Just a thought and apologies if this has been brought up in other threads. Has there ever been an attempt to circumnavigate Golarion in recent history? If so when, who? It would seem likely that with the level of civilizations and of course magic someone may have tried this (and more than likely failed in grisly circumstances). Part of me think this could be a great campaign almost in a Star Trek structure (i.e. each adventure they bump into some kind of problem, seeking out new life, new civilizations etc.).
Conceptually related, is there a Sir Richard Francis Burton type character in Golarion? I'm tempted to say Durvin Gest might be a good choice, but I don't know much about him other than a mention or two in the Inner Sea World Guide.
I'd expect a few of the mortal-ascended gods to have have circumnavigated- sure Aroden is mostly an Inner Sea figure, but he was a long-absent god of humanity. Similarly with Irori or Norgorber, they may have a global presence.
For mortals, which way are you going? Jade Regent crosses the ice cap, but hardly goes anywhere. I imagine the Shory empire would have done it, but thats history.
Of course, any member of the pathfinder society is likely to have jumped around, depending on modules played...
There's been no recent circumnavigation attempt... mostly because I've long idly wondered what a "Around the World" adventure path would be like...
That would be sweet. Some real potential for recurring villains (or at least nemeses) in the form of competitors hoping to be the first to do it over the PCs.
Creative Director
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Alas... I'd want to wait at least a couple of years before doing this after Skull & Shackles. As much as I love ships and nautical stuff... it's not for everyone.
And making it a race WOULD expand the possibilities for the campaign in that it would add competitors, as Cthulhudrew says. The fact that reaching 15th level from 1st would weird some folks out can't be ignored, though...
Maybe this would work better as a single mega-adventure that covers only 3 or so levels. Dunno. It's a tricky beast, that's for sure.
I know it's been discussed and dismissed before as a huge potential risk to the AP line but something like this could be a potential for a 3 part AP set for high levels.
The adventure starts at level 15, and works up to lvl 20.
It's not a race, it's a chase as the players follow someone who has taken something incredibly valuable (or dangerous). The culprit can't be followed by divination and teleporting would need to be made impractical somehow.
It's possible it could be written in such a way as to be a followup story to any of the APs set on the West Coasts of the Inner Sea.
RotRL- A new artifact that bears a runelord within.
SD- the pCs return to Riddleport, as the Cyphergate opens and discharges an entire fleet of the Thassilonian Navy, who have been time jumping for 10,000 years. The fleet heads straight out to sea, to Azlant.
CotCT- same as (either) above.
LoF- it's the seed of the Firebleeder.
CoT- almost anything, but a true pre-Thrune heir to the crown stands out.
SS- since this one is full of rivals, with ships, there is alot of possibility here.
JR- the most powerful artifact from the ancient treasury, one that the Kami say can control the weather, allowing the ONI to destroy the world. The players would depart on junks from Tien ports.
SaS- what better way to cap a pirate campaign than to circumnavigate the world while chasing something stolen and someone missing from Port Peril?
Admittedly I have no idea of how this one ends.
That's an awful lot of tie ins to account for but the idea has potential.
Admittedly, a full 6 parter would let you show off more of the world "off the map", which I would like but the tie ins would likely dominate the product schedule for a year, module tie ins too, and that's logistically enormous. About as big as creating the Inner Sea from scratch.
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And making it a race WOULD expand the possibilities for the campaign in that it would add competitors, as Cthulhudrew says. The fact that reaching 15th level from 1st would weird some folks out can't be ignored, though...
Maybe this would work better as a single mega-adventure that covers only 3 or so levels. Dunno. It's a tricky beast, that's for sure.
Don't get me wrong. A race would be incredibly fun! Three to five levels of racing would be sweet.
Interesting to hear that James you've been pondering this. I would definitely subscribe again for an around the world AP. A race could be interesting but I think theres a lot of possibilities and even as a race it could ostensibly take years. My feeling is this is more of an AP than a series of adventures. Too bad about Skull and Shackles, I took a break because of the whole pirate thing (I like pirates but did STAP a few years back and don't have any burning need to go back to pirates, though love nautical adventures).
That and kind of curious what a Kingmaker or sandbox model to this would look like. Each book would cover a next section of the voyage provide some reasons to explore/poke around (e.g. need to find a cure for the disease ravaging crewman, recover the Eye of ___ from ____ , have dinner with the Raj etc.)
Though I definitely like the race in that it includes competitors, material for recurring villains and urgency.
Probably won't getting any gaming on until the fall but I'm definitely kick this around for my next campaign.
I'd expect a few of the mortal-ascended gods to have have circumnavigated- sure Aroden is mostly an Inner Sea figure, but he was a long-absent god of humanity. Similarly with Irori or Norgorber, they may have a global presence.
For mortals, which way are you going? Jade Regent crosses the ice cap, but hardly goes anywhere. I imagine the Shory empire would have done it, but thats history.
Of course, any member of the pathfinder society is likely to have jumped around, depending on modules played...
For mortals and for a campaign Absalom seems like a logical place to start down the southern coast of Garund across to Vudra on to Sasuran and up north to Tian Xa across to Arcadia and back to Absalom.
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Creative Director
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IThat and kind of curious what a Kingmaker or sandbox model to this would look like. Each book would cover a next section of the voyage provide some reasons to explore/poke around (e.g. need to find a cure for the disease ravaging crewman, recover the Eye of ___ from ____ , have dinner with the Raj etc.)
Oof...
A sandbox version of this plot would look like an enormous collection of giant books detailing the coastlines of all of Golarion's continents, I'm afraid. And while there's plenty of folks who would LOVE us to do that... that's not something we have the resources or time or (at this point) interest in doing.
If this ever DOES get off the ground as an Adventure Path or a longer standalone adventure or whatever... it'll very much be on a railroad (well, technically, on a ship route), because that's the only way we'd be able to pull it off. We'd probably NOT put the PCs in charge of the ship, in other words.
Or maybe I should just wait until 2054 when we've finally got all the world guides for the other continents out to do the adventure! :-P
Yeah I can't wait to 2054. I can't run a campaign if I'm totally senile.
Another option- scavenger hunt!
On a time dead line. Kinda sandbox but not really.
There's been no recent circumnavigation attempt... mostly because I've long idly wondered what a "Around the World" adventure path would be like...
Around the World in 80 Game Sessions!
IThat and kind of curious what a Kingmaker or sandbox model to this would look like. Each book would cover a next section of the voyage provide some reasons to explore/poke around (e.g. need to find a cure for the disease ravaging crewman, recover the Eye of ___ from ____ , have dinner with the Raj etc.)
Oof...
A sandbox version of this plot would look like an enormous collection of giant books detailing the coastlines of all of Golarion's continents, I'm afraid. And while there's plenty of folks who would LOVE us to do that... that's not something we have the resources or time or (at this point) interest in doing.
If this ever DOES get off the ground as an Adventure Path or a longer standalone adventure or whatever... it'll very much be on a railroad (well, technically, on a ship route), because that's the only way we'd be able to pull it off. We'd probably NOT put the PCs in charge of the ship, in other words.
Or maybe I should just wait until 2054 when we've finally got all the world guides for the other continents out to do the adventure! :-P
I suspect the best way to do such an AP would be to have it less a race and more of a chase.
Some McGuffin is stolen and the PC's start out as part of the crew of one of the ships sent out by various factions to retrieve it first. As the AP progresses the PCs increase in importance, starting as redshirts and finally ending up leading the expedition.
By the time the McGuffin is retrieved the ship has passed the halfway point and the PCs just sail the rest of the way back to the starting point, completing the circumnavigation.
I wonder that something like that might not be better handled by whittling the goal down to something more sizable? Like discovering the Source of the Nile, to take a RW example, as opposed to circumnavigating the entire globe? That way, you have a specific goal that can you can easily guide the PCs along a particular route to attain, while still allowing for exploration and discovery along the way, as opposed to something like "get from point A to point B" which can be done in so many different ways that it takes a much more obviously railroaded plot to accomplish.
(Obviously, it's no longer circumnavigating the world, at that point.)
Simple. Find the Western Trade route to the Orient. Steal from the real world.
If this ever DOES get off the ground as an Adventure Path or a longer standalone adventure or whatever... it'll very much be on a railroad (well, technically, on a ship route), because that's the only way we'd be able to pull it off. We'd probably NOT put the PCs in charge of the ship, in other words.
How? What?! Away Team not being composed of Captain, First Officer, Ship's Mage and The Doctor?
Or maybe I should just wait until 2054 when we've finally got all the world guides for the other continents out to do the adventure! :-P
By then players will read them and there will be no sense of exploration.
Contributor
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Simple. Find the Western Trade route to the Orient. Steal from the real world.
One of the primary ways Golarion differs from our world is in the location of the Far Eastern areas. Historically, ships were reaching China from the Middle East by the early middle ages, but they didn't have to reckon with the large expanse of water between Vudra and Tian Xia in Golarion. On the other hand, the Pacific route analogue makes even more sense - Avistan to Arcadia to Tian Xia, since there's a continent there to stop off at.
Also, we have the dangerous waters between Valashmai and Sarusan to navigate. That would be the most perilous section of a sea (or any) route. Hence the over the Pole route in Jade Regent is actually the easiest way to reach the Mysterious East.RW circumnavigations were mainly directed at access to Oriental goods and the Indian/Indonesian spice trades, and later the gold and silver routes from the Americas to Spain, and in Golarion, going around the world for its own sake would be probably a Pathfinder Society thing or an epic quest, not a merchant/government project.
There is no mention of anyone circumnavigating Golarion yet. I think we'd know if it was done somewhere in the CS, unless it's some kind of secret.
Oof...
A sandbox version of this plot would look like an enormous collection of giant books detailing the coastlines of all of Golarion's continents, I'm afraid. And while there's plenty of folks who would LOVE us to do that... that's not something we have the resources or time or (at this point) interest in doing.
If this ever DOES get off the ground as an Adventure Path or a longer standalone adventure or whatever... it'll very much be on a railroad (well, technically, on a ship route), because that's the only way we'd be able to pull it off. We'd probably NOT put the PCs in charge of the ship, in other words.
Or maybe I should just wait until 2054 when we've finally got all the world guides for the other continents out to do the adventure! :-P
Fair enough, a railroady AP I'm sure would be great to. And yes I can see how a sandbox approach could and probably would spiral out of control for a published effort. Either way I'd be curious to see what Paizo would do with such a concept whenever it might occur. I'm hoping to try this campaign out in the fall with some overall ideas, characters, and conflicts in place but also let the players shape the direction and the exploration.
That said, as a player I'd have a hard time with the concept of not having a ship to command (probably not at the beginining but certainly by the middle) even if this ship was part of a larger fleet or trio.
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Creative Director
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This AP idea makes me think of the Bastards if Erebus approach to sewer maps.
There doesn't need to be maps, simply a flexible series of encounters (dockside brawl, shark attack, hostile natives etc.) which the PCs come across no matter what direction they leave the map in.
I really doubt we'll ever do the "Bastards of Erebus approach to sewer maps" ever again. That approach takes up way too many words for way too few encounters and ends up leaving what could be a cool dungeon crawl in a disconnected series of encounters.
And if we're going to showcase a physical location in Golarion, it's FAR more valuable to me to lock down what that location actually looks like. Geomorph style content is cool for adventure design advice... but not for actual adventures.