Golarian Ho!

Why did I set my home game in Paizo's world of Golarian?  Or a better question, should you set your game in Golarian, or one of your favorite home game worlds?

The Way of the Wicked already comes with a ready made setting.  The Isles of Talengarde represent a rich area.  The bustling cultural hub of Ghastenhall, the never ending forests of the Carn Briar, the frontier borderlands, the savage north beyond, full of evil humanoids, the snow covered & iceberg infested seal hunting isles and the rich farm land and religious fervor that's gripped the capital, they all combine to provide a wonderful setting.  Add to that the intentionally vague "continent" near by, and it gives you plenty of options.

So the answer?  No.  You don't need to add anything more to the setting if you don't want.  As written, it provides plenty to work with.


But why did I?  Well, for a few reasons.

One, I wanted to expand out the pantheon.  As written, the story focuses primarily on the gods of Mitra & Asmodeus and doesn't detail much else.  I can see the authors intent, to make it focused on that struggle, but I wanted to round it out more with a flushed out set of deities and well, I'm lazy, so I stole from a setting I knew.

Two, the setting leaves the near by "continent" undeveloped, and I wanted to expand that out more.  But again, I'm lazy.  So I stole the base frame work to build off of.

Three, the world of Golarian fit so nicely into the back story of Talengarde.  An independent island nation state that started off worshiping Asomdeus as part of a set of gods & then abandoned the god.  It stands in perfect juxtaposition of Cheliax.


So, what did I do?

Well, I liked the difference between Cheliax & Talengarde so I played that up more.  I made the worship of Asmodeus stronger in Talengarde before the purge.  I had Talengarde start out as a small minor province of Cheliax, then during the various upheavals & civil wars, at some point, Talengarde became semi-autonomous & eventually fully autonomous.  And along the way, other gods, including the native god, Mitra, rouse to prominence.  This makes the purge that happens that much more of a "harsh" and "unjust" action in the eyes of not only the true followers of Asomdeus, but also others in Talengarde.  And it adds an international component to the drama.  After all, how does Cheliax feel about it's erstwhile province abandoning the Lord of Nessus & embracing a god eerily similar to Sarenrae...  Would they seek to aid an uprising & revival of the Lord of Nessus?  Would they threaten the local conspirators, "You have one chance to do this internal rebellion, after that Hell Knights will lead an army and seize the Isle in the name of the Crown of Cheliax."  And what about outside groups of good.  The righteous cause of Mitra could draw others to her aid.

This gives me more stuff I can hook in at my leisure.  Not to mention a load of other story elements & characters, races, etc... from published Paizo works.

As for the logistical problem of WHERE to place the Isles of Talengarde, I choose to the west of the Inner Sea in the Arcadean Ocean.  Below is a very rough map, somewhat to scale, that shows the placement.

What about your own personal home world?  Well, the benefit of Talengarde being an Island, you can simply drop it in, as written, to your own home game where ever there's an ocean.  The author even says as much.  The isles aren't that big, about the size of England, and isolated enough that it should fit nicely into any home setting you have.  Just be sure you've thought out how any international complications.  How do other nations feel about Talengarde?  Would they lend aid to the King?  Would they support a dark rebellion?  Think those facets through & you'll have gained yourself a rich setting that fits nicely into the focus of the game.