As far as our Adventure Journals go, the timeline can be a little all over the place. I came in a couple years late to the game so even I’m still playing catch up. And some of the journals will be easier to follow along/piece together the magical jargon if you have at least some previous knowledge of Pathfinder, its lore, and how the gameplay works. The guys, especially Poldaran, have topped that preexisting lore with layers and layers of original stuff. Like, it’s basically a metaphorical wedding cake by this point, guys.
So I’m gonna try (emphasis on try) and break this all down for you. Ready?
AMERICAN WIZARD: Chronologically the first journal in the timeline, this is also the one that Poldaran wrote up first. If HoS is the heart (heh) of our Pathfinder universe, than AW is the soul. Kyle’s story can and will be felt on everything else, even if it might not be readily apparent. You’d think it’d make sense to read this one first, yet it’s the least reader-friendly of the bunch. If the other journals are high school texts, this one’s college. The story also (initially at least) hinges more on Pathfinder content before then branching out into originally epic stuff. Recommend waiting until you’ve got a grasp on the lore, magic system, and world to start this one.
But hey, you do you, mang.
GUNSLINGER KNIGHT: This, ladies and gentlemen, is my attempt to make a prequel that doesn’t suck. Set over a decade before HoS, it follows my personal PC on his journey to become one of the greatest bounty hunters across the land all while having to babysit a princess hungry for adventure.
With this one you’ve got a Star Wars problem: Do you watch the Prequels or the Original Trilogy first. If you read this, you’re gonna have major plot twists in HoS spoiled and vice versa. Yet as a tragedy, I like to feel that GK is more about the journey than the destination. I’m also trying to make it not so over reliant on Pathfinder lore and make it mostly its own thing.
Reading this concurrently with HoS is probably the best way to do it.
THE OUTSIDERS: This journal and VMG will have next to nothing to do with HoS or AW. Set before the former and after GK, this one follows a completely different cast of characters all trying to solve a murder mystery in a spooky town. If you like horror and gore and creepy shit, this one’s the journal for you. DraconicSteve’s the game master for our playthroughs of this one and that sadistic bastard’s having a blast. The story has an eerie, gothic atmosphere to it that’s mildly undercut by my personal PC, Santino, either trying to poison and/or have sex with everybody. Only mildly, I promise.
You want a creepy good time? Give this a try.
THE HEART OF SNOW: Ooooh boy. It’s hard for me not to be biased with this one. For even though it might be just as complicated and lore heavy as AW, I highly recommend checking this journal out as early as possible. It’s not hyperbole when I say that playing this campaign saved my life. For nearly a year there, playing this game, with this dysfunctional quartet of characters, was all that was keeping me going. Just wanting to know what was gonna happen next week. And the next. Sure, it’s a little bumpy in the beginning, but once it gets going it gets going. You’ve got evil witches, all kinds of tyrannical dragons, quantum anomalies, monster goats, and a little girl who shoots enemies in the dick!
And that’s all before we reach the magical chicken house!
Come on! You know you want to! 😀
A VERY MUPPET GIGANTOMACHY: Chronologically last but not least is a Quentin Tarantino movie starring, among others, Kermit the Frog and an anime horse girl.
‘Nuff said.
So…there you go.
Good luck. Have fun.
P.S. The novellas for both HoS and AW are OPTIONAL. Initially. Sure, there are details or story beats in them that may become critical later on, yet the gist of them both is that an adventurer from Earth (Kyle in AW and Lyriana in HoS) are wandering the world of Golarion and gather teams of colorful (very violent) individuals along the way. The novellas are meant to give a deeper insight into the two O’Hallorans’ origins.
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