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Avernus As A Sandbox PDF
Avernus As A Sandbox PDF
Preface: This document is a write-up of three blog posts made As suggested in the book, we’ll start the chapter off
on eventyrgames.com. It offers a way to turn Avernus into a with the characters going to Fort Knucklebone and
more sandbox-like experience. The information can be used interacting with Mad Maggie. Fort Knucklebone is
in conjunction with the information supplied in our DM’s an interesting location with fun NPCs, which has
Resources for Chapter 3: Avernus, but they aren’t required. the added benefit of giving the characters an early
opportunity to acquire infernal war machines and
information about Avernus. We also won’t change the
Introduction chapter’s endpoint, the Bleeding Citadel, where the
adventurers will find the Sword of Zariel.
By far the meatiest chapter in the book, Chapter 3:
So, it’s what is in-between these two points – Fort
Avernus is where the party will probably spend the
Knucklebone and the Bleeding Citadel – that will
majority of their time both in- and out-of-character. It’s
constitute our new structure for Chapter 3: Avernus.
a chapter filled to the brim with exotic encounters and
fantastical locations, which is awesome.
But, it is also a fairly linear chapter, which has the
The Fallen Three
players making one arbitrary choice between two paths, To fill out the structure, we’ll start by walking
and then following that straight path all the way to their backwards from the Bleeding Citadel, the characters’
goal (the Bleeding Citadel), leaving it entirely up to the final destination. The party will have learned about
DM when (and if) to introduce additional encounters. the Bleeding Citadel from the Helm of Torm’s Sight in
This makes the chapter easy to run, but also less Elturel, and have traveled to Fort Knucklebone because
exciting than it could be. they need find out where the Bleeding Citadel is.
In our DM’s resources for Baldur’s Gate: Descent into From here on out, we scrap what is in the book – the
Avernus, we’ve written quite a bit about this, offering Dream Quest doesn’t end with Lulu pointing them
ways to tie the Path of Demons and Path of Devils toward a random hill, and then to the Demon Zapper
together to give the party some choices about where to or the Spawning Trees. Instead, the party’s Dream
go and who to speak to. Quest with Maggie will allow them to see the three
In this post, we’ll elaborate even further upon this important NPCs who know the way to the Bleeding
idea, presenting a full-fledged blueprint for turning Citadel: Olanthius (Crypt of the Hellriders), Haruman
Avernus into an actual sandbox, where the party must (Haruman’s Hill) and Bel (Bel’s Forge).
determine on their own how to reach their goal! These three NPCs share a close connection to
Zariel and the story of her fall, making them excellent
choices for delivering the final information the party is
Part 1: Structure after. Don’t worry, we’ll go into more detail about how
information about these NPCs can be presented to the
Here we’ll go over the fundaments of a good sandbox
party in Part 2: Details
and then put together a structure that uses what is
Of course, Mad Maggie doesn’t simply point the party
already in the book in a more open and non-linear way.
directly to the location of one of these ‘Fallen Three’.
That would be both too convenient and too short –
The Principles of a Sandbox remember, the characters are supposed to go from 7th
The main difference between a linear story and to 11th level during Chapter 3. However, she (and other
a sandbox is the players’ feeling of agency – the sources of information they meet) can help them find
perception that they have choices and that those the ‘Intermediaries’ – NPCs with the power to locate
choices matter to the story. A linear story offers a the ‘Fallen Three’.
straight path and clear motivation, but doesn’t allow
for alternate routes to success. A sandbox allows the
players to choose their own path through the narrative
by giving them several valid ways to reach their goals.
Alright, that sounds easy enough. We’ll just dump
Fort Knucklebone
the party in Avernus, let them know about the sword of
Zariel, and see what they choose to do!
Unfortunately, it isn’t quite that easy. Having infinite
choices without any information about how to make the
right choices isn’t freedom – it’s frustration. Especially Haruman's Hill Bel's Forge Crypt of the Hellriders
in a place as unfamiliar and abstract as Avernus. No,
to create a fun sandbox, we have to feed the players
just enough information for them to realize that there’s
several ways to accomplish their goals. Bleeding Citadel
So, how many options should the characters have in
the perfect sandbox? As a rule thumb, three options is a
good number to aim for. To the players, three different
– but equally viable – ways to progress will often
feel like freedom without being overwhelming. Our
purpose, then, is to take the encounters and locations
described in Chapter 3: Avernus and rearrange them in
a way where the characters have at least three ways of
progressing forward at (nearly) all times.
1
The Intermediaries Final Task
There are three NPCs who can help the party locate To further pad out our structure, we’ll also place a task
the ‘Fallen Three’ and – in turn – the Bleeding Citadel: after each of the ‘Fallen Three’ – something that needs
Mordenkainen (Tower of Urm), Red Ruth (Bone to be done before the party can learn the way to the
Brambles) and Mephistopheles (Mirror of Mephistar). Bleeding Citadel. Here we won’t give the party multiple
Wizard, witch and fiend, these intermediaries are all choices, since they’ve already had quite a bit of agency
powerful and resourceful spellcasters. (and always having three choices can get nonsensical if
This gives us the following structure: overdone). In short summary:
• Olanthius wants the party to distract Zariel by freeing
Fort Knucklebone Kostchtchie (Kostchchie’s Maw)
• Bel wants the party to find the control rods (Wrecked
Flying Fortress)
• Haruman won’t tell the party anything, so they’ll have
Mirror of Mephistar
to extract the location of the Bleeding Citadel from his
Tower of Urm Bone Brambles
corpse by feeding the dead narzugon to the Sibriex
(Sibriex).
2
Fort Knucklebone Level 7
Infernal Bounty
Thediaries
e
I n t e rm
Tower of Urm Bone Brambles Mirror of Mephistar
d Pay
Bloo
Arkhan's Tower Uldrak's Grave Uldrak's Grave Pit of Shummrath
Demon Zapper
Level 9
Smiler the Defiler
Level 10
hree
Fal l en T
Haruman's Hill Bel's Forge Crypt of the Hellriders
Task
Final Hellwasp Nest
Bleeding Citadel
3
right stands an enormous pit fiend wearing a sardonic grin,
Part 2: Details seemingly presenting the captives. The devil on the throne
Here we’ll go over over each encounter and location speaks – the dream muffles the words, rendering them
in turn, briefly discussing what we need to change to inaudible – and a contract appears in a puff of black smoke
make the structure work. It’s highly recommended
to float eerily in front of the captives. The pit fiend seems
that you read through the encounters in the Baldur’s
Gate: Descent into Avernus-campaign book before or to roar in protest, but a stern look from the figure on the
while reading this post. Along the way, there will also throne silences the fuming devil. Meanwhile, an angry,
be references to our DM’s Resources for Baldur’s Gate: resolute look comes over the angel’s grim features, and
Descent into Avernus, but while these resources will after only a moment of hesitation, she signs the contract
certainly be helpful, they are not necessary to make the
with a bloody finger. As she does, her wings melt away to
structure work.
As we go over the various encounters and locations, blackened vestiges, her golden hair withers to bare her
we’ll also offer suggestions on how to deliver pale scalp, and her glowing halo becomes a ring of infernal
information to the players in an organic way, so fire. One paladin bows his head solemnly, before putting
that they become aware of the options available to his own finger to the contract, immediately sending
them without feeling like they’re being flooded with spasms through his form as it darkens and transforms,
information and exposition.
turning into something vile and evil. The other paladin
Fort Knucklebone roars in grief and anger at the sight of his comrades’
In the book, the characters are supposed to undergo betrayal, and swiftly snatches a dagger from his belt and
a ritual at Fort Knucklebone, venturing into Lulu slices his own throat. His limp form falls to the ground to
the Hollyphant’s dreams with Mad Maggie as their lie completely still, blood flowing thickly from the deep
guide. At the end of the Dream Quest, Lulu looks into gash in his neck. Just before the dream fades to darkness,
a spyglass, exclaims that she knows where the sword you see the fallen angel leaning over to touch the body, a
is, and leads the characters to Haruman’s Hill without
dark glow spreading from her fingers to cover the paladin’s
further explanation.
The logic – or lack-there-of – behind going from Fort still form – and the paladin’s eyes reopen, though his gaze
Knucklebone to Haruman’s Hill always seemed a bit remains cold and lifeless.
jarring to me, and since we now need the party to seek
When the Dream Quest is over, Mad Maggie (or Lulu,
out three Intermediaries, who can help them find one
if she’s with the party) can help the characters interpret
of the Fallen Three, we’ll scrap that final dream and
the meaning of what they’ve seen: only those present
alter what the characters experience during the Dream
when Zariel fell knows where to find the Sword of
Quest.
Zariel. Maggie can easily identify Asmodeus (the figure
Altering the Dream Quest on the throne), but focuses on the other three. She can
To open up this part of the story, and give the characters name Bel, the former Lord of Avernus, as the pit fiend
more options – and perhaps options that make more that cut off Zariel’s hand, while Lulu (or Gargauth, if
sense than Lulu simply pointing them along without an Lulu’s not present) can supply the names of the two
explanation – we’ll insert Bel, Olanthius and Haruman generals, Olanthius and Haruman. Unfortunately,
into the Dream Quest. We do this by replacing Dream neither know where to find these ‘Fallen Three’.
5: Revelation with one or two scenes featuring Zariel, Finding the Fallen Three
Olanthius, Haruman and Bel:
To find the ‘Fallen Three’, the party will need to find
A terrible scene fills your vision. The angel you saw earlier a very powerful spellcaster. At this point, you can
have Mad Maggie name all three ‘Intermediaries’
is surrounded by a throng of fiends, flanked only by two
(Mordenkainen, Red Ruth and Mephistopheles) as
bloodied, human knights wearing the insignia of high- NPCs that may be able to locate the ‘Fallen Three’. This
ranking generals. For a moment, it seems like they will gives the party all their options from the start, at the
be able to hold against the devils surrounding them, but risk of feeling a bit too convenient.
then a mighty pit fiend emerges, wearing a devilish grin You can also choose to ration the information, having
and a cruel blade. In one fell swoop, the pit fiend severs Maggie say something along the lines of: “Hmm… I
might know someone who could help you. A distant
the angel’s hand at the wrist, sending her sword flying far
cousin of mine, Red Ruth, lives out by the Bone
away. The vision begins to darken and fade then, just as Brambles. A darned good diviner that one – but a bit
the legion of devils finally bury the three valiant warriors loopy, if you ask me, heh!”
beneath their unending numbers. If the party has the Shield of the Fallen Lord, you
can have Gargauth chime in: “Red Ruth is hardly the
If you want to, you can follow this scene up with only diviner in Avernus. The archwizard Mordenkainen
another scene showing Zariel’s submission to spends much of his time doing research in Avernus.
Asmodeus (or use either of the two, as you see fit): If anyone can help us find these generals, it would be
A huge, dark throne of skulls, blades and bones stands him. Plus, I’m getting tired of haggling with hags!”
Of course, Gargauth has ulterior motives – he hopes
before you. Seated on the throne is a slim, red-skinned
that Mordenkainen has the power to release him from
devil more than 13 ft. tall, wearing luxurious black and red his prison. If Gargauth isn’t with the party, you can
robes. The angel kneels before the throne, a human paladin also have Lulu provide the rumor, or have a character
kneeling on either side of her. All three are beaten and with proficiency in History or Arcana automatically
bloodied, looks of utter defeat on their worn faces. To the remember that the wizard Mordenkainen often
frequents Avernus.
4
To supply the characters with the third option, Where to now?
you can have them run into some informative NPCs This is where we enter true sandbox-territory. The
shortly after leaving Fort Knucklebone. In our sample characters know they have to find blood from a
structure, this would be the bounty hunters from the powerful creature – but where can they learn more
‘Infernal Bounty’-encounter, but it could also be the about one of those?
Wandering Emporium, Smiler the Defiler, another Literally anywhere you choose. You can have any
Warlord, or someone else. These NPCs can drop NPC they come across have information about Arkhan,
information about the Mirror of Mephistar if the Uldrak, Ubbalux or Shummrath. They can learn about
characters mention that they need to find someone, are them from Gargauth, Lulu, Mad Maggie, the yugoloths
looking for information, or just as a random passing outside Mordenkainen’s Tower, a random imp they
comment. Perhaps it was the Mirror of Mephistar that meet on the plains, or the other ‘Intermediaries’, if they
informed the bounty hunters where to find the party seek them out.
– “so if you need to find someone, well, that would be However, this is also the perfect point to introduce
my best bet” – or any mention of a powerful spellcaster the Wandering Emporium, which we’ll describe in
will make Mahadi, Smiler or a Warlord tell the party more detail below.
that “there’s no spellcaster more powerful than
Mephistopheles – so that’s what I would recommend!” The Wandering Emporium
The Intermediaries The Wandering Emporium is a fun location, which
also works really well as a hub for information. You’ll
Below, we’ll quickly go over how to alter the three probably want to make sure that the characters find it
encounter locations that constitute our ‘Intermediaries’: early, so they always have somewhere to return to when
Mordenkainen at the Tower of Urm, Red Ruth at they need more information, or are unsure about what
the Bone Brambles and Rigorath at the Mirror of to do. So, how do we get them there?
Mephistar.
Getting to the Wandering Emporium
Mordenkainen (Tower of Urm) Of course, the Wandering Emporium can just show up
You can run the encounter with Mordenkainen exactly right after the party has visited an Intermediary. But,
as it is described in the book, or the more elaborate the party might also seek it out on their own (and this
version from our DM’s resources for Baldur’s Gate: can feel more rewarding) – below we’ll go over some
Descent into Avernus, altering only the information ways you can make that happen:
Mordenkainen gives the party. Instead of sending
the characters along to the Obelisk, Mordenkainen • The pair of nycaloths from outside the Tower of Urm
asserts that he can easily find any of the ‘Fallen Three’ ambush the characters after their visit at the tower,
(the location of the Bleeding Citadel itself, however, is and a surviving fiend surrenders and offers to aid the
hidden even from him). Before the wizard will tell the characters, leading them to the Wandering Emporium.
party anything, however, he wants them to retrieve a • The characters ask Gargauth where they can find
pint of blood from a balor, a pit fiend, or a creature even blood from a powerful creature – and though he doesn’t
more powerful – an ingredient he often needs for his know, he can suggest that Mahadi from the Wandering
arcane experiments. Mordenkainen has no idea where Emporium might know.
to find such a creature, and won’t waste time helping • The party asks Lulu, who doesn’t know, but vaguely
the party find out, instead sending them on their way to remembers a caravan filled with all manners of exotic
find out on their own. and powerful creatures: the Wandering Emporium.
The party might also go to one of the other
Red Ruth at the Bone Brambles ‘Intermediaries’ in search of a powerful creature. In all
Once again, you can run this encounter pretty much three cases, the party learns something from the NPC,
as it is described in the book. After making their way but has to go to the Wandering Emporium first – where
through the maze, Ruth asks the party to arrange and they can learn even more, if they think to ask:
pay for her pampering session at the Infernal Rapture • To Red Ruth, who now can’t help them find the ‘Fallen
in the Wandering Emporium, and watch over her grove Three’, but can tell the party about Ubbalux – a balor
while she’s away. When that whole deal has been in disguise – if they secure her a spa treatment at the
resolved, Ruth tells the party that she’ll help them with Infernal Rapture at the Wandering Emporium.
the ritual, but that it will require blood from a creature • To Mordenkainen, who can inform the party about
at least as powerful as a balor or a pit fiend. Her only Uldrak, if they first pick up some demon ichor for him
suggestions are Zariel and Bel, both of which are quite from Ichor’s Aweigh at the Wandering Emporium.
unlikely, so once again the characters are on their own. • To the Mirror of Mephistar, where Rigorath can tell
Mirror of Mephistar the party about Arkhan and the blood of Tiamat, if the
characters fetch some yugoloth larvae from Zneth’s
At the mirror of Mephistar, Rigorath informs the
Larvae Farm at the Wandering Emporium.
party that Mephistopheles can help them ascertain
the location of any of the ‘Fallen Three’, but that he If you want to make finding the Wandering Emporium
requires a service in return. Like Mordenkainen, a bit more convenient and less random, you can have
Mephistopheles is always in need of powerful NPCs – or Mahadi himself, after their first visit –
blood for his arcane experiments, although his true give the characters a Wandering Coin. If thrown on
motivation for offering this quest is more nefarious. the ground, this dented, rust-colored coin, showing
Mephistopheles knows it will be hard for the party Mahadi’s grinning face on one side and a tiger’s paw
to get the blood without somehow causing chaos in on the other, begins rolling along on its side 10 feet in
Avernus – chaos that will harm Zariel and, thus, benefit front of whoever threw it, unerringly leading the way to
Mephistopheles. Once again, the adventurers are given wherever the Wandering Emporium is at that moment.
no directions, but told to find out on their own.
5
The Emporium as an Information Hub tell the tale (we have some notes about handling that
So, how do we give the party information at the battle in our DM’s resources for Chapter 3: Avernus).
Wandering Emporium? Uldrak's Grave
We can assume that the party will first ask Mahadi,
Uldrak is an empyrean, who ventured into Avernus to
who can – at your discretion – know as much or as
slay Tiamat, but was defeated and transformed into a
little as you’d like. I have found that it works best if
lowly spined devil by the dragon queen – a form he has
Mahadi doesn’t know much himself, but freely names
now held for millennia.
the various NPCs in the emporium, many of which will
In the book, Uldrak must spill the blood of Tiamat
be able to help. This allows the players more agency
on the ground of Avernus to break the curse – and
in finding out information, instead of just getting
tells the party as much, while showing them the Orb of
everything from one source.
Dragonkind that sits in the pommel of his giant sword,
The following NPCs can help the party find a
in the hope that they will trade the orb for the vial of
powerful creature’s blood:
Tiamat’s blood Arkhan the Cruel carries around his
• Rassh, Skidds & Slagg at the Firesnake Forge know neck.
that Bel (their former employer) has imprisoned a pit Because the party is already out for powerful blood,
fiend named Shummrath in a crevice near the River we don’t want Tiamat’s blood to be the way to break
Styx. They can also sell the party Shattersticks to help Uldrak’s curse. Instead, Uldrak must slay a dragon for
free Shummrath. the curse to be broken – a solution chosen by Tiamat to
• Burney the Barber knows that Arkhan carries cruelly mock the empyrean’s new, puny form. However,
Tiamat’s blood in a vial around his neck, and freely with the party’s help, slaying a dragon might not be
points the party to Arkhan’s Tower in the hopes that the all that impossible. In fact, Uldrak even knows where
adventurers will kill Arkhan, or at least hinder Arkhan’s to find a dragon: there’s several of them by Arkhan’s
plans to free Tiamat. Tower, a five-spired monstrosity not far from Uldrak’s
• Elliach at Ichor’s Aweigh knows that Ubbalux – Grave.
seemingly a wizard imprisoned by an obelisk – is in fact If the characters go to Arkhan’s Tower intending to
a balor, and can point the party to the Obelisk. slay a dragon, it’s likely they’ll get into a fight with Krull
• Fhet’ahla knows about Uldrak – his imps have told and the dragons at the tower. If they face everything
him about a spined devil who insists that it is in fact an at once, this fight is extremely dangerous, so you may
empyrean, hanging out near a gargantuan sword and want to split things up a bit, having the party face Krull,
helmet on the plains of Avernus. the dragon Obatala and his ghouls, or Krull and the
The point here isn’t that the characters need to discover four young/wyrmling dragons residing in the tower.
all four options, but that it should be relatively easy To break the curse, Uldrak simply has to participate in
for them to do so, if they put in just a little effort. They the killing of the dragon. If the transformed empyrean
might only learn about one, and just go for that option – dies in the process – well, the party will have to go
and as long as they know that more options likely would somewhere else for the blood they’re after.
have been available, if they had asked around more,
then that’s perfectly fine. Remember also, it’s always up Obelisk
to you which of the options you want to emphasize or At the obelisk, the party finds a trapped demon
withhold, if there’s any options you particularly like or disguised as a wizard, who first makes them perform
dislike. an arcane ritual before eventually revealing its true
identity and sending the party toward Mephistopheles
Blood Pay at the Mirror of Mephistar.
You can run this encounter pretty much as it is,
The next leg of the characters’ journey leads them
changing only two things: Ubbalux is a balor, not a
to either Arkhan (Arkhan’s Tower), Uldrak (Uldrak’s
barlgura, and it doesn’t point them to Mephistopheles at
Grave), Ubbalux (Obelisk), or Shummrath (Pit of
the end of the encounter.
Shummrath), where they can recover a pint of blood for
Ubbalux is a balor (instead of a barlgura) both
the ‘Intermediary’ of their choice. Below we’ll go over
because it makes more sense, but also because the
how to make each of these encounters/locations fit the
party needs to find a powerful creature, and not just any
new structure.
old demon. And because the party might have already
Arkhan's Tower & Monument to Tiamat been by Mephistopheles, we don’t want the archfiend to
The characters’ arrival at Arkhan’s Tower can be be the solution to Ubbalux’ predicament.
handled exactly as described in the book, except that Instead, Bel has made the way to free the balor so
the characters won’t have an Orb of Dragonkind to difficult, it might as well be impossible: to break the
trade. After being led to the Monument to Tiamat by obelisk’s hold on Ubbalux, another creature has to
Krull, the characters will have to – as in the book – willingly and without coercion take the demon’s place
trade or fight with Arkhan to obtain Tiamat’s Blood. in the prison – while being fully aware that this means
Arkhan offers his deal – the sacrifice of a good- being trapped for eternity (or until another creature
aligned creature for a vial of the dragon queen’s blood. willingly takes their place).
Once again, Lulu is an ideal candidate, but characters Since self-sacrifice and selflessness are some of the
who ask around with NPCs they’ve already met – one rarest commodities in Avernus, Ubbalux has all but
of the ‘Intermediaries’, someone at the Wandering given up on being freed this way. However, if the party
Emporium, etc. – can also learn about Mooncolor at the asks around (likely informants could be Ellioch at
Demon Zapper or Krikendolt at the Spawning Trees, Ichor’s Aweigh, Smiler the Defiler, or other NPCs who
both of which meet the criteria. Or, as adventurers are travel a lot or deals with demons), they can eventually
wont to do, they may go toe-to-toe with Arkhan and his learn about a bearded devil out by the Spawning Trees,
followers in an epic battle instead, and hopefully live to who’s recently become very soft-hearted. Or, you can
6
also just have the party find the Spawning Trees by course, there’s a hundred different ways you can have
pure chance and realize the opportunity for themselves. Smiler show up to interact with the party.
Regardless of how they arrive at the Spawning As mentioned above, Smiler can also serve as a
Trees, they can here save Krikendolt from his bullying conduit for information if the characters are unsure
comrades, and easily convince the devil to give his own about where to go next during their search for a
freedom up to free Ubbalux (“it’s just sooo sad that he powerful creature’s blood. A traveling soul is likely to
has been imprisoned for so long, unable to go home. Of know much about Avernus – where to find a fiend dumb
course, I’ll take his place!”). If you want to top off the enough to give themselves up to release Ubbalux, how
ordeal with an encounter, you can have a weakened to find an innocent creature to sacrifice to Arkhan,
Ubbalux – a balor with four levels of exhaustion – where to locate a dragon to end Uldrak’s curse, or
immediately take his pent-up rage out on the party, where to find explosives potent enough to dam the
instead of upholding his end of the bargain! River Styx.
If the characters can’t convince anyone to take the
balor’s place, or fail to extract the blood from the freed Fallen Three
Ubbalux, they will have the other options waiting for In the final part of Chapter 3, the party heads toward
them. one of the Fallen Three: Bel, Olanthius, or Haruman to
finally discover the location of the Bleeding Citadel.
Shummrath's Pit
This encounter can run just like in the book (with the Bel's Forge
salamanders in the Wandering Emporium providing You can run the encounter with Bel exactly as it is in
the Shattersticks instead of Mephistopheles) up until the book, only cutting out the Sibriex – or keeping it in,
the point where the river’s flow is dammed. After if you like it, it won’t matter if the party never seeks out
damming the River Styx, the party will have to wait Haruman – and perhaps adding the Arches of Ulloch
around for about 24 hours, as Shummrath reforms as the key to finding the Bleeding Citadel, if you want
enough for them to harvest its blood. To add an to run that encounter as well (more on that below).
encounter at the end, you can have the weakened, but Everything else remains the same: the characters are
now sentient, pit fiend put up a fight. Even with four accosted by devils outside of the forge and attacked
levels of exhaustion (disadvantage on everything, speed by fire giants within, before they can finally strike a
and hit points halved), the pit fiend should still present a telepathic deal with Bel to find the adamantine rods in
decent challenge for the party. the Wrecked Flying Fortress in return for the location
of the Bleeding Citadel.
Paying with Blood
When the characters return with a flask of blood for Haruman's Hill
their intermediary of choice, they can finally learn the The encounter at Haruman’s Hill can also be run
location of one of the ‘Fallen Three’: much as it is in the book, and you can even include the
• Mordenkainen’s simulacrum closes his eyes for a Hellwasp Nest if you want to beef up the fight a bit.
brief second, accessing the memories of his main form, Regardless of the circumstances, Haruman fights to
before swiftly (and impatiently) relaying the location of the bitter end, not allowing himself to be taken alive.
the Fallen Three. When Haruman is destroyed, his fiendish form shifts
• Red Ruth brews a stinking concoction with the blood, back into that of a human paladin – greyed, bloodied
inhaling the fumes as she sends her consciousness and broken. If the characters try to speak with the
flying across the vast plains of Avernus to seek out the corpse, all they get is dead silence – no soul resides
Fallen Three. within Haruman’s broken form.
• Rigorath, Mephistopheles’ cambion, disappears At this point, you can have Jander Sunstar chime
into the portal for a few hours, and reappears in, saying that he knows that there are ways to extract
unceremoniously to give the party their answer. memories from even a soulless body. Perhaps he even
Now, it’s up to you whether Red Ruth, Mordenkainen or knows of a creature wielding such powers – a sibriex
Mephistopheles can provide the party will the locations – which he’s seen travelling through Avernus. It’s up
of all three fallen NPCs, or only one of them – but no to you whether Jander also knows where the sibriex is,
matter what, it should be the characters themselves or if the characters will have to find out through other
that get to decide which one they will seek out. means (causing them to revisit other NPCs).
Alternatively, you can leave the characters with no
Smiler the Defiler information and see what they do – maybe they seek
Somewhere during ‘Blood Pay’ or soon after, our out another of the Fallen Three, or take the body with
structure calls for another travel encounter. Here we them and try to find some way to reach its memories
have chosen Smiler the Defiler, but once again, you (perhaps Red Ruth, Mordenkainen or Mephistopheles
can use any travel encounter you’d like. The purpose can extract information from the corpse in return for
of this encounter is to supply the party with additional more blood!).
guidance and information – if they need it – but also to If the characters do seek out the sibriex, this
make Avernus feel alive and exciting by breaking up the encounter runs pretty much as in the book, except it
monotony of travel. is Haruman’s memories and not the location of the
When using Smiler the Defiler, we do so using our adamantine rods, that the party is after. The sibriex
own published adventure Bitter Rivals, which has can, by devouring the body of Haruman, relay the
Smiler beseeching the party to help him get vengeance location of the Bleeding Citadel to the characters, but
on Bitter Breath and his hobgoblin marauders. will only do so if they free it first.
This encounter gives the party a nice, hardy combat
challenge and an opportunity to flex their infernal war
machines. You don’t have to use that adventure, of
7
Crypt of the Hellriders
You can run this location exactly as it is in the book,
Part 3: Extra Advice
except switching around the Arches of Ulloch and the In this post we’ll talk a bit about how to implement the
freeing of Kostchtchie, if you want to use the Arches as structure for making Avernus into a sandbox that we’ve
the only way to reach the Bleeding Citadel (as described covered in part 1 and part 2 of this series (if you haven’t
below). The encounter with Olanthius otherwise already, you really should read those before jumping
requires no changes. into this one!). This includes both general and specific
advice about running an open adventure, as well as
troubleshooting for certain problems that may arise
Introducing more of the Fallen Three along the way.
Allowing the characters to interact with the figures from the Because not everything here is relevant for every DM,
story – Haruman, Olanthius, Bel, Yael, Zariel – is what really here’s a list of section headlines so you can seek out
makes it come to life. In the structure above, the characters
what interests you:
will end up meeting only one of either Bel, Haruman and
Olanthius – instead of at least two (Haruman plus either Bel • Manage Player Expectations (preparing your players
or Olanthius) as the original structure does. If you want your for a sandbox-style-game).
party to meet at least two of the fallen three, you can do it by • Keeping Players on Track (making sure your players
having the first Fallen Three lead to one of the other, either can keep up and stay on task)
by making them a dead-end, or by otherwise involving them • Keeping Yourself on Track (how to run and prepare a
in the encounter. It could look something like this: more open chapter 3)
• After releasing Kostchtchie for Olanthius, the party returns • Pacing Chapter 3 (how to control the overall pace of
to find that the death knight has been destroyed. Ghosts the chapter)
at the Crypt of the Hellriders can inform them that it was • Pacing the Adventuring Day (how to control the
a legion of devils led by Haruman who did the dark deed,
length of each adventuring day, so the chapter stays
and the party must now find Haruman (or Bel) instead.
• After destroying Haruman, Jander Sunstar doesn’t relay
exciting and challenging)
information about a sibriex, but instead tells the party
about the animosity between Zariel’s two former generals Manage Player Expectations
and suggests they seek out Olanthius instead.
When running an open(ish) adventure, it’s usually never
• After the party has recovered the control rods from the
Wrecked Flying Fortress, Bel still hesitates, demanding
a bad idea to tell the players up front what is expected
that they also destroy Haruman, Zariel’s most loyal of them. This is especially true for the Descent into
follower, before he dares divulge the location of the Avernus-campaign, where the characters will likely
Bleeding Citadel. have been travelling more or less on rails through
In addition, you can also include one of the three NPCs in chapters 1 and 2, before we suddenly begin demanding
the final showdown with Zariel. We’ve written a bit more that they figure stuff out on their own as they come into
about this in our DM’s Resources for Chapter 5: Escape Chapter 3.
from Avernus, but to briefly summarize, you can have A good time to do this – manage your players’
Olanthius show up to aid the party against Zariel, have expectations, as well as tell them what is expected of
Haruman show up to aid Zariel (not that she particularly them – is after the Dream Quest at Fort Knucklebone.
needs it) against the party, or have Bel show up to attack You can simply let your players know that they will now
a redeemed (but weakened) Zariel, requiring the party to be entering into a more ‘open’ part of the campaign,
defend her.
where there will be multiple ways to proceed forward,
and that they should no longer worry about what the
‘story expects them to do’ or ‘what they’re meant to do’.
Arches of Ulloch They have to stand on their own legs now, and trust that
I personally find that the Arches of Ulloch is a pretty answers will be available to them, if they just remember
dull encounter, as it is used in the campaign book. A to ask questions.
teleportation portal serves little purpose in a place
where distance and time is already abstract – unless, of Keeping Players on Track
course, we decide that the Arches of Ulloch is the only
When running adventures that are less linear, it
way to reach the Bleeding Citadel.
becomes increasingly important for everyone to keep
This makes sense if Asmodeus has hidden away the
track of what is happening. Some players – and entire
Bleeding Citadel with powerful magic in an attempt to
groups – are very good at this, while others have a
ensure that no creature – Zariel least of all – can find
harder time staying on task when everything is open
the sword. The only way to reach it from Avernus itself
and free.
(the demons scouring through the citadel have arrived
You can help your players stay on track by taking
through their own magical means) is through the
time at the beginning of each session to remind the
Arches of Ulloch.
party what they’re doing and why (unless they’re having
In our DM’s resources for Chapter 3: Avernus we’ve
tons of fun being off-track, in which case you should
written up an extensive encounter for the Arches of
probably just roll with that!), by simply reminding them
Ulloch, which has the place guarded by an infernal
that they’re “looking for Olanthius, Haruman or Bel,
androsphinx, but you can choose any guardian you
who can help you find the Sword of Zariel, which is
like, such as a young red shadow dragon, a battalion
supposed to be the key to freeing Elturel”.
of yugoloths, or something else you find fitting. The
If at any point your players seem lost or frustrated,
point of the Arches of Ulloch is to challenge the party
travel encounters are ofte your best tools to get them
a bit before they move on from chapter 3, and to give a
back on track. The Wandering Emporium, which
logical explanation for why the Bleeding Citadel is so
serves as a hub for NPCs who can carry all manner of
damned hard to find!
information, is particularly well-suited for this, and can
show up at any time you want it to.
8
Remember though, that the whole point of a sandbox Lastly, remember that, unlike most of the creatures
is to foster player agency and creativity, so if your they control, a DM is only human. If you suddenly find
players suddenly become enamored with a particular yourself treading water, become unsure about what
path you haven’t planned for, try to see if it’s something to do next, or get entirely in over your head, call for a
you can work with. If the players – as an example – break or end the session early, get yourself back on
decide to seek out Asmodeus, because they think he’ll track and pick it back up later. That’s always an option
be able to help them find the sword, your immediate – and never something to be ashamed of. We’ve all been
reaction may be to have Mad Maggie go “uh, no, bad there!
idea”, but maybe you can work with it? Perhaps the
Intermediary becomes a means of introduction in this Pacing Chapter 3
case – someone who can get a message through to Another question that can arise has to do with the
the Supreme Lord of the Nine Hells – and an intense pacing of the chapter – in particular, the fact that the
encounter with a bemused Asmodeus substitutes an players are supposed to go from 7th to 11th level during
encounter with another of the Fallen Three. Building on Chapter 3. Will the characters just blow through these
player ideas is always better than shutting them down! levels in no time, making the chapter feel incredibly
Finally, if your players seem to be responding badly fast – and does the sandbox-structure do anything to
to having too many choices – they become frustrated, mitigate this?
meandering, demotivated – don’t be afraid to reign If I’m being perfectly honest – which I try to be – the
things in and put them back on the rails (i.e. having sandbox-like structure we’ve put out here probably
NPCs strongly suggest one option, or simply cut some improves the pacing slightly, but does not completely
of the options out) – that just might be the way your slow down the relatively fast pace of Chapter 3:
group prefers to play. Avernus, as it is written in the campaign book.
Before you start to work on the chapter’s pace,
Keeping Yourself on Track however, you should first decide whether it’s really an
It’s not just the players who have to stay on track – it’s issue or not. If you have a talkative, RPG-heavy-group,
also you! As the story opens up, you are required to that loves to visit new locations, revisit old locations,
keep track of more encounters and locations, because speak at length with every NPC, and constantly gets
you have to be ready for whatever the players decide to sidetracked, then it probably won’t feel that fast at
do next. And, to make things even harder, you’ll now all, since Avernus has plenty of locations and NPCs
also have to both consult the campaign book and the to engage with. Hell, even if you have hyper-focused,
information here!? combat-excited players, who gloss over the talky bits
Relax, breathe! Remember that chapter 3 will so they can get to the action, a fast pace may not be an
probably span something like 5 to 15 sessions of play. issue, simply because they’ll enjoy getting their levels
You will have months to figure everything out. To begin fast, so they can become even more powerful and
with, all you need to do is have a basic understanding awesome.
of the chapter’s structure, and be prepared for the next However, if you fall somewhere in between, and want
3-4 hours of play. the party to cover more ground before they get their
To address the first point, it may help you to levels and can move on with the story, there are several
remember the following, very abbreviated general tools at your disposal – most of which require only
structure of the sandbox: minimal alterations to the structure. Here’s a few ideas
• Fort Knucklebone. At Fort Knucklebone, the party on how you can slow down the pace of Chapter 3:
learns that they must find one of the Fallen Three, Bel, • Use more travel encounters. This one is obvious,
Olanthius and Haruman. and fairly easy to implement. There should be at least
• Intermediaries. Soon after, they learn that three a handful of encounters that will end up left unused,
Intermediaries can guide them along: Mordenkainen, depending on where your players go and what they do
Red Ruth and Mephistopheles. – if you want the chapter to feel longer, simply let them
• Blood Pay. To get aid from an Intermediary, they stumble upon these along the way.
must find blood from a powerful creature (Arkhan, • More Blood Pay. Having the party perform an
Ubbalux, Uldrak or Shummrath). additional Blood Pay-quest should extend the chapter
• Fallen Three. When they find the Fallen Three, by at least a few sessions. Perhaps the first attempt is
they’ll perform a simple task to gain the information, a dead end – Arkhan disappears with Tiamat’s blood,
and are then told how to find the Bleeding Citadel. Ubbalux/Shummrath escape before the party gets
That’s more or less all there is to it! Now, all you need their blood, or Uldrak is killed before his curse can be
to do is keep track of the basic structure, and stay one broken – and the party will have to find an alternate
step ahead of the party at all times. If they’re dealing ‘donor’.
with the Intermediaries, look ahead to the Blood Pay- • A Dead End. The Fallen Three can also become
section and understand the encounters there, and so dead-ends (as suggested under ‘Telling the Story’
on. above), requiring the characters to find another of the
Having a rough idea of your party’s intentions will Fallen Three to progress – and perhaps even sending
also help you. At the end of each session, try to gauge them all the way back to find more blood first!
where the players are likely to go next. Prepare that/
those location(s), make a note of what information
they’ll find there, and you’re more than likely fine for the
next session. Remember, depending on your group’s
style, you’re always allowed to ask the party in-between
sessions if they have decided where to go next, so you
know what you should be preparing for.
9
Pacing the Adventuring Day Shorten Travel Times
We can keep each adventuring day exciting by
An equally important pacing issue – perhaps even more
lumping encounters together. We do this making
important – has to do with the pacing of individual
travel distances between combat encounters be very
adventuring days during Chapter 3.
short, right until the party needs a long rest. That
At the end of a good adventuring day, the characters
means handling Fort Knucklebone in the morning,
should be drained of nearly all resources, on the
running into infernal bounty hunters in the afternoon,
brink of collapse, and a few near-death experiences
and battling nycaloths in the evening. No rest for the
richer. To accomplish this, we must fill each ‘active’
wicked!
adventuring day (i.e. days not spent in fast-travel, or
While this strategy can certainly be effective, it can
doing simple tasks like shopping/resting/etc.) with
also make the chapter’s pace feel a bit funky – several
enough exploration and combat encounters to actually
days of ‘nothing really happens’ interspersed with a few
challenge the characters – before they get the chance to
days of high intensity, where travel times are suddenly
take another long rest and ‘reset’.
super-short. Additionally, the party can always overrule
Here’s an example of the adventuring days your
this by simply setting camp early or taking a long rest
players might have during Chapter 3 using the sandbox-
in the middle of the day.
structure (this will vary greatly depending on player
choice, so use this only as an example!): Controlling Rests
Adventuring Day 1 My preferred method for keeping the pace of
• Fort Knucklebone encounters adventuring days in Chapter 3: Avernus is to make
• Infernal Bounty-encounter it harder for the party to rest. Because Avernus is
• Nycaloth-encounter after speaking with such an awful place, with threats constantly looming,
Mordenkainen insufferable heat, and loud fireballs exploding
• Wandering Emporium everywhere, the characters simply can’t get the
restorative benefits of a long rest (regaining hit points,
Adventuring Day 2 hit dice, spell slots, abilities) unless they’re sleeping in
• Arkhan’s Tower Encounter (brief fight with young a safe location, of which there are very few in Avernus
dragons/wyrmling dragons) (Note: You’ll have to ban the spell Leomund’s Tiny Hut,
• Monument to Tiamat (fight with Arkhan + entourage) if a character has access to that!). By doing this, we can
have several days of travel between locations – thus
Adventuring Day 3 extending the adventuring day – without ruining the
• Smiler the Defiler (Bitter Rivals-adventure) pace of each adventuring day.
Adventuring Day 4 In our example from above, the characters would
be able to rest at the Wandering Emporium after
• Haruman’s Hill visiting Mordenkainen, can rest in Arkhan’s camp after
• Sibriex defeating him and his forces, can rest in the Marauders’
• Hellwasp Nest War Camp after clearing it with Smiler the Defiler, and
• Arches of Ulloch set up camp in a more gentle, secluded area of Avernus
As you’ll notice, this also coincides with when the after travelling through the Arches of Ulloch to the
characters are intended to level, i.e. the characters gain Bleeding Citadel.
a level after completing each adventuring day. If you This approach gives you more-or-less complete
think that’s awfully fast, you’re not wrong (see Pacing control of when long rests happen. Want to push the
Chaper 3 above!), but remember that between these party a bit further before they rest? Don’t give them any
adventuring days, there will likely be whole days spent safe spot to set up camp. Running low on resources
behind the wheel of an infernal war machine, shopping right before you know a big fight is coming? Oh, lo and
at the Wandering Emporium, or having meaningful behold if it isn’t Mahadi and his Wandering Emporium
philosophical discussions with unicorns and devils. ahead!
The more important question is, how do we ensure
that the characters don’t break the pacing of these
adventuring days? If we allow the party to rest
in-between encounters, they can effectively split the
Conclusion
We hope the above advice and suggestions can help
adventuring days into pieces, making one exciting, you make your Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus-
challenging adventuring day, into two easy, boring campaign as awesome as possible. Remember, you’re
adventuring days. And that’s not fun for anyone. allowed to pick-and-choose from the content as much as
In Chapter 3, we run the risk of having many of you want, so use only what you like, and discard what
these very low-intensity adventuring days, because the you don’t. Your game, your rules!
characters will often be travelling between encounters,
giving them ample opportunity to set up camp, roll Have fun in Hell!
out bedrolls and hunker down for some good shut- J. A. Valeur
eye. We’ve already written a bit about this in our DM’s
resources for Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, but I
think it’s important enough to repeat here: if we want a
chapter with this much travel to be exciting, we have to
shape the adventuring day to fit our needs.
Luckily, because Avernus is such a fantastical and
otherworldly location, we can control both travel
distances and rests even more than we usually can.
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