A Diabolic Dissection of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
The party stood in the brimstone filled streets of Elturel as the river Chionthar reflected the warm light of the morning sun. They had succeeded where lesser heroes would have failed. They had redeemed a fallen angel, defeated multiple demon lords, and returned their beloved city from the nine hells to the material plane and most importantly, they were home at last…
This is how we wrapped up our campaign for Descent into Avernus this past weekend. I was very pleased with the results of an 18 month campaign and felt that it was a satisfying conclusion. This is actually the second campaign Open Heart Games launched and, due to scheduling, it was the first to wrap up. From here on out, expect heavy spoilers! Ye be warned!
What attracted me to this module you might ask? The biggest thing that caught my attention was the holy city of Elturel being dragged into hell by infernal chains. [When I read about this campaign, I had completed a play-through of Tyranny of Dragons which uses Elturel only as a pitstop along the way.] I really liked the idea of a group of heroes fighting to free a city trapped in the nine hells as a war between demons and devils raged in the background. I also liked the fact that part of the module was set in the fabled city of blood, Baldur’s Gate. While I very much enjoyed playing through this module, it required me to do a lot more work and rewriting to make the story work than I would have liked, but more on that later.
What the hell I liked about Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
I think there are two main things that I really enjoyed about this campaign: exploring the fabled city of Baldur’s Gate and exploring the desolate hellscape of Avernus. This campaign has a lot going for it. Players are thrust into the midst of a refugee crisis and must track down a mysterious cult with ties to Baldur’s Gate’s sordid history, leading them from the seedy areas of the lower city into the upper echelons of the Upper City and even into the private home of one of the city's nobility. There is even an entire Gazetteer devoted to describing Baldur’s Gate in depth if you want to spend more time within various areas of the city. It lays out nearly every area with great detail and provides more than enough plot hooks for an extended stay within the walls of this fabled city. I particularly enjoyed the description of the Guild and Nine-fingers Keene who I used in my campaign to showcase the criminal element that pervades the city.
The second half of the campaign takes place in Avernus, which is the first layer of the Nine Hells. An unforgiving, arid, wartorn hellscape awaits those who venture here. The battle for the fate of the multiverse rages here as devils fight against the vile forces spewing forth from the abyss. The din of battle is cut only by the sound of Infernal Warmachines tearing across Avernus as Warlords vie for control of scarce resources scattered across the fiery planes. There are so many truly fantastic locations to visit as the players explore Avernus, ranging from a grove of bloody trees inhabited by a group of damned dryads to the prison of Tiamat herself. Meanwhile Zariel, a fallen angel and Archduke of Avernus, has succeeded in her scheme to drag the holy city of Elturel to Avernus and she has put a plan in motion via her followers and cultists to see that Baldur's Gate shares the same fate. All of this scheming she does to ensure that the multiverse is protected from the vile demonic forces that spew from the abyss and seek to consume and warp all life in the multiverse.
There are two major questions the module asks after the players figure out what is going on. First, what are the players willing to sacrifice in order to save the city of Elturel? Secondly, can Zariel, someone who has fallen so far from grace and caused so much pain be redeemed or have their actions damned them eternally? My players were able to redeem the fallen angel, and save Elturel by returning it to the Material Plane, but it is entirely possible that the players could find themselves in a situation where they must enter into a devil's bargain with the archduke and serve her for eternity or Zariel could just kill them. I think Zariel is a fantastic villain and understanding her and seeking her redemption is central to the plot of the module. The backdrop of a battle in hell is a fantastic backdrop for a redemption arc.
What the hell I think could be improved
As I mentioned earlier, I felt that this module required a lot more work on my end to make the story work better. As written, the party kind of walks into a refugee crisis as Elturel’s civilians flee from the destruction of the city. You read that right, the most powerful and compelling part of the narrative, a holy city being ripped from the material realm into the bowels of hell happens unceremoniously offscreen. . .what a tragedy. Fortunately, Anthony Joyce and Justice Arman felt similarly and created an alternate beginning to the campaign, Baldur’s Gate: The Fall of Elturel which in my opinion is a much better beginning to the campaign. The beginning also leaves something to be desired for the motivations of the characters. They just arrived in Baldur’s Gate so why should they care about this cult or Elturel? More than that, why should they go into the fiery pits of hell in order to help a city that they likely have never been to? Fortunately, Baldur’s Gate: The Fall of Elturel offers a great solution–make Elturel home. This works especially well if you can tie the backgrounds of the party to the Hellriders, the brave defenders of Elturel who followed Zariel on her crusade into the nine hells centuries prior. Having the players play as modern day Hellriders who watch their beloved city pulled into damnation is one hell of a motivation! [pun intended]
There is also an adventurers’ league module called Escape from Eltgard which will help get the players from Elturel to Baldur’s Gate and challenge them along the way if you don’t want to hand wave the encounters from city to city. I also think that you can add more life to Baldur’s Gate by making use of the Gazetteer as there are over 50 pages dedicated to flushing out the city. You could, for example, explore the inequity between the patriarchs of the Upper City and the Common folk found in the Lower City. You could spend more time exploring the criminal element or have the party attempt to root out the Cult of the Dead Three and maybe even find a hidden Altar to Bhaal rumored to exist somewhere in the catacombs beneath the city.
When the party reaches Avernus, I don’t really like the structure the book suggests and instead took the suggestion from Eventyr Games for turning Avernus into a sandbox where the party could have a fun romp around instead. As written, the book offers two possible paths, the path of Demons or the Path of Devils. On their own, both paths are fine as they lead the party to the Sword of Zariel which is key in seeking her redemption, but the campaign feels a bit too linear. The locations themselves are great and the guide I linked earlier does a great job of giving the players more options, especially when it comes to visiting some of the more interesting locations the players might miss otherwise.
On the Sword of Zariel. To say that this artifact is powerful would be an understatement. It rewrites the character who wields it into a heavenly celestial version of themselves. They become perfection personified. They gain resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, their charisma becomes 20, they sprout wings and gain a flying speed of 90 feet, and finally they gain truesight out to 60 feet. The sword itself also imposes disadvantage on all fiends within range of its light, it deals extra radiant damage, and has a chance to cause the target to become blind.
That is some stat block! In our campaign, the bearer of the Sword of Zariel described it as practically running a second character due to all of the abilities it granted. This is a lot to take in when you only have the sword for a session or two.This artifact can be absolutely game- breaking and it can make one player stand out above all the others. This can lead to other players feeling underpowered, inadequate, or even a little resentful. Fortunately the drawing of the sword begins the final chapter so they will only have it for a session or two at most. I recommend really playing up that wielding the sword is a burden as it washes away every imperfection. In our campaign the player who drew the sword returned it to Zariel and then departed the mortal plane to join the heavenly host forever. I also recommend having an in- depth conversation with your players about the power of the artifact so that they can all decide together who they feel would be the best fit for the relic.
Tips for running the hell out of Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
Tie the character’s backstory to Elturel
I can't recommend the Fall of Elturel enough! It fixed many of my big complaints about the module. It lets you introduce the players to Elturel before destroying it on screen. . .as it should have been.
Spend more time in Baldur’s Gate
Allow the players to have some additional random encounters as they explore the city. Give them some side quests or put some additional steps in their investigation that cause them to run afoul of the Flaming Fist mercenaries or even the Guild.
Turn Avernus into a Sandbox
I gave my players the option of either a linear approach or a sandbox and they unanimously chose to approach it as a sandbox.
Talk about the Sword of Zariel and other Relics
There are a few very powerful relics in the campaign including the Sword of Zariel and the Shield of the Hidden Lord. Consider having more drawbacks to wielding each, including placing a roleplaying burden on them. Discuss with the players the power of these relics and how you plan to keep them balanced with the other party members. I also recommend giving the other party members powerful relics too so that they can go out and battle the forces of hell along with their relic wielding comrades. After all, what is one more Balor among friends?
Additional Resources [hell, why not?]
Baldur's Gate: The Fall of Elturel
Sly Flourish: Running Descent into Avernus
Baldur's Gate Descent into Avernus DMs Bundle
I hope this provided you with some useful tips if you ever decide to run Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. If you do, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
