Pathfinder Adventure Path #145: Hellknight Hill (Age of Ashes 1 of 6)

In any event, I don't know when I'll get to play this AP, but Hellknights have been a pretty excellent element of Golarion. Hopefully the 2E treatment is just as enjoyable.

In any event, I don't know when I'll get to play this AP, but Hellknights have been a pretty excellent element of Golarion. Hopefully the 2E treatment is just as enjoyable.

Yeah, though they sadly are pretty under-represented in this AP. It's kind of a psych-out with the title.

Good to know, I won’t worry about playing a character tied to them.

That’s a big part of why I wait for the AP to be fully released to play/run them.

Good to know, I won’t worry about playing a character tied to them.

That’s a big part of why I wait for the AP to be fully released to play/run them.

I mean, a player being involved with the Hellknights would work very well in this book. Don't get me wrong on that. But as written, Hellknights are more adjacent to this one than involved in it.

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What is the status of PFS sanctioning for this? I know it'd be really helpful for a lot of us.

Foggy, that is a dangerous question to ask.

Rysky wrote:

Plagues kinda throw a wrench into things.

& Gremlins all over are happy to supply the wrenches...

;p

Nine out of ten gremlins approve of this post!

...and the tenth one has been sacked.

Any sanctioning update?

Any sanctioning update?

From this May 16th blog:

The team’s worked hard this month on getting caught up and we hope to finalize sanctioning on the Age of Ashes Adventure Path before the end of May. Stay tuned for more information.

The organized play panel on PaizoCon announced online yesterday that it has been sanctioned now. They're just waiting for the website team to upload the documents.

The organized play panel on PaizoCon announced online yesterday that it has been sanctioned now. They're just waiting for the website team to upload the documents.

It will take "a few days" though, so I would not expect if before next week.

Hooray

Definitely hyped for sanctioning though! :3

Is it the whole AP or just the 1st module?

The whole AP.

Is there any plan to make collections for Adventure Paths? I noticed that it didn't seem to happen often for first edition, and it seemed to take several years for collections to be made when they were. I'd like to get hard backs for the various second edition adventure paths if possible.

Is there any plan to make collections for Adventure Paths? I noticed that it didn't seem to happen often for first edition, and it seemed to take several years for collections to be made when they were. I'd like to get hard backs for the various second edition adventure paths if possible.

Not in foreseeable future, because nobody would buy this knowing that a hardback is going to be published soon.

And even then all hardcovers were "update the AP to the current version" things. So its unlikely for this to have collected version without it being 3rd edition or something

Is there any plan to make collections for Adventure Paths? I noticed that it didn't seem to happen often for first edition, and it seemed to take several years for collections to be made when they were. I'd like to get hard backs for the various second edition adventure paths if possible.

There is a 2E version of Kingmaker on the horizon, but it’s likely to be a while before we see any compilation. For now, they’re focussing on putting out new content.

Compilations (the way Paizo do them) are more work than one might expect. They generally take the opportunity to revise, update and expand the AP based on years of feedback. That means it uses a lot of designer, developer, editor and art/layout staff member time - and at the moment, they’re all pretty busy with brand new things.

Speaking as a builder, it's always way more exciting to build something new then to go back and tear out something you already built to rebuild it with newer material, especially if you just built it a couple of years ago.

Is there any plan to make collections for Adventure Paths? I noticed that it didn't seem to happen often for first edition, and it seemed to take several years for collections to be made when they were. I'd like to get hard backs for the various second edition adventure paths if possible.

Here's Chief Technical Officer Vic Wertz explaining in 2016 why hardback AP compilations are few and far between (and unpredictable).

Things I have said before that are still true:

From 2009:

The number one problem with collected APs is that our cash flow relies on constant sales of the current AP volume, and anything that we do that potentially reduces sales of the current volume is harmful to us. Not only would collecting them train some people to wait for the compilations, but it would also be creating a product that competes with the current AP for the attention of new customers. Either one of those is bad enough; taken together, the whole issue becomes a non-starter.

From 2010:

I mentioned it in the Why We Don't Reprint Thread, but I may as well repeat it here:

"The 'no reprints' rule doesn't apply to everything... and 'reinvention' is also possible. So long as it's done in a way that is as appealing as a completely new product, and doesn't train people to always wait for the reinvention."

So an anniversary edition that updates the out-of-print Rise of the Runelords to PFRPG rules is interesting. The ruleset update satisfies the requirements of reinvention to at least some degree; then, so long as we made it clear that this was a one-time exception, and that waiting for, say, a complete Kingmaker compilation would probably be fruitless, that could satisfy the "not training people to wait" rule.

From 2011, after the announcement of the Runelords compilation:

We have *no* plans to compile additional adventure paths. Keeping up sales (and especially subscriptions) of the Pathfinder Adventure Path line is crucial to our business, and if we were to make a habit of regularly compiling APs, many customers would be tempted to opt out of the ongoing series, choosing instead to wait for the compilations.

That would be, frankly, one of the worst possible things that could happen to Paizo.

I won't say we'll never ever compile another Adventure Path, but I will say it would take very very unusual circumstances for us to consider doing another one, no matter how well this one sells.

From 2013:

Allow me to give you another data point. While we rarely talk about print run sizes or sales numbers, we do, every now and then, do blog posts where we tell you which items are getting low on stock—defined as under 1000 copies—in our warehouse. [I then linked to a recent such blog post, which I won't relink since it's terribly out of date.]

From that, you might deduce the following stock levels for each volume of the AP:

Rise of the Runelords:
Sold out: 1, 3, 5, 6
Between 25 and 100 copies: 4
Between 100 and 250 copies: 2
(Total remaining copies: 125-350)

Crimson Throne:
Between 25 and 100 copies: 2
Between 500 and 1000 copies: 1, 3
More than 1000 copies: 4, 5, 6
(Total remaining copies: 4025-?)

Second Darkness:
More than 1000 copies: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
(Total remaining copies: 6000-?)

Legacy of Fire:
Between 500 and 1000 copies: 4
More than 1000 copies: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
(Total remaining copies: 5500-?)

It doesn't take a business degree to see Rise of the Runelords is in a class by itself. It made a standout candidate for a compilation; any other AP would require a lot more justification.

Note: "More copies in the warehouse" does not directly correlate to "fewer copies sold", as print runs vary from volume to volume. But it's safe to assume that a compilation of any of these would drastically reduce the rate of sales of the current printings, so these numbers are certainly one of many factors we'd take into consideration if we were looking to compile one of them—which we are currently not.

From 2014:

I would like to be clear that we do try to avoid saying *never*. When we did the Rise of the Runelords anniversary edition, we said that it was a special circumstance—an exception to the rule—but we haven't said that there will definitely never ever be another exception. But it took 5 years to do the first one, and it's been a few years since that came out, and we're not working on one now.

And some additional comments just for today:

Reprinting APs will continue to be extremely rare. Not never, but rare enough that you shouldn't plan on any given AP ever being compiled. It has been 4 years since the last compilation, and there's no reason to expect the next to come any sooner.

Just as Runelords was when we compiled it, Crimson Throne is now almost sold out in its original form (as of our last low inventory blog in November, the first three volumes were completely sold out, volumes 4 and 5 were under 1000 copies, and volume 6 was under 500), and it benefits from being updated to the current ruleset. While a couple other APs meet one or the other of those, there are no other APs that meet both. Nobody is working on another compilation beyond Curse, and nobody will be working on one anytime soon.

Note that since then, the updating of Kingmaker from P1e to P2e in a hardback compilation has been announced. It follows the same general criteria of 1) being mostly sold out and 2) needing an update to the newest ruleset; it also has the added incentive of tying in with the Kingmaker video game. So later this year (I think?) you can get a P2e hardback compilation of Kingmaker.

Has sanctioning document been published?

I was just about to ask that same question.

As of PaizoCon, it was submitted to the team to be uploaded and published. No idea how long that will take.

As of PaizoCon, it was submitted to the team to be uploaded and published. No idea how long that will take.

Was supposed to be the end of May. Another month walks by, and no sign of a sanction.

Thankfully, it's not like you can't start playing, given the policy from previous sanctionings being 'you can gain retroactive credit'.

The chronicles are finally here.

Thank you Paizo! Now I can get this one rolling with the locals.

YAY!

Does anyone know why when you record one of the AP books, it only registers 8 Prestige rather than the 12 Prestige it should? I input it as 12 Prestige, but only see 8 on the system. I went in to edit it to change it to 12 prestige, and after saving, it still says 8 prestige.

Does anyone know why when you record one of the AP books, it only registers 8 Prestige rather than the 12 Prestige it should?

This seems to be a bug across all the adventures that provide 12 reputation. The same thing happens when entering Fall of Plaguestone. It's been an ongoing problem that I hope we see fixed someday.

Does Paizo still do the thing where I can get the PDF free because I bought the book? I bought the physical book at my friendly local but I could really use a PDF for reference.

You only get the PDF for free if you get the physical copy through a subscription on Paizo, you’ve never gotten a free PDF just for buying a book, especially elsewhere.

Oh I thought they provided that under a program called "Brick and Mortar."

Some companies might have, but to my knowledge Paizo has never done so.

No, Paizo has never been part of Bits and Mortar, although several 3pp companies that produce Pathfinder-compatible material have.

One of my tables just completed Book 1, Hellknight Hill and I am working on their Chronicles for society. I have the sanctioning page but it dosen't mention anything regarding Downtime. Do they gain downtime? (I am assuming no Fame as there is no more fame in PFS, so that one is easy...)
Thanks for any help!

Just a note, the sanctioning documents have not been updated yet. As per this blog post the adventure now awards 24 days of Downtime.

Will there ever be a higher resolution offer of the maps, for VTT purposes?

Question: I thought this one was available on Foundry as well, but I can't find it on the paizo.com website. Am I looking at the wrong place?

Foundry modules started with Outlaws of Alkenstar.

Are there any plans for this to go back into print?

Are there any plans for this to go back into print?

Not at this time, as far as I'm aware. We typically don't reprint individual volumes of softcover books.

yak117 wrote:

Are there any plans for this to go back into print?

Not at this time, as far as I'm aware. We typically don't reprint individual volumes of softcover books.

Any plans for an Age of Ashes hardcover? I love this AP, one of the best thats been printed, but it could also definitely use a balance pass lol.