Welcome back to Investing In! I wasn’t sure quite sure what to name my article series when I first started but the idea of showcasing or discussing things that make me excited, that I find new and interesting, or maybe I’m otherwise passionate about seemed to fit with the idea of Investing In something like the Pathfinder 2E mechanic. To use some magic items you have to give that little bit of yourself, which helps make these things even better. I like the metaphor of the community growing and being strengthened in the same way!

Knights of Everflame

On the topic of Pathfinder I want to highlight my love of Knights of Everflame. You may have heard Perram and Ryan discussing it after their interview with Patrick last week. It’s a real play Pathfinder 2E game run by the illustrious GM Jason Bulmahn. It actually started the week before 2E came out, the week before GenCon, so I tuned in to glean any information I might find. It’s also a partnership between Paizo and Geek & Sundry, whom you might be familiar with due to their various other content including Game the Game, Callisto 6, or the amazing Vampire: the Masquerade. I love me some World of Darkness but we’ll save that for another time. Geek & Sundry did host Critical Role too until they moved to their own channel – yep I’m a Critter – but I kept up with my subscription for Vampire as well Deborah Ann Woll’s Relics and Rarities.

So suffice to say, I was pretty confident that between Paizo Staff, Jason, and Geek & Sundry’s experienced team we’d have quite a ride ahead of us. I was right! Some of you might be like “wait, wasn’t there a Crypt of the Everflame 1st edition adventure?” And yes, Jason wrote that and now here we are a decade later and the story has continued. It’s another reason I was excited and harkens back to my last article; I like the world-building, the continuing story. A group of relatively inexperienced but capable individuals found themselves on the way to Lastwall to become – whether they wanted to or not – Knights that watch over the prison of the Whispering Tyrant, a dangerous and powerful lich.

SPOILER WARNING

In case you aren’t up to date on what happens in the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path or haven’t read about the repercussions of it in the 2E materials… Guess who got out or prison! Undead have attacked Lastwall by the time they arrive and the survivors need the help of the new recruits. Fleeing Lastwall they try to stay ahead of the aggressing horde, heading for Kassen and hoping they can find a way to survive in the small fortification.

END SPOILERS

For those wanting to avoid spoilers we shall say that hopeful recruits must become heroes quickly, aiding innocents and combatting dangers as they soon learn of the Everflame’s legend!   

The Cast

It’s great to learn along with the cast, both of the unfolding plot and the 2E rules. The cast are a mix of some familiar and some new to me: Rachel Seeley, Jeremy Steven Walker, Gina DeVivo, Erika Fermina, and Aki. You may recall I luckily met Aki at GenCon and they were as gracious and amazing as I could have imagined after watching episode 1. Their halfling ranger Lys has some amazing RP moments in the first season, even in the face of great difficulty and some tough bow shots. I’d be hard pressed not to mention the ferocious hilarity of DeVivo’s Omelette the dwarven Barbarian whose rage comes from the joy of family and her ancestors. Fermina’s half-elven bard Tariel echoes the fey world with a lite (and sometimes devastating) touch; she’s diverse and talented and as tricksy as you might expect. Meanwhile Walker’s Champion’s story hits as hard as he does with a stoic tone as we strive to learn about the person behind the mask. I perhaps love Seeley’s Cleric with special fondness due to a similar Oracle I got to play briefly. I won’t spoil the details; it’s clear everyone crafted their characters with care.  You can learn more about them, the players, and the game at knightsofeverflame.com.

The Journey

You might be getting a sense of my enjoyment already. It’s a great journey to travel along with this wonderful cast. Jason is story building while you see the team learn of the game and the world of Golarion, but also their characters are unfolding before us. It’s also hard to beat a real play stream from the game’s own Director of Game Design! All that aside, I’ve loved the progression and investment of the players’ in their characters and the plot, specifically to become Knights of Everflame. They slowly learn of one another, how to play off one another, and how to work together to really trash those monsters and well! It’s not clear to me how well they got to one another before coming together, but I expect there was some newness. It added to these new characters coming together and the camaraderie they’ve built as a team. When things start to take a serious turn, with a mark of emotional depth and even mortal danger, they’re worrying for one another, let alone their characters. Their successes are as a team too and that’s what gaming is all about. Thankfully, Jason is so keenly benevolent…

How To Watch

Did I mention Knights of Everflame just returned last week for season 2? Yep, the story is still going and you can join in. You can find the first season on YouTube and new episodes of season 2 live Tuesday nights on Geek & Sundry’s twitch channel at 4 PM PST or 7 PM EST. It’s a pre-recorded series of sessions too so members of the cast and Jason himself often join in and chat with you while you watch. The backdrops change, Chris on the production side has added music for us, and more. It’s an enjoyable few hours and I really encourage you to check it out should you have any interest in Golarion, Pathfinder 2E, or this sweet group of people!

Investing In:

And I also want to hear what you’re Investing In! Leave me a comment below about what games, modules, systems, products, people, live streams, etc you enjoy! You can also hit me up on social media as silentinfinity. I want to hear what excites you and what you’re passionate about. There’s so much wonderful content, people, groups (I could go on) in this community of ours that the more we invest in and share, the better it becomes!

Sources

1. Banner –Knights of Everflame, Paizo
2. Knights of Everflame cast image, Geek & Sundry in partnership with Paizo
3. Excerpt from Knights of Everflame S2E01, Geek & Sundry in partnership with Paizo