History TabletopGame / Pathfinder

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: many neutral outsiders, particularly the Aeons (enigmatic TrueNeutral entities that are guardians of various aspects of reality.)

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In-story, goblins have been built up as braindead idiots with no survival instinct. Rules-wise, however, they have the same Intelligence and Wisdom as the average human.

''Pathfinder'' was created by Paizo Publishing, a group that was split off from Wizards of the Coast in 2002 to publish ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' and ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' Magazines. When [=WotC=] announced the fourth edition of ''D&D'', they took back the publication rights to the magazines in order to create exclusively online versions. Paizo decided to publish a 3rd-edition-focused magazine of its own, ''Pathfinder'', keeping up the "Adventure Path" tradition they'd established in the last three years of ''Dungeon'' while establishing a new in-house campaign setting. They subsequently decided that rather than transition into 4th Edition, they would create their own spin on 3rd. (It should be noted that both companies are on good terms and share a few game designers between them, though Paizo does occasionally shoot the nasty remark at the larger company.)

True to its roots, ''Pathfinder'' claims that it uses the foundation of ''D&D'' to offer something new and fresh while allowing old players to build on what they already knew, created, and played. It also prides itself on being completely compatible with 3.5, which is, naturally, a blatant lie due to rules revisions.

''Pathfinder'' was created by Paizo Publishing, a group that was split off from Wizards of the Coast in 2002 to publish ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' and ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' Magazines. When [=WotC=] announced the fourth edition of ''D&D'', they took back the publication rights to the magazines in order to create exclusively online versions. Paizo decided to publish a 3rd-edition-focused magazine of its own, ''Pathfinder'', keeping up the "Adventure Path" tradition they'd established in the last three years of ''Dungeon'' while establishing a new in-house campaign setting. They subsequently decided that rather than transition into 4th Edition, they would create their own spin on 3rd. (It should be noted that both companies are on good terms and share a few game designers between them.)

True to its roots, ''Pathfinder'' claims that it uses the foundation of ''D&D'' to offer something new and fresh while allowing old players to build on what they already knew, created, and played. It also prides itself on being completely compatible with 3.5.

** Whether it gets better or worse in ''Jade Regent'' depends on your point of view. [[spoiler: Ameiko has the opportunity to become the Empress of Minkai--if she can make an exceedingly perilous journey there with the aid of the PCs and deal with the scheming powerful Oni who drove her noble family into exile and slaughtered her grandfather. Not to mention, her backstory is expanded upon, revealing that she quit her teenage adventuring career after seeing her lover get dragged to his death by cannibals.]]

{{Expy}}: The [[SnakePeople serpentfolk]] are similar to ''D&D'''s yuan-ti in function (ancient evil snake folk living in ruins) but different in appearance, powers, and culture.

* {{Expy}}: The boggards, a race of frog-people, are really just ''D&D'''s bullywugs renamed due to copyright issues.
** Many of them, though, actually predate Pathfinder, having their roots back in the original official conversion of D&D 3.x to the relatively copyright-free SRD, which did things like turn the Apparatus of Kwalish, a primitive submarine, into the Apparatus of the Crab.
** The [[SnakePeople serpentfolk]] are similar to ''D&D'''s yuan-ti in function (ancient evil snake folk living in ruins) but different in appearance, powers, and culture.

* DisabilitySuperpower: the Oracle's Curse class feature.

** The only race of fiends without godlike rulers are the demodands, who are instead ruled over by the titans.

* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Most of the standard 1st-through-3rd edition Archdevils made the transfer to Golarion, albeit altered. Sadly, most of the Demon Lords had to be left behind and replaced by a new batch due to copyright reasons (though Orcus, at least, remains). The Daemons (who have reclaimed their proper name after being known as Yugoloths for two and a half editions) now have the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Four Horsemen]] leading them instead of the solitary Oinodaemon (whom they ganged up on and imprisoned). The Asuras (original to PF and based on Indian myth) have a caste of godlike "ranas", and while Demodands have a place in the setting, we don't know who if anyone is in charge of them yet.

** [[invoked]] Hell, the LawfulEvil plane, is ruled by the devils. It is also inhabited by the asuras.
** [[invoked]] Abaddon, the NeutralEvil plane, is ruled by the daemons. It is also the home of the divs amd demodands.
** [[invoked]] The Abyss, the ChaoticEvil plane, is ruled by the demons. The qlippoth also dwell there.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Absalom is Jerusalem. Andoran is the early United States. Brevoy is medieval Russia. The Erutaki are Inuit. Galt is revolutionary France. Hongal is Mongolia. Hwanggot is Korea. Iblydos is ancient Greece. Irrisen is the fairy tale version of Russia (complete with Baba Yaga!). Katapesh is Arabia. Kelesh is Persia. The Lands of the Linnorm Kings are Scandinavia. Lung Wa is China. Minata is Indonesia and the Philippines. Minkai is Japan. The Mwangi Expanse is DarkestAfrica. Ninshabur is Babylon. Osirion is Egypt. Qadira is also Arabia (with some Persian influences). The Arcadians are Native Americans, and so are the Shoanti[[hottip:*:though the Shoanti are also influenced by RobertEHoward's Picts]]. Sarusan is Australia. Taldor is the Byzantine Empire. Ustalav is an eastern European {{Ruritania}}/{{Uberwald}}. The Varisians are the Roma (Gypses).The Varki are Sami (native Finnish). Vudra is India. Xa Hoi is Vietnam.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Like all fantasy settings Golarion has it's fair share of these, but the names of the [[EldritchAbomination Spawn of Rovagug]] REALLY take the cake with names like "Festering Ulunat, the Unholy First, "Great Doom Chemnosit, the Monarch Worm", "The Tarrasque, Armageddon Engine", "Unyielding Kothogaz, the Dance of Disharmony", "Wrath-Blazing Xoanti, the Firebleeder", and "Volnagur the End-Singer".

* OurElvesAreBetter: They have {{MonochromaticEyes}}, and their primary goddess is one of lust, trickery, and revenge. Otherwise also pretty standard. They bailed on the planet during the Age of Darkness, only returning en masse within the past few millennia when a demon took over part of their ancestral homeland.

* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: If they can curb their appetite they look like [[{{EvilAlbino}} chalk-white, hairless, red-eyed elves]], perfectly "fresh" and even beautiful at times. But if they indulge their hunger for flesh, [[{{BodyHorror}} they putrify and start rotting away as new meat replaces the old...]]
* OurGnomesAreWeirder: Gnomes are fey creatures exiled from the First World in the wake of a disaster of uncertain nature; they can't quite adjust to Golarion, and spend a lot of time obsessing over minutiae and seeking out new experiences in order to avoid going mad(der). It's darkly hinted by the developers that the story of the disaster may be a fabrication, and gnomes are really humanoid interface devices through which vastly more powerful beings can study the material world.
** Actually, it's worse... officially, gnomes have to wander and find new experiences, or they go through a lethal process called Bleaching, which slowly reduces them to a pile of dust and bones.]] As mentioned above, DarkerAndEdgier, indeed.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Absalom is Jerusalem. Andoran is the early United States. Brevoy is medieval Russia. The Erutaki are Inuit. Galt is revolutionary France. Hongal is Mongolia. Hwanggot is Korea. Iblydos is ancient Greece. Irrisen is the fairy tale version of Russia (complete with Baba Yaga!). Katapesh is Arabia. Kelesh is Persia. The Lands of the Linnorm Kings are Scandinavia. Lung Wa is China. Minata is Indonesia and the Philippines. Minkai is Japan. The Mwangi Expanse is DarkestAfrica. Ninshabur is Babylon. Osirion is Egypt. Qadira is also Arabia (with some Persian influences). The Arcadians are Native Americans, and so are the Shoanti[[hottip:*:though the Shoanti are also influenced by RobertEHoward's Picts]]. Sarusan is Australia. Taldor is the Byzantine Empire. Ustalav is an eastern European {{Ruritania}}/{{Uberwald}}. The Varisians are the Roma (Gypses).The Varki are Sami (native Finnish). Vudra is India. The Wandering Isles are Indonesia. Xa Hoi is Vietnam.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Absalom is Jerusalem. Andoran is the early United States. Brevoy is medieval Russia. The Erutaki are Inuit. Galt is revolutionary France. Hongal is Mongolia. Iblydos is ancient Greece. Irrisen is the fairy tale version of Russia (complete with Baba Yaga!). Katapesh is Arabia. Kelesh is Persia. The Lands of the Linnorm Kings are Scandinavia. Lung Wa is China. Minkai is Japan. The Mwangi Expanse is DarkestAfrica. Ninshabur is Babylon. Osirion is Egypt. Qadira is also Arabia (with some Persian influences). The Arcadians are Native Americans, and so are the Shoanti[[hottip:*:though the Shoanti are also influenced by RobertEHoward's Picts]]. Sarusan is Australia. Taldor is the Byzantine Empire. Ustalav is an eastern European {{Ruritania}}/{{Uberwald}}. The Varisians are the Roma (Gypses).The Varki are Sami (native Finnish). Vudra is India. The Wandering Isles are Indonesia. Xa Hoi is Vietnam.

** As of the ''Ultimate Combat'' supplement, there is a Gunslinger base class that specializes in them. There are also paladin and wizard variants that use guns.

** Actually, just like in 3.5, Spellcasters start dominating from a fairly early point, and the gap only gets wider. With the increase of arcane spellcaster HP, additional powers (and very potent ones, at that) for Wizards and Sorcerers, and the nerfing of the melee staple "power attack" feat, Pathfinder is actually even more demonstrative of this feat than the D&D 3.5 Edition it is based on.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Absalom is Jerusalem. Andoran is the early United States. Brevoy is medieval Russia. The Erutaki are Inuit. Galt is revolutionary France. Hongal is Mongolia. Iblydos is ancient Greece. Irrisen is the fairy tale version of Russia (complete with Baba Yaga!). Katapesh is Arabia. Kelesh is Persia. The Lands of the Linnorm Kings are Scandinavia. Lung Wa is China. Minkai is Japan. The Mwangi Expanse is DarkestAfrica. Ninshabur is Babylon. Osirion is Egypt. Qadira is also Arabia (with some Persian influences). The Arcadians are Native Americans, and so are the Shoanti. Sarusan is Australia. Taldor is the Byzantine Empire. Ustalav is an eastern European {{Ruritania}}/{{Uberwald}}. The Varisians are the Roma (Gypses).The Varki are Sami (native Finnish). Vudra is India. The Wandering Isles are Indonesia. Xa Hoi is Vietnam.

* GrumpyOldMan: Erastil, God of Farming, Hunting, Trade and Family: [[GoodIsNotNice Cranky]], [[FemaleSuccessIsFamily sexist]], [[ValuesDissonance reactionary]]... and LawfulGood.