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So how does this all end?

Because we’ve created an open-ended campaign where the PCs’ choices and actions matter, I can’t really tell you how your campaign is going to end. I can’t just script a big, dramatic scene, because all the details of that scene will depend on what’s happened at your table. Ultimately, the end of your campaign will be unique. It will belong to you and your players. You’ll have built it together, and what you experience will be something your group and only your group will experience.

But here are a few key things to think about as you’re crafting your ending.

First, the broad outlines of this ending were laid out in Part 6B: The Avernian Quest. In order to save Elturel:

• Bellandi’s pact with Zariel must be broken.
• The chains holding Elturel must be severed.
• Elturel must be returned to the Material Plane. (Or, alternatively, the people of Elturel can be evacuated.)

There are many different ways for the PCs to achieve these goals, but this does mean that the finale of your campaign will almost certainly be the moment at which the PCs free the planetar from the Companion and the planetar literally lifts the entire city out of the Nine Hells.

As you’re figuring out what this scene looks like, think about:

• What’s going on in Elturel? Is the city stable or is it about to sink into the Styx? Have the PCs forged an alliance between the city’s factions or have things boiled over into a civil war?
• Who might oppose whatever it is that the PCs are doing? That might be an unredeemed Zariel. It might be Yeenoghu showing up with a demon army to confront Zariel once more. It might be Bel betraying the party and seeking to strike down Zariel to demonstrate to Asmodeus that he should once again rule in Avernus.
• What’s happening with the allies the PCs have made? Do they have favors they still owe, so that the PCs might choose to remain in Hell to fulfill their oaths, watching the city disappear into the heavens above? Is Tiamat flying nearby, having just severed the chains?

The trick to a good ending is, first, to tie off the important loose ends (although it can be okay if a few are left dangling) and, second, to reincorporate elements from throughout the campaign to make it feel a like a cohesive whole. The Avernus Remix roughly breaks down into three acts:

• Baldur’s Gate and the Vanthampur conspiracy
• Elturel in Hell
• Exploring Avernus

Look back at what happened in each of those acts in your campaign and think about ways in which those events can be reflected in your finale. You’ll also want to think about the important themes which have been established in your campaign and find ways to put those themes in the crucible one last time.

For example, maybe themes of betrayal vs. loyalty have particularly resonated with your group. Is there someone who can betray the PCs at the eleventh hour? Or, more powerfully, is there a way that the PCs will be forced to choose between remaining loyal to one of their allies or betraying them in order to save the city?

WHAT IF THE PCs ABANDON ELTUREL?

The goal of Descent Into Avernus is to save Elturel, but the Alexandrian Remix is flexible and robust enough that it’s fully possible that the PCs might set a completely different goal for themselves. Maybe they’ll conclude that saving Elturel is impossible; or that it’s not worth saving. Or maybe they’ll never really think of Elturel as being their responsibility; or they’ll feel that their responsibility ended once they delivered the crucial information about Bellandi’s pact to Ravengard.

Or maybe they’ll just find personal goals that they think are more important. It’s a campaign set in Hell, after all. Amorality and cruel disregard for the suffering of others isn’t exactly outside of the purview here.

If this is the direction your campaign goes, I’m afraid I’ll be of even less use to you in shaping an ending. When the campaign concludes (if it ever does), the ending you’ll find will obviously be focused on whatever the new goals of your group have become.

But even as the campaign shifts focus, don’t let everything that came before drop away.

For example, what happens when Elturel falls?

This should be the beginning of a significant shift of power. The ranks of Zariel’s army will swell, and the front lines of Blood War will shift. (Either because of a massive, preemptive assault by the demons; or the inevitable advance of Zariel’s legions with their new strength. Or both.)

• Troop movements will begin altering your hex key.
• What opportunities are created for the factions in your game? For example, warlords might start running magical weapons stolen from the front lines. Or they might go on missions to scavenge from bloody battlefields.
• In addition to open war, espionage will also increase. Add demon spies and quisling devils.
• What happens in the Purple City? Does it fall to a surprise attack? Become besieged? Swell with the wealth of war profiteering?

And so forth.

A GUIDE TO MILESTONES

If you’re using level advancement milestones, I recommend the following milestones.

ACT I – BALDUR’S GATE:

• Reaching Baldur’s Gate
• Completing the Poisoned Poseidon OR Amrik Vanthampur (whichever they do first)
• Completing the Dungeon of the Dead Three
• Completing the Vanthampur Estate

PCs will be 5^th level as they leave Baldur’s Gate and head to Candlekeep (and, subsequently, Avernus).

Design Note: A number of DMs have found that the Dungeon of the Dead Three is potentially very deadly for 2^nd level characters. These milestones conveniently give PCs an extra level before tackling the dungeon.

ACT II – HELLTUREL: The PCs will be 5^th level when entering Avernus.

• The end of the streetcrawl in Elturel (when the PCs discover that the city is floating in Hell).
• When forming an alliance in Elturel OR when completing the Grand Cemetery (whichever they do first).
• Leaving Elturel.

ACT III – AVERNUS: The PCs will be 8^th level when they leave Elturel and begin to explore the Avernian plains.

• Once for each of the four dream machine component recovered.
• Claiming the Sword of Zariel.
• Saving Elturel.

These milestones, which will see the PCs complete the campaign at 14^th level, assume that the PCs are pursuing the Quest of the Dream Machine. This is not, however, the only way to complete the Avernian Quest. If the player pursue alternative paths, you’ll want to set milestones accordingly. Something like this might work:

• Making an alliance with a local power. (Warlords, Maggie, etc.)
• Making an alliance with an Avernian powerhouse (Bel, Tiamat, released Gargauth, etc.).
• Retrieving the adamantine rods.
• Completing a raid on the flying fortress OR
• Breaking Bellandi’s pact.
• Saving Elturel.

Once again, this will see the PCs complete the campaign at 14^th level.

Go to Epilogue: The Elturian Wars