My Golarion-fu is weak, so I'll offer this question up to the experts...
I'm looking for the cities that make Golarion what it is. One might say, "It just wouldn't be Golarion if it didn't have XXXXXX."
If you had to make a list of the Top 5 iconic cities in all of Golarion, what would they be?
in no particular order
Absalom
Sandpoint
Kaer Maga
Westcrown
Katapesh
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However...
Golarion is designed to be modular, as if you don't like some part of the setting you can just cut it off and nothing is gonna fall apart. So while Absalom is the biggest city in the Inner Sea region, it's not as strongly tied to the rest of the setting like Greyhawk or Sigil are. As result, no city really fills the "it's not Golarion without it" criteria.
My general order:
1. Absalom
2. Sandpoint
3. Westcrown
4. Kaer Maga
5. KorvosaKatapesh and Goka come in just a bit below those. Absalom is the one I see as most key to the setting by a fair bit.
That said, I also agree with Gorbacz.
I agree with the picks, but I'd put Sandpoint at number one.
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Depends on your needs for a city.
Absalom is the iconic cosmopolitan mega-city. It's the Greyhawk or Waterdeep of Golarion.
Sandpoint is the iconic 'starter town' that many adventures begin in, like Hommlet.
Kaer Maga seems to be the iconic 'Mos Eisley,' where you would start a campaign that included monster PCs.
Ilizmagorti or Port Peril would probably go nicely in the 'Freeport' niche.
Katapesh and Kaer Maga feel more 'iconicly Golarion' to me, because, unlike Absalom or Sandpoint, they don't feel as much like Golarion's version of standard fantasy fare I've seen in other settings. Both Katapesh and Kaer Maga feel pretty darn unique, and are cram packed with flavor that you don't see as much in other settings.
I don't understand the attraction to Sandpoint. It's nothing special.
It's iconic, though. (even if not an actual city).
My list would only include sandpoint and Absalom.
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I don't understand the attraction to Sandpoint. It's nothing special.You MONSTER!
(runs off into woods to cry!)
There there, poor dino.
*turns to HappyDaze*
Look what you have done! All those fallen trees! All these dead villagers! And the piglets! Not even piglets were spared! It's all your fault! All this blood!
IMO Riddleport as well...Ilizmagorti or Port Peril would probably go nicely in the 'Freeport' niche.
How the heck did I forget about Riddleport?!
I'd put Riddleport and Kaer Maga at the top of the list as "uniquely Golarian".
Absalom just doesn't strike that chord that Waterdeep did. It's a very cool city as these things go, and I think I might like it better than Greyhawk. It's very Golarian.
But Kaer Maga, that's Golarian, I love this city more than any other save perhaps Sigil, which is not really a city so much as a setting of it's own.
Sandpoint is neat in it's own quaint way.
Now I'm wondering why my IPhone has auto-corrected the word Golarian?