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What do you believe to be the safest or most promising place on (or in) Golarion? Pretend for a moment that you are a citizen of that world, have the unique opportunity to go anywhere, and the means to begin preparing a new home for the future of your (current or someday) family. Where would you go and why?
Absalom 100%. Yeah, its the most logical target for BBEGs, but at the same time its the safest place since with the amount of APs that take place there and overall APs in general the amount of 20 level characters in that city can keep you totally safe from harm.
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I'd vote Hermea.
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Absalom 100%. Yeah, its the most logical target for BBEGs, but at the same time its the safest place since with the amount of APs that take place there and overall APs in general the amount of 20 level characters in that city can keep you totally safe from harm.
You may be right, but I don't know if I would consider having lots of 20th level PCs around as being "safe".
Highhelm and Nantambu also come to mind.
It really depends on what you mean by "safe" and "promising", really. There are some that weigh the dangers of living in a civilized metropolitan area like Absalom as higher than the dangers of wildlife and separation that rural life proposes.
If I had to pick an ideal lifestyle for myself? The Forest of Spirits is generally seen as quite peaceful, as long as you mind yourself around the kami and don't go into the corners known to be inhabited by oni and such. Doubly so if you can find yourself a nice spot near either one of the trading settlements along the Spirit Road or a kitsune/tanuki settlement within to ingratiate yourself with.
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Absalom gives me pause, as it should for anyone else who has played Agents of Edgewatch.
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Absalom 100%. Yeah, its the most logical target for BBEGs, but at the same time its the safest place since with the amount of APs that take place there and overall APs in general the amount of 20 level characters in that city can keep you totally safe from harm.
Cults to horrific deities operate in the open. Serial killers are a recurring issue. Tar-Baphon laid siege to the city not that long ago in pursuit of the Starstone, and a lot of people died. There's pretty nasty wealth disparity.
You can have all the cosmopolitan fun with even more modern conveniences in Goka, or you can be even safer and live a little closer to nature in Nantambu. I'd probably take a spot in Xopatl somewhere, myself.
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I'd have to go with Nantambu. The Magaambya is the place sending out help to other places, and has one of the best track records. The wiki entry spends a lot of time talking about how they've never needed an army, how various troublemaking groups steer clear with the notable exception of the Pathfinder Society, and how good its neighboring relationships are.
As far as "promising" goes, it's hard to beat the (probably) oldest arcane academy. Even if my family and I don't qualify to enroll, getting a job there would be an opportunity to learn bits of magic. Working elsewhere, magic is still going to be far more accessible than almost any other place, with a potential "practice for students" discount.
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Absalom 100%. Yeah, its the most logical target for BBEGs, but at the same time its the safest place since with the amount of APs that take place there and overall APs in general the amount of 20 level characters in that city can keep you totally safe from harm.Cults to horrific deities operate in the open. Serial killers are a recurring issue. Tar-Baphon laid siege to the city not that long ago in pursuit of the Starstone, and a lot of people died. There's pretty nasty wealth disparity.
To say nothing of the warring street gangs, murder hotels, haunted fairgrounds, sewer monsters, deadly subterranean dungeons large enough to house mech-sized constructs, biological weapon attacks, and oh yeah, the giant mech-sized construct that briefly trampled downtown and nearly swallowed up the whole city.
All in all, Magnimar is relatively chill. And it attracts Empyreal Lord worshippers, who are helpful to have around, and ensure there is a population dedicated to the general welfare of the populace.
I mean, hey, Magnimar is where my characters settled down.
...Well, they technically settled down in Nirvana and have a permanent gate open TO Magnimar for customers, but who's counting?
The only Pathfinder novel I've been able to get my hands on took place in Magnimar. I recall there being a lot of clashes between golem makers.
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Absalom. You can build up wealth or work to become a god. I see no reason to pursue life as some poor to middle class citizen if you have the option to do otherwise. Absalom seems like the New York or London of the world. Might as well live in the place where you can gain the most if you take the risk and work at it.
What do you believe to be the safest or most promising place on (or in) Golarion? Pretend for a moment that you are a citizen of that world, have the unique opportunity to go anywhere, and the means to begin preparing a new home for the future of your (current or someday) family. Where would you go and why?
Is it worth considering other planes?
If it is there are places like Axis, Heaven's Shore, Blossomheart.
If we can include other "planets" we can add Cynosure to the list.
But inside Golarion probably is Absalom. Even the city being target by many possible enemies and greedy villains it is still a politically stable city with good security and that values trade and studies on more warlike aspects.
There are, of course, many other smaller communities throughout Golarion that experience constant peace, but few have withstood a "random" calamity as Abasalom has.
I'd vote Hermea.
After the events of AoA, Hermea is likely in an uncertain political state. The ideological foundations that underpin the city have been shaken, and it is difficult to know whether the city will remain stable or prosper in the future.
It really depends on what you mean by "safe" and "promising", really. There are some that weigh the dangers of living in a civilized metropolitan area like Absalom as higher than the dangers of wildlife and separation that rural life proposes.
If I had to pick an ideal lifestyle for myself? The Forest of Spirits is generally seen as quite peaceful, as long as you mind yourself around the kami and don't go into the corners known to be inhabited by oni and such. Doubly so if you can find yourself a nice spot near either one of the trading settlements along the Spirit Road or a kitsune/tanuki settlement within to ingratiate yourself with.
The problem with these largely untouched, remote, and peaceful places is that suddenly some external catastrophe can shake everything up and destroy the place.
For example, in the first playtest adventure, We Be Heroes, the small group of goblins fled the Goblinblood Wars to a calm and safe forest on the outskirts of Lastwall until they were suddenly threatened by the horde of undead coming from Lastwall. This is relatively "common" in Golarion, island settlements suddenly being ravaged by some random disaster, capable of wiping out the entire community, even after decades, or even centuries of peace and prosperity. That's why for me, more important than actually being a peaceful place, is being a place that can adapt to the challenges that a world like Golarion imposes.
Absalom 100%. Yeah, its the most logical target for BBEGs, but at the same time its the safest place since with the amount of APs that take place there and overall APs in general the amount of 20 level characters in that city can keep you totally safe from harm.Cults to horrific deities operate in the open. Serial killers are a recurring issue. Tar-Baphon laid siege to the city not that long ago in pursuit of the Starstone, and a lot of people died. There's pretty nasty wealth disparity.
You can have all the cosmopolitan fun with even more modern conveniences in Goka, or you can be even safer and live a little closer to nature in Nantambu. I'd probably take a spot in Xopatl somewhere, myself.
Nantambu is a good alternative to Absalom in my opinion as well. The city has been there for literally millennia along with Magaambya as its base of security, stability and prosperity. My problem with Nantambu is that it is still a very isolated place, the population is 1/15 of Absalom most likely due to the isolation of the city provided by the vast forest around it, and although it is one of the centers of the development of magic, for the normal population it is a place where prosperity is slow and the population has grown very little or has emigrated over time.
Goka is an interesting alternative, the city literally rivals Absalom in population, is also politically stable and free and has a strong trade. I know very little about the city's history, but I assume it has similar threats and problems to Absalom. Maybe a little less because it doesn't have the Starstone in it, but in return it must have its own problems and challenges to deal with.
Xopatl is smaller than Nantambu and even older and had the potential to grow, but she is also quite isolated (in her case by the mountains of Arcadia rather than a huge jungle) but she never recovered from the side effects of Aroden's death.
All in all, Magnimar is relatively chill. And it attracts Empyreal Lord worshippers, who are helpful to have around, and ensure there is a population dedicated to the general welfare of the populace.
Magnimar is too new city to talk about much. But it has even suffered a tsunami as a result of the adventure of a group of adventurers. It is a relatively new city, which will still face challenges that other medium-sized cities in Golarion face with some regularity.
I'd vote Hermea.
Taken at surface value, absolutely.
Although there is a dark undercurrent there.
I heard an AP or adventure officially had an impact and potentially removed the influence of it's dragon leader (who had gone down an evil path) but don't know the actual details.
Still, it sounds pretty nice if you can get in.
The problem with these largely untouched, remote, and peaceful places is that suddenly some external catastrophe can shake everything up and destroy the place.
For example, in the first playtest adventure, We Be Heroes, the small group of goblins fled the Goblinblood Wars to a calm and safe forest on the outskirts of Lastwall until they were suddenly threatened by the horde of undead coming from Lastwall. This is relatively "common" in Golarion, island settlements suddenly being ravaged by some random disaster, capable of wiping out the entire community, even after decades, or even centuries of peace and prosperity. That's why for me, more important than actually being a peaceful place, is being a place that can adapt to the challenges that a world like Golarion imposes.
I mean sure, but if we're evaluating places based on the idea that any catastrophe could potentially hit the place at some point in the future then I don't think literally anywhere on Golarion fits the bill. It's a decidedly exciting planet given how many external influences ALONE exist trying to do stuff, let alone its internal influences.
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I've been thinking about Holomog, with celestial blessing over the lands. Not all lands are as safe as others, but somewhere there I'd say.
I mean sure, but if we're evaluating places based on the idea that any catastrophe could potentially hit the place at some point in the future then I don't think literally anywhere on Golarion fits the bill. It's a decidedly exciting planet given how many external influences ALONE exist trying to do stuff, let alone its internal influences.The problem with these largely untouched, remote, and peaceful places is that suddenly some external catastrophe can shake everything up and destroy the place.
For example, in the first playtest adventure, We Be Heroes, the small group of goblins fled the Goblinblood Wars to a calm and safe forest on the outskirts of Lastwall until they were suddenly threatened by the horde of undead coming from Lastwall. This is relatively "common" in Golarion, island settlements suddenly being ravaged by some random disaster, capable of wiping out the entire community, even after decades, or even centuries of peace and prosperity. That's why for me, more important than actually being a peaceful place, is being a place that can adapt to the challenges that a world like Golarion imposes.
I don't disagree. The point I was making was that small communities in Golarion tend to be decimated much more easily than medium and large cities.
While an evil dragon devastates small villages and settlements, larger port cities like Absalom deal with threats the size of Tar-Baphon's army and the city comes out relatively well with most of its population able to live their lives normally in the following days.
I agree that large cities like Absalom, Katapesh and Goka have many problems and internal and external threats that can affect the life of an average citizen, but in some ways they are similar to the problems of violence and terrorism that exist in our world. They are terrible and need to be continually fought, but for 99% of the population they will only be tragic news that may shake, but will not change the lives of the majority of the population. In other words, no matter how big the problems are, a city the size of these three is unlikely to fall if a major disaster strikes.
Anyway, if you want some peace, it's best to try to find a way to move to another plane. :P
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I'd vote Hermea.Taken at surface value, absolutely.
Although there is a dark undercurrent there.
I heard an AP or adventure officially had an impact and potentially removed the influence of it's dragon leader (who had gone down an evil path) but don't know the actual details.
Still, it sounds pretty nice if you can get in.
I believe the canonical ending rectified the dark undercurrent, leaving a community of very high-level NPCs interested in human flourishing with no high-level threats. While created by an authoritarian dragon, their ethics reflect reason so should endure his absence. Narratively, like all the regions in Golarion, Hermea had a problem for PCs to fix, except they did unlike in most areas. Since it's on the outskirts and interacts little with the rest of Golarion, there's little to disrupt Hermea again. Compare to areas in the spotlight which draw chaos much like peaceful Metropolis draws invaders that wipe out neighborhoods. And again, they're very high-level, showing that their average non-adventuring citizen can achieve great ability w/o risking life & limb. That's pretty cool and I believe impossible to duplicate anywhere else.
So yeah, assuming AoA events corrected any corruption, Hermea should be both peaceful, powerful, and progressive. At least until some AP writer revisits it and ignites turmoil, something inevitable in places that beckon conflict like Absalom & Magnimar.
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What resources does Hermea have? Even taking the "The authoritarian was actually good, so all his rules should last because they're reasonable" at face value, it's not that big an island off the western coast of Avistan. Either they have an abundance of resources which will quickly make them a target to aggressors like Cheliax, or they lack important resources, which means trade is going to be important, and again, the biggest power on the Western coast of Avistan is Cheliax.
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What resources does Hermea have? Even taking the "The authoritarian was actually good, so all his rules should last because they're reasonable" at face value, it's not that big an island off the western coast of Avistan. Either they have an abundance of resources which will quickly make them a target to aggressors like Cheliax, or they lack important resources, which means trade is going to be important, and again, the biggest power on the Western coast of Avistan is Cheliax.
Probably the answer is "We don't know enough to answer that question"
Also with magic and high level, having magical teleportation of goods with someone besides Cheliax isn't out of the question.
The funny thing about fantasy RPG settings, is without something written specifically about it, nearly anything is possible.
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I'd think Goka over in Tian Xia.
Big metropolitan city. But not under threat all the time.
That or the highland kingdom of the Samsaran. Bunch of reincarnation hippies up there. ;)
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Claxon that supposition cuts both ways. We don't know that they won't collapse into anarchy now that Big Brother Dragon is not compelling order. That the first time they have to adapt to a scenario the Dragon didn't already walk them through they will fall apart. Regime changes are almost always messy, especially ones that remove the political leader and don't replace it with anything.
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Feels like Nantambu is the obvious answer. From what little I played of Strength of Thousands, it seemed like the best possible version of a progressive college town. Small enough to have a strong sense of community and decent social safety net, fairly cosmopolitan from the students coming from all over. Maagambya is also a distinctly altruistic organization that does not reach for violence first and actively supports Nantambu. Not to mention the school's founder and patron is still kicking around with enough juice to curb the worst urges of Baba Yaga and the cleverness to know how to do so without overt threats.
I'd be willing to overcome my aversion to temperatures above 60 degrees to live there.
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What resources does Hermea have? Even taking the "The authoritarian was actually good, so all his rules should last because they're reasonable" at face value, it's not that big an island off the western coast of Avistan. Either they have an abundance of resources which will quickly make them a target to aggressors like Cheliax, or they lack important resources, which means trade is going to be important, and again, the biggest power on the Western coast of Avistan is Cheliax.Probably the answer is "We don't know enough to answer that question"
Also with magic and high level, having magical teleportation of goods with someone besides Cheliax isn't out of the question.
The funny thing about fantasy RPG settings, is without something written specifically about it, nearly anything is possible.
I find "abundance which attracts invaders" and "lack of important resources" to be a false dilemma. There's also "enough to meet needs, but not so much as to profitably invade" and "less than other, easier targets of Cheliax". And military costs would get expensive versus high-level characters who could execute guerrilla tactics via teleportation to your capital. Cheliax would have to infiltrate for a threat assessment, and Hermea's resistant to that. Of course they might also strike out of ignorance, but I doubt the citizenry of Hermea would be threatened much if Cheliax doesn't know what it's dealing with.
(Also not sure how well Cheliax's navy fares after Skull & Shackles.)Also, what resources would you need for your everyday flourishing? In this thought experiment we aren't mirroring Kingmaker on Hermea, rather Animal Crossing...with superhero neighbors who lack supervillains.
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Food to start with. Building materials, so likely lumber and stone or clay. medical supplies, so cloth, medicinal plants, and disinfectants like alcohol. Tools to use all of the above, so glass and metal, which means ore. Alcohol means needing enough grain to not have to eat all of it so they can distill enough down.
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What resources does Hermea have?...
HR!
Age of Ashes spoiler and my opinions and possible predictions:
Now with the fall/surrender of Mengkare and with his main objective completed (considering that Dahak's manifestation was destroyed by the players), Hermea is left with this selection of "perfect" humans where several of the best in each professional area are there.
Depending on whether or not they will stay (I believe that most will choose to stay) after discovering the truth about Mengkare's plans, Hermea has the potential to become one of the largest professional centers in all of Golarion, bringing together the best of the best in each area of activity.
Due to the humanocentric nature of the island, in search of perfection, it is quite possible that the island will fall into some kind of supremacist governance and culture once Mengkare no longer controls the island, but regardless of this, once the island stabilizes politically it will become a cultural and manufacturing bastion in Golarion that, even without having natural resources (these can be easily obtained through trade, as they were during Mengkare's rule), will still be home to many of the best professionals and minds in Golarion.
I would not be surprised if in the near future Hermea competed with Absalon in several areas, since both share very similar characteristics: they are islands, whose natural resources are limited, but which compensate for this with the high professional quality of these places. The difference between them will probably be freedom and geographical position. I imagine that the inhabitants of Hermea will probably have difficulty (or not) dealing with their newly acquired freedom, besides, although they will probably focus on trade like Absalom, unless they can trade with distant continents like Arcadia, Absalom will still have the geographical advantage of being between 3 continents and this will give it a competitive advantage in the long run. But I don't expect Hermea to be left behind, it's possible that they will find a way in future stories.
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I'd vote Hermea.
Of course! The Computer Mengkare is your friend!
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So non-Native Hermean citizens, if they're even allowed, would be treated as second class citizens most likely is one of the big takeaways I got from that. and doubly so for any non-human. Hermea lacks Absalom's major advantage when it comes to trade: location. being right smack in the middle of the Inner Sea Absalom is a prime stop for trading vessels going almost anywhere across the Inner Sea.
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Sarusan- PCs aren't allowed and by extension no crises that would require the intervention of the PCs are allowed.
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I want Nantambu to be the answer, but from my experience with Strength of Thousands (currently in Book 6) everyone in the University administration is incompetent, and if the PCs weren't around to fix things the city would have been subject to one disaster after another. My character is particularly disdainful of the lack of defenses.
But I don't know how representative that is of actual Nantambu.
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Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.
I'm currently working on a Stardew Valley style homebrew with low-stakes and lots of NPC driven down-to-earth stories. Kinda think sometimes we get tunnel vision about what adventures can be.
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Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.I'm currently working on a Stardew Valley style homebrew with low-stakes and lots of NPC driven down-to-earth stories. Kinda think sometimes we get tunnel vision about what adventures can be.
There are RPGs tailored around that, but it's a completely different system.
You can have RPGs be that, but I think trying to make Pathfinder that....isn't the path to go about it. A majority of Pathfidner rules are about combat. If you're story isn't about featuring combat, then there are other systems that are probably better.
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I want Nantambu to be the answer, but from my experience with Strength of Thousands (currently in Book 6) everyone in the University administration is incompetent, and if the PCs weren't around to fix things the city would have been subject to one disaster after another. My character is particularly disdainful of the lack of defenses.
But I don't know how representative that is of actual Nantambu.
In fact, it explains something that is very traditional in very large or complex hierarchical structures. Bureaucracy!
Magaambya, even though it is a decentralized magical university that encourages teachers and students to develop on their own, trying to interfere as little as possible, is still a large organization and as such suffers from the side effects of having a bureaucracy, which usually results in inefficiencies, slowness and even incompetence. But at the same time, it gives space for people (usually the PCs) to act freely and independently to solve the problems that the university itself has trouble solving on its own.
But this is common to any large government, organization, company and institution. You need bureaucracy to keep something this size running, but bureaucracy leads to inefficiencies and the way to get around these inefficiencies is to outsource to smaller structures (in this case, the group of adventurers) to solve the most urgent problems that the large structure has difficulty dealing with. Don't expect any large non-fantastic structure (except Axiomites) to be any different from this.
The incompetence represented by Strength of Thousands comes from a representation of this, and the PCs are precisely the necessary workaround to act where these structures have difficulty dealing with.
Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.
Exactly, if there are no problems there is no need for adventurers and without adventurers there are no great adventures.
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Agreed, it's like trying to use Pathfinder 2e or D&D5e to tell a horror story. The systems aren't designed for that kind of story.
Don't get me wrong, there are adjacent stories that would work well in PF2e. I've suggested a campaign that centers around base building, such as a group of in universe Pathfinder Society members being sent to a dilapidated neglected lodge in a hostile region, and their job is to build diplomatic bridges in the region and be of use to the local community, all while building the usefulness of their lodge. Once they build a bit of trust, local leaders will reach out to them to help the community in bigger ways.
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Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.I'm currently working on a Stardew Valley style homebrew with low-stakes and lots of NPC driven down-to-earth stories. Kinda think sometimes we get tunnel vision about what adventures can be.There are RPGs tailored around that, but it's a completely different system.
You can have RPGs be that, but I think trying to make Pathfinder that....isn't the path to go about it. A majority of Pathfidner rules are about combat. If you're story isn't about featuring combat, then there are other systems that are probably better.
Oh no, there's loads of combat. It's just lower stakes. Combat on the players' terms. Enough combat that the vastly superior PF2 combat engine is absolutely a heavy factor in system choice.
Also, Pathfinder 2e's non-combat effectiveness and versatility is super under-sold by the vast majority of the PF2 community. I've had loads of sessions where either there was no combat, or the combat was short and sweet, and it's been a blast every time.
I really think people are just overly tunnel-vision about what an adventure is. You can have low-stakes adventures.
Edit: Also, in my opinion (and full of hot air, as always) every setting should have a Shire (even if where that Shire is changes over time). If there's no place left for some simple folk to live out their lives, and everyone is constantly under some horrifying threat, or part of some war or other, then what's the point? Your setting becomes unmoored. I just happen to think that there's also interesting stories to tell in those Shires. Things like Bilbo there-and-back-again-ing every other week while spending most of his time worried about the village's crops.
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That's, again, why I sorta vouched for the Forest of Spirits here. It's not entirely without risk, but as long as you are kindly with the kami and your neighbors (whether that be the population within the Forest itself or the small trading towns along Spirit Road) you can live a fairly idyllic lifestyle, as long as you're willing to homestead. The dangers that do exist there are relatively in small corners of the otherwise country-sized Forest, and it's unlikely that anything could destroy the ENTIRE thing that wasn't already a Golarion-level threat to begin with.
It's a very Shire-like area where people can live, have entire families and stories, and pass without the world having to be upheaved to do so.
Creative Director
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Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.I'm currently working on a Stardew Valley style homebrew with low-stakes and lots of NPC driven down-to-earth stories. Kinda think sometimes we get tunnel vision about what adventures can be.
Perhaps, but the core expectation of the person who picks up the Player Core is VERY DIFFERENT than the core expectation of someone who picks up Stardew Valley. Those games have to work pretty hard to do the other's job.
Perhaps, but the core expectation of the person who picks up the Player Core is VERY DIFFERENT than the core expectation of someone who picks up Stardew Valley. Those games have to work pretty hard to do the other's job.Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.I'm currently working on a Stardew Valley style homebrew with low-stakes and lots of NPC driven down-to-earth stories. Kinda think sometimes we get tunnel vision about what adventures can be.
Yeah, the majority experience (for me when I played Stardew Valley) was non-combat. Yeah you can go into the mines, but honestly combat is hard. And I would mostly just try to run and avoid the enemy, because it was an anthesis to the otherwise chill aesthetic of the game. And like, you could avoid it entirely, but from what I remember there were some cool rewards at the bottom.
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For fun, maybe Minkai? They're out from under the heel of the oni and Ameiko is probably a pretty chill empress, so life should be reasonably peaceful. It's somewhat isolated from the other countries in Tian Xia, so invasions are less likely. Ameiko is also apparently encouraging trade with the Inner Sea, so hopefully the economy is going upwards as well. If you have political ambitions, you might even be able to convince the imperial seal of one of the four extinct houses to let you restart the house.
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Yeah, the majority experience (for me when I played Stardew Valley) was non-combat. Yeah you can go into the mines, but honestly combat is hard. And I would mostly just try to run and avoid the enemy, because it was an anthesis to the otherwise chill aesthetic of the game. And like, you could avoid it entirely, but from what I remember there were some cool rewards at the bottom.Perhaps, but the core expectation of the person who picks up the Player Core is VERY DIFFERENT than the core expectation of someone who picks up Stardew Valley. Those games have to work pretty hard to do the other's job.Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.I'm currently working on a Stardew Valley style homebrew with low-stakes and lots of NPC driven down-to-earth stories. Kinda think sometimes we get tunnel vision about what adventures can be.
For sure there's lots at play about expectations, target markets, and demand. Perhaps a low-stakes adventure would appeal to a vanishingly small playerbase and in that sense a peaceful place would be the worst place to set an adventure. However, I'm not convinced we've adequately explored that space to know for sure, and I *am* convinced the standard AP model is getting stale. My Strength of Thousands experience was excitement about a new style of adventure crushed by what ended up being pretty same-old-same-old.
Also, combat is a pretty big part of Stardew Valley. Caves, Desert Caves, Island Caves are full of fun and exciting combat, and are important for standard advancement. You can even play a version of the Farm that spawns enemies at night! It's also one of the reasons I like the game so much. In fact, I highly doubt Stardew Valley would have gotten nearly as popular as it did without its combat elements. You know what else has fun and engaging combat? Pathfinder!
We can also talk about old-school D&D where the reason you went into the dungeon was to get treasure, not usually because there was some world ending threat you had to face.
(By the way, I'm sick and trying to distract myself)
Promising and safe often don't go together.
Safest place is some small, no name place far away from any dangers with abundant food and friendly people who help each other with minimal crime.
Most promising place is some huge city with lots of opportunity and all types of people and activities around with good schools, universities, and such, but likely with more poverty, crime, and attracts far more attention.
Seems almost mutually exclusive to have safe and promising in the same place.
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Wherever such a place might be, it'd also be the worst place to set an adventure, so it's thus the least likely place for us to ever spend time detailing. Or even mentioning.
This discussion would be no fun if there were no challenges to it.
I'm increasingly leaning towards Gujaraldi, Jolizpan, or Segada, but that's personal biases creeping in.
What's the city in Valash Raj with all the space tech? That could be a fun one, too, though you are living pretty close to kaiju habitats.