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Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Shores (PFRPG)

4.80/5 (based on 9 ratings)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Shores (PFRPG)
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Beyond the Inner Sea!

It's time to leave familiar climes and tour the wider world! While most Pathfinder characters hail from the Inner Sea region, there are many other continents and societies out there just waiting to be explored. Within this book, you'll find detailed discussions of six major trade cities found on the distant corners of Golarion, complete with full-page maps and information on the resident cultures and traditions, adventure sites, new gods, magic and fighting styles, and more, plus rules to help you add local flavor and abilities to your characters. Face your destiny with a cyclopean myth-speaking, study the mysteries of the Iridian Fold, or hone your magic at the House of Green Mothers—there's a whole world at your fingertips!

Cities detailed in this book include:

  • Aelyosos, City of Tides and westernmost port in the archipelago of Iblydos, whose half-flooded streets are guarded by cyclops prophets and mighty hero-gods.
  • Anuli, City of New Beginnings and ancient gateway between the Inner Sea and southern Garund, where divine matriarchs rule with the mandate of Heaven.
  • Dhucharg, City of Conquest, whose militant hobgoblin generals won't be satisfied until their armies overrun all Tian Xia.
  • Radripal, City of Arches in the Impossible Kingdoms of Vudra, where priests travel the holy Matra River and rakshasas rule through fear and silver.
  • Segada, the fabled City of Keys in isolated Arcadia, whose mountaintop walls keep foreign colonists on the Grinding Coast from expanding into the continent's mysterious interior.
  • Ular Kel, Caravan City and Jewel of the Steppe, where Water Lords and nomadic horse tribes rule over massive trade routes that cut through the Grass Sea of central Casmaron.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Shores is intended for use with the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can be easily adapted to any fantasy world.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-787-1

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

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4.80/5 (based on 9 ratings)

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5/5 —

I'm a simple woman; I'm methodically going through Paizo's back catalog and snapping up everything that takes us beyond the Inner Sea region, especially Arcadia. Diverse fantasy is a joy, and Pathfinder is quite good at it - more, please!

Only problem is that there isn't more!

5/5 —

This material is super difficult to use.

Weird way to start a five star review, but there you have it. The reason why I say so is because this book has six great, wonderful, inspiring cities that I desperately want to adventure in, but nothing about their surroundings. So there are a few ways you can use this material: A DM that loves to worldbuild and has the time to do so, can flesh out the nation around the city, thus allowing a campaign to take place there. You could teleport-travel to the cities from afar, from areas better detailed, and then teleport back. You could run the campaign entirely inside the city -- perhaps something like transplanting Hell's Rebels to a revolution in the hobgoblin city of Dhucharg. You could have characters conventionally travel to these cities from nearby areas, but handwave/vague/skim the actual journeys. These are some ideas for how you could use these cities. But it is really important to be aware of this when considering buying this book: they are wonderfully fleshed out cities in the middle of a lot of blank white map. Personally, I don't take off a star because of that, but you might, so that's why I want to be really clear about that aspect of the product.

Having gotten that out of the way, let's move on to the content itself. Now, this is six cities, ten pages each. Each has a one-page top-down map for layout, and each has an amazingly evocative two-page wide panoramic shot for atmosphere. Additional graphics include 2-3 full-body NPC shots per city to show important personages or typical inhabitants. Each city has a settlement block (of course), and some new crunch/mechanics. The pseudo-Greek city (Aelyosos) has three new weapons, three new mythic path abilities and two new deities. The pseudo-African city (Anuli) has a new player race (Ganzi, which is to Chaotic as Aasimar is to Good or Tiefling is to Evil), seven new traits and one deity. And so on. The rest of the page count is rounded out by gazetteers of important locations, NPCs, customs and other such flavor material.

The six cities detailed are: Aelyosos (pseudo-Greek, with Mythic Adventures flavor), Anuli (pseudo-African, matriarchal), Dhucharg (pseudo-Japanese, hobgoblin-dominated military-flavored), Radripal (pseudo-Indian, with rakshasa intrigue), Segada (pseudo-Amerind, trade hub and entrance into Arcadia) and Ular Kel (pseudo-Mongol steppe city).

I'm biased because I'm a huge, huge, massive fan of all settings and environments that break away from the traditional Western European fantasy fare, so this product is tailor made for me. It's like getting to travel the world for twenty bucks. This is easily within my top five Pathfinder supplements, and if you're similarly interested in "off the beaten path" cultures and settings, I couldn't recommend Distant Shores more.

Having said that, if your campaign doesn't travel a lot, you're not likely to see a lot of use for this book. Some of the crunch can be brought abroad (like the ganzi player race, for instance) and maybe you want to make a character that has backstory in one of these cities. But this book is very situational. You'll want to think about whether you will have a use for it.

My rating is based on taking the book for what it is, and having a use for the niche it fills. As long as you have a campaign where travel is welcome, this book is a five star product.

A tantalizing glimpse of a wider world

5/5 —

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

I always love seeing far-off lands of campaign settings described in greater detail. Not only does it give other real-world peoples some much-needed representation, it provides a welcome change of pace from the standard European-based cultures that make up the bulk of so many fantasy worlds. Distant Shores provides a tantalising look at the vast diversity that exists in Golarion. While I know that time and resources make it difficult to fully describe everywhere in the world, I hope that Distant Shores is only the first of several books that will one day explore numerous other regions of Golarion.

Takes you There!

5/5 —

A lot of the points have already been hit in previous reviews of this product, so this will be somewhat brief and hopefully to the point.

Each one of these locations feels a little bit 'clunky' at first read, but when reading for content, and weighing the possibilities of each one of these cities as a 'starting point' for a campaign or world setting, the true genius of each of their designs becomes readily apparent.

They work right now really well for home campaigns, even.

I can't wait to see a further expansion of Holomog and the nations around it, or Ducharg and how the hobgoblins keep from completely falling apart beyond the capital, or Arcadia and how this unknown continent has been both years ahead and behind of Avistan.

With the introduction of Iblydos Vudra, and Casmaron as viable settings as well, suddenly the world of Golarion feels both a slight bit smaller and a *lot* larger.

There are a few limitations to such an offering, but they do not detract from the value of this volume, and I would recommend it to anyone seeking to branch out from Tian Xia or the Inner Sea Region!

A nice taste of new lands

4/5 —

I really enjoyed this book providing information on never before explored corners of Golarion. It provides enough info to build a campaign arc in each location, and each is unique and interesting in its own way. Highly recommended for GMs wanting to spread out to something new for a bit.

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Paizo Employee Creative Director
3 people marked this as a favorite.

We were GOING to do a more detailed world map for this book... but that ended up not being possible, since I'm the one who needs to generate that map and I simply didn't have time to do so in the build-up for Gen Con and the aftermath of Paizocon plus the mayhem of handling Pathfinder #100.

We'll try to get a world map into something else some day. But it won't happen in Distant Shores, as I'd hoped. Sorry!
Liberty's Edge
2 people marked this as a favorite.

A shame, but won't affect my purchase decision.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

A detailed map would have been awesome, oh well, maybe one day we will see such a thing become reality.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

Thanks, Zanthrax, for the map link.

James, while you're at it, how about a map of Golarion before the Starstone fell?
Ed Reppert wrote:

Thanks, Zanthrax, for the map link.

James, while you're at it, how about a map of Golarion before the Starstone fell?

Fuzzy memory thinks there was some kind of map in the Lost Empires-y campaign book maybe?

Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

I'll have to look that up. I have the book around here somewhere....

Looking at the map, is the island on the bottom right of Casmaron supposed to be Iblydos?
Liberty's Edge
1 person marked this as a favorite.

My guess was the archipelago under the 'Ca' in Casmaron -- if it's a Greece take, multiple islands could be a thing. Plus that would make it not so incredibly far from the main play area.

(Incidentally, on Sunday this guy is off to the Greek archipelago for two weeks. I'm sorry to gloat but I'm so excited.)
Paizo Employee
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Samy wrote:
(Incidentally, on Sunday this guy is off to the Greek archipelago for two weeks. I'm sorry to gloat but I'm so excited.)

Wooo! Enjoy!

Paizo Employee Creative Director
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dragon78 wrote:
Looking at the map, is the island on the bottom right of Casmaron supposed to be Iblydos?

Nope.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Ed Reppert wrote:

Thanks, Zanthrax, for the map link.

James, while you're at it, how about a map of Golarion before the Starstone fell?

I'm not sure how adding a 2nd map to the list will make anything like this happen faster when I don't have the time to do the 1st map.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
Samy wrote:

My guess was the archipelago under the 'Ca' in Casmaron -- if it's a Greece take, multiple islands could be a thing. Plus that would make it not so incredibly far from the main play area.

(Incidentally, on Sunday this guy is off to the Greek archipelago for two weeks. I'm sorry to gloat but I'm so excited.)

Yup.

So were is Iblydos located?
Dragon78 wrote:
So were is Iblydos located?

I'm guessing you might find the answer in the post just above yours. :)

Paizo Employee Creative Director
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Luthorne wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
So were is Iblydos located?
I'm guessing you might find the answer in the post just above yours. :)

Yup.

Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Ed Reppert wrote:

Thanks, Zanthrax, for the map link.

James, while you're at it, how about a map of Golarion before the Starstone fell?

I'm not sure how adding a 2nd map to the list will make anything like this happen faster when I don't have the time to do the 1st map.

ROFL! I know. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

"Ask me for anything but time." -- Napolean Bonaparte
Verdant Wheel

The remaining Azlanti islands are really big enough to have entire kingdoms over them ? What is there on present day Golarion ? Free space for a new Kingmaker campaing ?

Ok, so that is were it is located.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm looking forward to the hobgoblins finally getting some love. Probably my favorite "bad guy" race, tied with duergar, and glad to see we can have more to work with in terms of setting and player characters.

Do want.

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.
Silver Crusade Contributor

I seem to recall that "Skraeling" has been retconned out of use in Golarion. There was a discussion of colonialism and Hispanic representation where some information was presented on the subject.

I haven't found the relevant citation yet, though, so hopefully someone can pop in to refresh my memory...
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kalindlara wrote:

I seem to recall that "Skraeling" has been retconned out of use in Golarion. There was a discussion of colonialism and Hispanic representation where some information was presented on the subject.

I haven't found the relevant citation yet, though, so hopefully someone can pop in to refresh my memory...

Here.

Liberty's Edge

Speaking of retcons, anyone know what happened to the "Hissing Jungle" mentioned in Hollow's Last Hope as the source of darkwood? I'm inclined to think it's either somewhere in South Garund, or just renamed as the Valashmai Jungle.
Silver Crusade Contributor
Joana wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:

I seem to recall that "Skraeling" has been retconned out of use in Golarion. There was a discussion of colonialism and Hispanic representation where some information was presented on the subject.

I haven't found the relevant citation yet, though, so hopefully someone can pop in to refresh my memory...

Here.

Well done! :D

Paizo Employee Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kalindlara wrote:
Joana wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:

I seem to recall that "Skraeling" has been retconned out of use in Golarion. There was a discussion of colonialism and Hispanic representation where some information was presented on the subject.

I haven't found the relevant citation yet, though, so hopefully someone can pop in to refresh my memory...

Here.
Well done! :D

Yeah, Joana has a good memory and mad linking skills. :)

Silver Crusade Contributor
Adam Daigle wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:
Joana wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:

I seem to recall that "Skraeling" has been retconned out of use in Golarion. There was a discussion of colonialism and Hispanic representation where some information was presented on the subject.

I haven't found the relevant citation yet, though, so hopefully someone can pop in to refresh my memory...

Here.
Well done! :D
Yeah, Joana has a good memory and mad linking skills. :)

I'm usually pretty good, but searching was turning up nothing...

I hope this book's cover art and description gets updated this week.
Adam Daigle wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:
Joana wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:

I seem to recall that "Skraeling" has been retconned out of use in Golarion. There was a discussion of colonialism and Hispanic representation where some information was presented on the subject.

I haven't found the relevant citation yet, though, so hopefully someone can pop in to refresh my memory...

Here.
Well done! :D
Yeah, Joana has a good memory and mad linking skills. :)

That's interesting - I first learned the term in elementary school but I've never heard that it's a racial slur or had some kind of negative connotation. Wikipedia and dictionary.com are silent on the issue, but apparently Skrælingi means foreigner or barbarian in Icelandic. Is this a US thing?

Edit: Ah, found it when I switched wikipedia nationality. The term is considered offensive to First Nations people in Canada.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

I think it's a political correctness thing.
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Natives in Canada are still treated in a rather bad way by the government and colonials, so it's a rather touchy thing still.
8 people marked this as a favorite.
Alex Smith 908 wrote:
Natives in Canada are still treated in a rather bad way by the government and colonials, so it's a rather touchy thing still.

Natives in all of North America are still treat in a rather bad way by governments and colonials ;)

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to stop in a rest stop on interstate 390 in Southern New York State. There I found a sign placed probably back in the 1950s by some historical branch of the NYS government. It mentioned that the location marked the southern boundary, back in Revolutionary days, of the Iroquois Confederacy. Then it told how, after the Revolution, two NY generals (one was the Clinton who later became governor of NY) were ordered to "break the power" of the Confederacy. They did so with alacrity, as the sign informed me, by destroying villages, killing the inhabitants and destroying crops, ultimately leading to famine causing more deaths. And that, the sign proudly proclaimed, allowed us (whites, I presume) to move into the suddenly "freed" territory. Lucky us.

I'm not a fan of political correctness, but the history of these United States in dealing with the folks who were here when we got here turns my stomach.

I can't wait to find out more about places outside of the Inner Sea.
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Ed Reppert wrote:

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to stop in a rest stop on interstate 390 in Southern New York State. There I found a sign placed probably back in the 1950s by some historical branch of the NYS government. It mentioned that the location marked the southern boundary, back in Revolutionary days, of the Iroquois Confederacy. Then it told how, after the Revolution, two NY generals (one was the Clinton who later became governor of NY) were ordered to "break the power" of the Confederacy. They did so with alacrity, as the sign informed me, by destroying villages, killing the inhabitants and destroying crops, ultimately leading to famine causing more deaths. And that, the sign proudly proclaimed, allowed us (whites, I presume) to move into the suddenly "freed" territory. Lucky us.

I'm not a fan of political correctness, but the history of these United States in dealing with the folks who were here when we got here turns my stomach.

It is an unfortunate event in every settled nation's history. I cannot think of a single one which doesn't have such stories.

Verdant Wheel
nighttree wrote:
Alex Smith 908 wrote:
Natives in Canada are still treated in a rather bad way by the government and colonials, so it's a rather touchy thing still.

Natives in all of North America are still treat in a rather bad way by governments and colonials ;)

At least in South America they are also treated very poorly by governments and colonials too.

Community & Digital Content Director

Updated with final cover image and description!
Paizo Employee Creative Director
12 people marked this as a favorite.
Ed Reppert wrote:
I think it's a political correctness thing.

Nope. It's a compassion thing.

Liberty's Edge
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Chris Lambertz wrote:
Updated with final cover image and description!

I am saddened. The placeholder cover was so evocative of the Age of Sail. Now the cover is just generic punch-kick.

You guys need to take a cue from comic books and offer variant covers. ;)
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Very interested in Anuli, City of New Beginnings! :D

Can a trade route be "massive"? How about "extensive" instead?

And does the city of Segada itself have "mountaintop walls", or is that just that particular Arcadian coast?

Based on the product description, I'm really keen to read about Radripal, Segada, and Ular Kel! :)

I am interested in Anuli, Aelyosos, Radripal, and Segada.
Paizo Employee Developer
Bellona wrote:
And does the city of Segada itself have "mountaintop walls", or is that just that particular Arcadian coast?

Segada is situated in a mountain pass that is a bit inland from the northeastern coast of Arcadia.

Liberty's Edge

Do we get a better map view in the book of how that works out?

For that matter, regarding all six cities, do we get a map view of the surrounding land, to see how the cities are placed within their respective landmasses, or do we just get maps that are limited to the city walls?
Adam Daigle wrote:
Segada is situated in a mountain pass that is a bit inland from the northeastern coast of Arcadia.

"None. Shall. Pass!!!!

Liberty's Edge Assistant Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Berselius wrote:
Very interested in Anuli, City of New Beginnings! :D

I think you'll like it

Paizo Employee Developer
Samy wrote:

Do we get a better map view in the book of how that works out?

For that matter, regarding all six cities, do we get a map view of the surrounding land, to see how the cities are placed within their respective landmasses, or do we just get maps that are limited to the city walls?

The maps in the book are solely restricted to the individual locations, much like the maps in any of the rest of our city books, and don't show the surrounding countryside.

Paizo Employee Developer
Crystal Frasier wrote:
Berselius wrote:
Very interested in Anuli, City of New Beginnings! :D
I think you'll like it

I agree. :)

Liberty's Edge
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Adam Daigle wrote:
The maps in the book are solely restricted to the individual locations, much like the maps in any of the rest of our city books, and don't show the surrounding countryside.

A shame, but can't have it all. Any chance you can verbally describe roughly where Segada is? On this map, is it near the eastern coast at roughly Cheliax latitude? (I think that's the best map of Arcadia that I'm aware of.)

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