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Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight (PFRPG)

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Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight (PFRPG)
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Champions of Unwavering Law

Merciless, black-armored enforcers, Hellknights care nothing for good or evil, only their absolute, unflinching vision of law. In Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, you'll join the ranks of Golarion's harshest champions of order—knights with ironclad discipline forged in the flames of Hell. Learn the ways of all the Hellknight orders, their true relationship with the legions of Hell, and how to tie your characters to one of Pathfinder's most fearsome organizations. Players and Game Masters can also lay claim to the complete Hellknight arsenal, from terrifying battle arts and grim equipment to the secrets of masked signifers' frontline magic. The Hellknights' unstoppable might is yours to command as you impose unshakable order—whatever the cost.

Among the grim secrets within you'll find:

  • Details about joining a Hellknight order, as well as a timeline of the orders' histories and a comprehensive look at the Measure and the Chain, the philosophies that guide these knights.
  • In-depth descriptions of the seven major Hellknight orders, including the brutal physical reckonings from which they draw great power.
  • An arsenal of feats, spells, and equipment these lawful crusaders typically use, plus class options such as the order of the Ennead Star cavalier order and new disciplines for the Hellknight prestige class.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be used in any fantasy game.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-843-4

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

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They ARE the law!

5/5 —

So, my first attempt at writing a review when I got my copy got eaten by my computer.

My second attempt at a review got eaten by one of those pre-GenCon days when the Paizo site was acting a little odd.

With all the excitement of Gen Con and even getting to talk with Wes at the Paizo booth and geek out over this book and everything Hellknight...I guess I forgot to redo my super long review? I shall have to perform a pretty serious Reckoning for that kind of an offense, but gladly!

When the Inner Sea World Guide came out, I swore that no other Golarion-centric book would ever top that one as my favorite...well...apparently I need to do another Reckoning for blasphemy! Path of the Hellknight is just dripping with plot hooks and deep cuts of Golarion's unique bastions of law.

In my opinion, Hellknights are one of the things that makes the Golarion setting so unique compared to any other out there. Sure there are Paladins and Antipaladins upholding the extreme ends of the spectrum, but no other setting has a bulwark of law-above-all-else, and this book peels back the curtain on them to help the players and GMs of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting understand and experience them like never before.

This is my absolute #1 favorite book to have ever come out of Paizo, and I do not see that changing for a very, very long time!

A Mercilessly Good Read

5/5 —

Hellknights are probably the Golarion-specific organization I've been most looking forward to reading about, and so I was really looking forward to release when this book was announced.

Happily, it doesn't disappoint. The overviews of the Hellknight orders are all interesting, and while it is true that they are all meant to be ultimately lawful, the different philosophies of each order are broad and varied enough that making heroes or villains belonging to the Hellknights doesn't require jumping through mental hoops to justify their alignments. Each order also comes with a smattering of options to add to a variety of classes, and serves to broaden the possible character builds that can call themselves Hellknights without necessarily having to take either of the Hellknight-centric prestige classes. My personal favorites are the Godclaw Mystery for oracles and the Faceless Enforcer archetype for the vigilante.

If this book does have a weakness it is the relative poverty of its items section. While there are a few items, and they are interesting and serve to help broaden options for Hellknights who don't feel like being heavily armored wrecking machines, the almost utter lack of any magic items, particularly weapons or armor, is noticeable and slightly disappointing. The magic spells, feats, and traits serve to soothe the sting slightly, but still.

Overall, if you are looking for adventure seeds, encounter ideas, or just background on one of the more iconic organizations in the Inner Sea, then this book is a must-have. If you are looking specifically for ways to be a Hellknight without having to play the armored tank, this book is a must-have. If you are searching for a treasure trove of Hell-themed and Hellknight-themed items this book may not be your first pick, but all in all is still definitely worth getting.

Excellent, and well worth the wait

5/5 —

I'm really impressed with how much content this book included - I expected solid flavor (and got it), but the book is also full of amazing game content and written with an in-depth knowledge of the various options available across all of the product lines. The art is amazing - the lictor of the Pyre is one of my favorite Paizo pieces, and the art for the Godclaw's lictor is brilliant.

There's a lot of stuff I could see being great for any campaign, like Caster's Champion and Gate Breaker. Then there's the great Hellknight-specific options, like the Godclaw oracle mystery and the new Hellknight prestige class disciplines.

There are some minor disappointments. I wish the obedience boons had a method of early access, similar to that of the Inner Sea Gods prestige classes. I'd been hoping for unique content for the minor orders, especially the Scar and Coil.

All in all, though, an excellent book - well worth the price of admission. ^_^

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captain yesterday wrote:
I hope there's more artwork of good Hellknights... which sounds weird...

How do you envision showing goodness through artwork? I like the idea, I'm just not sure how it works.

What's his face from Turn of the Torrent is a great example. Armor that isn't as scary would be a start I guess. :-)
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Arguably, the point of the Hellknights is that their armor is scary. Much as the point of Batman's costume is that it is scary.
Project Manager
5 people marked this as a favorite.

Please just flag his posts and then move on without commenting, folks. Responding just encourages bad behavior and makes more cleanup work for the mods.

It can be intimidating without using devil motif. Honestly, I'm just trying to get things back on track.
Tammy the Lich wrote:
Tammy doesn't need to have the last word.

whoof*

*She's got me!

*has the Last Word* Orcus gave it to me after he changed back.
Community & Digital Content Director
12 people marked this as a favorite.

Temporarily locking.

EDIT: Unlocking.

Ended up removing a pretty unnecessarily escalated back and forth exchange. Folks, product discussion threads need to stay centralized on the product they're about for usability reasons. We also really need members of our community to avoid making baiting posts/posts that serve to intentionally result in a negatively charged response. Flag, move on, and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines.
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Thinking about it, it might be fun if they made a Hellknight Archetype for Vigilantes. It sort of makes sense if you are a very different person while in your armor.

Yeah, I'm curious if other classes will get the same Hellknight specific class features like the Cavalier is getting. Maybe something for Warpriests or the like. I'm playing a Constable Cavalier who will be going into Hell Knight Commander in a custom gothic horror campaign, so I'm hoping that the Order of the Ennead Star doesn't have mount specific abilities (Or maybe even progresses with levels of Hell Knight!).

I also kinda found it odd that you need 2 ranks in Knowledge (Planes) to become a Hell Knight Commander, but it doesn't give you it as a Class skill, so maybe this book will fix that.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I can't help but wonder if there's going to be anything in this that makes things a little easier/more optimal for a magus wanting to become a signifer. Maybe an archetype or something.
Dark Archive
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David Neilson wrote:
Thinking about it, it might be fun if they made a Hellknight Archetype for Vigilantes. It sort of makes sense if you are a very different person while in your armor.

Someone who's laid back and kind of live and let live, most of the day, but at night, piece by piece, armors up and puts his mercy and kindness and love of life away for a time, before finally putting on the iron helmet and becoming 'the law' (symbolically putting away his name and family ties and emotional concerns as he covers his face) could be funky.

Dark Archive
Tychris wrote:

Yeah, I'm curious if other classes will get the same Hellknight specific class features like the Cavalier is getting. Maybe something for Warpriests or the like. I'm playing a Constable Cavalier who will be going into Hell Knight Commander in a custom gothic horror campaign, so I'm hoping that the Order of the Ennead Star doesn't have mount specific abilities (Or maybe even progresses with levels of Hell Knight!).

I also kinda found it odd that you need 2 ranks in Knowledge (Planes) to become a Hell Knight Commander, but it doesn't give you it as a Class skill, so maybe this book will fix that.

Hellknight Commander?

What book isthat in?
Chris Ballard wrote:


Hellknight Commander?

What book isthat in?

It's in Inner Sea World Guide.

And yeah, a way for Magus' to become Signifier's easier would be nice. Or atleast better synergy between them and the martial HK's.

Hopefully this fixes the sub par and underpowered prc finally.
Needs more oomph for sure.
Silver Crusade Contributor
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Chris Ballard wrote:

Hellknight Commander?

What book isthat in?

Since d20pfsrd can't use any of the setting-specific names, they have to make up their own. So the Hellknight becomes "Hell Knight Commander" (note the two-word version of Hellknight). The same thing happened to Varisian Tattoo (which became "Mage's Tattoo") and Red Mantis Assassin (which became "crimson assassin").

This is why I switched to Archives of Nethys.
Dark Archive

I searched the pdf for hellknight commander and nothing came up. I can find the Hellknight prc and organization write up, just nothing about a commander.
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

Not sure which pdf Chris is talking about, but I searched the ISWG, and there's no Hellknight Commanders in there.
Dark Archive
Ed Reppert wrote:
Not sure which pdf Chris is talking about, but I searched the ISWG, and there's no Hellknight Commanders in there.

ISWG is the one I searched.

Silver Crusade Contributor
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The "Hell Knight Commander" is just the Hellknight from ISWG with a different name. See my comment above.

Kalindlara has the right of it.

Hopefully the new book will give us the updated and definitive version, and answer questions around whether the Smite is the horribly sub par version it appears to be, and whether the summons are based on Hellknight level or character level etc - horribly put together and ambiguous.

*wonders if he still keeps the Last Word*

Also Kal is correct. d20pfsrd.com can no longer use Paizo's exclusive names (IE places, people, and titles).
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Aye, sorry for the confusion. Just used to using the d20pfsrd names. The class might get tweaked to explain some of the discrepancies and the like, but I doubt it'll get fully updated.

I also hope we get an update to Signifiers so that Wizards are more legitimate options for opting into it, because currently Cleric/Oracle is just the clearly superior class option.
Grand Lodge

I've failed my CON check and am now unconscious.
Tychris wrote:
I also hope we get an update to Signifiers so that Wizards are more legitimate options for opting into it, because currently Cleric/Oracle is just the clearly superior class option.

um... dont you just take a dip lvl of cleric and the rest wizard to qualify? its twice the progression. works fine as it is now in my view, i just wish they would add features to allow themselves to represent different chapters like the normal hellknight prestige class.

Diekssus wrote:
Tychris wrote:
I also hope we get an update to Signifiers so that Wizards are more legitimate options for opting into it, because currently Cleric/Oracle is just the clearly superior class option.
um... dont you just take a dip lvl of cleric and the rest wizard to qualify? its twice the progression. works fine as it is now in my view, i just wish they would add features to allow themselves to represent different chapters like the normal hellknight prestige class.

Except that prestige classes that advance spellcasting only advance one spellcasting class you previously had, with signifier not being an exception. AND you need to be able to cast 3rd level spells to qualify, so you're delaying your entry into that class by another level just to pick up diluted cleric spells and armor training if you're going wizard. That or you go the Arcane Armor training route, which is what I'm hoping they address.

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The only good Hellknight is a lawful good Hellknight.
Sovereign Court
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djones wrote:
The only good Hellknight is a lawful good Hellknight.

stoic nod

Dark Archive

So anyone have there copy yet?

Might not be available yet Kevin. I generally give until Tuesday or Wednesday before asking.
Dark Archive

The first people should have their pdfs now.

Anyone game to post a quick content overview?

Thx.

Maybe the first people are still at work, Marco...

:)
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber

If you take a look at the June shipping thread under Customer Service, you will notice that there has been no post to that thread since Friday, when they announced completion of the authorization. I suspect that shipping for some reason did not begin yesterday. No shipping means no PDFs, as confirmed by the lack of spoilers for any of the newest products.

I have my PDF if there are any questions...

-Skeld
Scarab Sages Contributor
2 people marked this as a favorite.

a list of the archetypes, feats if you have time, and tell us if there's any psychic signifer support!

the hype is real
Silver Crusade Contributor
2 people marked this as a favorite.

I have mine too! ^_^

I'M NOT THE LAST ONE THIS TIME
Silver Crusade
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Skeld, PDF Prophet wrote:

I have my PDF if there are any questions...

-Skeld

Why do you even bother reminding us of that, you heartless ....

/Sterling Archer Mode On

I KNOW, BECAUSE YOU ARE A FREAKING HEARTLESS MONSTER! A PDF MONSTER! THAT'S SO CLASSIC OF YOU! YOU FAILED TO FIX FIGHTERS, YOU NERFED MONKS AND NOW YOU'RE RUBBING YOUR PDFS IN OUR DAMN FACES! BECAUSE YOU CAN! YOU'RE WORSE THAN MY MOTHER!

/Sterling Archer Mode Off
1 person marked this as a favorite.
UllarWarlord wrote:

a list of the archetypes, feats if you have time, and tell us if there's any psychic signifer support!

the hype is real

Spoiler:

Archetypes:
Circuit Judge (Cavalier)
Faceless Enforcer (Vigilante)

Feats (feats are scattered about; there may be some I missed):
Caster's Champion (Combat)
Extended Scrying
Gate Breaker (Combat)
Censoring Critical (Combat, Critical)
Traditional Weapons (Combat)
Scrutinize Spell
Relic Breaker (Combat)
Hellknight Aegis
Hellknight Obedience
Hellknight Obsession
Signifier Armor Training

I didn't see anything specifically for a Psychic Signifier.

-Skeld
Grand Lodge
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber
Gorbacz wrote:

/Sterling Archer Mode On

I KNOW, BECAUSE YOU ARE A FREAKING HEARTLESS MONSTER! A PDF MONSTER! THAT'S SO CLASSIC OF YOU! YOU FAILED TO FIX FIGHTERS, YOU NERFED MONKS AND NOW YOU'RE RUBBING YOUR PDFS IN OUR DAMN FACES! BECAUSE YOU CAN! YOU'RE WORSE THAN MY MOTHER!

/Sterling Archer Mode Off

RAMPAAAAAAAAAGE!

-Skeld, with love.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

can you tell us about the new cavalier order and the new hellknight disciplines?
1 person marked this as a favorite.
zergtitan wrote:
can you tell us about the new cavalier order and the new hellknight disciplines?

I'm about done for the evening, but...

Spoiler:

The Cavalier Order is called the Order of the Ennead Star and it's basically a custom-made Cavalier Order for Hellnights with a heavy anti-chaos, law and order bent.

-Skeld
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.

This book contains what I think is one of the shortest but most-effective side-notes illustrating how differently the planes can act compared to the prime material.

One of the symbols of the Order of the Gate is Xiv. It comes from Axiomite mathematics and approximately is used for denoting equations that have solutions on planes of absolute law, but not on the Material Plane.

I'm a little bit disappointed in the lack of psychic magic options for Hellknights. It seems like this would have been the perfect place to rectify that.

What does the Vigilante archetype do?
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Faceless Enforcer:

Vigilante Archetype:

* Gives heavy armor proficiency.
* Makes identity switch dependent upon donning/removing a particular helmet and armor, the items selected can be changed once per month.
* Improves the vigilante's ability to don/wear plate armor, removes speed and skill penalties.
* Gains a third, 'fictional' identity that can be within one alignment step of the social or vigilante ID (allowing for it to be an opposed alignment to one of the two); this identity is designed for infiltrating organizations and can be changed each month (provided it changes to infiltrating a different group). It gains powers that make it harder to ID and let it better-infiltrate the chosen group.
* Improves intimidate and demoralization.
* Loses several talent picks.

I like what it brings to the table as options, particularly the new ID-switch method and the can-be-changed-over-time infiltration-ID that allows a two-steps-away alignment.

That is interesting. Especially as it can create a character that can be all the lawful alignments.

A new cavalier archetype? Tell me more, tell me more. Did you get very far?
Silver Crusade Contributor
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Reviewed! ^_^

Also, I see that the timeline has advanced - it's most noticeable in the section on the Rack, but the presence of the Erinyes Company caught my attention as well.

^Erinyes Company? Is this a company of people seeking to become Erinyes (like a certain nearly extinct Sisterhood in Westcrown), or a company of Erinyes that managed to get long-term residence on Golarion?

May we get some hints as to what the Godclaw oracle mystery is like?

And does the book make it seem like an Infernal bloodline Bloodrider or Steelblood bloodrager could become a Hellknight? The whole 'rage' aspect seems like it'd stand in the way.
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