Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting [Hardcover]

Erik Mona (Author), Wayne Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pathfinder Chronicles | Publication Date: September 9, 2008

The exciting world of the Pathfinder Adventure Paths comes alive in this massive full-color hardcover tome primed up and ready to go for your new d20 campaign! Detailed sections on more than 40 nations - from the barbaric frontiers of Varisia to the devil-tainted cities of Cheliax to the frigid Hold of the Mammoth Lords - provide a full picture of the world of Golarion, with new rules, new magic and spells, detailed descriptions of more than 30 gods and their religions, and a gorgeous poster map detailing the entire campaign setting.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Paizo Publishing, LLC.; Brdgm edition (September 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601251122
• ISBN-13: 978-1601251121
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #673,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing campaign setting, December 6, 2008

By 

Eon Fontes May "Professional Role Model" (Northampton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting (Hardcover)

Golarion is a fantastic world and this book does a great job covering it. First off, it's extremely well-written: concise when that's called for and in-depth when it needs to be. Each country has a 2-4 page spread detailing government, geographic overview, and important locations, as well as how it interacts with neighbors. There are in-depth class and race descriptions for those of you playing the Pathfinder Beta and wishing you had more info.

As for the setting itself, rarely does a book inspire like this. Each realm is more or less fashioned on a setting stereotype- the land of desert nomads, the unexplored jungle expanse, the gothic realm of horror, the Mordor-like homeland of the orcs, et cetera. Any type of campaign you want to run, you'll find inspiration here. Fitting them all together was brilliant on Paizo's behalf. It's also nice that a GM can briefly describe each of these lands and have the players immediately get a feel for them. Saying "Galt is like Revolutionary France" immediately lets players understand what they're in for, without having to explain a full history. Very nice.

Each realm section has enough information to run it, but leaves enough open for the gamemaster to tweak it to her liking, filling in blank map space and important figures. This really impressed me, because as much as I love settings like Forgotten Realms, they contain just too much "canon" to soak in at once. The last thing you need is a PC correcting you on the local lord's name.

A special mention goes to the chapter on Race. Everyone gets a two-page spread, including the sub-races of humans, and none of it is silly stat-balancing. Paizo has really added some cool flavor to the standard PC races, and provided nice touches that bring out the feel of each race more than just an excuse to give stat bonuses and penalties. I never liked Gnomes before, but Pathfinder turns them into unbearably cool Outsider-like Fey that explains their oddity without making them goofy anymore. Awesome.

As someone else mentioned, there is quite a bit of "crunch" here, too- new regional feats, gods, class descriptions, and some prestige classes. I'm less interested in those aspects, but they're helpful. The most important thing to me is that this book really fires up your imagination. Every time I pick it up and randomly flip to a page, I find myself wanting to send the PCs there. Even realms that I initially dismissed turn out to be distinctly cool (hello, Qadira). No matter what rules set you're running, you owe it to yourself to buy this seriously well-crafted book. I'll be running every game in Golarion from now on.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You want an awesome D&D Campaign setting? Welcome..., December 9, 2009

By 

Truth "It Always Wins Out" (Sydney, Oz) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting (Hardcover)

WARNING - This is a BIG Review - but I just couldn't help myself... :-)

As a GM, what I'm after with any Campaign Setting is a fantastical realm that has great 'feeling' to it, giving me enough background information, ideas and links to run campaigns and adventures that keep (i) me as GM happy, and (ii) my players enthralled, excited and having fun...

I love to work with that simple formula that has enough fluff and meat to keep it 'realistic' (based around the medieval concepts that fantasy role-players know and love) yet flexible enough to offer challenge, high fantasy and a bit of respect and fear for the unknown. It also has to HELP me create adventures and atmosphere; not perplex and confuse me with so much information that I'm scared of making 'continuity contradictions' (that spoils the flow and encourages grumbles and moans from the players), or woe betide poring over several hundred books to join pieces of a huge jigsaw together...

So what, specifically, is good about this book? Why have I given it 5 stars?

First it has a wonderful, pull-out, full-colour map (81cm x 53cm) that covers 'The Inner Sea Region' of Golarion (the pathfinder Campaign World) presented in your gamer-favourite-design that's nice and simple to read, and offers plenty of different geographical regions and adventuring opportunities and hazards - from icy tundra and mountains to sweltering deserts and sprawling oceans. The map is HUGE - roughly 2700 miles North to South, and 2000 miles East to West. An essential resource for any good campaign world, and one that doesn't disappoint.

The 255pp book itself delves straight into CHARACTERS, offering simple yet gloriously useful two-page biographies that detail how the different races present themselves on Golarion; from the traditional 'non-human' races of Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs and Halflings; to 11 human regional 'races' that also offer plenty of role-playing flavour for the vast expanse of the Inner Sea. I LOVE this section, as it offers tremendous scope for playing character races based upon where they come from in the world, with a healthy dollop of stereotyping but enough twist to make each race a bit different... The character section then rounds out with one page backgrounds for each of the key characters classes - from Barbarians to Wizards (as detailed in the Pathfinder Rulebook). Again, nice and simple yet wonderfully flavoursome.

The next 105 pages carry 2-4 page descriptions of the key regions of Golarion, furnishing the DM with enough information to flesh out the area (such as 'main' alignment, the Capital and notable settlements, populations, rulers, government 'style', languages and religions) and a smattering of cool hooks with enough political intrigue to keep the inventive DM amused for months.

The RELIGION section is pretty standard core D&D meat, setting the scene for scheming conflicts that rage across ALL regions of Golarion, yet detailing special unique Domain powers (eg the Darkness Domain that grants its clerics the Blind-Fight bonus feat) and the four main 'philosophies' that add yet another dimension for plots and conspiracies. Beyond that is offered information on the elemental planes, outer planes and the outer spheres of the greater powers, demons and devils. The usual stuff - but VERY clear and precise.

The ORGANIZATIONS section offers yet another realm of curiosity and wonderful PC/NPC drivers, from the inquisitive Pathfinder Society of explorers, archaeologists and adventurers to the insidious Hellknights and (my personal favourite) the Red Mantis network of cultists and assassins. This section was maybe one of my favourites in the book.

Beyond that, the WORLD section covers a detailed timeline; info on the Darklands (underdark); unique equipment, weapons and armour; fauna and flora; feats; languages; five new Prestige Classes; psionics; technology; time and space; trade; weather and climate; and appendices like pronunciations (cool!); four NPCS; and random encounter tables by environment. Juicy.

In short this is a magnificent offering, and is everything a DM could wish for - offering a comprehensive overview of a Campaign setting with enough hooks to keep an Inner Sea fisherman in business for a decade...

Our group has moved lock, stock and barrel from 4th Ed D&D which seems to have lost its role-playing pedigree somewhat, to this wonderful world of high fantasy with its feet firmly on the ground.

In summary, as a DM you'll feel like you've played in it for years after your first flick through the book, yet you'll have 1001 new ideas to keep you and your players happy for many sessions. How welcoming!

It also just feels to me like REAL D&D once again. Gloriously simple but devilishly complex.

I've played D&D since 1st Edition, and it won't surprise me if this system ends up as popular as the classic Forgotten Realms of the legendary Ed Greenwood. I haven't been this excited in YEARS...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spice up your 3.5 version game, May 8, 2009

By 

Nia "Nia" (Lubbock, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting (Hardcover)

Over the last 25+ years, "the most popular fantasy role play game" has evolved through many versions. With the advent of 4.0, my player group made the decision to stay with 3.5 until material for that version was completely phased out. When I discovered Paizo's Pathfinder series, based on the 3.5 rules, I was excited to have a new world and material for our 3.5 gaming.

This Campaign Setting provides information about Piazo's world of Golarion. It includes a poster map of the the world and an introduction to the major kingdoms/empires used for the Pathfinder series, details on gods, magic, environment, organizations, races, classes, and a detailed world history timeline.

This is not a "rulebook". The official rulebook is due out this summer (but you can get the beta-test version free from Paizo).
The information in this book paints a detailed picture of the World itself. It is imaginative and informative. Additional information of the kingdoms included in this book is available in individual guides and adventures, but this Campaign Setting provides information on all of them in one book, although a bit less detail.

I'm excited to have new "spice" for our 3.5 game and have read this book from cover-to-cover.
And Amazon's price provides good cost savings.