Questions about obtaining non-core rule book items and getting an idea of the PF world background

[Grcles de Cross]

Thank you all for helping me with these questions:

I have a Rogue and a Fighter I would like to get some gear for that is not listed in the Core Rule Book. I have found some of it in the Nethys Archives listings and some under the MODS section. How do I go about getting these items without them first showing up in Chronicles reward sheet? For instance, I would like to have smoke bombs (fill a 5 ft area with thick smoke obscuring vision and allowing my Rogue to sneak up and do extra damage. Or a "stone of silence" that causes an area effect that masks the sound of someone sneaking up or saying a spell. Some of these would have to be "crafted". Both of my characters have Alchemy skills chosen. Do I just buy the ingredients and roll against the DC, or do I need to "find an alchemist in the big city" and buy it from them?

The second question is maybe easier. I am a bit of a history buff. I like the idea of going into an adventure knowing something about the background of the area and the people/creatures that are there. I get the impression that the older players know this stuff because of there long playing time. How do I catch up? I am guessing that this will not all change with 2E in 2019. Am I wrong?

Thanks again!!

[Dave Justus]

For the second question, you want to start with the Inner Sea World guide, which is basically the gazetteer of Golarion along with a history and other information about the world.

[Duiker]

What Dave Justus said: Inner Sea World Guide is fantastic, and also the individual campaign setting books for specific nations are wonderful as well.

From the first question, it sounds like you're playing PFS, so I flagged this post to get bumped over into the PFS specific forums. Long story short: for items outside the CRB they need to be explicitly allowed by the Additional Resources page of this website (which lists what stuff is allowed in PFS from every book), and in addition, you need to own the book in question and bring it to the session (whether it's PDF, physical copy, etc.)

[Azothath]

I think there are two books that are essential for PFS; Adv Players Guide, Animal Archive.
There's so much stuff in the APG it's crazy. You could alternatively buy a couple of the Ultimate books. The pdfs are less expensive than the hard copies. You could also buy them at used book stores as they've been out awhile.
Inner Sea World Guide has a lot of background info.
In PFS you have to own the sourcebook to access the material.

Magic items in PFS is (putting up yellow tape) a no go zone. LoL... there are a few exceptions like wizards bonded objects and alchemist class potions and infusions, some special stuff on chronicles and probably a few other class exceptions. In PFS you pretty much buy everything and sell at half. So don't ever sell nuthin.
Also don't be a mooch. Spend 2 PA on a wand of Cure Light Wounds or Infernal Healing. Heighten Awareness is probably your next wand choice.

Run over and read PFS Items that can save you in 2018 thread.

[Azothath]

The "history" of Golorian is, umm, made up and pasted together. It is a work of fiction by many authors knitted together. It is kinda a high magic generic nice politically correct fantasy setting, especially in PFS where the negatives are muted and there are no evil aligned characters on the player side. Players are forbidden from damaging other players by collateral damage without consent and may have to change their action to a possibly less 'effective' option. So organized play impacts the interpretation of the fantasy setting.