Fires burn atop the ruined citadel on Hellknight Hill, sending plumes of red smoke into the air that could be a call for help. Within the old keep, strange invaders from a distant land, mysterious long-lost ruins, and the machinations of a shadowy organization await discovery. Something dire is building toward an apocalyptic event, and it falls to your characters to stop the end before it begins. The Age of Ashes Adventure Path begins with "Hellknight Hill"—a complete adventure for 1st- to 4th-level characters.
I enjoyed spending some time in Isger between #1-05 in PFS, Fall of Plaguestone, and this AP volume.
That said, Hellknight Hill feels like the most forced of the lot. It's paint by numbers to remind you that goblins are good now, bunch of combat so that you can try out 2E monsters, and sets up the rest of the AP.
I enjoyed playing through it as a completionist, but once more APs come out I think this intro won't compare to the newer entries.
The NPCs are good. And there are some well scripted scenes.
But as with anything, the advantages also signal the disadvantages. Good NPCs are "protected" -- the module scripted to keep one from find out too much before it's time. And the scripted scenes, by definition, beg to be played -- which means a significant degree of linear movement through the adventure, and the inability to have the excitement of resolving or discovering something on one's own time.
Nice adventure, took my group of 4-5 players roughly 30 hours to finish this. Overall, there's some weird plot holes and lots of needless combats. One thing I appreciated is there's not a 'grind until you're leveled up' aspect - I was able to use a milestone method for leveling, so my players didn't attempt to slaughter everything they met for gold and XP. Also, nice work adding in NPCs that have some depth. I enjoyed that the goblins aren't monsters, but can instead become staunch allies (and help progress the plot).
Does the rules rewrite (the new Player Core and GM Core) work with Age of Ashes? Would I need to make changes to the campaign or can I run it un altered?
Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Creative Director
