Get Ready For A Helluva Good Time! Why I❤️Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
Here we are again friends! A launch of another brand-new campaign. In just over a tenday, Open Heart Games will launch our second campaign, Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. In the same vein of our previous entry, I wanted to give my initial thoughts and share with you my excitement as we begin our next journey into the world of the Forgotten Realms! This will be a spoiler-free preview, so please read on!
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus weighs in at 256 pages and opens in the wake of a world-shaping event that threatens the Sword Coast to its core and literally reshapes the map. One critique that I have is that this incredible event occurs just before the curtain rises. I felt that allowing the players to interact directly with this event had the potential for some incredibly powerful roleplaying moments and could have been a real missed opportunity. Fortunately, some of the brilliant minds at the DMs Guild felt the same way, leading to the creation of an alternative beginning to the story in the form of the short module: Baldur’s Gate: The Fall of Elturel. Thank you to the DM’s Guild for providing this wonderful alternate introduction to the module which I am very excited to use in this campaign!
As the name of the module suggests, the players will spend some time exploring the city of Baldur’s Gate, of role-playing video game fame. At some point in the story the players might even find themselves in the hellish wasteland of Avernus in the midst of the eternal Blood War! Don’t worry if you, much like me, are not well-versed in the lore surrounding Baldur’s Gate. The module contains an entire section [totaling out to nearly 60 pages] dedicated to the well-loved city of Baldur’s Gate if you are interested in learning more about the setting; however, you do not need to know everything there is to know about Baldur’s Gate to enjoy the campaign.
Much like Rime of the Frostmaiden, Baldur’s Gate contains elements of a sandbox--which encourages players to explore and interact with the world around them--and a compelling narrative that will captivate the players and force them to test their mettle against diabolical foes on their home turf! Our heroes may be tempted to strike a deal with such cunning foes. . .but be warned! The devil is always in the details. . .
To be honest I have been looking forward to this module for a while and I was very intrigued when Polygon described the module as “Feeling like Mad Max in hell”[Spoilers in the link!] I even purchased and watched Mad Max: Fury Road with my wife for some inspiration before running this module. [Side note, my wife hated it.] But I am sure that you will love this wonderfully written module and I hope you join us! See you in hell!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
