Golarion becoming too genre inclusive?

With the annoucement of the Iron Gods Adventure Path it's begining to feel to me that Paizo are trying to cram every single possible type of campaign world into a single setting. Whilst it's not uncommon for a fantasy world to include several sterotypes such as Norse, Ancient Egypt and Oriental sections, the idea of throwing in aliens (which as an aside is supiciously similar to the Pinnacle Savage Worlds setting Evernight), feels like a step too far.

I am interested to see if others have a similar impressions based on the little information released so far. Should Paizo have kept back these ideas for a seperate campaign world?

Numeria and the starship that crashed in it have been around and part of Golarion since the Campaign Setting was released back in 2008 when Paizo was still making 3.5 products.

I'm personally a fan of the sci-fi-inspired stuff (both Numeria and the other plants from Distant Worlds). Some people dislike the genre mash-up status of Golarion and would rather Numeria (and Alkenstar) weren't around, but I like that there's a place on the planet where I can do Barrier-Peaks-type stuff and have fantasy-meets-sci-fi things.

Like LG said, Numeria has been here since the beginning of Pathfinder. Golarion itself is a modular, kitchen-sink world by design. If there is an aspect someone doesn't like, they can easily remove it. Better to have more options that you can ban if you don't like. And I like aliens in my fantasy, so this will be fun for me.

Embrace the modularity and use exactly which bits work for you.

Want some Noir - goto Ustalav, want some Sandals and Sorcery? - Qadira it is, want the Sandals but with a darker vibe - off to Katapesh, etc, etc, etc

The beauty is that the world isn't crammed with it - there's breathing space enough to let you safely and happily ignore all the gribbly bits you don't want in your campaign while embracing that which you do.

Problem with seperate campaign worlds is they split your customer base. In a perfect world I'm betting Paizo would release numerous campaign settings but in this one it works best to kitchen sink one setting. How do I feel about that? Meh, it doesnt bug me when I am running a type of theme the others simply dont exist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_to_the_Barrier_Peaks

It's not like "Sci-fi Ship Crashed in Medieval World" is a new concept for Fantasy RPGs. In fact, it has a rather nice pedigree.

Greyhawk was a Fantasy Kitchen Sink setting, as was Forgotten Realms afterwards, as well as Planescape.

Pathfinder's Golarion is just following in the footsteps of its forefather settings.

(which as an aside is supiciously similar to the Pinnacle Savage Worlds setting Evernight), feels like a step too far.

Just an FYI ---- according to The Making of Savage Worlds pdf on PEG's website, Evernight was inspired by a series of TSR adventures featuring Illithids.

Which is just to say, Iron Gods is not a step too far. It is a very familiar step that is a traditional part of the game.

dave Arnson's Blackmoor, arguably the first world of D&D, had a crashed ship as well

If you're wondering how sci-fi and fantasy coexist,
And other setting facts (La-la-la)
Then repeat to yourself 'It's just a game,
I should really just relax.'

That's it. I'm going to make a wizard character, have him get Craft Construct and make two clockwork dudes (or robots, if the tech guide gives info on how to make those), Awaken them, and go on wisecracking adventures where all three make comments on the party as the adventure is going on.

With the annoucement of the Iron Gods Adventure Path it's begining to feel to me that Paizo are trying to cram every single possible type of campaign world into a single setting. Whilst it's not uncommon for a fantasy world to include several sterotypes such as Norse, Ancient Egypt and Oriental sections, the idea of throwing in aliens (which as an aside is supiciously similar to the Pinnacle Savage Worlds setting Evernight), feels like a step too far.

I am interested to see if others have a similar impressions based on the little information released so far. Should Paizo have kept back these ideas for a seperate campaign world?

This is just my opinion, no more or less valid than anyone else's... but quotes like this from the new 'Technology Guide' terrify me and other classic/high fantasy players like me:

It’s one thing to face a dragon armed with a longsword and a suit of magic plate mail, but what if you had an atom gun and powered armor? How many zombies could you blow up with a rocket launcher? What happens if you’re standing next to a graviton reactor when it explodes?

If we wanted to play Rifts, we would be.

I'm really excited for this AP, so that's my disclaimer. But as far as I can see, the more rules you have the more stories you can tell. It's very easy to just not tell a story that involves the technology rules. It's much more difficult to run a story involving technology without the rules existing.

Lucio wrote:

With the annoucement of the Iron Gods Adventure Path it's begining to feel to me that Paizo are trying to cram every single possible type of campaign world into a single setting. Whilst it's not uncommon for a fantasy world to include several sterotypes such as Norse, Ancient Egypt and Oriental sections, the idea of throwing in aliens (which as an aside is supiciously similar to the Pinnacle Savage Worlds setting Evernight), feels like a step too far.

I am interested to see if others have a similar impressions based on the little information released so far. Should Paizo have kept back these ideas for a seperate campaign world?

This is just my opinion, no more or less valid than anyone else's... but quotes like this from the new 'Technology Guide' terrify me and other classic/high fantasy players like me:

It’s one thing to face a dragon armed with a longsword and a suit of magic plate mail, but what if you had an atom gun and powered armor? How many zombies could you blow up with a rocket launcher? What happens if you’re standing next to a graviton reactor when it explodes?

If we wanted to play Rifts, we would be.

They are(supposedly?) priced and statted out similar to magic items in impact. In your opinion what is all that different from a wand with 20 charges that can shoot 8d6 bolts of lightning, and an ion cannon with enough battery juice to fire off 20 blasts that do 8d6 electrical damage in a line effect?

(this is an honest question, and implies no deriding against your view)

I don't think adding 'rocket launcher' as a statblock will destroy the level set damage paradigms already existing.

The real thing is that Golarion isn't really expanding to be sci-fi. Sci-fi is about the effects of technology/setpiece on people and society at large. This rarely touched on in detail in Pathfinder, besides the light stuff in various campaign setting books. Instead Numeria would be better termed science fantasy or techno fantasy. You're including lasers and the like but don't really go into what makes them tick or how they would change society if distributed at large. Instead you have mostly unknown unique or at least impossible to mass produce artifacts. We're getting Star Wars, not Foundation or Dune. The stories will remain fundamentally the same just with a new coat of paint in one very particular region.

Also I should clarify none of the about is disparaging Star Wars or Numeria. I'm just stating that functionally the stories are the same in structure as any traditional fantasy story. Jedi is interchangeable with wizard and Deathstar is interchangeable with moving fortress/behemoth from a story perspective. So I don't think you have anything to fear from the stories changing. Double so because Pathfinder's timeline never really moves forward due to APs.

Lucio wrote:

With the annoucement of the Iron Gods Adventure Path it's begining to feel to me that Paizo are trying to cram every single possible type of campaign world into a single setting. Whilst it's not uncommon for a fantasy world to include several sterotypes such as Norse, Ancient Egypt and Oriental sections, the idea of throwing in aliens (which as an aside is supiciously similar to the Pinnacle Savage Worlds setting Evernight), feels like a step too far.

I am interested to see if others have a similar impressions based on the little information released so far. Should Paizo have kept back these ideas for a seperate campaign world?

This is just my opinion, no more or less valid than anyone else's... but quotes like this from the new 'Technology Guide' terrify me and other classic/high fantasy players like me:

It’s one thing to face a dragon armed with a longsword and a suit of magic plate mail, but what if you had an atom gun and powered armor? How many zombies could you blow up with a rocket launcher? What happens if you’re standing next to a graviton reactor when it explodes?

If we wanted to play Rifts, we would be.

Luckily, the Technology Guide and the Iron Gods AP aren't necessary to run a Pathfinder game. If you are the GM and you don't want futuristic technology in your game, then don't include it. It's that simple. Just like how some people don't allow firearms or eastern inspired things. These options exist for those that wish to utilize it in their campaign. For example, I'm running a New World Renaissance campaign that takes place in a psuedo Caribbean. So, I need firearms in my setting. In addition, I do have a little influence of Ancient Astronauts in my setting. So this book is perfect for me. However, if it isn't something you wish to use, then you simply don't buy it and don't allow it. No one is forcing you. Its existence isn't going to cheapen the quality of the fantasy you run.

It's better to have many options for different styles of play that different people have, rather than be shackled to a singular style of play. I'd honestly would love to see Pathfinder expand its ruleset for more than just fantasy, but that may be a project better left for 3PP right now. I do hear good things about the Modern Path.

Jade Regent's coming and going didn't result in ninja and samurai in every adventure and product we did thereafter.

Likewise, Iron Gods won't infest our things with robots and lasers.

Numeria has been a part of Golarion since day one, and I've always intended to devote an Adventure Path to it. If that's not your thing, I certainly understand. I do hope you'll check out how we handle it, though! But six months later, we'll be back in familiar fantasy territory with Giant Slayer... and the one after that as well!

Unless the lasers create a black hole and turn the planet inside out...
...Next AP theoretical physics: the attack of the atom smasher!

Lucio, nope not here. As others have said, it has been part of the setting since the beginning and is no different than City of the Gods for Blackmoor or other examples such as Barrier Peaks.

But six months later, we'll be back in familiar fantasy territory with Giant Slayer... and the one after that as well!

*sigh*

I agree with Gorbacz. What? Why're you giving me that look?

James Jacobs wrote:

But six months later, we'll be back in familiar fantasy territory with Giant Slayer... and the one after that as well!

*sigh*

I guess we can hope that it tries to take a minor step in a new direction? Maybe it will be traditional fantasy setting world like Andoran/Cheliax/Galt/Taldor but will have an interesting plot or themes, like Kingmaker had Kingdom building?

Suspension of disbelief becomes harder the more it feels like a Disneyland-type theme park.
Many of the nations are so radically different they don't sit well right next door to each other. NE Avistan feels like a mess, with its mixture of C13th-like knights, C19th-like Gothic horror, and barbarians with futuristic weapons strangely ignoring each other despite not being separated by anything more than a river at best. Stepping across a border seems more like stepping into a different world.

I still really like most of the setting up close at a local level, but the big picture feels really odd. So I'm torn between like/dislike.

My Row campaign include a goblin who thinks he's a gnome riding in a human-sized suit of clockwork armor.

And it's fun as a result.

How does Numeria and Iron Gods "ruin everything"? Technology has been an aspect of AD&D since early on. Not only did we have such things as Barrier Peaks, but we also had the armor go from plate mail to include field plate and full plate, the inclusion of firearms, and golems which could easily be considered robots when you get down to it.

For that matter, how is these technological elements any different than the inclusion of psionics into the game which multiple people have done and which has been a part of the game since AD&D with that 1% chance of having psionic abilities?

Seriously, this gnashing of teeth over Iron Gods makes no sense as you can easily call any technologies in here magic and could easily reskin it to be magic in nature. Androids? They're a variation of clone. Laser pistols? Wands of magic missile. Giant robots? Giant golems.

If you stretch your imagination, think of what you can do with this.

I'll point out one more time, that there is a difference between having one module that's about exploring a wrecked space ship, that essentially no one else knows anything about and thus has no effect on the world until the PCs mess with it (and I recall stories of some games that went way out into lala land after Barrier Peaks) and a setting that includes a similar spaceship that an entire country has been studying and using for years.
It's definitely reasonable to question these very different settings/cultures/tech levels sitting right next to each other.

You are judging a book by the name on the cover. Once the AP has run its course, then you will have the information needed to deride it or say this was a complete waste of time. Until that time however you are speculating and saying "this sucks because it's not a cookiecutter stamp of fantasy setting."

There are a multitude of fantasy settings that include science fiction trappings. Some exist in a post-apocalyptic landscape - which in some ways, Numeria fits that bill - while others use technology as magic. There is no "one true path."

You are judging a book by the name on the cover. Once the AP has run its course, then you will have the information needed to deride it or say this was a complete waste of time. Until that time however you are speculating and saying "this sucks because it's not a cookiecutter stamp of fantasy setting."

There are a multitude of fantasy settings that include science fiction trappings. Some exist in a post-apocalyptic landscape - which in some ways, Numeria fits that bill - while others use technology as magic. There is no "one true path."

I'm not judging anything. It doesn't even particularly bother me. I've got nothing against fantasy settings with science fiction trappings. I am a bit wary of settings with "cookiecutter fantasy" here, science fiction trappings over here, horror trappings over there, etc.

I get why they do it. I'm not at all convinced it's a bad thing, particularly from a game setting point of view, but it does tend to make the overall world less coherent and believable. Especially when players have a strong tendency to glom onto the weird bits from one part of the setting and drag them off to use in other parts where they don't fit so well.

Fantasy and Science fiction Settings are by their very nature already quite unbelievable:)

Especially when players have a strong tendency to glom onto the weird bits from one part of the setting and drag them off to use in other parts where they don't fit so well.

I'd argue that makes the world more realistic rather than less. And I say that as a western expatriate living in SE Asia. I am a weird bit from another part of the setting... and I don't fit so well... which is awesome.

Contrast makes a world shine.

I like Paizo's kitchen sink approach to Golarion. Use what you want, don't use what you don't want to use. There always seems to be something of interest even in regions that I might not otherwise be attracted to.

I also find Golarion far more interesting than other professionally published game worlds (i.e. Forgotten Realms).

As for Numeria, I'm a long time fan of Tekumel... so no problem there.

James Jacobs wrote:

But six months later, we'll be back in familiar fantasy territory with Giant Slayer... and the one after that as well!

*sigh*

Don't worry! We'll get more support in the future! Just like Tian Xia!

Right? Riiiiight?

...

thejeff wrote:

Especially when players have a strong tendency to glom onto the weird bits from one part of the setting and drag them off to use in other parts where they don't fit so well.

I'd argue that makes the world more realistic rather than less. And I say that as a western expatriate living in SE Asia. I am a weird bit from another part of the setting... and I don't fit so well... which is awesome.

Contrast makes a world shine.

That in itself is a realistic tendency.

Which is fine, if that's what you're going for in the game, but it kind of kills the point of isolating the areas so you can use what you want out of the setting.

thejeff Golarion has always had the Forgotten Realm problem of isolated mostly static regions. This is not something it is becoming and has nothing to do with Iron Gods coming out. Sadly we are unlikely to get another setting that feels as organic and living as Eberron out of it. Doing so would require rewriting the whole setting from the ground up.

Eberron is overrated! not a fan, they had some good ideas but not enough in my opinion for an entire campaign setting, and it certainly didn't feel organic or living.

I suppose I am not going to say anything that has been said up thread.

I can sympathize with the OP. I am not thrilled about guns, lasers, space ships....etc.

Bah Humbug!

But as it was mentioned up thread we have a kitchen sink setting. We can take what we like, and leave the rest.

When I run a home game, I usually just say that the idiot people in Alkenstar blew themselves up, thus no guns, and in Numeria, while I don't mind it being the source of Star metal, If PCs make noises about wanting to go there, I would most likely ask them not to, and if they insist, I would have one of the technic league dig too deep, fine the reactor core of the ship, and inadvertently blow it up.

So all in all, while I am not thrilled about Iron Gods, I am curious to see what the writers have done and I will take a look at it.

Who knows I may even like the adventure path!

And If I like the Adventure Path, then I won't mind the PCs going to Numeria.

thejeff Golarion has always had the Forgotten Realm problem of isolated mostly static regions. This is not something it is becoming and has nothing to do with Iron Gods coming out. Sadly we are unlikely to get another setting that feels as organic and living as Eberron out of it. Doing so would require rewriting the whole setting from the ground up.

Agreed. I can see people being accepting of that as the odder sections get focused on.

Personally, I was never really taken by Eberron. Maybe for a one-shot campaign or something, but not as a main setting.

Elyas has the right idea.

I personally like guns n spessships, but I'm not gonna force it on a DM who doesn't want it.

Numeria I think is actually a bit easier to deal with then Alkenstar. Gun technology as it exists in Golarion can be pretty easily copied by other parties, and should realistically be more widespread. In my own version of Golarion...firearms are a bit more widespread and frequently used than in the publisher's version.

Numerian tech is so advanced that large chunks of it couldn't be properly recreated even by our technology, nevertheless pseudo medieval societies. A lot of it is nonfunctional or malfunctioning as well.

I imagine there would be a bit of a collector trade going on with Numerian tech if your removed the theme park isolation, but mostly it would be treated as oddities and curios. A few functional laser guns or sets of power armor are not going to change the overall setting, especially since a lot of the function of high tech can be more easily replicated and produced using magic.

Suspension of disbelief becomes harder the more it feels like a Disneyland-type theme park.

Many of the nations are so radically different they don't sit well right next door to each other. NE Avistan feels like a mess, with its mixture of C13th-like knights, C19th-like Gothic horror, and barbarians with futuristic weapons strangely ignoring each other despite not being separated by anything more than a river at best. Stepping across a border seems more like stepping into a different world.

I still really like most of the setting up close at a local level, but the big picture feels really odd. So I'm torn between like/dislike.

How is it strange? Most Kellids in Numeria distrust alien technology at best, and destroy it on sight at worst. The Technic League, the organization with a monopoly on the tech from the spaceship, are selfish, highly efficient, ruthless individuals (spellcasters, no less) who will hunt you down to the ends of the earth if you stole a technological item. And the robots of the land do not leave Numeria simply because they were programmed not to (my theory).

Explain this as a GM. If your players still cry "but my suspension of disbelief is still being strained by the mere presence of a crashed starship on my fantasy planet!" then there's no helping them. It doesn't matter if those explanations are realistic or not, it's better than nothing.

Jeven wrote:

Suspension of disbelief becomes harder the more it feels like a Disneyland-type theme park.

Many of the nations are so radically different they don't sit well right next door to each other. NE Avistan feels like a mess, with its mixture of C13th-like knights, C19th-like Gothic horror, and barbarians with futuristic weapons strangely ignoring each other despite not being separated by anything more than a river at best. Stepping across a border seems more like stepping into a different world.

I still really like most of the setting up close at a local level, but the big picture feels really odd. So I'm torn between like/dislike.

How is it strange? Most Kellids in Numeria distrust alien technology at best, and destroy it on sight at worst. The Technic League, the organization with a monopoly on the tech from the spaceship, are selfish, highly efficient, ruthless individuals (spellcasters, no less) who will hunt you down to the ends of the earth if you stole a technological item. And the robots of the land do not leave Numeria simply because they were programmed not to (my theory).

Explain this as a GM. If your players still cry "but my suspension of disbelief is still being strained by the mere presence of a crashed starship on my fantasy planet!" then there's no helping them. It doesn't matter if those explanations are realistic or not, it's better than nothing.

The Technic League is also an organization largely composed of paranoid drug addicts, thus further hindering their efficacy. They are their own worst enemies in many ways, and the rest of Golarion is better off for it.

paranoid drug addicts, who are especially lethal and focused on hoarding their drugs and tech, so much so that a castle full of paladins hides the fact that they have some tech "they aren't allowed to have" and, after existing in the area of the crashed ship for generations, only have a few captured robots and worm hole generator?
Not power armored paladins with jet packs and blasters and laser swords pretending to be jedi, just paladins.
and barbarians that smash the stuff on sight to boot?

And you're wondering why the tech hasn't escaped the bounds of numeria?

Why hasn't the world wound vomited demons all over the face of golarion?

Simple. Purposeful Containment, via crusaders.

Tech? purposeful containment via barbs who smash and mages who hoard.

alkenstar? why isn't that everywhere?

Simple.

Using the mechanics of the game system golarion is based on.
Magic is still better than black powder.

Edit: What perplexes me, however, in the matter of 'containment', is why Hellknights only exist in certain countries related to cheliax, andoran and/or former colonies.

Lucio wrote:

With the annoucement of the Iron Gods Adventure Path it's begining to feel to me that Paizo are trying to cram every single possible type of campaign world into a single setting. Whilst it's not uncommon for a fantasy world to include several sterotypes such as Norse, Ancient Egypt and Oriental sections, the idea of throwing in aliens (which as an aside is supiciously similar to the Pinnacle Savage Worlds setting Evernight), feels like a step too far.

I am interested to see if others have a similar impressions based on the little information released so far. Should Paizo have kept back these ideas for a seperate campaign world?

This is just my opinion, no more or less valid than anyone else's... but quotes like this from the new 'Technology Guide' terrify me and other classic/high fantasy players like me:

It’s one thing to face a dragon armed with a longsword and a suit of magic plate mail, but what if you had an atom gun and powered armor? How many zombies could you blow up with a rocket launcher? What happens if you’re standing next to a graviton reactor when it explodes?

If we wanted to play Rifts, we would be.

Given all the complaints I hear about Palladium's system, this is not necessarily true.

The Forgotten Realms model for default RPG settings, that is- a world in which a country or region can be found for most real-world analogues as well as most popular fantasy settings, is a "please everybody," politically-correct, commercially viable move.

Take a look on the Golarion map at where Numeria, and the entire Iron Gods AP (I would guess) lies. Up in the northeast corner, way out of everybody's way. Basically, it is either the setting for your campaign, or it is so distant that it never gets mentioned.

As for suspension of disbelief and verisimilitude, Numeria is a desolate wasteland so far from everything else that only the best travelled or educated have probably even heard of it. There is an enormous hole with demons coming out of it nearby- which probably comes up a lot more often than "that place with no crops that apparently some metal star crashed into and messed everybody in it up pretty bad a long, long time ago."

Sci-fi peanut-butter in my fantasy chocolate? Generally speaking, I'm with you fellers- it's not my thing. This time, though, I'm looking forward to it more than I can explain. Still- I'll try. This AP draws on all of the Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Sandal, Post-Apocolyptic Wasteland, Space Opera, Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica, Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon, Thundarr the Barbarian, Galtar and the Golden Lance, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Herculoids, and all the other media of my youth. (I suspect that most of Paizo was born in the mid 70's)

I totally understand that many people won't buy or play Iron Gods. I'm going to, though.

James Jacobs wrote:

But six months later, we'll be back in familiar fantasy territory with Giant Slayer... and the one after that as well!

*sigh*

Why the *sigh*? Paizo's gone increasingly experimental or themed with their APs. A return to traditional fantasy is long overdue. Last one was Shattered Star.

For me personally, this is good news. I unsubbed because of Iron Gods (after owning all their previous APs). Looking forward to Giantslayer and curious about whatever follows.

Gorbacz wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

But six months later, we'll be back in familiar fantasy territory with Giant Slayer... and the one after that as well!

*sigh*

Why the *sigh*? Paizo's gone increasingly experimental or themed with their APs. A return to traditional fantasy is long overdue. Last one was Shattered Star.

For me personally, this is good news. I unsubbed because of Iron Gods (after owning all their previous APs). Looking forward to Giantslayer and curious about whatever follows.

Wotr was experimental in rules, but not theme. Slaying demon invasion is fairly standard in dnd.

Mummy's Mask is fairly traditional. Egypt is one of those non-European settings that is familiar to people and much more acceptable to those that prefer their setting more Occidental. More so than Asia. Also it plays like a traditional (though fun and exciting) dungeon crawler.

Golarion's mishmash of genres and tech levels, i find far more realistic than a whole monocultured world. i like that each country is radically different, no matter how close. in fact, Pathfinder is merely emulating its ancestors. it is like going to America, America is a cosmopolitan mishmash of random cultures in random areas. what defines america is akin to what defines golarion, we aren't a mono cultured nation like they aren't a mono cultured world. we are different, and our differences shape us.

Curmudgeonly wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

But six months later, we'll be back in familiar fantasy territory with Giant Slayer... and the one after that as well!

*sigh*

Why the *sigh*? Paizo's gone increasingly experimental or themed with their APs. A return to traditional fantasy is long overdue. Last one was Shattered Star.

For me personally, this is good news. I unsubbed because of Iron Gods (after owning all their previous APs). Looking forward to Giantslayer and curious about whatever follows.

Wotr was experimental in rules, but not theme. Slaying demon invasion is fairly standard in dnd.

Mummy's Mask is fairly traditional. Egypt is one of those non-European settings that is familiar to people and much more acceptable to those that prefer their setting more Occidental. More so than Asia. Also it plays like a traditional (though fun and exciting) dungeon crawler.

WotR being experimental in rules is still experimental. Not everyone wants to do Mythic, and little was provided for people who wanted to try it out with the normal rules.

Mummy's Mask is definitely closer to the mark. Still, I wouldn't call it traditional, personally.

Everyone has their own thresholds I suppose, but in my book, Giantslayer is overdue. We'll see what's next soon enough!

It's traditional enough that Gygax made a megadungeon themed on it. Not to mention dungeon delving into the unknown and Egypt practically go hand in hand. Egypt is almost synonymous with "dungeon crawl".

Neongelion wrote:

Jeven wrote:

Suspension of disbelief becomes harder the more it feels like a Disneyland-type theme park.

Many of the nations are so radically different they don't sit well right next door to each other. NE Avistan feels like a mess, with its mixture of C13th-like knights, C19th-like Gothic horror, and barbarians with futuristic weapons strangely ignoring each other despite not being separated by anything more than a river at best. Stepping across a border seems more like stepping into a different world.

I still really like most of the setting up close at a local level, but the big picture feels really odd. So I'm torn between like/dislike.

How is it strange? Most Kellids in Numeria distrust alien technology at best, and destroy it on sight at worst. The Technic League, the organization with a monopoly on the tech from the spaceship, are selfish, highly efficient, ruthless individuals (spellcasters, no less) who will hunt you down to the ends of the earth if you stole a technological item. And the robots of the land do not leave Numeria simply because they were programmed not to (my theory).

Explain this as a GM. If your players still cry "but my suspension of disbelief is still being strained by the mere presence of a crashed starship on my fantasy planet!" then there's no helping them. It doesn't matter if those explanations are realistic or not, it's better than nothing.

The Technic League is also an organization largely composed of paranoid drug addicts, thus further hindering their efficacy. They are their own worst enemies in many ways, and the rest of Golarion is better off for it.

You're severely underestimating the Technic League. There's basically no evidence that they're universally drug addicts. Really, in many ways, they're like a drug cartel. And there's a reason nobody wants to piss off drug cartels. Some members are certainly addicted to their product...others not so much. Plus, they're organized, ruthless, and equipped with highly effective weaponry. That all sounds very much like the Technic League...

Of course, their greatest shocktroops, the Gearman, have their own agenda that not even the Technic League understands. I actually hope this shines some light on that.