Specifically I mean things like an AP. If for example I want to play a Corpsefolk I must own the Guilt of the Graveworld AP. As far as I can tell though I don't have to have run or played it which is nice but it still seems silly for a person to have to buy a whole entire AP just to access a little bit of content. Is there perhaps anyone working on different ideas for this? I myself thought perhaps selling the player options bits of APs but was told it wasn't a good business idea but I disagree. It would get some people to at least buy something of a product they would normally not buy at all? As an example the Guilt of the Graveworld AP is 20 dollars as a PDF and say Paizo did decide to also have some option to only buy the "player" option parts for less money. Wouldn't it be better to make some money on the product than none from a person who normally wouldn't of bought the product at all? Though I admit I'm no business major...
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This is actually how the system used to work in Pathfinder 1e and early SF1e. The change to chronicle boons was made because people were buying only specific issues of Adventure Paths for character options, which had a lot of undesirable side effects. Shortages of specific issues for people who actually wanted to run the adventure, obviously, but the real nightmare was for Brick and Mortar Stores who might have two copies each (or more!) 4 volumes of an AP sitting on shelves for months because people only wanted volumes 2 and 4. And multiply those numbers by the dozen or hundred for distributors, and you see the issue.
With the move away from monthly periodicals, the old system could be brought back. It is awkward for players, though (especially with the curious decision to reprint the player options in the player's guide downloads).
Would owning the players guide be good enough to play a corpsefolk in SFS 2E?
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Would owning the players guide be good enough to play a corpsefolk in SFS 2E?
Not at this time. The Guilt of the Graveworld Player's Guide has not had sanctioning released. Contrast the Invasion's Edge Player's Guide, which has been sanctioned.
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The way I look at it is if you're going to play a corpse folk and are not planning on playing a character in Guilt of the Grave Word, the adventure is a great source of Eox Lore that you could be useful for a corpse folk character. Also Zo! lore!
Marketing-wise, I think Paizo puts character options in adventures because if only GMs bought books, the game wouldn't be sustainable. If you're playing in a home game, you don't need to buy the books, since you're asking. I'm assuming you're playing in organized play. I think organized play has a value of its own that I'm willing to buy books to support. However, that's getting harder for me to do in the current economy.
Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Bellevue
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There certainly is a business aspect to the policy. But as a frequent GM who's been doing this for a few years there's one other aspect which is at least equally important.
Patfhinder 2e is a bigger example, but Starfinder 2e will get there. There are a lot of books. As a GM I'm responsible to be prepared, and I'll bring the core books with me. But I'm not responsible for every single book that might have a player option in it.
Making players own (and bring) the non-core books they use to make their character means those rules will be at the table when that character is played. If we need to find out how ancestry feat A interacts with class archetype B -- the player has those rules.