The remaster doesn't really invalidate any of the previous books besides the overall removal of stuff like Drow. The Lost Omens are mostly lore and what it's like to live in the world so you can get whichever ones you want that interest you.
Mwangi Expanse was like, the goto recommendation for an example of a lore book done right.
Absolom is a big book. Nearly 400 of content...but over 100 pages of that is npc's. So if you don't care for that kind of content then it's still a 300 page book lol
Impossible Lands has the most variety I think. You got your wild west setting, the land of the undead, the place that I think is supposed to be fantasy india but I can't tell because I don't know enough about india, etc.
Just to name a few changes in remaster, which affect LO books:
* A lot of name changes. While they don't affect anything, they make reading books harder
* Some lore changes - in addition to Drow removal, we have changes in Dragons, Kobolds and, probably, some more (let's wait for PC2 Kholo, for example, to see if they changed anything there)
* Expected changes to mechanical things. For example, while not stated as a rule, all remaster ancestries have changes in ancestry weapon proficiency feats, so you could expect similar changes for LO ancestries
What stuff do they add besides lore? I'm definitely interested in learning more about the world, but largely want to DM a custom setting. Are there still things that are worthwhile in there?
NPC's, locations, shops, feats, new ancestries, monsters, gods, etc. depending on the book. If you're dming a custom setting then I've read that people say that the lost omens books have helped inspire them and stuff. I've never bothered trying to come up with my own though and I'm not a dm so idk
> the place that I think is supposed to be fantasy india but I can't tell because I don't know enough about india, etc.
I think fantasy India is supposed to be Vudra. Jalmeray is a melting pot of cultures, it could be something like Zanzibar/Tanzania which is motly African with Arab/Persian/Indian minorities.
Highhelm comes with a Poster Map like Absalom and Tian Xia (unfortunate that Mwangi and Impossible didn't). I don't recall which one provides the Inner Sea Poster Map, maybe World Guide.
Tian Xia is the first one Post Remaster, however most of the lost omens books are more setting than rules (as in there are very few rules in them), I wouldn't worry about the remaster for them., It didn't change anything lore wise and what rules there are were generally not affected by the Remaster.
As others have mentioned; Mwangi Expanse, Tian Xia, and Impossible Lands are probably the strongest "get to know a region" books, but Highhelm and Lastwall are also fun if you care about the more specific areas they detail. Note that Mwangi is generally held as the best LO book out so far, but Tian Xia may contend for that now that it's out.
The Lost Omens: World guide is a high level overview of all of Golarion. No where near as detailed as the more specific books but great to get your bearings.
Lost Omens: Travel Guide is a "down on the ground" view of the Inner Sea region. It goes into trade routes, fashion, law (what exactly is the penalty for charming someone?), food, sports, stuff like that. Probably the least useful LO book for picking an area to set a campaign in but the most useful one when someone asks "so other than dungeon delving, what do you guys do for fun around here?" A personal favorite of mine!
LO: Legends and LO: Monsters of myth spend a bunch of pages on prominent NPCs. Great if you really want to know what the Whispering Tyrant's deal is but pretty spotty in setting-wide usefulness.
LO: Ancestry Guide and LO: Character Guide are among the crunchier LO books. About 10%-15% of things in these were or soon will be re-published in the Remaster Player Cores,, so some crossover but still the only books to contain 85% of this material. However all crunch is on Archives of Nethys so if you are focusing on lore these are OK to skip.
Grand Bazaar is about half NPC merchants and half equipment and magic items. If you are focusing on lore the merchants are colorful but not vital to knowing the world.
Then there are LO: Pathfinder Society and LO: Firebrands, which are focused on in-universe organizations. Neat if you care about them, very skippable if you don't.
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Yeah as mentioned, very little of the Lost Omens line is going to be impacted by the Remaster (except I think the Ancestry Guide might be Lost Omens, and I believe everything in that is being bundled into Core).
Technically, the recent Tian Xia isn't even truly "post"-remaster, since Player Core 2 isn't out until August. But it really doesn't come into play anyways, since Lost Omens was always the Pathfinder brand which was never OGL-based in the first place.
Mwangi Expanse is fantastic, just like Tian Xia World Guide.
The remaster doesn't really invalidate any of the previous books besides the overall removal of stuff like Drow. The Lost Omens are mostly lore and what it's like to live in the world so you can get whichever ones you want that interest you. Mwangi Expanse was like, the goto recommendation for an example of a lore book done right. Absolom is a big book. Nearly 400 of content...but over 100 pages of that is npc's. So if you don't care for that kind of content then it's still a 300 page book lol Impossible Lands has the most variety I think. You got your wild west setting, the land of the undead, the place that I think is supposed to be fantasy india but I can't tell because I don't know enough about india, etc.
Just to name a few changes in remaster, which affect LO books: * A lot of name changes. While they don't affect anything, they make reading books harder * Some lore changes - in addition to Drow removal, we have changes in Dragons, Kobolds and, probably, some more (let's wait for PC2 Kholo, for example, to see if they changed anything there) * Expected changes to mechanical things. For example, while not stated as a rule, all remaster ancestries have changes in ancestry weapon proficiency feats, so you could expect similar changes for LO ancestries
The removal of drow lore makes the reference to what happened to elves in the darklands even more confusing in the Tian Xia book.
What stuff do they add besides lore? I'm definitely interested in learning more about the world, but largely want to DM a custom setting. Are there still things that are worthwhile in there?
NPC's, locations, shops, feats, new ancestries, monsters, gods, etc. depending on the book. If you're dming a custom setting then I've read that people say that the lost omens books have helped inspire them and stuff. I've never bothered trying to come up with my own though and I'm not a dm so idk
> the place that I think is supposed to be fantasy india but I can't tell because I don't know enough about india, etc. I think fantasy India is supposed to be Vudra. Jalmeray is a melting pot of cultures, it could be something like Zanzibar/Tanzania which is motly African with Arab/Persian/Indian minorities.
I bought the Absalsom one and it made me want to get all the "big" ones
What would be considered the big ones?
Absalom, Impossible Lands, Mawngi Expanse, Tian Xia, & Divine Mysteries (out late this year) are all ~400pgs while the other books are ~150pgs
Highhelm comes with a Poster Map like Absalom and Tian Xia (unfortunate that Mwangi and Impossible didn't). I don't recall which one provides the Inner Sea Poster Map, maybe World Guide.
Tian Xia is the first one Post Remaster, however most of the lost omens books are more setting than rules (as in there are very few rules in them), I wouldn't worry about the remaster for them., It didn't change anything lore wise and what rules there are were generally not affected by the Remaster. As others have mentioned; Mwangi Expanse, Tian Xia, and Impossible Lands are probably the strongest "get to know a region" books, but Highhelm and Lastwall are also fun if you care about the more specific areas they detail. Note that Mwangi is generally held as the best LO book out so far, but Tian Xia may contend for that now that it's out. The Lost Omens: World guide is a high level overview of all of Golarion. No where near as detailed as the more specific books but great to get your bearings. Lost Omens: Travel Guide is a "down on the ground" view of the Inner Sea region. It goes into trade routes, fashion, law (what exactly is the penalty for charming someone?), food, sports, stuff like that. Probably the least useful LO book for picking an area to set a campaign in but the most useful one when someone asks "so other than dungeon delving, what do you guys do for fun around here?" A personal favorite of mine! LO: Legends and LO: Monsters of myth spend a bunch of pages on prominent NPCs. Great if you really want to know what the Whispering Tyrant's deal is but pretty spotty in setting-wide usefulness. LO: Ancestry Guide and LO: Character Guide are among the crunchier LO books. About 10%-15% of things in these were or soon will be re-published in the Remaster Player Cores,, so some crossover but still the only books to contain 85% of this material. However all crunch is on Archives of Nethys so if you are focusing on lore these are OK to skip. Grand Bazaar is about half NPC merchants and half equipment and magic items. If you are focusing on lore the merchants are colorful but not vital to knowing the world. Then there are LO: Pathfinder Society and LO: Firebrands, which are focused on in-universe organizations. Neat if you care about them, very skippable if you don't.
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Yeah as mentioned, very little of the Lost Omens line is going to be impacted by the Remaster (except I think the Ancestry Guide might be Lost Omens, and I believe everything in that is being bundled into Core). Technically, the recent Tian Xia isn't even truly "post"-remaster, since Player Core 2 isn't out until August. But it really doesn't come into play anyways, since Lost Omens was always the Pathfinder brand which was never OGL-based in the first place.
Tian Xia is the first one.