I will be running the Emerald Spire Superdungeon. I will set the adventure in the default setting, Golarion. However, I am unfamiliar with Golarion, except in bits and pieces. I intend to read up on the setting. I was hoping, on the outset, to get some pointers to guide my reading.
So, broadly speaking...
What makes Golarion different from other fantasy settings?
Would you define Golarion as a Standard, High, or Epic Fantasy setting?
How does playing in Golarion modify the core rule book's expectations of classes and races? Mechanically? Culturally? In relation to others?
Which setting books represent the most important information a new DM should have for Golarion? Especially for running the Emerald Spire Superdungeon module? My impression is that I would be fine if I read just the Inner Sea World Guide.
I will appreciate any other general advice regarding running Golarion.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well, Golarion isn't necessarily very "different" from other fantasy settings. By that I mean it is an amalgam of lots of familiar fantasy settings. There are bits of gothic horror, sword and stars, pulp adventure, etc. etc. What makes it different, I suppose, is that it draws from a larger pool than a lot of typical fantasy settings. You'll find robots, steam robots, gothic vampires, what have you.
High fantasy, I suppose.
There aren't many changes from the corebook if you are playing on Golarion. Clerics MUST have a god, unlike the core book. There are also additional languages and little details here and there. However, it is all rather insignificant and you'll play just fine.
Inner Sea World Guide is the go-to source for setting information. It is a sizeable book that details all of the countries, races, and the timeline of the Inner Sea (the region you'll probably play in, the Europe and North Africa analogue.) After that, it's really more about what you want to learn about or maybe where the adventurers are currently located.
|
What makes Golarion different from other fantasy settings?
It's expansive enough to contain most genres of fantasy (from gothic horror to high fantasy, to crashed star ships). But it's generally got this gritty pulp fantasy aesthetic. Not as a power level thing, just as a feel, a way the world fits together. It's the kind of world Conan or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser could wander into, and they'd be surprised by the prevalence of magic and the Elves, but in many other ways feel right at home. Elric of Melnibone would feel absolutely at home. I'm probably not explaining that well, but it's the feeling I get.
Would you define Golarion as a Standard, High, or Epic Fantasy setting?
Uh...this depends heavily on your definitions. It's a very gritty setting, but also pretty typically high-magic for a D&D setting. The combination is interesting, and doesn't fit into any of those three categories well. See above for more on how I feel about where it does fit in.
How does playing in Golarion modify the core rule book's expectations of classes and races? Mechanically? Culturally? In relation to others?
It makes humans by far the most common (something like 80%-90% of the people you meet in civilized places)...but doesn't change much of anything else from the corebook assumptions (which were written to line up with Golarion in many ways), though you shouldn't bring assumptions from other game worlds in (Elves and Dwarves don't have a particular rivalry, and Elves don't hate Orcs more than any other humanoid, Elves aren't especially arrogant, etc.)
On the classes, Summoners are exceedingly rare, and as mentioned Clerics require a God. I'm...not thinking of anything else off the top of my head, though certain classes are more likely to come from certain places (Samurai from Minkai, for example).
Which setting books represent the most important information a new DM should have for Golarion? Especially for running the Emerald Spire Superdungeon module? My impression is that I would be fine if I read just the Inner Sea World Guide.
You would indeed be fine with just that. Though the Guide to the River Kingdoms would also be handy, I suppose, given that that's where the dungeon is.
I will appreciate any other general advice regarding running Golarion.
Don't stress out too much. I love Golarion, but unless one of your players is both obsessive and a bit of a dick about it, nobody's gonna notice or care if you mess up a few little things.
Also, the Pathfinder Wiki is pretty cool, and a potentially very useful resource.