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I'm thinking about starting a new Pathfinder game with a small group of friends. I don't have the time to fully flesh out the area, so I'm looking for a product (preferably Paizo) with which to give me details of the area.
I've got an idea for a campaign during war time, in a metropolitan city with a school (college level) of some sort. Players will be given down time, and able to take and/or teach classes.
So what setting book has someplace similar to this?
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Guide to Korvosa may be the best fit. Big city, monarchy, lots of tension going around, multiple colleges(two wizarding, one mundane IIRC).
If you want larger, and truly metropolitan, Guide to Absalom might be worth looking at as well, but it's on an island, so it's going to take more adjustment to plant a war around it if there are certain kinds of imagery and mood you're shooting for.
The Guide to Katapesh is great as well, but it's probably wilder than what you're looking for even during times of peace.
Then of course there's the Great City Campaign(affordable and available), Ptolus(not so much with the affordable or available unless it's being sold as a pdf somewhere), and Streets of Silver(impossible to find).
It wasn't really a metropolitan city, but Splintered Peace might be woth a look too, what with it still being on clearance here.
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Yeah, and while the Korvosa book is a great resource for Curse of the Crimson Throne, the majority of the book isn't really CotCT-centric. It introduces a ton of locations, NPCs, plots, and history that CotCT doesn't touch on, so it can serve as a great launching point for a campaign.
If you're unfamiliar with Varisia, think of it as D$D medieval fantasy + wild frontier. The immediate areas around Korvosa are pretty well settled, but there's real wilderness not too far away. IIRC, it also lies at a bit of a crossroads between countries that don't like each other very much. (I can't remember where Andoran lies in relation to Varisia and Cheliax...anyone know offhand? Balkzen serves as a great source of war as well)
It also houses three major human cultures(for broad strokes think Romani(Gypsies), Native American-esque warrior/hunter culture, and Europeanish settlers) which have all sorts of drama and troubled relations with each other. Gotta jet, but can fill in more details on selling you Varisia later(I really like Varisia).
The immediate areas around Korvosa are pretty well settled, but there's real wilderness not too far away. IIRC, it also lies at a bit of a crossroads between countries that don't like each other very much. (I can't remember where Andoran lies in relation to Varisia and Cheliax...anyone know offhand? Balkzen serves as a great source of war as well)
A bit more about Varisia: It is pretty much wilderness with some bastions of civilisation.
Korvosa is the biggest city, and it's got less than 20.000 living inside its walls. They like to think of themselves as the capital, but that's a view only they and some of the nearer settlements share. Korvosa is a wannabe Chelish colony (but ever since the big change in management, Cheliax doesn't have any real interest in Korvosa and thus it was cut loose as a colony) that stiles themselves the way, though the diabolism is not nearly as wide-spread. In fact, though there is a temple to Asmodeus, and the Academae does focus on conjuration, especially the calling of devils, the city itself is a lot more benign.
The second largest city is Magnimar, City of Monuments, in southwest Varisia. Here, many Thassalonian monuments are found, especially the impressive Irespan, the ruined remains of a bridge that is several hundred feet high, and several hundred feet wide. It breaks off after a short distance, but points out to the sea. The citicens of Magnimar value order a lot less than their Korvosan cousins.
Then, there's Riddleport, City of Cyphers. It's a lawless place ruled by crimelords and frequented by sailors and pirates. It is also home to some Monuments, not least of which is the Cyphergate, an enormous arc covered with ancient runes, spanning the whole harbour (and it is said that it extends below ground, forming an enormous circle).
Finally, there's Kaer Maga, another chaotic place sitting right atop the Storval Stairs.
Those are pretty much the only larger settlements in Varisia, and they range from about 18.000 to only a bit more than 6.000. Everything else is small villages, old ruins, and lots and lots of untamed wilderness.
Expect goblins en masse, giants in the mountains, ogres in the hills, and stranger beasts.