New potential players looking for more setting info?

[SteveMND]

Greetings, all.

The local gamers and I have long been fans of Organized gaming (indeed, almost all of us have volunteered administratively in various RPGA campaigns over the years, and I was even the co-coordinator of one for a time). So it would be an understatement to say we were disappointed when 4th edition came out and the 'death' of D&D occurred (in our eyes, at least).

I had been keeping half an eye on the Paizo site, ever since discovering they were working on a D&D "3.75," so to speak, and was generally pleased with stuff I had seen regarding the Pathfinder system. I was even more pleased when I discovered recently that there was an Organized Play-esque campaign being set up by Paizo that would be using the new system.

There was an initial buzz of interest, but it was unfortunately toned down when we started going through the rules, and ran across a few design oddities (Cheliax/evil PCs, 3.5-at-the-moment, etc.) that lessened our enthusiasm somewhat.

But, many of us are determined to at least have a second look, and the setting seems interesting, to a point. However, all I have been able to find so far regarding the setting is a few scattered paragraphs detailing each faction in the PFS campaign guide; everything else on the world, setting, etc. seems to be available only by purchasing the full setting books, which is a bit of a stretch for us at the moment, especially considering the fact that we are still lukewarm about the campaign, and are still hoping to warm up to it.

I'm obviously not expecting there to be the entire campaign setting books for free somewhere or the like, but perhaps a middle-ground sort of setting guide I'm missing? Something with a brief synopsis of the world, the deities, the nations (not just the five factions), a map or such? The Paizo website seems a little less than intuitive to get around sometimes, and I quite likely may have completely looked right over it at some point, so I was hoping maybe someone could point me in the right direction? Or maybe a website or fan sites with some more info and detail?

Thanks,
Steve M

[Mairkurion {tm}]

Steve, have you taken a look at the Pathfinder Wiki?

I'm guessing you've downloaded the free Pathfinder Society Guide. But there are also other freebies to download. Maybe it'd be faster if you told me what freebies you have located so you can be pointed to the other ones.

[Jason Beardsley]

Have you looked at the Gazetteer?

AFAIK, It's like a lite version of the full campaign setting.

[Cintra Bristol]

In one of the past Paizo Blog posts, they shared the map of the Inner Sea region of the world of Golarion (this is the map for the portion of the world that is detailed in the campaign setting):

http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/2008/january

Scroll down to the January 24th post.

[Locke1520]

Cintra Bristol wrote:

In one of the past Paizo Blog posts, they shared the map of the Inner Sea region of the world of Golarion (this is the map for the portion of the world that is detailed in the campaign setting):

http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/2008/january

Scroll down to the January 24th post.

The Blog in general is a good place to start. I would go back to the beginning and work forward.

[Mark Moreland]

I'd suggest the PathfinderWiki as well. Then again, I'm biased since I am a frequent contributor to the site (and it's largest cheerleader). We've got information on nations, organizations, history, deities, and other fun stuff and the resource is growing every day. This is by no means a replacement for the Campaign Setting or even the Gazetteer, but it might enlighten you on some of the things you're curious about so you can judge if it's worth investing some of your money into for one of the official print products. Best of luck and welcome to PFS!

[Vic Wertz]

I'd also suggest checking out the free Player's Guides to our first two Adventure Paths, which contain a bit of general intro to the world as well as more specific intro to the Adventure Paths. You can access them, along with some other freebies, at your My Downloads page.

[SteveMND]

Ah, thanks, everyone. The Wiki and the blog appear to be just what I was looking for.

[Ratpick]

In addition to the separate Player's Guides and the wiki I'd heartily recommend the Pathfinder Campaign Setting. Most of the crunch there is not available for use in the Society, but it's a great resource for helping you flesh out your character in terms of the world.

[SteveMND]

Yeah, I had seen that and the Gazetteer, but we kinda were looking for some more free resources to get a feel for the setting; none of us particularly want to shell out a bunch of cash yet on a setting/campaign that we're still rather lukewarm on.

That said, I think the resources mentioned should give us a better concept of the setting for now.

Steve M

[Daeglin]

I'd second the recommendation for the Gazetteer. Its been unfairly overshadowed by the Campaign Setting since it came out, but it is a great jam-packed little resource. In feel, it harkens back to the original Greyhawk booklet from the box set. And it's similar to the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer but on steroids. The pdf is only $12.99, but if you splurge for the print copy, you get the poster map (yeah, I'm a map freak).

[Mairkurion {tm}]

I second Vic's recommendations of the two free Player's Guides. Those were the first two things I got from Paizo, and reading them sucked me right in, never to escape. : ) The two free adventures and PfRPG materials are also things less on setting, but recommended.