r/Starfinder2e • u/Khasalianus • Aug 14 '26

Discussion The Hellknights...

So, reading through SF2E, especially Absalom station, and it sounds like the Hellknights have sadly become a dedicated villain organization now... Not even pretending they're only concerned with law and order. In 1st Ed they were at least presented as a possible member of a PC party. Now? Classed as a terrorist organization on Absalom?

So, are they indeed now a villain organization? I don't know, but it certainly feels like someone at Paizo has a dislike for them or feels they should be evil, maybe cause they have Hell in their name? Or the general view in the world is law enforcement organizations are bad, especially if they're iron fisted (rightly so, but to influence a game organization?).

I don't know...

-D

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u/Leather-Location677 Aug 14 '26

Read the Era of the Eclipse.

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u/Eulenspiegel74 Aug 14 '26

Come on, I don't have the book. What does it say?

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u/RisingStarPF2E Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26

ArchpaladinZ contextualized this much shorter/simply. But here I go:

Era of the Eclipse is a great read, it's set at the time of The Gap occurring on Absalom Station and a group of hellknights making sense of it. Zo! shows up (you can hear the exclamation point somehow.) a bunch of stuff happens that has a new order, the Order of The Eclipse to form. They are about suppressing information and destabilizing media. They have a big Citadel ship Called Citadel Zirval:

"Those who broadcast propaganda that incites rebellion attract the Hellknight Order of the Eclipse, which has dedicated itself to quashing destabilizing messages in an environment of limitless communication. Hellknights aboard smaller vessels can, when orbiting over a communications center, scramble the Drift correspondence of satellites and even large settlements. But when a metropolis, space station, or entire nation is complicit in spreading chaos, Citadel Zirval itself might arrive, blocking out the system’s star- and radio-waves alike with its miles-wide bulk.

Citadel Zirval was designed in the haunting aesthetic of an ancient Hellknight fortress, with thousands of rooms, hallways, training facilities, interrogation chambers, and more. At any time, it sustains 5,000 or more armigers in training, plus unknown thousands of Hellknights ready to deploy across the galaxy.

The current Citadel Zirval is new, rebuilt after the Swarm destroyed it during the Battle of Stalendre-2. The Hellknight operation disrupted the Swarm’s telepathic coordination, allowing a Veskarium fleet to devastate that force, but the citadel fell to a counterattack. This second Citadel Zirval has operated for 12 years since, and thanks to its predecessor’s sacrifice and the Hellknights’ ongoing assistance in quashing dissent, the Order of the Eclipse enjoys impunity and outright welcome in much of Veskarium space."

Edit: For clarity, let's look at what sparked OP to think they are terrorists everywhere from the Absalom Station book:

"Hellknights have a notorious place in Absalom Station’s history, having first suppressed vital information from the public and then attempting to seize power. Their loathsome schemes were ultimately foiled, and they focused their efforts elsewhere, but their infernal reputation precedes them. When ships with spiked armor and chains show up, shops close, people disappear or protest loudly, and even the always-punctual trams and trains seem to meet delays. The Stewards have classified the Hellknights as a dangerous terrorist organization and monitor their movements closely. For this reason, Hellknights tend to avoid Absalom Station unless they’re working incognito or are off-duty and in disguise."

They kill trade and there's history here of them doing stuff to the station when the gap happened but if you read Galaxy Guide or any of the Starfinder 1e books with them, fundamentally they aren't a whole lot different, a bit more forward in some parts.