TEXT:     
  COMPLETE DM’S
  COMPLETE DM’S
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  BALDUR’S GATE: DESCENT INTO AVERNUS
  BALDUR’S GATE: DESCENT INTO AVERNUS
  All published Eventyr Games DM’s resources for
  All published Eventyr Games DM’s resources for
  Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
  Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
  
  COMPLETE DM’S 
  COMPLETE DM’S 
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  Writing: J. A. Valeur
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  BALDUR’S GATE: DESCENT INTO AVERNUS
  
   INTRODUCTION 
   INTRODUCTION 
  1
  Contents
  Introduction ..............................................................................1
  Additional Hooks ...............................................................................2
  From Other Campaigns ...................................................................4
  Handling NPCs ..................................................................................5
  Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Cities ...............................................7
  Running Chapter 1 ............................................................................7
  Elfsong Tavern ...................................................................................8
  Dungeon of the Dead Three ............................................................9
  Low Lantern .....................................................................................10
  Vanthampur Villa.............................................................................10
  Chapter 2: Elturel Has Fallen ...............................................11
  Running Chapter 2 ..........................................................................11
  Encounters in Elturel .....................................................................12
  Torm's Bridges .................................................................................14
  Grand Cemetery...............................................................................16
  Escaping the Siege ..........................................................................17
  Chapter 3: Avernus .................................................................18
  Running Chapter 3 ..........................................................................18
  Fort Knucklebone ............................................................................21
  Quest for the Sword ........................................................................24
  Haruman's Hill .................................................................................25
  Hellwasp Nest ..................................................................................25
  Path of Demons ................................................................................26
  Path of Devils ...................................................................................29
  Chapter 4: Sword of Zariel ....................................................32
  Running Chapter 4 ..........................................................................32
  The Scab ............................................................................................32
  Entering the Citadel ........................................................................34
  Idyllglen .............................................................................................35
  Event 7 - Zariel's Arrival ................................................................36
  Claiming the Sword ........................................................................36
  Chapter 5: Escape from Avernus..........................................37
  Running Chapter 5 ..........................................................................37
  Starting the Ending ........................................................................39
  Dealing with Zariel .........................................................................40
  Endgame in Elturel .........................................................................44
  Introduction
  Introduction
  B
  aldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus is 
  an infernal campaign that will take your 
  characters from 1st to beyond 10th level, 
  as they face fiendish foes, heroic allies, and 
  write their names into the history books – and 
  perhaps in blood on devils’ contracts – where 
  they’ll remain for all eternity.
  This campaign is ambitious, exciting and challenging. It 
  has a compelling story and an amazing setting – everything 
  you need to create a memorable experience from the players.
  However, as great as Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus 
  is, it isn’t entirely without issues. While sprawling and vast 
  in scope, it can also sometimes feel narrow and ‘railroady’. 
  And even though it’s story is great at the core, the party’s role 
  in it – and their reason for going along – isn’t always clear or 
  logical. Of course, there’s also the less specific, but always 
  present details and minor flaws: an encounter that is too 
  challenging, a scene that isn’t compelling, or events that don’t 
  quite make sense.
  This document, which contains five different DM’s Guild 
  publications, seeks to provide you, the Dungeon Master, 
  with the tools and thoughts that will help you make Baldur’s 
  Gate: Descent into Avernus an exciting experience for your 
  players. It’s strongly recommended that you read through the 
  campaign book before using these resources. And always 
  remember, the advice and ideas given here are options – you 
  know best what works at your table. This product contains:
  Introduction. Suggestions on how to craft meaningful 
  hooks for your players, as well as advice on how to handle 
  various important NPCs throughout the campaign.
  Running Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. Five 
  chapters matching the chapters in the campaign book, 
  packed to the brim with thoughts and advice that will help 
  make running Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus a fun and 
  enjoyable experience for everyone.
  Magical Items, Monsters and Handouts. Outfit your 
  players with the greatsword Redemption, pit them against 
  a Hellwasp Queen, or let them read Thavis Kreeg’s infernal 
  contract for themselves.
  Monster Stat Blocks. Nearly a hundred pages of monster 
  stat blocks covering chapters 1-4, neatly arranged together on 
  pages, so you don’t have to flip through several books.
  DM’s Cheatsheets. Neatly condensed notes of everything 
  in Chapters 2 and 4 for easy use at the table. Also includes an 
  Avernus Cheatsheet, summing up the entire nine hells on a 
  single page!
  25+ Encounter Maps. More than two-dozen battlemaps in 
  both DM’s and player versions primed for virtual tabletops. 
  Features both colorized and detailed versions of the official 
  maps, as well as entirely new maps showing locations in 
  Avernus.
  We really hope you enjoy this content, and that it can bring 
  something extra to your table, or at the very least make 
  your preparation go faster and smoother. If you have any 
  comments, critiques, suggestions, or just want to share your 
  experiences, visit us at eventyrgames.com. And, if you want 
  to stay up to date about new products, special promotions and 
  other cool stuff, you can sign up to our mailing list here.
  Thanks for the support – and have fun in Hell!
  
  2
   INTRODUCTION
   INTRODUCTION
  Additional Hooks
  Baldur’s Gate Descent into Avernus assumes that your 
  characters start out working for the Flaming Fist. 
  Furthermore, the campaign also assumes that this 
  relationship will take the party from trying to root out evil 
  cultists to going up against one of Baldur’s Gate’s leaders – 
  and, eventually, all the way to hell!
  While there’s some opportunity to expand upon the initial 
  hook along the way – using NPCs such as Reya Mantlemorn 
  and Lulu the Hollyphant – you may want to start the 
  campaign off with a stronger hook. A little extra motivation 
  can’t hurt when you’re trying to convince people to – quite 
  literally – go to hell. Below you’ll find some thoughts and 
  ideas on how to do that, which you can alter to fit your game.
  Dark Secrets
  If your players are making new characters for this campaign, 
  it certainly pays to consider giving them a shared ‘Dark 
  Secret’ (BG:DiA, pg. 208). We’re presented with some 
  different options and interesting roll tables, though there’s not 
  much advice on how you tie the secret to the campaign, which 
  is what we’ll briefly expand on here.
  Dark Secret as a Hook. Initially, the party’s dark secret 
  can serve as the reason why the characters are even doing 
  what Captain Zodge says. They’re forced to help him root 
  out the cultists, because he knows what they did – a fact he 
  continually rubs in their faces. Later, as the party stands 
  before Sylvira and are faced with the prospect of going 
  into hell, you can have the archmage (or Liara Portyr) also 
  be aware of the characters’ misdeeds, promising them 
  forgiveness if they undertake the dangerous mission into 
  Avernus. There’s of course many variations of how you can 
  set this up – what’s the secret, who knows, how do they use it 
  against the players, and so on – but as long as the deed was 
  bad enough, the prospect of absolution can certainly act as a 
  motivation for the players.
  Takes One to Know One. The party’s dark secret might 
  also serve as something the demons and devils can use 
  in their dealings with the party when they’re in Avernus. 
  Their misdeed might feature as they travel in Mad Maggie’s 
  dreamscape, an archdevil might smell the evil on them, or 
  they’ll stand face-to-face with the damned soul of someone 
  who died as a result of their wrongdoing. Bringing the 
  dark secret into the game this way gives the background 
  some meaning even beyond Baldur’s Gate and can create 
  rewarding opportunities for roleplay.
  Make it Personal
  If your players are creating characters specifically for this 
  campaign, you can let them know that the campaign starts 
  shortly after the city of Elturel disappeared. Suggest that 
  their character can either be from Elturel – avoiding it’s 
  disappearance because they live on the outskirts, were away 
  on travel, or through sheer coincidence – or that they have 
  some sort of bond with the city, such as relatives, a friend, an 
  item they’re looking for, or something along those lines. This 
  ensures that they’ll be motivated to figure out what happened 
  to Elturel as soon as they’re presented with it, and you can 
  use their ties to Elturel to add some drama during Chapter 2.
  As a note here, in the adventure Baldur’s Gate: The Fall 
  of Elturel, writers Anthony Joyce and Justice Arman does a 
  very good job tying the characters to the fall of Elturel. This 
  adventure can be used as an introduction to the events of 
  Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus.
  A Noble Quest
  Instead of starting the adventure as the party negotiates 
  with Captain Zodge, you can have Reya Mantlemorn set the 
  party on their quest. As described in the campaign book (pg. 
  32), the young Hellrider has heard that Thavius Kreeg has 
  been spotted in the city, surrounded by Vanthampur guards. 
  You can elaborate on this: on the run from the Flaming 
  Fist, there’s no way Reya will be able to gain entrance to the 
  Upper City to look for him. Thus, she wants the party to gain 
  favor with the Flaming Fist, so that they’ll be allowed into 
  the Upper City. She offers the party 500 gp if they help her 
  find Thavius Kreeg, and suggests that the Flaming Fist will 
  probably also reward them for any help the party provides 
  them along the way.
  This hook has some advantages. First off, it starts the 
  narrative early and ensures the party actually meets Reya. 
  Second, it works just as well if you choose to skip the Dead 
  Three cultists-plotline (see Restructuring Chapter 1), or if 
  you’re bringing in characters from another adventure, such as 
  Ghosts of Saltmarsh or Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (see From 
  Other Campaigns).
   A Deal With the Devil
  For the more cynical characters, it might take more than 
  a pleading paladin or a few missing relatives to get them 
  involved. Here you can choose to draw on the campaign’s 
  unique flavor to pull characters in: devils and the Nine Hells.
  An obvious choice for this is Tiamat, the Dragon Queen. 
  You can have agents of Tiamat approach characters – perhaps 
  masking their evil disposition – attempting to enlist the party 
  to aid the Dragon Queen in overthrowing Zariel. Starting 
  small, they first offer a few hundred gold pieces for aid in 
  recovering stolen treasure from the Dead Three Cultists (thus 
  pushing the party towards Captain Zodge, the Elfsong Tavern 
  or directly to the Dead Three Dungeon). 
  After the party has demonstrated their usefulness, the 
  cultists ask them to eradicate the Dead Three Cult and 
  its backers entirely, sending them after the Vanthampurs. 
  Finally, the cultists pays the party handsomely for going to 
  Avernus to thwart Zariel’s evil plans with Elturel – perhaps 
  not believing the party capable, but figuring that anything the 
  adventurers can do to hinder Zariel will benefit Tiamat.
  Of course, involving the players with Tiamat requires you 
  to make some changes later, as the party runs into cultists of 
  the Dragon Queen. It also requires a party willing to work for 
  evil – or that the cultists present their tasks as benevolent and 
  altruistic, hiding their true motives. You can easily replace 
  Tiamat with any powerful devil, since the Lords of the Nine 
  are always trying to undercut each other – it might be agents 
  of Bel, who wants to overthrow the Duke of Avernus, or 
  perhaps the paranoid archdevil Dispater, who fears Zariel 
  is mustering forces to challenge him for dominion of the 
  Second Layer of Hell.
  Faction Hooks
  There’s also the option to hook individual characters or even 
  the whole party in through the factions they’re affiliated with 
  (DMG, pg. 21). Most factions will have an interest in Elturel’s 
  disappearance, although their reasons and goals might differ, 
  as suggested below.
  Harpers. “With the disappearance of Elturel, Faerun has 
  lost an invaluable beacon of hope and light – not to mention 
  the thousands of innocents who disappeared with it. Most of 
  those who survived fled to Baldur’s Gate – including, rumor 
  is, High Overseer Thavius Kreeg. Go to Baldur’s Gate, get 
  friendly with the Flaming Fist, and learn what you can. If 
  there’s a way to save Elturel, we need to find it.”
  
   INTRODUCTION 
   INTRODUCTION 
  3
  Order of the Gauntlet. “The crater of Elturel stands as a 
  mockery to the holy city that once sat there. We need you to 
  investigate what happened to Elturel and, most importantly: 
  is there anything we can do to restore it? We’ve secured you 
  an assignment with the Flaming Fist in Baldur’s Gate – start 
  there and learn what you can, but take care not to let the 
  mercenaries corrupt you.”
  Lords’ Alliance. “As you probably know, Elturel was a 
  member of the Lords’ Alliance. We need to find out what 
  happened to it, and if there’s a risk to other cities in the 
  North. Go to Baldur’s Gate and see what you can learn. 
  Unfortunately, Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard, whom we 
  usually deal with, has disappeared as well. Without him, 
  Baldur’s Gate’s loyalty to the Alliance is tentative at best, 
  so you’ll need to be careful. We’ve gotten you in with the 
  Flaming Fist, but won’t be able help you beyond that.”
  Emerald Enclave. “The disappearance of Elturel is not 
  just evil, it’s an abomination. It threatens the Balance – not 
  just on our plane, but in the Cosmos itself. We must learn 
  what happened to Elturel and find a way to undo it – or, at the 
  very least, undo the harm caused by its disappearance. Go to 
  Baldur’s Gate, where the remnants of Elturel have fled, sign 
  up with the Flaming Fist, and find out what you can.”
  Zhentarim. “The disappearance of Elturel, Grand Duke 
  Ulder Ravengard and Thavius Kreeg creates an opportunity 
  for us. Baldur’s Gate is in disarray and Elturel is gone – but 
  maybe not forever. The Black Network needs to insert itself – 
  that means you – into the situation. Pal up with the Flaming 
  Fist and find out how this chaos will best aid us. Whoever can 
  save Elturel, or whatever is left of it, is most likely to end up 
  with the power. That needs to be us!”
  Keeping Them Hooked
  Getting the players hooked initially might not be as hard as 
  keeping them hooked, once they realize their quest will take 
  them into the Nine Hells! For a campaign that seems to invite 
  morally ambiguous and somewhat selfish characters, there’s 
  not much of a reward for going into Hell – a risky endeavor 
  by any measure. It’s simply assumed that the characters will 
  happily volunteer to go on the quest to bring back Elturel 
  from Avernus, at great personal peril. While your players 
  might choose to be accommodating and just go along with it 
  (they’re here to play a campaign, after all) regardless of their 
  characters’ misgivings, there are ways to make their descent 
  into Avernus a bit more appealing.
  Wealth and Money
  The only monetary reward mentioned before the characters 
  descend into Avernus – beyond Captain Zodge’s initial reward 
  of 200 gp per character – is Falaster Fisk’s (Sylvira’s agent in 
  Baldur’s Gate) assertion that the tiefling archmage will pay 
  for the delivery of Thavius Kreeg’s infernal puzzle box. This 
  reward isn’t mentioned later under the ‘Candlekeep’-section 
  later in Chapter 1, but it seems that a tangible reward, such 
  as 500 gp, an uncommon magic item (an example could be 
  Heavensfall, the magical mace described on this page), or 
  some valuable spell scrolls and potions, might work to at least 
  make the journey to Candlekeep worthwhile.
  As for the journey into hell, you can have the archmage 
  offer to pay handsomely for the party’s services – offering 
  5,000 gp and Candlekeep’s gratitude if the party travels 
  to the First Layer of Hell and saves the city. Alternatively, 
  Sylvira can ask the party to stay for a few days, while she 
  informs other interested parties about the deal gleaned from 
  Thavius’ puzzle box. This allows you to have relevant factions 
  – such as the Lords’ Alliance or Liara Portyr on behalf of the 
  Flaming Fist – offer the party a monetary reward for making 
  the journey into hell and attempting to save Elturel.
  Fame and Power
  For some characters, the strongest motivation might not be 
  gold and wealth, but the prospect of fame and power. You can 
  have NPCs – Sylvira, Liara, even Reya Mantlemorn – appeal 
  to the character’s innermost desires. “Only a true adventurer 
  would dare go into the Nine Hells – such a hero would 
  hear their name sung in every tavern from Calimport to 
  Luskan!” or “Consider this: Right now, Elturel is leaderless, 
  lost, abandoned. Whoever saves that city will not only have 
  done Faerun a great service, they’ll also have made a strong 
  argument for who should hold power in a restored Elturel!”
  Redemption and Forgiveness
  If you’ve used the ‘Dark Secret’-background to tie your 
  players together and to Baldur’s Gate, you can use the dark 
  secret to motivate the party to undertake the journey to 
  Avernus. Sylvira (or another NPC of your choosing) knows 
  of the dark secret, and offers complete absolution (spiritually 
  and legally), if the party attempts to free Elturel from Zariel’s 
  grasp. After all, isn’t Hell where sinners go anyway?
  Expanding on a Previous Hook
  You can also bring back a previous hook to motivate 
  the character’s to travel beyond Candlekeep. A faction 
  agent reappears to offer more rewards and renown, Reya 
  Mantlemorn promises Elturel’s eternal gratitude if the party 
  helps, or the agents of an archdevil make lofty claims about 
  the adventures and treasures that await ahead.
  Heavensfall
  Weapon (mace), rare (requires attunement)
  While you carry this magic mace and contemplate or 
  undertake a malevolent act, Heavensfall enhances pangs 
  of conscience.
  Sacred. When you hit a fiend or undead creature with 
  an attack using this mace, the creature takes an extra 1d4 
  radiant damage.
  Heavens. While you carry this mace, you can use an 
  action to cast guiding bolt. Once used, this property can’t 
  be used again until the next dawn.
  
  4
   INTRODUCTION
   INTRODUCTION
  From Other Campaigns
  Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus might not be your 
  players’ first campaign. Below is some advice on how to 
  start this infernal campaign if you’re coming from Ghosts of 
  Saltmarsh or Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.
  From Saltmarsh to Avernus
  So you’ve played through some Ghosts of Saltmarsh and now 
  want to make the jump into the newest official campaign. But 
  how do you make the transition from maritime mysteries to 
  hellish excursions? Below are some ideas to inspire you on 
  how to go from one campaign to the other.
  A Traitor in Our Midst
  Skerrin Wavechaser (or some other important NPC in the 
  Saltmarsh campaign) is actually a devotee of Zariel, set on 
  the same mission as Thavius Kreeg and the Vanthampurs: 
  Procure souls for Zariel by condemning Saltmarsh to 
  the Nine Hells. The traitor has been spurring on pirates, 
  lizardfolk and sahuagin to bloody conflict, hoping for enough 
  bloodshed to fuel the ritual that’ll transport Saltmarsh to 
  the First Layer of Hell. As the party unravels the treachery, 
  they’ll find proof (such as an infernal puzzle box and secret 
  communications) that ties the traitor to Thavius Kreeg 
  and the Vanthampurs in Baldur’s Gate, as well as the 
  disappearance of Elturel. The Saltmarsh Council offers a 
  hefty reward for getting to the root of this problem – sending 
  the party to Baldur’s Gate if they are low level, or directly to 
  Candlekeep, if the party is already 5th level or higher.
  Devils of the Sea
  The sahuagin are the main threat in the three Saltmarsh-
  adventures, and specifically in The Final Enemy, although 
  their presence is felt as early as in Danger at Dunwater. You 
  can tie the events of BG:DiA to the sahuagin by having the 
  fall of Elturel be the reason for their increased aggression. 
  Perhaps the influence of their shark-deity, Sekolah, who 
  inhabits the River Styx (which flows through the Nine Hells), 
  is spilling over to the material place since the fall of Elturel. 
  Or perhaps Zariel has petitioned Sekolah and its worshipers 
  for a partnership, urging them to commit bloodshed that will 
  aid her plan to condemn more Faerunian cities to the First 
  Layer of Hell. The characters can discover this connection 
  between the sahuagin threat and the fall of Elturel either 
  through intermediaries – an emissary from Candlekeep 
  aboard the Emperor of the Waves (in the adventure Salvage 
  Operation), crazed devil-worshippers on an abandoned isle 
  (in the adventure Isle of the Abbey) – or they might find proof 
  with the sahuagin, as they investigate the stronghold in The 
  Final Enemy.
  Tammeraut's Fate and the Styes
  The last two adventures in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh-
  anthology feature higher level threats: the Drowned Ones of 
  the sinister sunken ship, Tammeraut, and a juvenile kraken 
  festering in the Styes. Both adventures can serve nicely as a 
  starting off point for a delve into Avernus.
  The Pit of Hatred in Tammeraut’s Fate might be a rift to 
  the Hells instead of the Abyss (and Syrgaul’s crew sworn 
  to Zariel instead of Orcus) meant to eventually swallow up 
  a nearby coastal city, such as Saltmarsh. To end the threat 
  for good, the characters must travel to Avernus, stop Zariel’s 
  evil plans and – perhaps – save Elturel. Likewise, the crazed 
  aboleth grooming a kraken in The Styes isn’t doing the work 
  of Tarizdun, but instead works for Zariel, preparing the Styes 
  (or Baldur’s Gate?) for its descent into Avernus.
  From Waterdeep to Avernus
  If you’re playing through Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and 
  want to make the jump to Baldur’s Gate: Descent into 
  Avernus, there’s a wide array of options available to you. 
  The assumption is that the characters are around 5th level, 
  having just secured (or lost!) the dragon’s cache. Because of 
  your party’s higher level – and because the characters have 
  already played through five levels worth of urban adventure 
  – you may want to skip or streamline some of the content in 
  Chapter 1, regardless of how you transition the party. See 
  Restructuring Chapter 1 for more advice on how to do that.
  Just Another Mission
  It’s likely that at least some of the characters have signed 
  up with the various factions in Waterdeep, thus making the 
  Faction Hooks an easy way to switch campaign. If characters 
  have joined Bregan D’aerthe, Jarlaxle’s reasons for exploring 
  Elturel’s disappearance will look much like the Zhentarim’s: 
  exploit the chaos to claim as much power and wealth as 
  possible.
  An Honorable Heist
  Having lived through a season of high crime and intrigue 
  in Waterdeep, the characters have built a strong reputation. 
  Having heard of the resourceful adventurers, Reya 
  Mantlemorn reaches out to the party – either making the 
  long trip to Waterdeep herself, or sending a letter asking 
  them to meet her in Baldur’s Gate – and asks for their aid. 
  She feels certain that Thavius Kreeg has been captured by 
  the Vanthampurs, but she’s a warrior, not an infiltrator – and, 
  surely, breaking out Elturel’s former leader is a heist worthy 
  of Waterdeep’s most famed heisters!
  Changing Locales
  At the moment, we don’t know if there’s a deeper reason 
  BG:DiA starts in Baldur’s Gate, but the content described 
  in Chapter 1 can quite easily be reskinned to fit Waterdeep 
  instead. If you want to include all the content of Chapter 1, a 
  faction might hire the adventurer’s to deal with dangerous 
  cultists, taking them all the way to a prominent noble 
  Waterdhavian family’s estate, where they’ll find the shield 
  of the hidden lord and Thavius Kreeg, the High Overseer of 
  Elturel (“oh, yeah, that city we heard of, which disappeared 
  suddenly a few weeks ago”). All you need to do then is replace 
  the disappeared Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard with a notable 
  Waterdhavian such as Mirt, Volothamp Geddarm, Renaer 
  Neverember, or the monk Hlam. You can even spare the party 
  the trip to Candlekeep, having Vajra Safahr replace Sylvira 
  when it comes to opening the infernal puzzle box, introducing 
  the party to Lulu the Hollyphant and whisking them off to the 
  First Layer of Hell.
  Alternatively, if you are still playing through Waterdeep: 
  Dragon Heist, you can make sure to set the Cassalanters 
  up as the campaign’s villains, and have them shelter the 
  treacherous Thavius Kreeg and his infernal puzzle box in 
  their villa. It will take a bit of rewriting to pull off, but could 
  make for a seamless transition from one campaign to the 
  next.
  
   INTRODUCTION 
   INTRODUCTION 
  5
  Handling NPCs
  When reading through BG:DiA, you’ll notice that the 
  campaign seems to rely heavily on a few key NPCs: Reya 
  Mantlemorn, Gargauth (the Shield of the Hidden Lord) and 
  Lulu the Hollyphant. We write ‘seems’ because it’s actually 
  quite doable (and perhaps, depending on your table, more 
  enjoyable) to play the campaign without one or more of them. 
  Below we’ll give suggestions on how to handle – or entirely 
  remove – these important NPCs.
  Reya Mantlemorn
  Reya Mantlemorn is the runaway Hellrider who steers 
  the party towards the Vanthampur Villa, Candlekeep and 
  eventually Elturel. She brings some drama to the story with 
  her personal involvement, and relays some of the Hellriders’ 
  backstory to the party. However, if you’d rather not have her 
  tag along, or she and the party take a dislike to each other, 
  you can easily write her out of the story. You can have Sylvira 
  provide the exact same information about the Hellriders as 
  she does, and any NPC the party meets in Elturel can point 
  the party towards the High Hall when they get there. The only 
  thing you’ll really be missing if you minimize Reya’s role is 
  the emotional weight her reactions give to certain situations – 
  Thavius Kreeg’s corruption, the fallen Elturel, and so on.
  Shield of the Hidden Lord
  Gargauth – the pit fiend inside the Shield of the Hidden 
  Lord – serves two purposes: it is the instrument with which 
  Thavius and the Vanthampurs plan to cause Baldur’s Gate’s 
  descent into Avernus, and it’s a companion/guide for the 
  characters on their travels in hell. Giving the party an evil, 
  sentient shield as a companion can make for some interesting 
  situations, but it is not without issues.
  First, the shield is a +2 shield that can cast several 
  powerful spells – and the characters get it very early. 
  Bounded accuracy is a thing in 5E, and you might find the 
  shield more than a little frustrating. Second, the plan to 
  use the shield to bring down Baldur’s Gate is a bit vague. 
  Additionally, while the Shield of the Hidden Lord might seem 
  important to the plot, the shield is barely mentioned again 
  until chapter 5, where the pit fiend may – or may not – help 
  the party against Zariel. Thus, you can quite easily write it out 
  of the adventure, if you’d rather not bother with it.
  Instead of using the shield, you can have Thavius and 
  the Vanthampurs’ plan be to smuggle hellfire weapons into 
  Baldur’s Gate and giving them to the Dead Three Cultists. 
  This way they can both bolster the ranks of devils in Avernus, 
  while also causing chaos and destruction in Baldur’s Gate, 
  hopefully bringing about its downfall. Simply place a few 
  Hellfire Weapons with the Dead Three Cultists – you can 
  give one to Flennis (D13), Mortlock (D29) and Vaaz (D33). 
  This has the added benefit of giving the party some magical 
  weapons before traveling into Avernus, saving them the 
  trouble of scrambling to get silvered weapons made!
  Alternatively, you can keep the Shield of the Hidden Lord 
  in the campaign, but dial down it’s powers – perhaps entirely 
  removing the +2 bonus to AC that comes with it. You can even 
  give Gargauth a more prominent role, having it take Lulu the 
  Hollyphant’s place as the party’s guide to important locations 
  in Avernus.
  Lulu the Hollyphant
  Possibly the most important NPC in the campaign is Lulu 
  the Hollyphant. She’s both plot-engine and infernal guide, 
  as she keeps the party moving from location to location in 
  Avernus – and is apparently so important that she will be 
  magically resurrected in Chapter 4, if she should die along 
  the way. In some ways, she can come to feel like the story’s 
  main protagonist – a role that you would traditionally reserve 
  for the party.
  Luckily, you don’t have to bring along a flying, golden 
  elephant, if you don’t want to. There’s various different ways 
  to replace her, but before we get to that, let’s first look at her 
  role in the campaign. Lulu is vital to the story at four points:
  • She points the party towards Fort Knucklebone after Ulder 
  Ravengard has been saved (pg. 72)
  • She’s the conduit for Mad Maggie’s ritual in Fort 
  Knucklebone, after which she points the party toward 
  Haruman’s Hill (pg. 86)
  • She points the party toward either the Spawning Trees or 
  the Demon Zapper after Haruman’s Hill is found to be a 
  dead-end (pg. 93)
  • She’s the conduit for the party’s travel to Idyllglen just 
  before the party can claim the Sword of Zariel (pg. 140)
  When reading through the sections where Lulu makes an 
  appearance, it is clear that while she has important functions, 
  they are not tied to who or what she is. You can easily replace 
  Lulu with any other creature or even an inanimate object, 
  if you want to. You can even do this in ways that seem a bit 
  more credible than the party just happening upon exactly the 
  flying elephant they need to save Elturel. Here is an example 
  of how you can replace Lulu with a small shard from the 
  Sword of Zariel.
  Replacing Lulu in Chapter 1
  In the first chapter, the only change you need to make is to 
  skip the part where the characters are introduced to Lulu the 
  Hollyphant.
  Replacing Lulu in Chapter 2
  • One of Lulu’s functions in Chapter 2 is as a friendly 
  combatant who can offer great aid during the many combat 
  encounters presented in this chapter. If you write her out of 
  the adventure, you may want to scale down the challenges 
  a bit. Luckily, no one encounter in the book is too hard, so 
  you can simply exclude encounters as you see fit, making 
  sure that the characters aren’t overwhelmed. 
  • When the party finds Ulder Ravengard in the Grand 
  Cemetery, the Grand Duke isn’t just wearing the Helmet of 
  Torm, he’s also clutching a small object in his gauntleted 
  fist. However much the characters try, they can’t open the 
  Grand Duke’s clenched fist.
  • As Ulder Ravengard describes his visions (or a character 
  sees the vision for themselves), remove any mention of Lulu 
  and instead highlight how the sword was missing a piece 
  before the woman plunged it into the ground (the sword 
  was damaged during Zariel’s final battle). This is when 
  Ulder opens his fist and shows the shard in his hand, which 
  he professes that Torm must have placed there.
  • Ulder (or a character who holds the shard) can feel its 
  urge to be reunited with the rest of the sword. Pherria 
  (or a character’s Arcana check) recognizes that the shard 
  has a small sliver of sentience, and that strong divination 
  magic might be able to unlock its memories and lead 
  the characters to the Sword of Zariel. As described on 
  the previous page, Gargauth, a Warlord of the Avernian 
  Wastelands, or the two kenku, can then point the party 
  toward Mad Maggie and Fort Knucklebone.
  
  6
   INTRODUCTION
   INTRODUCTION
  Replacing Lulu in Chapter 3
  • Mad Maggie performs the ritual on the shard, putting the 
  party through the same dream sequence (but without Lulu 
  making an appearance), although Dream 5: Revelation is 
  replaced with a vision of demons being spawned and slain 
  by Zariel wielding the Sword of Zariel, which Mad Maggie 
  interprets as ‘the path leading to the sword starts where 
  demons are either made or destroyed’. You can skip the 
  Haruman’s Hill encounter – or simply have it be a ‘random’ 
  encounter on the way to one of these destinations (which 
  you can once again have Gargauth or any other interesting 
  NPC they meet on their way direct the party to!).
  • At Haruman’s Hill, you can have the hellwasps steal an 
  important item from the players – such as the Shield of the 
  Hidden Lord or the shard from the Sword of Zariel instead 
  of Lulu.
  • At other points during the chapter, where Lulu might 
  feasibly play a role – such as in encounters with the 
  Wandering Emporium or when facing Olanthius – you can 
  either just ignore this aspect, or have NPCs recognize the 
  shard instead.
  Replacing Lulu in Chapter 4
  • Describe the Sword of Zariel as missing the shard, when 
  the party first sees it. 
  • The shard functions as the conduit for the characters’ spirit 
  journey into Idyllglen.
  • After the party has helped save Idyllglen, the shard floats 
  up to the sword and reattaches itself in a burst of gleaming 
  light, completing the restoration of the sword, and granting 
  hope that Zariel can still be redeemed – or defeated.
  Remove Only If Necessary
  This example of how you can write Lulu out of your campaign 
  is by no means the only way to handle Lulu. Whether you 
  should even do so – and exactly what you replace her with – 
  depends on your campaign and your players. If you feel like 
  your players will appreciate having Lulu around, and you 
  don’t mind playing her (or having one of your players control 
  her), then there’s no reason to change anything – she can be a 
  lot of fun for the right table. You can also choose to minimize 
  her role and actions at some points, while still keeping her 
  around as a conduit for background information and to keep 
  the characters on track.
  Other Alternatives to Lulu
  If you don’t like the idea of replacing Lulu with a shard from the 
  Sword of Zariel, here’s some other ideas:
  The Hand of Zariel. You can have the gauntleted hand that 
  Zariel lost during her fall replace Lulu. It fits nicely with Torm, 
  who’s holy symbol is a gauntlet, and can be played in much the 
  same way as a shard from the sword.
  Helm of Torm’s Sight. Perhaps Ulder or Pherria senses that 
  more information can be wrought from the Helm of Torm’s 
  Sight, but that doing so requires that the helm is repaired first. 
  Who better to repair a broken artifact than a mad witch living in 
  a dystopian junkyard?
  Nothing at All. Nothing seems like a poor replacement, but 
  it should be doable. If the characters only know that they have 
  to find the Sword of Zariel, the plot suddenly becomes much 
  more open as they leave Elturel. NPCs they meet may still point 
  them toward the mystical Mad Maggie, who’ll send the party 
  into a weird dreamworld to investigate Zariel’s fall, not needing 
  a conduit for the ritual, but only fools willing to risk their lives 
  and souls in pursuit of the delicious memories.
  
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES 
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES 
  7
  Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Cities
  Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Cities
  C
  hapter 1: A Tale of Two Cities serves as 
  the starting point for Baldur’s Gate: Descent into 
  Avernus. It’s an introductory chapter packed with 
  action, where the party gets a feel for the seedy 
  streets of Baldur’s Gate, and discover background 
  information, dark secrets and new allies, setting 
  them up for their descent into Avernus.
  Running Chapter 1
  Once you’ve set up for Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Cities, it’s 
  time to run the chapter for your players. It’s a long chapter 
  with a lot of content, most of which is very entertaining. 
  Below we’ll go over each of the major sections of the chapter 
  – Elfsong Tavern, Dungeon of the Dead Three, Low Lantern 
  and Vanthampur Villa – offering advice and inspiration on 
  how to run the content. First, however, we’ll shortly look at 
  how you can restructure Chapter 1 to fit your needs.
  Restructuring Chapter 1
  Chapter 1 is in essence an investigation. Initially, a mission to 
  discover – and eliminate – cultists of the Dead Three, which 
  later evolves into an investigation into the Vanthampur’s 
  and their involvement in the disappearance of Elturel. This 
  is a neat – and very fast – way of getting the party from 
  1st-level adventurers to seasoned 5th-level heroes before their 
  descent into Avernus. However, if you want to get to the point 
  (Avernus, in this case) faster, or you have a party starting at a 
  higher level, here’s some advice on how you can restructure 
  Chapter 1 to better suit your needs.
  As a note here, you can also find the appendix ‘Finding 
  the Dead Three’ with this download. The appendix contains 
  two additional encounters in Baldur’s Gate you can use in to 
  make the chapter a bit less linear.
  Skipping the Pirate Encounter
  The most expendable block of content is probably the pirate 
  encounter in Elfsong Tavern, which gets your party from level 
  1 to 2. While a good starting point for newer players, this bar 
  fight with unnamed bandits unrelated to the larger story isn’t 
  integral to the campaign. If you want, you can simply start 
  the adventure at 2nd level, skip the scuffle with the spurned 
  pirates and have Tarina insist on a few games of Baldur’s 
  Bones before she divulges any information about the cultists.
  Skipping the Dead Three Cultists
  While the cultists of the Dead Three might feature more 
  prominently in a future campaign, they play only a very 
  minor part in this campaign. Their function is more-or-less 
  just to get the party leveled up and to serve as a segue to the 
  Vanthampurs. You can use Reya Mantlemorn (or any faction 
  of your choice) as the hook instead (see Additional Hooks), 
  informing the party that she thinks the Vanthampurs have 
  Thavius Kreeg, leading the party straight to Amrik in the 
  Low Lantern, as she hopes to learn more about Thavius and 
  perhaps gain access to the Upper City.
  Straight to the Vanthampurs
  Most everything the party actually needs to know before 
  going to Avernus, can be found in the Vanthampur Villa: 
  Thavius Kreeg and his infernal puzzle box, the shield of the 
  hidden lord, and Falaster Fisk. If you have Reya Mantlemorn 
  give the party the mission, you could have the infiltration of 
  the Vanthampur Villa act as the start of the adventure. This 
  works especially well for a party that’s around 4th or 5th level 
  or have just played through Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. 
  If your party is starting at 5th level (as opposed to 4th 
  level), you can increase the difficulty of the Vanthampur 
  Villa by placing Mortlock Vanthampur and a few bandits or 
  cultists in the Villa’s Foyer (V3), and putting Amrik and his 
  bodyguards in the Dining Room under the Villa (V24).
  
  8
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES
  Elfsong Tavern
  The characters’ first mission in Baldur’s Gate takes them to 
  Elfsong Tavern, where the following is meant to happen:
  • Find Tarina. The party finds Tarina, who wants the party 
  to help her kill a band of pirates coming to kill her.
  • Hear the Elfsong. While waiting for the pirates, the party 
  hears an elf spirit singing about Elturel (they can also play 
  tavern games and hear rumors!)
  • Kill the Pirates. The characters fight Captain Dead-Eye 
  and his crew of pirates.
  • Get Pointed to the Bathhouse. Tarina tells the party that 
  the cultists frequent a bathhouse several blocks away.
  All told, the party’s visit to Elfsong Tavern should make for 
  some entertaining play, featuring roleplay, tavern games, 
  an eerie elfsong and a good ol’ fashioned bar fight. Below is 
  some advice on how to run Elfsong Tavern.
  Setting the Scene
  You can set the scene by using the description below:
  As you enter the Elfsong Tavern, you find yourself immediately 
  enveloped by the heat and noise of a busy taproom. On one 
  side of the entrance stands a hulk of a woman, who’s clearly 
  got some orc or even ogre in her bloodline. On the other 
  side of the door is an empty suit of armor – not just ordinary 
  armor, you realize, as the empty helmet moves to glance 
  at you for a moment, before returning its eyeless gaze to 
  the taproom. The room itself is filled with a wide variety of 
  patrons, all of which carry at least one weapon – and, in some 
  cases, multiple – while either discussing and laughing loudly, 
  or engaging in hushed conversations in private booths. None 
  seem to take particular interest in you. Two young men serve 
  the tables, while the middle-aged man standing behind the 
  bar gives a slight nod as you enter.
  If the party is unsure where to start or how to find Tarina, you 
  can describe the following scene:
  Suddenly, a loud crash followed by intense shouting from 
  above silences the taproom. A few seconds later, a disheveled, 
  elderly woman stumbles down the stairs. At the bottom, she 
  turns back and shouts back up the stairs:
  “A fine lot you are, pushing an old woman down the stairs! 
  Fools too – I wasn’t asking The All-Seeing to help me cheat, I 
  asked him to help me uncover the real cheater. Yes, I said it – 
  should be Tarina kicked off the table, not me!”
  The woman is Rahima Sahiressa (BG:DiA, pg. 16), an acolyte 
  and astrologer who worships Savras, the All-Seeing God 
  of divination and fate. She might come into play again in a 
  minute (see ‘Killing Time – and Pirates!’).
  Cheating at Tavern Games
  A cheating character makes a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check 
  against the passive Perception of all onlookers. On a success, 
  they can reroll one of the game’s skill checks or one of the dice 
  they’ve rolled, if playing a dice game. On a failure, well, that 
  depends who notices...
  Killing Time - and Pirates!
  When the party speaks to Tarina, she insists that they stay to 
  help her against her old crew, which she thinks have found 
  her. The book leaves it up to you to decide how long it’ll take 
  before the pirates show up to accost Tarina. The characters 
  might wonder – and rightly so – if they’re meant to stay in 
  the tavern for days, as they wait for the pirates to eventually 
  show up. Additionally, it’s quite the coincidence that the party 
  arrives just in time to help Tarina against her old crew.
  By making just a few, simple changes, we can make this 
  scenario both more plausible and prevent the party from 
  concluding that simply beating the information out of Tarina 
  is the easiest way to gain the information they’re after.
  Instead of Tarina asking the party to help her against the 
  pirates, you can have her insist that they instead play a few 
  rounds of Baldur’s Bones (or another tavern game) with her, 
  before she tells them what she knows. Tarina sees this as an 
  opportunity to cheat the party out of some coin (see ‘Cheating 
  at Tavern Games’) before handing over information. 
  You can have the party play a round or two of Baldur’s 
  Bones, with an ante of 2 gold pieces. Then present an 
  interlude in the form of the ‘Elfsong’ sounding throughout 
  the tavern. You can then resume the game of Baldur’s Bones, 
  until the characters seem bored, confront Tarina with her 
  cheating, or simply demand to get the information. This is 
  when Lekard ‘Dead-Eye’ Cadavrus and his bandits arrive 
  downstairs, and a worried look comes across Tarina’s face. 
  In a hushed voice, Tarina quickly fills the party in on 
  her falling out with the pirates and offers her final bargain: 
  “They’s going to kill me and ain’t a soul in here who’ll dare 
  do nottin’. ‘Cept ye lot, that is. Ye’ll have to, if ye want to learn 
  what I knows ‘bout dem cultists ye’re lookin’ fer.”
  Meanwhile, the pirates are making their way up the stairs, 
  ‘Dead-Eye’ shouting at the top of his lungs: “I knows ye’re 
  here, Rhonda – or Tarina is it? That old bird said as much, 
  swore it on her All-Hearing or All-Knowing or All-Something-
  god! We even pricked her a little to make sure she wasn’t 
  tellin’ no tales!”
  Scaling the Encounter
  A bandit captain and seven bandits is a hefty challenge for a 
  party of 1st level adventurers. As a bandit herself, Tarina isn’t 
  going to provide much aid, and the book specifically says that 
  other patrons won’t intervene unless bribed. Here are some 
  ways you can increase the party’s chances:
  • Allow the party to ambush the pirates as they come up 
  the stairs, gaining a surprise round and funneling their 
  enemies, as they block each other on the narrow staircase.
  • Make Tarina a spy instead of a bandit and have the pirates 
  focus their attacks on her instead of the party.
  • If Tarina is killed, Dead-Eye offers a truce. If the party 
  protests that they needed information from Tarina, Dead-
  Eye suggests they find a priest and speak to the corpse.
  • If Dead-Eye is killed, any remaining bandits flee.
  What Tarina Knows
  After helping Tarina, she tells what she knows about the 
  bathhouse. If the characters fared badly in the fight with the 
  pirates, you can also have her suggest that they get a good, 
  long rest before going there – allowing them to get to 2nd 
  level and prepare themselvs for the hard challenges that 
  await in the Dungeon of the Dead Three. 
  If you want to make the road to the bathhouse a bit less 
  linear, you can also have Tarina instead supply the characters 
  with information that can help them find out where the 
  cultists hide, instead of sending them directly there. See the 
  appendix ‘Finding the Dead Three’ for more information.
  
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES 
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES 
  9
  Dungeon of the Dead Three
  The Dungeon of the Dead Three underneath a public 
  bathhouse run by the Vanthampurs presents itself as a classic 
  dungeon crawl, where the characters must fight – and kill – 
  cultists of the gods Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul.
  Jabaz and Qurmilah
  We’re told that the two masseuses who work in the bathhouse 
  during the day (areas D3 and D4) know about the secret 
  entrance, but won’t tell the party about it. This seems a 
  bit counterproductive. Instead, if your party arrives at the 
  bathhouse during opening hours to question the masseuses, 
  but don’t know where to go from there, you can have either 
  Jabaz or Qurmilah seek them out as they leave through the 
  bathhouse’s garden. The masseuse explains their suspicions: 
  “I think Mortlock is running some shady business on the side, 
  but I’m too afraid to say anything. He’s told me I can’t hang 
  around after hours, and there’s a hidden door leading down to 
  some dark, stinky place in the northern massage room!”
  D7. Bhaal's Altar
  It seems a wasted opportunity not to give this altar a function 
  of some sort. Consider having the words “Present your work 
  to the Lord of Murder” be scratched into the wall underneath 
  the steel mask. If a character places a body or body parts on 
  the altar (either from the corpse in D6 or one of the cultists 
  above) they gain a +2 bonus to Strength and Dexterity that 
  lasts 1 hour, during which they feel an increased urge to spill 
  blood and murder. If a character instead desecrates the altar 
  (breaking it, pouring holy water on it or something similar), 
  they feel like they’ve rectified a great evil, granting them 5 
  temporary hit points that lasts 1 hour.
  D12. Bane's Altar
  As with Bhaal’s Altar in D7, you can give this altar an 
  inscription and function as well. Above the altar is written: 
  “Submit your servant to the Lord of Darkness.”
  A character that forces an unwilling creature to kneel by 
  the altar (such as Klim, the noble already shackled in the 
  room) can use the iron consul’s Voice of Command-feature 
  once as a bonus action within the next hour. Similar to 
  Bhaal’s altar, a character that instead desecrates Bane’s altar 
  gains 5 temporary hit points.
  D13. Morgue
  Against characters of 2nd level, the master of souls’ fireball 
  is potentially campaign-ending. Consider replacing it with 
  fear or stinking cloud, both of which work well thematically. 
  D17. Myrkul's Altar
  Here we don’t need to make any alterations, except granting a 
  character that desecrates the altar 5 temporary hit points.
  D18. Gas Buildup
  This room threads a fine line between a non-issue and a total 
  party kill. With an initial explosion dealing up to 4d6 fire 
  damage, followed by a 25% chance of the roof collapsing for 
  another 4d10 bludgeoning damage, this room could very well 
  end the campaign if the characters are very unlucky.
  Consider either ignoring the possibility of a roof collapse, 
  or allowing the most likely character (such as a dwarf or a 
  creature with a background in construction) to realize the 
  structural damage with a DC 10 Intelligence check, giving 
  them time to warn the other characters before the collapse.
  D29. Mortlock Vanthampur
  The scene in this room is quite cinematic, but you can add 
  even more drama, if you want to. As the party enters, Vaaz is 
  standing over Mortlock, ready to finish him off. Seeing the 
  party, Vaz hisses: “So you’ve brought friends, eh, Mortlock? A 
  little late to the party, aren’t they?” before stabbing Mortlock 
  in the stomach and retreating towards area D33.
  If the party starts to chase after Vaaz, Mortlock begs in 
  a gravelly voice: “Hold up.. My pouch.. A potion.. I’ll tell you 
  everything.. I’ll help you..” while fumbling with his pouch, 
  clearly bleeding out. The potion is a greater potion of healing, 
  which the party can either administer to Mortlock, or take 
  with them.
  Mortlock will then tell his story, either in an effort to get the 
  party to heal him, or after they’ve given him the potion. He’ll 
  also warn them that Vaaz is very dangerous, and informs the 
  characters that there’s no other exits ahead. He suggests they 
  replenish their strength (take a short rest) before facing the 
  murderous cultist.
  Scaling the Encounter with Vaaz
  A 2nd-level character usually has somewhere between 10-20 
  hit points, and deals an average of 5-10 damage in a round. 
  Vaaz, a death’s head of Bhaal has 76 hit points (not counting 
  his ability to shrug off three attacks) and deals upwards 
  of 20-30 damage in a round with his two dagger attacks 
  because of his Aura of Murder. Furthermore, he’s resistant to 
  magic and can stun a target each round. 
  In other words, Vaaz is a big mouthful for a party of 
  2nd-level adventurers, especially if they’re low on hit points 
  and resources. Depending on their strength and numbers, 
  you may want to adjust the difficulty of this encounter:
  • As mentioned above, you can have Mortlock suggest the 
  party takes a short rest before facing Vaaz.
  • If Mortlock has been healed, he’ll aid the party against 
  Vaaz, who in turn focuses his attacks on the brute.
  • During combat, Mortlock will suggest to the party that 
  they shove Vaaz toward the statue of Bane, hoping that the 
  cultist will succumb to its magic.
  • Describe Vaaz as wounded, having suffered a few hits of 
  Mortlock’s greatclub earlier, reducing the cultist’s hit points 
  to a more appropriate number, depending on the party’s 
  strength.
  
  10
  10
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES
   CHAPTER 1: A TALE OF TWO CITIES
  Low Lantern
  The characters’ visit to Low Lantern is a social encounter 
  bound to become a combat encounter. It presents itself as a 
  fun scenario, that should be pretty straight-forward to run 
  – and not too dangerous. By themselves, Amrik and his two 
  bodyguards shouldn’t be too much of an issue for a party 
  of 3rd-level adventurers, especially not if they’ve brought 
  Mortlock. But, there’s a wildcard in this scenario, that should 
  be handled with some care.
  Poisoned Drinks
  Amrik can signal the tavern staff to spike hostile characters’ 
  drinks with torpor poison – something he will probably do 
  immediately when he realizes the characters suspect his 
  involvement with the Dead Three Cultists. It’s a fun little 
  gimmick, but since torpor poison has a DC of 15, and renders 
  a character both poisoned and unconscious for 4d6 hours, 
  it might end the encounter before it begins, or cause one or 
  more players to sit out the entirety of the encounter (and the 
  rest of the adventuring day!), which isn’t very fun. 
  Noticing the Poison
  Instead of removing the poisoning from the encounter (which 
  would be a shame), you can give the characters a fighting 
  chance, allowing each character who is given a poisoned 
  cup to make a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to realize 
  that the drink smells or tastes weirdly, before swallowing 
  the poison. This allows them an extra chance to avoid being 
  poisoned, although they won’t realize in time to prevent other 
  characters from drinking the poison.
  Adding More Saving Throws
  Additionally, you can have a character that drinks the 
  poison make three saving throws instead of one. The first 
  immediately, the second after three rounds, and the third 
  after a minute. On the first failure they become poisoned 
  and on the second failure they become incapacitated for the 
  duration (4d6 hours). This gives them at least a chance to 
  participate in the fight that inevitably breaks out when they 
  realize Amrik is trying to poison them!
  Handling Metagaming
  Finally, poisoning is always a bit hard to handle, since 
  players might insist that their character wouldn’t have drunk 
  anything, once you inform them that they’ve been poisoned. 
  On the other hand, you can’t very well ask the players if their 
  characters drink what they’re offered without making it 
  painfully obvious that the drinks have been poisoned.
  To get around this, you can have Amrik toast the characters 
  (for their cunning or some other perceived accomplishment), 
  the city of Baldur’s Gate or the disappeared Archduke Ulder 
  Ravengard, prompting the players to declare whether their 
  characters participate in the toast or not. Alternatively, you 
  can have players who argue that their characters wouldn’t 
  have drunk anything make a DC 13 Intelligence check, 
  allowing them to have abstained on a success.
  Vanthampur Villa
  The Vanthampur Villa is where the party will finally unravel 
  the conspiracy, face off with Duke Vanthampur and, most 
  importantly, High Overseer Thavius Kreeg. Once again this 
  looks much like a straightforward dungeon crawl, but there’s 
  a few things it pays to be aware of.
  V13. Thurstwell Vanthampur
  Thurstwell has important information, as well as the infernal 
  puzzle box, which is vital to the story. There’s no guarantee, 
  however, that the party will go up before they head down 
  into the sewer complex. Returning to fight Thurstwell after 
  clearing out the sewers will seem a bit flat, so you may want 
  to make it more likely that they confront Thurstwell first. 
  If Mortlock or Amrik is with the party, you can have them 
  direct the party to Thurstwell – Amrik because he sees 
  a chance to escape while the party kills his brother, and 
  Mortlock because he wants vengeance. Alternatively, you 
  can have the characters hear sounds of shrill shrieking and 
  frustration, as Thurstwell is working on the puzzle box, 
  hopefully drawing the party upstairs.
  V26. Temple of Zariel
  There’s a magical mace hiding in this statue’s head and 
  neck, which a character can find by breaking the statue. That 
  seems slightly unlikely – plus, +1 weapons are a bit bland. 
  You can substitute this mace for Heavensfall (see page 3 
  of this document), and have one or more characters with 
  a ‘righteous disposition’ sense something calling to them 
  from within the statue, as they fight the barbed devil in this 
  chamber, increasing the chances that they’ll actually find it.
  V36. Vanthampur Vault
  In the book, there’s not much advice on what to do with 
  Thavius Kreeg if the party doesn’t kill him. Indeed, it seems 
  that Thavius Kreeg is meant to die, so that the party has a 
  chance to face him later in hell. But, Thavius is also described 
  as a cowardly liar, so it’s unlikely he’d provoke the party into 
  killing him.
  If you want to make Thavius’ death a bit more likely, you 
  can have the former High Overseer break down in a fit of 
  guilt and self-pity, as the party levels accusations against him. 
  Moaning stuff like “Oh, what have I done, what have I done?” 
  and “Why me? Why? Oh gods, why?” before finally collapsing 
  in a sobbing heap on the floor, face-down. As the party – or 
  Reya – turns him over, they see black foam on his lips and 
  a small vial in his hand. Dying from the self-administered 
  assassin’s blood-poison, Thavius only has the time to mutter: 
  “Fools... There’s no sense fighting it... The Duke of Avernus 
  will get her way. She always does...” 
  Alternatively, you can have Reya Mantlemorn – if she’s 
  with the party – kill the infernal High Overseer in a fit of 
  righteous rage, once she realizes his treachery. This rash 
  and foul misdeed might become a source of regret for the 
  young woman, and serve as her motivation for traveling 
  into the Nine Hells, where she hopes to find atonement. You 
  can even have the Flaming Fist accuse the party of being 
  co-conspirators to the murder, using it as leverage to press 
  the party into going to Avernus to save Elturel.
  
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
  1111
  Chapter 2: Elturel Has Fallen
  Chapter 2: Elturel Has Fallen
  C
  hapter 2: Elturel Has Fallen cranks up 
  the heat and kicks things into gear as the 
  characters are sent straight to Hell! The heroes 
  get their first taste of hell facing a steady stream 
  of bloodthirsty devils, demons and undead while 
  scrambling to make sense of what has befallen 
  the holy city of Elturel – and how to undo it!
  Running Chapter 2
  The second chapter of Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus 
  presents an exciting and tumultuous scenario as the 
  characters arrive in the fallen – or risen, depending on your 
  perspective – city of Elturel, as it hovers precariously above 
  the River Styx in the First Layer of Hell. On the following 
  pages, you will find advice on how to run various sections of 
  the chapter, but first, let’s take a broader look at the chapter 
  and discuss how to handle its pacing.
  Overview and Pacing
  Chapter 2 has four major plot points, also outlined in the 
  book (BG:DiA, pg. 53): arrive in Elturel, get to the High Hall, 
  save Ulder at the Grand Cemetery and escape from Elturel.
  It’s important to emphasize that Chapter 2 is a very dense 
  chapter, where a lot happens in a very short span of (in-game) 
  time. All told, the characters are only meant to be in Elturel 
  for two days, with only a single long rest after clearing the 
  High Hall keeping them going through the many encounters 
  in the chapter. Prescribing 6-8 combat encounters on both 
  of these adventuring days, the chapter adheres closely to the 
  official guidelines for an adventuring day (DMG, pg. 84) – 
  something we don’t actually see very often.
  However, dense adventuring days like these only work if 
  the characters rest as prescribed – which isn’t always the 
  case. The characters might feel like they could use a long rest 
  before braving the dangers of the High Hall, or may choose 
  to skip the long rest before going to the Grand Cemetery, 
  because they feel they have to hurry.
  Preventing Premature Resting
  You can keep the party from trying to rest prematurely during 
  their trek towards the High Hall by describing how their 
  characters know that the combination of fiendish attacks, 
  lightning strikes and quakes make it impossible to take a long 
  rest in any of the ruined houses. This forces the characters 
  to continue on towards High Hall, even if they start to feel 
  like they’re getting low on resources. Only when they’re deep 
  in the catacombs and have ensured no fiends are inside, will 
  they be able to take a long rest successfully.
  Making Sure They're Rested
  If the characters don’t want to rest at High Hall – even though 
  you know they will sorely need that rest later – you can have 
  Pherria insist that they take the rest: “You’re no good to us or 
  Ulder if you’re dead. You need to rest before you go”. If they 
  still refuse, you can have her use the altar of Torm’s (area H3) 
  healing ability to at least replenish their hit points, and then 
  dial down some of the coming encounters.
  Adjusting the Pace
  Even if you do the above, you’ll probably still have to adjust 
  things as you go. Don’t be afraid to skip the last encounter of 
  the day if the party has already been pushed to their limit – or 
  make it a bit tougher, if they haven’t been pushed enough!
  You can also change the pace completely. If you pile on 
  with random encounters or beef existing encounters up, it’s 
  probably not an issue if the characters take several long rests. 
  On the other hand, reducing the amount of encounters – of 
  which there are plenty – can allow the party to complete the 
  entire chapter in a single day of adventuring, if you want that.
  
  12
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   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN
  Encounters in Elturel
  The campaign book provides you with 10 different encounters 
  which you can place in the streets of Elturel. The intention 
  is that whenever the party moves from a named location to 
  another, there’s a 50% chance of an encounter. 
  As is always the case with random encounters, they should 
  never feel like something the party has to slog through, but 
  instead something that’s entertaining and which contributes 
  to the story. Below we’ll go over the random encounters, 
  offering thoughts on which encounters to run and how to run 
  them, finishing with advice on how to plan the encounters.
  Collapsed Building 
  This encounter is a ‘skill challenge’ in all but name, 
  something that fourth edition formalized, and which it’s 
  awesome to see in an official fifth edition campaign. The 
  premise is simple: perform six DC 10 skill checks before 
  failing three in order to save three NPCs. You can increase 
  the stakes – or make them obvious to the players – by having 
  each failure result in the death of one of the NPCs (a misstep 
  causes a beam to fall and crush a dwarf, etc.) and describing 
  the panicked reactions of the remaining trapped NPCs.
  You can also do as the book suggests and combine the 
  encounter with the ‘Hateful Patrol’-encounter, having the 
  devils show up after the first failed skill check, or three 
  successful checks, whichever comes first. Describe to the 
  players how it the building looks like will collapse in a matter 
  of seconds, if they don’t do anything. During the encounter, it 
  counts as a failed check if a round passes without at least one 
  character spending their action trying to save the dwarves. 
  This puts the party in a dilemma they will have to face 
  many times in Avernus: protect themselves or save others? 
  Cynicism or altruism? If the party manages to save any of the 
  NPCs even while fighting off devils, have Velkora be among 
  the survivors and reward the party by having her cast cure 
  wounds up to three times on injured characters.
  Cry for Help
  This encounter is interesting because it introduces an 
  incubus in the guise of a noncombatant to the party, although 
  the description in the campaign book doesn’t elaborate on 
  how to handle the incubus and develop the situation. That 
  is a shame, because the encounter is most fun if the party 
  discovers Orin’s true identity – or at least suspects him.
  If you run the ‘Cry for Help’-encounter, you can develop the 
  situation by doing one or more of the following:
  • Faltrax takes a particular interest in the Shield of the 
  Hidden Lord if the party has it, asking about its origin and 
  make. If the party never becomes suspicious of Orin, you 
  can have him attempt to steal the shield during a rest.
  • If the characters aren’t suspicious, Reya or even Harkina 
  (see ‘Unwelcome Party’) asks about Orin’s smithy (“What 
  street did you say your shop was on?”). Unable to provide 
  a satisfying answer, Orin stealthily uses his Charm-
  ability in an attempt to put the woman under his sway. 
  If he succeeds, he instructs her telepathically to lower 
  suspicions: “Oh, yes, of course, now I remember your 
  smithy...”. This should serve to rouse the party’s suspicions, 
  while also giving Faltrax something to bargain with (a 
  charmed NPC) if discovered.
  Ghastly Meal
  The party sees four suspicious figures sneaking into a 
  residence, where they can find them again eating the remains 
  of the family that used to live there. After the ordeal, the party 
  finds a young girl crying in a cupboard.
  In itself, ‘Ghastly Meal’ isn’t a particularly interesting 
  encounter, although it does give you a chance to underscore 
  the gruesome reality of Elturel’s fall. You can make the 
  encounter more meaningful and interesting by tying Shorah 
  and the ghasts more to the story.
  The ghasts can be used to foreshadow Gideon Lightward 
  and the Grand Cemetery, explaining how they were baptized 
  by the crazed zealot of Zariel (whom they of course describe 
  as an unparalleled genius and infernal savior!) and brought 
  back to life after they perished during Elturel’s fall, if the 
  characters question them. They can be as vague as you want 
  them to be, muttering and shrieking pieces of information in 
  erratic bursts, such as: “Gideon Lightward! Zariel’s redeemer, 
  baptizer, savior..” or “The cemetery! Rebooorn, ah-ha-ha! 
  From life to death to life again, now feast, yes, we must feast 
  on their flesh!”
  Similarly, you can have the young girl Shorah Hevrun 
  be the niece of Seltern Obranch (area H4) or Pherria Jynks 
  (area H16). In this manner, she can serve to spur the party on 
  towards the High Hall, where she’s sure her relative is. Upon 
  reunion, the relative showers the party with gratitude – and 
  you can give them Inspiration as prescribed in the encounter.
  Ghoul Pack
  The party encounters seven ghouls in the streets, one of them 
  a rogue in possession of a +1 studded leather armor and a 
  potion of invisibility. Beyond the treasure provided by this 
  encounter – which is something, that is always popular with 
  players – there’s little else going on here. There’s a few ways 
  you can enhance the encounter, however. 
  First, you can ramp up the intensity of the scene by 
  increasing the number of ghouls to two dozen. Describe how 
  the slobbering ghouls come howling down the street, looking 
  into alleys in search of prey. If the party has some sense, 
  they’ll probably try to hide. As long as their group Dexterity 
  (Stealth) check isn’t completely horrendous (more than half 
  beats a DC of 10), have them successfully hide from most of 
  the pack. However, they’re spotted by the ghoul rogue coming 
  at the rear of the mob, who directs a handful of other ghouls 
  toward the party. This should give the encounter a bit more of 
  a cinematic feel. If the party chooses to attack the two dozen 
  ghouls, they should be able to handle them with some well-
  placed spells (fireball comes to mind), and if they decide to 
  flee instead, you can turn the encounter into a chase instead 
  (DMG pg. 252). Additionally, as suggested under ‘Ghastly 
  Meal’, you can have the rogue ghoul foreshadow Gideon 
  Lightward by blurting out orders like: “Yess... More food for 
  the Savior! You can eats two, but we bring the rest to the 
  cemetery for baptissm! Yess!”
  Second, there’s the magical treasure. A potion of invisibility 
  is awesome, but a +1 studded leather armor may not be the 
  most interesting treasure. A glamoured studded leather (you 
  can include or exclude the +1 bonus to AC at your preference) 
  has far more utility, without being much more powerful. 
  Using Elturel’s Hazards
  Several hazards face the characters as they travel through 
  Elturel (BG:DiA, pg. 55). You can use these to spice up combat 
  a bit. During combat, roll a d20 on Initiative count 20 each 
  round. On a 1, a quake hits the city, forcing standing creatures 
  to make a DC 10 Dexterity save or fall prone. On a 20, lightning 
  strikes nearby, forcing everyone to make a DC 10 Constitution 
  save or be blinded until Initiative 20 of the next round.
  
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
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  Hateful Patrol
  A merregon and three spined devils looking for demons and 
  survivors in the streets of Elturel. This encounter doesn’t 
  offer too much on its own, especially when considering that 
  the party will already be fighting spined devils on Torm’s 
  Bridges and merregons inside the High Hall Cathedral. 
  As previously suggested, you can liven this encounter up 
  by combining it with the ‘Collapsed Building’-encounter. 
  Otherwise, you’re probably best served simply running a 
  different encounter – there’s plenty to choose from.
  Imp Sales Pitch
  An imp offering an infernal bargain to a hungry halfling – this 
  encounter should be both fun and fast. A social encounter is 
  a good change of pace, while also introducing the characters 
  to the ruthless economy of the Nine Hells. Just make sure you 
  get your players to interact with the encounter – allow them to 
  overhear the imp reading the terms of the contract back to the 
  halfling, as they spot the pair speaking in an alley: “So, we’re 
  agreed: for the low price of your ancestral soul – as defined 
  in section 13c – you’ll receive a month’s worth of food, to be 
  delivered immediately. It’s the best bargain you’ll get here.”
  Narzugon Cavalier
  This encounter serves as a stark reminder of the powers 
  in play and the dangers ahead. If you don’t want to spend 
  more time on encounters before the characters reach their 
  destination, this encounter is a good one to use. It only takes 
  a few minutes  to serve its purpose: warn the party that they 
  shouldn’t try to fight every fiend they come across.
  Spouts of Hellfire
  This encounter should also be resolved quickly. Note: It’s 
  not immediately clear from the description, but it seems the 
  party gets both the silvered longsword and the potion of giant 
  strength (frost) – a nice reward for a single Dexterity save.
  Vrock Philosophy
  This encounter has a fun premise, but needs to be handled 
  with some care. If you run this encounter, make sure you 
  present the vrock in a way that makes it likely the party will 
  interact with it. You can describe how the players hear a 
  rasping voice from just above, before they see the dejected 
  vrock sitting on a rooftop near them. Use phrases like:
  • “It just seems so pointless. I slaughter until I am 
  slaughtered. Then I am given life again, only to do the same 
  again?”
  • “Can a being born to murder and slaughter change? What 
  would I even do instead?”
  • “What is the meaning of it all? Is there any? Perhaps it 
  would feel more fulfilling to take a life, if I knew what value 
  it held?”
  If the characters speak with the vrock and succeed on 
  their Persuasion check, you can also have the vrock aid the 
  characters in their next combat encounter (such as with 
  the devils on Torm’s Bridges or the hell hounds in front of 
  the High Hall Cathedral). However, even though it is more 
  philosophical than the typical demon, it is still a spawn of 
  chaos. Thus, while readily throwing itself into battle against 
  devils, it continues the fight after its initial prey has been 
  destroyed, instead turning its attention to the characters 
  with murderous fury. If a character takes an action to calm 
  the vrock and succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) 
  check, they can get the vrock to calm back down, upon which 
  it immediately takes off, shrieking philosophical musings as it 
  flies away to discover the true meaning of its existence.
  Zombie Horde
  This isn’t the most inspired encounter, and zombies – even a 
  dozen of them – will probably prove an easy challenge for the 
  party. Since zombies can’t talk, they can’t really give the party 
  much information either. You’re probably better off running 
  ‘Ghastly Meal’ or ‘Ghoul Pack’ if you want to challenge your 
  party with some undead foes.
  Planning Encounters
  Just because they’re called random encounters, they don’t 
  have to actually be random. You may find that planning which 
  encounters to use and when to use them is preferable to 
  simply rolling on the table as the party travels around.
  Since there’s plenty of combat encounters during Chapter 
  2 – nearly a dozen not counting any of the random encounters 
  – you’d be perfectly fine not running any extra encounters 
  at all. However, there some fun options here, many of which 
  don’t necessarily involve combat, so you can certainly also get 
  away with including several encounters as the party travels 
  through Elturel. As long as you space them out properly 
  and choose encounters that offer more than just combat – 
  interesting roleplay scenarios, background information, fun 
  challenges, etc. – you can easily place an encounter between 
  each major location in Elturel. Here’s an example of how the 
  party’s time in Elturel could look:
  • Arrival in Elturel: Unwelcome Party
  • Random Encounter: Vrock Philosophy
  • Torm’s Bridges: Bridge Guardians
  • Random Encounter: Imp Sales Pitch
  • High Hall Cathedral: Hell Hounds + 4 devil groups
  — LONG REST –
  • Random Encounter: Collapsed Building
  • Grand Cemetery: Undead and Demon Encounters
  • Random Encounter: Narzugon Cavalier
  • High Hall Cathedral: Ritual of Returning
  
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   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN
  Torm's Bridges
  The idea is that the party must cross one of Torm’s two 
  bridges on the way from their arrival point to the High Hall. 
  Guarding the bridge are two bearded devils and four spined 
  devils – a moderate encounter for 5th level adventurers. The 
  encounter is made easier both because characters will likely 
  get the jump on the devils, and also because the party can 
  activate holy runes on the bridge, dealing a bunch of radiant 
  damage to the bearded devils.
  While the encounter should be easy enough to run, your 
  party might choose an alternate route, which the book doesn’t 
  prepare you for. We’ll briefly cover these options below.
  Deception or Diplomacy
  The characters may think to talk their way past the devils 
  instead of fighting them. Perhaps they can disguise 
  themselves as devils bringing prisoners across, or maybe 
  they’ll even attempt to bargain with the devils.
  You can spice up a social encounter with the bridge crew 
  by giving the two bearded devils a little personality. Argash 
  is a cunning and ambitious devil, while Yerrok has made 
  his spurns through sheer prowess in battle. The two devils 
  are both vying for ascension and are interested in only three 
  things: following orders (guarding the bridge), enriching 
  themselves (slaves, loot, magical items), or pressing innocent 
  souls into their service.
  When approached, Argash introduces itself and its group in 
  infernal: “Argash of the 12 Infantry Legion, ‘Lucille’s Whip’. 
  Who’s you?”
  Deception
  If the characters have disguised themselves as devils, Argash 
  will ask them which legion they belong to. A character 
  can remember names of real devil legions with a DC 15 
  Intelligence (History check), or try to make one up on the 
  spot (which should be fun!). Argash and Yerrok don’t know 
  the name of every legion in Avernus, so any suitable name 
  and a DC 10 Charisma (Deception) check should be enough 
  to convince them. However, if they are bringing ‘prisoners’ 
  (undisguised characters or NPCs), Yerrok insists on taking 
  one for itself. Unless the party can convince the devil that this 
  would be against Zariel or Lucille’s wishes (DC 13 Deception 
  or Persuasion), they’ll have to hand over a ‘prisoner’ or fight 
  the devils to get by.
  Diplomacy
  If the characters approach the devils with an offer of a 
  bargain, they’ll have to pay a steep price to get Argash and 
  Yerrok to disregard their orders. However, as long as the 
  characters don’t outright say they’re trying to save Elturel 
  or Ulder Ravengard, a DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check 
  and a prisoner, a magical item or 500gp worth of loot for 
  each of the two bearded devils, should be enough to grant 
  them passage across the bridge (although, if nothing else is 
  stipulated in the agreement, the devils may still choose to 
  attack the party once they’ve crossed!).
  Stealth
  The characters may also choose to sneak their way past the 
  devils. There’s a few obvious ways to do this.
  Crawling Across
  If the characters want to crawl along or on the underside 
  of the bridge, allow them a DC 13 group Dexterity (Stealth) 
  check to approach the bridge unseen. Once there, they must 
  succeed on a group DC 10 Athletics check (assuming they 
  have rope) to begin climbing along the sides or underside of 
  the bridge. On a failure, they make noise, causing the devils 
  to notice them and each character who failed the check 
  starts combat hanging precariously from the bridge’s side 
  or bottom. Halfway across, the party has to make the same 
  two checks, with the same consequences of failure. If they 
  succeed, they manage to cross the bridge unnoticed.
  Causing a Distraction
  The characters might be able to cause a distraction, although 
  making the devils completely vacate the bridge is very hard. 
  The bearded devils sends a few spined devils to investigate 
  minor disturbances (a single demon, a few human survivors, 
  a strange sound, etc.) and will only leave their positions if 
  something really calls their attention: a flock of demons, a 
  command from a superior devil (such as a narzugon) – or 
  if a character activates the runes on the bridge. Still, even 
  a minor distraction could give the party advantage on their 
  checks to stealth by the devils, or allow them to start combat 
  in an advantageous position.  
  
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
  15
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  High Hall
  The High Hall is where the characters will link up with a 
  large portion of the city’s frightened survivors and be pointed 
  toward the Grand Cemetery and Ulder Ravengard. The High 
  Hall is basically a dungeon crawl, but is written in an unusual 
  manner, where it’s left entirely up to you, the DM, to place the 
  various encounters inside the High Hall as you see fit.
  Since the encounters aren’t tied to specific locations, you 
  can decide exactly when you want to spring an encounter 
  on the party. Take this opportunity to assess the strength 
  and resources of the characters. They’ll most likely take a 
  long rest after clearing out the High Hall – the campaign 
  book expects as much – so try to push them to the edge, but 
  not beyond. If you can see they’re getting down to their last 
  resources, consider skipping one or two of the encounters.
  Below we’ll go over some the locations in the High Hall, as 
  well as make some suggestions for placing encounters.
  H3. Central Altar
  This area is the heart of the Cathedral and also serves two 
  important purposes. First, characters might be able to regain 
  all(!) their hit points here. Second, they need to find a secret 
  door here to get down to the catacombs.
  As for the first purpose, you may want to either remove this 
  feature or advertise it strongly, depending on the party’s state. 
  If they’re already going pretty strong, there’s no reason to top 
  them off. However, if they’re getting dangerously low, you can 
  have a pious or knowledgeable character sense the altar’s 
  ability even without examining it – and, if you’re feeling really 
  friendly, remove the required DC 15 Charisma (Religion) 
  check to acquire the healing.
  As for the second part, considering that the characters 
  need to get down to the catacombs to advance the story, it’s 
  hidden by a pretty steep DC that also requires a character 
  to actively look for it. Consider allowing any character who 
  spends a reasonable amount of time – five minutes or so – 
  searching the altar to automatically find the secret door. To 
  make sure the party realizes there’s a secret door to look for 
  at all, you can have Seltern Obranch, the druid in area H4, tell 
  the party about the secret entrance, or allow a character to 
  find humanoid and devil tracks leading to the altar with a DC 
  10 Wisdom (Survival or Perception) check.
  You can also kill two birds with one stone by placing one 
  of the encounters here, since the area has a lot of space for 
  a good encounter. You can have the party surprise a group 
  of devils here, who are examining the altar to find the secret 
  door. You can make it even more obvious by having a devil 
  exclaim: “Demon’s blood! I swear on my soul, I saw them go 
  down here, there has to be a way to open it!”. If you place your 
  encounter here, make the battle more interesting by having 
  a clever devil make its last stand by Zariel’s altar in area H6 
  (which gives non-worshipers of Zariel vulnerability to all 
  damage).
  H7. Pipe Organ
  The choir level offers a cool opportunity for the party to 
  interact with their environment by playing the pipe organs. 
  Additionally, it’s also a good location for an encounter, where 
  devils can surround and attack the party from around the 
  pipe organ. The party might find devils here already, or 
  attract them if they sit down to play.
  H15. Unknown Hero 
  This place has a cool story, but doesn’t provide much 
  information on how the party would learn it. You can allow 
  a player to remember the story with a DC 15 Intelligence 
  (History) check, or perhaps even replace the Unknown Hero 
  with someone bonded to one of your player’s characters 
  (such as a friend, mentor, or relative), giving the burial place 
  even greater impact. At your discretion, you can also replace 
  the hero’s nonmagical greatsword with the greatsword 
  Redemption shown below.
  Since this area is painful to fiends, it’s also a cool place to 
  put an encounter. Fiends might ambush the party as they are 
  looking at the tomb, but be held at bay by the discomfort they 
  feel if they come closer. They’ll try to bait the characters out 
  of the holy zone, or be forced to fight through the discomfort, 
  if the characters are clever.
  H16. Main Crypts 
  It seems suitably dramatic to have the characters arrive just 
  in time to save the survivors from a host of devils. You can 
  have a clever devil – such as the white abishai, Victuusa, 
  or the barbed devil, Dreb – stand over the corpses of the 
  last few knights, who died defending the scared survivors. 
  The devil is negotiating a contract with Pherria Jynks, who’s 
  about to sign over her soul to the devil, in return for the 
  safety of the other survivors. The contract stipulates only 
  that the devil offering the contract won’t harm them, not that 
  any other devil or creature won’t – a fact that Pherria Jynks 
  has not noticed, but that a character might realize with a 
  DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check. Interference in the 
  negotiations will very likely cause combat to break out.
  An important point here! Remember to underscore the fact 
  that Pherria is an expert in possession and exorcism, so the 
  characters will know that she can help them with Ravengard, 
  after they rescue him from the Grand Cemetery.
  Redemption
  Weapon (greatsword), very rare (requires attunement)
  Once per turn, when you reduce a fiend or undead to 
  0 hit points with this magical weapon, you can have 
  that creature instantly evaporate in a radiant burst. All 
  fiends and undead within 30 feet of that creature take 
  2d8 radiant damage and must succeed on a DC 15 
  Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of 
  their next turn.
  Undying. While you are holding this magic weapon 
  and damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you can choose 
  to remain conscious instead. You still must make death 
  saving throws, and you suffer the normal effects of taking 
  damage while at 0 hit points. However, if you would die 
  due to failing death saving throws, you don’t die until the 
  end of your next turn, and you die only if you still have 0 hit 
  points. This effect ends if you regain hit points. Once used, 
  this property can’t be used again until the next dawn.
  
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   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN
  Grand Cemetery
  The Grand Cemetery is another cool location, where the 
  characters get to interact with both fiends and undead. Below 
  we’ll go over some of the locations within the cemetery’s 
  chapel, offering advice on how to run them.
  G1. Walk of Bravery
  This is an exciting encounter, with shadows and specters 
  coming out of pillars carved to resemble old heroes. Make 
  sure to let the characters remember the names with a History 
  check and discover the pillars’ ability to harm undead before 
  combat with the undead begins. You can also consider 
  allowing a pillar to be activated with a bonus action, making 
  it more likely that the characters will use this fun feature.
  One of the specters moves away to warn Gideon that the 
  characters are coming, prompting Gideon to move to G4. 
  It isn’t described in the book, but we can assume that he’ll 
  approach the chapel from behind, entering through G3. Still, 
  any character who’s come around the corner will notice 
  Gideon slip out of his living quarters.
  G3. Chapel of Mourning
  A +2 weapon is hidden here, but to get it, a character has 
  to kneel before the window and say a prayer – which isn’t 
  very likely without any prompting. If you want to make this 
  a bit more likely, you can describe that Lathander’s morning 
  prayer is written on the stained glass window, and allow 
  a character (or any character who succeeds on a DC 10 
  Religion check) to know that followers of Lathander would 
  usually pray before this window. If you think a +2 weapon is 
  a bit bland – or skews bounded accuracy too much – consider 
  giving a lucky character Redemption instead, if you haven’t 
  done so already.
  G4. Vestment Chamber
  The encounter in this area has some complexity. Two 
  mezzoloth are here – which appear to serve Gideon 
  Lightward, although the book doesn’t explicitly say so – 
  and are soon attacked by a fiendish giant scorpion and 
  five dretches. Gideon is either present already – because a 
  specter warned him – or arrives during the encounter. 
  Now, what happens here both depends on your characters 
  and on how you play Gideon Lightward. The most interesting 
  and fun scenario is if the characters make a temporary 
  alliance with Gideon, only to have to deal with him later (see 
  ‘Leaving the Chapel’). To make this scenario more likely, 
  play Gideon Lightward as the crazed fanatic he is, but have 
  him appeal to the characters by openly offering information 
  and suggesting they aid him in destroying the demons. If the 
  characters profess that they are here to save Ravengard, you 
  can have Gideon seem to accept this and allow the characters 
  to pass, planning to take the matter up with the party when 
  they leave the chapel again (after they’ve helped him clear the 
  place of demons).
  G9. Main Ossuary
  A quasit spy is here, which we’re told will trail the party. To 
  give the characters a chance to spot it, you can roll a Dexterity 
  (Stealth) check with advantage (because it’s invisible) for 
  the quasit (it has +5 on Stealth). If the roll is lower than a 
  character’s passive Perception, that character hears the 
  quasit – perhaps tiny claws clacking on the ground or the 
  scrape of a tail against the tiles. This allows them a chance to 
  use magic to uncover the source of the noise, or attack (with 
  disadvantage) the square where the quasit is.
  G12. Vault of Ascendance
  At the end of their journey, the party arrives here to find the 
  stunned Ulder Ravengard and a demonic portal. After some 
  seconds, three minotaurs are supposed to appear. Since the 
  party has slogged through two encounters with minotaur 
  skeletons already, you can spice things up a little and throw 
  a howler or two barlguras at the party instead, which should 
  be about as dangerous an encounter, while still fitting the 
  theme. Below you’ll also find statistics for the Helm of Torm’s 
  Sight, if you want your characters to be able to use it.
  Leaving the Chapel
  We’ve been told about the multitude of skeletons and undead 
  that haunt the cemetery, and the book says that Gideon will 
  question the party, but otherwise leaves it up to you to decide 
  how to handle the encounter with Gideon.
  If the party hasn’t dealt with Gideon already, you can 
  assess their strength and try to tailor an encounter that’ll 
  give them a perilous challenge, making them spend their 
  last resources of the adventuring day. Have Gideon wait for 
  them as they leave area G2, surrounded by as many zombies, 
  skeletons and shadows as you think will be a suitable 
  challenge for the party in their current situation. Depending 
  on your party, Gideon plus 2-5 of each type of undead is 
  probably about right.
  It seems fitting that Gideon will demand that Ulder 
  Ravengard is killed – thinking that the duke is responsible 
  for rousing the demons. He might even promise that the party 
  can keep the Helm of Torm’s Sight (‘We’ll cut the demon 
  lover’s head off – what you do with it after is up to you...’). If 
  the party refuses, they’ll have to come up with a good lie or 
  explanation (DC 15 Deception or Persuasion, as described in 
  the book) to get by without a fight.
  If the party has already dealt with Gideon, or get by him 
  without much of a scratch, and you feel like they could use a 
  final challenge to round the day off, spring one of the random 
  encounters from earlier on them. In either fight, have enemies 
  attack Ulder Ravengard – drawn by the helmet’s magic – 
  prompting the party to defend him and making for a more 
  interesting encounter.
  Helm of Torm's Sight
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  While attuned to this helm and wearing it, you have 
  advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks made to determine 
  a creature’s true intentions.
  You can also cast the spell commune using this helm, 
  without spending a spell slot and requiring no material 
  components. You can only use the spell to commune with 
  the deity Torm, who answers you through cryptic visions 
  and sensations. Once you use this feature, you can’t do so 
  again until you’ve finished a long rest.
  Demonic Curse. When you attune to this helm for the 
  first time, you must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw. 
  On a failure, you’re stunned until the helm is removed. As 
  long as you’re stunned this way, but still alive, the helm 
  can only be removed with a wish spell, or an elaborate 
  ritual by a follower of Torm. You can repeat this saving 
  throw every 24 hours, ending the stunned condition on a 
  success.
  
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
   CHAPTER 2: ELTUREL HAS FALLEN 
  1717
  Escaping the Siege
  The last part of Chapter 2 deals with the revelations granted 
  by the Helm of Torm’s Sight, as well as how the party can 
  escape the siege of Elturel to go look for the Sword of Zariel.
  Ritual of Returning
  This ritual is an inventive and exciting way to deal with 
  Ulder Ravengard’s situation, and also makes for a neat little 
  encounter. If the characters perform the ritual while very 
  worn down, you may want to dial the encounter down by 
  reducing the force damage dealt by the ritual, and maybe 
  remove a single will-o’-wisp.
  If you want more show and less tell, you can also have the 
  character who’s holding the sword during the ritual see what 
  Ulder Ravengard sees, describing a part of the vision for 
  each round they manage to maintain the connection. This 
  could make the characters feel more involved, instead of just 
  receiving a narration from Ulder afterward.
  The Path Forward
  This section is where you lay the course for the next chapter 
  – and for the rest of the campaign, really – through the 
  combined efforts of Ravengard and Lulu. You may encounter 
  a few issues here, depending on your characters. 
  First, just as in Chapter 1, it’s heavily assumed that the 
  party is already dedicated to saving Elturel, and will do so 
  without question or additional reward. Second, Lulu tells the 
  party that she remembers the kenku and Fort Knucklebone, 
  but doesn’t really explain why that would help them find the 
  sword – it’s all a bit vague and not entirely logical.
  As for the first issue, the Additional Hooks described 
  earlier can provide some inspiration, but you may still want 
  to underscore why your party should try to help Elturel at this 
  point. You can play on the party’s sense of self-preservation 
  (Pherria: “It’s far easier to get into Hell, than to get out of 
  it. This sword might be the only way to bring Elturel and 
  everyone in it – including you – back to the Material Plane!”) 
  or even their greed (Ulder: “Although I am thankful for the 
  assistance you have provided already, I fear Elturel still needs 
  your aid. Find this sword, save the city, and both I and the 
  treasury of Baldur’s Gate will be forever in your debt!”). 
  The second issue underscores something that could bother 
  some DMs throughout the campaign: Lulu’s appearing and 
  disappearing memories are used to guide the characters 
  through Avernus, basically telling them (often without much 
  of an explanation) where they must go and why.
  By making a few alterations to the scene, we can present 
  a more logical – and perhaps more exciting – way of sending 
  the party toward Fort Knucklebone. Start by leaving out 
  the last part of the vision, instead ending with the winged 
  elephant looking at the bloody scab growing out of the 
  ground. Have Ulder point to Lulu and say “You! You’re the 
  winged elephant from the vision. You know where the sword 
  is!”. This causes Lulu to emit a sad trumpet sound, as she 
  bemoans the fact that she can’t remember anything. The 
  objective now isn’t to get to Fort Knucklebone because of the 
  two kenku, but to find someone who can help Lulu remember. 
  If the party doesn’t come to this conclusion by themselves, 
  you can have Pherria interject: “Restoring her memory is 
  beyond me. But in a place like this, there has to be someone 
  powerful enough to unlock her memories. You need to get out 
  of the city and find that someone!”
  After this, there’s several ways the party can eventually find 
  their way to Fort Knucklebone. If they have the Shield of the 
  Hidden Lord with them, Gargauth can tell them about Mad 
  Maggie, a night hag seer, who lives in a place called junkyard 
  nearby. You can also let them wander around the plains of 
  Avernus for a bit, before they meet one of the other warlords 
  (who is able to point them toward the night hag) or they run 
  into Chukka and Clonk (who may or may not remember Lulu) 
  as the two kenku are having problems with their infernal war 
  machine. Either way, there’s plenty of ways you can have the 
  party eventually going toward Fort Knucklebone, without 
  having Lulu literally point the way. 
  If you’d rather run the chapter entirely without Lulu, see 
  Handling NPCs earlier in this document.
  Leaving Elturel
  Before the party can get to Fort Knucklebone, they first have 
  to get out of Elturel – which is no small task. Below we’ll go 
  over some of the options provided in the book.
  Climbing Down
  Braving the chains is presented as an option, although a 
  dangerous one. Characters take damage every minute, 
  which may even cause them to fall. This means that how 
  quickly the characters can get down is important, but the 
  section doesn’t mention how long the chains are. Earlier in 
  the chapter, however, Elturel is described as hanging 500 ft. 
  above the ground, so we can go with that. This means it’ll 
  take the characters roughly 3 minutes to get down, climbing 
  at a normal pace (15 ft./turn). They can double that speed, 
  but must then make a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check each 
  turn or fall. You can make climbing at double speed a bit 
  more enticing by reducing the amount of checks to once per 
  minute (which rounds up to 2 if they hurry the whole way), 
  and allowing the same additional extra measures to prevent 
  falling because of the Athletics check as is afforded a creature 
  that fails their Constitution saving throw while climbing the 
  chain. Even with these precautions and the relatively easy 
  checks, odds that at least one character fails miserably and 
  pays the ultimate price is high enough to make this an option 
  best avoided.
  Flying
  This is by far the best option, but one you could consider 
  spicing up by throwing an encounter at the party while they’re 
  descending. Twelve spined devils as the book suggests 
  seems like a suitably dangerous encounter for an airborne 
  party, but you could also go with two vrocks or a black 
  abishai and a couple of imps. 
  Preventing Disaster
  If the characters somehow wind up surrounded by the devil 
  army below, it doesn’t have to the end of the campaign. You 
  can have the pit fiend Lucille tower over the characters, 
  preparing to order the army of devils to slaughter them, 
  just as Bel appears out of thin air (or contacts Lucille 
  telepathically) to intervene. Realizing that the characters have 
  the potential to throw a wrench in Zariel’s plans (perhaps 
  recognizing Lulu), the archduke’s treacherous advisor orders 
  Lucille to let the characters pass unharmed through the 
  ranks. Having no choice but to obey, Lucille hisses: “The 
  archduke will hear of this, Bel. And I do not think she will be 
  pleased,” before turning to the party and admonishing: “You 
  are lucky this time, but luck has a habit of running out quickly 
  in the Nine Hells. We will see each other again soon enough”. 
  While it never feels great to save the party with a deus ex 
  machina, it beats letting the campaign end just as it is getting 
  started – plus, it underscores the devils’ complicated and 
  eternally evolving hierarchy.
  
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  18
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
  Chapter 3: Avernus
  Chapter 3: Avernus
  C
  hapter 3: Avernus is where the 
  characters are finally plunged into the campaign’s 
  namesake, as the training wheels are taken 
  off and they’re sent into the desolate steppes 
  of Avernus to save Elturel (and themselves)! 
  Chapter 3 is an infernal hotbed of savage demons 
  and scheming devils, greedy warlords and 
  unscrupulous merchants, featuring devilish novelties such as 
  infernal warmachines, demon ichor and soul coins.
  Running Chapter 3
  Chapter 3 is the sandbox of Baldur’s Gate: Descent into 
  Avernus, and also where most of the campaign’s story is 
  told – from Zariel’s fall from grace and the tension between 
  her generals Olanthius and Haruman to the treacherous 
  archdevils Bel and Tiamat waiting for the right moment to 
  strike. In many ways, this is the pivotal chapter – the chapter 
  where the players will spend most of their time. 
  There’s a ton of material in the chapter, which also means 
  that we can’t cover everything in this guide. On the following 
  pages, we’ll go over the ‘mandatory’ content, offering advice 
  on how to run, enhance and expand upon the various 
  scenarios, locations, and encounters in the ‘Quest for the 
  Sword’. You’ll also find advice on how to open the chapter up 
  more, giving your players additional options and making it 
  feel more like a sandbox. 
  Quick note here, included in this download is also the 
  appendix ‘Avernus as a Sandbox’, a write-up on three blog 
  posts detailing how to make Avernus into a sandbox, which 
  can be used in conjunction with the information in this 
  chapter.
  Overview and Pacing
  Chapter 3: Avernus is the bread and butter of Baldur’s Gate: 
  Descent into Avernus. It’s a chapter that’s supposed to last a 
  while, allowing the characters to experience Avernus in its 
  full infernal glory. Experience it to such a degree, that the 
  characters progress all the way from 7th to 11th level.
  There is one issue with the chapter, as it is presented in the 
  book: it’s pace. Chapter 3 is supposed to cover a lot of ground 
  and heap experience on the party, but could end up being 
  shorter and feeling faster than you might want.
  Below we’ll quickly summarize the encounters in the 
  chapter and analyze the chapter’s pace, when sticking to the 
  encounters required to advance the story. In essence, Chapter 
  3 can be divided into three main sections: Fort Knucklebone, 
  Haruman’s Hill and the Path of Devils or Path of Demons. 
  We’ll measure each section in ‘adventuring days’, which 
  simply describes when the party has spent enough resources 
  – hit points, spell slots, class abilities, etc. – to warrant a long 
  rest (a single day of adventuring).
  Fort Knucklebone
  Fort Knucklebone features a lot of fun social encounters and 
  skill checks, but is pretty light on actual encounters:
  • Potential for a fight with up to 10+ redcaps
  • Dream 1 (low potential for a little psychic damage)
  • Dream 2 (six spined devils)
  • Dream 4 (low potential for a lot of psychic damage)
  At 7th level, this is barely worthy of an adventuring day, and 
  only if the characters get into a fight with the redcaps. If they 
  encounter Raggadragga and his lycanthropes before having a 
  long rest, it can probably make for a day of adventuring.
  Haruman's Hill
  At Haruman’s Hill, the characters are likely to face twenty 
  stirges, a nightmare and a narzugon. That’s a pretty deadly 
  encounter, and more than enough to give a fully-rested party 
  of 7th-level adventurers a run for their money – or simply 
  make them run away (here’s to hoping they have an infernal 
  war machine)! Assuming they do the latter, but take some 
  damage in the process, the eight hellwasps in the Hellwasp 
  Nest should round out the adventuring day – and advance 
  them to 8th level.
  
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
  19
  19
  Path of Demons
  The Path of Demons features some of the more interesting 
  locations in Avernus – including the flavorful Crypt of the 
  Hellriders – but doesn’t have a lot of combat encounters:
  • Spawning Trees (maybe five bearded devils)
  • Tower of Urm (maybe two nycaloths)
  • Obelisk (5d8 lightning damage + more effects)
  • Pit of Shummrath (eight spined devils)
  • Crypt of the Hellriders (maybe wraiths, ghosts and eight 
  mummies)
  • Kotschtchie’s Maw (chain devil and four hell hounds)
  The only two certain encounters here are at the Pit of 
  Shummrath and at Kostchtchie’s Maw. Even if we assume 
  that the two nycaloths actually ambush the party (only trying 
  to kidnap a character, not fight to the death), the entire Path of 
  Demons could still feasibly be completed without a long rest.
  Path of Devils
  • Bone Brambles (maybe three banshees, three shambling 
  mounds and a thorn trap, and then two banshees and a 
  treant)
  • Bel’s Forge (maybe four fire giants)
  • Sibriex (maybe two chain devils and an arcanoloth)
  • Wrecked Flying Fortress (six vrocks, five bone whelks, a 
  remorhaz, ten stirges and a warlord)
  The Path of Devils offers a bit more in the way of encounters. 
  The combat at the Bone Brambles and Bel’s Forge could 
  probably make for a good day of adventuring. The encounter 
  at the Sibriex is pretty deadly, even at 10th level, but isn’t 
  mandatory. The Wrecked Flying Fortress comes out to a 
  decent day of adventuring in itself. All told, you’re probably 
  looking at 2-3 days worth of encounters.
  So what's the problem?
  If we add the above together, the characters could quite 
  realistically finish Chapter 3 in less than a week of in-game 
  time. This is potentially problematic for two reasons.
  Sense of Accomplishment. The characters are supposed 
  to advance from 7th to 11th level. Doing so in a handful of 
  days just doesn’t seem realistic – plus you could possibly 
  likely have characters leveling up in the middle of an 
  adventuring day, if you want to fit the book’s pace. Big deal, 
  you might say, I’ll just insert some travel time between 
  encounters (Avernus allows you to decide for yourself how 
  long travel takes). And while that does solve this problem, it 
  inevitably leads to our second problem...
  Challenge and Tension. The best combat encounters are 
  the tense ones – when the characters are nearly spent after a 
  hard day of encounters, but have a last obstacle to overcome. 
  A single encounter of easy or medium difficulty – let’s say 
  eight spined devils – is trivial and pointless to a party of 8th 
  level adventurers if it is the only encounter of the day. The 
  challenge then becomes to pace Chapter 3 in a way, where 
  you can give your players a sense of true accomplishment 
  over a span of time, while still keeping adventuring days 
  tense and challenging.
  How Long Should it Take?
  A very important question is never answered in the campaign 
  book: How long should the characters’ quest for the Sword 
  of Zariel take? When will the chains of Avernus pull the 
  unfortunate city of Elturel into the River Styx?
  It is up to you to answer that question. The easy way out is to 
  give no answer, allowing the party to take as long as they need, 
  but a solid deadline can often help build tension and keep the 
  party moving forward. It seems like somewhere around 30 days 
  is a pretty good spot, but since you control the travel times 
  between destinations, you could easily put it as high as several 
  months (a flavorful deadline could be 99 days from it’s arrival 
  in Avernus). Going much higher might make it unrealistic that 
  there would be anything left of Elturel to save!
  A solid deadline has another benefit: it makes infernal 
  warmachines have a much greater impact. If you can make the 
  party understand that they need the infernal warmachines to 
  travel quickly enough, you’ll put them in a perpetual dilemma, 
  where their need for soul coins to fuel the machines is a 
  constant source of tension.
  
  20
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   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
  Finding the Right Pace
  There’s several tools you can use to better fit the pace of the 
  story to you and your players’ preferences, and – luckily – it 
  doesn’t have to be neither hard nor complicated to use them. 
  Below we’ll go over some of the options available to you. 
  Extending Travel Time
  Avernus comes with a map showing most of the locations 
  described in Chapter 3. The map doesn’t show true distances 
  however, so it’s left up to you to decide how far there’s 
  between locations and how long the party travels. 
  You can obviously use this to make the chapter feel longer 
  by simply extending travel time. However, as mentioned 
  earlier, if you allow the characters long rests between 
  each location, most encounters will end up feeling trivial 
  and without tension. The passage of time also has other 
  ramifications – there’s the threat of Elturel being pulled 
  down to the River Styx, as well as the war machines that use 
  soul coins to drive (see ‘How Long Should It Take?’ on the 
  previous page for a brief discussion of this).
  Adding More Encounters
  Chapter 3 comes with quite a bit of additional content – from 
  Avernian Warlords and the Wandering Emporium to Zariel’s 
  Flying Fortress! All of these, plus anything else you can come 
  up with, can be used to fill out the chapter and individual 
  adventuring days. Of course, you run the risk of ‘encounter-
  fatigue’ – the party’s going from encounter to encounter 
  without feeling like they’re progressing the story, so you’ll 
  have to think about how you space out the action. Use combat 
  encounters – like an angry warlord – to increase tension on 
  adventuring days that would otherwise ‘end early’, and use 
  social encounters – like the Wandering Emporium – to give 
  your players a much-needed break from combat encounters 
  and a feeling that time is passing.
  Making Encounters Tougher
  Toughening up encounters doesn’t solve the time-related 
  issue with pacing, but can be used to ensure that the pace 
  stays exciting, even if the characters have access to plenty 
  of long rests. When you’re about to present the characters 
  with an opportunity for a long rest, beef up the last encounter 
  they’ll face to increase tension. On the following pages, you’ll 
  find advice on how to make various encounters in Chapter 3 
  more challenging and fulfilling. 
  Controlling Rests
  Another way to pace the chapter is to control when the party 
  can take long rests. You can easily decide that the hellish 
  conditions make it impossible to take a long rest unless 
  the party can do so in ‘safe’ location of your choosing: Fort 
  Knucklebone, the Bone Brambles, the Wandering Emporium 
  and so on. This way, you can prolong the amount of time 
  that passes during travel, without allowing the characters to 
  simply take long rest after every encounter. The Wandering 
  Emporium is amazing for this as well, since you can control 
  when it appears and disappears, and even have Mahadi 
  charge the party soul coins for lodging. 
  The downside to this, however, is that some classes – 
  spellcasters especially – can be severely hampered if you 
  restrict their access to long rests. So use this tool wisely, and 
  together with your ability to extend travel time, to give your 
  players the sense that a lot of time is passing (because they’re 
  traveling for days, even if they’re not getting any long rests). 
  Additionally, you may want to rule that while the sleep they 
  get while traveling (disturbed, unsafe, fitful) isn’t enough to 
  replenish hit points, hit dice, spell slots and abilities, it is still 
  enough to prevent them from racking up levels of exhaustion.
  Example: Bringing It Together
  That’s a lot of words about pacing, but how do you actually put 
  it into practice? Below is an example of how Chapter 3 could 
  play out for an adventuring party. You can use this example 
  (which is only that!) as inspiration when planning the chapter 
  out – just be ready to improvise and change plans when the 
  characters inevitably get themselves entangled in some foolish 
  infernal endeavor!
  • Day 1 (Fort Knucklebone). The party spends the entire day at 
  Fort Knucklebone, taking a long rest after.
  • Day 2 (Plains of Avernus). Traveling.
  • Day 3 (Plains of Avernus). Raggadragga attacks, engaging the 
  party in an exciting war machine chase!
  • Day 4 (Haruman’s Hill). The party must face Haruman after 
  a night without a long rest. Lulu is abducted by a Hellwasp 
  during the fight – the party is badly wounded.
  • Day 5 (Wandering Emporium). The party happens upon the 
  Wandering Emporium. Here they get their first long rest 
  since Fort Knucklebone. Mahadi tells them where to find the 
  Hellwasp Nest so they can rescue Lulu.
  • Day 6 (Plains of Avernus). Traveling.
  • Day 7 (Hellwasp Nest). The party clears the Hellwasp Nest, 
  saves Lulu and takes a long rest in the empty nest (AND 
  ADVANCE TO LEVEL 8!)
  • Day 8-9 (Plains of Avernus). The party encounters Smiler the 
  Defiler while traveling, but doesn’t fight him.
  • Day 10 (Demon Zapper). The party speaks with the dao at the 
  Demon Zapper, and are sent towards the Bone Brambles.
  • Day 11 (Plains of Avernus). Traveling.
  • Day 12 (Bone Brambles). The party faces a string of combat 
  encounters at the Bone Brambles, before finally being 
  allowed a long rest.
  • Day 13-14 (Plains of Avernus). Traveling – have an encounter 
  with Bitter Breath, who’s looking for Smiler the Defiler. Ends 
  up fighting the Warlord.
  • Day 15 (Uldrak’s Grave). The party arrives at Uldrak’s Grave. 
  Here they have an encounter with demons trying to capture 
  the spined devil.
  • Day 16 (Wandering Emporium). A happy reunion with 
  Mahadi and his Wandering Emporium. The party gets a long 
  rest (AND ADVANCE TO LEVEL 9!).
  • Day 17 (Plains of Avernus). Traveling – sees some ‘Sundered 
  Chains’, but little else.
  • Day 18 (Arkhan’s Tower). The party arrives at the tower and 
  has a cordial discussion with Krull.
  • Day 19 (Plains of Avernus). Krull has purposefully led the 
  party on a route that goes past the camp of Princeps Kovik 
  and the Eight Remnant, because the devils have stolen some 
  of Tiamat’s treasure. A fight ensues.
  • Day 20 (Monument to Tiamat). The characters trade.
  • Day 21 (Plains of Avernus). Traveling.
  • Day 22 (Uldrak’s Grave). Delivery and get blood.
  • Day 23 (Demon Zapper). Delivery and get letter – but in its 
  lust after the shield of the Hidden Lord, Ralzala betrays the 
  party after fulfilling its promise and attacks! 
  • Day 24 (Plains of Avernus). Traveling.
  • Day 25 (Bel’s Forge). Bel tests the party with his fire giants, 
  but allows them to take a long rest after.
  • Day 26 (Sibriex). The party gets the location of the Wrecked 
  Flying Fortress. 
  • Day 27 (Wrecked Flying Fortress). The party clears out the 
  fortress, getting the control rods and securing themselves a 
  spot to take a well-earned rest.
  • Day 28 (Bel’s Forge). The party gains the location of the 
  Bleeding Citadel and can head out toward it, with only a few 
  days left until Elturel’s destruction!
  
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
  21
  21
  Fort Knucklebone
  The junkyard known as Fort Knucklebone is an exciting 
  location that should give your party at least a session or two 
  worth of entertainment. In addition to the pivotal Dream 
  Quest that takes place here, there’s some flavorful minor 
  tasks the party can undertake to pass the time. Below 
  we’ll give you some recommendations on how to run Fort 
  Knucklebone, enhancing and building upon the information 
  in the book.
  Entering the Fort
  The party’s entrance to Fort Knucklebone is pretty well 
  described, but here’s a brief summary:
  • The characters are tormented by the redcaps at the 
  gatehouse, who make them do foolish things to get in 
  (‘Jump on one leg! Pockets full of sand or no entry! The 
  little one slaps the tall one,or the gate won’t open!’). 
  • After entering, Chukka and Clonk recognize Lulu and fetch 
  Mad Maggie.
  • Mad Maggie appears and quickly offers to unlock Lulu’s 
  memories, but it will take a while to prepare the ritual.
  From here, the party is on their own for a while, giving them 
  time to help various NPCs around Fort Knucklebone before 
  the ritual with Mad Maggie begins. To get the party started, 
  you can describe one or more of the following scenes to the 
  party after Mad Maggie disappears back into her hut:
  • As the large creature that follows the hag moves to follow 
  her, it moans and does a bit of a hopping dance. A few 
  redcaps walking by point and laugh, mimicking the dance. 
  • You notice that one of the ravens on the witch’s shoulders 
  is sending you a long stare, while seemingly whispering 
  something to the other raven, which nods solemnly.
  • The two kenku, Chukka and Clonk are swearing profusely 
  in their high-pitched squawks, while angrily hammering on 
  one of the big, infernal vehicles.
  • Across the junkyard, a flying skull enveloped in green 
  flames seems to be looking for something, peering into 
  huts and blasting away pieces of scraps.
  Additionally, it might help the characters understand that 
  helping around Fort Knucklebone can earn them awesome 
  rewards (like an infernal war machine!) from Mad Maggie. 
  To ensure this, have any NPC requesting aid from the party 
  say as much (‘Help me and I’ll put in a good word for you with 
  Mad Maggie – she can be generous when she wants to be!’). 
  Helping Chukka and Clonk
  Chukka and Clunk have a simple problem: A spiky gear 
  within a Demon Grinder isn’t working properly. In the 
  book, the issue is resolved by identifying it with a DC 15 
  Intelligence (Arcana or Investigation check) and magic 
  similar to dispel magic or protection from good or evil. 
  There’s nothing wrong with that solution, but you can expand 
  upon it by running ‘Hezrou Hunt’ as described below.
  Hezrou Hunt
  When the issue has been identified, Chukka says in Mad 
  Maggie’s voice: “By Beshaba, whatever did an innocent 
  woman like I do to deserve this!” before continuing in a deep 
  and rumbling voice (Chukka and Clonk’s old duergar mentor): 
  “’Tis the hezrou-gear. Can’t be repaired. Ain’t nothin’ else 
  to do but catch a new one”. Looking at the redcaps running 
  around, Chukka blurts out in one of their shrill voices: 
  “Blood! Haha, kill! Kill it faster, faster!” and shakes its head. 
  Looking up at the party, Chukka says in the duergar’s voice: 
  “Gimme’ a hand with this, I’ll owe ye. Whaddaya say?”
  Chukka and Clonk need to catch a hezrou to fix the Demon 
  Grinder. They can’t ask the redcaps and madcaps, because 
  they’ll just kill the demon – and since demons that die outside 
  the abyss have a habit of bursting into black ichor instead of 
  leaving a corpse, Chukka and Clonk need to catch one alive to 
  harvest the spikes they need. 
  Finding a Hezrou
  Chukka and Klunk plan to catch a hezrou by using a 
  Scavenger, and they want the party’s help. If the characters 
  agree, the kenku run to Mad Maggie and get her to send 
  Pins or Needles out to locate a hezrou. At this point, you can 
  either have the imps find the hezrous quickly, or have the 
  two imps ask the party to do a favor for them (see ‘Helping 
  Pins and Needles’) while they’re out looking for the hezrou. 
  Regardless, the imps return in an hour or so with news that 
  they’ve found a pair of hezrou not too far away. 
  Chukka and Clonk load up the Scavenger and two Devil’s 
  Rides for the party and set out to catch a hezrou. Driving the 
  swift warmachines, reaching the pair of hezrous doesn’t take 
  long. On the way, Chukka lays out a plan:
  • “Sneak up on ‘em fiends, get their ‘tention and separate 
  ‘em. Taunt ‘em, lure ‘em, fool ‘em, don’t matter, long as 
  they’re separated” (gruff duergar)
  • “Grab it by the feet, raise it up and pluck, pluck, pluck its 
  feathers. Personally, I love the squealing, but if you don’t, 
  you can always bash its head in first” (Mad Maggie)
  • “Soon as you have it, get out. Don’t try to be a hero out here 
  – heroes die quick in the Nine” (unknown male)
  Put simply: Chukka proposes that they separate the two 
  hezrou, catch one in the Scavenger’s Grappling Claw, cut off 
  three spikes and release it again. During the encounter with 
  the hezrou, the kenku take the Scavenger’s Helm, allowing 
  the characters to handle the Grappling Claw, Harpoon 
  Flingers and the Devil’s Rides. If the characters have other 
  ideas, Chukka is happy to accommodate them.
  Separating the Hezrou
  The two hezrou are traveling close together, looking for 
  something to destroy or someone to slaughter. To separate 
  them, the characters must draw the hezrou in different 
  directions. Two characters riding Devil’s Rides can separate 
  the hezrou by taunting or luring a hezrou each, and both 
  succeeding on a DC 13 Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) 
  check. Other strategies might also work, at your discretion.
  
  22
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   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
  Catching a Hezrou
  When the hezrou have been separated, or the characters have 
  failed twice, causing the kenku to lose their patience, Chukka 
  and Clonk drive the Scavenger toward the hezrou, trying to 
  run one of them over and grab it with the hook after. Start 
  initiative when they’re 30 feet out. Unable to catch the fast 
  machines, the hezrou prepare their actions to attack anything 
  that comes close, striking smaller warmachines, jumping 
  onto the Scavenger, or pulling characters off (remember 
  that the demons also get opportunity attacks against 
  warmachines that drive by). When the Scavenger is in range, 
  the kenku expects the character operating the Grappling 
  Claw to attempt to grab one of the hezrou.
  Getting the Spikes
  To replace the damaged cog, Chukka and Clonk need three 
  hezrou spikes. A character can attempt to remove a spike 
  from a restrained demon as an action by making a DC 15 
  Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check with a slashing weapon 
  (remember the hezrou’s Stench-feature). On a success, they 
  get a single spike. If the check fails by 5 or more, the demon 
  gets an opportunity attack against the character. On its turn, 
  a captured hezrou tries to free itself (using its +4 Athletics 
  check against the escape DC of 12). If the demon succeeds, it 
  begins attacking whoever is closest, while Chukka and Clunk 
  bring the Scavenger back around to recapture it.
  Developments
  As soon as the characters have secured three spikes, Chukka 
  and Clonk tell them to release the demon and head back to 
  Fort Knucklebone. Once here, they can handle the repairs 
  without the characters’ help (unless a character really 
  wants to participate), but thanks them profusely and tells 
  Mad Maggie of the successful hunt (+1 Good Will). If the 
  characters somehow botched the mission – killing the hezrou 
  before getting the spikes, for example – Chukka and Clonk 
  begrudge them the waste of time and resources and let Mad 
  Maggie know about their failings as well (-1 Good Will). 
  Helping Mickey
  Mickey’s predicament is pretty simple: it has a piece of bone 
  devil lodged in the foot. A DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check and 
  a DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check is enough to get the bone 
  out, make Mickey happy and earn Mad Maggie’s gratitude.
  Unwilling Patient
  There’s no need to make this task much more complicated 
  than that, but you could throw another check in there by 
  requiring a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check to get Mickey 
  to lift its foot and let a character inspect the wound. 
  Additionally, you can up the stakes a bit by having the 
  fiendish flesh golem make a single reactionary Slam attack 
  against the party trying to remove the bone fragment, if they 
  fail the Medicine check. If they fail twice, you can even have 
  Mickey go Berserk (see Mickey’s stat block) – Mad Maggie 
  arrives after two rounds and begins attempting to calm the 
  golem down before it or the characters are killed.
  Developments
  If the characters remove the bone fragment without getting 
  into a fight with Mickey, Mad Maggie is grateful (+1 Good 
  Will). If they remove the spike, but hurt Mickey in the process 
  (failing one Medicine check), the fiendish flesh golem is still 
  hopping about, and their good deed goes unnoticed. If they 
  fail twice and never get the fragment removed, they have 
  managed only to annoy Mad Maggie (-1 Good Will).
  Helping Pins and Needles
  Pins and Needles wants the party’s help killing a redcap, 
  Wazzik. While a simple enough task, there’s some gaps in 
  the description you’ll have to fill in yourself – like what the 
  prank was, where the characters can find Wazzik, and how to 
  handle the assassination attempt.
  You can have Pins tell the party that: “Wazzik is a vain 
  one, yes, always looking at hisself. After he’s done playin’ 
  bones with the others, he’ll sit alone behind that scraphut 
  over there, lookin’ into the blank metals and shining his cap”. 
  Needles interjects: “Yes, tehee, ‘twas where we poured the 
  demon sludge on him, didn’t much like that, no, no, no!”
  The party can sneak up on Wazzik (approaching from a 
  small alley and the roofs of nearby huts) with a DC 13 group 
  Dexterity (Stealth) check (at least half of the party must 
  succeed). This will allow the characters a surprise round 
  against the madcap. If they can kill Wazzik before he gets 
  a turn, they can get away with the murder without issue. If 
  Wazzik gets a turn, he’ll start hollering for aid, upon which 
  1d4 redcaps and 1d4 madcaps arrive to join the fight. Mad 
  Maggie arrives to stop the fight 3 rounds later.
  Developments
  If the characters kill Wazzik without attracting attention, Pins 
  and Needles sing their praises to Mad Maggie (+1 Good Will). 
  If they kill Wazzik, but attract attention, Pins and Needles’ 
  gratitude is evened out by Mad Maggie’s annoyance. If they 
  attract attention, and Wazzik survives, they’re left with only 
  Mad Maggie’s displeasure (-1 Good Will).
  Helping Barnabas
  Barnabas wants his tooth back from Grubba, but doesn’t 
  know who has it. Characters can question redcaps (with 50% 
  of enraging the redcaps in the process), and use a DC 11 
  Wisdom (Perception) check to spot who has it and a DC 14 
  Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to steal the tooth back.
  Keeping it Simple
  We can simplify this task a bit by evening out checks and 
  DCs. Simply have it be DC 14 checks for everything:
  • DC 14 Charisma (Any) check to get a redcap to say who has 
  the tooth (attacked by 1 + 1d4 redcaps on a failure).
  • DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check to see which redcap 
  obtains the pouch with the tooth (attacked by 1 + 1d4 
  redcaps on a failure – “What’s ye lookin’ at?”)
  • DC 14 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to steal the pouch 
  from a redcap (attacked by 1 + 1d4 redcaps on a failure)
  And, as mentioned in the book, if the characters straight up 
  demand to get the pouch from a redcap, they’ll be attacked 
  by a dozen redcaps until Mad Maggie arrives to break up the 
  fight.
  Developments
  If the characters obtain the tooth without angering any of 
  the redcaps, Barnabas speaks warmly about them to Mad 
  Maggie (+1 Good Will). If they get the tooth, but had a scuffle 
  with the redcaps, Mad Maggie will know about it, canceling 
  out Barnabas’ praises. If they start a fight and don’t even get 
  the tooth, they will have earned nothing but Mad Maggie’s 
  annoyance (-1 Good Will).
  
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
  23
  23
  Lulu's Dream Quest
  Lulu’s Dream Quest runs in five stages, where the characters 
  are pulled through Lulu’s real or imagined memories, facing 
  obstacles in the process. Below are some suggestions on how 
  to run Lulu’s Dream Quest.
  Dream 1: Rainbow Angels
  The party takes 2d10 psychic damage if ALL of them fail a 
  DC 10 Intelligence saving throw. This seems very easy. You 
  can make this part a bit harder by waiving the requirement 
  that ALL characters must fail, and instead have each 
  character who fails the saving throw take the damage and 
  have them repeat the saving throw until they succeed.
  Dream 4: Desolation
  This is the pivotal dream in the sequence. Restrained by 
  black sludge, each character must try to escape with a DC 15 
  Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, possibly 
  gaining help from the spined devils. If they fail repeatedly, 
  they’ll take 4d10 psychic damage for each fail after the first.
  You can make this part of the dream a bit more exciting by 
  including more skill checks and saving throws: 
  • The characters must first succeed on DC 15 Wisdom 
  saving throws to shake off the despair that grips them.
  • They must then make DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or 
  Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks to get free from the sludge.
  • They must then succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving 
  throw to expunge the sludge they’ve swallowed.
  For each failure, the characters take 2d10 psychic damage. 
  The imps can give advantage on each check. As before, 
  characters who’ve freed themselves and succeeded on all 
  checks, can aid comrades still stuck in the sludge. Only when 
  all characters have succeeded on all three checks, the dream 
  is complete.
  Dream 5: Desolation
  This dream is merely a vision of Lulu looking through a 
  spyglass and seeing what she believes is the Bleeding Citadel. 
  It seems weird that the characters can help each other 
  make it through Dream 4, when it doesn’t matter how many 
  characters make it through. You can make this count more 
  by having each character that makes it to this point gain the 
  ‘Charm of Dreamwalking’ described on this page.
  Additionally, you may want to change this dream to allow 
  for different starting points to the ‘Quest for the Sword’. We’ll 
  touch more on this at later points in this document (starting 
  with ‘Where to Place Haruman’s Hill?’ on the following page)
  Developments
  If the characters complete Lulu’s Dream Quest, they earn 
  Mad Maggie’s gratitude (+1 Good Will). If the characters don’t 
  complete the quest, and refuse to go again, they’ll instead 
  earn her displeasure (-1 Good Will).
  Charm of Dreamwalking
  While you have this charm, you have advantage on Wisdom 
  saving throws. You can also use this charm to cast the spell 
  Blink as an action. Once you do, you must finish a long rest 
  before you can do so again. 
  This charm vanishes nine days, nine hours and nine minutes 
  after you’ve received it.
  Farewell
  As the party says their farewells, Mad Maggie might deign 
  to bestow gifts upon them, depending on their success at 
  the various tasks. This is a really nice touch – and it’s highly 
  likely that your players will be salivating at the thought of 
  owning their own infernal war machine!
  You can certainly decide on the spot what Mad Maggie 
  gives them, but if you want a more formalized approach, the 
  ‘Mad Maggie’s Rewards Table’ shows the amount of good 
  will required for the various rewards listed in the book. Start 
  at 0, and simply add or subtract ‘Good Will’-points whenever 
  the characters do something to please or annoy Mad Maggie 
  (we’ve included a mention of when to add or subtract points 
  under each task on the previous pages).
  Mad Maggie’s Rewards
  Good Will
  New Form
  –3
  Mad Maggie and everyone in Fort Knucklebone 
  attacks the party
  –1
  2d4 mad caps and 2d4 red caps attack the party 
  as they leave the fort – Maggie doesn’t intervene
  0
  Nothing
  1
  A Tormentor
  2
  3 soul coins and two weeks of rations/character
  3
  Information about the other warlords and Smiler 
  the Defiler
  4
  A Devil’s Ride
  5
  A silvered weapon
  
  24
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   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
  Quest for the Sword
  The party’s quest for the Sword of Zariel starts in earnest 
  after the characters undertake a Dream Quest into Lulu’s 
  mind under Mad Maggie’s supervision. After the ritual, the 
  book has Lulu point the way to Haruman’s Hill, and then 
  from there toward either the ‘Spawning Trees’ or the ‘Demon 
  Zapper’, where the characters can start on the Path of 
  Demons or Path of Devils respectively.
  Like Chapter 1 and 2, the events of Chapter 3 can feel 
  quite linear, if you run them by the book. Once a path has 
  been chosen, the encounters are strung together neatly, not 
  inviting much deviation. It makes it pretty easy to run – and 
  you can always throw any random encounters you want 
  at the players along the way – but comes at the cost of the 
  players’ sense of agency and self-determination. Additionally, 
  the linear approach also creates issues when you suddenly 
  have to dump a new lead on the players if they mess up an 
  encounter on the chain and fail to progress further.
  Below we will take a look at how you can make the path 
  to the Bleeding Citadel less linear by rearranging the 
  encounters described in Chapter 3, so that the characters 
  have more choices available to them.
  The Basic Structure
  Looking at the two encounter chains – the Path of Demons 
  and the Path of Devils – they both follow about the same 
  structure:
  • Starting Point. Find someone (person A), who can point to 
  someone (person B), who knows where the citadel is.
  • Fetch Quest. Do something for person A, so they’ll point 
  you to person B.
  • The Informer. Meet with person B, who can show them to 
  the Bleeding Citadel.
  • Final Task. Complete a final task to get the information 
  from person B.
  In between, there’s some filler encounters and additional 
  links – such as the Tower of Urm, Arches of Ulloch, etc. – but 
  the essential structure is the same.
  Creating a New Structure
  Below we’ll quickly give an example of how you can create a 
  new structure for Quest for the Sword by simply giving your 
  party more options. This is only an example meant to inspire 
  – you can always give your characters even more options for 
  where to go next, include various random encounters and 
  locations as part of the paths to the sword, or even create 
  entirely new encounters of your own. In addition, if you want 
  something a bit more elaborate and even more open, check 
  out the appendix ‘Avernus as a Sandbox’, which is a part of 
  this download.
  Starting Point - Encounter 1 & 2
  When the party arrives at the Spawning Trees, you can have 
  the devils there point to two people who might know where 
  to find the Bleeding Citadel: a powerful mage in a wizard’s 
  tower (Tower of Urm) and a night hag named Red Ruth (Bone 
  Brambles). Coincidentally, these are also the two people 
  which the dao at the Demon Zapper thinks know how to free 
  it from its pact, if that’s where the party starts their search.
  At the second location, Mordenkainen/Red Ruth tells the 
  party that “there are two entities who’ve been imprisoned on 
  Avernus for so long, they know more about the plane than 
  nearly anyone else”, or that “the dao must drink the blood of 
  someone even less free than itself”. Either way, the characters 
  can choose between the empyrean (Uldrak’s Grave) or an 
  imprisoned wizard (Obelisk) next.
  Where to Place Haruman’s Hill?
  In the book, Lulu takes the party directly to Haruman’s Hill and 
  then presents the choice between the Spawning Trees and the 
  Demon Zapper (after suddenly regaining her memories!). It’s 
  not really clear why the book has the party go to Haruman’s Hill 
  first – the background information here is not pivotal, and the 
  encounter with Haruman is quite tough for a party of 7th level 
  adventurers.
  Instead, you can have the Dream Quest end with visions 
  of Zariel slaying demons with her sword nearly as quickly as 
  they’re popping into existence. Whether it’s Lulu, Mad Maggie, 
  Gargauth or someone else that interprets this and points the 
  party towards the Spawning Trees or the Demon Zapper, is up 
  to you. 
  If you remove ‘Haruman’s Hill’ from the start of ‘Quest for 
  the Sword’, you can either have the party run into it randomly 
  on their journey, or use it as a final encounter, where the party 
  can learn the location of the Bleeding Citadel (see ‘Haruman’s 
  Hill’ on the following page for more advice on how to do this).
  Fetch Quest - Encounters 3, 4 & 5
  At the third location, you can run the next string of 
  encounters as the book prescribes (Obelisk — Mirror 
  of Mephistar — Pit of Shummrath, or Uldrak’s Grave — 
  Arkhan’s Tower — Monument to Tiamat). These encounters 
  are strung pretty tightly together, and your players have 
  already made two decisions on their own, so they’re probably 
  not feeling too railroaded at this point.
  The Informer - Encounter 6
  As the party returns to either Ralzala or Ubbalux, the 
  freed creature gives the party the names and locations of 
  two entities who might be able to aid them: Zariel’s fallen 
  general, Olanthius (Crypt of the Hellriders), or Bel, the former 
  archduke of Avernus (Bel’s Forge). This once again gives 
  them a meaningful choice – and one that might severely 
  impact how their adventure in Avernus ends in Chapter 5.
  The Final Task - Encounters 7 & 8
  The final task – either releasing Kostchtchie, or retrieving 
  the adamantine rods from the Wrecked Flying Fortress – 
  can be altered to work as a choice as well. Bel might simply 
  want the party to do something that will indirectly aid him 
  against Zariel – either releasing the fearsome demon lord 
  or retrieving the adamantine rods, that can be used against 
  her. With Olanthius, you can have the death knight suggest 
  releasing either Kostchtchie or the Sibriex to distract Zariel, 
  and simply have the party happen on the Wrecked Flying 
  Fortress on the way to either encounter, if you’d like to run 
  that encounter as well.
  You can also choose to end with Haruman’s Hill instead, 
  if you didn’t start with it. Having either Olanthius or Bel 
  suggest that the party take out a hated rival and Zariel’s most 
  loyal follower before going up against her certainly seems 
  plausible. We’ll touch upon this again when going through the 
  Path of Demons and Path of Devils respectively.
  
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
  25
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  Haruman's Hill
  Immediately after Fort Knucklebone, the campaign book has 
  Lulu guiding the party to Haruman’s Hill, because she thinks 
  that’s where the Sword of Zariel is. Haruman’s Hill features 
  some background story, as well as the potential for a tough 
  encounter with the fallen paladin of Helm, Haruman.
  Haruman's Arrival
  Up until Haruman’s arrival, the scene at Haruman’s Hill is 
  pretty straightforward: the party finds a grotesque scenery 
  of traitorous Hellriders spiked on metal trees, speak to the 
  deserter vampire Jander Sunstar, and – with some likelihood 
  – frees him. And this is where things get a bit more intense.
  At 7th level, 20 stirges should be easy enough to deal 
  with. The bigger problem is the narzugon, Haruman, and 
  his nightmare steed. In combination, the party could very 
  well find themselves in over their heads. Be aware, however, 
  that the difficulty of this encounter depends very much on the 
  characters’ tactics and equipment. If they have a quick area of 
  effect spell to get rid of the stirges, are equipped with magic 
  weapons that can pierce Haruman’s resistances, Haruman 
  and his steed are definitely beatable.
  Encounters like these – that teether on the edge of beatable 
  – are often the most dangerous, because the party might not 
  know that they’re in over their heads before it’s too late. If you 
  want to decrease chances of a catastrophic total party kill, 
  you can have Jander Sunstar survive being freed instead of 
  crumbling into dust. Make him a vampire spawn instead of a 
  vampire, and have him aid the characters against Haruman. 
  This not only increases their chance of victory, but also 
  allows you to stop the encounter, if the characters are getting 
  beat badly. At any time, you can have Jander insist that: “You 
  cannot defeat him. Run away! Flee! I’ll hold him off. It’s what 
  Lathander would want – it’s how I can redeem my soul!” and 
  sacrifice himself to cover the party’s retreat.
  Whether the party wins against Haruman or has to flee, 
  Jander eventually disappears in a mist of radiant dust, his 
  soul accepted into Celestia by the God of Light.
  Hellwasp Nest
  The premise of Hellwasp Nest is quite simple: during the 
  battle with Haruman, a hellwasp appears and abducts Lulu 
  the Hollyphant. If Lulu isn’t around, but you still want to use 
  the Hellwasp Nest, you can have a squadron of hellwasps 
  appear to steal something else valuable to the players – the 
  Shield of the Hidden Lord, for example.
  Hellwasp Queen
  Fighting a bunch of the same creatures can quickly lose its 
  flavor. To help you enhance the Hellwasp Nest, you can find 
  the statistics for a Hellwasp Queen on this page, as well as in 
  appendix ‘C3 – Monster Stat Blocks’. You can replace one of 
  the hellwasps in area N4. Larder with the Hellwasp Queen.
  Hellwasp Queen
  Hellwasp Queen
  Large fiend, lawful evil
  Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 105 (14d10 + 28)
  Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. hover.
   
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   20 (+5) 
  15 (+2) 
  14 (+2) 
  13 (+1) 
  14 (+2) 
  10 (+0)
  Saving Throws Dex +5, Con +5, Wis +5
  Damage Vulnerabilities cold
  Damage Immunities fire
  Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 12
  Languages Infernal, telepathy 300 ft. (with other hellwasps only)
  Challenge 7 (5,000 XP)
  Magic Weapons. The hellwasp’s weapon attacks are magical.
  Hive Queen. Whenever a spell or weapon attack deals damage to 
  the hellwasp queen, all hellwasps within 30 ft. of it who can see it 
  can make an attack against a target within reach as a reaction. 
  Actions
  Multiattack. The hellwasp queen makes two attacks: one with its 
  sting and one with its sword talons.
  Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) 
  piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) fire damage, and the target must 
  succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 
  1 minute. While poisoned in this way, the target is also paralyzed. 
  The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its 
  turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  Sword Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 14 
  (2d8 + 5) piercing damage.
  Incendiary Cloud (1/day). The hellwasp queen creates a cloud of 
  hot smoke in a 10 ft. radius around it. The cloud spreads around 
  corners and is heavily obscured. It lasts for 1 minute or until a 
  wind of moderate or greater speed disperses it.
  When the cloud appears, each creature in it must make a DC 
  13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) fire damage on a failed 
  save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature 
  must also make this saving throw when it enters the spell’s area 
  for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.
  
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   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
  Path of Demons
  The Path of Demons is one of two options presented to you 
  as a means of taking the party from Haruman’s Hill to the 
  Bleeding Citadel. Below we’ll go over each of the encounter 
  locations in the Path of Demons, offering suggestions and 
  advice on how to run them.
  Spawning Trees
  The Path of Demons starts with an encounter by a lake of 
  demon ichor, from which abyssal chickens are spawned. 
  Five bearded devils are raising a pyre, four of them 
  teasing the fifth, which has suffered a brain injury turning 
  him chaotic good – he also has an abyssal chicken named 
  Earwax!
  Krikendolt the Bearded Devil
  As a whole, the Spawning Trees is a pretty fun encounter – 
  it’s a cool location, abyssal chickens are a fun gimmick, and 
  Krikendolt – a devil turned chaotic good – is a fun concept. 
  When playing through this encounter, you may want to play 
  up Krikendolt’s affliction, since having the bearded devil 
  tagging along for a while might be quite fun for the players.
  You can do this by making it very clear to the players, as 
  they approach the Spawning Trees, how the four bearded 
  devils are mercilessly bullying the fifth (who clutches an 
  abyssal chicken) in an attempt to get him to throw the poor 
  creature on the pyre! By showing Krikendolt as a pitiable 
  (and likable!) devil, you make it more likely that the party will 
  come to his defense.
  If the characters approach peacefully, you can have 
  Krikendolt pipe in that he knows someone who might be 
  able to help, but have his four ‘friends’ quickly quiet him, 
  demanding a soul coin for the information. Once again, this 
  might prompt the party to intervene on behalf of Krikendolt.
  In combat, Krikendolt won’t attack either side, but stays 
  back, clutching Earwax and half-heartedly shouting for the 
  party not to “hurt my friends!”. If the party stops the fight on 
  account of his shouting, Krikendolt quickly offers to show 
  them the way, if only they’ll stop killing his friends – a gesture 
  that earns him only cold derision from the other bearded 
  devils. If the party kills all the other devils, Krikendolt still 
  accompanies them, reluctantly agreeing “that they probably 
  deserved it a little bit”.
  Tower of Urm
  The second encounter in the chain takes the party to the 
  Tower of Urm, where the wizard Mordenkainen resides 
  during his visits to Avernus. The party must compete with 
  fierce yugoloths for the archmage’s attention, upon which the 
  archmage can direct the party towards the next encounter. 
  Placing the Tower of Urm
  Tower of Urm is a pretty isolated encounter, in the sense that 
  Mordenkainen doesn’t ask the party to do anything, and only 
  offers the party a tip to the next location. Thus, you can quite 
  easily move this encounter around – using it at a later point – 
  or even skip it entirely, having the bearded devils simply show 
  the party to the Obelisk straight away.
  Running the Tower of Urm
  While this encounter is interesting, it’s also left pretty vague 
  – you have to decide when the Tower of Urm appears (or if 
  it’s already there), how the party can get an audience with 
  Mordenkainen, and what to do with the two murderous 
  nycaloths who wants to assassinate Mordenkainen and/or 
  kidnap one of the characters. 
  If you want to make it appear less coincidental that the 
  archmage appears shortly after the party arrives at the site, 
  you can have the bearded devils at the Spawning Trees 
  explain how the tower appears and disappears, usually 
  staying for nine days – and the characters are in luck, 
  because the tower arrived just yesterday!
  Talking to Mordenkainen
  At the tower, you can have the yugoloths wait for 
  Mordenkainen’s daily address, where he lets them know what 
  services he needs that day. While the characters wait with 
  the yugoloths, you can have the two nycaloths sent by Zariel 
  question the party about why they’re here – having them 
  determine to kidnap the characters if the Bleeding Citadel or 
  Sword of Zariel is mentioned.
  When Mordenkainen appears on the balcony, he raises an 
  eyebrow at seeing humanoids petitioning for his attention. 
  He’ll speak with the characters from the balcony (allowing 
  all the other fiends to overhear), unless they insist on privacy, 
  in which case he’ll snap his fingers and magically open a 
  single door at the base of the tower. Inside, the party finds 
  a large hall filled with devils and demons which have been 
  destroyed, imprisoned or transformed by Mordenkainen’s 
  arcane experiments. Here, they can speak to the archmage in 
  private, without being overheard by Zariel’s nycaloths.
  If the party brought along Krikendolt and Earwax, you can 
  spice things up a bit by having Mordenkainen demand to get 
  the abyssal chicken as payment for the information (“I could 
  use this pitiful creature in my experiments. A meager price 
  for the information I will give you”). Krikendolt is horrified, 
  but offers no resistance except a sorrowful squeal if the 
  characters tear Earwax from his arms. If the party refuses 
  Mordenkainen on account of Krikendolt, you can have the 
  wizard sigh in disgust and cast a spell on the devil (could be 
  mind blank or a high-level casting of dispel magic), restoring 
  Krikendolt to its natural alignment. Suddenly disgusted by 
  the abyssal chicken, Krikendolt freely gives up Earwax.
  Yugoloth Ambush
  If the characters got the nycaloths’ attention, you will have to 
  decide when they act and try to kidnap a character. You can 
  have the two nycaloths attack while the party travels to the 
  obelisk, or perhaps wait for a more opportune moment (such 
  as right after the characters trigger the standing stones by the 
  obelisk).
  
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
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  Obelisk
  At the obelisk, the characters find a trapped demon disguised 
  as a wizard, fail an arcane ritual, and are ultimately sent 
  along to negotiate with the archdevil Mephistopheles.
  Placing the Obelisk
  Like the encounter at the Tower of Urm, this encounter 
  is somewhat isolated. While Ubbalux does have a task 
  he needs done – thus connecting this encounter to the 
  Mirror of Mephistar and the Pit of Shummrath – you could 
  easily remove the Obelisk from the Path, and simply have 
  Mordenkainen point to the mirror of Mephistar, and have the 
  cambion at the Mirror of Mephistar point the way to the Crypt 
  of the Hellriders instead of Ubbalux.
  A More Powerful Demon
  If you do use the Obelisk, you may want to change Ubbalux 
  to another type of demon. While a barlgura does have 
  disguise self, which allows it to take on the form of a wizard 
  (even though, if we’re being pedantic, disguise self doesn’t 
  allow a large creature to appear medium), it’s not a very 
  powerful or intelligent demon. Using a balor makes it seem 
  more plausible that Bel would even have bothered with 
  the creature, and that Mephistopheles would care about 
  acquiring the demon’s allegiance. If you want to tie it more 
  to the story, you can even have Ubbalux be the demon that 
  managed to sever Zariel’s hand in her final battle – a slight 
  that Zariel has punished with eternal imprisonment. This 
  would also better explain why Ubbalux can point the party to 
  someone who knows the Bleeding Citadel’s location.
  A Wizard's Theory
  In an attempt to escape, Ubbalux tries to convince the party 
  to participate in a ritual. However, we’re never really told 
  exactly how Ubbalux expects the ritual to work and ultimately 
  aid his escape. This could potentially make it hard for you to 
  convince the party to even make the attempt. 
  To give the ritual a bit more direction, you can have 
  Ubbalux ask the characters to each touch the school of magic 
  ‘most in tune with their nature’, suggesting that the ritual 
  will thus enhance their powers (and secretly hoping it will be 
  easier to draw on their innate energy during the ritual).
  If the characters join the ritual, they’re each hit with an 
  arcane effect depending on the stone they touched. While 
  most of these have instant damage effects or long-term (24 
  hours) effects, some have more immediate or benign effects, 
  that can feel a bit pointless. As mentioned earlier, you can 
  have the two nycaloths from the Tower of Urm launch their 
  ambush at this point, to make some of the magical effects 
  more meaningful, but you may also want to alter some of the 
  effects entirely:
  • Conjuration. The monodrone is not entirely indifferent – it 
  will perform tasks for the character.
  • Divination. Keep this as it is, but remember to allow the 
  character to see through Ubbalux’ disguise (and potentially 
  spot the invisible nycaloths, if they have followed the 
  party!).
  • Enchantment. If the nycaloths attack after the ritual, 
  you can keep this as it is, otherwise consider giving the 
  character the effects of bless for 24 hours.
  • Illusion. You can have the character be affected by the 
  phantasmal killer spell instead.
  • Transmutation. Blue skin is fun, but 24 hours of enlarge/
  reduce (either way works) could also create some fun 
  scenarios, as well as have a bigger impact on other 
  encounters.
  Mirror of Mephistar
  The encounter at Mirror of Mephistar is pretty cool (pun 
  intended!) and flavorful, and shouldn’t be too difficult to run – 
  in essence, it’s a negotiation, where the party has a lot to gain 
  by completing a simple (but difficult) task. One tip: an imp 
  made of ice really should have a name – ‘Snowball’ or ‘Frosty’ 
  seems like a good fit.
  Pit of Shummrath
  The Pit of Shummrath is interesting – the characters can free 
  a yugoloth, dam the River Styx, and free an imprisoned pit 
  fiend. There’s a few things you may want to change, however.
  Imprisoned Ultroloth
  The characters can free Baazit, gaining the ability to form 
  homunculi and a pair of dimensional shackles if they do so. 
  Freeing Baazit is pretty simple – perhaps even too simple. 
  If you want to make the process a bit more exciting, you 
  can present it as a skill challenge: the party must succeed 
  on three DC 17 skill checks, before they fail three checks, 
  in order to free Baazit. Which skill checks they use is up to 
  them – they may use Intelligence (Investigation) to devise a 
  way to stop the crane from dunking into the river, Strength 
  (Athletics) to jam the crane’s winch, Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) 
  to unlock the cage door, and so on. If they fail three checks, 
  Baazit’s cage drops from the crane and disappears into the 
  River Styx.
  Damming the Styx
  The encounter here is pretty fun, even if the characters will 
  likely make short work of eight spined devils. You may want 
  to change Shummrath’s story, however. Since the party has 
  already met one creature imprisoned by Bel – Ubbalux at 
  the Obelisk – having another creature prisoner of Bel in the 
  same string of encounters isn’t very imaginative. Instead, you 
  can have Shummrath be a lieutenant of Mephistopheles who 
  was caught in this predicament while fetching water from the 
  River Styx for Mephistopheles’ arcane rituals.
  Crypt of the Hellriders
  At the Crypt of the Hellriders, the party must comb through a 
  crypt to find the death knight Olanthius, who can point them 
  toward the Bleeding Citadel. It runs pretty well, but be aware 
  that since the book dictates that the party has no chance of 
  parlay with Olanthius unless they’ve read his journal, you 
  should probably delay Olanthius’ return until the party has 
  had a chance to do so.
  Arches of Ulloch
  At the Arches of Ulloch, the party can find transportation to 
  their next destination. This location is a bit odd. Since time 
  and distance is fluid in Avernus, the fast travel that the Arches 
  provide isn’t truly necessary. Additionally, the lack of any 
  sort of encounter makes the location seem a bit superfluous. 
  Below you’ll find an elaborate take on how you can make the 
  Arches of Ulloch a bit more interesting.
  Placing the Arches
  If you want to, you can place the Arches of Ulloch at the 
  end of the encounter chain instead. Perhaps the Arches are 
  necessary to find the Bleeding Citadel, which Zariel has 
  obscured with powerful enchantments. This also explains 
  why so few creatures in Avernus know about the citadel.
  
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   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
  Guardian of the Arches
  You may want to introduce a guardian to spice things up, such 
  as an ultroloth demanding a soul coin for each creature that 
  wants passage, a young red shadow dragon demanding the 
  sacrifice of an innocent, or even an androsphinx posing a 
  complex and dangerous riddle spanning all the Nine Hells. 
  Below, we’ll explore this last premise, creating an elaborate 
  encounter that should sufficiently test the characters’ 
  knowledge and mettle!
  Ulloch the Sphinx
  Tasked by Asmodeus himself to guard the twin arches, 
  Ulloch the Sphinx ensures that only creatures with great 
  knowledge of the Nine Hells can use the powerful Arches of 
  Ulloch.
  When the characters approach the arches, the lawful evil 
  androsphinx comes flying down from the cliffs. With matted 
  fur, rotting teeth and skeletal wings, Ulloch’s long stay in the 
  Nine Hells has clearly taken a toll on it. After landing 60 feet 
  away, it says: “Only the worthy may approach the Arches of 
  Ulloch. Great strength and vast knowledge is required – if 
  you possess neither, your doom is all but certain. Dare you 
  subject yourself to my scrutiny, mortals?” 
  If the characters agree, the androsphinx nods solemnly and 
  says: “So be it. To pass my test, you must answer the same 
  question nine times over. Take warning: To hesitate will cost 
  you dearly, but to answer wrongly even more so. Only thrice 
  will I suffer ignorance”. It then asks the first question: “Which 
  hell are you in?”. When the party answers Avernus, it nods 
  and begins the test in earnest, which goes like this:
  1. Everyone rolls initiative (except Ulloch, who has a 0).
  2. Ulloch uses its lair action to shift itself and the characters 
  to one of the Nine Hells and asks: “Which hell are you in?”
  3. While assailed by fiends or environmental hazards, a 
  character can use a bonus action to give an answer.
  4. On its turn, Ulloch shifts the party back to its lair on 
  Avernus, if a character correctly identified which of the 
  Nine Layers the party was taken to. If a character gives 
  a wrong answer, Ulloch instead uses its ‘Roar’-ability, 
  affecting only the characters. If more than one character 
  answered, it asks “Which answer will it be?” forcing the 
  characters to suffer a round more wherever they are, before 
  deciding on (only one) final answer.
  5. Steps 2-4 are repeated for each layer, until the characters 
  either pass the test by correctly identifying all the Nine 
  Layers of Hell, or answer incorrectly more than three 
  times. Between each layer, the characters have a single 
  round on Avernus, which they can use to heal or prepare 
  themselves for the next layer of Hell they’re taken to.
  6. If the characters succeed, Ulloch grants them eternal 
  access to the Arches of Ulloch. If the characters fail, Ulloch 
  stops the test, and refuses the party access to the Arches of 
  Ulloch for perpetuity. Only killing the sphinx will grant the 
  characters passage if this happens.
  Figuring Out the Answer
  On each layer of the Nine Hells, the characters will 
  likely want to come up with an answer quickly, given the 
  uncomfortable situations they’re put in. Luckily, there are 
  several ways to figure out which of the Nine Hells they’ve 
  ended up in. 
  Each time the characters arrive on a new layer, up to two 
  characters may make a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana, History 
  or Religion), correctly identifying the layer on a success. 
  Additionally, any character with access to infernal lore – such 
  as a book or text containing information about the Nine 
  Hells – can spend an action and make a DC 15 Intelligence 
  (Investigation) check to find the name of the layer. 
  At your discretion, Gargauth (in the Shield of the Hidden 
  Lord) or another fiend accompanying the party can aid the 
  party, although this aid likely comes at a cost (Gargauth 
  could demand that the party swear to free it before leaving 
  Avernus, in order to give its aid). The party can also use 
  divination magic to find answers, or even get the answer from 
  a fiend they’re fighting with a good Charisma check. Award 
  the players for their creativity and roll with their ideas – the 
  puzzle should be tense and challenging, but solvable.
  The Nine Layers of Hell
  As described above, the party will travel to each layer of the 
  Nine Hells for brief periods of time, spending as little as a 
  single round on each layer. You can have Ulloch go through 
  the layers in succession, or in any random order, as you see 
  fit. After Avernus, each layer is filled with a danger, as shown 
  on the ‘Ullochs’ Nine Hells’-table below. Hostile creatures roll 
  initiative and act with immediate aggression, pressuring the 
  party to come up with an answer quickly or suffer dearly.
  Ulloch’s Nine Hells
  d8
  Layer
  Encounter
  –
  Avernus
  —
  1
  Dis
  The characters arrive outside a smoke-
  spewing mine and are immediately attacked 
  by three chain devil-overseers. 
  2
  Minauros
  The characters arrive neck deep in a fetid 
  swamp. DC 15 Constitution save each turn, 
  2d8 poison damage and poisoned for 1 
  minute on a failure (repeat at end of each 
  turn to stop being poisoned)
  3
  Phlegethos
  The characters arrive in a fighting pit, with 
  hundreds of fiends and interplanar beings 
  shouting bets from the stands. They are 
  attacked by two glabrezu pit fighters.
  4
  Stygia
  The characters arrive on a sea of churning 
  ice, and are attacked by a remorhaz.
  5
  Malbolge
  The characters arrive on a steep-sloped 
  mountainside in the middle of an 
  avalanche. DC 15 Dexterity save each turn, 
  3d8 bludgeoning damage on a failure.
  6
  Maladomini
  The characters arrive in a vast, underground 
  archive and are immediately attacked by an 
  amnizu librarian.
  7
  Cania
  The characters arrive in a frozen wasteland 
  during a terrible magical icestorm. DC 15 
  Dexterity save each turn, 2d8 bludgeoning 
  and 2d8 cold damage on a failure, half as 
  much on a success.
  8
  Nessus
  The characters arrive on a barren, rocky 
  steppe. DC 15 Wisdom save each turn 
  against the terrible sensation of emptiness, 
  suffering 3d8 psychic damage on a failure.
  Kostchtchie's Maw
  There’s nothing inherently wrong with this encounter, where 
  the party must free a demon lord to distract Zariel. However, 
  if you haven’t run Haruman’s Hill yet, you may want to use 
  this as the final encounter instead. Olanthius insists that the 
  party must defeat his old companion Haruman (Zariel’s sway 
  over him prevents him from doing it himself) before showing 
  them the way to the Bleeding Citadel. This also wraps up 
  the storyline with the generals pretty nicely, if the characters 
  have been following along with the story.
  
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
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  Path of Devils
  The Path of Devils is one of two options presented to you 
  as a means of taking the party from Haruman’s Hill to the 
  Bleeding Citadel. Below we’ll go over each of the encounter 
  locations in the Path of Devils, offering suggestions and 
  advice on how to run them.
  Demon Zapper
  The Path of Devils starts with an encounter by a Demon 
  Zapper – a trapped unicorn which lures in demons and 
  zaps them with radiant beams – where the party meets 
  a disgruntled dao, who wants release from an infernal 
  deal in return for directions to Bel’s Forge and a letter of 
  introduction.
  Zap!
  If you want to spice up this encounter, you can have a 
  powerful demon – such as a goristro – show up to charge 
  the demon zapper, while the party is there. Reduced to 50 
  or so hit points by the massive damage, such a demon could 
  provide a fun encounter for the party, while not being overly 
  challenging.
  Betrayal
  When the party eventually manages to free Ralzala, you can 
  have the dao initially fulfill her part of the bargain – giving 
  them directions and a letter of introduction – but then betray 
  the party. Either spurred on by Gargauth or simply desiring 
  their riches, the dao attacks the characters, fleeing only when 
  reduced to less than 50 hit points.
  Bone Brambles
  The Bone Brambles presents a more daunting task for the 
  players, with several minor combat encounters spread out 
  over an entire day – or even several days – before the night 
  hag Red Ruth can send the party along to Uldrak’s Grave.
  Hold the Fort
  The bargain here – look after the Bone Brambles while Red 
  Ruth visits the Wandering Emporium for a bath – is a fun 
  little excursion. It also offers you the perfect opportunity to 
  acquaint your party with the Wandering Emporium, although 
  if they have already done so, you can simply have the night 
  hag leave for her appointment without them setting it up.
  Uldrak's Grave
  At Uldrak’s Grave, the party finds an empyrean transformed 
  into a spined devil, who they’ll need to help back into his true 
  form in order to get titan’s blood for Ralzala. There’s no real 
  encounter here, except for a conversation with Uldrak.
  Placing the Encounter
  The Path of Devils can quickly feel like a series of fetch 
  quests – Ulzala sends the party to get information from Red 
  Ruth, Red Ruth sends the party to get blood from Uldrak, 
  Uldrak sends the party to get blood from Arkhan, and so 
  on. If you want, you can very easily skip the encounter with 
  Uldrak, and instead have Red Ruth tell the party that they 
  need blood of Tiamat to free Ulzala, sending them towards 
  Arkhan’s Tower. Without the orb of dragonkind, the party 
  will have to fulfill Arkhan’s request of an innocent life – or 
  defeat him in battle (both of which we’ll elaborate upon under 
  ‘Monument to Tiamat’ on the following page).
  Get the Titan!
  If you want to spice this location up a little, you can introduce 
  a third party also looking for the empyrean. A celestial titan 
  could have value to many denizens of Avernus, from Warlords 
  such as Bitter Breath or Princeps Kovik, or powerful 
  demons such as a glabrezu and a handful of tanarukks or 
  vrocks. You can have the fiendish assailants arrive shortly 
  after the party, hoping to score themselves a nice catch, or 
  already be chasing the spined devil when the party arrives 
  (shouting Uldrak’s name, so the party realizes the truth of the 
  empyrean’s predicament).
  Arkhan's Tower
  At Arkhan’s Tower, the party meets with the tortle priest 
  Krull, who can show them the way to Arkhan. This location is 
  brimming with dangerous foes, but is meant to be handled as 
  a social encounter.
  Dragon Attack!
  There’s so many fun foes here, it’s a shame the party doesn’t 
  get to fight any of them. If you want, you can challenge the 
  party a little with an impromptu encounter. As the characters 
  approach the tower, the young and wyrmling dragons  living 
  in the tower come swooping down to attack them – which 
  should present a pretty interesting challenge for the party! 
  As soon as the party reduces a dragon to 0 hit points, or the 
  dragons are getting the upper hand, Krull arrives on the back 
  of Obatala, the adult white dragon. The tortle calmly asks the 
  party to seize fighting, while also admonishing the dragons 
  to draw back (which they reluctantly do, growling threats all 
  the while). He then dismounts, and uses spells such as cure 
  wounds or regeneration to heal any badly wounded dragons 
  or even party members who’ve come close to dying. If a 
  dragon or party member died, Krull tsk-tsks, but offers that 
  his master, Arkhan the Cruel, can remedy the situation and 
  bring the deceased back to life.
  This creates a properly dramatic entry for Krull, and also 
  shows the party that they are sorely outmatched in a fight 
  against the tower’s defenders.
  
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   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS
  Monument to Tiamat
  At the Monument to Tiamat, the characters can meet Arkhan 
  the Cruel, Tiamat’s most devoted champion, who has the 
  blood they need to revert Uldrak’s transformation.
  Sacrifice of an Innocent
  The book has Arkhan demanding the sacrifice of an innocent 
  in return for a vial of the dragon queen’s blood. This is an 
  interesting proposition, but the party might be stumped for 
  likely offerings. Have Arkhan (or Gargauth!) suggest Lulu if 
  she’s with the party, or inform the party that there’s a unicorn 
  in the Demon Zapper. If Krikendolt is with the party, he’s also 
  a good candidate for the sacrifice.
  Fighting Arkhan the Cruel
  An encounter here is brutal, especially as it is written in 
  the book, where a dozen of abishai and a chimera can 
  be compelled to also fight for Arkhan. However, if Arkhan 
  demands a sacrifice, but the party won’t do it, they may be 
  provoked into a fight with the powerful paladin. 
  To even the odds, you can remove the abishai (either 
  entirely, or just have them watch the battle from the dragon 
  skull, choosing not to intervene), and disregard the mention 
  of the chimera. A fight against Arkhan the Cruel, Torogar 
  Steelfist, a manticore and Krull will still be difficult, but at 
  least the party has a small chance. 
  You can increase their chances by having Arkhan fight 
  conservatively, teleporting himself and his allies away as 
  soon as he’s below half hit points or one of his minions 
  are destroyed – this is a good option if the characters have 
  managed to get their hands on the vial of dragon blood 
  already, snatching it off his neck during or before the fight.
  You can also have an ambitious Krull turn against Arkhan 
  at an opportune moment, using a debilitating spell such 
  as contagion to greatly hamper the evil dragonborn. If you 
  choose this option, Krull is motivated by his desire to become 
  Tiamat’s foremost champion in place of Arkhan. If you 
  don’t want the party to actually defeat Arkhan and Torogar 
  (their magical gear could probably break the balance of your 
  campaign), you can have a shocked and weakened Arkhan 
  shout “Treachery!” before turning to the party and saying: 
  “There is my sacrifice. Unlike him, I uphold the decrees of 
  my Queen, and will not harm another of her servants. Bring 
  his corpse to me at my tower, and you shall have what you 
  seek”, before using teleportation to take him, Torogar and the 
  manticore away, leaving the party to face off with Krull.
  Bel's Forge
  At Bel’s Forge, the party must convince the former archdevil 
  to help them find the Bleeding Citadel. This is surprisingly 
  easy, since Bel hates Zariel and supports any move against 
  the new Archduke of Avernus.
  A Bargain with Bel
  This location and Bel’s dealings with the characters is 
  well-described, and should be easy enough to handle. The 
  encounter with the four fire giants is a nice little test of the 
  characters, presented by Bel to determine if they are even 
  worth his trouble (he might choose to intervene before any of 
  the giants are actually killed).
  You can also open up Bel’s task by having him suggest 
  that they seek out either the sibriex or the Arches of Ulloch 
  in their search for the adamantine rods – the latter allowing 
  them to teleport directly to the Wrecked Flying Fortress.
  Sibriex
  At the Sibriex, the party must question the demon to discover 
  where they can find Bel’s adamantine rods. This location 
  features some interesting creatures, but is meant to be played 
  as a social encounter.
  Interrogating the Sibriex
  The conversation with the sibriex is presented a bit 
  convoluted, but basically the party has two options:
  • Succeed on a DC 17 Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) 
  check to convince the sibriex to tell them where the nine 
  adamantine rods are, if they promise to free it afterward.
  • The party can magically compel the creature to tell them, 
  although its magic resistance and high saving throws 
  might make this a difficult task.
  You can give the party some more options – as well as create 
  the opportunity for a combat encounter – by having the 
  sibriex suggest that they betray Bel and instead free it, upon 
  which it will tell them where to find the Bleeding Citadel. 
  If the party agrees, they’ll end up in a tough fight with the 
  sibriex’ captors. Should they succeed and free the sibriex, it 
  will admit to have lied, but either offer up the location of the 
  adamantine rods (Wrecked Flying Fortress) or send the party 
  to the Arches of Ulloch, where they should be able to get 
  anywhere they want.
  
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
   CHAPTER 3: AVERNUS 
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  Wrecked Flying Fortress
  This wreck is a fun location and mini dungeon crawl, that 
  presents fun challenges to the party, as they search for Bel’s 
  adamantine rods so they can get the location of the Bleeding 
  Citadel.
  Firestorm
  This is a pretty intense encounter. A group DC 20 Wisdom 
  (Survival) check is difficult, and failure is pretty fatal. 
  Remember that only characters on foot (i.e. not in an infernal 
  war machine) are affected, and that characters can evade the 
  fire storm with dispel magic or magic such as fly or levitation. 
  If you know that the characters have no means of evading the 
  fire storm, you may want to reduce the damage to 1d8 fire 
  damage per turn, or something more manageable.
  Arrival at the Wreck
  The party can enter the wreck two ways: climbing the 
  outside, or moving through the lower decks. Either way, 
  they’re likely attacked by six vrocks before getting close. 
  If they choose to climb, they must make DC 15 Strength 
  (Athletics) checks (5d8 bludgeoning damage seems pretty fair 
  if a character falls) or will encounter five bone whelks if they 
  climb through the lower decks.
  There’s also a necromantic remorhaz hidden in a Soul 
  Intake pipe, which the party might arouse as they ascend the 
  interior of the Wrecked Flying Fortress. Exactly how, when 
  and where they get the beast’s attention is left mostly up to 
  you. However, instead of having a fight with a strong creature 
  off-map, you can have the remorhaz appear as the party 
  are rummaging through one of the areas above – perhaps 
  if they make noise while playing with the fortress’ infernal 
  machinery, or trigger the alarm in W5. Foreshadow the 
  remorhaz a few times by describing how the fortress groans 
  and shifts as if something large and heavy is moving through 
  it. This should ramp up tension and prepare the party for the 
  inevitable encounter with the infernal monstrosity.
  W1. Bridge
  The book has Mad Maggie’s crew show up while the party is 
  investigating this part of the fortress. While this is a fun idea, 
  it may seem a bit too coincidental when yet another warlord 
  shows up as the party leaves the fortress. You can choose to 
  leave Mad Maggie’s crew out, if you don’t think it’d result in 
  anything fun. If the party is on friendly terms with Maggie 
  and the kenku, you can have the crew show up as described, 
  but seem very anxious to quickly pillage the wreck. When 
  asked about this – or when a hostile warlord appears later – 
  you can have Chukka inform the party that they “may have 
  aroused some attention getting here, hehe” (the crew drove 
  right through another warlord’s territory). This can put 
  some extra tension on the situation, or at the very least give 
  a plausible explanation to why multiple warlords show up in 
  short succession. 
  W4. Records Room
  Okay, so this is pretty fun – a shapechanged death slaad 
  which has been dunked in the River Styx. However, it’s only 
  fun if the party discovers the truth. If they just ignore or 
  kill the hapless slaad, it’s no fun at all. You can increase the 
  chances of the party using magic to heal the gnoll by having 
  good-aligned NPCs such as Lulu take pity on it (“I think what 
  happened to me, has also happened to it. Can we do nothing 
  to help it?”, or pragmatic NPCs such as Gargauth suggest it 
  might know where the rods are (“Perhaps this cretin can tell 
  us where to find the rods, if we restore its mind!”). 
  W5. Adamantine Rods
  This is where the rods are, secured in a safe that uses a 
  three-digit combination of 6-6-6. Puzzles are always great 
  – but puzzles without any hints or clues can quickly end up 
  being more frustrating than fun. You can help the party out 
  a little by describing a riddle written in infernal above the 
  control dials:
  “Three numbers the same, but double in sum,  
  A hell of a prison, a roll of the die, a handful and one!”
  This riddle suggests that all three numbers are the same, and 
  that the number is two times three. Additionally, a hell of a 
  prison refers to Malbolge (the sixth layer of Hell), a roll of the 
  die refers to the six sides of a standard die, and a handful and 
  one means simply 5 + 1. With these clues, the party stands a 
  better chance of figuring out the correct combination.
  As mentioned previously, triggering the alarm by failing 
  to open the safe in three tries could cause the remorhaz to 
  awaken and make its way to the Command Deck. If Mad 
  Maggie’s crew are hanging around the Command Deck, you 
  can have the screams of dying redcaps offer a last omen of 
  the dangerous foe heading towards the party.
  Arrival of a War Band
  Having a war band arrive to confront the party is a fun 
  scenario. Remember to consider the party’s current situation 
  before they appear, as well as any allies they have with them. 
  If aided by Mad Maggie’s crew and at full health, they’ll make 
  short work of any crew that opposes them, while a heavily 
  taxed party without allies could find themselves in a very dire 
  situation indeed. 
  The book describes different motivations for the various 
  warlords, but Princeps Kovik’s motivation – the adamantine 
  rods – seems the most plausible. This could result in a 
  tense stand-off between the characters and the warlord, 
  where clever characters might be able to convince Princeps 
  Kovik with a DC 17 Charisma (Deception, Intimidation or 
  Persuasion) check, that taking the rods will earn him Bel’s 
  Wrath! If you want, you can have whichever warlord you 
  choose to show up have the same motivation, instead of what 
  is described in the book.
  If you want to make the situation even more tense, and 
  pressure the party some, you can have the arriving warlord 
  demand that the party hand over Mad Maggie’s crew, even if 
  they are talked out of taking the adamantine rods. This will 
  force the party to decide how much they really like the kenku!
  
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   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL
   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL
  Chapter 4: Sword of Zariel
  Chapter 4: Sword of Zariel
  C
  hapter 4: Sword of Zariel is the 
  culmination of the party’s search for Zariel’s 
  sword, and has the characters battling fearsome 
  demons as they unravel the final layers of 
  the Archduke of Avernus’ tragic tale. It’s gory, 
  frightful, splendid, fantastical and engrossing 
  Dungeons & Dragons from start to finish! 
  Running Chapter 4
  Chapter 4 is dense and jam-packed with action. From 
  crawling through the Scab to defending the dreamlike past 
  of Idyllglen, the party will face dangerous foes and tough 
  challenges before eventually claiming the Sword of Zariel. 
  Coming from the vastness of Chapter 3, this chapter is 
  much more narrow in scope. It’s linear in the sense that 
  multiple options aren’t provided – but, as the end of the 
  campaign is drawing closer, this seems very natural. It’s also 
  a very well-paced chapter, that is actually meant to be handled 
  in a single day of adventuring, albeit with an artificial ‘long 
  rest’ in the middle of the chapter.
  With no further ado, let’s take a closer look at running each 
  section of Chapter 4: Sword of Zariel.
  The Scab
  In this section of Chapter 4, the characters must make 
  their way through gory tunnels of the Scab. Infested with 
  murderous demons, the Scab presents a grotesque dungeon 
  crawl ending at the gates to the Bleeding Citadel. Below we’ll 
  go over some of the areas in the scab, offering suggestions on 
  how to approach them.
  Handling the Scab
  The Scab is a weird and interesting location – made of living 
  tissue, the Scab’s irregular tunnels are filled with dangers 
  and challenges. One of the biggest challenges, however, is the 
  DM’s – how to handle the party’s trek through the Scab?
  Map 4.1. Side view of the Scab (BG:DiA, pg. 137) offers a 
  cross-section of the Scab. While interesting and well-crafted, 
  it doesn’t offer much help to groups who prefer maps for their 
  encounters. With this download, you can find a map of the 
  Scab (split into three levels), which can help you remedy this. 
  This map is based on the cross-section of the Scab, as well 
  as the information presented in the chapter, with some minor 
  modifications.
  Entering the Scab
  According to the book, a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check is 
  required to reach the hole near the top of the scab, but skill 
  checks without consequences are no fun. Instead, you can 
  ask for two checks, having failure on the first result in a 50 
  ft. fall (a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw allows a character to 
  hang on), and failure on the second result in a hand or foot 
  plunging through soft tissue, infecting the character with the 
  Scab’s blood (which means a DC 13 Wisdom saving or throw 
  or become cruel and uncaring for 8 hours). Alternatively, you 
  can also completely forgo the check.
  S2. Angelic Window
  Having a window showing up in the middle of this dungeon 
  is fun, and you can probably expect the characters to try and 
  get through it somehow. While touching the glass grants 
  20 temporary hit points – a nice touch, pun intended – you 
  can put a quick stop to any shenanigans by having forceful 
  attempts to break the glass result in a 2d8 force damage and 
  a strong push away from the glass.
  S3. Drowned Hag
  Why Yiggleblight didn’t use her Etherealness to avoid being 
  drowned by the bulezaus is never explained. If you want to 
  make this scenario seem a bit more plausible, you can have 
  the hag be shackled with a pair of dimensional shackles. 
  
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   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL 
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  S5. Food Fight
  To make it more likely that the party intervenes in this fight, 
  make sure to describe the magic glaive to anyone who looks 
  in. On that note, a vicious glaive seems more fun than a 
  simple +1 glaive.
  S11. Statue of Yeenoghu
  This location is fun – with the statue around, even the gnolls 
  might get more than a single round against the party. If Lulu 
  isn’t around to point out the statue’s power (or you don’t want 
  her to), Gargauth in the Shield of the Hidden Lord can fill in, 
  or you can describe to the party how dark energy seeps from 
  the statue towards the fiends, closing their wounds.
  S13. Cackling Gnolls
  As written, this encounter is pretty crowded, as the party 
  faces more than two dozen gnolls in a tight corridor. On 
  the map for the Scab included with this download, we’ve 
  expanded the corridor at this point to make better room 
  for so many combatants. If you want to do more to avoid 
  claustrophobia, you can convert the 15 mundane gnolls to 5 
  gnoll pack lords instead.
  S14. Entrance to the Citadel
  The way this location is written, the party will either face 
  an ambush here (if Vatilan escaped from area S9 to warn 
  Trantolox) or be able to get the drop on the demons from a 
  high vantage point (remember, though, that the nalfeshnee 
  has truesight out to 120 ft.). Either way, giving the party a 
  chance to negotiate with the treacherous Trantolox is a nice 
  touch, so you may want to have Trantolox pause the fight to 
  speak with the party if things start off on the wrong foot.
  When fighting inevitably breaks out, remember that this 
  is likely the party’s last fight before they’re replenished 
  inside the Citadel, so don’t be afraid to pressure them a little. 
  While carrying a CR 13, the nalfeshnee in itself isn’t a very 
  frightening creature. It has relatively low damage output, and 
  isn’t even very durable if the party has magical weapons.
  If you have foreshadowed Crokek’toeck properly, this 
  isn’t a bad time to have the demon break free from its prison. 
  Perhaps Trantolox has a wand of disintegration it can point 
  at the ceiling to release Crokek’toeck, or the noise of heavy 
  battle awakens the sleeping monster. If you don’t want to 
  introduce a gargantuan demon to the mix, you can also 
  simply have more demonic allies show up – shadow demons 
  are particularly nasty when arriving unexpectedly.
  Alternatively, should the party suddenly find themselves 
  in a dire situation, you can have a character with a DC 15 
  Intelligence (Investigation) check (or Lulu or another friendly 
  NPC), realize that opening the double doors could turn the 
  fight in the party’s favor (the magical light coming from the 
  Bleeding Citadel will likely turn the tides!)
  Crokek’toeck
  The demon-spewing Crokek’toeck is a fun addition to the Scab, 
  but one that is easily overlooked. The party has no reason to 
  seek out Crokek’toeck, and they’re likely to stop the demons 
  from releasing it. So, if you want Crokek’toeck to make an 
  appearance, you may have to prepare a little.
  First, you can foreshadow the beast and its story. You can 
  have Alazub (S6) tell the party about Yeenoghu’s lost pet freely, 
  and perhaps leave some scribbled notes about Crokek’toeck in 
  Yiggleblight’s lair (she discovered the demonic beast using her 
  Etherealness). You can also have the party hear loud snoring 
  and belches seemingly coming from inside the walls, as they 
  make their way through the Scab’s tunnels.
  Second, you’ll need someone to free Crokek’toeck. You can 
  have the digging demons (S9) free the demon if the party 
  somehow leaves them undisturbed (which is unlikely, since 
  the characters have to go through S9 to get to the Entrance 
  to the Citadel), ending with Crokek’toeck catching up to the 
  party right before they enter the citadel. You can also have 
  Trantolox offer to leave the Scab without more fighting, if they 
  help him free Crokek’toeck (which is a naked lie, of course!). 
  If there’s no good-aligned creature with the party, Trantolox 
  can entice the party even more by saying that Crokek’toeck will 
  be able to chew through the doors. This is true enough, but if 
  Crokek’toeck is freed and comes crashing into S14, the party 
  must somehow goad the demon into accidentally chewing on 
  the gates.
  If you really want to ensure that Crokek’toeck is freed, you 
  can provide the characters with rumors that it has eaten 
  a powerful demonic artifact, prompting them to release it 
  themselves. The information can come from any number 
  of creatures in Chapter 3: one of the night hags, Mahadi, a 
  Warlord, Bel, Olanthius, Gargauth in the Shield of the Hidden 
  Lord or even Lulu herself. The item could be a demon armor 
  or helm of devil command, or any other item you think would 
  properly entice the characters.
  If all else fails, you can also decrease the power of the radiant 
  burst that shatters the Scab at the end of the chapter, and 
  have Crokek’toeck slither around the area when the characters 
  appear from their sojourn to Idyllglen. This also gives any 
  character who’s picked up the Sword of Zariel a nice way to 
  showcase their newfound powers.
  
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   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL
   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL
  Entering the Citadel
  This small section works as a minor intermission between 
  the horrors of the Scab and the challenge of Idyllglen. There’s 
  not much happening here, and the party is quickly shoved 
  onto Idyllglen (after receiving a magical long rest). The scene 
  certainly works fine for what it is, but if you want, you can 
  flesh it out a bit more to give your party a bit more of a break, 
  as well as more background on Zariel and her descent.
  Prolonging the Scene
  In the book, the characters enter the citadel, see the sword, 
  receive a long rest, and are then approached by Yael’s ghost, 
  prompting Lulu’s memories and sending them to Idyllglen. 
  Once again, Lulu takes center stage, which might be an 
  issue if you’ve decided to write her out of the campaign or 
  tone down her importance. Even if she is tagging along, it 
  doesn’t really seem necessary. Yael is a compelling enough 
  NPC, especially if the party visited with Olanthius on the 
  way to the Bleeding Citadel. Instead of having the memory 
  spring forth from Lulu (which also requires you to magically 
  bring her alive, should she have died along the way), you can 
  have Yael give the party a little tour first. As in the book, she 
  appears when the party moves toward the sword, but instead 
  of instantly triggering the vision, the scene plays like this:
  The translucent image of a woman in her thirties wearing 
  plate armor and bearing a thin scar on her cheek appears 
  beside you, staring solemnly at the sword with sad eyes.
  “It is beautiful, is it not?” the ghosts says softly, her voice 
  barely above a whisper, yet echoing off the citadel’s alabaster 
  walls. “I am afraid you cannot wield it. Yet.”
  Yael readily answers questions about who she is (“Yael, 
  faithful general to the archangel Zariel”) and why she’s 
  here (“To protect the Sword of Zariel”), but answers further 
  questions about Zariel and the sword only with: “Let me show 
  you.” Yael’s ghost leads the party to one of the stained glass 
  windows in the cathedral’s walls.
  The woman moves in front of a stained glass window 
  depicting an archdevil offering his hand to a beautiful female 
  angel. “As you probably know by now, Zariel was not always 
  the Archduke of Avernus.” As she speaks, the stained glass 
  moves and flows, showing the angel taking the archdevil’s 
  hand. The angel rises to her feet, and as she does, her 
  blue-feathered wings wither and blacken, her soft hair dries 
  out and falls off, and her shining halo becomes an arch of 
  hellfire around her bald pate. “Her fall seemed sudden, but I 
  knew her better than most. It was the natural conclusion of a 
  promise she made long before.”  
  The woman moves on to stand in front of another stained 
  glass window showing Zariel – before her fall – fighting off 
  hordes of demons and devils. Once again, the window begins 
  moving, as humanoid knights on horses appear to fight 
  alongside her, wielding lances and swords. “We followed her 
  into hell because we believed in her. Because we believed she 
  was right: that we could not win a war if we only defended 
  ourselves. To defeat evil, we had to take the fight to the 
  fiends. We all knew that, for we had seen many times the 
  consequences of passivity and timidity. 
  The ghost moves on to pause in front of a third stained 
  glass window showing a peaceful hamlet on a sunny day. 
  “Zariel’s fall began long before she came to this hell,” she 
  says, her voice sad and filled with regret. The window shifts, 
  showing demonic figures running into the town, setting fires 
  and slaughtering townspeople. The ghost’s form begins to 
  glow brighter and brighter, until the light shining from her is 
  blinding. “If you want to wield the Sword of Zariel, you must 
  first understand its wielder.” The words are the last thing you 
  hear before the world around you is only light.
  As your sight returns, the solace of the cathedral is replaced 
  by havoc, screams of panic, and acrid smoke. You stand at the 
  edge of a small town of burning cottages, fields, and trees. 
  A broken sign on the ground reveals the settlement’s name: 
  Idyllglen. Shrieking townsfolk run from cackling, snarling 
  demons and gnolls.
  
   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL 
   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL 
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  Idyllglen
  Idyllglen is a dream sequence, albeit one with very real 
  dangers and challenges. In a series of events, the party must 
  fend off demonic invaders, while learning more about Zariel 
  and the events that led to her fall. The location of Idyllglen is 
  hectic, with a lot of things happening.
  Overview
  There’s a total of seven ‘events’ that take place while the 
  characters are in Idyllglen. Here’s a brief overview:
  • Event 1 – Characters’ Arrival. The party is thrown 
  immediately into various smaller encounters with gnolls, 
  beasts and demons.
  • Event 2 – Yeenoghu’s Champion. The party is attacked by 
  Garoknul, a marilith sworn to Yeenoghu.
  • Event 3 – Madness Reigns. After defeating Garoknul, five 
  human guards driven mad by demon ichor attack the party, 
  who must try to subdue them without slaughter.
  • Event 4 – Unsettling Calm. The party can rest and 
  socialize with the inhabitants of Idyllglen during a 1 hour 
  break from fighting.
  • Event 5 – Renewed Assault. The town is once again 
  attacked by demons and gnolls.
  • Event 6 – Yeenoghu. The Beast of Butchery, Yeenoghu, 
  arrives and attacks the party with relentless fury.
  • Event 7 – Zariel’s Arrival. Zariel and the Hellriders drive 
  off Yeenoghu and pose the party a difficult question.
  Combined, this is a pretty exciting day of adventuring, and 
  the ‘break’ in the middle is a nice touch, allowing the party 
  to replenish resources during a short rest, while also giving 
  them an opportunity to get a better understanding of what’s 
  going on.
  Event 1 - Arrival
  This one is fun. The characters must simultaneously handle 
  four different minor encounters, choosing where to intervene 
  and who to save. To make these choices apparent to the 
  characters, you may want to highlight them further. You can 
  use the following description:
  As you appear on the road in the small town, you are 
  immediately surrounded by six dog-faced humanoids wielding 
  bloodstained spears. They laugh maniacally as they approach 
  you. Not far away, you can see half a dozen small demons 
  furiously hacking away at an overturned cart with their claws. 
  A woman’s shrill screams of terror sound from underneath 
  the cart. Further ahead on the road, near an immense statue 
  of an angel, you can see a giant hyena circling a much 
  smaller mastiff. The dog growls defiantly, although it is clearly 
  outmatched. Behind the fighting canines, a hulking demon 
  is clawing at a large set of doors leading into a two-story, 
  white stone temple. From within the temple, you can hear a 
  cacophony of panicked screams and frantic prayer.
  Running four different encounters at once can be difficult. 
  Make things easier for yourself by determining in advance 
  how encounters resolve if the characters don’t intervene:
  Round 1
  • The dretches deal 15 damage to the cart.
  • The giant hyena misses, the mastiff bites (4 dmg).
  • The hezrou fails to break down the door.
  Round 2
  • The dretches finish destroying the cart.
  • The giant hyena bites the dog, reducing it to 0 hit points, 
  and bites it again (Rampage), causing 2 failed death saves.
  • The hezrou fails to break down the door.
  Round 3
  • The dretches tear Ella Deepwell apart.
  • The giant hyena leaves the mastiff and attacks the party. 
  The mastiff rolls death saves if not healed or stabilized.
  • The hezrou finally breaks down the door.
  Further Rounds
  • The dretches and giant hyena attack the party.
  • The mastiff rolls death saves.
  • The hezrou kills 3 commoners per turn.
  • When only one enemy remains, Garoknul appears.
  Event 3 - Madness Reigns
  This event is fun – the party is attacked by five insane guards, 
  whom they must try to subdue without killing them. If you 
  are not using Lulu here, the punishment of exhaustion can 
  come from Yael’s mind instead of Lulu’s. This is also a good 
  moment for Jhessa Brightstar to make her first appearance, 
  showing up to shout at the party: “Please, don’t kill them, by 
  Lathander’s light, we will find a way to restore their minds!”. 
  If you run the ritual of Lathander (see below), you can have 
  the ritual also cleanse the guards’ minds.
  Event 4 - Unsettling Calm
  This break is a nice touch, allowing the party a short rest 
  and a chance to get some information from Jhessa Brightstar 
  (who can explain Idyllglen’s past to the party). If you want, 
  you can have Jhessa warn ominously: “If this is like last time, 
  the worst is yet to come. We must ask Lathander for succor. 
  Will you aid me?” If the party acquiesces, she leads them (and 
  the rest of the surviving townsfolk) to the statue of Zariel. 
  Here she begins a hymn to the Morninglord, asking the party 
  to touch the statue’s feet as she does. After a minute or so 
  of prayer, characters who touch the statue gain the benefit 
  of a protection from evil and good spell for 1 hour (and any 
  surviving guards from Event 3 are restored to their senses).
  Additionally, while we know that Zariel will eventually 
  show up to save the day, the party doesn’t necessarily know 
  that. To make the angel’s inevitable arrival seem less like 
  deus ex machina when it happens, you can have Jhessa 
  Brightstar foreshadow it at this moment: “Lathander’s 
  blessing is upon us. The Morninglord has shown me that 
  the night will grow darker still, but that beyond the darkness 
  awaits a glorious dawn. Zariel will come to us, but we must 
  persevere until she does,” says the priest, before pointing to a 
  sliver of glowing light that is forming at the top of the statue’s 
  head and slowly expanding downwards. “We must protect 
  this beacon of light and hope, and it will protect us in turn 
  – and allow for Lathander’s dawn to reach us!” This makes 
  Zariel’s arrival less ‘coincidental’ and allows the characters 
  to visualize the progress, as you describe how the light slowly 
  expands until the statue is shining brightly from top to toe.
  
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   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL
   CHAPTER 4: SWORD OF ZARIEL
  Event 6 - Yeenoghu
  The demon lord Yeenoghu is a tough challenge, with up to 
  six flail attacks per round (when counting legendary actions) 
  and an 8th level spiritual weapon, bringing him to a damage 
  output of more than 100/round. A dangerous foe, to be 
  sure, but the party isn’t without advantages: the characters 
  likely have protection from evil and good on them (causing 
  Yeenoghu to attack with disadvantage), and if they fight 
  Yeenoghu near the statue of Zariel, the demon lord takes 
  roughly 10 radiant damage from the statue each round.
  This encounter is also tough to balance because you want 
  Zariel to make an appearance and save the characters, so 
  they don’t need to destroy the demon lord, but you also want 
  them to feel like what they do in the encounter matters. This 
  is why underlining that the statue must be protected (see 
  ‘Event 4 – Unsettling Calm’ on the previous page) can give 
  them a sense of accomplishment, even if Zariel eventually 
  arrives to save the day. Have Yeenoghu go directly for the 
  statue, only pausing its attacks when the characters approach 
  it in melee combat, or take actions it can’t ignore.
  Developments
  In the book, Zariel shows up after three rounds or when 
  Yeenoghu is reduced to 100 hit points or fewer. You can play 
  around with this a little – a strong and reasonably rested 
  party should be able to last five rounds with Yeenoghu, even 
  if it means that a few of them are killed in the process. If the 
  statue is glowing as described on the previous page, you can 
  let the characters know roughly how close they are to being 
  relieved by Zariel (“the light continues to expand, now nearly 
  reaching the statue’s feet” or “the light seems only seconds 
  away from covering the entire statue, causing Yeenoghu to 
  attack the statue with almost panicked fury!”).
  Event 7 - Zariel's Arrival
  Zariel’s arrival has a suitably dramatic description, with 
  the angel and her Hellriders appearing to quickly sweep 
  Yeenoghu and his demons from Idyllglen. After cleaning 
  up, the book says that “Zariel prepares to lead her forces 
  through the portal into Avernus”, although such a portal isn’t 
  mentioned anywhere else in the text (you may want to simply 
  not mention this part). Regardless, she asks the party if they 
  would risk it all to save others, bestowing charms on them 
  depending on their answer, and finally ending the dream.
  The characters may want to ask questions of Zariel along 
  the way. Since it is a dream or memory, you can certainly 
  have the angel ignore any questions or mentions of her 
  ‘future’ as an archdevil. You can also opt to have her inquire 
  about what happens, seemingly pondering the characters’ 
  words. If they tell her the consequences of her choice – to 
  risk it all by heading into Avernus – she may respond with 
  something like: “My path is already chosen. This is but a 
  vision, a distant memory, a faded dream. But, what descends 
  can ascend again. That is what Lathander teaches us, when 
  he brings back the sun each dawn.”
  Claiming the Sword
  When the characters are returned to the Bleeding Citadel, 
  Lulu fills them in completely on Zariel’s background, and 
  the characters can take the Sword of Zariel, destroying the 
  Bleeding Citadel in the process.
  If you had Yael stand in for Lulu during ‘Entering the 
  Citadel’, you can also have her be the one who details the last 
  pieces of Zariel’s fall: That Idyllglen was the last straw, that 
  Zariel accepted Asmodeus’ deal, and that Yael hid her sword 
  and gave her life to protect it from both devils and demons.
  Drawing the Sword
  When a character draws the sword from the stone, they will 
  ‘exist no longer’, as Yael puts it. This doesn’t mean they die, 
  however, just that they are turned into a ‘heavenly’ version 
  of themselves, which includes a bunch of powerful boons, 
  as well as a set of new personality traits and a lawful good 
  alignment. This is pretty cool, but could also cause problems.
  First, there’s the expectation from the sentence ‘The hero 
  who becomes one with this blade exists no longer’. The 
  characters might (understandably) think that this means 
  they’ll give up their life – something a player might find 
  alluringly dramatic – and not really be keen on the idea 
  of becoming an angel creature with forced alignment and 
  personality traits. You can alter this sentence to “The hero 
  who becomes one with this blade will never be the same 
  again” to give a more accurate warning of what will happen.
  Second, there’s the strong powers the sword bestows upon 
  its wielder: 20 Charisma, flying, Truesight, and much more. 
  This isn’t too big an issue, since the campaign is ending soon. 
  But it might leave a character reluctant to bring the sword 
  to Zariel in an effort to redeem her (since that would mean 
  giving up the sword). However, since the sword is already 
  imposing upon their free will with a new personality, you can 
  easily have it strongly urge the character to bring the sword to 
  Zariel – either to seek her redemption, or her destruction. If 
  you want the campaign to go on after Baldur’s Gate: Descent 
  into Avernus, and don’t want to bestow so much power on 
  one character, you can also take other steps to take the sword 
  away again. When Zariel is redeemed, she’ll take the sword 
  (you can have her replace it with a sun blade to not leave 
  anyone too disappointed), and if she’s destroyed, you can have 
  the sword burst into brilliant shards along with the fallen 
  angel (perhaps blessing its wielder with a the ability to take 
  on an angelic shape with Truesight, flying and 20 charisma 
  for 1 minute each day, or something similar to that).
  
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  Chapter 5: Escape from Avernus
  Chapter 5: Escape from Avernus
  C
  hapter 5: Escape from Avernus is the 
  final act of the infernal play, where the characters 
  must lay their lives on the line – heck, even 
  their immortal souls – to escape the hell that is 
  Avernus. In this chapter, the heroes must deal 
  with demons, devils and fallen angels as they 
  cement their legacies as the saviors of Elturel!
  Running Chapter 5
  Chapter 5 starts right where Chapter 4 ends: The characters 
  have claimed the Sword of Zariel, and must now figure out 
  how to use it to save Elturel and escape Avernus! 
  Of all the chapters in Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, 
  this chapter is by far the most open-ended chapter. It doesn’t 
  prescribe a predetermined plan-of-action, but instead 
  outlines several different scenarios the players might choose 
  from. This allows you to craft the ending that best fits your 
  campaign, which is certainly the right way to do it – even if it 
  can be more challenging than following a strict script.
  Below you’ll find a structured overview of Chapter 5 to help 
  clearly define the events in the chapter.
  Overview
  The campaign book outlines several possible outcomes to the 
  campaign, but in a slightly haphazard way, with the outcomes 
  scattered across multiple pages. Luckily, when we put it all 
  together, the chapter is actually quite simple in its essence. 
  The characters need to accomplish three things before the 
  end:
  • Deal with Zariel, Archduke of Avernus
  • Break the Chains pulling Elturel down
  • Return Elturel to the Material Plane
  The characters can decide in which order they attempt these 
  things, but they must successfully do all three to free Elturel 
  and return it to the Material Plane (if that is their goal!). 
  Deal with Zariel
  Regardless of whatever else happens in this chapter, the 
  party will eventually have to deal with Zariel. The chapter 
  outlines several scenarios for the characters’ interaction with 
  Zariel, which essentially boils down to redeeming, making 
  a deal with, or fighting the fallen angel. Below is a quick 
  overview, which we’ll explore in depth in the section Dealing 
  with Zariel.
  Redeeming Zariel. The party can redeem Zariel by 
  presenting the Sword of Zariel to her and succeeding on a 
  Persuasion Check. When redeemed, Zariel returns to her 
  angelic form, turns the chains holding Elturel into ash and 
  shatters the Companion, freeing the planetar who returns 
  Elturel to the Material Plane.
  Making a Deal with Zariel. The party can also bargain 
  with Zariel, offering for example to destroy one of the 
  demon lords, give her the Shield of the Hidden Lord or sign 
  away one of their brightest souls in exchange for Elturel’s 
  release. Alternatively, the party can also choose to serve 
  Zariel, delivering the Sword of Zariel to the archdevil. In this 
  scenario, Elturel isn’t freed – indeed, Zariel might instead 
  task the party with ensuring Baldur’s Gate fall.
  Fighting Zariel. Destroying Zariel (possibly with the aid 
  of various demon lords or archdevils) frees the citizens of 
  Elturel from their infernal bondage and breaks the chains 
  holding Elturel, but doesn’t return the city to the Material 
  Plane.
  
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  Breaking the Chains
  To free the city of Elturel from imminent destruction by way 
  of drowning in the River Styx, the party must break the 
  chains holding it. The book outlines four ways to do this: 
  by Zariel’s hand, with Tiamat or Crokek’toeck’s aid, or by 
  breaking the contract between Zariel and Thavius Kreeg. 
  Don’t be afraid to add more options to this one – feasibly, any 
  powerful entity or even the characters themselves can break 
  the chains. And, since breaking the chains in itself does little 
  to actually liberate Elturel from its predicament, you don’t 
  have to worry about the characters ‘skipping’ content by 
  dealing with the chains in an unintended, inventive way.
  By Zariel’s Hand. If the characters either redeemed Zariel, 
  or struck a bargain with the archdevil, Zariel can break the 
  chains holding Elturel and free the city.
  Breaking the Contract. If Zariel is killed, or the characters 
  can trick Zariel into presenting the contract and then destroy 
  it, the chains are turned to ash and Elturel is freed.
  Ire of Tiamat. The party can strike a bargain with Arkhan 
  the Cruel and his draconic deity, and get the dragon goddess 
  to destroy the chains holding Elturel.
  Jaws of Crokek’toeck. If Crokek’toeck was released from 
  the Scab, the party can smear blood from a celestial or a 
  paladin on the chains, luring the demon in to chew through 
  them.
  Returning Elturel
  Lastly, the party must ensure that Elturel is returned to 
  the Material Plane. The only way to do this outlined in 
  the chapter is by freeing the planetar trapped inside the 
  Companion. This – freeing the planetar – thus becomes the 
  real objective here. (If the characters are stumped as to how 
  they can return Elturel to the Material plane, you can have 
  Lulu or Gargauth in the Shield of the Hidden Lord suggest 
  destroying the Companion). Going by the book, there’s three 
  ways to free the planetar: striking the Companion with the 
  Sword of Zariel, using Bel’s adamantine rods, or acquiring 
  the aid of a powerful demon lord or archdevil.
  The Sword of Zariel. A character wielding the Sword of 
  Zariel can free the planetar with a single blow. Zariel does 
  this for the party if they redeem her or strike a bargain with 
  her. Otherwise, they can do it themselves, although this may 
  destroy the sword.
  Using the Adamantine Rods. If the characters have 
  acquired the nine adamantine rods crafted by Bel, they 
  can insert the rods into the Companion, thus releasing the 
  planetar.
  With Evil’s Aid. The characters can also get a powerful 
  archdevil or demon lord to shatter the Companion for them 
  – most likely suspects are Tiamat, Bel or even Gargauth, if 
  released from the shield. 
  
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  Starting the Ending
  As mentioned earlier, Chapter 5 starts in a very open way. 
  The characters are on the open steppe of Avernus, Sword of 
  Zariel in hand, ready to take on Zariel and save Elturel. But 
  where do they start? They may have some ideas on their own, 
  but it pays for you to be aware of the options, especially if you 
  want to guide them toward a particular type of ending. The 
  most likely first actions are one of the following:
  • Immediately seek out Zariel to destroy or redeem her.
  • Go to Elturel to destroy the chains and/or the Companion.
  • Try to make an alliance with one or several NPCs.
  However, which of these options even occur to them, or how 
  they go about it, depends on the information available to them 
  – which is something you have control over.
  Your Preferred Ending
  The information you provide the party with will inevitably 
  guide their decisions. But choosing what information to give, 
  requires you to think about what ending you think would be 
  most fitting for your campaign. Do you want the party to face 
  Zariel on their own or with cool allies in tow? Do you think 
  redeeming Zariel should be plan A, and a fight to the death 
  plan B – or the other way around? Do you want the party to 
  liberate Elturel on their own by destroying the chains and 
  breaking the Companion?
  Setting the Scene
  The chapter starts with a nearly blank slate. The descriptions 
  you provide as the characters stand under Avernus’ open sky 
  (or have provided earlier) will play a large part in determining 
  the party’s actions. If they can see Elturel on the horizon, 
  hovering just barely above the River Styx, they are probably 
  more likely to hurry to its rescue immediately. Alternatively, 
  if they know they have several days to plan and prepare, they 
  are more likely to seek out allies and explore their options. 
  Likewise, if they never see Croek’toeck, they probably won’t 
  get the idea to have it chew through the infernal chains, and 
  if they don’t know where Zariel resides, they won’t be able to 
  confront her in her flying fortress, if that’s what you would 
  like to happen.
  Using NPCs
  Another tool you can use to guide the characters are any of 
  the NPCs and/or sentient items they have with them. The 
  book suggests that Lulu will try to convince the characters to 
  redeem Zariel, while it would seem fitting that Gargauth in 
  the Shield of the Hidden Lord might suggest to the party that 
  they make some allies first – preferably someone that can 
  free him, such as Bel or Tiamat.
  You can have any NPC tell the party where to find Zariel 
  – whether you want that to be in her flying fortress or on the 
  battlefield under Elturel – or even have the Sword of Zariel 
  impart that knowledge as a weird sensation to any character 
  who has attuned to it. Likewise, NPCs can also provide the 
  characters with pertinent information such as how the party 
  can destroy the infernal chains (suggesting Croek’toeck, if 
  they spot him on the plains!) or the Companion.
  If you don’t have Lulu or Gargauth available, or prefer not 
  to use them, you can also have Olanthius show up after the 
  citadel’s destruction. He mourns the final passing of Yael, 
  but swears fealty to any character attuned to the Sword of 
  Zariel. Olanthius can be the one who suggests that the party 
  seek out Zariel to redeem or destroy her, while also providing 
  welcome aid in the challenging fights ahead.
  Example Endings
  There’s a multitude of different ways to end the campaign, and 
  it can be hard to keep track of all the possibilities. Below you’ll 
  find three example endings which can help to give a clearer 
  picture of what’s possible, and perhaps even inspire the ending 
  you want to create for your campaign.
  Example Ending 1
  • The party is joined by Olanthius shortly after reclaiming the 
  Sword of Zariel. He offers his help in either redeeming or 
  destroying Zariel, and tells the party that she is near Elturel. 
  • On the way to Zariel, they must deal with some horned devils 
  and barlguras.
  • The characters finally get close to Zariel and attempt to 
  redeem her – and succeed!
  • Bel chooses this moment to enact his vengeance, attacking 
  the vulnerable Zariel.
  • The party and Olanthius fight the powerful pit fiend and 
  manage to send him scurrying away, although the valiant 
  Olanthius is destroyed.
  • Zariel thanks the party and liberates Elturel.
  Example Ending 2
  • The party can see that they still have some days before Elturel 
  descends fully. Gargauth suggests that they find allies against 
  Zariel.
  • The party strikes a deal with Bel, who grants them charms 
  and items, and informs them that the adamantine rods they 
  have can be used to destroy the Companion.
  • >The party flies up to the Companion to use the adamantine 
  rods, but are intercepted by Zariel, who attacks them.
  • The party is losing the fight with Zariel, but survivors from 
  Elturel come to their aid, suffering heavy losses but turning 
  the tide. 
  • Sensing that she might lose, Zariel offers a bargain to the 
  party – destroy a demon lord and she will let Elturel go back.
  • Whether by Zariel’s destruction or by the party’s fulfillment 
  of their bargain, Elturel is freed and returned to the Material 
  Plane.
  Example Ending 3
  • The party is spurred on by Lulu to quickly get to Elturel and 
  redeem Zariel.
  • On the way to Zariel, they must deal with some horned devils 
  and barlguras.
  • The characters finally get close to Zariel and attempt to 
  redeem her – and fail!
  • Zariel is ready to attack, but Gargauth implores a good-
  aligned cleric or paladin to offer themselves to Zariel.
  • Zariel agrees, but first wants the Shield of the Hidden Lord as 
  part of the bargain.
  • Gargauth is released and the party must fight the powerful 
  pit fiend.
  • When Gargauth has been defeated, the cleric or paladin 
  moves to sacrifice themselves, giving the characters another 
  chance to redeem Zariel.
  • Whether by Zariel’s redemption or by a character’s noble 
  sacrifice, Elturel is freed and returned to the Material Plane.
  
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  Dealing with Zariel
  How the characters choose to deal with Zariel is in many 
  ways the pivotal event of Chapter 5 – it’s where they’ll most 
  likely find their greatest challenge and where the campaign’s 
  ending will be decided by strength of arms and sharpness of 
  wit. Below we’ll go review the options for dealing with Zariel 
  presented in the book and offer advice on how to run them.
  Redeeming Zariel
  To quickly recap, this is how the campaign book describes 
  the possible redemption of Zariel:
  • The characters must bring the Sword of Zariel to within 10 
  ft. of Zariel and make a hard Charisma (Persuasion) check.
  • On a success, Zariel takes the sword and returns to her 
  angelic form, and the party receives a blessing of health.
  • Zariel destroys the Companion and releases the planetar.
  • The planetar returns Elturel to the Material Plane.
  • Zariel gifts the party a feather to summon her for 1 hour.
  This scenario is rewarding in the sense that Zariel’s 
  redemption is a fitting end to her story arc, and the scenes 
  described in the book are dramatic. However, having 
  everything come down to a single skill check, and ending 
  with Zariel basically doing everything for the party, can 
  end up feeling a bit anticlimactic. There’s several ways you 
  can make the redemption of Zariel not only more climactic, 
  but also more challenging and satisfying. This involves 
  enhancing what happens before, during and after Zariel’s 
  redemption.
  Before Zariel's Redemption
  On page 154 of BG:DiA, we’re given a thorough description 
  of a possible ‘Endgame in Elturel’, which presents the party 
  with some challenges before encountering Zariel in the field 
  of battle underneath Elturel. You can use this scenario to 
  make sure that there’s some action before the characters 
  attempt to redeem the archdevil. You can read more about 
  this under Endgame in Elturel.
  During Zariel's Redemption
  In the book, redeeming Zariel requires the characters 
  to present the Sword of Zariel, make a good argument 
  for rejoining the celestial host and a DC 25 Charisma 
  (Persuasion) check (which is reduced by 5 if either Lulu or 
  Olanthius is present, or 10 if both are with the party).
  While this process certainly makes sense, it also puts all 
  the party’s eggs in one basket – or on one check, in this case. 
  You can make this challenge more rewarding and include 
  more of the party by turning it into a Group Skill Check.
  Instead of asking only for one check from one character, 
  you can have the tempted – but unsure – Zariel ask each of 
  the party members to make an argument for why she should 
  take the sword and rejoin the celestial host, from their 
  unique perspective. To make success more likely, you can 
  lower the collective DC to 15 (if it is not already lowered by 
  present NPCs), and allow characters who make more logical 
  arguments (“Instead of commanding the forces of evil, is your 
  energy not better spent convincing the forces of good to join 
  the war in earnest?”) to use Intelligence or Wisdom in place 
  of Charisma, when making the Persuasion check. A character 
  that refuses to answer, or can’t give an argument, fails 
  automatically. If half or more of the checks succeed, Zariel 
  grasps the sword and accepts redemption.
  Consequences of Redemption
  We’re never given the specifics of Zariel’s deal with Asmodeus, 
  but it doesn’t seem far fetched to think that there would be 
  consequences to breaking the agreement. This can work in your 
  favor, since you may want the characters to handle themselves 
  against the foes that arrive after her redemption. Immediately 
  after her transformation to a solar, you can have Zariel 
  breathlessly mutter “.. the bargain.. reversed.. back to.. how he 
  found me..”, before a multitude of gory wounds spout on her 
  body and she falls to her knees. If characters move to heal her, 
  she tells them she can heal herself, and instead asks them to 
  protect her from the foes that seek to take advantage of her 
  weakened state. She recovers after a minute or however long is 
  convenient for the encounter you’re running.
  After Zariel's Redemption
  If the characters fail to redeem Zariel, they’ll have an exciting 
  showdown with the archdevil, but if the characters succeed, 
  the book has Zariel taking the reins from there, destroying 
  the Companion and returning Elturel to the Material Plane 
  – basically ending the campaign for the characters. You can 
  make the ending feel more earned by introducing a new foe 
  to replace the redeemed Zariel. There’s ample foes to choose 
  from, and which is best for your table will likely depend on 
  who the characters have interacted with during their time in 
  Avernus. Below we’ll go over three likely prospects.
  Kostchtchi. If freed, Kostchtchie is described at the end 
  of ‘Endgame in Elturel’ as trying to take his hammer back 
  from Zariel. As nearby devils stop to gawk at her angelic 
  transformation, the demon lord slips through their ranks 
  to reclaim his hammer. It is up to the party to defend the 
  weakened Zariel (see ‘Consequences of Redemption’). In 
  spite of his CR of 25, Kostchtchie has only 16 AC and 243 
  HP, so it doesn’t seem unlikely that a party of 13th level 
  adventurers could beat him.
  Bel. If the characters encountered Bel during chapter 3, 
  you can have the cunning pit fiend show up after Zariel’s 
  redemption. Arriving via teleport, Bel takes advantage of 
  Zariel’s weakness to make his move. If Zariel isn’t weakened 
  by her redemption, you can have Bel start the fight by using 
  imprisonment (chaining) on Zariel, followed immediately by a 
  meteor swarm aimed directly at her head, before he moves in 
  for the kill. Even without these high level spells, Bel’s CR of 
  25 seems appropriate, so if the party is losing badly, you can 
  have Olanthius or another friendly NPC show up to help
  Tiamat. Finally, if Arkhan the Cruel or Tiamat have 
  featured heavily in the campaign, you can have the dragon 
  goddess make her move immediately following Zariel’s 
  redemption. Still wary of defeat, Tiamat has sent her minions 
  to kill Zariel and the party. Arkhan the Cruel arrives on 
  the back of his chimera, flanked by Torogar Steelfist on 
  a manticore. In combination, this group should present a 
  challenging, but still beatable, encounter. Alternatively, you 
  can have Tiamat show up herself, in which case the party will 
  likely need the aid of Zariel or other powerful NPCs to even 
  stand a chance!
  
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  Making a Deal with Zariel
  The various deals the party can make with Zariel are well 
  described in the campaign book. To quickly reiterate, the 
  party has the following things to offer Zariel:
  • To Destroy a Demon Lord (likely Baphomet, Yeenoghu or 
  Kostchtchie).
  • The Shield of the Hidden Lord (including the destruction of 
  the weakened pit fiend inside).
  • The Ultimate Sacrifice (the soul of a good-aligned paladin 
  or cleric of 10th level or higher).
  • Serving Zariel (signing their souls over to Zariel and 
  serving her eternally).
  Making a deal with Zariel is in many ways a very suitable 
  ending to an infernal campaign – escaping hell by entering 
  into a deal with an archdevil! All deals are not created equal, 
  however. Depending on the characters’ alignment and 
  personalities, some bargains may seem more enticing – while 
  others are completely off the table.
  To Destroy a Demon Lord
  The book suggests that Zariel will trade Elturel for the 
  destruction of either Baphomet, Yeenoghu or Kostchtchie. 
  Since the party have likely already fought Yeenoghu in 
  Idyllglen, you may be tempted to go with Baphomet instead. 
  The downside to Baphomet is that he isn’t a very interesting 
  foe – besides some less-than-worthwhile spells and Frightful 
  Presence, Baphomet basically just makes the same attacks 
  each round. If you haven’t already foreshadowed Baphomet 
  heavily, you can easily replace him with any of the other 
  demon lords, who can be found in Mordenkainen’s Tome 
  of Foes. Zuggtmoy, Jubilex, or Graz’zt all present similar 
  challenges, while having more interesting combat options.
  This bargain works very well as a more impromptu 
  bargain. It’s a deal both the characters or Zariel herself can 
  suggest to save face if they find themselves losing a pitched 
  battle. It’s also very suitable if the characters have shown 
  interest in the Blood War during the campaign, and perhaps 
  have grown sympathetic towards the devils, who (according 
  to themselves, at least) defend the planes of existence from 
  the chaotic and savage demons.
  The Shield of the Hidden Lord
  This option has Zariel demanding the Shield of the Hidden 
  Lord, upon which she releases the pit fiend Gargauth and 
  insists that the party destroy it. The book dictates that 
  Gargauth has 4 levels of exhaustion, which would make 
  the pit fiend a meager challenge for a party of 13th level 
  adventurers. If this is the final encounter of the campaign, 
  you may want to present the party with a fresh and whole 
  Gargauth – even at full power, a pit fiend shouldn’t be too 
  hard a challenge for the average level 13 party.
  This bargain works particularly well if Gargauth has been 
  pestering the characters to find a way to release him for the 
  last several weeks or even months. To finally be freed, only 
  to be destroyed moments later by the characters is a sweetly 
  ironic ending to the campaign, provided that the characters 
  have developed a meaningful relationship with the pit fiend. 
  Be aware that the book dictates that destroying Gargauth 
  should only buy Elturel’s release OR return – not both. 
  Whether you want to stick by this or not is up to you, though 
  it does seem fair that destroying Gargauth isn’t a big enough 
  prize to warrant the release of Elturel.
  The Ultimate Sacrifice
  This option has a good-aligned cleric or paladin of 10th 
  level or higher offering their soul to Zariel in return for the 
  freedom of Elturel. In addition to being an utilitarian’s dream 
  deal to begin with, this selflessness also grants the party an 
  additional chance to redeem Zariel (with advantage!).
  The idea that a single character can save thousands by 
  sacrificing themselves is definitely appealing. It feels like this 
  works best if it is the player’s own idea – one you can inspire 
  by dropping hints about the value a paladin or cleric’s soul 
  might have throughout the campaign, or by having an NPC 
  such as Gargauth or Lulu say as much. You can of course also 
  have Zariel herself bring it up during a fight with the party, if 
  the characters need a way to survive a catastrophic defeat.
  Serving Zariel
  This option has the characters swearing away their souls and 
  offering to serve Zariel for eternity. In the book, this option is 
  mentioned separately from the other bargains and has Zariel 
  providing nothing in return, but it could feasibly work like 
  ‘The Ultimate Sacrifice’: the characters sign over their souls 
  in return for the freedom of Elturel.
  This bargain seems particularly well-suited for evil – or at 
  least morally ambiguous – characters. It’s also a bargain that 
  is worth keeping in reserve, ready for use if the characters 
  are losing the epic last battle against Zariel and need an out. 
  This bargain has the added benefit of providing a possible 
  starting point for the next campaign, as the party is sent 
  to carry out Zariel’s bidding. Whether that means going 
  up against another archdevil, finding an obscure celestial 
  relic that can be used against the demons, or causing the 
  corruption and ultimate descent of Baldur’s Gate, is your call
  
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  Fighting Zariel
  In the section ‘Zariel’s Wrath’ (BG:DiA, pg. 148), the 
  campaign book describes a fight with Zariel in only a few 
  short sentences. Below, we’ll go over the fight with Zariel in 
  more detail, offering advice on how to run it.
  Before Fighting Zariel
  As mentioned before, the ‘Endgame in Elturel’ (BG:DiA, pg. 
  154) outlines a nice precursor to a fight with Zariel. Whether 
  the party is seeking the archdevil to redeem her or are hoping 
  for a fight from the start, the challenges described here 
  should get them warmed up before the final battle.
  The encounter with Zariel might start differently, however. 
  If the characters have opted to go for the infernal chains or 
  the Companion directly, the book describes how Zariel sends 
  up minions to intercept the party. You can make this scenario 
  match ‘Endgame in Elturel’ by adding some lesser encounters 
  – first two horned devils try to stop the party from doing 
  whatever they’re doing, and after they’re defeated, five vrocks 
  or chasmes show up randomly, attacking the party. 
  Lastly, the party might also choose to confront Zariel in her 
  flying fortress, provided she’s there at all – which is up to you 
  to decide. The book doesn’t offer much advice on how to run 
  an encounter in Zariel’s flying fortress – and, when looking 
  at it, a final showdown underneath the swiftly descending 
  Elturel does seem more dramatic. If the party does decide to 
  go to Zariel’s fortress, you can have it guarded by two erinyes 
  and 12 bearded devils, while the rest of the crew has followed 
  Zariel into battle. They can act as the ‘warm-up encounters’, 
  while also sending the party to the battlefield where they can 
  find Zariel.
  Zariel's Tactics
  A fight with an archfiend as powerful as Zariel is pretty 
  exciting on its own, but you can enhance it further by 
  understanding Zariel’s tactics. Zariel is not only a defensive 
  powerhouse, with 21 AC, 580 HP, regeneration, and various 
  useful resistances – she also has a wide array of useful 
  offensive actions available to her.
  Attacks. If Zariel goes for pure damage, she can make 
  two flail attacks (53 average damage each) and an attack 
  with Matalotok (55 average damage + 10 AoE cold damage) 
  or use her Horrid Touch (44 necrotic damage + blinded and 
  deafened). When dealing damage is the priority, she should 
  use Matalotok, but if she wants to quickly disable a character, 
  Horrid Touch is the way to go. Regardless of which attack 
  she chooses, Zariel can easily reduce nearly any 13th-level 
  character to 0 hit points in a single turn.
  Spells. Zariel also has spells available to her, but in most 
  situations, only blade barrier does enough to be better than 
  a round of attacks. She can use that spell to ring in melee 
  combatants while taking care of spellcasters and ranged 
  attackers. Even though finger of death is a strong spell, her 
  ordinary attacks deal so much damage that she’d probably 
  only use it if her target of choice has resistance to her 
  ordinary attacks.
  Legendary Actions. Zariel’s choices of legendary actions 
  are quite limited. She can either use Teleport three times, or 
  teleport once and use Immolating Gaze. Immolating Gaze 
  can be used to frustrate concentrating spellcasters or target 
  foes with low HP. Teleport is good when she needs to close 
  with a dangerous foe right after their turn, make her own 
  attacks, and Teleport away before her target can return the 
  favor.
  Overall Tactics. Equipped with ample hit points and a 
  regeneration feature, Zariel’s main priority should be to 
  quickly take out enemies that can deal radiant damage, or 
  who have other spells or features that present a real threat. 
  She uses blade barrier to control melee combatants, while an 
  early Horrid Touch can be used to weaken one character for 
  a turn or two. This allows Zariel to use her Teleport ability 
  and high move speed to close in on her primary targets, 
  taking dangerous characters out one by one. If she finds that 
  characters are being healed or revivified, she might opt to use 
  finger of death to ensure a troublesome character’s demise.
  The Environment
  The best encounters are dynamic – not only through the 
  actions of the involved combatants, but also because of the 
  environment’s impact on the battle.
  A final battle with Zariel is likely to take place either on the 
  battlefield underneath Elturel, on the streets of Elturel, or 
  in the air near Elturel. In either case, there’s plenty of fiends 
  and environmental hazards nearby. As a means to spice up 
  combat, you can introduce random events. Each round at 
  initiative 20, roll a d20 and consult the ‘Battlefield Events’-
  table below to see what happens, depending on where the 
  battle is taking place. Note that some events target specific 
  characters, while others affect all creatures involved in the 
  battle. You decide whether creatures that show up only make 
  a single round of attacks before passing on, or stay in the fight 
  until destroyed.
  Battlefield Events
  Event
  Under 
  Elturel
  In 
  Elturel
  Over 
  Elturel
  A vrock or barlgura attacks Zariel
  1
  1
  1
  A hellwasp or barbed devil 
  attacks a character
  2
  2
  2
  A cloud of poisonous gas drifts 
  across the battlefield. All 
  combatants must make a DC 15 
  Con save or be poisoned until next 
  initiative 20
  3–4
  3–4
  3–4
  An abyssal warhorn sounds 
  nearby. All combatants must make 
  a DC 15 Wis save or be frightened 
  until next initiative 20
  5–6
  5–6
  5–6
  The ground shakes. All 
  combatants must make a DC 15 
  Dex save or be knocked prone
  7
  7–8
  –
  A lightning bolt from the 
  Companion flashes close. All 
  combatants must make a DC 15 
  Con save or be blinded until next 
  initiative 20
  8
  9–10
  7–8
  An errant ballista bolt flies 
  towards the character with most 
  hit points. +10 to attack, 4d8 
  piercing damage and DC 15 
  Strength save or shoved 10 ft.
  9
  –
  9–10
  A rock falls from the city in a 
  10 ft. radius where it hits most 
  characters. DC 15 Dex save. 8d10 
  bludgeoning damage on failure, 
  success halves
  10
  –
  –
  Nothing happens
  11–20
  11–20
  11–20
  
   CHAPTER 5: ESCAPE FROM AVERNUS 
   CHAPTER 5: ESCAPE FROM AVERNUS 
  43
  43
  Allies Against Zariel
  The campaign book gives several suggestions on entities that 
  might be able to offer assistance in a showdown with Zariel. 
  Below we’ll analyze and expand upon the descriptions in the 
  book, as well as adding some additional options.
  Baphomet, Kostchtchie or Yeenoghu
  Using one of the demon lords as aid against Zariel is a good 
  option if the party suddenly finds themselves fighting Zariel 
  without any allies – perhaps the characters attempted to 
  redeem her, but failed. Having one of these demon lords 
  interrupt the fight midway to launch a devastating attack 
  against Zariel is a nice way to increase the characters’ 
  chances of success, although you should be wary not to make 
  the fight against her too easy. Simply have the demon lord 
  show up and distract Zariel for a few rounds, bringing her hit 
  points down a notch and giving the characters some time to 
  recover, before falling to the archdevil or being pulled away 
  by her legions of devils.
  Bel
  Unless he can be certain that Zariel has lost Asmodeus’ favor, 
  Bel won’t make a direct move against Zariel. This is well 
  enough, since Bel would probably firmly tip the fight in the 
  party’s favor if he showed up to fight by their side. Bel’s aid 
  is better given indirectly, by buffing the party and increasing 
  their own strength. If the party seeks out Bel before going for 
  Zariel, you can have the former archdevil suggest a simple 
  bargain: Swear to destroy Zariel without mentioning his 
  involvement (Bel wants to avoid repercussions, should they 
  fail), and he’ll not only give them aid, he’ll also allow them to 
  leave Avernus with Elturel. Bel’s aid comes in the form of a 
  summoned ice devil (spear variant), and a charm for each of 
  the characters, choosing from this list:
  • Charm of Diabolical Inspiration (9x advantage on ability 
  checks, attack rolls or saving throws)
  • Charm of Heroism (10 temporary HP and bless for 1 hour)
  • Charm of Lesser Conscription (summoning of a barbed 
  devil, two bearded devils or three spined devils)
  • Charm of Restoration (6 charges, 4 charges to cast greater 
  restoration, 2 charges to cast lesser restoration)
  • Charm of the Adamant (9 x 30 temporary hit points and 
  can’t be charmed or frightened)
  If there’s more than five party members, or you think the 
  party needs more help, Bel can also provide arms and armor. 
  At your discretion, he might offer items such as armors of 
  resistance (fire), cloaks of displacement, or even a sunblade.
  If the party doesn’t seek out Bel before engaging Zariel, you 
  can always have him contact the party telepathically during 
  combat, offering his bargain to one or more characters, 
  delivering his charms and sending the ice devil if they agree.
  Tiamat
  In the book, the party can make a deal with Arkhan the 
  Cruel, who’ll spend ten days mustering an army of white 
  abishai to take on Zariel. The abishai fight Zariel’s legions, 
  while Arkhan, Torogar and their mounts aid the party against 
  Zariel. This option works well if there’s still ample time 
  before Elturel’s descent, but if you’ve already established that 
  Elturel’s destruction is imminent, you can always waive the 
  preparation time. You can also have Arkhan show up to aid 
  the party without being contacted first, if the characters are 
  fighting Zariel alone (and losing). In that case, Arkhan will 
  attempt to assume the mantle as Archduke of Avernus after 
  Zariel’s defeat, unless the party moves to stop him.
  Olanthius
  If the characters have crossed paths with Zariel’s former 
  general during their adventures, you can have the death 
  knight show up during their fight Zariel. Not one for 
  ambushes, Olanthius calmly approaches Zariel, professing 
  in a cold and bitter voice: “If you can break your oath of 
  servitude to the Lord of Light, surely it is only fitting that I 
  break my oath to you as well. I denounce you, Zariel and your 
  evil creed. I shall see you destroyed this day – or ensure my 
  own destruction, and release from this hell, in the attempt.”
  While a strong CR of 17 should on paper be enough to 
  turn the tides in the party’s favor, many of Olanthius attacks 
  and spells are less effective against Zariel. Olanthius will, 
  however, work to soak up some of the damage that Zariel 
  deals, improving the party’s chances of victory even if it 
  comes at the cost of his own miserable existence.
  Elturel's Survivors
  With Elturel hanging mere feet above the River Styx, 
  aid could also come from the city itself. Even if the party 
  doesn’t seek out the survivors in the High Cathedral before 
  engaging Zariel, you can have the valiant survivors show up 
  unannounced during an opportune moment of the fight with 
  Zariel. The survivors either enter the combat by climbing or 
  rappelling down the sides of the city, or on the backs of their 
  appropriate mounts (see the list below), at your discretion. 
  For added drama, you can have the survivors arrive just as 
  Zariel is about to strike a devastating blow, crashing into her 
  from above and dealing a strong blow to the archdevil.
  Possible survivors includes:
  • Ulder Ravengard on the back of a griffon made of radiant 
  light given to him by Lathander.
  • Seltern Obranch (druid) on the back of a giant eagle he 
  has befriended.
  • Reya Mantlemorn (veteran) and Pherria Jynks (acolyte) on 
  the back of a pegasus summoned by the acolyte.
  • Any number of Hellriders (veterans) on the back of 
  summoned pegasi.
  The survivors of Elturel fight fearlessly, recognizing that 
  defeating Zariel is their last chance at saving their souls and 
  the city of Elturel. They’ll selflessly give up their lives to aid 
  the characters and ensure Zariel’s destruction. You can make 
  combat more manageable for yourself, and more exciting for 
  your players, by giving them control of some or all of these 
  NPCs during the fight with Zariel. 
  
  44
  44
   CHAPTER 5: ESCAPE FROM AVERNUS
   CHAPTER 5: ESCAPE FROM AVERNUS
  After Fighting Zariel
  The final moments of the party’s fight with Zariel could very 
  well be some of the last moments in the entire campaign. As 
  such, they should be exciting and epic. Below we’ll quickly 
  discuss how you can make sure that a fight with Zariel comes 
  to as satisfying an end as possible.
  If Zariel is Winning
  Even if the party has acquired aid against Zariel, they may 
  still find themselves in over their heads against the powerful 
  archdevil. However, Zariel’s victory doesn’t have to mean the 
  death of the characters. 
  If the characters’ defeat is all but sure, and you don’t want 
  to give them additional aid, you can have Zariel hold up her 
  hand and say: “You have fought well, but to continue now 
  would be wasteful. Put down your arms and let us talk. There 
  might be ways you can serve me better than by dying.”
  From this clear position of advantage, Zariel will likely 
  demand either the party’s servitude (see ‘Serving Zariel’ 
  in BG:DiA, pg. 149), or ask a cleric or paladin to make ‘The 
  Ultimate Sacrifice’ (BG:DiA, pg. 152). In return, she’ll offer 
  the characters their lives (including the resurrection of any 
  dead characters), but characters who press a hard enough 
  bargain and can come up with a good enough offer, might be 
  able to convince her to free Elturel as well. 
  While probably not the greatest end to the campaign, 
  striking an uncomfortable bargain probably beats being 
  killed unceremoniously by Zariel – which of course is still a 
  very realistic outcome, should the party refuse her offer.
  If Zariel is Losing
  At the end of ‘Endgame in Elturel’, the campaign book 
  dictates that Zariel retreats to her flying fortress if reduced 
  to 100 hit points or less. Depending on the situation, this can 
  work well – if the characters are also nearing their limits, 
  this allows them to focus their remaining strength on saving 
  Elturel instead of dealing with the dangerous archdevil.
  However, Zariel’s retreat could also rob the characters 
  of a suitable climax to the campaign, and one could argue 
  that retreat isn’t really in the stubborn and bloodthirsty 
  archdevil’s nature. Instead of retreat, you can have Zariel 
  offer the characters another chance at a peaceful resolution. 
  Visibly wounded and weakened, the archdevil seems to falter 
  for a moment, shaking her head in distress: “Why are we 
  dying to kill each other? The real evil is out there, on the field, 
  clawing through flesh and bones with demonic claws. I didn’t 
  accept Asmodeus’ bargain so I could destroy a band of mortal 
  heroes – I sought power so I could save the multiverse from 
  the Abyss. This fight is futile. Wasteful.”
  If the characters still possess the Sword of Zariel, they can 
  take this chance to present it once more, offering arguments 
  to sway Zariel to redeem herself. Allow the characters to 
  roll any Persuasion checks with advantage this time around. 
  Alternatively, if the characters engage Zariel in conversation, 
  but don’t have the sword or aren’t interested in redeeming 
  her, they can strike a bargain with the archdevil instead. For 
  example, you can have her point out a demon lord on the 
  battlefield and ask the characters for their aid in destroying 
  the demon lord in return for the release and safe return of 
  Elturel. Or, if the characters are fighting alongside Arkhan 
  the Cruel, or have gained the aid of Bel or a demon lord, she 
  might ask the party to betray their unlikely allies in return for 
  Elturel’s freedom.
  Of course, the party might still refuse Zariel’s overtures, in 
  which case the archdevil’s jaw clenches, her eyes narrow in 
  spiteful hatred, and she throws herself back into the fight with 
  renewed vigor, fighting until destroyed.
  Endgame in Elturel
  At the end of Chapter 5, the campaign book details an 
  ‘Endgame in Elturel’ – a chaotic battle underneath the nearly 
  fallen city of Elturel. Including nice descriptions and a few 
  encounters, this scenario serves very well as the build-up 
  to the characters final showdown with Zariel. Below, we’ll 
  do a quick troubleshoot of the three events that comprise 
  ‘Endgame in Elturel’. 
  Event 1: River's Edge
  The characters arrive on the scene, seeing Elturel quickly 
  sinking into the River Styx, and demons and devils fighting 
  in its shadow. Before they can reach Zariel, they are first 
  attacked by two horned devils with 125 hit points each.
  This event works well as it is, serving as a nice precursor to 
  real combat. If the characters are flying across the battlefield, 
  the horned devils fly up to accost them. Remember, it’s okay 
  if the characters don’t stand and duke it out with the horned 
  devils. If they use significant resources to evade them – 
  invisibility, teleport, etc. – they can simply leave the horned 
  devils behind. But, if they don’t make a clean enough escape, 
  you can have the horned devils reappear during later events.
  Event 2: Field of Flames
  Making their way across the battlefield towards Zariel, the 
  characters must make three group Dexterity (Stealth) or 
  Wisdom (Survival) checks to navigate the battlefield, taking 
  poison and fire damage if they fail. They are then accosted by 
  two hezrous fighting the pit fiend Lucille.
  If the characters can fly, this event doesn’t really work as it 
  is written. You can probably skip the skill checks and instead 
  beef up the encounter by Lucille, replacing the landlocked 
  hezrou with 5 vrocks or chasmes, that fly up to intercept the 
  characters. Alternatively, if the party doesn’t have much help 
  with them when facing Zariel, you can skip this encounter in 
  its entirety.
  Event 3: Showdown with Zariel
  Arriving by Zariel, they find the archdevil battling a balor, 
  which leaves her at 450 hit points after 4 rounds of combat. 
  If they choose to engage Zariel in combat, she flees when 
  reduced to 100 hit points or less.
  The final showdown with Zariel can and should be 
  tweaked to fit the party’s current situation. The main purpose 
  of this encounter isn’t to follow a predetermined script, but 
  to give the characters their greatest challenge yet – making 
  success difficult, but attainable. This is always a hard balance 
  to strike, so the trick is to give yourself some options to tweak 
  the final encounter as it happens.
  If the characters arrive to their showdown with Zariel low 
  on hit points and without allies, you can have her start at 
  even lower than 450 hit points – describing the wounds she’s 
  suffered during her battle with the balor. If a fight erupts 
  between the party and Zariel, you can have an impromptu 
  ally show up. Which one probably depends on the party’s 
  strength: if they’re very outmatched, Tiamat’s forces probably 
  offer them the greatest chance, while Bel and his infernal 
  charms should be sufficient aid to a party that just needs that 
  last little push to defeat Zariel.
  Likewise, if the characters make a bargain with Zariel, you 
  can have her payment be the challenge that best matches the 
  party’s current strength. Baphomet or Yeenoghu (perhaps 
  slightly wounded) are good encounters for a fresh and strong 
  party, while Kostchtchie or Gargauth (weakened from his 
  release) are challenges more suitable for a diminished party.
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/Eventyr Games/Eventyr Games - Complete DMs Resources for Baldurs Gate Descent into Avernus.pdf