Paizo Releases Free Spoiler-Free Hellbreakers Player’s Guide for Pathfinder Second Edition Campaign

Paizo has made the Hellbreakers Player’s Guide available as a free download, offering player-facing, spoiler-free tips to build characters for the Hellfire Crisis Adventure Path. PathfinderWiki lists the supplement as released on February 26, 2026 and credits Matthew Fu and Michelle Y. Kim as authors, while Paizo’s site repeatedly urges players to “Download the Hellbreakers Player’s Guide” and promises player-friendly guidance.

The Player’s Guide is explicitly marketed as a resource that helps players design characters tied to the Hellbreakers League and the nation of Isger, and Paizo’s site copy states, “Inside the Hellbreakers Player’s Guide, you’ll find player-friendly, spoiler-free details and tips to help you make an exciting new character perfect for the Hellbreakers Adventure Path.” Bell of Lost Souls, in coverage dated March 2, 2026, echoed that intent and wrote, “I don’t know if the designers at Paizo are staring, Jim Halpert-like, directly into the camera of reality or not. But the new Hellbreakers Player’s Guide gives you a great jumping-off point to create a character who is embroiled in the heart of the coming war.”

Mechanically, the campaign uses Pathfinder’s remastered rules and requires Pathfinder Player Core or Pathfinder Player Core 2 plus a character sheet. Downloads Paizo and Paizo’s page both note the expected progression: “You begin at 1st level as a low-ranking Hellbreaker ready to make a name for yourself. By the time your adventure ends, you’ll be 10th level.” The guide also includes the Hellbreaker archetype on page 7 and Paizo material and Downloads Paizo recommend the optional free archetype rule (GM Core 84) beginning at level 2.

The Player’s Guide lists archetypes and backgrounds appropriate for the setting with specificity: archetypes such as Assassin, Bastion, Marshal, Mauler, Medic, Scout, and Sentinel are recommended, and Paizo warns that, “With the exceptions of Aldori Duelist and Iridian Choirmaster, most archetypes from Battlecry! are also appropriate.” Standard backgrounds called out include Bandit; “Player’s Guide 6 Phoebe Demetrias Field Medic”; Martial Disciple; Scout; Warrior; Insurgent; and Saboteur, while Battlecry! backgrounds like Arcane Revolutionary and Veteran and backgrounds from Pathfinder Lost Omens Firebrands are also noted. The Player’s Guide additionally announces new Hellbreakers-specific backgrounds designed to tie characters to the fight for Isger, though the excerpted material does not list their names.

Paizo has paired the free PDF with a premium Foundry Virtual Tabletop module. The Foundry product page lists the module as “Pathfinder Adventure Path: Hellbreakers (Foundry VTT)” at version 13.0.0, supporting Pathfinder Second Edition, and promises that “Player characters will carry out daring missions against Chelaxian strongholds, face off with the deadly Hellknights, and strike out against the forces of Hell itself!” Foundry’s page also states, “Hellbreakers is a complete Pathfinder campaign designed for four characters, starting at 1st level and rising through the ranks to reach 10th level at the campaign’s exciting conclusion,” and describes maps, tiles, tokens, sounds, and other assets. The Foundry product is unlocked by an activation code issued when purchasing from the Paizo store; that code is activated through a Foundry VTT account and then installed and activated within a Game World.

Paizo’s Player’s Guide page includes the adventure’s setting beats and art: “Isger’s wealth and resources have been squandered by greedy nobles and Chelaxian powers,” and the page’s cover art is described as “An armored human wielding a long chain with a mace at the end battling a hellknight.” The site repeats calls to action such as “Start your adventure today!” and “Want to run Hellbreakers as a Game Master? Preorder Hellbreakers.” Customer service contact details shown on the Paizo page are Mon–Fri, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific; phone (425) 250-0800; email customer.service@paizo.com.

Bell of Lost Souls closed its March 2 coverage by noting the guide’s accessibility and stakes, writing, “Best of all, it’s free, and you can download it today!” and, “Cheliax awaits, and the future of Golarion hangs in the balance!” Paizo’s free Hellbreakers Player’s Guide and the Foundry module together establish the mechanical and narrative framework for running Hellfire Crisis play, while Paizo continues to offer the full Adventure Path for preorder to Game Masters who want the complete package.