Deserk's page

I don't mind things changing (in fact, I like many of the proposed changes), but I don't like how Paizo keeps constantly retconing things, as in pretending past lore doesn't exist. In effect Paizo you are making products customers have bought from you in the past more useless. Seriously need to cut that out because it is inexcusably bad world design and disrespectful to past designers as well as older fans.

Make new lore or expand lore without making things you've made in the past invalid.

I also don't quite see the point of erasing Drow. Sure, downplay their importance, so that there is something unique to Golarion's Darklands than other Underdark-esque settings. But you can still have them around in minor roles, and with a different twist. Drow and Duergar aren't really something WotC can sue over, since they are from Norse mythology and English folklore respectively.

Personally I kinda feel the new incarnation of Nocticula could use some work. What material there is written about her currently does not give a clear picture about the deity, nor her purpose within Golarion's setting.

Is she a goddess of misfits and exiles? Is she a goddess of fiends or oppressed tieflings that want to reform themselves? Maybe? That's at least what I would expect based on her assorted labels and her title as the "Redeemer Queen", a demon lord who became a goddess that turned away from evil, though not necessarily towards complete benevolence. Those aspects to me seem more useful, applicable and interesting within the world of Golarion. But the Gods & Magic article concerning her seems to emphasise more than anything else that she is a goddess of underappreciated artists. And that is a real peculiar niche of a niche. It's like having a god of underpaid mailmen. Is Shelyn so coldly indifferent to unsuccessful artists that it necessitates the existence of Nocticula? And the article in Gods & Magic doesn't even explain what why midnight is of significance to her.

Irrisen is another. I don't care for it's literal connections to RW Russia (and that absurd AP that lets you travel into Russia during WW1, and drags back RW historical figures into Golarion's setting), not to mention Baba Yaga essentially being the overlord of it, meaning that it is a place that will never change, because Baba Yaga is such an insanely powerful entity. Who wants to play in such an insufferable place? Also, having two Russian inspired lands (Irrisen and Brevoy) that are remote and not culturally connected whatsoever with each other in the setting is also a bit jarring. It would have been better if it had been inspired by Finnic cultures.

Galt. A country in constant chaos, turmoil and anarchy which really ought not be able to sustain itself.

It is also a pretty big area and I feel it would be more interesting seeing it break a part into numerous states. It could be a good place for monstrous races to gather and form their own petty kingdoms. I do really feel Avistan could use more frontier lands like Varisia.

Heh, this might be news for particularly young people or new people to RPGs, but dwarven women have pretty much always been bearded in fantasy literature. Even since 1st/2nd edition Dungeons & Dragons. Except that in 3rd edition sources they wrote in things like "-some- grow facial hair" or "many of them shave it off".

I love the idea of it. Can't wait to see what they make of it, Archaic/Classical/Hellenistic Greece has so much great history and myths to get inspired from. And since Iblydos is presumably an archipelago made up of many different city-states, they have so much opportunity to make each area feel unique and distinct. I think it would be particularly cool to see Amazon-like society or an island ruled by minotaurs.

Similar to my thoughts on Osirion, it would also be interesting art-wise to see it combine an Ancient Greek aesthetic with a Medieval/Renaissance state of fashion and technology.

Since they are doing a Realms of the Mammoth Lords AP, wouldn't that suggest a Saga Lands (Linnorm Kingdoms, Varisia, Irrisen, New Thassilon, Mammoth Lord Realms) book to follow along with it? That would be great.

I have to admit I would really like as well to see Broken Lands. A reborn Sarkoris would be cool to see, as well a Mendev returned to indigenous rule since most of the crusaders have left to deal with the threat in the Gravelands.

It's a good region to make a book about, since there hasn't been really that much focus on them before in PF's publication. And I love it that Paizo actually tries to actually explore new places, rather than the same familiar places all over again (unlike WotC's approach with Forgotten Realms).

Droon or Nurvatcha, or other Southern Garundi lands could also potentially show up in an article in the Alkenstar AP.

I hope Geb turns out to be an interesting and nuanced place. I like the concept of an undead-ruled land that isn't overly aggressive world-wide threat like Tar-Baphon & co. Also, the possibility to play intelligent undead such as ghouls or ghasts would be really neat.

Also, noticed on the meta region map of the Impossible Lands it includes a large swathe of land south of Geb (basically where the Field of Maidens is). I wonder if there will be some new petty kingdoms or cultures of interest down there?

I wouldn't mind that. Though I have to admit Casmaron or Southern Garund are the places that interests me the most.

It would be nice if they could do more gazetteers for small sections of the continents in the various Adventure Paths. This lets them design a little bit here, rather than everything in one go. My favourite article from one of the APs still remains the one from the Hungry Storm, detailing the Crown of the World. Speaking personally, it's often juicy lore detailing a certain region that often makes me consider buying an AP rather than the adventure itself, as I generally like to make my own adventures.

Between the Crown of the World and Avistan, there is a considerably sizeable chunk of uncharted land, that is nearly one-third the size of Avistan, as is evident by looking at the world map of Golarion. I'm guessing some of it is deliberately meant to be harsh tundra wilderness. But given it's vast size and it's obvious proximity to the Inner Sea, it would be interesting to see some minor cultures, small nations and city-states there.

Is there anything you might like to see there?

Speaking personally I think it would be cool if Pathfinder got some sort of large-sized humanoid martial-like race similar to the Goliath of D&D. You could have a race that is basically giant-blooded humans (i.e. jotunblot) with stone, fire or frost, etc. heritages. And a place like northern Avistan could be a convenient spot to put in a small nation of such. In addition to that, a large presence of Adlets might be help make the region unique.

I dislike Galt for it's exaggerated French Revolution themes as well as for being in a state of perpetual anarchy. And so I definitely detest "communist" Bachuan. In my campaigns, it'll just be a province of Po Li.

I don't like it when Paizo puts in things from the 18-20th century or futuristic themes into what ought be a Medieval/Renaissance fantasy setting. It just makes the setting so incoherent and jarring, in my opinion.

One thing I will say about Tian-Xia... in principle I don't care whatsoever about the racial identity of anyone who makes anything, but I would welcome more Asian designers on projects dealing with this continent because they would help make it a more authentic product. Often when my fellow white Europeans try to design or make something related to Asia, there is tendency to overly focus on either the Japanese (particularly Japanese) or (slightly less) the Chinese cultures. As is evident by there being ninjas and samurai virtually everywhere in Tian-Xia. It would be nice to see some attention diverted to places that reflect the many other nations and cultures of Asia, particularly South-East Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. all being enormously diverse countries with a rich and colourful history. Minata could in particularly be very promising and interesting, if it echoes Indonesia with it's history of spice trade and piracy between it's many countless rivalling island kingdoms.

I would say Nagajor is really my personal favourite in the region, since it stands out as quite unique. And I do actually like the vast majority of the nations of Tian-Xia (which I can't completely say of the Inner Sea), and that there are quite a lot of non-human nations there in contrast to the Inner Sea where there are fairly few. The Valashmai Jungle would also be a convenient place in some new small nations or city-states, since it's such a vast region.

Information on nonhumans both familiar (halfings, dwarves, orcs, etc.) and new (wyrwoods, rougarous, etc.).

Particularly agree with this. Will be really interesting to see what non-human lands Paizo will create over there. I think it would be cool to see a realm of sasquatch druids for example.

I'm guessing the area labelled as "More Iobaria" is probably not Iobaria but maybe something vaguely like Siberia; a very isolated part of the world with loads of different rustic-like nations there. It is a very big region after all, nearly the same size of Avistan all by itself. I'm guessing a very primeval land that would be a good place to put in a large presence of giantkin and yetis.

And also personally I doubt Kaladay is that big, as it is a Tian colony, and a pretty reclusive one at that and not particularly friendly to outsiders (so I can't imagine it attracts that much trade).

I actually kind of like there being more genders to the classically one-gender type creatures and beings of myth (nymphs, satyrs, etc.), and by extension the treatment of harpies in PF2. But it would be good if they could put in a reasoning as to why there has been a perception of harpies only being thought of as an only female race. Could be that male harpies are for some reason very rarely seen by adventurers (maybe they are the ones that generally raise the young while the females hunt?), and that's why they have been thought of as such previously. It would help create better continuity with PF1, if they are going to alter something that was already established in the previous version.

Personally I don't see the same sort of issue with the Kuru, as there are cannibalistic like societies virtually everywhere in Golarion. Like the island of Kalva in the Linnorm Kingdoms. But as with anything I agree that they could use more depth and nuance. I would assume the Kuru's degeneracy is probably connected with the same sort of magical affliction that brought down the Ghol-Gan empire. Also, maybe they are hodgepodge of unlucky human sailors of various cultures that were marooned; stuck and banded together and came in contact with this mysterious illness, in a time long before the existence of the modern communities of the Shackles.

It would be nice as well if Paizo could sprinkle a few more small islands out in the High Sea that is populated by non-human maritime cultures. Orcs, goblins, lizardfolk, dwarves, etc.

Speaking personally I think Thuvia is one of the least interesting places of the region, as the OP said it's the "Sun Orchid" place. That's basically how everyone would summarize it. So this land definitely needs to grow significantly beyond that. It could potentially be cool if they highlighted how much this land is a more very loose confederation of various clans and city states rather than a cohesive nation. I definitely think the Inner Sea region could use more areas with city-states.

I like RW history so I do like Osirion as well. Though it could potentially be cooler if they stopped showing it as Bronze Age Ancient Egypt but more like "What if Kemetist Ancient Egypt survived up to the Medieval/Renaissance Era". Consider how different and unique their fashion and culture might be from that. Even if it literally is Ancient Egypt, it has had millennia to develop differently on Golarion compared to Egypt on Earth. Not to mention Osirion has been under Keleshite rule for thousands of years, they would have left a significant cultural imprint on them as well. I would imagine the large metropolises hold the greatest degree of Keleshite influence while the smaller and more remote communities like the desert dwelling tribes or monasteries might hold more veneration for traditional Osirion culture.

Katapesh, Qadira and Rahadoum are the places that grab me the most of this region. The only thing they need is more coverage, and more depth and nuance.

Concerning the Cult of the Dawnflower, I think it's a bad idea and a lack of respect to the past authors as well as to the setting to completely retcon it out of existence. You should instead have had the leaders of the Cult evolve and moderate it's beliefs, or have it shown that it was not actually Sarenrae that was answering their prayers.

Also, I have never seen the Cult of the Dawnflower in the light James Jacobs described, that is to say being essentially "jihadist-like", or having this "convert or die" mentality as others seem to describe, and I certainly don't appreciate such allusions. Could anyone please cite whichever books explicitly speaks of the Cult in this manner?

I actually found it quite interesting idea to have a militant and belligerent faction of an otherwise good faith, and personally I would like to see more cults like it within other good faiths in Golarion, i.e. with Iomedae, or Torag in the way a previous poster spoke about. Cults that dances on the edges of being dogmatically acceptable, because it would stop all of the faiths from being so one-dimensional and uniform. And it would make all adherents have to stop and think about what makes a person a proper follower of this or that god, like we have to struggle with in the RW. It especially makes sense for gods that have a major following in the Golarion like Sarenrae to have many cults and sects. And what makes it more interesting is that it would invite the possibility of religious strife within the same faith, which can be a interesting thing to play around with (i.e. traditional Sarenrae-worshippers and the C. of the Dawnflower competing for influence).

Late Medieval Period (1250-1500) encompasses the early phase of the Renaissance.

I do think yeah Dragon Empires book could have used more writers with cultural background.

There was bit too much of "ninjas and samurai everywhere!". I mean yeah I get the idea was that just like with Avistan the countries are mix of different nations, but Japanese influences were most obvious ones visually <_<

Agreed. I would have liked more focus on the non-Japanese cultures.

One thing I do really like about Tian-Xia though is that there is a good mix of non-human ruled nations, which I really wish was there was more of in the Inner Sea (I guess we got a little bit of that with the addition of Oprak).

And yeah I do dislike Bachuan as well. I really don't like it when Paizo goes way beyond the Late Medieval Period and puts in fashion, technology and ideologies from the 18-20th centuries. It's jarring and makes the setting look incoherent.

This is the coolest news I've read about PF all year. Looking very much forward to it. Hopefully the Mwangi Expanse will be made as interesting and diverse region as say Kobold Press' Southlands.

There is some wonderfully lost irony to all this. Allow me to illustrate:

Certainly-not-prejudiced-at-all Wokicists: "Goblins like shiny things... hey, who else does that sound like?!"

I hope Paizo could come up with something equivalent to the Goliath. A giant-blooded (but Medium-sized) player race could be interesting. Nothing too powerful. Something a bit like an orc in terms of being a large humanoid with a martial-focused culture, but less bestial or evil-oriented and a bit less at odds with the world.

Just because they aren't a unified state doesn't mean they wouldn't have a concise all-encompassing name for the region. Undoubtedly there is a shared identity and cultural bond between all of the petty Linnorm kingdoms as well as between the Followings of the Mammoth Lord Kellids.

After all, an endless array of countries today were known as geographical and cultural concepts long before they were properly unified into a single state. England, Italy, Norway, Spain, Germany, Greece, Russia, just to name a few.

In the case of the Linnorm kingdoms, there was even a High King Olaf who managed to unite most of the kingdoms at one point.

I think there's definitely good potential to make it an interesting region. It just needs a bit more development.

It would be good if they could flesh out the identities of the various tribes, and how they differ from each other. Also, what sort of threats exist there, either between the clans or from other non-human forces.

One thing I would wish for both the Realms of the Mammoth Lords and the Linnorm Kingdom is that they would get proper names. These are really more titles than names. It make sense for outsiders from distant lands to name them as such, but it doesn't really make sense for the locals to keep calling it that. They don't need a term that tries to explain what their own homeland is, they know their own land; to them their way of life is what's normal. It would be like Cheliax not having any other name than the "Infernal Empire". It just doesn't sound right.

I would've preferred if gunsmithing technology would have not exceeded the 16th century of the RW in any country or place on Golarion. That is to say it is at such a level where it doesn't completely outmatch other forms of ranged weapons (such as bows or crossbows) nor is enough to render armour obsolete.

I definitely want to see more of Casmaron, and I hope there are a fair number of demihuman nations scattered about as well, and that they take their time in designing the continent, to truly make it unique and culturally diverse. For the northern "Siberian" part, it would be cool if they put in mysterious pre-human races equivalent to Neanderthals or Denisovans.

I didn't even know there was that significant a presence of Orcs around the Mwangi. How cool. And yeah it would be cool if they were portrayed somewhat differently that than the archetypical Orc.

I would also echo the sentiment about new deities for them. As well as one for wild elves too. Given that they never left Golarion during the Earthfall, it makes perfect sense for them to have a distinct religion from the "returned" elves, perhaps something that protected them during that era.

Personally I would have preferred if Sargava wouldn't have been dissolved, that instead it would have reformed, been made more inclusive and accommodating to it's native populace, as well as had the powers of it's aristocracy reduced, and perhaps formed into some sort of a mercantile republic. Wouldn't it have been more interesting, if it could instead act as a bridge between Avistan and Garund? A unique, cosmopolitan land where North meets South? Not to mention that such a land could as well be commercially quite prosperous from such wide connections, as an outpost in the Silk Road would be in Medieval times.

Though conflict is often key to making an interesting setting, it was a big mistake to slip in some unpleasant "18/19 century European colonization of Africa" themes, especially when it almost has this form of a racial level of antagonism between Mwangi native and Chelaxian settler (which is a particularly weird thing for *humans* in this fantasy setting to be fixated on in a world with a massive amount of obviously non-human races)

It would have been much better if the Chelaxian colonization of Sargava was more based more on Phoenician/Greek/Roman colonization which would entail the incorporation of the local populace and likely an eventual cultural synthesis between the natives and the colonists.

Very promising. And I quite like the map. Though I would say the Golden Lands region looks a bit topographically featureless compared to other lands. Also it doesn't make sense for those countries to be composed of complete and utter deserts, unless they barely have populations there. There should be a bit more strips of green, fertile areas around the coasts and rivers. Look at a satellite images of Northern Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt (Nile Delta prominently as well as the rest of the river network) and even Northeast Libya (Cyrenaica coast area). Where it's green, is generally where most of the population is concentrated in those countries and where virtually all the major metropolises are.

But again I very much like the map otherwise, and I can wait to get a bigger resolution image of it from the book, as well as hopefully more detailed maps of those specific meta regions. And it's nice to see those new countries. And can't wait to see the new lore and design in this new edition.

I hope the slight Byzantine influences for Taldor (I am aware there are Spanish influences and other ones too) might influence just a little bit how the artwork looks. One thing I really enjoy with Pathfinder books is both the high quality artwork and the high level of detail and thought on creating the distinctive attire that is worn by the figures depicted; which is really noticeable. Byzantine armour and clothing is very unique in that it is a fusion of Medieval European, Imperial Roman and Middle Eastern influences. I think personally that to draw a little bit of inspiration from something like that would be so cool and more iconic, rather than your run-of-the-mill generic stereotypical medieval armour. And it kind of makes sense given Taldor's geographical placement in the world, positioned between the continents of Avistan and Casmaron, and it's historical influences (local, Azlanti, Keleshite) that ultimately formed together and developed what would become Taldan culture.

Also I wonder, will the map of this book extend a bit further East into Casmaron, to show Taldor's eastern border? Like the Qadira book did for it's namesake? I wonder too how given that this is a fairly large country what kind of communities of demihuman races are around. But yeah either way, can't wait to get my hands on this. :p

Hells, yes! Taldor shall rise again!

Ah too bad. Why did it get postponed? Was really looking forward to this book.

Definitely want more demihuman nations. I think it just helps to remind you that this is a fantasy world and a separate world from Earth. I felt the strong presence of demihumans in Tian-Xia was one of the things that really made it stand out quite excellently as a setting. Some of my friends prefer Tian-Xia over the Inner Sea just for that, lol.

Gnoll Bard wrote:

While it would be fun to see more diversity in the non-human nations,

The elven cultures are very diverse. There's a lot of differences between the elves of Kyonin, the Northern Reaches, and the elven tribes in Garund. The Mordant Spire elves seem to be a mini-culture of their own.

I really like the Ekujae, Mordan Spire and Snowcaster elves but I feel presently that the Kyonin/traditional elves were designed in a quite generic and dispassionate way. I would really love if Paizo could do something to spice them up or make them stand out in a way that is unique to Golarion, and it doesn't necessarily need to involve any drastic changes either. Also I've been waiting forever for info on the Osirani desert elves, and disappointed to not see them mentioned beyond a few short sentences in the Osirion sourcebook as well as the People of the Sands Player Companion book.

BTW, I recall that in the Inner Sea Races book, elves are mentioned as a major race in Southern Garund. Hopefully that means there is at least one notable kingdom or realm of them down there. Could have the potential to be something quite unique.

Is there going to be any lore in this book or is it all crunch?

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.

A Latin American-like analogue would be really interesting to see. But I would prefer it to be the result of something else than what one would commonly expect, such as the something modelled on the Spanish conquest of the Aztec & Incans, etc. I think it would be cooler if it were based on myths/theories of Phoenician sailors making contact with Pre-Columbian America (the fantasy genre is one of the few places where we can cherish the truly zany history myths & conspiracies). The ancient Jistka Imperium seems a good candidate to fit that role, with perhaps a segment of it's people forced to flight to the mysterious lands west of the Steaming Sea, during the last days of their dying empire

Linnorm Kingdoms AP like LordofThreshold suggested, plus it could encompass adventures to distant Ulfen colonies like in Valenhall (Arcadia) and Almhult (Crown of the World). Maybe it could even give some info on the northern islands in the Steaming Sea, that are right between Arcadia and Avistan.

An Absalom AP I think is also sorely needed given that this is one of the largest cities in the world of Golarion. It could be a heavy urban based adventure maybe dealing with criminal underworld of the city & political conspiracies that could have implications beyond Absalom (no doubt a huge mercantile metropolis like this probably hosts many political exiles from other lands). Could also include adventures to Shadow Absalom and the neighbouring isle of Erran.

Finally I think an AP centred around both Taldor and Qadira could be really cool. It could potentially be about unknown forces in both countries stirring up bad blood between the two rival realms that could potentially risk the outbreak of another violent religious war. Players could be put in the middle as intermediaries trying to calm the conflict and find out who is responsible for stirring it. This could also include adventures to neighbouring territories in Casmaron (like nearby Keleshite satraps or the Whistling Plains that Taldor claims dominion of)

I hope we get some gazetters of other lands beyond the Inner Sea. Distant Shores is one of my most favorite books to come out this year in a long time, since it gives us a glimpse of the interesting world beyond the Inner Sea. But the problem with it is, that you can't really set an adventure in any of the cities featured (save for maybe the hobgoblin city) since you don't have much information of the surrounding lands, so it's difficult to do any adventures other than maybe urban-based ones.

Maybe some continents are too big to be covered by one book. I wouldn't mind if they did a series focusing on a specific regions of other continents rather than the continents as a whole, like for example Southwestern Garund, Southeastern Garund, Northern Arcadia, Southern Arcadia, Kelesh, Northern Casmaron, Eastern Casmaron, Vudra etc.

Steve Geddes wrote:

Is there a Qadira/Keleshite specific Pantheon? Any new deity-related flavor material in this book?

There are short descriptions of nine new deities/cults specific in Kelesh, as well as information on Kelesh-specific forms of Sarenism.

There are also new ethnicities, and commentary about some of their religious beliefs.

Qadira + new local deities, ethnicities? Oh man... this book will be awesome

It's also cool to hear that the Keleshites take a bit of inspiration from Zoroastrian Persia, it's not something I've seen done in a fantasy setting before.

Very keen to find out what the new ethnicities might be. I'm guessing it isn't something Turkic since we've got the Kara for that now. Maybe something inspired by ancient Caucasian peoples (like Armenians and Georgians) or the Scythians? (whom were the main inspiration for the mythical Amazons since they reputedly had many female warriors among their ranks). Either way, no doubt it will be something quite interesting and I hope also there will be some interesting demihuman/humanoid cultures & societies in Qadira as well. :)

But yeah I also really hope a Taldor book comes soon

Next to get a Casmaron or Southern Garund gazetter, I would really dig a Taldor sourcebook. Taldor is a large country surrounded by rebels and heathens, and has a lot of cool history, Byzantine themes, backstabbing politics & intrigue and it's got war elephants. Nuff said. Make it so

Mhm, so many tantalizing possibilities. Aelyosos, Anuli and Segada sound particularly interesting.

Marco Massoudi wrote:

Dragon78 wrote:

Tiefling

** spoiler omitted **

Drow
** spoiler omitted **

Thank you Dragon78!

Wow - Drow don´t get much, do they?
Probably in the "Darklands Revisited Campaign Setting in February...

Drow get plenty... most of it is flavor, along with most races in this book. This book is not intended to compete with Advanced Race Guide for rules jukes. It's the inverse of that book in that regard.

And just a note... the revisited books generally don't give out much more—a sample stat block is generally about it for an entry there. Those books are much more about GM tools and world background.

I am, for one, grateful for that. I'd much prefer lore over this stat stuff. Helps give ideas for stories and concepts.

From the office of expectation management: Arcadian ethnicities are mentioned and name dropped, but there are no mechanics included in the book for Arcadian ethnicities.

Very cool. Does the book mention new ethnicities from Casmaron or Southern Garund too?

This is cool news. I hope there are new human ethnicities revealed in this book as well.

Catfolk country... g@& d$$n it, take my soul already, Paizo! I must have this book!

Hey, Erik Mona. I'm a big fan of the Lands of the Linnorm Kingdoms, unless I'm mistaken I think you were quite instrumental in the form and shape it took. It's a favorite country of mine in the already awesome Golarion setting. A country which offers something different than the typical Western European Fantasy setting, and also rooted around Viking culture without (very importantly) being too derivative of their history and mythology. And I love how all the regions within it feel different from each other, and the wide range of themes available to be played around with.

I've been wondering for a while whether the islands depicted in the World Map ( this map http://pathfinderwiki.com/mediawiki/images/a/a3/Golarion_world_map.jpg ), in the Steaming Sea that crosses between Northeastern Arcadia and the Lands of the Linnorm Kingdoms actually exist? And if so, do they have any connection with the Ulfen or other cultures? Perhaps they serve as a bridge between the colony of Valenhall and the Linnorm Kingdoms?

I think if they do, speaking as a fan I would love to see it maybe as a kind of wild pirate infested frontier, basically a Northern Subarctic "Shackles" type of archipelago, perhaps too anarchic and wild to be subjected to the rule of the Linnorm Kings, which attracts political exiles long for new fortune in a new world, vicious outlaws, strange occultists and desperate adventurers from those kingdoms. Maybe it could have volcanic islands, which makes the environment more temperate and hospitable for large populations, yet at the same time attracts more dangerous monsters like dragons and aboleths. And perhaps there could be notable ruins of northern Azlant civilization, and perhaps the island's native inhabitants are strange humanoid people whom are thought to be distantly related to humans (perhaps maybe Neanderthals?) who worship the builders of the Azlanti as gods? It would be cool if there were bands of sea-faring dwarves there too, or snowcaster elves or maybe frost orc barbarians. But yeah just saying what stuff I would like to see of it.

I know of course you probably can't say much if those islands do exist, but a simple yes or no as to their existence would be great to hear. And further just would want to know if there's an ideas or concepts around over what's in this area. :P

I'd love to see a Campaign Setting Book for

1: Taldor sourcebook
It really deserves to get a sourcebook in the near future, as it was instrumental in the forging of several other nations in Avistan. I also really like the scattered influences of Chivalry, Western Feudalism, Byzantine Empire and Ancient Rome/Greece. Blends together to create quite an interesting nation. It could also be cool to maybe get tidbits of info over it's eastern border in Casmaron.

I seriously can't wait for this book. So chuffed about it.

I'm particularly eager to see how Arcadia is going to look like, since we know so very little about it. Glad to hear one of the six detailed cities will be in Arcadia and will be a native one. Could be interesting if done in a unique way.

I'm also keen to learn more about Valenhall, just find the idea of "Vikings in the New World" analogue to be cool. Would be neat if they maybe adopted some of the customs of the locals there, like perhaps adorning their helmets with bright feathers, also some other qualities that make them a bit distinct from the regular Ulfens of the Linnorm Kingdoms. Maybe there could also be a bit of intermingling and mixing between the cultures, and maybe Valenhall could be allied with certain Skraeling tribes, while at war with others. And maybe on top of that, the Ulfen techniques of smelting iron and forging iron-based weapons and armour may have inadvertently been passed on to the neighbouring Skraeling tribes, which could have interesting implications.

I hope we also get a good chunk of unique demihuman cultures as well there. Maybe aggressive horse-raider elves on the plains, sorcerous jungle orcs calling forth dark powers, etc.

Ah awesome, finally some Darklands material.

Albeit, I really hope this isn't just an article about races. I hope it also details some interesting locales and realms.

I'm surprised that I can't find any topic that discusses the upcoming book Distant Shores. Finally we get a (hopefully) good glimpse into Arcadia, Southern Garund, Vudra and Iblydos. I've been waiting for this sort of book for ages. I really hope we get to see some fun and interesting new countries and cultures with it. I also hope Iblydos isn't just an island of ruins.