There are three different versions of the High Hall depicted in Descent Into Avernus. The first is the fantastic graphical image above.
The second is depicted on the city map of Elturel:
You can immediately see that the map and image don’t line up.
The third version of High Hall is the one mapped on p. 61-62 of the book:
Now, if you kind of squint (and ignore the windows and compass rose), you could probably make the map of High Hall roughly match this bit of the Elturel city map:
But if that’s the case, then what’s going on with these bits:
What’s going on in those towers?
For me, personally, the most interesting version of High Hall is almost certainly the image: All those floating bits of wreckage held aloft by some strange magical interaction between the holy temple, the meteor, the ritual, and possibly just the strange nature of Avernus itself are tantalizing and unique.
I bring this up mostly because we’re going to be talking, in part, about stuff we’d like to add to the High Hall, and you can seize any or all of this inconsistency as opportunity, inspiration, or both when figuring out how to slot that stuff in.
ABUSING SECRET DOORS
In Part 3F of the Remix, we talked about why putting a Must Have Encounter™ on the opposite side of a secret door is a bad idea.
The basic structure of the scenario here is that the PCs need to go to High Hall and, once there, speak with Pherria Jynks, who will send them on a quest to find Grand Duke Ravengard (who has gone to the Grand Cemetery to retrieve the Helm of Torm’s Sight).
And, yup, they’ve got Pherria behind another secret door:
I thought this secret door might exist because the designers were trying to justify why Jynks and the refugees she’s protecting haven’t been killed by devils yet (because the devils haven’t found the secret door), but that’s not it: The catacombs are already crawling with devils.
As we discussed in Part 3F, the easiest solution for this sort of thing is usually to just remove the secret door. I’d basically do the same thing here, but with a twist: We’re going to leave the existing secret door in place, but have it lead directly to Area H16 where Jynks and the refugees are:
Finding the secret door is now a reward for the PCs: If you find it, you can skip the devil-infested catacombs.
Meanwhile, back up on the top level there are actually TWO altars: The one in H6 has been desecrated by devils.
So what we can do is make “stairways hidden in altars” a design feature of the High Hall. The secret door in the desecrated altar has been ripped open by the devils (it’s no longer secret and actually serves as a clue that there might be stairs hidden in the other altar) and leads down to the ORIGINAL stairs on the map of the catacombs:
We now know how the devils got into the catacombs and we’ve eliminated the secret door chokepoint.
FIXING SECRET DOORS:
- Secret door at H3 leads to H16.
- Add “secret” door (ripped open) to H6, leading to the stairs west of H15.
GRAND DUKE RAVENGARD
As noted, in the adventure as published Grand Duke Ravengard has left the High Hall and gone to the Grand Cemetery to retrieve the Helm of Torm’s Sight. Pherria Jynks tells the PCs where he’s gone. They follow him and find him having a metaphysical fit with the helmet on his head. They bring him back to Pherria, she performs a ritual which cures the metaphysical ailment, and Ravengard tells them about the cool vision the helmet gave him.
The net effect of all this is to needlessly deprotagonize the PCs: Instead of getting to be the awesome heroes who fetch the artifact and receive a cool divine vision, they’re the ones who get to go pick up the hero and then hear about the cool vision he got.
This can be fixed by simply NOT having Ravengard go to get the Helm of Torm’s Sight. Instead, Ravengard is still in the High Hall when the PCs arrive. He and/or Pherria Jynks know about the Helm of Torm’s Sight, but they haven’t been able to spare the resources to retrieve it. Oh, hey! PCs!
(This notably requires almost no changes to the Grand Cemetery except to ignore the descriptions of Ravengard and his men. We’ll look at this in more detail in Part 5E.)
THE RAVENGARD SITUATION: Ravengard came to Elturel on a diplomatic mission to discuss the rise of cultists in the Fields of the Dead. (This includes the Cult of the Dead Three and Tiamat’s Cult of the Dragon.) When Elturel was sucked into Hell, the wary Ravengard managed to rally his men and cut his way out of an ambush by the newly erupted Hell Knights. Gathering a motley band of lower-ranking hellriders and paladins who had not been immediately transformed, Ravengard managed to secure the High Hall in the confusion following a meteor strike that wiped out a third of the fortress.
Ravengard came to Elturel with twenty men. Only twelve of them survive, but his ranks have been strengthened with Elturian knights. His current force – which has come to be known as Ravengard’s Peacekeepers — numbers slightly over forty, but most of them are out in the city (gathering supplies, seeking additional allies, trying to secure the city and bring succor its citizens). At the moment only six other knights are with him here in the High Hall.
Ravengard actually stretched his forces too thin. When a group of devils assaulted the High Hall, he realized he didn’t have the strength to repel them and retreated into the crypts (Area H16). He’s waiting for some of the peacekeepers out in the city to return in enough strength to drive the devils out… but, hey, the PCs work, too.
Design Note: The devils can be either a force of Hell Knights or a surprisingly large group of Avernian raiders. Mechanically, it doesn’t make any difference.
Alternatively, skip the whole thing and just have Ravengard and his peacekeepers firmly in control of the High Hall when the PCs arrive.
RAVENGARD’S COUNCIL: Ravengard has rallied what local leadership he can (although between the meteor and the eruption of the Hell Knights, it’s pretty thin):
- Pherria Jynks is effectively the highest ranking member of the Church of Torm in Elturel. She’s the spiritual bedrock for her people right now. Some have talked about making her High Observer, but she’s quashed those discussions. She knows that High Observer Kreeg had left the city shortly before its fall and hopes that he will somehow return to them with aid. (Note that Pherria carries the Tome of the Creed Resolute, as described in Part 4B, with her everywhere she goes. “Recall the Creed,” she says, as a bedrock of certainty in horrifically uncertain times.)
- Wöbaer Triest was an undersecretary of the Elturian treasury. Now self-billed as the Acting Secretary, he’s more or less the civilian government of Elturel.
- Lor Ryken was the Elturian ambassador for Iriaebor. He’d returned to Elturel to deliver a recently negotiated trade treaty. Ryken has been handling a lot of the logistics in terms of supplies for the peacekeepers.
- Hilde Kaas is the highest ranking Elturian knight to have survived the cataclysm. There are some who question why Ravengard, a foreigner, should be in charge. Hilde isn’t one of them, and her staunch, unwavering support helps to hold the peacekeepers together.
WHAT THEY KNOW:
- The High Knights became the Hell Knights when the Companion was transformed. They also know that when Elturian knights are killed, they transform into devils, but that Ravengard’s men do not. (Many of them actually saw the knights erupt into devils. They don’t know why.)
- Elturel is hovering above the Styx and seems to be slowly sinking. There are huge chains attached around the perimeter of the city. (However, they don’t know the full truth of how or why Elturel fell.)
- There’s somebody organizing supplies in the east out of Shiarra’s Market. (They don’t know it’s High Rider Ikaia, or even that it’s vampiric.)
- There are devils wandering the streets, but they don’t seem particularly organized.
- Ravengard has gotten enough reports of Zarielite cultists that he suspects a vast fifth column has infiltrated the city and is probably somehow responsible for their current predicament.
They do NOT know about Liashandra’s Demons.
DEVILS AT THE BARRICADES: Add barricades to the two hallways leading into Area H16. If the PCs didn’t wipe out all the devils on their way in, have them launch an assault on the barricades while the PCs are in the middle of speaking with Ravengard and his council.
ZARIEL CULTIST IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING: One of the refugees is actually a Zarielite cultist. Choose an opportune/dramatic moment for them to reveal themselves. Options include:
- When the devils attack the barricades, they take advantage of the confusion to attempt to assassinate Ravengard.
- They secretly poison the water supplies. Refugees get sick, but between Pherria and the PCs it’s likely no one dies. However, they need to secure a new supply of water.
- They attempt to steal or destroy the Helm of Torm’s Sight. Or perhaps seek to disrupt the ritual to free the wearer.
NEW LOCATIONS
As you’re fleshing out your version of the High Hall, here are a few things you might think about adding.
The Secret Exit. Area H17 of the High Hall is an escape tunnel that goes… nowhere. It currently dead ends at the edge of the earthmote that Elturel is floating on. Couple thoughts:
- You could re-characterize this as having originally led down into the Maze.
- It could still lead into the Maze.
- It could be a legitimate escape tunnel leading to a secret entrance near the West Docks. This would add a hidden route to the Elturel pointcrawl.
Thavius Kreeg’s Office. Kreeg probably destroyed or took with him anything meaningful or incriminating here. But perhaps not if there’s a revelation that the PCs are still struggling to figure out. Either way, this will provide a nice bit of direct connection to the Baldur’s Gate portion of the adventure. Details might include Kreeg’s portrait on the wall, perhaps arrayed with portraits of the previous High Observers.
Sanctum of the Cult of the Companion. It would be nice to have a secret sanctum where Zarielites in Elturel’s government held secret religious rites. I recommend adding secret doors to Area H14 and putting it there. (Move the Council Chambers upstairs or to one of the surviving outer towers.)
Supply Cache. The peacekeepers have been collecting supplies, both for the refugees housed at the High Hall and for distribution throughout the city. They may have converted one of the surviving towers to this purpose, in which case it would be demesne of Ambassador Ryken.
Floating Shrine. Going back to the picture of High Hall, I’m drawn to the idea of having a shrine to Torm located in the floating cupola. (Perhaps that’s why it’s floating! The holinesss of Torm’s shrine resisting the corruption and draw of Avernus.) You could place another holy artifact of Torm up here to reward PCs who go exploring. (And if it is the holiness of the shrine + artifact that’s keeping the place afloat, as soon as the PCs grab the artifact the whole thing is going to come crashing down!)
Our DM re-wrote the last few chapters of DiA. He made the lever to the lower catacombs obvious. He had a tomb of a fallen warrior at H15 from a different age. Apparently she defeated a dragon that was attacking Elturel. The power radiating from her tomb kept the devils from going further down into the catacombs. In the last battle against Zariel she appeared by our side as an Eladrin to help us fight to save Zariel. I don’t know if he planned all that or it just worked out that way but the ending was EPIC.
The interaction on first meeting Ravengard could be interesting if the PCs are still wearing Flaming Fist insignia… now it’s not just “Oh, hey! PCs!”, it’s “Oh, hey! Flaming Fists… you can call me Marshal.”
It could be especially interesting if the PCs position in the Flaming Fists came from supporting Liara Portyr’s claim to the rank of Marshal.
Even if the PCs didn’t end up joining the Fists or aren’t sporting any obvious insignia, Duke Ravengard would still be very interested to hear about the political developments in Baldur’s Gate since his unexpected trip to Hell, if the PCs reveal that they’ve just come from there.
I read part 5 thoroughly and I’d like to know if I understood right how players would learn some of the revelations of the chapter:
– Elturian knight becoming devils: Ravengard tells them (and they experience it during their crawls).
– The existence of the various factions: Ravengard describes them to the players, except for the demons (that the players will meet in the cemetery or during the crawls) and for the vampires (that the players will meet only if passing at the market). But how player could learn the difference between the Hell Knights and the wandering native devils (if this could matter for them)? IMO, an (almost) full knowledge of the different factions by the players is necessary to even think to set up a political/survival scenario.
Am I right?
My second question is: how and when players will learn about the fact that Elturel will be submerged in the river and all inhabitants will become Zariel’s soldier? I think this will be the main reason (if not the most important) why the players – at least mine – would enter Avernus to search the sword and break the pact. Does Ravengard tell them? Maybe Lulu? Should be Liashandra? What if they don’t meet her or talk with her?
My last doubt is about Ikaia. If Ikaia survived when the Companion appeared, wouldn’t this mean the pact wasn’t fulfilled? From the pact: “She further swears to render whatever aid may be necessary to end High Rider Klav Ikaia’s reign if the Gift of the Companion prove insufficient to this task”.
Actually, this isn’t a problem for me, but could open a debate between the party and the DM. Maybe we could use this as another plot device to break the pact? What do you (and others readers) think?
“My last doubt is about Ikaia. If Ikaia survived when the Companion appeared, wouldn’t this mean the pact wasn’t fulfilled? From the pact: “She further swears to render whatever aid may be necessary to end High Rider Klav Ikaia’s reign if the Gift of the Companion prove insufficient to this task”.”
It only says, “…end the reign…” not kill/destroy, but, if the players reinstate them as the ruler, that would require Zariel to then go and remove him from power, again. A fun loophole that player culd use to potentially skip a large section, and activate the boss fight early. (Perhaps Ikaia suggests doing some quests to prepare to fight her when she comes to unseat him.
I started to prep the High Hall with an adversary roster, and got smacked with just how little is going on in this place. I remembered it being kind of weak from my first read-through and from Justin’s commentary, but *man*, there’s a whole elaborate map that basically contains four groups of wandering monsters. And those groups are small, too.
It’s presented as this epic last stand for control of Elturel, and the total adversaries are like four devils, 4 hell hounds, 9 humans, 8 giant crabs, and a mummy. The mummy is ignorable.
It’s pretty sad even in the context of the module as written, but it just does not fly in the context of the Remix, where Ulder’s Peacekeepers are supposed to be real faction.
The battle for Helm’s Shieldhall in *Hellturel* is way more developed. And the only interest, for me anyway, in the High Hall is the visuals of the location. I’ve pretty much decided that the contents are not worth saving, so I’m re-casting the High Hall as a proper beleaguered base of operations for the rag-tag remnant of Elturian government. We’ll actually have a council in the council room in the catacombs, and let the party do their fighting elsewhere in the city.
@Luca, my take on these revelations:
– re: Hell knights, I’d say the first Hellrider the PCs encounter in the city will certainly tell them. If you want to bring the factional conflict of the remix to life, the PCs definitely do have to meet some surviving Hellriders, and I’d say it should happen before they even get to the High Hall. The street encounters in DiA sadly don’t have any, but both *Hellturel* and *Encounters in Avernus* do.
– re: other factions: again, if you want your campaign to include the factional politics, you have to make sure the PCs meet representatives of all of them. My personal plan is to develop the point crawl encounters to include lots of hooks, and then let the PCs follow the ones that grab them. One of our PCs is a cleric of Helm, so I’m sure all I’ll have to do is give her an indication that devils are besieging the Shieldhall and she’ll want to charge off, for instance.
– re: the Elturel meeting the Styx. I think the properties of the Styx are pretty well known, so any PC should be able to do a Religion check to know that being plunged into it is terminal. Any faction leader in Elturel, as well as any NPC who has been out and about to see for themselves what’s going on, will know that Elturel is floating, and attached to chains, and being winched down. The quakes from this happen frequently. Also, if your PCs meet some cultists of Zariel, they may brag about it openly.
Justin’s standard advice on revelations is solid: if you want to make sure the PCs learn something, list it out, then lay out three different ways they can find out.
I have to agree that the grandeur of the building is incompatible with the laughable combat encounters that my level 5-party will encounter inside. Also: the map is a whole open space. How would one justify the different groups not noticing the PC’s when there’s a fight going on in the same open chamber? Remember, it’s a cathedral: designed to carry sound from one end to the other.
I’m only thinking about this now as my party discusses going to High Hall in tomorrow’s session, and I’m considering revamping the encounter completely. I’ll let you all know what I’ve come up with if I do.
I look back with relative glee at my High Hall encounter, even though this was a complete no-no going by the CR-system (which we all know, is broken beyond repair). Here’s what I did.
I kept the two hell hounds outside in the courtyard, for which I used a 24 x 24 map with ruined walls and scattered debris all over. I added the merregon from one of the four encounters.
In my narrative, the Hell Knights had just mounted an organized attack against High Hall, which was known to be the military headquarters of the remaining Hellriders. Civilians hid in the catacombs and the defenders who were able to, fled down into the Maze beneath High Hall, drawing the pursuing devils down into the tunnels and away from the hundreds of civilians who took shelter at High Hall.
The assault was led by a single white abishai (a Companion who secretly worshipped Tiamat as well as Zariel), with three bandit captains as their sergeants (Hell Knights who had not yet erupted). The party walks in on the aftermath, with two bandit captains slaying the fallen Hellriders with their polearms (I didn’t think scimitars and daggers were appropriate weaponry for them) while a third just emerged from below the tunnel beneath the altar. The abishai is interrogating a bloodied survivor before throwing them to the side, and ordering the captains to “secure all the exits so nobody escapes”. The abishai then goes down into the tunnels as two spinagons join two of the bandit captains, forming groups. The remaining captain joins a barbed devil and two bearded devils as a separate search party.
Scattered throughout are four nupperibo sentries (blindsight up to 20 feet) and hidden in the rafters are two invisible imps who bide their time until a party member looks bloodied enough to fall to their poison stinger.
The curtains I’ve replaced with iron bars with inset doors as one might see in actual cathedrals, sectioning off chapels and important sites.
I loved the intensity of the fight and I really liked how it felt like a cathedral: a grand open space allowing for more (flying!) movement and bigger spells.
While it was a *brutal* combat, my players enjoyed it as one of the best sessions they’ve had so far (they still preferred Baldur’s Gate’s marketplace scene though!).
One thing I’m not a hundred percent happy with, is that the spellcasters hid on the balconies. To remedy that, I focused their attacks on the one character who was on the ground and closest to the party. Unfortunately, that character was Lulu.
So we are now left with one very dead celestial elephant and a DM who desperately needs advice on how to go on. xD
Hi. I just found this today and have become a patron. I’m getting to this a little late and am hoping to get some help.
I skipped most of chapter 1 and brought the party in right before the journey to Candlekeep. Their last session ended with the Unwelcome Party. I was not liking how things were flowing and went to look for options and found this!
BUT! My next session is on Wednesday and I’m concerned I will not be able to be ready by then.
So what I’m hoping to get help with is what is the next 2 hours of gameplay look like. As soon as they go their bearings they wanted to go to the high hall. They have the green before the fall map and are about to get the “We’re in the air” map.
They’re going to want to go straight to the high hall. I can try to rework it, and I can add some encounters to slow them down, but I don’t have time to absorb everything in time to plan things.
I’d love to hear what other people have done for the first 3 or encounters (about 2 hours of play time) after Unwelcome Party ends.
I really appreciate anyone’s ideas and suggestions!
If someone has an outline of what they did in this part of the adventure, I’d love to see it.
One thing I was thinking about is kind of skipping most of this. They are already level 7, so perhaps the city is at kind of an impasse where everyone is texas stand offing everyone else and things might just stay that way for the immediate future.
They still need to get the helm, but maybe the high hall is pretty much cleared out and they meet a guard at the entrance that directs them to the lower level where all the civilians are. (They don’t need the XP and reworking all the encounters to match their level just keeps pushing out how long it takes to catch them up.
Of course, then I have to start the Avernus part. 🙂
Thanks!
Thanks!
@Todd: You may find a lot of value swinging by the Avernus channel on the Alexandrian Discord. There’s a bunch of GMs who would love to help you there.
There’s a discord channel dedicated to running this adventure?? Joining as soon as I get home!