Need GM Advice / Resources for Age of Anguish Era Campaign

[Tertiary]

I have yet to GM in Pathfinder RPG and have yet to delve deeply into the lore even as a player. Buying every module and accessory would quickly break what I politely call 'the bank.' It's a porcelain pig with a ribbon tied around its neck... I think there may be .32 dollars in it. Moving up in the world. So, to optimize, I was hoping that some of the vets around here might guide me towards the appropriate products/resources to enhance my campaign.

After preliminary research via The Pathfinder Wiki I have decided that about a decade shy of the Age of Destiny would be appropriate. Beginning in the post-apocalyptic Age of Anguish will set the tone I desire, leading into the Age of Destiny will give the players the chance to help shape the history of Modern Golarian in my campaign world.

What I would like to find:

• GMing in Pathfinder Guide.
  
• Timeline of Golarian (specifically the Age of Anguish and first century or so of the Age of Destiny).
  
• Physical Maps, or period maps with political boundaries (such as they were).
  
• Movers and shakers, who were they back then? (I did find this thread on the deities of various eras).
  
• Protips! Always welcome.
  
• I am still fleshing out the campaign, obviously, I don't mind any ideas y'all might have.
  

Thanks in advance,
Tertiary

[karkon]

Tertiary wrote:

What I would like to find:

• GMing in Pathfinder Guide.
  
• Timeline of Golarian (specifically the Age of Anguish and first century or so of the Age of Destiny).
  
• Physical Maps, or period maps with political boundaries (such as they were).
  
• Movers and shakers, who were they back then? (I did find this thread on the deities of various eras).
  
• Protips! Always welcome.
  
• I am still fleshing out the campaign, obviously, I don't mind any ideas y'all might have.
  

PDFs for books are usually quite cheap. The Inner Sea World Guide is a comprehensive resource. It has a detailed timeline. Maps. Not period maps but you can figure out the map based upon the information.

GMing information is free. There is a lot of advice in the core book. The game mastery guide is free in the PRD.

[karkon]

Pro tips

Your players have access to the same timeline by buying the book. If I were running it I would metagame a bit with the players. Take a future event and tell them about it. Give the players a vision of what will be happening in four or five years.

But it will not happen without work from characters like your PCs. Forces are actively working in ways that will change that future. You have to defeat those forces.

A huge problem for DMs telling a story that requires more involvement than rolling the dice and killing stuff is players forgetting story information between sessions. I have found that doing a recap at the start of every game helps a lot. In fact if you have the players do a recap and you fill in the details. It helps a lot.

Get the players involved in their characters. If they want to buy a bar or factory or build a fort. Let them. Especially if the next plot point will be happening there. If not the next plot point might be able to come to them.

Which leads to the next point. When your players try to do anything not in the rules try to say yes and find a way to make it work. It encourages interesting gameplay. If they are trying to affect a roll of the dice then giving a +/- 2 to the roll works great.

Player: "I throw a pot of water at the bad guy to slow him down."

DM: "Yes, the water in his eyes and hands gives him a -2 to attacks this round."

Finally, do not try to bend the player's gameplay to your vision of the game. Bend your vision to their gameplay. You will be a lot happier.

[Tertiary]

karkon wrote:

PDFs for books are usually quite cheap. The Inner Sea World Guide is a comprehensive resource. It has a detailed timeline. Maps. Not period maps but you can figure out the map based upon the information.

GMing information is free. There is a lot of advice in the core book. The game mastery guide is free in the PRD.

As a player, I can use PDFs. As a GM, I need the hard-copy in order to really absorb the material. The Inner Sea World Guide sounds like a must have, are there any other accessories? Obviously, I will be getting the Core Rulebooks and probably the APG and the second monster guide. Regarding the maps, I need an essentially blank map to work with if there is not a period map available... is there a physical map available anywhere? I've only found one so far and that is a map of the entire world.

For GMing information, in 3.5 I GMed and knew the rules fairly well. I've done other GM type work in various mediums. I was curious for information more specifically related to Pathfinder. Minutia that is often overlooked and ends up being game-breaking. There are a lot of class guides laying around the forum, I was hoping someone had done a GM guide.

karkon wrote:

Your players have access to the same timeline by buying the book. If I were running it I would metagame a bit with the players. Take a future event and tell them about it. Give the players a vision of what will be happening in four or five years. But it will not happen without work from characters like your PCs. Forces are actively working in ways that will change that future. You have to defeat those forces.

A huge problem for DMs telling a story that requires more involvement than rolling the dice and killing stuff is players forgetting story information between sessions. I have found that doing a recap at the start of every game helps a lot. In fact if you have the players do a recap and you fill in the details. It helps a lot.

Get the players involved in their characters. If they want to buy a bar or factory or build a fort. Let them. Especially if the next plot point will be happening there. If not the next plot point might be able to come to them.

Which leads to the next point. When your players try to do anything not in the rules try to say yes and find a way to make it work. It encourages interesting gameplay. If they are trying to affect a roll of the dice then giving a +/- 2 to the roll works great.

Player: "I throw a pot of water at the bad guy to slow him down."

DM: "Yes, the water in his eyes and hands gives him a -2 to attacks this round."

Finally, do not try to bend the player's gameplay to your vision of the game. Bend your vision to their gameplay. You will be a lot happier.

Some definite gems in there, thanks!