Where do your fair-skinned British types with names like Jones, Banks, Smith and Gray come from?
I describe my cleric as being fair-skinned with beach blond hair - he needs a homeland to fill his character sheet slot...but it seems to me that everyone in Golarion is bronze!!!!!
it's more likely I'm not looking hard enough...
Any help will be appreciated.
Ulfen, from the Land of the Linnorm Kings, maybe? That would give you the right appearance. Cheliax has some British sounding names, but the people seem to have a more southern European look there.
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You don't get those on Golarion.
The closest cultural approximation to England (specifically the British Empire) is probably Taldor (though it has strong shades of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, too), and in terms of looks, they and the Ulfen seem to split the difference...but name-wise? There's nowhere even close.
The names are intended to not be typical names in today's society (at least in the US) so as to reinforce the idea that this doesn't occur in our world. And to minimize jokes about 'Bob the Barbarian' and the like.
Taldor does have the Ulfen Guard, so that could be suitable enough for what the OP has in mind.
We generalize and say Taldor is where those with British accents hail from, but I don't think that's intended. I just haven't found another land that fits within our vision of Golarion and, well, I like having npc's with British accents.
In my game, Chelaxians are the ones with the British accents.
Yes, I am deliberately exploiting the Evil Brit TV trope.
To the OP's question... they could be from anywhere.
For a huge swath of human history, only nobles had family names. Common folk only had a given name. Since there are often a lot of people in a given area with the same given name (whether that's "John" or "Hrothgar"), people still needed to use some distinction between different people despite a family name.
These distinctions could include a person's profession (e.g. "Smith" or "Wainwright"), a patronymic [father's name] (e.g. "Johnson" or "MacDonald"), physical description (e.g. "Black" or "Small"), or where they lived (e.g. "Banks" or "Forest").
Thus, "John Smith" meant "John the blacksmith." "Mary Banks" meant "Mary who lives by the river." "Patrick MacDonald" meant "Patrick, son of Donald". And "Sarah Black" meant "Sarah with the black hair."
Once names of common people began to be entered into the written record (e.g. for taxation purposes), these descriptors of individuals morphed into family names.
So... common folk from anywhere in a fantasy game world can have names like those!
[Oh, and to this day, there are still places that don't use family names. E.g. Most Icelanders have a given name and patronymic, with no family name: "Brigid Arisdottir" literally means that the woman's name is Brigid, and her father's name is Ari.]
The names are intended to not be typical names in today's society (at least in the US) so as to reinforce the idea that this doesn't occur in our world. And to minimize jokes about 'Bob the Barbarian' and the like.
If I remember correctly, there was a list of suggested names for one of the monster races... orcs or hobgoblins, I think... that was altered because some of the names were actual names in Turkish.
So the name thing is intended not to include *any* actual real-world names, is my understanding.
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I'd echo Haladir's suggestion for Cheliax. I consider that empire to be a combination of the British Empire at the height of its colonial power, the warring noble houses of Renaissance Italy, and devil Nazis. Chelaxians have pale skin, but usually dark hair. Some Ulfen influence might manifest as blonde hair, though I seem to recall that Titus Scarnetti has either gray or light blonde hair.
so all white people are barbarians or evil empire guys. Got it.
so all white people are barbarians or evil empire guys. Got it.
Now now, there is still Andoran (EAGLELAND), which is pretty much one of the nicest nations in the Inner Sea.
There is also Ustalav and Brevoy of course.
Of course, at the end of the day, you can always create your own nation and then insert into the Pathfinder setting. Nothing stopping ya!
Lastwall could be played as Arthurian britain, if you were looking for that kind of culture. It's a bit more northern too, so would perhaps suit looks-wise.
I think you're out of luck with the naming thing - the short answer is that there isn't anywhere with non-fantasy sounding names.
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I describe my cleric as being fair-skinned with beach blond hair - he needs a homeland to fill his character sheet slot...but it seems to me that everyone in Golarion is bronze!!!!!
it's more likely I'm not looking hard enough...
Any help will be appreciated.
Ulfen are fair-skinned and often blonde and 'blues eyes from the North.' Someone who'se not built (or wired) like a stereotypical Viking might be motivated to get the heck out of the Linnorm-King-Lands, since he's coming from a pretty judge-y culture that expects a lot of mead-swilling, pillaging and brawling from it's people. Not everybody wants to be Fighty McSmashBeardFist, and maybe he just wanted to be a dentist...
The Jadwiga of Irrisen are presented as pale-skinned (sometimes even practically albino), fair-haired and with light-colored eyes. Male Jadwiga, in particular, would be likely to travel, particularly when their particular family falls out of power at the end of each groups reign, when it becomes less 'fun' to be a member of the privileged elite, with the new family moving in and taking all the good jobs (and, being male, having less status anyway).
Finally, the people of Brevoy have a eastern European / Slavic feel to them, and might be pale as well (although the art tends to depict them with dark hair, and the Surtova Regent seems pretty swarthy). Still, blonde hair and blue eyes seems to thematically fit the northern Brevic people, who live near the Lake of Mists and Veils. The aforementioned lake (and northern climate) sure sounds like the stereotypically mist-shrouded regions of northern Europe / Great Britain.
Bear in mind that there's been a *ton* of cultural cross-contamination in Golarion (thanks to ten thousand years of travel between cultures, unlike our world). The nominal leader of Andoran is black, as is the Iconic Investigator *from Galt* (fantasy mid-Terror France). And the Investigator's not the only figure from Galt to be black, if the picture of the Gralton council from River Kingdom's is any indication. These nations are pretty darn far away from the Mwangi Expanse, and it's presented as a non-issue, so it should be equally a non-issue for someone who was born in Qadira, surrounded by 'fantasy Persians,' to be blonde or a Varisian 'gypsy' to be have bronze skin and white hair (like Seoni).
Certain places are pretty much built around being communities of expatriates (such as Kaer Maga) or 'hives of scum and villainy' with all sorts of trash washing up in their communities (Riddleport) or just breathtakingly cosmopolitan (Absalom), making them also ideal starting points for people of no locally common coloration, language or culture.
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so all white people are barbarians or evil empire guys. Got it.
Not remotely. Taldor is both Neutral and civilized, while Andoran, Lastwall, and various other Avistani countries are Good aligned and civilized as well.
But you asked for British, which there isn't a good equivalent for, and so various nations get thrown out including both the barbaric and the Evil.
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Echoing the statements of Kvantum and Steve Geddes, Mendev is a great choice if you really wanna go "British Isles Arthurian" as it's a melting pot of Sarkorian "Celtic" tradition with Taldan "Roman/Byzantine" tradition. Plus there IS an example of a blonde Taldan knight in Inner Sea Races.
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People with Ulfen ancestry are pale--so the Ulfen themselves, Chelaxians, the people of Irrisen and other northern countries, etc. There's a fair number of Ulfen-descended people in Varisia, too. (Taldans are pretty much Azlanti + (proto-)Keleshites, so they're more bronze-skinned and usually dark-haired, but again, Taldor's an empire that has incorporated a lot of different people from different areas of Avistan, so they're not monolithic in appearance.)
I mean, given that "whiteness" is very much a cultural construct defined by what it's not in the real world rather than an actual culture/ethnicity, there's not a direct analogue to it in Golarion.
If what you're asking for is cultures similar to Western Europe, there are a ton--Taldor definitely has echoes of the British Empire, Rome, etc. Lastwall and Mendev have Arthurian parallels, Andoran is American/French-revolution-ish, Cheliax is very Old Europe, Galt is French-ish, the Ulfen are Viking-ish, and so on. The Kellids are vaguely Celtic.
If what you're looking for is blondes/redheads, they're the norm among the people/in the areas I listed up in that first paragraph, and given that people travel and the Ulfen hire out as mercenaries all over the Inner Sea area, so there's nothing stopping you from having a blonde or super-pale character anywhere in the Inner Sea. They're just not going to be the norm in most places.
all of those nations you mentioned describe the people as bronze skinned or some other shade of brown....
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There's always the tried and true "John Carter of Mars" method of reaallly wishing your character into the Golarion campaign setting; the beauty of all this? It doesn't have to be an actual real-life Earth nation as the original starting point; it could be from other campaign settings like Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Nyambe, Wheel of Time, Star Trek, the Nasuverse, Touhou, and so on. ;)
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Well, this made me curious, so I went and looked up what I could find about the skin tones of the 25 or so Golarion human ethnicities I'm familiar with. I've pasted that in below for anybody who's interested.
As far as the OP goes, as others have said, naming conventions on Golarion are different enough that you're not going to find what you're looking for, which is no reason you can't just say, "Hey, this person's name is Rodrick Smythe-Smith-Smythe, deal with it." I think most folks would be fine with that.
I think the ethnicity you're looking for is probably Chelaxian, as others have suggested. Chelaxians aren't just in Cheliax. They're also widely present in Andoran, Galt, Isger, Molthune, Nirmathas, and Varisia, which offers you a nice variety of cultures to choose among.
Cheers,
Christopher
Typical Skin Tones of the Known Human Ethnicities of Golarion
Azlanti: “Although true Azlanti no longer exist… Azlanti had bronze-colored skin…” —Inner Sea Races, p. 16
Bonuwat: “…swarthy…” —Heart of the Jungle, p. 12 | one of the extremely varied Mwangi peoples, who have “little to mark them as a single people beyond a strong and usually broad bone structure, dark skin tones, and a tendency toward dark hair.” —Inner Sea World Guide, p. 36
Bekyar: One of the extremely varied Mwangi peoples, who have “little to mark them as a single people beyond a strong and usually broad bone structure, dark skin tones, and a tendency toward dark hair.” —Inner Sea World Guide, p. 36
Chelaxians: “…offset the dark hair and deep-brown or midnight-blue eyes of their Taldan forebears with the paler skin tones of the Ulfen.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 20
Erutaki: I couldn’t find anything about their skin tones.
Garundi: “Their skin tones occupy a spectrum ranging from tawny to dark russet.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 24
Iobarians: “…the Iobarian people have a wide range of complexions…” —Inner Sea Races, p. 65
Jadwiga: “Most Jadwiga have very pale complexions…” —Inner Sea Races, p. 65
Keleshites: “Olive-toned, tawny, or gold complexions are most common among people from the various desert reaches of the empire, though residents of forested areas tend to be paler and inhabitants of the deep desert have dark bronze or umber skin.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 28
Kellids: “The Kellids’ rugged lifestyle shapes their features, making their naturally light brown skin deeply tanned and weathered from a life outdoors.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 32
Mauxi: “…ash-gray skin…” —Heart of the Jungle, p. 12 | one of the extremely varied Mwangi peoples, who have “little to mark them as a single people beyond a strong and usually broad bone structure, dark skin tones, and a tendency toward dark hair.” —Inner Sea World Guide, p. 36
Shoanti: “Though their skin tones vary at birth from medium fawn to dark brown, most have ruddy undertones, and by the time Shoanti are old enough to walk, any skin not usually covered by clothing has taken on a deep tan.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 40
Taldans: “…most Taldans possess naturally bronze skin…” —Inner Sea Races, p. 44
Tian-Dans: “…dark tan skin that approaches various shades of brown.” —Dragon Empires Gazetteer, p. 5
Tian-Dtangs: “…tan skin.” —Dragon Empires Gazetteer, p. 5
Tian-Hwans: “…tan skin.” —Dragon Empires Gazetteer, p. 5
Tian-Las: “Their skin is typically relatively light.” —Dragon Empires Gazetteer, p. 6
Tian-Mins: “Pale skin is considered the most attractive…” (but note that this doesn’t necessarily indicate that all Tian-Mins are pale skinned). —Dragon Empires Gazetteer, p. 6
Tian-Shus: “…dusky skin…” —Dragon Empires Gazetteer, p. 6
Tian-Sings: “…have the darkest of Tian skin tones, ranging from tan to dark brown.” —Dragon Empires Gazetteer, p. 6
Ulfen: “Their skin is naturally pale, but often weathered to a ruddy hue.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 52
Varisians: “Their skin tones range from pale in the east to richer hues in the west.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 56
Varki: I couldn’t find anything about their skin tones.
Vudrani: “Their skin usually has warm undertones, ranging from gold to mahogany.” —Inner Sea Races, p. 60
Zenj: “…darker-skinned…” —Heart of the Jungle, p. 13 | one of the extremely varied Mwangi peoples, who have “little to mark them as a single people beyond a strong and usually broad bone structure, dark skin tones, and a tendency toward dark hair.” —Inner Sea World Guide, p. 36
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Echoing the statements of Kvantum and Steve Geddes, Mendev is a great choice if you really wanna go "British Isles Arthurian" as it's a melting pot of Sarkorian "Celtic" tradition with Taldan "Roman/Byzantine" tradition. Plus there IS an example of a blonde Taldan knight in Inner Sea Races.
I never even thought about Mendev, but yeah, it sounds like the best option now that you put it that way.
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Echoing the statements of Kvantum and Steve Geddes, Mendev is a great choice if you really wanna go "British Isles Arthurian" as it's a melting pot of Sarkorian "Celtic" tradition with Taldan "Roman/Byzantine" tradition. Plus there IS an example of a blonde Taldan knight in Inner Sea Races.I never even thought about Mendev, but yeah, it sounds like the best option now that you put it that way.
*bows* Thank yew!
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all of those nations you mentioned describe the people as bronze skinned or some other shade of brown....
Andoran is inhabited by the descendants of Taldane colonists and the locals of the area, plus a fair number of Chelish. They're pale skinned in just about all the art. As are the people of Lastwall, who are also probably partly Taldane.
So...no. That's not actually accurate at all.