Best free source the pathfinder wiki of course
The upcoming re-release of the Inner Sea World Guide or the fan-run PathfinderWiki are both excellent places to start. :D
Edit: Oh, welcome to the boards! Have a cookie.
Yes welcome since ya have cookies here have some rum Hands out rum
There is no "World of Pathfinder" as the core rules are setting neutral. However, the world of Golarion is also published by Paizo and the mechanics of that world uses the Pathfinder RPG rules, though material published before August of 2009 was done with the old D&D 3.5 rules. And while there is no need for updating the background material in the old books, some of the mechanics need to be updated to the new rules before using them. There is a free conversion guide located at this link.
Where would be a good place to learn about the pathfinder world itself. Besides the wonderful player hands out, where would I find info on the world itself to help me get into character? Thank you.
If you don't already have it, I'd suggest starting with the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer. It's all setting/roleplaying information; I don't recall seeing much rules stuff there.
(Not that I'm an expert on Golarion by any means, but that's where I was told to start, and as that turned out to be really good advice, I will pass it along to a fellow noob. ;) )
Just remember that when the Revised Campaign Setting book comes out, some of the info in the Gazetteer will also become invalid due to updates and changes to the info on the setting itself. After all, it is not just the mechanics in the old book being updated from 3.5 to PRPG.
Just remember that when the Revised Campaign Setting book comes out, some of the info in the Gazetteer will also become invalid due to updates and changes to the info on the setting itself. After all, it is not just the mechanics in the old book being updated from 3.5 to PRPG.
Very little in the older books will actually be invalid after the World Guide comes out. Some elements may be pushed to the background, but the actual retcons should be minimal and not obtrusive to someone without a lot of time invested in the setting.
That said, PathfinderWiki is kept up to date as the timeline (and retcons) progress and everything on it is cited, so it can direct you to official sourcebooks on topics you find interesting.