba, built on the shell of Belimehu the Blind Mother.

7) The Tian Xia nation of Xidao (probably a bit more accessible than the first two for air-breathers).

[KingOfAnything]

1) More Vudra! I especially like expanding the Vudran pantheon.

[Deserk]

I really hope that Paizo does another big gazetter book like they did with Tian-Xia, even if it was a lot of work. It's much preferable to have a compact book with everything basic you need to know.

But still the Distant Shore book has been my favourite book of this year. I think it would be cool to get some info on a city on an island (just personally have an obsession with islands), perhaps in Tirakawhan in Southern Garund, which is a Keleshite colony. Could have some kind of Zanzibar vibes there with the East meeting South. And also I believe it's supposed to be right next to the empire of Holomog, so there could be some interesting potential clashes there.

A grand exotic metropolis in the Minata Archipelago in Tian-Xia would be totally cool and unexpected too. Could be inspired around the great maritime empires of Indonesia's past, like that of the Hindu/Buddhist Majapahit Kingdom or the Islamic Sultanate of Brunei.

Finally it would also be interesting to see something in the Crown of the World. Maybe a large Erutaki settlement in an elaborate underground complex that gives them hearth during the worst of the blistering winters, which could have been built by the mysterious civilization hinted in the Crown of the World Gazetter from the Jade Regent AP.

[thistledown]

I want to see better maps. World maps, region maps, whatever. Give me pictures of the world.

[John Compton]

I'm always up for detailing more of Iblydos—especially "the beast-blooded city of Dhuraxilis, which was the other Iblydan city that might have made it into Distant Shores.

As a reminder, although sales no doubt play a role on an executive level as to what we add to the schedule, there's a healthy helping of "what we and the fans want to see" that shapes our future publications. One of the ways we gauge that excitement is through the reviews on paizo.com, so please spare some time to share your thoughts on Distant Shores and other Campaign Setting books.

[Noir le Lotus]

1/ Casmaron desperately needs some love !!
2/ Qadira (Sedeq maybe ?)
3/ Hwanggot and a bit more from Tian Xia
4/ Vudra
5/ and maybe some place from a smaller sea, like Lake of Mists & Veils.

[captain yesterday]

DROON!!!!!!!

[captain yesterday]

Dehrukani!!!!

[Jessica Price]

Noir le Lotus wrote:

1/ Casmaron desperately needs some love !!

2/ Qadira (Sedeq maybe ?)

Good news: the December campaign setting is all about Qadira. :)

[TimD]

1. Orlov
2. Ecanus
3. A Vudrani port city (such as wherever House Arkona was trading - assuming it actually WAS with Vudra)
4. Dehrukani / Droon
5. Sverenagati
6. Vellumis

[Flynn Greywalker]

1) Another Arcadian City
2) A Ninshabur City (Casmaron)
3)and 4) Two more southern cities of Garund
5) Ramparassad (Dtang Ma)
6) Goka

[Yakman]

surprise me.

[Garrett Guillotte]

1) Port Valen
2) Lipror, especially post-Aquatic Adventures
3) A city in Kaladay
4) Kelesh's capital
5) The three cities of Kaz'ulu
6) C'mon man gimme something on Sarusan. "Here is a 4-page gazetteer on a stick that's sitting on a beach somewhere on Sarusan" yes day 1 purchase

[Tinalles]

I just want more by Crystal Frazier. She's the best.

[Mr_Outsidevoice]

A City in the Darklands.
Southern Garund, west coast or central.
The settlement closest to Rovagug's Pit.

[Thurston Hillman]

1) Baakai (Shenmen)
2) Mabbryn (Duergar, Darklands)
3) Beryl Island (Munavri, Darklands)
4) Tiz-Ivox (Urdefhan, Darklands)
5) Xom Kullan (Nagajor)

[Samy]

I'd want a different paradigm. Rather than a gazetteer of six cities I'd want more detail on the cultures. Detail on gods, detail on ethnicities and nations. I understand they don't want to lock down the entire continents but they could start putting them together piecemeal. The cities alone are of fairly limited use to me when I don't know what kind of settings they are in. If they don't want to lock down the entire Arcadia, fine, I totally understand that, but take a peninsula or something, and describe that in enough detail that I can play there. They can always say it's an anomaly later if it doesn't work with how the rest of Arcadia turns out.

[Davia D]

I want a few small nations outlined, not cities.

Like, 4-6 pages per country would be my preference, I found that Distant Shores vol 1 was mostly too local, I did like some of the city-states a good amount (the Cyclops one and the Rakshasa one especially), but for the ones where they're on a different continent that has little other information on it, Arcadia that is, then it's just a single point in the wilderness, it's hard to do anything with it beyond 'stop in port, then sail off'. Like Samy says, a peninsula or single region.

(similar note in the other direction, I found Dragon Empires cool, but too brief in it's overviews because it covered so many nations and each got a single page)