Hero Lab: Deep Magic and Advanced Class Guide

This is one I've been waiting for, the Pathfinder Advanced Class Guide and the Deep Magic supplement have been added to Lone Wolf's Hero Lab. Check it out on the Pathfinder support page here. I think I have been waiting for the Deep Magic package for a while now, and that completes my "super collection" of Pathfinder build books and computer-assisted character design. This would consist of:

• Pathfinder Core Rulebook
• Ultimate Magic
• Ultimate Combat
• Ultimate Equipment
• Ultimate Campaign
• Mythic Adventures
• Advanced Race Guide
• Advanced Player's Guide
• Advanced Class Guide
• Pathfinder Bestiary 1 thru 4
• Tome of Horrors Complete
• Deep Magic
• 1001 Spells
• Secrets of Adventuring

I'd love to build a Pathfinder game world that supports all that, in fact - especially integrating the four non-official books in italics. As of mid-2014, this is the most interesting and complete group of non world specific character, setting, and monster material you can get right now.

With the above set of books I think it would be harder to do, and I would eventually settle down on one theme and pick-and-choose what I wanted. Another great point about making a focused game world is that players who are bought-in to the main Paizo campaign could always borrow your setting and drop the parts they like in.

Do I believe there's room for another Pathfinder compatible game world? Of course! There's always room outside of Paizo's main theme-park style setting of Golarion for more specific and focused experiences. The one thing about theme-park worlds is they don't force a deep and committed player buy-in of any one part of the world.

Let's say you wanted to run a game in a Vampire-count sort of Ravenloft-y world. Golarion has one of those places, but for a setting like that to work for me - there can be no escape. You can't jet over to the Elven Kingdom or your Barbarian Enclave to escape that threat, for me, having a focused 100% "this is it" type world (like Game of Thrones) is a very compelling experience. Even if my mini-world setting is not as big as the main Paizo world, if it is 100% devoted to one subject - Gothic horror, backstabbing noble families, Arthurian fantasy, Cthulhu style horror - I feel it is better focused and my players will have a great time.

For me, it is about limiting distractions and not providing safe zones for the players. Take the vampire count world idea. Without safe zones, players have to become involved in the game world, make deals with vampire counts, find places they can be safe-er in, and ally with NPCs (they think) who share their interests. Nowhere in the world is safe from the vampire lords, there is no "demon area" or "Egypt area" where the big bad guy changes and the vampires can't reach.

There is also the fun possibility of limiting areas that would be a threat to Vampires, such as divine magic. Let's say the vampire counts stamped out all worship of deities that could provide divine power to challenge them, and worship to one or two long-forgotten gods was underground and secret. This is fun, compelling content you can't get in a theme-park world since you could always go next-door to the holy kingdom, round up a bunch of paladins, and ride in like the Magnificent Seven.

Still, I think even a semi-generic alternate game world is very compelling and possible using the above list as a seeder guide. Write it for Pathfinder like Eberron was written for D&D3 - everything must exist and play together. The addition of the four other non-official books would make for an interesting world to explore indeed.