Pathfinder's campaign setting has piqued my interest: it seems like a good old-fashioned fantasy roleplaying world that's decently humanocentric and not too over-the-top epic/high magic.
I have a few questions though:
How important are the gods? There seem to be a lot of gods, though apparently the primary "god of humanity" has died (or at least is presumed dead). There's also a nation of atheists. Is the influence of the gods more subtle then, or are they obviously involved in the world Forgotten Realms-style?
How high-magic is it? Is magic something special, or does the world use it as just another tool, to say light their street lamps? Does every magic item carry a unique name, or is the mayor of a random city likely to carry a dagger +1?
How high-fantasy is it? Do we have battalions of Arcane Archers riding Gryphons?
How common are non-humans? Do you have 5-9% Elves in most human nations, and do you occasionally find Elven nations amidst human nations as if it's nothing special, or is it more a matter of "Elves in their woods, dwarves below the mountains"?
How many real-world references are there? Example: Osirion as Egypt. While I don't mind fantasized real-world nations/cultures that much, sometimes they're a bit too obvious and ruin the immersion. This especially happens if the name is obviously tied to the real-world. Does it get much worse than Osirion in Golarion?
Thanks!
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Not trolling, just a contrarian.
The gods are important enough. The death of Aroden was/is a huge event that has really had an impact on Golarion. People know the gods are real. Imagine a world where pure faith wasn't the only thing keeping religion together. Some gods strike me as more active than others but all have that potential in the right circumstances.
Magic and it's use depends entirely upon the nation you are playing in. Golarion is a patchwork of various fantasy themes. All you have to do to tailor magic to your liking is pick the right nation to set your game in. There's even a magic dead state which has developed rudimentary firearms rarely seen outside it's borders because what's a pistol when compared to a magic crossbow that fires flaming arrows?
There's potential for high fantasy but I've been sticking to the lower fantasy areas of the world. Hell one nation is openly run by devil worshipers and the evidence can be seen by the creatures that also inhabit it's cities.
The elves are rare enough due to their history and choices as a race. Other non-human races are common enough, and halflings pretty much live intermixed with the humans. The halfling deities are great in that they are always depicted as the often overlooked and always faithful/helpful companion of a particular human deity. If Sherlock Holmes were a human deity, Watson would be a halfling deity.
I can't comment on the Osirion question, although none of the obvious real world parallels have bothered me much.
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-Xombie
Playing: Pathfinder
Planning: Pathfinder
Reading: Pathfinder Bestiary
Listening: I Wrestled A Bear Once
The gods are important enough. The death of Aroden was/is a huge event that has really had an impact on Golarion. People know the gods are real. Imagine a world where pure faith wasn't the only thing keeping religion together. Some gods strike me as more active than others but all have that potential in the right circumstances.
Hmmm, too bad. I like there to be some uncertainty about the existence of gods. The atheist nation doesn't make much sense now either. How do they explain away the obvious truths?
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Magic and it's use depends entirely upon the nation you are playing in. Golarion is a patchwork of various fantasy themes. All you have to do to tailor magic to your liking is pick the right nation to set your game in. There's even a magic dead state which has developed rudimentary firearms rarely seen outside it's borders because what's a pistol when compared to a magic crossbow that fires flaming arrows?
Firearms not finding much use outside of a magic-dead nation sounds like a pretty high-magic setting to me then. Also not really to my tastes.
Doesn't seem like Golarion is really for me, but thanks for answering!
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Not trolling, just a contrarian.
Not to be snarky, but it's your game. You have total control over these elements. Want the gods to be more distant? Just say that the gods are distant. Want to keep demihumans rare? Don't focus on demihumans.
Golarion seems to have been deliberately designed for this kind of thing. Find an area that suits your tastes and set the campaign there. Golarion may have (IMHO) an excessive amount of lore, especially considering it's relative youth as a campaign setting, but established canon should always serve to inspire, not bind your hands.
Hmmm, too bad. I like there to be some uncertainty about the existence of gods. The atheist nation doesn't make much sense now either. How do they explain away the obvious truths?
As I understand it, they acknowledge that they're real, they just don't think they're worthy of worship. IIRC (don't have my copy of the books in front of me), the nation had a massive nasty mess when a bunch of different religions got into a holy war on their grounds, and to keep it from happening again, they just kicked *everyone* out and made it illegal to preach. I don't think they care if you're traveling through and worship a god, they just get pissed if you try to convert.
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Firearms not finding much use outside of a magic-dead nation sounds like a pretty high-magic setting to me then. Also not really to my tastes.
It's more of a "the nation's the only one who really produces them en masse, and that almost all of the production is assigned to the military to keep the nasty awful things from the mana wastes from spilling out into the world so there's not a whole lot to be sold out onto the market" than anything.
The death of Aroden is the biggest god oriented event to hit Golarion. It has caused a major stir and undermined the reliability of prophecies. So the gods will rarely pop in and say hello but those in the know have no doubt they exist. The common man can still easily be skeptical of the divine. That being said, the gods could intervene if they wanted to but don't have to. There's also the fact that people can take on a mysterious trial and attain godhood. It's not common but it has happened a few times throughout Golarion's history.
There's even a nation ruled by a false god because even though the educated know the divine exists, they have no way to prove whether Razmir's claim is genuine.
The world is fairly high magic so if that is not to your liking, you may be right.
__________________
-Xombie
Playing: Pathfinder
Planning: Pathfinder
Reading: Pathfinder Bestiary
Listening: I Wrestled A Bear Once
[Golarion] A few questions
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