Age of Ashes Review (Clearly Marked Spoilers) | GameGorgon

It's time for a tidal wave of Pathfinder 2E adventure paths! First on the list, Age of Ashes. More specifically, Hellknight Hill. Be sure to avoid discussing spoilers in the comments! :)
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[@corvids_caress]

Not to pile on to your workload, but you should review all of the content from Paizo.

[@Althaven_]

We'll get there...some day.

[@strongarm852]

I think I understand why so much detail was added to "that thing" from what I gathered from developer commentary. The town in this adventure is designed to be the "new Sandpoint" so they are going to reuse the town as a place where other adventures happen later.

[@brantchurchill7415]

I am starting age of ashes, as a GM. Myself and my players are all new to pathfinder. So excited to play. We have all played lots of 5e

[@Althaven_]

Have fun! :D

[@louisst-amand9207]

2e is a lot of fun. Enjoy the AP!

[@JoshTheValiant]

I still like a 5 star system, with no fractions. Each point means a lot and represents a tier more than a ranked list. Also, most 10 point systems tend to use 6-10 as meaningful numbers and 1-5 is effectively "it's not good, maybe just don't."

[@corvids_caress]

Also, I really liked the quality graphic you used for the spoilers section of the review.

[@lordcyrodil]

I have been GM'ing a play through of Age of Ashes. We just finished the first book and my players are loving it. I've read up to the 4th book and I'm pretty excited for all the upcoming adventures

[@FatAdamPlays]

is there a building aspect? Such as rebuilding the keep you are taking over?

[@markadkins1842]

I am not normally a fan of adventure paths, but Age of Ashes has me excited to actually run it! It looks like a lot of fun.

[@ferioritycomplex]

Somehow I've fallen into like, watching your reviews and such. And my only real feedback for the spoilers is something audible rather than just a visual cue on it, because while you're both handsome fellows, I generally have you up to listen to rather than straight-up watch. I wasn't BOTHERED by the spoilers, but it took me a notable amount of time to look over and realize we were in the "spoilers" section. Possible SPOILERS: Otherwise, my only comment is world-building information is wonderful for those GMs who want to set their world in Golarion! Maybe Age of Ashes isn't canon or hasn't occurred in their world yet, but having information about how this town does things gives them a setting for their players to start in, and an easy ease-in for new adventurers to the world! Heck, I might use it myself. :)

[@AWalkOnDirt]

We are starting this Thursday! We had a zero session. Today we are playing mock battles for rules. Thursday things are kicking off!

[@Althaven_]

Break a leg!

[@Radiotomb]

1. Review all Age of Ashes books 2. Review Fall of Plaguestone 3. The spoiler tags were good 4. There were barely any real apoilers at all in this review 5. Collect feedback from folks who ran the AP and talk about how they handled tough challenges differently

[@jakebdavis6970]

When I first read the book I had the exact same thought "why is the book explaining the call of heroes event if it never actually happens" then I ran the session and they stoped the encounter before it happened. So I had to use all that info to actually run the event. SO I was glad it was there lol.

[@deverashb.4875]

The spoiler graphics worked really good. And the loading graphic made me chuckle. I’d be interested in seeing you do the further AoA books at least

[@reedg6836]

I’d love to see a review of Plaguestone. I want to run something, but I don’t want to run a full on adventure path.

[@lagautmd]

Our group failed in AoA, quitting some time into chasing down cultists. Our problem is we were not getting together frequently enough and we had to miss some planned sessions.For adults with busy lives, keeping the hints from early in the story in mind got in the way of our later success. I think it works best for players who do really well in tracking stories that have mystery elements and the players are very good at meeting at least as often as weekly.

[@victoirevim9698]

Not the review I wanted, but the one I needed. As always your reviews are spot on 👍

[@Althaven_]

OMG, judging by this comment, our next build guide is going to make you in particular so happy.

[@victoirevim9698]

@@Althaven_ oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy

[@quark12000]

One point: "The Fall of Plaguestone" is not an Adventure Path, it's a standalone module. Really enjoyed the review and would love to see you guys review the whole Path and the other books (Lost Omens World Guide, Lost Omens Character Guide, Bestiary, Gamemaster's Guide, etc.)

[@philllllllll]

What's the difference? I genuinely don't know.

[@noelsteele]

I'm hosting my first session of Age of Ashes today (and first campaign in 15 years)! Thanks for your positive review of Hellknight Hill. I'm totally excited for it. Wish me luck!

[@Althaven_]

You got this!! Let us know how it goes!!!

[@maxe159]

The adventure path definitely makes me excited to see their future APs. Age of Ashes doesn't really hit the wants of my playgroup but it seems really well made and gives me some hope for the future APs.

[@CraigSteinhoff]

Are you going to review it after you play? I love would your comments on issues after you play. A GM only video would be great...issues and how you solved them, things that you changed and things you added would help a ton. Your spoiler stuff was good but I am the gm 90% of the time so not an issue

[@lawrencemoore5418]

One issue i had is a bit of a treasure spoiler but i looked all over and nobody is talking about it! SPOILER: When exploring the citadel one of the treasures the Hellknights were buried with are called "Doubling Rings" Ch3 pg38. These rings are never explained though. They dont show up in the adventurers toolbox or the CRB. Anyone know what these are??

[@mattsullivan2458]

Page 609 of the CRB, or here's a link. 2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=432

[@whotheheckcares]

CRB Page 609-610

[@lawrencemoore5418]

Oh my goodness thank you! Thats been bothering me for months. I must have overlooked it.

[@jamieharris775]

Thank you for the review!

[@CraigSteinhoff]

Also are you doing a monster and hazrad build video....now that the rules are out ;)

[@kylehunt4673]

I've heard a lot of people complain that it babies the players and feels like its too simplistic and predictable. I would have appreciated if they had addressed some of these complaints since its hard to figure out. Its a divisive topic with groups on either end of the spectrum saying the AP is childish and that the AP is quality in the context of it being the first of the edition, targeted at newer players transitioning from other systems.

[@Althaven_]

For what it's worth, we didn't address this because we generally don't look at other opinions while we formulate our own about something we're reviewing, and I don't think Indigo felt the book did this.

[@ShadowoftheMask]

@@Althaven_ First time I've heard this complaint too

[@JWLuiza]

Thanks friends!

[@Laufbursche4u]

the call happens. Every single aspect of the process happens. maybe overshadowed by other events, but still.

[@gcook725]

My only problem with the first book of the Age of Ashes AP is that there are a LOT of errors and inconsistencies that should've been caught in editing. Things such as orientation of the cardinal directions for a couple maps, distance of sites from each other, etc. The adventure itself is decent though despite this, but its still something that detracts from my overall opinion of the product.

[@Reinshark]

It would have been nice to have “Hellknight Hill” in the title of the video, or mentioned earlier in your review. I thought I was going to be watching a review of the entire AP, not just the first of six adventures. I know you wrote as much in the description, but I’m not in the habit of reading video descriptions when I watch stuff on my phone unless I get confused... as was the case here.

[@yoshiman9521]

#BeatTheAlgorithm

[@Althaven_]

No joke, this comment got held for review, rofl. THE MACHINES ARE ON TO US, RUN!

[@quark12000]

@@Althaven_ Cue Terminator bass line.

[@razz0putin819]

This was a very good level of spoiled content.

[@jjschow]

I'm gm-ing this (my first time being GM) this is lots of fun but... Light spoilers ...?... chapter 2-4 is the dungeon and 5 is downtime and finding out what is actually happening and that's the end of the first book. It's like they want to power you through the first 5 levels as fast as possible. Witch is a good thing cus low levels kinda suck imo.

[@pencilmage]

i've read it and am currently running it (bout half way thru). if i had to score this it would be a 4 (maybe a 4.5). i'm hoping that the second book will be better.

[@Althaven_]

Out of 5 or 10?

[@pencilmage]

@@Althaven_ I think cramming those levels in so hard just makes it feel a bit railroady (this should be a real word) to me. At other times it gets boring and certain areas of the keep make no sense. My guys are liking the faster than normal leveling but I can see the boredom on their faces.

[@douglasgallop7171]

You mentioned getting a free download. Where do you get the downloads on paizo's website?

[@quark12000]

Search for the Age of Ashes Player's Guide. It will take you to the product page where the price is marked "Free".

[@Mystravian]

I really think the text of what the call of heroes is, well... it isnt that extensive, and is really relevant to the town as a whole, which the players do have the time to explore, if they choose to. It also doesnt go into how theyre chosen, it basically just says the town really likes adventurers and will hire them. Obvously the PCs NEED to be chosen for this to work, so it doesnt happen, but it is important for establishing the norms of the town, especially since theyre SUPPOSED to at least go to the tavern beforehand.

[@TheUnnbreakable]

Review Abomination Vaults please

[@Asurendra334]

as someone who loves your content this was really bad... Please guys, one of you ''just read'' the 90 page book and made the''zero session'' (like that qualifies for ?) When making a ''review'' people usually have the info that you actually ''watched the movie'',''listened to the whole song'', or played the damn adventure... just saying, you can do much better than this. Hopefully you will do a better job of ''reviewing'' in the future, gl hf

[@Althaven_]

Sorry to feel that way, but we explained our perspective on this in the video and we're standing by it. An experienced GM reading the book and assessing it's quality as a story telling tool has value to some people. If that's not you, that's why we explained it up front, and we hope you find what you're looking for!

[@philllllllll]

@@Althaven_ While I don't necessarily think you need to play the entire adventure to review it, I really wish you went into a bit more detail about it. I'm a GM and this review provided basically ZERO information about the AP, what it's about, what i can expect from it, etc. Just a general outline of the chapters, what things stand out from it, if it's combat heavy, politics heavy, etc. What are the themes of the AP, if any. Unique crunch, etc. Would be really helpful in knowing whether to go out and buy it or not. What I got from this review was basically "The layout is good and i'll know which parts I'm not supposed to read out loud." And probably not much else. Looking forward to the next review and hopefully you dive a bit deeper into it.

[@williamcullen8756]

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS We are 8th level and have not gotten back to our "hellknight" keep. Also, that crock at the end fort WILL kill whomever it swallows. I was the one that got swallowed whole and the mechanics for drowning/suffocating are not kind. I had an 18 Con and died (as in Roll up a new character) in 4 rounds from suffocating and my companions could not find me to attack it in time. You get 5 rounds + your Con modifier rounds to hold breath BUT if you choose to attack it uses 2 rounds and you/I took 16 HPs per round. Plus the first round the thing attacks is an automatic crit for about 50 points of damage.

[@marluxes]

Spoiler graphics/format was excellent.

[@Althaven_]

😁

[@leviangel97]

Random opinion... hmmmmm. I felt this wasn't crazy spoilerific? I'm not much into ap's though...

[@Althaven_]

Honestly, I went back and forth as to if it was even necessary, but I decided "better safe than sorry". We're going to continue to err on the side of caution for this, but perhaps we can add an explanation to the graphic. "Spoilers for the first chapter" or "Huge, late adventure spoilers". Think that'd be an improvement? :)

[@reports8391]

Just review it all. Why split hairs? More content equates to more views. Win, win.

[@jurgen4466]

Pathfinder 2 is great but you are clowns, get serious

[@Althaven_]

This is my serious face ---------____________---------

[@MrUmakemelaff]

Please...He's literally wearing his serious fez...What more do you want?