ZARIEL’S SPARK
The last of our four memory dives comes at the moment when the Archduchess of Avernus touches the Sword of Zariel. As we’ve now established, Zariel placed a small shard of her soul into the Sword of Zariel before giving it Yael. This spark of Zariel’s former self is what provides Zariel with a chance for redemption.
Here’s how that plays out:
- The Archduchess and the PCs are drawn into a memory dive.
- The events of Zariel’s Fall (see above) play out once more.
- But this time, the “Zariel” of the past has the appearance of the Archduchess of Avernus. She’s living out her own memory of what happened.
- The PCs are also present in the scene (although only Zariel can see or hear them).
The key here is that the spark within the Sword basically gives Zariel a chance to relive this pivotal moment and (most importantly!) make a different choice when the ultimate moment arrives.
If Zariel rejects Asmodeus’ offer, that obviously doesn’t actually change the past. This is a memory dive, not time travel. But it is her chance for redemption: The vision ends, the PCs return to the real world to find that no time has passed, but Zariel’s devilish form melts away as she is returned to her angelic form (see Descent Into Avernus, p. 148).
INFLUENCING ZARIEL: The PCs can attempt to influence Zariel’s choice. They might counter Asmodeus’s arguments, remind Zariel of events from her own past, or perhaps even make an emotional appeal (which could be particularly effective coming from Lulu).
Resolve this as a special group check, calling for skill or ability checks at DC 15. Give them advantage on this check if they invoke something they’ve learned about Zariel’s past. If at least half of the group makes a successful check (even if not everyone in the group makes a check), then they succeed: Zariel makes a different choice and is redeemed.
On a failure, they still grant advantage to Zariel’s Wisdom save (see below).
BEARING SILENT WITNESS: If the PCs don’t intervene or fail the group check, then Zariel makes a DC 22 Wisdom save. On a success, she makes a different choice and is redeemed. On a failure, she rejects redemption and destroys the Sword (along with the spark of goodness within it).
ON THE MATTER OF REDEMPTION
This is a semi-controversial point in Descent Into Avernus: Zariel has spent centuries as a devil, doing countless evil acts on a scope probably beyond mortal comprehension (of her own free will!), and now she just waves her hand and is redeemed?! What the hell?!
(If you’ll pardon the pun.)
You can see similar arguments around Darth Vader’s redemption in Return of the Jedi.
What seems to trip people up here is the idea that redemption means Zariel or Vader should be automatically forgiven for the things they did or should be immune from facing consequences for those actions. There are ethical structures in which this is true, but it’s not intrinsically linked to the act of redemption itself.
Redemption isn’t about how other people treat you or should treat you. It’s about your fundamental identity and the type of person you are (which will determine the actions you will take in the future). You can choose to be a better person starting RIGHT NOW, but ultimately no one else needs to change their behavior because of that until your actions give them cause to do so.
In Christianity, for example, the only person who “needs” to do anything differently because you’re redeemed is God. Who is, notably, omniscient and can, therefore, “see” redemption without the need for action.
(The meaning of the word “redemption” is actually based on the Christian God’s omniscience: Only He can redeem your sin – i.e., declare it a debt no longer owed — because only He can see your “ledger.”)
This same thing applies to the Star Wars universe: Force magic allows you to “see” a person’s fundamental identity and the fact that Anakin is able to manifest as a Force Ghost is evidence of how he was “aligned” as a person, regardless of the actions he had taken previously (and which would have demonstrated that prior personal alignment).
And we see the same thing in the metaphysics of Descent Into Avernus: Zariel is a supernatural being and if the fundamental alignment of the cosmos recognizes her as an angel… well, it means she has, in fact, fundamentally changed. She has rejected sin and found redemption.
In the real world, we could similarly hypothesize the ability to have this knowledge: Like, if we could take 100% accurate brain scans and were able to analyze a person’s “code” to see what type of person they were, we’d be able to know whether or not someone had truly become redeemed — had fundamentally changed and become the type of person who does good things.
Once we have that technology, the ethics of crime and punishment will need to change (but will almost certainly take decades or centuries to adjust). But until we have that technology (if we ever do), then it’s just a fantasy that can be fun to think about.
A nice conclusion to a truly epic set of deep dives!
Minor nitpick, I know, but I assume it’s meant to be “Wisdom save” as opposed to “Will save”?
I’m actually going to be converting the whole campaign to 3rd Edition in Part 7.
…
… fine. I’ll fix it.
😉
No! Wait! The Fall of Zariel actually takes place in the past, so it’s happening before the edition change!
…
… fine, I’ll fix it.
Hm, DC 22 sounds high except Zariel apparently has +16 to her Wis saves… so even if the players do nothing she’s still fairly likely to get redeemed.
@Yorik
Except if the players actively try to convince Zariel to repeat her original decision, in order to establish themselves as her lieutenants, help her overthrow Asmodeus, take control of hell, and then finally get some actual righteous demon slaying done, bringing the blood war to an end at long last. In that case it would be hella hard for poor Z to make that save.
Yes, but they’re not likely to present the sword to Zariel for redemption if that’s their goal, at which point you can just rule that she fails the Wis save if she’s actively making the choice to destroy the sword.
Really impressive work on this remix. The Baldur’s gate part played out perfectly, my players transformed into a real group of investigators. It made them comletely involved in the story and it was cool to see that they were genually supprised by the revalations so far. They just had the vision of Torm’s sight and they decided (I steered them a bit but, it was definatly their choice) to make Elturel a bit more stable before going to Fort Knuckelbone. Once you see the imperfect story lines of the original adventure you really cannot unseen them. Love the work you put into the remix and I hope to stall them a bit longer in Elturel so I can incorperate all that is still coming from the remix. Finding this remix was/is really the best thing that could have happenend for my group, they are loving the story that is unfolding and they are loving that they do not have the feeling to be on a railroad.
Re: Zariel’s easy redemption: I think it also helps that she’s more powerful than she’s ever been* when she decides to throw it all away by asking for redemption.** I think it also helps that she immediately goes to work to reverse some of the damage she’s done and solves the plot for the PCs.
One could also insert a battle between the redeemed Zariel and the PCs vs. Zariel’s former bodyguards (maybe with some bountyhunters from Nessus) if a final battle is desired.
*both in terms of personal power (CR 26 vs. 21 as a Solar) and political power (overlord of a planar layer vs. having to scrounge up an army of mortals for her plan, meaning she apparently had NO celestial forces at all!)
**Just asking for redemption seems like it would draw violent reprisal from Asmodeus, so she really is throwing herself on the Heavens’ mercy by asking.
Hello,
I’m wondering if you plan to release the 6D-L Questioning the Hellriders, Part 7: Exploring Avernus, and Part 8: The End in your Avernus remix?
Mike
@Mike: Yes.
Hi Justin,
The group will be about to explore Avernus/on their way to Fort Knucklebone now. I understand that it’s probably not possible to put a date on releasing part 7 but, should I stall the group a bit because part 7 is on it’s way? Alternatively, if you already know at what locations the dream machine parts are, could you give a heads up? That way I can (for now) pick one location and give the group a goal, make the ride/travel to that location a interesting(giving them the feel of Avernus) without messing too much things up that will be coming from your remix. Again, love your work on this remix so much that I’m a bit hesitant to tamper with it myself untill it’s (for me) clear what you’ll be suggesting.
Cheers,
Maarten
I hope to read the next part asap: this is a terrific work. Andrea.
Me too, I’m excited with the Avernus episode, my party is already leaving Hellturel and I think I gonna try to delay them a few sesions haha
@maarten , @Joaquin
Guys, you probably shouldn’t delay your campaign waiting for Justin to put out more Avernus material. I started my campaign just as he finished Hellturel, and my group will be going to the Bleeding Citadel in 2 sessions. I’ve run my entire campaign while Justin has been fussing over the lore in part 6. His ideas for expanding the exploration and the Dream Machine have been a great addition though. I’ll be excited to see what he eventually comes out with, but again I’d stress not to wait up.
@Joaquin @maarten
My players are about to hit the cemetery and within a few sessions will leave Hellturel. I will have to take a break for a while when they get down to Avernus. I am lucky in the fact that a few of my players are DMs also and are cool with running something else for a while but once the rest of this comes out, I will for sure be picking this back up. I will probably have to wait until it is all done though but the writing and ideas are so good, I think its worth it.
You cant really play a campaign twice with the same players so personally I think waiting is better than running the railroad as is.