Advanced Player Guide, or Character Guide?

[Sparky, the Electric Bard]

I'm relatively new to PF2,and operating on a budget. Which of the two should I get first? Does one of these emphasize new races where the other emphasizes new ancestries & feats?

Please tell me which one you bought first, and why.

[Ruzza]

A quick explanation: The Advanced Player's Guide is a part of the "Core" line and the Character Guide is a part of the "Lost Omens" line.

Generally, Core is going to expand on existing elements that you saw in the Core rulebook: More ancestries, more classes, more archetypes, more spells, more feats, more everything. It's also considered a part of the main book line for consideration in the future.

Lost Omens focuses on expanding the world of Golarion more, with an eye on Golarion-centric mechanics. It's going to be heavier on lore, but also have their own internal dedications (like the Hellknight, Pathfinder, and Lastwall knight dedications). Yes, there are ancestries, but they aren't considered "Core" (though I'll be surprised if any table says no to a leshy because they appeared in a Lost Omens book).

So, I would grab the Advanced Player's Guide, personally. If you're interested on the mechanical innards, you can see them on AoN.

Advanced Players' Guide

Lost Omens Character Guide

[CrystalSeas]

I agree totally with Ruzza

The Advanced Players Guide is one of the 7 core rulebooks that have been published so far:
1) Core Rulebook
2) Game Mastery Guide
3) Bestiary
4) Advanced Players Guide
5) Bestiary 2
6) Bestiary 3
7) Beginner Box

They are setting-independent for the most part, although the Core Rulebook does have a chapter about the Lost Omens setting.

The Lost Omens Character Guide is one of the books that gives details about the world of Golarion. So far in the Second Edition, Paizo has published
1) LO World Guide
2) LO Character Guide
3) LO Gods & Magic
4) LO Legends
5) LO Pathfinder Society Guide
6) LO Ancestry Guide

Which one to buy first depends entirely on how you intend to use it. If you're trying to create a character that is well-integrated into the Golarion setting, buy the Character Guide.

If you're playing in a Pathfinder game set in a home-brew world, or if you're less interested in Golarion details and more interested in advanced RPG character building, buy the Advanced Players Guide.

[Perpdepog]

I third what Ruzza said. If you are looking for pure bang for your buck as far as purchases go, Advanced Players Guide is hands down better. It has seven more ancestries than Character Guide, four classes to CG's zero, as well as feats and some other goodies thrown in. Character Guide does have some unique items and thematic archetypes for Golarion, but if it was a choice between the two APG would win hands down for me.

And to answer your question of which I bought first, it was Character Guide. It came out first and I always get the PDF at midnight of its launch, ha. If I had been starting out now, however, I'd have gone APG.

[Arachnofiend]

You can also just use Archives of Nethys as a reference if money is really an issue. AoN cites its sources on content if you find a lot of options you like from a specific Lost Omens supplement then you can target that rather than buying them all. I don't think I'd buy any LO books before the APG though, unless you just really hate the 4 classes in the APG.

[Watery Soup]

Sparky, the Electric Bard wrote:

Please tell me which one you bought first, and why.

I bought the APG first, because I bought it before the LOCG was published. :D

More helpfully, though, everyone's given good reasons why the APG is likely a better purchase. On top of that, if you participate in Organized Play, almost everything in LOCG is gated behind access restrictions while only some of what's in the APG is.

[Sparky, the Electric Bard]

Thank you!

[Perpdepog]

Also, if you want to grab some other rulebooks, Paizo just started a Humble Bundle for some of them.