It has always been my impression that none of the modules or adventure paths actually happen in the perspective of the various campaign setting books. Even in older modules, there are examples of things to do if certain adventure paths have happened in the campaign. (For example, Academy of Secerts has suggestions on who the royal visitor should be, depending on the played status of Curse of the Crimson Throne in your campaign)
However, "The House on Hook Street" seems to throw a wrench in this, as it seems to indirectly imply that CotCT actually happened. I haven't actually read the path, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the plague mentioned in the backstory of "Hook Street" one that was part of the plot of that second adventure path?
On a similar related note, I see various references to modules in "The Inner Sea World Guide" Particularly, "Conquest of the Bloodsworn Vale."
It just seems to me that the stance I see here is that the books never reference the adventure paths as happening, yet in these cases, it seems they are being referenced by the books.
There've been a very few select books that assume the first three (and only the first three) APs happen. This is one of them. The Shattered Star AP is another.
There are a couple more. For the most part, policy hasn't changed...but there are occasional exceptions regarding those first three.
Wrath of the Righteous is tied in to several PFS scenarios, I believe, as well as at least one of the Tales novels, because they're all linked to the Kenabres incident.
Besides that, Reign of Winter presumably happened or is happening, because it's locked to a date (Baba Yaga's schedule).
I was also reading something recently that implied a lot more knowledge about Thassilon and the Runelords than I would have expected anybody to know, since in RotR it's made semi-clear that only just now is the awareness of that empire seeping into the knowledge of even learned sages. Might have been one of the comics, come to think of it, and how characters knew things that are supposedly rare and difficult to learn. So RotR may have happened in that sense (or knowledge is dispersed another way, rendering RotR superfluous).
I think that the general assumption with most products is that the world state is at a "generic base".
This is a specific decision by Paizo, and a good one at that, so that none of the material directly contradicts or relies on something else having to happen for the story they're telling to have had happen.
For example: yeah, Shattered Star sort of assumes that RotR had occurred and that knowledge of the Runelords has begun to spread.
But then again, it doesn't have to.
If you play Shattered Star without ever realizing RotR exists (assume it's possible), you'll be fine. Nothing in SS (as far as I'm aware) relies on RotR to function, just as pretty much every other product is supposedly standalone.
Although, I do believe the Pathfinder Society world has specifically been said to advance, mainly because that's kind of the point: it's a story that is progressing I time. If I remember correctly, PFS assumes that the PCs were successful in WotR, as the Worldwound has been closed, allowing the Pathfinder Society itself to move on from that area safely. Which I can definitely understand, as not having closure in that sense can break immersion. ("Wait, the Worldwound hasn't even been closed yet? Demons are still roaming free reign over the continent and the Society is ignoring the problem? Okay...")
@Reign of Winter and dates: I believe the standard date for the world of Golarion is actually before the start of any adventure path. Paizo has stated that they don't want to constantly update the world's timeline the way that some older editions have, therefore not putting any sort of pressure on GMs to feel that they "have" to not run a certain campaign because it's "already happened" or whatever. And I personally think keeping the events mostly neutral in the setting is a fantastic idea and a great business decision on Paizo's part.
bigrig107 wrote: @Reign of Winter and dates: I believe the standard date for the world of Golarion is actually before the start of any adventure path. If you check the timeline in the ISWG, you'll note that it only goes up to 4711, the "current year" (since it was released in 2011). However, more recent APs and Chronicle publications, such as the Andoran release, include events that happen after the ISWG date. Specifically for Andoran, in 4712 Codwin wins a third term in office and some political maneuvering takes place, before the "current year" of 4715. So while the ISWG is one baseline, later products have included timeline progression, for those starting campaigns after 4711.
Any GM is free to start a campaign on any date they want. But it would be remiss to not mention dates that are locked in, and RoW is one such because the entire premise relies on Baba Yaga's schedule. It has to begin in or close to 4713.
bigrig, the Worldwound has not been closed in PFS, as far as I know. Season 5 dealt extensively with it, but we never closed it, and I have heard nothing of it being closed in PFS lore.
Reign of Winter needs to happen in 4713, if you're running Golarion as-written, because that's when Baba Yaga comes back.
Now, of course, if you run a campaign after or during 4713, you could say that Reign of Winter doesn't happen and that Baba Yaga came in and took Elvanna away with no problem.
Unless your campaign extends past a century and started in Irrisen, Reign of Winter doesn't really need to start in 4713. There's no impact on anything if Baba Yaga invaded a few years later all those thousands of years ago.
Huh, realized that PFS scenarios can't now ever take place in Irrisen without question "So wait, why is Elvanna still the queen?" being asked xP
Slithery D wrote: Unless your campaign extends past a century and started in Irrisen, Reign of Winter doesn't really need to start in 4713. There's no impact on anything if Baba Yaga invaded a few years later all those thousands of years ago. Well, yeah, in your game, you can have Baba Yaga show up whenever the heck you want, but in canon, she's quite punctual and always comes back to switch people out on the thirteenth year of the century.
Remember that PFS scenarios are different from the official timeline.
PFS is essentially one big homebrew Golarion campaign; I'm pretty sure the devs don't take PFS plotlines much into account when writing any of the other lines.
In the book mythical monsters revisited, the harpy that they have is from the Lagacy of Fire adventure path and it's implied that the events of Legacy of Fire have happened from her entry.
Mavrickindigo wrote: Reign of Winter needs to happen in 4713, if you're running Golarion as-written, because that's when Baba Yaga comes back. Actually, if you read Reign of Winter, it specifically calls out that it happens after Baba Yaga should have come back. That is part (admittedly a minor part) of the point of the AP.
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