History TabletopGame / Pathfinder

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Ultimate Combat includes stats for Katanas. They are exactly like a Bastard Sword, but with a very minor additional cost [[hottip:*:15 gold more when a 2nd level PlayerCharacter is expected to have 2000]] and an additional special property that makes them better at executing helpless foes.

** Of the deities: Asmodeus is {{Satan}} as depectied by ParadiseLost and DivineComedy. Shizuru and Susumu are [[JapaneseMythology Amaterasu and Susanoo]].

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Absalom is Jerusalem. Amanandar is Hong Kong. Andoran is the early United States. Brevoy and Iobaria are medieval Russia. Dtang Ma is Thailand. The Erutaki are Inuit. The Forest of Spirits is ancient Japan, by way of {{PrincessMononoke}}. Galt is revolutionary France. Hongal is Mongolia. Hwanggot is Korea. Iblydos is ancient Greece. Irrisen is [[RussianMythologyAndTales the fairy tale version of Russia]] (complete with BabaYaga!). Katapesh is Arabia. Kelesh is Persia. The Lands of the Linnorm Kings are Scandinavia. Lung Wa and its many Successor States are China. Minata is Indonesia and the Philippines. Minkai is Japan and so is Shokuro. 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 [[{{Uberwald}} fantasy Transylvania]]. The Varisians are the {{Roma}} (Gypsies). The Varki are Sami (native Finnish). Vudra is India. The Wall of Heaven is Nepal. Xa Hoi is Vietnam. Zi Ha is Tibet.

** The Starstone also turned out to be '''very''' powerful on its own right, including the ability to elevate mortals to GODHOOD, four times actually. Though the Aboleth were not aware of its real nature, so thi was not intendet...at least not by the Deep Masters.

** OurGoblinsAreDifferent: The goblins of Golarion are dangerously stupid pyromaniacs who loathe dogs and horses ([[AnimalsHateHim the feeling is mutual]]), are terrified of writing (it can steal your soul!), and sing horrible merry songs about [[EatsBabies eating babies]]. Hobgoblins are as militaristic as the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' norm but are so universally ambitious that they can't hold an army together for long, being an entire race of [[TheStarscream Starscreams]]. Bugbears are psychopathic serial killers who live for the smell of fear and are unnervingly good at hiding in places nothing that huge should be able to fit—[[NightmareFuelUnleaded like behind your door, or under your bed]].

** OurOgresAreHungrier: They're [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel sickeningly horrifying]] embodiments of brain-damaged inbred hillbillies.

Try to keep the {{Natter}} to a minimum, too. [[LoveItOrHateIt There will be people with opinions about the game different than yours]], and that's ok. RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement is still in full effect here.

* BondageIsBad: Zon-Kuthon, who is basically a [[{{Hellraiser}} Cenobite]] homage as an evil god. Also the Kytons, expanded from a single type of evil outsider into a full-fledged {{Hellraiser}}-themed [[TheLegionsOfHell infernal]] [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils hierarchy]].

** The kytons (originally a single subtype of devil in D&D, now a whole distinct race of fiends) are ruled by the demagogues, who, like Zon-Kuthon, are basically [[{{Hellraiser}} Cenobites]].

* SummonMagic: Conjurers are a school of Wizards who specialize in conjuration, magic that creates matter from nothing or summons creatures. The Summoner is a base class that forgoes all magic ''but'' conjuration.

* AcidTripDimension: Limbo, a holdover from 3.5 is a chaotic realm where the terrain and even the physics changes randomly. Also, The First World, the home of the Fey and the original blueprint for the material plane.

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

* CreativeSterility: The titans were jealous of gods' ability to create mortals, so they tried to create a race of their own to worship them. What they got were the demodands, a race of twisted mockeries.

* CursedWithAwesome: The sorceror Class now has Bloodlines which can stem from anything from Orcs, to Undead, to the Lovecraftian horrors between the stars. They all give teh Sorceror Awesome powers, new spells, and access to more feats. In a More literal sense, the Oracle base class is given something called an "Oracle's Curse".

* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Most "races" of fiends have a class of powerful rulers, who are classified as demigods and capable of casting spells to cultists.

** 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). On the other hand, most of the really important ones were {{Public Domain Character}}s (Orcus, Demogorgon[[hottip:*:though his depiction as a two-headed monkey/serpent remains copyrighted by Wizards, so he receives only off-hand mentions]], Pazuzu, Dagon, Kostchtchie, Baphomet...). The biggest losses lore-wise were Graz'zt, Fraz-Urb'luu[[hottip:*:who ''is'' open source thanks to creeping into the 3.5 3rd-party ''Tome of Horrors'', but Paizo deliberately doesn't use him because he's so closely tied to ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'']], Pale Night, Yeenoghu, and Zuggtmoy.

* FungusHumongous: Several, aside from several eldritch abominations, Cyth-V’sug, a DemonLord is basically a giant fungal dragon.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The adventure "The Witchwar Legacy" has a big one. [[spoiler: One of Baba Yaga's witch-queen daughters, Tashanna, was exiled to another reality both as punishment for staging a coup against her mother and as a means to encourage her to grow into a great witch and demon-binder in her own right. The infamous Grayhawk villain Iggwilv, who received a lot of attention in Paizo's Dragon and Dungeon runs, was a member of the Circle of Eight under the alias "Tasha".]]

* LeftJustifiedFantasyMap: Partially averted, the areas that have been detailed so far are Avistan - a rough Europe analogue, Garund - an equally wild and varied Africa analogue, and the western region of Casmaron - roughly equivalent to the Middle East. More Recently, Tian-Xia, an analogue of the whole of Asia, has been detailed as well. Arcadia (an American analogue) has been mentioned, but not detailed yet.

* LightIsNotGood: Shining Children (creepy borderline-EldritchAbomination evil outsiders with light and fire themed powers) and Lurkers in Light (creepy extraplanar evil fey with abilities that make them most dangerous in well-illuminated areas) from the second Bestiary; there is also the demon lord Nurgal, representing the merciless, destructive power of the sun.

* LovecraftCountry: The description of the Lost Coast from Burnt Offerings, the first chapter of Rise of the Runelords, reads like a description of the Dunwich area.

* MagicMissile: The Titular spell is part of Pathfinder just like it was in D&D.

** OurGoblinsAreDifferent: The goblins of Golarion are dangerously stupid pyromaniacs who loathe dogs and horses ([[AnimalsHateHim the feeling is mutual]]), are terrified of writing (it can steal your soul!), and sing horrible merry songs about eating babies. Hobgoblins are as militaristic as the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' norm but are so universally ambitious that they can't hold an army together for long, being an entire race of [[TheStarscream Starscreams]]. Bugbears are psychopathic serial killers who live for the smell of fear and are unnervingly good at hiding in places nothing that huge should be able to fit—[[NightmareFuelUnleaded like behind your door, or under your bed]].

* PerpetualMotionMonster: Undead, constructs, and most outsiders don't need food or sustenance of any kind. Even Ghouls, though inflicted by a ravenous hunger, don't actually need to eat.

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: Galt has been stuck in the french "Reign of Terror" phase of its revolution for about a century now, withno end in sight.

* StandardFantasySetting: Thecore rulebooks present the setting like this. People can design their own campaigns however they wish, so a basic template is handy. The world of Golarion however diverges from this and moves more into the realm of a blend of standard fantasy and pulp novels.

* CursedWithAwesome: The Oracle base class. Oh no! You are babbling in a demonic tongue while in battle! But when you reach level 15, you can understand and speak any language!

** Oh no! I'm haunted, objects that I drop or attempt to retrieve are suddenly not there or several feet away, but as I level[[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers I gain the ability to tell gravity to GTFO.]]

* WorldOfSnark: Going by the flavor text alone, one could be forgiven for concluding that almost every single iconic character is a borderline HeroicComedicSociopath who speaks entirely in snarky one-liners.

* InterspeciesRomance: With all the HalfHumanHybrids and other crossbreeds running around and considering teh HotWailordOnSkittyAction above, this happens pretty often. Though not as often as in D&D.

* Hell Seeker: There are a lot. Pretty much anyone who makes a DealWithTheDevil for instance. Oddly enough Subverted to a degree with the country of [[EvilEmpire Cheliax]], who see Hell's Infernal Hierarchy more as a model for government than as a place they want to be.
* Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: Several species in Pathfinder are quite capable of breeding with just about anything. Aside from the Typical Half-Orcs, Half-Elves, Aasimar and Tieflings, there's also the matter of Sorcerors whose bloodlines can include devils, demons, angels, Undead, Plants, and Shadows.
* Human Sacrifice: A tradition among the evil religions, though the particulars can vary. The Demonic Obedience for Lamashtu for instance involves Sacrificing a life that is younger than 4 weeks old.
* Interspecies Romance: With all the HalfHumanHybrids and other crossbreeds running around and considering teh HotWailordOnSkittyAction above, this happens pretty often. Though not as often as in D&D.

* AcidTripDimension: Limbo, a holdover from 3.5 is a chaotic realm where the terrain and even the physics changes randomly.

* LeftJustifiedFantasyMap: Partially averted, the areas that have been detailed so far are Avistan - a rough Europe analogue, Garund - an equally wild and varied Africa analogue, and the western region of Casmaron - roughly equivalent to the Middle East.

* 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. Their "ruling class" apparently lives off-world through special [[PortalNetwork "Elfgates"]] of which few truly still function, and the species as a whole originates from this otherworldly homeland. Also, they're Aliens, hailing from an isolated continent on the lush junglle covered planet of Castrovel.

* 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. Their "ruling class" apparently lives off-world through special [[PortalNetwork "Elfgates"]] of which few truly still function, and the species as a whole originates from this otherworldly homeland.