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Do you want inspiration for creating a Pathfinder 2e RPG campaign? Or maybe just a little background information as a player? Whatever your reasons are, a sourcebook such as this Lost Omens World Guide will prove invaluable to giving you plot ideas for campaigns, character backgrounds or simply the information to flesh out the scenario to bring it more to life.
Players do have the tendency to want to explore the world they are in or at least the communities they travel through, so a good world guide is a solid place to start and a great help to allow player agency. It also takes some of the work out of world building from scratch because a good deal of effort has gone into the sourcebook and the Lost Omens World Guide is no exception.
Although Paizo do publish a good selection of adventure ideas through their Adventure Path modules, sometimes you can’t beat homebrew to satisfy those creative desires and with the Lost Omens World Guide, it’s a great place to start, whether you are new to Pathfinder or experienced.
Content
So, what do you get? Well, you get 135 pages of content focusing essentially on ten key areas in the Inner Sea region of the world of Golarion which provides the core setting for Pathfinder. You also get a double-sided pull-out map to help give you that visual perspective of the region. There is also a helpful glossary at the end. I would like to see more content on other regions of Golarion, but this is a fair start.
The Overview
The sourcebook starts by giving you an overview. It isn’t overly detailed, but it does give you some useful information, namely, a Golarion timeline, a paragraph on various regions in the world and a few little essentials to help run the game like explaining the calendar as well as planes of existence beyond the material plane.
Key Regions
The core of this sourcebook is the lore on the key regions and it doesn’t disappoint. The Lost Omens World Guide features the following notable regions of interest: Absalom and Starstone Isle, the Broken Lands, Eye of Dread, the Golden Road, the High Seas, Impossible Lands, Mwangi Expanse, Old Cheliax, Saga Lands and the Shining Kingdoms.
I’ve read some great sourcebooks over the years for different systems, some now sadly out of print, and so I like to think that I have a good sense as to what is helpful and constructive, certainly for me when I design campaigns. What I want is enough detail to help inspire me or to help create content that is consistent with the world design.
What I find satisfying with Lost Omens World Guide is you get 12 pages for each region with the information that I would want to know. You get a focused albeit not detailed map, a timeline of events, the various people, languages, religions, and resources the areas are known for, a breakdown of points in history and useful information on politics and economics as well as other helpful bits of lore.
What you also get are additional options for characters in terms of backgrounds and feats. I really like this. I admit I am new to Pathfinder and this was motivation enough to acquire the Lost Omens World Guide. I do like the detail and variations available for character design and background, so another reason this is valuable and an important reason why I’m looking at Pathfinder 2e.
I think this is a real strength of Pathfinder from what I’ve read so far. In my experience to date with character generation I feel this is a real palette cleanser. I love the level of options and feats available for characters and the Lost omens World Guide helps here.
Homebrew
With the maps, although there are not as detailed as I personally would like, they are still visually useful and offer the platform to build communities and opportunities as you see fit in creating homebrew design or elaborating further with published adventures.
Similarly, with the general guide to the regions, the detail is certainly enough to help prompt the question ‘What if?’ a useful question to scenario and campaign building. That is one of the key things to consider when creating your own content so that everyone involved can feel they are playing in a living, breathing environment.
When I design scenarios, unless I already have a core idea, I will sometimes look at maps and pick a few places and think what is going on there or perhaps in a region sparsely populated or with detail on the map I will think what communities are there or hidden temples etc. A good sourcebook like this helps feed the imagination helping you to grow communities or maybe build a timeline for what led to a ruined temple in a desolate wilderness.
Having The Physical Book
Although Paizo are excellent in providing free online content, there is a lot to be said for having your own physical copy. Visually the Lost Omens World Guide is well designed, with lovely artwork, it has a good user-friendly layout and is easy to read.
I like accessing free content where necessary, but there is also nothing quite like having your own book to read at leisure, to utilise with ease and as a reference book for quick information or inspiration it does the job well.
I would also add this. I honestly don’t feel like space has been wasted. Sure, for a world guide, there is a tremendous amount of information that could have gone into this book and the Lost Omens World Guide could’ve been expanded to cover more regions giving inspiration to explore areas off the beaten track – something I like to do on occasion.
But I can’t say I feel shortchanged. I’ve read sourcebooks which go into more detail, but then often the extra content can go unused. I’ve also certainly read sourcebooks and new rulebooks which have left me feeling that a lot of filler has been included that adds nothing of value, at least to me.
As a very experienced roleplayer, since 1982, I can say I’m happy with my purchase. I will go on creating homebrew content, but as I start to explore Pathfinder and the world of Golarion, I feel the Lost Omens World Guide is a great guide to help me start and I think a good buy for anyone wanting to explore Golarion more.
