Game of Thrones style intrigue — where in Golarion?

[Luke Styer]

If one were interested in running a game focused on intrigues between noble houses or some other sort of organization, where on Golarion would folks suggest such a thing be set? What book or book would be a good source related to folks’ suggestions?

[Darth Game Master]

Brevoy is the first one that comes to mind, but plenty of other places would work.

[Rysky]

Brevoy or Taldor.

Cheliax and Ustalav would also work.

Definitely Irrisen.

[keftiu]

Taldor, Brevoy, Cheliax, and Qadira are probably the top contenders. Geb has similar intrigues intrigues among the Blood Lords, and Nex likewise for the Arclords. I imagine Lingshen has similar stuff going on, but there’s not much canon Tian lore to enable such a thing.

[Sibelius Eos Owm]

I want to add my vote for Brevoy, too, not because I don't think you've heard, but because so far no one has mentioned that Brevoy actually takes noticeable inspiration from Westeros, with detail on its various noble houses, missing dragon conqueror, and factional struggle of a country that used to be two. It's the setting's love letter to what was at the time an obscure fantasy series.

The other suggestions are excellent options, too, but Brevoy is made to emulate ASoIaF, so see if it fits your vision first, then move on if it's not quite the aesthetic you're looking for.

[Rysky]

Yep yep!

[keftiu]

Absolutely - and if you go for it, there’s some fascinating stuff about the nation, its history, and dragons revealed in Lost Omens: Legends.

Qadiran intrigue is one of the things I want most, though.

[Temperans]

Surprised people mentioned Brevoy but not the River Kingdoms (even wilder game of thrones) and Iobaria (post-apocalyptic game of thrones).

If you want more a norse/viking/Beowulf feel there is the Land of the Linnorn Kings.

[Kasoh]

If you want to go supernatural on it, Caliphas in Ustalav is secretly ruled by Vampires who try to maintain the masquerade. So Vampire faction politics, Mortal institution politics, and the messy and bloody area where they meet. Rule of Fear is the Ustalav book, and Book 5 of Carrion Crown spends the majority of the adventure there interacting with some of those factions.

[keftiu]

Temperans wrote:

Surprised people mentioned Brevoy but not the River Kingdoms (even wilder game of thrones) and Iobaria (post-apocalyptic game of thrones).

If you want more a norse/viking/Beowulf feel there is the Land of the Linnorn Kings.

I don’t know that Iobaria has the population for any kind of political plot.

[Temperans]

keftiu wrote:

Temperans wrote:

Surprised people mentioned Brevoy but not the River Kingdoms (even wilder game of thrones) and Iobaria (post-apocalyptic game of thrones).

If you want more a norse/viking/Beowulf feel there is the Land of the Linnorn Kings.

I don’t know that Iobaria has the population for any kind of political plot.

Because the population is so low is that each NPC becomes that much more important. Losing 10 out 1000 people is sad. But losing 10 out of 100 is devastating.

Also, like I said it's a very "post-apocalyptic" type area. Which is a cool setting with a lot of potential.

[Gisher]

Temperans wrote:

Surprised people mentioned Brevoy but not the River Kingdoms (even wilder game of thrones) and Iobaria (post-apocalyptic game of thrones).

If you want more a norse/viking/Beowulf feel there is the Land of the Linnorn Kings.

There's even a relevant Background for the River Kingdoms: Aspiring River Monarch.

[James Jacobs]

I can confirm that Brevoy was the part of the world most directly inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire when we were creating the setting (in an era well before any of us knew that HBO would some day years later make show out of it). In those early days, everyone in the editorial department essentially got to choose one region and make it "their own"—both as a way to have everyone in editorial have ownership and pride over the shared setting, but also as a way to spread the work of creation around so we could get the task done in time in those frantic few months during our transition from D&D Magazines to Doing Our Own Thing.

Jeremy Walker, who would be one of the primary developers for the module line, chose Brevoy as his region. He was probably the biggest fan of A Song of Ice and Fire in the office at that time and was eager to build a region where that sort of "game of thrones" style political intrigue involving powerful families and one that might be associated with dragons into the setting. He's long since left the company, and parts of Brevoy have drifted into other tropes, but it remains the most logical place to explore Game of Thones style intrigue as a result of its original inspirational sources.

[Luke Styer]

Brevoy, which is an area to which I’ve not paid a ton of attention, seems like the best bet, so I’m going to start doing a little reading.

Cheliax also seems on-point, and probably has more published material to work with, but may be a little dark for my tastes for long-term play that isn’t of the Hell’s Rebels variety, and I’ve already run Hell’s Rebels.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions, but please feel free to keep them coming!

[Luke Styer]

“James Jacobs” wrote:

Jeremy Walker, who would be one of the primary developers for the module line, chose Brevoy as his region. He was probably the biggest fan of A Song of Ice and Fire in the office at that time and was eager to build a region where that sort of "game of thrones" style political intrigue involving powerful families and one that might be associated with dragons into the setting. He's long since left the company, and parts of Brevoy have drifted into other tropes, but it remains the most logical place to explore Game of Thones style intrigue as a result of its original inspirational sources.

That sounds promising, as I’m more interested in shooting for the flavor of the early books in the series, though thinking back pretty much all the books may have been out in the time-frame we’re discussing.