New to Palladium Fantasy

[TheGameMaster]

Howdy all. I'm relatively well versed in the Palladium system, but my experience has mostly been with Rifts and Heroes Unlimited.

Recently, the subject of playing Palladium Fantasy came up recently. As my group's GM it's going to be up to me to run it. I'm not worried about the rules but I don't know anything about the setting. I plan to get some of the region books once I decide what regions interest me most. In the mean time, would you guys mind helping me out?

What's the general tone of the setting? What kind of stories or adventures really highlight what the game is about? What are some of your favorite moments from your PFRPG games?

A lot of it is going to depend on what region you run in and what sort of adventure you run. To me it has a feeling balanced somewhere between Middle Earth and Narnia. One of my favorite moments was when my party had staged an ambush on an Orc caravan that was transporting a captured Prince in it. After all the fighting was over(it was an EPIC fight) and we rescued the prince and reunited him with his love, we found out that it was all part of a larger plan for a complete Orc invasion of the Kingdom.

[kiralon]

The GM is right about the regions but it has a lot of backstory which is great. Id suggest either timiro or eastern territories as a start location as they are more standard, but the best way to find out is to play.
The rules are a bit old and pf doesnt get many updates but most dnd players i introduced to palladium stayed with palladium, as the world setting is very good.
One of my favourite moments as a DM was a moment when one of my players went xy(think cthulu) and ripped off a few of ya ahk mets arms(shob noggorath or whatever), or when they went to see a vampire lord and couldnt see in the dark so the wizard unthinkingly globed of daylight and the vampire embedded his desk into the wizards head.

[zyanitevp]

What's the general tone of the setting? What kind of stories or adventures really highlight what the game is about? What are some of your favorite moments from your PFRPG games?

Favorite moment? Wow! So many. I would say my current favorite is this.

As far as setting, it is everything! High fantasy, low fantasy, political intrigue, ability to play all races! Detailed towns/cities in Old Ones (Timiro kingdom). Cursed lands (land of the damned). Seas. I could go on and on, but will say that it is now my favorite out of all the Palladium settings.

[MADMANMIKE]

What z said.. I started back when the Adventures in the Northern Wilderness book 2 had just come out, so I lean towards Book II: The Old Ones as a starting point; with tons of maps with good lists of shops, inns, etc. and some great base adventures, it's a good starting point to introduce characters. Likewise, if you get the Latest Rifter (63), it has an official expansion on the Timiro Kingdom, with stats for some key characters, a decent historical timeline, and some pretty cool artwork to boot..

[Cinos]

The tone of it is very classical high fantasy. It can be envisioned as more low fantasy with a few details altered, and depending on where in the world you're focused on. It's got the same sort of tone Rifts has, where when you look at everything, it feels a bit jumbled and overwhelming (less so than Rifts, but it's honestly all over the place when you try and take it all in), but when you zoom into an area, it has it's own contained vibe and theme, the western empire has a lot of cloak and dagger with high fantasy, while the eastern territory has more of a high adventure / low fantasy feeling to it

[Hotrod]

The setting is, as the others have said, high fantasy. It's about the most-versatile high fantasy setting you'll find. There's no one specific theme to it that springs to mind, other than lots and lots of worldwide diversity (and smaller-scale prejudice). I posted the following in response to a similar question some time back:

Essential: PFRPG 2nd Ed.

Important non-regional sourcebooks:
Monsters & Animals 2nd Ed. This is critically important if you want your characters to take on a wider variety of foes (or playable species) than playable races, demons, and deevils. Also necessary for any details on horses and trainable mounts.
High Seas, 2nd Ed. If you want a sea-based campaign, this book is a must. Even if you don't, this book has good OCCs like gladiators and entertainers, necromancers, shaman, and regional economic information.
Library of Bletherad: Though it's technically a regional sourcebook, the information inside is chock full of adventure and campaign ideas. It also has some nifty magic spells, siege weapons, air galleons, castle layouts, currency exchange, poisons, nifty rune weapons, and an assortment of rare creatures.
Dragons & Gods: If you want to do anything with dragons, gods, alien intelligences, angels, or elementals, this book is a must.
Mysteries of Magic: I don't have this one... anyone care to weigh in?

As for regional sourcebooks, it depends on what flavor of setting you like:
Old Ones: It's the Timiro Kingdom in great detail with some nice window dressing and a good built-in campaign.
Eastern Territory: This is a good spot for variety. It has a bit of everything. There's not much centralized authority, and you can find a pretty wide variety of settings and themes. It's analogous to medieval Europe.
Western Empire: The Empire of Sin has huge cities, lots of magic, political intrigue, and corruption galore. It's analogous to the Roman Empire at its most decadent.
Wolfen Empire: Good for wilderness campaigns, analogous to a young, expanding Roman Republic. Also good for non-human parties.
Northern Hinterlands: It's a great spot for a pure wilderness campaign, an Alaska-like frontier.
Yin-Sloth Jungles: It's 1st Edition, which can be a problem for some, but it can be a fun and challenging wilderness environment.

I put the following in their own category of very challenging settings. They're suitable for high-powered characters.
Baalgor Wasteland: If your players get bored, this is a difficult and dangerous setting.
Nimro: It's like the Baalgor Wasteland, but everything is giant and hates you.
Land of the Damned: It's where overpowered characters go to die.

Finally, a campaign sourcebook, in its own category:
Island at the Edge of the World: It's a good and well-developed campaign, though it too is 1st edition. It's mostly in the Old Kingdom Mountains, with some fun at an otherwise-unknown island. It's not particularly important or necessary, but it has some great toys and adventure hooks.

Have fun!

[AZ_RUNE]

You could check out the Library of Bletherad and pick an alternate world using the rules and "Roll your own world."

I am building my own from one of the heroic realms - Regnum

AZ_Rune

[Boethermsbrukan]

Howdy all. I'm relatively well versed in the Palladium system, but my experience has mostly been with Rifts and Heroes Unlimited.

Recently, the subject of playing Palladium Fantasy came up recently. As my group's GM it's going to be up to me to run it. I'm not worried about the rules but I don't know anything about the setting. I plan to get some of the region books once I decide what regions interest me most. In the mean time, would you guys mind helping me out?

What's the general tone of the setting? What kind of stories or adventures really highlight what the game is about? What are some of your favorite moments from your PFRPG games?

From the pages of the Long Knife Tribe:

"Pay your taxes, and raise your pups. After that, fear nothing."

Welcome to this little corner of the Pax Imperium, friend!

-Boe.

P.S.: BTW, updated my Sig today. Dig it!

[zyanitevp]

Thanks for all the responses. I've had a chance to read more of the core book over the past couple of days. I will admit to being a bit disappointed with the setting. Palladium has some fantastic settings filled with great ideas. While the implied setting is fascinating, I wish more time was given to it in the main book.

somewhere between Middle Earth and Narnia

That's one hell of a sales pitch. Consider me sold.

As far as setting, it is everything! High fantasy, low fantasy, political intrigue, ability to play all races!

I was hoping for things to be a bit more.... focused? I expect something more like Rifts and Nightbane which had very specific settings. Still, it sounds like the way to go is to get started with some of the world books.

Id suggest either timiro or eastern territories as a start location as they are more standard

I lean towards Book II: The Old Ones as a starting point;

Thanks guys. I'll see what my FLGS has.

What focus would you like, or perhaps a better question, what do you want, and we can point you in that direction.