Pathfinder 2e Lore

[Wind Chime]

So i pretty much have no knowledge of the lore in pathfinder 2e, I tried to use to run my segment of my face to face groups ongoing forgotten realms game (ď&d main setting) but it went poorly, more poorly than me running 5e went im not a great dm but one was silly fun with easy combats that were over proably too quickly and the other was uneven mess that stalled far to often.

So i came to the conclusion that I obviously don't have the magic touch when it comes to pathfinder 2e encounter design. But given our group is kind of falling apart due to covid meaning were not meeting up i volunteered to run something online and thought I would try an AP because then I wouldn't have to encounter design.

Two questions my gonalorian lore is poor, how necessary is to running any of the APs. which AP is easiest to run?

Also just because I m curious did pathfinder 2e have a transformative event like the spellplague between editions to justify the mechanical shift ?

[Grankless]

First off: it's only been about ten years since the "start" of 1E, so 4709-4719 (2009-2019). The world changes are just mostly the events of the other APs ending.

The wiki is a very good resource for lore, as well as the 1E Inner Sea World Guide and the 2e Lost Omens World Guide.

Lore is, of course, a big bonus to most of the APs, but I would say that you as the GM don't need to know too much for the first two, those being Age of Ashes and Extinction Curse. One's a globetrotting adventure, one just goes around one big island. You still need to know some things, but they have full summaries in volume 1 that will give you the gist and tell you what, if anything, you need to look in to (like who Aroden is, etc). AGe of Ashes is *about* the world partially, but it's very exploratory.

There was no Spellplague analogue. The game rules do not reflect the physics of the world; things are just different on our end, as players.

[Wheldrake]

I've been DMing for my group for several years, and one of the players just decided to step (back) up to the DM's chair, so I think your situation may be similar to his.

He has little knowledge of the history and geography of the world of Golarion, and only very recently purchased the first episode of the Age of Ashes AP (just released in French) and decided to run it for us last Sunday.

Age of Ashes is an excellent AP for a novice DM or even an experienced DM unfamiliar with "pathfinder lore". It begins in a small isolated settlement and only later begins spanning the globe of Golarion.

If I were you, I would begin by reading the chapter on Golarion in the Core Rulebook. Then locate the spot where your adventure will start, and do a deep dive (through the Pathfinder Wiki) and fill in some of your blanks.

For example, the Age of Ashes AP begins in Isger, a subjugated client state of Cheliax, one of the major evil-leaning power bases in Golarion. Very evil-leaning, in fact, since it overtly allies itself with a major devil and his cult, the Church of Asmodeus, and practices slavery. Unlike many other former client states of Cheliax, Isger is still under Chellish control, at least nominally. So I felt this was important background information to share with the other players and with our DM, who is still shaky on Golarion lore.

Also important is the fact that 20 years before the present, Isger and its population were almost destroyed by a huge uprising of goblins known as the "Goblinblood wars", leaving many children orphans, some of whom were then raised in orphanages espousing the tenets of the Church of Asmodeus. Also key information for adventurers in Isger who are likely in their early 20s.

Lastly, if you are also unfamiliar with the gods of Golarion, you'll want to do a little research there as well. I prepared a summary sheet for players several years ago, called "the seven good gods and the seven evil gods", just to give novice players an overview of the cults they were most likely to come in contact with. My document is in French, so if the idea interests you, you'll want to cut & paste your own, like I did. Of course, there are a lot more than 14 gods on Golarion, but this list was a good primer for our RotRL campaign several years ago.