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Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus is aDungeons & Dragonsadventure for player characters (PCs) that spans levels one to 13. In this campaign, PCs will contend with the forces of the Nine Hells and their demonic adversaries from the Abyss as they fight for the redemption of an angel.
While that all sounds quite epic, the adventure actually kicks off in the well-known Forgotten Realms city of Baldur’s Gate. There, the players investigate a conspiracy that resulted in the transportation of the nearby city of Elturel and all of its inhabitants to the depths of Avernus: the first layer of the Nine Hells.
The Deadliness Of Baldur’s Gate
While you might think that the campaign would get more deadly when the PCs finally make their way into the Nine Hells,the first five levels of this adventure are often lauded as the most deadly.The encounters PCs run into in Baldur’s Gate are arguably overtuned and can easily lead tothe deaths of multiple characters, or even a TPK (Total Party Kill), very early in the game.
With this in mind, there are a handful of solutions. Firstly,you can reduce the number of enemies the PCs face during these low-level encounters.For example, the bandit captain Dead-Eye has seven bandits with him when he confronts the party. In many games, that’s twice as many enemies as there are players. Not exactly fair, but who says bandits play fair anyway?
Second,you can encourage the players to resolve disputes at these levels judiciously.It will probably be apparent to smart players when they are in a bad situation.
Even for newer players who don’t recognize these scenarios, it’s easy to nudge the players towards a more cordial resolution when they’re staring down the possibility of death.
For instance, perhaps the bandits need help with a heist and are willing to make a deal with the PCs to see all of their desires met. Finally,you can always have PCs who die wake up in Avernus.This results in skipping parts of the adventure, however, it’s a very interesting and thematic way to continue the storyline.
The support of a devil who wants to overthrow Zariel could easily explain how the PCs souls made it to hell and why their characters find themselves at higher character levels.
Devils And Demons Galore
It should come as no surprise thatthis campaign is chock-full of DevilsandDemons.Thankfully, there are a ton of great stat blocks for these villains right in the Monster Manual. The lore between these two entities is also super rich and the ongoingBlood Warserves as a great explanation for a variety of encounters the PCs might have to endure.
Paladins and Clerics in particular will be highly valued allies to an adventuring party as both have specific tools for dealing with fiends.
Devils and Demons hate each other and, for much of the adventure,the PCs may find themselvescaught in the firing linesbetweenthese two terrible foes.Ultimately, the revelation of this lore could even lead to the party sympathizing with some of the Devils they meet. Speaking of which . . .
Character Corruption Is Key
A key part of the storytelling in this adventure revolves aroundthe corruptionandsalvation of souls both mortalandbeyond.Talk to your players regarding how they feel about this theme before running the campaign. The party’s descent into Avernus is a physical journey, butit’s also a deeply spiritual onethat should see thecharacters grappling with how far they’ll go to survive.
Classic philosophical quandaries such asdo the ends justify the means,are some creatures innatelygood or evil, is a white lie still a lie, is one life worth more than another, and moreshould all be fielded by devious Devils who are trying to twist the PCs towards evil.
Managing Infernal Contracts
If the PCs do happen to be persuaded by a Devil they meet in Avernus,it’s quite likely that the Devil will ask them to enter into a deal.Deals with devils can confer many powerful benefits including theacquisition of magic items, large sums of gold, the Devil’s dutiful service, and more.
However, such deals almost always end in the deal maker paying the ultimate price:the forfeiture of their soul to the Devil.Any Devil making a deal is more interested in this prize than anything else. That being said, Devils are willing to make deals with other terms as long as those terms lead the deal-making individual down the road of corruption.
When deals for less than the price of a soul are made, Devils usually slip in a deception or piece of “fine print” whereby they can hurt the dealmaker if they fail to meet their end of the bargain. PCs can make ability checks during deal-making to try and see through these lies.
On Exploring Avernus
Exploration of Avernus is pretty much handwaved with the explanation that mapping the constantly shifting, indisputably evil location always results in the mapmaker going insane. The party will receive amagical map of Avernusthat speaks to them but using itwithout complication is difficult,to say the least.A dice roll will be made by the DM every time the PCs attempt to travel somewhere.
Depending on the roll, the PCs may end up somewhere entirely different than where they were aiming. Exactly where they arrive is left up to the DM. While this mechanic does rob the players of a bit of agency, it’s an ingenious solution as far as keeping the PCs on track with the narrative. When you do get to decide where the PCs arrive next,make the most of it to tell an amazing story.
You can also use this mechanic toprevent the PCs from arrivingat a potentiallydeadly locationwell before the party is ready to face its dangers.
Infernal War Machines
One of the coolest parts of this campaign isthe existence of Mad Max-like vehicles that are powered by mortal souls.The book comes with a handful of pre-generated motor gangs for the party to face off against. However,we highly recommend adding even more.
Acquiring and customizing these war machines can be a highly enjoyable part of the campaign.
Of course, that is assuming your party doesn’t have too many qualms about dispensing with mortal souls to power their vehicles. War machines come inall kinds of flavors, including a bike, dune buggy, truck,and more. They also come with someabsolutely diabolical weaponsto use in combat.
Start the party off by letting them acquire a smaller war machine with little to no weapons. As they face off against and defeat rival motor gangs, they can salvage parts from their defeated opponents and upgrade their rides. We’ll take one acidic bile sprayer, please.
The Sword Of Zariel
Eventually, the party will become wise to the fact thatthey need to find an artifact known as the Sword of Zarielif they are to have any chance at defeating or redeeming the former angel and current archdevil of Avernus: Zariel. However, this weapon is much more than just your average sword. In fact,it permanently changes whichever characteris good and brave enough to try and claim it.
This should be made perfectly clear to the players before anyone touches the weapon. After all, it’s easy to argue thatclaiming the sword essentially kills your old characterand replaces them with a perfect, holy version of their former selves. That’s a lot of character development in a single decision. Perhaps more than many players would like.
Zariel And The Party
As the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) of the adventure,Zariel does leave a bit to be desired.First off, the party has very little interaction with Zariel as the book stands until they near the end of the adventure.It’s well worth homebrewing some face-to-face encounters with the archdevilso that the party has an idea of exactly who it is they are trying to save or condemn.
The party will likely be accompanied by Zariel’s old adventuring companion,the hollyphant Lulu, for a large part of the adventure. However, Lulu suffers from some memory loss that makes her revealing much about Zariel pretty difficult. That being said, another fix to this problem isproviding Lulu with more information on Zarielthan the book initially offers.
Finally, players may be tempted to condemn Zariel simply so that they have a climactic boss encounter to end the campaign with. After all, once you redeem the primary villain,who is left to fight? For this reason, it’s advisable to provide theplayers with another antagonist that the PCs can fightin the case that they do successfully redeem Zariel.
The former archdevil of Avernus, Bel, makes for a great secondary antagonist for this exact purpose. After all, he’s actively trying to reclaim his crown as the Lord of the First.
