The day has finally come. We have received our copies of the latest offering from Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons and Dragons line, Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus. This adventure module is designed to take characters from 1st level to 13th and beyond and promises a “fun” filled trip through one of the most iconic cities within the Forgotten Realms along with the first layer of Hell as they race to stop a city from literally plunging into the River Styx. Throughout this adventure they defeat evil cultists, befriend a Hollyphant, race Infernal War Machines across the blasted plains of Avernus and recover a powerful angelic artifact in an effort to save the city and possibly redeem the angel Zariel. You’ll even get the chance to brush shoulders and cross blades with DND royalty as Joe Manganiello’s character Arkhan the Cruel makes his way into Forgotten Realms’ canon as a warlord of Avernus.
The adventure begins with the characters trapped within the walls of Baldur’s Gate as they find the city gates suddenly closed to keep hundreds of refugees from the nearby city of Elturel from flooding the city. The city is simply gone, a massive crater where it once stood. Soon after the PCs find themselves drafted by the Flaming Fist, a mercenary outfit that runs protection within the city. They charge the PCs with tracking down and stopping members of the Dead Three (the evil gods Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul) who are responsible for murder sprees within the city. During the course of this investigation, they unravel a plot within the halls of power of Baldur’s Gate and discover that the destruction of Elturel is more than what it appears to be at face value. Following these threads will take the characters from the streets of Baldur’s Gate to the halls of Candlekeep, and then to the very pits of Hell itself.
The adventure itself clocks in at 155 pages of material over 5 chapters. I’ve only had the chance to take a cursory glance at some of the material, but it seems that there are definitely enough different types of encounters within the scope of the adventure to keep most parties happy. The focus is definitely on devils and their followers, especially in the later half, but the adventure doesn’t seem to rely on having a good aligned paladin or cleric within their ranks (although it definitely couldn’t hurt – especially in terms of one of the more powerful magical items that is presented to the party).
There are then several appendices that include some great material for both the players and the DM. Immediately following the adventure is a 50 page gazetteer for the city of Baldur’s Gate, introducing a number of locations, factions, and personalities within the city. Several beloved characters even make an appearance in the artwork of this section. Some of these locations may be familiar to people versed in Forgotten Realms lore or those that have a more than passing familiarity with the Baldur’s Gate series.* It also introduces a new character background – The Faceless which lets you take a dual persona as you cover your true identity in a disguise while you adventure. This background screams “vigilante hero” to me and is perfect for a game with an primarily urban setting.
Appendix A includes several pages on devilish pacts – how to go about fooling your PCs to entering into such a bargain, what various devils are able to offer, and what might happen to the PC should they find themselves in breach of contract.
Appendix B introduces the rules for the Infernal War Machines – vehicles that race across the blasted plains of Avernus in a very Mad Max fashion powered by the souls of the dead and demonic ichor. If you had told me that someone on staff listened to The Adventure Zone’s Petals to the Metal arc and decided to make official rules for some of the concepts introduced here, I would 100% believe you. These vehicles are handled much the same way that ships are in Ghosts of Saltmarsh they just operate on land and require you to feed them soul coins to power them.
Appendix C brings 12 new magical items to the table, ranging from several uncommon items to several artifacts that are introduced through the adventure. Needless to say, there’s some good stuff in here.
Appendix D gives stats for 24 new NPCs and monsters (that doesn’t include several others that are included within the adventure itself.) These include I believe only one reprint (the red cap), and introduces several new types of demons as well as puts stats to powerful and mighty devils and demons such as Baphoment and Yeenoghu. Challenge them at your own risk. It also introduces my favorite new monster of all time ever – The Hollyphant. How can you not love a small angelic elephant with an ability called “Trumpet of Sparkles”?
Last but not least, Appendix E contains several handouts for the players, including a very kitcshy menu for a restaurant called “The Infernal Rapture.” The book then closes with some gorgeous concept art of various characters and scenes within the adventure itself.
All in all, I could easily see myself running this adventure and having a blast doing so. It starts off innocent enough but very quickly ramps up to some epic action while still leaving room for the characters to grow after the curtain falls on the final act should they so choose. Heck, I’d consider paying a couple of bucks just to have the splash page art between chapters for desktops -there is some absolutely stunning artwork in here.
*It seems prudent to mention that at the time of this publishing, we are three weeks away from the release of the console ports for Baldur’s Gate I, Baldur’s Gate II, and the mini-campaign Siege of Dragonspear that links these two, as well as a second bundle containing Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment – plan accordingly.
Ben Erickson
