Hellknights Unleashed

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Illustration by Kevin Yan

More than two years ago it fell to me to write the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide, setting the stage for characters to take part in a world that was, at the time, painted not even in broad strokes but more in generally tossed bucket-sized splashes. Over time and through hundreds of thousands of words, though, what started as made-up names have transformed into some of the better-known characters, organizations, and locations in Golarion. But probably the passage that folks have grabbed onto most zealously comes from the description of the paladin on page 8, "Korvosa—in its traditional ties to Cheliax—enthusiastically supplies Citadel Vraid, bastion of the Hellknight Order of the Nail. The Chelish Hellknights pay homage to no deity, but rather bend the rigid law and infernal traditions of Hell to their will."

For years now folks have asked for more details on this iron-shod order of enforcers, even beyond their details in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, but the time has never seemed quite right to give away the entire farm—I admit, I've been kind of precious with my pet antiheroes. At the same time, rules for running or playing Hellknights have always been vague, largely because I didn't want to work up a class that would immediately have to be updated to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. But now, with the PF RPG rules in circulation, my blasphemous baby Book of the Damned Volume 1: Princes of Darkness nearing the shelves, and the Council of Thieves Adventure Path being set in the very city where the Hellknights were formed, the time finally feels right.

So, as of Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #27, the Hellknights finally march forth, that volume revealing everything characters need to confront, research, and even join the numerous orders of Hellknights. That's right, that does mean there's finally going to be a Hellknight prestige class—and one of the largest ones I've ever seen at that.

But that's not all: in Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #28, expect the other side of the coin, with a GM-focused inside look into the mindset, citadels, and history of these infamous orders.

So that's back-to-back months of Hellknight action coming at you, finally answering many questions about the deadly knighthood, yet also revealing dozens of new mysteries. For example, taken from Pathfinder #27, presented here are just two of the several new lesser Hellknight Orders detailed therein. But that will have to do for now—not surprisingly, the Hellknights frown upon spoilers.

Lesser Orders

Despite the cull of 4639, numerous lesser orders of Hellknights still exist. Most of these orders work at the edges of Cheliax's sphere of influence or within the countries once within the Chelish empire's thrall. Despite their smaller size, the majority of these factions uphold the same code as their elder, better-established brethren, though many uphold practices that subtly deviate from the core knighthood. Most are careful not to defy the mandates of the Measure and the Chain (the core philosophies of the Hellknights; detailed in Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #28), however, as the larger, more powerful orders are mindful of those who would use the Hellknight name to opposing ends.

Order of the Crux: One of several bands of mercenaries dubbed Hellknights during the Chelish civil war, the skull-clad Order of the Crux refused to disband after the revolution. Hunted down and destroyed by the Order of the Scourge in 4663, the butchers were slaughtered and their fortress, Citadel Gheisteno, put to the torch. However, 25 years later, three graveknights clad in scarred Hellknight armor rose from the ruin. Calling themselves the Order of the Crux and led by the venomous Lictor Shokneir, the undead triune lurks upon the border of Nidal and Molthune, seemingly biding their time.

Order of the Coil: Among the smallest Hellknight factions, the Order of the Coil maintains holdings near the Sargavan city of Eleder, from where they viciously seek to tame the tribal natives of the country and put an end to their backward pollution of the outside world. Seeing the efforts of scholars and adventurers—particularly Pathfinders—as spreading a disease of savagery by carrying curios from the jungles into the world beyond, the Coil hunts down and destroys such explorers and artifacts, notorious for ending these perceived corruptions with poison and flames. The favored weapon of the Order of the Coil is the greataxe.

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

Snagged from the Vault: Pathfinder RPG Bestiary

Monday, July 6, 2009

As promised, we shall continue to astound and delight you with pictures pilfered from the pages of the infamous Pathfinder Bestiary. Featured here today are four mighty and terrible creatures from the Great Beyond. We leave it in our readers' capable hands to determine which type of fiend each illustration represents...

Art by Tyler Walpole	Art by Tyler Walpole
Art by Ben Wooten	Art by Kevin Yan

Vadid and Nahk
Preview Purloiners

Snagged from the Vault: The Bastards of Erebus

Friday, June 26, 2009

The Preview Purloiners strike again! Featured here in a painting by Kevin Yan are Lem and Seelah, fending off a rabid undead dog and a fiendish tiefling in Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #25: The Bastards of Erebus. Who knew that flutes could be wielded as deadly weapons?

Vadid and Nahk
Preview Purloiners

"The city of Westcrown is dying. Since being stripped of its station as the capital of Cheliax, the wealth and prestige of the city has gradually slipped away, leaving the desperate people to fend for themselves in a city beset by criminals, a corrupt nobility, and a shadowy curse. Can the PCs fight back against champions of both the law and the criminal world?"

Hunting the Planes

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Readers with a keen eye might spot something a little different on the credits page to Pathfinder Adventure Path #22. Tucked in there amid all the who's-whos and what's-whats is a dedication to Spooky the Mighty Hunter, feline familiar and cat of legend. I personally didn't know Spooky, as he was Gary Teter's long-time partner in crime, but when Lisa came to us with the news that our web czar's slinky sidekick had moved on to hunt upon other planes of existence and suggested adding him into a Pathfinder adventure, we were all for it. Even Kevin Yan stepped up to the task of cranking out the super-fast portrait for the noble hunter before our deadline. So just a heads up to those thousands of players who tackle "The Edge of Eternity" in Pathfinder #22—keep an eye out for Spooky, a wandering kitty who proves just as reliable, just as tenacious, and just as adorable a companion in Golarion as he did out here. Good hunting!

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

Snagged from the Vault: Genie Binder

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

From upcoming Pathfinder #22 we bring you the mighty genie binder, whose dark magic commands the awesome might of the djinn, depicted here by artist Kevin Yan...

While any spellcaster capable of casting planar ally, planar binding, and binding spells can conjure and bind genies, the true genie binder is a spellcaster who has devoted his life to the pursuit of this practice. Most genie binders study the works of Sulesh the Great religiously, but the best of them understand that even Sulesh wasn't infallible, and use his works as stepping stones to further perfect the act of genie binding.

While most genies abhor the act of binding and bottling, many have an odd appreciation and respect for actual genie binders. Nothing delights an efreeti more than to see a djinni ensnared, for example, and the jann are quite pleased to see their elder brothers and sisters brought low.

Vadid and Nahk
Preview Purloiners

Pathfinder Society Scenario #13 & #14 Art Sneak Peak

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Check out the dretch and the giant centipede—featured monsters from next week's Pathfinder Society Scenario #13: The Prince of Augustana and Pathfinder Society Scenario #14: The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch. The dretch was designed by Kevin Yan and the giant centipede was designed by Ben Wootten. Enjoy!

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Artist: Eric Lofgren

Artist: Kevin Yan

Pathfinder: Goat vs. Chupacabra Edition

Monday, January 5, 2009

No one will believe me when I say this, but I absolutely did not plan to have Pathfinder #19 contain not only the Golarion version of the notorious chupacabra, but also a relatively significant goat NPC. The goat in question is a hapless chap named Rombard, and he's menaced not by chupacabras but by something else entirely in this volume's adventure, "Howl of the Carrion King," but that doesn't mean he can't be worried about the goat-suckers that are lurking later on in the same volume's bestiary.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief