How Does Mail Work in the Inner Sea?


Pathfinder Second Edition General Discussion

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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

As the title says... how does mail work in the campaign setting? Are there "Ravens" carrying mail like GoT? Or some other fantastical method of getting a letter from point A to point B? Or is it all couriers on horseback?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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There's not one centralized solution; any method of delivery service that you've seen in history or fiction could likely work. There are messages carried by animals (be they trained or sent via an animal messenger spell), but there's also courier services where folks deliver things by hand as well. The latter is the assumed baseline, with pretty much all towns or cities offering the service—if a description of a town doesn't specifically call out a courier service, then you can assume it's either handled by general stores or town halls.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Wow, OP asked a question I did not know I was very interested in the answer to, and James Jacobs himself immediately provided. I give this thread a 10/10.


Adventures in mail delivery!


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I now kind of really want an AP where the PCs are postal workers and are duty bound to deliver their charges despite comically difficult conditions.


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Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor Orc invasion shall stop us from our appointed rounds.

Warning: Deliveries in dragon or kobold-run areas will incur additional charges.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Hell, an AP where the PCs estabish a reliable international (planetary or interplanetary, perhaps, since 2E Aps go all the way to 20!) postal system would let us do some globetrotting without getting too heavily into colonialist tropes...


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It'd be like Council of Thieves or Skull & Shackles, except a postal network...a very contentious postal system with lethal rivals.

Fighter: "Remember when delivering mail meant facing bandits?"
Wizard nods as she preps the packaged divinity for transport to his home plane's resuscitating pool. "Yep. Let's hope our distraction fools those Pit Fiends."
Cleric: "Those genius-level Pit Fiends?"
...

"Candygram for Runelord Zutha."


It's been done.
"The Crying of Lot 69", Thomas Pynchon

"The Crying of Lot 49 (1965) is the shortest novel published by American author Thomas Pynchon. The narrative follows Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman, who begins to embrace a conspiracy theory as she possibly unearths a centuries-old conflict between two mail distribution companies; only one of these companies, Thurn and Taxis, actually existed (1806–67) and was the first private firm to distribute postal mail. "

Sovereign Court

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We Await Silent Tarbaphon's Empire?

Actually, casting the Aroden/Tar-Baphon feud in the light of The Crying of Lot 69 would put an entirely new spin on things...


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Cole Deschain wrote:
Hell, an AP where the PCs estabish a reliable international (planetary or interplanetary, perhaps, since 2E Aps go all the way to 20!) postal system would let us do some globetrotting without getting too heavily into colonialist tropes...

And everyone gets to wear golden suits.


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An AP where you're proactively making Golarion a better place by fostering communication and exchange of ideas rather than reactively saving it from some big bad would be rather refreshing.


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You take chain links or whole scales, mesh them together into a suit of armor, and it helps to prevent your squishy body from taking so much harm.

I'm fairly sure that's how mail works outside the Inner Sea, too.


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The Inspectors is an American crime drama television series centering on the criminal investigations of U.S. postal inspectors; the half-hour series aired on Saturday mornings on CBS as part of the network's Dream Team Saturday morning three-hour block of children's programming.

If this can be a children's show, then it can be an AP.


Courier servicemen viable campaign. Anyone watch The Young Riders back in the day?

Sovereign Court

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scary harpy wrote:
If this can be a children's show, then it can be an AP.

Words to live by :P


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Well, near where I live there's an improv comedy show called "Dorks in Dungeons" and the premise is that they are mail carriers in a fantasy setting. It's a real hoot, as improv typically goes, things go off the rails in a hurry and they get into all manner of hijinks.


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I would also like to say that a mail service AP would be very fun.


Look if Fallout New Vegas can be based entirely around the premise that you're a courier, we could certainly have an AP based around it.

*Please note FNV is one of my favorite games, but really it could work. It's also worth mentioning that conveying a package is really just a plot hook to get you to New Vegas which can be as much as about half way through the game, or about a 30 minute sprint into the game at level 5 with a stealth boy trying to avoid cazadores and dethclaws just long enough that you can sneak the rest of the way to New Vegas. I mean, you're not supposed to go that way, but you totally can.


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Bro, I think I was something like 30-35 hours into the game before I remembered I was supposed to be delivering a package to New Vegas. Took me like another 20 before so got around to it. I love F:NV.


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Nocte ex Mortis wrote:
Bro, I think I was something like 30-35 hours into the game before I remembered I was supposed to be delivering a package to New Vegas. Took me like another 20 before so got around to it. I love F:NV.

I mean, you just survived a bullet wound to the head. It's okay to forget things.


I could see temples of Abadar providing postal service as part of their support for cities and civilization. Now, maybe they don't do rural deliveries...


Abadarian banks are already a thing between larger settlements. Seems easy to set up a mail system since they already have to communicate account information.


And followers of Desna would probably make for good couriers due to all the travelling and whatnot.

And two of my fave characters I ever played were a Messenger in Earthdawn and a Runebearer in WHFRP, so I really do dig the concept of the mailman hero.

Really, courier services are a super easy way to frame adventures, especially in places without a large transport infrastructre.

Liberty's Edge

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The REAL question for me then would be, "Where in the Inner Sear Region would be the best location for a commercial network of Clacks Towers?"

Sovereign Court

Themetricsystem wrote:

The REAL question for me then would be, "Where in the Inner Sear Region would be the best location for a commercial network of Clacks Towers?"

Taldor is struggling to reinvent itself / prevent those modernists from squandering our traditional values. I think that makes it a good setting for such a storyline.

Horizon Hunters

PossibleCabbage wrote:
I now kind of really want an AP where the PCs are postal workers and are duty bound to deliver their charges despite comically difficult conditions.

The questgiver is a Ranger with a huge Siberian tiger called Jess.


Should I ask if the Inner Sea has public libraries here or start a new thread?

I am half-wondering if libraries could inspire an AP and am unsure what to do.

Verdant Wheel

scary harpy wrote:

Should I ask if the Inner Sea has public libraries here or start a new thread?

I am half-wondering if libraries could inspire an AP and am unsure what to do.

Yes.


The postal service or library theme might be better framed as extended modules spanning several levels. Unless there was more to the postal service, like diplomatic services or something fantastic. Somehow have to keep the story arc linked even as customers & sites change.

The library could be a major dungeon! There could be several sub-societies living within it.
Champion: "Hey, the necromancy wing!"
Rest of party: "We are NOT going in there."
Champion: "Why not?"
Wizard: "Because we haven't found its phylactery yet."
Champion: "Whose?"
Wizard: "Think about it."
Cleric: "Yep. Pretty inevitable."

That said, I had mixed feelings about the library portions/research of Mummy's Mask though it'd be easier to balance difficulty (et al) in PF2.


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Pretty sure it's delivered by pegasus


I feel like the postal service AP can span 20 levels since you can always deliver more outlandish things to more outlandish places. It's as simple a pretense for plane hopping as anything, and who are you going to send to deliver a package to the Negative Energy Plane besides "high level badasses"?


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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Can already see a title for one of the books... "Don't Kill the Messenger"


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Don't know how popular this still is but regarding a postal service AP I am definitely getting some serious Jules Verne vibes:

The Courier of the Czar

Dark Archive

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Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

I'm imagining this as a spin-off or side setting to the Agents of Edgewatch.

___

The party are summoned to the manor of the Primarch, in the Wise quarter of Absalom.

As they arrive, they are greeted by a servant who explains that Master Starborn and the Watcher-Lord are currently awaiting them in the grand study.

Upon arriving at the study, the group finds that 5 large, comfy, armchairs have been placed before a long expensive looking wooden desk. Behind the desk, in a lavish chair, close to a throne, sits a dark-skinned human man, with black hair and a small black beard. Standing next to the elaborate hearth behind behind the desk, Watcher-Lord Ulthun II's handsome face peers into a tumbler of brown liquid.

As the servant ushers the party to find their seats, the man sitting at the desk finishes writing something on a slip of paper, and appears to notice the party for the first time.

"Oh, good good, you've made it." He too picks up a tumbler of brown liquid, downing it in one without a moment's hesitation.

The servant retrieves the slip of paper from the Primarchs desk and slips it into a waiting shealth. In a low voice he mutters to the servant "And do try to find their next of kin, won't you", he says, bobbing his head ever so slightly in the direction of the party.

As the servant scurries away, the Primarch smiles in an almost embarrassed fashion at the group assembled before him.

"Look, I'll be brief. Ulthun and I have come to a decision about fate. Expressly about the fate of the our poor Precipice Quarter and in-expressly about the fate of each of you."

"A new seat is being added to the low-council, a new embassy is being established in old Bluffs, a whole new service branch is being added to the city, and all of it is being helmed by Ulthun here."

Taking a moment to contemplate the empty tumbler, he carries on. "More importantly to you chaps however, is that he is being placed in direct command of you and will be the one you have to report to.

The Tower of the Broken Shield is being assigned into your care, for use, upkeep and restore thereof, and... well... Ulthun, perhaps you would be best to..."

The imposing man crosses the distance between the fireplace and the front of the desk in three quick, efficient strides.

His voice is raspy, when he speaks his words are clipped.

"I am creating a new fighting force. This force will ensure that what happened at Lastwall will never happen here. This force will be made up of only the bravest, strongest, most intelligent and honest soldiers we can find. This force will require supplies, logistical intelligence, the highest grade of weapons and armour, powerful magic, and most importantly, strong commanders and leaders.

You five... will carry all of those things to all those people. As of today, you are all Postmen!"
___

Dark Archive

scary harpy wrote:
Should I ask if the Inner Sea has public libraries here or start a new thread?

PFS scenario Echoes of the Overwatched visits Forae Logos in Absalom, one of the largest libraries in the world.


ZomB wrote:
scary harpy wrote:
Should I ask if the Inner Sea has public libraries here or start a new thread?
PFS scenario Echoes of the Overwatched visits Forae Logos in Absalom, one of the largest libraries in the world.

Good to know. Thanks.

I asked because I thought most medieval libraries were private...and nothing like we think of public libraries today (so I wouldn't expect a section dedicated to children's literature...or magazines).

Now back to the topic: adventures in postal service.

(Brilliant post, Old_Man_Robot. LOL!)


Cole Deschain wrote:
Hell, an AP where the PCs estabish a reliable international (planetary or interplanetary, perhaps, since 2E Aps go all the way to 20!) postal system would let us do some globetrotting without getting too heavily into colonialist tropes...

Could very well tie into that "Return stolen artifacts back to the original owners" idea that was proposed on the AP Themes thread.

Dark Archive

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Once you get PCs with dream message or sending this AP likely becomes a whole lot easier.

Grand Lodge

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Meh. In most fantasy worlds there is no mail service. If you want to send something to someone, you either jump on a horse and take it to them, or put one of your servants on a horse. It would be pretty rare to trust a perfect stranger with anything of value or with your personal correspondence. If you are wealthy or magically inclined there are "carrier" pigeons and spells that can transmit your package or even you to facilitate the delivery.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Postal/courier AP: Aw yeah!

Library AP: *insert Kermit flailing gif* That would be a contender for my favorite AP ever. (Especially if I got to write for it. *cough*)

scary harpy wrote:
ZomB wrote:
scary harpy wrote:
Should I ask if the Inner Sea has public libraries here or start a new thread?
PFS scenario Echoes of the Overwatched visits Forae Logos in Absalom, one of the largest libraries in the world.

Good to know. Thanks.

I asked because I thought most medieval libraries were private...and nothing like we think of public libraries today (so I wouldn't expect a section dedicated to children's literature...or magazines).

Now back to the topic: adventures in postal service.

(Brilliant post, Old_Man_Robot. LOL!)

Public libraries as we currently define them are actually a pretty recent development, only dating back to the 19th century or so (at least in Britain & America, not sure about elsewhere). They were actually pretty controversial at first because of bias against "the rabble" being able to study and learn things like the wealthy elite.

Medieval libraries were private, owned by individuals, the Church, or universities, and literacy wasn't anywhere near as widespread as it seems to be on Golarion. We can assume that libraries are probably more common on Golarion since there are more people who could make use of them, although whether or not they'd be what we understand as "public" probably depends on the library.

A postal service/courier service would probably be pretty popular for much the same reason: more people writing letters to each other (unless they're rich enough to afford magical communication). The mail was delivered several time a day in Regency England...big cities in Golarion probably have communication networks that function at least that frequently.


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Building a postal network, could be fairly involved - a little like building a kingdom, but a lot more geographically diverse.

I really quite like this idea.

Obviously Terry Pratchet's Going Postal could serve good source inspiration.

Liberty's Edge

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Golarion has near-universal literacy (at least in the Inner Sea region and Tian Xia, the two regions we've had info on), and the printing press. So public libraries seem quite possible.

The one example that I know of of a Golarion library's actual workings is the Great Library of Tephu (featured in Mummy's Mask) which seems to have a graded system, with part of it publicly available, part restricted by a high access fee (50 gp a day in PF1 money), and a third part only accessible to those with the right political/religious connections.

Whether that's reflective of other libraries is a bit of an open question, really, but it's not treated as amazing or exceptional that the library would have a section readily available to the public.

Dark Archive

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Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber
Ramanujan wrote:

Building a postal network, could be fairly involved - a little like building a kingdom, but a lot more geographically diverse.

I really quite like this idea.

Obviously Terry Pratchet's Going Postal could serve good source inspiration.

I think it would be a great success as a fully designed AP with Kingmaker elements.

One of my most beloved games of all time was when my entire party agreed to throw out the plot and start a mining company.

We bartered with landowners for property shares, and took missions from the king not for treasure, but for exclusive mining rights over certain areas. We worked out our own downtime rules (this being the 3.0 days) and modified some baronies style rules from AD&D modules, and cobbled ourselves together a campaign of economic conquest.

We called ourselves the Adventure Capitalists League, and we had a blast.

All but one of us ended up being torn limb from limb after a flight of dragons decided that our accumulated mineral wealth was an affront to dragon hordes everywhere.


Between the Pathfinder Society, Abadar churches*, and various multinational consortia, I'd expect there'd already be a postal service. Due to APs (et al) not needing them, they've gone unmentioned.

One could pave the way to an AP by introducing a postal system that's been offscreen the whole while. Then destroy it, with the party left to rebuild from the ashes (perhaps with the help/rivalry of those listed above). This would allow for several stages of power levels up to the final threat which destroyed the system to begin with.

*It'd be profitable, plus they likely require an internal one anyway.

----
I wonder if a book full of 1st-20th arcs would be desirable?
Maybe they individually lack broad enough appeal for a formal AP, but still have potential. Maybe 10 pages each, like a summary of places and hooks. Hmm.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

Scaling and stakes would be something that would drive the higher levels of the adventure.

The early parts would be fun, kingdom building, style adventures where you have to clear routes, establish post offices, deal with corrupt regional officials and harsh environments, recruit stalwart postal workers, etc.

Then you kick up the stakes.

Perhaps a looming threat requires constant cross-Golarian communication, the world can set up the magical means to do so while also focusing on the threat "WAIT! Those postal people who are setting up that network, it's the perfect means to do this!"

Advocates of the threat aren't pleased however, the postal service has to militarise and expand to be able to keep logistics going.

As things escalate there is need of some extraplanar offices, perhaps a demi-plane of post is created.

At the end the threat is defeated and the world is more united than ever thanks to the efforts of the party and the postal service.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I always figured there had to be some form of postal service, just so that I could be subscribed to the Pathfinder Chronicles.


It all depends how fantasy you want it.

First, who is even sending mail? Can most people on Golarion even read and write? Or afford parchment to write on?
If not there will not be much demand for mail or you have to offer "voice mail", meaning to courier relays the message verbally and comes back with the answer if all the ambiguity that happens during such a process.

And then the question is who is already using a mail system. Is there already an organization which does it, or do the organization which rely on mail like the nobility, trading houses, etc. all have their own system in place.


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My understanding is that literacy is close to universal in most Golarion cultures (like, every PFS character is assumed to be able to read no matter their background). And doesn't Golarion have printing presses already? So they presumably have actual paper to write on, not just parchment.


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A writing set costs 1 gp, and extra ink and paper cost 1 sp. Plus there are formula books and spell books readily available. These are all common items.

Historically, in relatively illiterate societies, there was someone (often a cleric) who could write out messages for you, and read the ones you received.

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