Starting location in Golarion?

[nathan stanley]

In about two sessions, I'm going to import my players from a home grown world into the Pathfinder setting. I dont have the time to read throuall the Inner Sea World guide and all the assocciated texts. Where is a good place that they coul start out at that would be unique from most traditional setting. Keep in mind I know very little about the world so far and my players know even less. I've been reading a little and I'm thinking the ruins of Khor in the Mawangi area. I know there are hundreds of locations that might fit the bill but if you could name your top thre and maybe a bit about why?

[Kazred]

It would help if you could describe your campaign a little more and how you plan to get the players over to a new world...

[nathan stanley]

Well, the players are all level 5 and I plan for them to have just hit 7 by the time they reach the BBEG. The killing blow upon the BBEG will break his artifact and open a rift between my world and a parallel world(Golarion). I want them to find themselves in a strange new world they have no previous knowledge of. So far the game has taken them through a great deal of sewers, some forest setting, and an abandoned elven temple that has melded to some extent with the planes of chaos. All they have left to do in this story arch is track the BBEG through some Morlock caves and fight a few Drow. It's my intention to leave my home grown world behind with no way to get back.

[Kazred]

Hmmm.... there are a lot of possibilities. If you're looking to stay away from more familiar fantasy settings, you're best bet is to drop them somewhere in Garund (the southern continent). My suggestions:

The Sodden Lands: Far from civilization and alien enough that you can keep the mystery of their location going for a few sessions. The extreme weather and rampaging monsters will keep them motivated. Even though there's no canon explanation for the Eye of Abendego, it always seemed like a good spot for a planar rift to me. You could possibly have them wander into the Mwangi Expanse to the east (big jungle full of pulpy ruins and dinosaurs).

The Mana Wastes: If you don't fancy getting the players wet, this would be a good second choice. Desolate with lots of weird monsters and some technology (firearms etc) thrown in. Just as remote as the sodden lands, and just as likely to contain planar rifts. It's sandwiched in between the nations of Geb (to the south) and Nex (to the north), both of which are among the freakier locations in Golarion.

[Son of the Veterinarian]

If you're going to be tangling with Drow you could have them fall through a malfunctioning Elf gate and end up in Kyonin, most likely somewhere near the Tanglebriar.

[TheRedArmy]

I like Varisia - Northeastern Avistan. Plenty of stuff going on there. The Runelords offer you high-level BBEG possibilities (slay all 7 of the 'bad' Runelords to revive the one good one). The country is half settled, half monsterland. The three main towns (Riddleport, Magnimar, Korvosa) offer completely different experiences, and your PCs can settle where they fancy. The Cyphergate (in Riddleport - an ancient monument to forgotten magic - the time of the Runelords) offers a "mystery of the past" options your players may explore.

I think Varisia is a great starting place, and there's even a decent bit of support for it (Crypt of the Everflame, even though its an adventure for level 1, is excellent). You could run "Rise of the Runelords" AP from that, too, and adjust the challenges for your party's level.

If you want to go with that "Our equipment is clearly superior for no good reason" angle, The Dragon Empires (and Eastern arms and armor) could be an option, too.

[Bart Vervaet]

Since they are tracking the BBEG through some caves, you could make the plane shift unnoticable and shift the whole cave to golarion as part of the darklands. You could just let the entrance they came through cave in and leave them another exit, or cooler still, let the cave system have changed when they try to find their way back out.

You could keep them in the darklands for as long as you like and have them come out wherever you want, since they run pretty much everywhere throughout golarion