Returning GM looking for advice

[TechnoGolem]

Long story short - Palladium Fantasy Revised edition was the first RPG I ever ran and played nearly 20 years ago. Due to lack of players it never really went anywhere and I got rid of the two Fantasy books that I owned. Through the years I've played several different systems with various groups. Lately a group of friends have asked me to run a fantasy game so I decided this would be the perfect time to play a game that has interested me for years but that I never got the chance to truly run.

On topic - I recently picked up the second edition source book and am looking for tips on which books to get next. Currently I plan to get one book a month. These are the ones I am looking at.

Book 2 Old Ones - I owned the original edition years ago. I really enjoyed it for the various city maps. I've never been the best at designing cities and they are often a bit bland in my games. This could go a long way in helping that issue. I also have a friend that loves the idea of playing a Minotaur and I recall this being an optional race in this book.

Book 3 Adventures on the High Seas - This was a book I dreamed of owning back in the day but never was able to get my hands on. I've played several different systems but rules for ship combat were rare and it is something that has always interested me. It also has details on several cities, which is something I really like.

Monsters & Animals - Seems like it would be a great book to get ASAP. I know I could get a lot of use out of this book and it could help spice up my adventures.

I'm also a fan of any books that have premade adventures in them. It is nice to have a backup for when I don't have the time to create my own.

Out of these three books, which do you feel would be best to get next? Are there any other books you would strongly suggest I get before these or after them?

[Library Ogre]

Old Ones has a fair amount of pregen adventures and locations. Monsters and Animals, as you guess, has a lot of info about basic animals, but not much world info or adventures. High Seas has a few neat classes, and some world information, and I think a couple adventure sites, especially the isolated islands to the north.

[Lukterran]

These are my list of books that I never GM without

PF - Main book (I have 1st edand 2nd ed. You really only need 2ed)
Monsters & Animals - It has too many creatures not to use
Dragons & Gods - super valuable if group has either a clergy, witch or summoner.
I never without the RIFTS Book of Magic. It is a must have for Palladium Fantasy IMO.

I also use these quite a bit:
Western Empires, Libreray of Blethrad, Mount Nimro, Baalgor Wastelands, Northerhinterlands, LoTD1 & 2.

If you are looking for Adventures I suggest Adventure in NW, Further Adventures or (aka Wolfen Empires), Old Ones has about 5 in the back, Island at the Edge of the World is an adventure book, 1st Edition Tombs of Gersidi, High Seas has a few things, Western Empires

[Cinos]

First two books after the core book should be Monsters & Animals, and then Dragons & Gods. Both fill in a lot of gaps the core book leaves, heck the core book hardly even talks about the faiths of the world, which is pretty important. The former of course has a lot of ideas waiting to be used, and just a generous helping of things to fight should you need them, since the core book offers only normal mortal enemies (humans, elves, wolfen, etc) and a handful of demons / devils.

After that, I'd suggest a regional book that catches your fancy. I'm a big fan of the Western Empire book, and the Old One book's title should more be "Timiro: Also an Adventure sort of about the Old Ones!", the adventure is fine and fun, but a lot less to do directly with the old ones beyond a pretty short summery of them. Lukterran has already pointed out most of the central adventure books, though you might want to poke around some back issues of the Rifter, I recall a lot of them having adventures, or at least adventure seeds.

[The Dark Elf]

Dragons and gods
Monsters and animals
High Seas

Everything else can wait - these ones give you a really broad pallet for a long while

[TriOpticon]

Just wanted to say this is a great post. I am not a returning GM but hopefully a new GM for PFRPG some day. I was wondering the same thing about what to get next.

I am still reading the core rulebook, from cover to cover to make sure I do not miss anything.

Thanks!

[Prysus]

I've got Palladium 1st edition, Mysteries of Magic, and Weapons, Armor, and Castles (which isn't technically fantasy).

So if I were to use the grab bags to start an instant Palladium Fantasy collection, what books should I ask for besides the 2nd edition core book?

--flatline

Greetings and Salutations. If you hop over to the PF forum you'll find threads with very similar questions (you may have to search for them though). Might be a good idea to swing by and check out other people's opinions on the matter. However, my thoughts are...

1) Monsters & Animals. Lots of monsters, both playable and potential enemies (ranging from minor annoyance to big bad). Also, it has animal stats which are useful for pets, random encounters, familiars, and more. I'd call this one essential after the main book.

2) Dragons & Gods. It includes dragons, elementals, spirits of light, A.I., and gods. Even if none of those things appeal to you, they come in handy if someone is playing a clergy type or a warlock. Also provides a few hidden clues to the setting and such. If none if those things appeal to you though, feel free to pass. This is more likely for very high powered campaigns and/or NPC.

After those two it becomes a lot more personal taste. I'd recommend whichever location the game is going to be set. So if the Western Empire is the campaign setting, get the Western Empire book. I'll provide some added info all the same.

Old Ones: Timiro setting, and a high level campaign included.

Adventures on the High Seas: Bizantium setting. Lots of island adventures, a plethora of new O.C.C., stats on ships, and a few hidden notes (like Kingdom colors based upon nation flags). Highly recommended by me.

Wolfen Empire: Lots of Wolfen Empire info. If that's where the campaign will take place, you're playing a Wolfen, or you just like the furry humanoids, a good pick. If you prefer, you can go with the two classic [Further] Adventures in the Northern Wilderness books. Wolfen Empire is effectively those two books combined. There are definite differences, but you needn't worry about that too much just starting off.

Island at the Edge of the World: First edition adventure book. While it has setting info too, I won't recommend it for starting your collection.

Yin-Sloth Jungles: Another 1st Edition book. Lots of O.C.C. and monsters, but they'll all need to be converted. Setting info too. Good book, but due to the need conversions I don't recommend it to start off.

Western Empire: Good if this is where the campaign will be held or you want to use them as bad guys. While different, for a quick analogy I think if them like the CS. Even if you don't want to be them, still nice to have their stats when the players face them. Also has some new magic/Alchemists items, if you're into that kind of thing.

Baalgor Wastelands: Another setting book. Lots of new monsters/races. I personally really enjoy this book. However if you're not looking for new monsters/races and you're not interested in the area, it may not hold much use for a new comer to PF. I still think it's a cool book, but your mileage may vary.

Mount Nimro: Giants! A few new O.C.C., but mostly restricted to giants and that region.

Eastern Territory: Another area book. Good if you want a game there. As a G.M., it's one of my favorite places to start a game (if I'm sticking to the established setting).

Library of Bletherad: Very useful book in many ways, but also limited. They give you new schools of magic, but no way to learn them and no O.C.C. info. Rune items you can't find, etc. Also gives some setting info such as Currency and a few other gems like that. I think it's great, but more flavor and something to build/expand upon than a use as is (to me). Probably not something I'd recommend fresh out, but an early addition later. If someone is going TO the library, then essential, of course.

Northern Hinterlands: Region specific, but good book. More designed as a lead-in for the Land of the Damned though. Lots of optional O.C.C. such as Blacksmith and Artisan. Also has the Barbarians, which some people really like. Your mileage may very upon personal tastes.

Land of the Damned 1&2: Good books, but not really my type of thing. I don't use them, and actually avoid them (primarily because some of the races for it are super munchy, and after it first came out you see almost everyone trying to make one of these super ultra rare races that you never find outside this specific region, which ultimately ticked me off). High level stuff. If you're running a high powered campaign, sure. Otherwise I suggest avoiding until later. Even if you find the books interesting, not very useful for someone starting out and region specific more designed for epic level games.

Anyways, that's just a quick rundown from my point of view. I hope that helps. Thank you for your time and patience, please have a nice day. Farewell and safe journeys to all.

[TechnoGolem]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone.

[Grug]

/agree that Monsters & Animals should be your second book. If you're going to have either a warlock or priest character then Dragons & Gods will come in very handy and I would highly recommend it.

After that it my personal choice would be Adventures on the High Seas, just a few reasons why,
1: New Character Classes, a few which are really fun and neat to play. Plus the Necromancer npc villain, which is a great adversary for lower level players.
2: Ship statistics and ship against ship combat rules.
3: A wide range of adventure hooks, not too many full adventures but a few.

Next book, suggested by me would be Old Ones here's why,
1: Fully detailed info on Timiro, with maps and city lay out.
2: A few really good adventures for low to mid level players. (Okay maybe a little closer to mid level.)
C: It's really close to the Floenry Island chain. More on that in a bit.

The sixth book, could be Western Empire.
A:It's the Western Empire tons of potential plot hooks.
B: Really nice city info. Easy to navigate.
D: And perhaps the most important part, the random city generator. You have mentioned that city planning isn't your strongest area, it wasn't mine either but this really helped and can be used for all of the regions of the Known World.
After those any Palladium Fantasy book will be helpful.

Okay Here's why my book suggestions are in the order they are. Monsters & Animals and Dragons & Gods have been talked about so you know why those two should be acquired soon. Oh I will mention in monsters & animals there is a section detailing what animals and monsters are common, uncommon and rare to a particular area absolutely love that section. For me the adventure would start on the Floenry Island chain, where they have been asked to explore some ruins on one of the islands (perhaps they need to figure out what island to.) by a wealthy scholar. While at the ruins they encounter some opposition by a pirate crew whose been hired out by a necromancer, to find an artifact that can increase the necromancers power, buried within the ruins (the claws of a lesser demon, unicorn horn, Kilin hooves etc.) unknown to the players the artifact has already been taken back to the pirate ship/necromancer, who's known to have a den of evil in the Timiro kingdom. The rest of the pirates are just looting whatever they can, and are not looking to share so it's safe to assume they might be hostile.
Most players of a good alignment should want to stop a necromancer from growing in power. In the alternative the necromancer could be a well known doer of evil, and perhaps the authorities in Timiro have placed a bounty on his head. If that's not enough demon claws, unicorn horns and etc can fetch a good price from an alchemist.

So now the players get to chase down the pirate ship! Find the necromancers den of evil within the Timiro Kingdom and have the rest of the Known world to explore. With the Eastern Territories to the east, the Old Kingdom to the west and north. Now if you have the western empire book you can use the random city generator and create small towns and cities, for any direction you choose. Oh and by the way the Ogre Invasion adventure in the Old Ones book is quite fun also.

[arouetta]

For adventure hooks, I like the Adventure 101 Table in the Wolfen Empire book. I actually used the 101% adventure to great effect. If you get Adventures on the High Seas, landing in Wolfen territory is logical.