The Dark Golden Age is a campaign setting for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo. In the Dark Golden Age, magic is slowly recovering from a total Collapse just a few short years ago, and the society of Man and Beastfolk has barely begun to stabilize after three years of chaos. Magical beasts created for gladiatorial entertainment now roam free, and Beastfolk bred for slavery and servitude now have agendas of their own. With the discovery that some magic below ground survived the Collapse of magic, some have taken to robbing underground crypts and searching for buried vaults. The original concept for the Dark Golden Age was created by Till Pohlmann.

Races

The Beastfolk races were created by humans to act as slaves, from household servants to dangerous foot soldiers. Beastfolk combine the traits of animal species with the bipedal form of a human. All manner of Beastfolk were created both common and rare such as the Pantherian catfolk, the Ursidian bearfolk, the Hounding dogfolk, and the Boriwog boarfolk. When the Collapse happened, the magical enchantments on the enslaved Beastfolk broke, setting them free from mental and emotional control. While some Beastfolk continue to be enslaved or indentured servants, the vast majority have fled their former masters to strike out on their own. You can read much more about the Beastfolk races.

Magic

Magic created by mages completely failed when the Collapse happened. It was as if the very power that makes magic function suddenly stopped. In the three years since then, individuals have discovered ways by which they can once again work their magic. For some, they sacrifice a part of themselves through mind and body to be able to perform magic. For others, they draw upon the lifeforce of other beings to fuel their diabolical schemes.

While unknown prior to the Collapse, divine magic has begun appearing in the last year. Clerics, holy paladins, oracles, druids and others have manifested magic unseen until now. It is unknown where they have gained this newfound power, and even arcane magicians have begun researching the source of their power. Religion existed prior to the Collapse, but the worshippers of gods and goddesses gained no special power through their worship. You can read more about Magic.

Geography

The Dark Golden Age is set on a very large continent called Gondal. A very large continent from north to south, Gondal includes arid steppes, lush green forests, mountain ranges, and plaines. Humans and Beastfolk are scattered across the continent with very few large cities that have more than 10,000 souls. The greatest number of settlements are villages and small towns. Prior to the Collapse, magic was used to traverse the vast landscape, and travel is much more dangerous now that large numbers of magical beasts roam the countryside. To get more detail, review the geography of Gondal.