PF2E Lore Questions

[Tempered7]

I think that depends entirely on if you want to use the Pathfinder Society specifically in your adventure. If you do, the Society Guide is pretty indispensable. On the other hand, it's not a very useful book for anything except the Pathfinder Society specifically, as basically all of the lore it introduces is tied to that organization.

The Character Guide is going to have more options and settings outside of the Society specifically.

Oh, then it is best to buy Character Guide for famous characters and create my own (rival) guilds. Thanks once again. Whislisted.

[Tempered7]

Real World Analogies of PF2E Geography

This list of geographic regions & nations in PF2E is taken from Tvtropes. They are based on different genres of fantasy with real world parallels (both in geography & literature) with the exception of few city states. PF2E writers did quite a job to obscure the real world names of these city/region names which makes it hard to trace them back to literature. My edits are in parentheses.

Interactive Map: https://map.pathfinderwiki.com/#location=0.84/0/0

NEW EDIT --Also from TVTropes:

Golarion again is loosely based on Earth: Avistan corresponds to Europe, Garund to Africa, and Casmaron to west and central Asia; however, East Asia is represented as a separate continent called Tian Xia, which has an ocean separating it from Casmaron but is connected to Avistan via a land bridge across the north pole. The continent of Arcadia is Mesoamerican-flavored, though with a technological level similar to the eastern supercontinent (think warriors wearing feathers and jaguar skins over chainmail). The other planets in Golarion's solar system are also detailed somewhat (the elf species originated on one of them and migrated to Golarion by portal), and become significantly more important in the Science FantasySpin-Off Starfinder (set several thousand years in Pathfinder's future).

/end of the new edit.

Absalom is Jerusalem mixed with Rhodes/Cyprus.
Almhult is Iceland. (But there is a city in Sweden with the same name.)
Amanandar is Hong Kong.
Andoran is the early United States.
The Arcadians are Native Americans, and so are the Shoantinote though the Shoanti are also influenced by Robert E. Howard's Picts. (But the word Arcadia comes from the hunter king character Arcas, and in Greek mythology it was the home of the gods Hermes and Pan)
Bachuan is, of all places in a fantasy setting, a fusion of China and North Korea.
Brevoy and Iobaria are medieval Russia.
Cheliax can be seen as some weird form of devil servants
Druma is Switzerland. (Rich Dwarven Merchants with "Kalistocrats" hehe)
Dtang Ma is Thailand and Malaysia.
The Erutaki are Inuit. (Char naming conventions follow the Iniut name sounds.)
The Forest of Spirits is ancient Japan, by way of Princess Mononoke.
Galt is revolutionary France. (Ripe with plots where vigilante NPCs, bards/poets dabble in political intrigue... No idea what Galt really is though. Except for a city in California. Maybe sounds like Celt?)
Goka is Macau fused with Singapore. (Macau was formerly a Portuguese colony, I wonder if they reflected it? PF2E Equivalent of Portuguese isn't on this list.)
Hongal and Shaguang are Mongolia. (Semi-nomadic life in tundras.)
Hwanggot is Korea. (The exact origins of Korea goes back to 40.000 BC and are therefore a subject of both myth and historical record. But the founding of Hwanggot corresponds to another empire's fall: Imperial Yixing.)
Iblydos is ancient Greece. (Lovely imagery for it in the wiki)
Irrisen is the fairy tale version of Russia (Baba Yaga!)
Jalmeray is a fantastic Indian version of Socotra island. (Which is a Yemeni Island in the Indian Ocean. / Nex's archmage who bears the same name with his city has grift relations with the domain owner of Jalmeray: . Ripe with exotic plots in East Asian setting)
Jistka was a less successful Rome mixed with Carthage. (The first human kingdom to establish itself from the ashes of Earthfall.)
Kaladay is the medieval European conception of China. (No one from the Inner Sea visits them and they don't visit the Inner Sea. Kinda pointless, IMO).
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. (A massive archipelago.)
Minkai is Japan and so is Shokuro, with the difference being that Minkai is a bit more fantastic and Shokuro a bit more feudal. (Fortunate that PF2E core rules has class archetypes for both)
Molthune is Prussia. (Heh, they kinda have a similar fate)
The Mwangi Expanse is Africa.
Ninshabur "was" Babylon/Assyria.
Osirion is Egypt. (Obviously, from Osiris)
Qadira is also Arabia with some Persian influences. (Finally a name with definition. Qadira is a girls name which means "capable".)
Sarusan is Australia. (Hmm, I'm having strange signals from 4 yrs ago that read S.O.S)
The Shackles are the Caribbean.
Taldor is the Byzantine Empire.

(EDIT: According to MythKeeper in YT, Taldor is more like the early Roman Emp. as first founded, even though its starting place corresponds to Byzantine side instead of Rome. In another note, their language Taldane is [was?] 'common' as called in D&D settings.)

Ustalav is fantasy Transylvania.
Valenhall is Vinland (was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings).
The Varisians are the Romani (Gypsies).
The Varki are Sàmi (Lapland natives).
Vudra is India. (Vudrani are subservient to the almighty emperor maharajah which in turn has/had grift relations with Nex).
The Wall of Heaven is Nepal.
Xa Hoi is Vietnam and Khmer Empire.
Zi Ha is Tibet.

WOW! EDIT: I was today years old when I learned that our planet Earth is also a canonical planet in the multiverse of Pathfinder/Startfinder as a distant world in a galaxy far away from Golarion's solar system. But the date there is still in 1920s.

[Tempered7]

(Note: I made edits to post above)

@MaxAstro: I watched videos from MythKeeper. You made me so happy by literally pinpointed what I was trying to setup (background for rival guilds & item hunt) by mentioning Nex/Geb/Alkenstar area. The story there is incredible and more than what I asked for! Nex is like Thay in D&D but with more allure (to my eyes). Geb is also like Thay but with undead shenanigans that goes beyond Thay's "necromancers wanna turn everyone undead. Why? Because!" They are at an endless war, it's perfect for both sides to send hirelings to gather items for their own advantage in the war. Not to mention neither Archmage Nex, nor the Ghost King has any connection to real world. Chef's special for escapism. :>

Though, based on how factions info spread over many books in two rulesets (PF1/PF2) I couldn't find a single book/edition that includes only Nex/Geb/Alkenstar factions in great detail. I mean, with all the people and history of their factions.

* Impossible Lands has the lore for the area but I don't know if it has enough info for detailed factions.
* I have no idea if there are any factions of Nex/Geb/Alkenstar in Lost Omens: Character Guide.
* Ditto but with Lost Omens: World Guide.
* Chronicles: Faction Guide (PF1) might have faction info for these cities but for their past. Probably isn't compatible in PF2 ruleset.
* Any other related modules that I'm not aware of?

So, my question is to both loremasters like Max, and official PF module makers:

Which 2 modules in which version (PF1/PF2) I should buy to get all the info of the factions and world knowledge of Nex/Geb/Alkenstar (including the firearms) for I can't buy more than 2 to prevent bankruptcy ?

[MaxAstro]

For Geb specifically the absolute best source of that kind of detailed information is going to be the Blood Lords adventure path, which is entirely set in Geb and deals heavily with the region's politics. I'd read the descriptions of each book and grab the ones that seem most likely to deal with relevant subject matter.

Unfortunately there hasn't been, to my knowledge, an adventure path set in Nex (there honestly aren't even many adventures set there at all yet) so I'm less sure about that one.

There is an adventure path set in Alkenstar, though, Outlaws of Alkenstar, so one of the books from that might be helpful as well.

Also yes, Earth has been a canonical location ever since the Reign of Winter adventure path, which involved a trip to Earth (to kill Rasputin none the less). I don't know if you discovered this yet, but the current ruler of the nation of Irrisen is Anastasia, as in missing-princess Anastasia Romanov, who was brought to Golarion from Earth as part of that adventure.

Also fun fact - Since Paizo keeps Golarion's calendar synced with Earth's calendar (current Earth year is 2025 so current Golarion year is 4725 and in-world Earth year is 1925), in a little over a decade if Pathfinder is still around it will be completely valid in lore to travel to Earth to kill Nazis! XD

[Tempered7]

Oh, so Adventure Paths also have lore info, that's what I completely overlooked. Blood Lords & Outlaws of Alkenstar -noted. I assume Blood Lords is ripe with so much intrigue and Outlaws of Alkenstar could produce some great rebel stories against Nex. Or at least I'd use them that way. Too bad there is no AP in Nex, I'd imagine it would produce such magical stories.

I had no idea there was an AP with Rasputin as BBEG, let alone real world historical figure brought to fictional world. PF is getting more and more interesting for me than D&D can ever be. So it involves past history of Earth instead of today's current state, and it's also perfect for thinking about famous historical figures. Solo sessions will be awesome! And bringing Earth characters into Golarion... You just opened an endless portal for me to create my own histories! Strange that I never did that before despite I invented a method for using TTRPGs as irl problem solving method.

Also fun fact - Since Paizo keeps Golarion's calendar synced with Earth's calendar (current Earth year is 2025 so current Golarion year is 4725 and in-world Earth year is 1925), in a little over a decade if Pathfinder is still around it will be completely valid in lore to travel to Earth to kill Nazis! XD

Ohh, the possibilities and all those myths that surrounds them! Wolfenstein with Alkenstar guns vs lugers but as TTRPG! xD Spies, occultist magic, soldiers and stealing Nazi artifacts or die trying. In fact all those real world urban myths now gained a different meaning and usage now that you mentioned. And you know what, instead of escapism, now I can even create humorous stories about some people in my own country's history. *rubs hands*

/EDIT: Blood Lords AP 5: A Taste of Ashes seems the perfect one for its info on city's secret defense installations & trade routes.
And Outlaws of Alkenstar AP 3: The Smoking Gun for the gun factory and western movie goodies <3

Oh boy, this setting will bankrupt me

[MaxAstro]

Yeah, all of the APs have a fair bit of lore info - both in the adventure itself, and in supplemental materials towards the back.