Am playing this game and am still in the first chapter. Went into it blind, so it's been a lot to take in, despite earlier experience with Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, and later games like Pillars of Eternity. For the most part I've been exploring in my nearest surroundings, and part of the troll questline (probably chapter 1 itself) has been unlocked. Several companion quests have been unlocked too, and I've started on some of them. However, the journal is filling up rather quickly, and I'm not sure what to prioritise -- and there is also the barony management part.

Without giving spoilers, would it be possible to give some advice about how to prioritise the different parts of the game, so that I don't run into huge problems with timers running amok and quests expiring or failing?


Also, do I need to have the companion in the party, even when it doesn't seem needed? I went to Sycamore and found the dead boar, but there is no interaction with it, despite an icon for it. Does Jaethal need to be in the party? Same for the Sorrowfields (or some such name) location in the east?

1. For the companion quests a corresponding companion needs to be in the party. You cannot interact with the boar without Jaethal and so on. I think it is mentioned on the location on the global map together with the exclamation sign.
2. There is an in-game encyclopedia, and some kingdom events are explained there in broad terms. The rest can be deduced by the player.

I think that's enough. If you want detailed instructions you can google for them, but you will be seriously spoiled.

Thanks. I checked and there was no mention about Jaethal having to be in the party in that map marker. But I'll drag her with me and see what happens then.

In games like this I like to have a set party, so it's a little awkward to break it up. However, it does make sense for party members to need to be on their companion quests ofc, just that in this case it seemed like an investigation I had to carry out, and I didn't think it was necessary for Jaethal to be part of it.

All the hidden timers and reading about people's kingdoms suddenly going into a death spiral is a bit stressing, as I like to take my sweet time and explore and talk to everybody in RPGs. I'll just have to see how things pan out and hope I don't make too many mistakes.

Whole game is timer-based.
First, you get a timer to deal with bandits and establish your barony.
Then, I bet, everything is tied to "An ancient curse" "quest". Curse "hits" and you deal with it, next chapter begins. And after several times, it leads you to "finale".
Although you have a plenty of time, try to not waste it mindlessly.

- Money at first will or should almost all go into buying BP, probably until Varnhold chapter is done where the kingdom should start getting you enough. Artisans crafting will give you a lot of gold to balance out what you spend now on BP and they also bring good items.

- Some projects should not be done at all, specially the ones that lower the cost of the buildings and the ones that lower random encounters. For the ones that cost BP and give you x/week, they are not bad but unlocking regions and artisans should come first.

- Curses are for a special ending and you don't have to them at all unless you are trying to get that secret ending.

How to unlock each region
https://pathfinderkingmaker.gamepedia.com/Regions

Artisans
Quest: https://www.neoseeker.com/pathfinder-kingmaker/loot/Artisan_Items_Crafter_Masterworks
Item list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MiCvkSx_fZsgz4156K8weP6gMgwVv7y5pgSfHzr2T04/edit#gid=2142176934

Build portals in your towns to save time on travelling. Some projects increase your travelling time too.
And the lion's share of time is wasted not on travelling, but on improving your barony (helping advisor eats 7-14 days).

Definitely see that last part now... Into the "Bloom" chapter and it had a very long countdown. Way behind on advisor upgrades, so figured I'd spend some time doing that. First a region, then 3-4 upgrades. Impossible to keep up it seems. Even after that, I'm way behind on promotions, because the numbers (economy, military, etc.) generally keep increasing with several doing missions in those 14 days. And despite having well over 200 days left of the countdown, problems are starting to crop up, and I'm lacking people to take care of them all. Didn't expect things to deteriorate that quickly. Thought I had more time to do some upgrades, to help with BP income. Time really flies when doing those missions. Feels like a bit of a waste, but on the other than it's needed to keep up with increases in DC on problems.

Certainly looks like the best approach is to simply ignore that, though, and try to sort out whatever main problem the chapter has ASAP. So many things to juggle in this game.