The Hellbound Heart was, to me, an odd inclusion in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (1st Edition) Appendix 3. This is, after all, the book that was adapted into Hellraiser.Yes, the movie with the creepy guy with pins in his headThe inclusion of a contemporary horror story into a list that had historically included sword and sorcery pulp adventure, HP Lovecraft, and Lord of the Rings intrigued me. So this one popped toward the top of the list. I’m a huge Pathfinder fan, so figuring out the causal link between Barker and Golarion was too big a mystery to pass up.Now, did I figure it out? Well, my best guess is the nation of Nidal in Golarion where the whole nation belongs to the faith of Zon-Kuthon and treats pain as sacred and suffering as joy. (See Lost Omens World Guide, p. 102). So, if you need to feature a cult of Zon-Kuthon in your next Pathfinder game, here’s a fantastic source of inspiration that you could realistically fit reading into your weekly session prep.The book opens with a ritual to summon the Cenobites, the creepy people whose humanity has been lost behind the marks left by the tortures they inflict upon themselves. Then we move to a married couple moving into the house where it happened and follow what happens next in the “damp room.”The book was wonderfully creepy. I really enjoyed following the individual plot lines through it and seeing how they intertwined.This was the first book by Clive Barker I read, though I’ve been meaning to get to his work because of the Clive Barker in The Midnight Pals podcast. I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next book of his I grab.Something to Take AwayI loved the role the Lemarchand Mechanism (or Lament Mechanism for movie fans) played in the story. You have this mysterious and intriguing artifact, one that just begs you to figure out how to make it work.And then it opens and summons otherworldly pain worshippers who come to take you to join them.That is absolutely a magical item from an RPG, though I don’t know that I’d spring it on a party like happens in the story. I’d probably signpost “leave it alone” while simultaneously dangling it. Who knows, maybe you get a clever party who decide to let an enemy open it and see what happens? Nah, we all know they’d never let the slim chance there’s something good inside go.
