Pathfinder: Knights of Everflame is an 8-part series of 3-hour videos showcasing a campaign run by one of the game's second edition designers, Jason Bulmahn and his players (Gina DeVivo, Jeremy Steven Walker, Aki, Erika Fermina, and Rachel Seeley) as a test of the game. It lasted from June to August 2019. It is based, partially, on an older Pathfinder module, Crypt of the Everflame.
A band of misfit adventurers join the army for various reasons and are sent to Castle Everstand, only to find it swarming with undead. They are ordered to take the survivors to the nearby town of Kassen, but are chased by an army of the dead. Their only hope is to find the legendary artifact called the Everflame.
You can watch it here.
Knights of the Everflame contains examples of:
- Always Chaotic Evil: All undead. particularly tragic in the case of their leader.
- Artifact of Power: The Everflame. the people of Kassen thought it was a torch, but in reality, it was a sword holy to the goddess Serenrae.
- Beneath the Earth: The Knights must go there to retrieve The Everflame.
- Beneath the Mask: A literal example: Ikyulys never takes his mask off, and pretends to be fearsome and antisocial. He's actually a handsome Half-Elf seeking inner peace.
- Bittersweet Ending: The undead army is defeated but many citizens of Kassen and Lastwall are dead and the Lich is still out there.
- Blood Knight: Ikyulys claims he "just wants to smash." In reality, he's looking for his father's assassin.
- Conscription: Lucky and Lysonn joined the army to avoid serving time in jail [Lucky for horse thievery; Lys' crime is not mentioned.] Tariel was forced to join by her parents, again for unspecified reasons.
- Corrupt Politician: Kassen's Mayor Ventnor is unhelpful, at first not even heeding the warning of the incoming undead army. Later he tries to flee town with his riches but he is caught and is kicked out with the barest of supplies.
- Dark Secret: Linneus is the daughter of a half-vampire and fears she will become evil. The party, however, comforts her.
- Familiar: Morclid, Holgast's owl Familiar.
- Final Battle: The Knights return just in time to join the second battle for Kassen. And battle The Vampire leader and her Mummy bodyguards. They are all destroyed with help from The Everflame, though Omelet almost dies.
- Guest-Star Party Member: The Wizard Holgast.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Holgast dies during the first siege of Kassen.
- Load-Bearing Boss: When Elysund dies, all undead crumble to ash.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Both Omelete and Linneus.
- Mid-Boss: A dullahan [headless horseman] who was Elysund's Dwarf assistant.
- Our Gods Are Different: Omelete worships the spirits of her ancestors. She can see them on a polished stone she carries, but no one else can.
- Punny Name: Omelete was named that because of the old saying "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs" (turns out her parents kept desperately trying to sire a boy to carry the family legacy, and after 13 girls, they gave up.)
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The party is composed of: Ikyulys, a grim masked Champion; Lysonn Shorbuckle, a Halfling Ranger with a French accent; Omelete Stonebreaker, a female Dwarf Barbarian with a Scottish accent; Tariel Windhaven, a female Half-Elf Bard; and Linneus Lennon, an odd-looking female Half-Elf Cleric (a sixth member, a Halfling thief named Lucky Longfinger, soon abandons the party. )
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Several examples: Lieutenant Elysund, the Knights' commander; Father Prass, Kassen's main cleric; former Mayor Jonark Uptal; and Arnama, a Female Ranger.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Holgast appears unfocused and has trouble remembering things, as if he were going senile. He's quite powerful, however It turns out he has memory problems because he's learned too many spells.
- Shout-Out: Linneus has a collection of beetles -both living and dead- in her dress. They are named after The Beatles.
- The Power of Friendship: The Knights not only become friends, but they also help overcome each other's insecurities.
- The Reveal: The leader of the Undead Army turns out to be Lieutenant Elysund, who had been turned into a vampire.
- The Siege: Kassen is assaulted by undead of various kinds twice; the first time they barely beat them back [with the heroes' help]; the second time was just as they obtained The Everflame.
- The Quest: to find The Everflame.
- Title Drop: Though originally they were Knights of Lastwall, Elysund's father made a [wooden] banner for them with the name "Knights of Everflame."
- Town with a Dark Secret: Inverted- The town of Kassen was founded by the hero of the same name and his tomb is used for harmless adulthood initiation trials. The citizens are unaware that it contains The Everflame, a powerful artifact against evil.
- Zombie Apocalypse: A small scale version, as Tar-Baphon begins creating thousands of undead monsters.
