Think back over all the roleplaying games you’ve played and run.

Why do NPCs always fight to the death?

If you take a moment to really think about it, this is odd behavior. Even in actual warfare, the outcome of a conflict is rarely for one side to fanatically fight to the last man. Animals don’t do this, either. When the tide of battle has clearly turned, armies rout and people run away or surrender rather than being slaughtered.

Yet in most RPGs, every fight ends only when every last person on one side has been laid in the grave.

First, there used to be morale rules. But GMs (and the industry in general) moved away from morale rules because of the “roll vs. role” mentality which, in part, maintained that mechanics shouldn’t govern character interactions. Thus, the NPCs’ decision of whether to run away or stay and fight became solely the GM’s purview.

(The other reason GMs abandoned morale rules is because they mechanically prompt all of the following stuff.)

Second, most GMs start by running dungeons. Dungeons are an appealing scenario structure, particularly for new GMs, because each room is firewalled from other rooms, making them easy to prep and easy to run. You don’t have to worry about the whole scenario, just the current room.

NPCs who run away break the firewall.

Where are they running to? What are they going to do there? If they’re looking for help or trying to summon reinforcements, where are the other enemies located? If they reach those enemies, what do those enemies do?

To handle willy-nilly monsters cascading through your dungeon like free radicals, you need advanced techniques like adversary rosters, and most GMs don’t have those techniques.

(Conversely, if you’re using the My Perfect Encounter™ school of adventure design where every encounter is hard-coded to a specific location and fine-tuned to a razor’s edge of challenge, the whole adventure actually falls apart if monsters from one encounter start running around the place. This becomes even more true in a game like 4^th Edition D&D, where this is hard-coded into the system.)

Third, taking monsters prisoner ALSO breaks the firewall, because the PCs are going to want to question them about the dungeon. This, again, requires the GM to break out of the current room and think about the entire dungeon as a whole. (Which, again, is more difficult for a new GM.)

Prisoners also create a logistical challenge which is perhaps interesting once or twice, but then quickly becomes boring.

Fourth, the desire to avoid boring logistics will prompt players to solve the problem by murdering their prisoners. This is morally repugnant and, therefore, often undesirable. Similar calculations will also motivate the PCs to shoot anyone running away in the back (which may also be aesthetically/ethically undesirable).

For a non-RPG example of the difficulty in taking prisoners, check out The Raid (2011). The main characters try to take prisoners, but the logistics overwhelm them and a lot of people get killed.

Once you move away from raid-type scenarios (which a typical dungeoncrawl is closely related to), bad guys running away are usually easier to handle. (If nothing else, they can just run off into the night and exit the scenario.) And the prisoner logistics, along with the tough choices accompanying them, usually become more interesting to explore.

But by that point, most GMs have already developed “fight to the death” as a habitual practice, so it tends to just kind of stick around.

Fifth, there’s also the influence of video games. The designers of video games face similar challenges in implementing bad guys who run away and so they also don’t do that, creating a cultural perception of what game-ified violence looks like which GMs carry into their tabletop games.

TO THE DEATH!

On the flip-side, very few systems provide a viable system by which PCs can reliably flee combat. (Ironically, the original 1974 edition of D&D is one of the rare exceptions.)

Mechanically, this strongly incentivizes the PCs to also fight to the bitter end, because the alternative systemically boils down to begging the GM not to kill you: Players like to feel as if they’re in control of their own destiny, and staying within the clear structure of the combat system lets them do that.

(An effective mechanical structure for retreat must (a) be known to the players; (b) have a concrete resolution method which clearly sets stakes and provides an unambiguous and definitive outcome; (c) allow players to make meaningful choices which have a substantive impact on the success or failure of their retreat (and are, ideally, shaped by the specific of their current situation and/or resources); and (d) resolve success or failure for the group as a whole (players don’t want to risk leaving one of their own behind, and such systems generally suffer from a rolling to failure problems in any case). But I digress.)

This whole meme-sphere – in which both PCs and NPCs fight to the death – then feed back into game design and scenario design, which, for example, balances combat encounters around the assumption that the bad guys are going to fight to the bitter end.

GMs who try to break away from that assumption will find that the result is systemically unsatisfying: The PCs don’t really feel challenged when the bad guys logically run for it, which leads to everything feeling like a cake-walk in which the last few rounds are just mopping up bad guys who aren’t even fighting back.

No challenge? No satisfying conclusion?

That’s a bad encounter.

Which, of course, encourages the GM to abandon the whole “running away” thing, leaving the bad guys engaged until the bitter (yet mechanically satisfying) end.

SO WHAT?

If having the PCs and NPCs fight to the bitter end is so much easier, what’s the problem? Why not just keep doing that?

Well, as you’ve probably already noticed in our discussion so far, it takes a lot of interesting situations off the table. The Matrix probably wouldn’t be improved with Neo needing to figure out how to manage a captured Agent, for example, but Pitch Black demonstrates the unique challenges and amazing roleplaying that can emerge from shepherding even a single prisoner.

Another prominent example are the Principles of RPG Villainy: Running away to fight another day isn’t just something bad guys logically do, it’s the process by which truly memorable, campaign-defining villains are created.

I’ve already mentioned adversary rosters as a tool for running strategically active environments, but if every encounter mindlessly defaults to the NPCs fighting to the death, this tends to stunt the development of these more complex styles of play.

And, of course, none of this is to say that NPCs should never fight to the death. But variety is the spice of life. (Or, I guess, the spice of death, in this case.)

So what’s the alternative?

Well, obviously, you can just start making different choices.

But, as we’ve noted, there are systemic factors that affect these choices. We’ve already talked about how you might implement a mechanical structure for retreating, but there are other options to explore.

First, revisit how you design and think about encounters. My opinion is that the My Perfect Encounter™ method of adventure design is a hyper-developed dead end. It takes the training wheels that are useful for first time GMs and quadruples down on them, trying to make them the best goddamned training wheels you’ve ever seen. But you don’t get better at riding a bike by strapping on a fourth set of training wheels; you get better at riding a bike by taking the training wheels off.

Second, consider implementing a morale system. A good morale system won’t just mechanically prompt you to break your existing habits, it can also provide a structure for players to pursue combat tactics other than “stab them to death.” In other words, finding ways to rout your opponents is a viable way of achieving your tactical goals.

Third, speaking of tactical goals other than crushing your enemies (for example, you might also drive them before you and hear the lamentations of their women), another option is to define 0 hit points to mean something other than death. And I don’t just mean unconsciousness. I mentioned how “balanced encounters” in an RPG are designed around enemies fighting to the death. But it would be more accurate to say that they’re designed around enemies fighting until they run out of hit points. If we define that as death, then they fight to the death.

But if we broaden that definition so that your foe(s) being reduced to zero hit points simply means “the fight is over,” then we open up the possibility for fights to end in other ways. Depending on genre and circumstance, for example, this could be explicitly framed as anything from “they run away” to “they agree to join you in your quest” to “they surrender the golden phoenix of Shar-Halad.”

I’m running a few days late with this week’s installment of Advanced Gamemastery.

I’m actually planning to modify my recording rig, but before doing that I wanted to get some raw footage in the bag, so I actually ended up filming the next three videos this week. It took a little longer than I’d hoped to finalize the scripts, but this way if the new rig doesn’t work for some reason, I’ll have some time to figure it out while still being able to roll out the other videos.

The next two videos have also been designed to test some “fancy” new features (like onscreen bullet points), but in a way that allows me to abandon those features and still have a good video in case it all goes horribly wrong. (If next week’s video doesn’t have any new stuff, you’ll know that something did, in fact, go horribly wrong.)

The videos so far, and in the upcoming slate, are mostly bouncing around the topics of mysteries and sandboxes in RPG scenario design. If you’re familiar with the site, I’m guessing that won’t come as a huge surprise to you! Advanced Gamemastery — and the channel as a whole — will continue branching out, but the Three Clue Rule and active play are fairly foundational concepts to a lot of the work that I do, so as new viewers discover the channel I want to make sure we’re all working from the same base.

Good gaming! And I’ll see you at the table!

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When spellcasters prep a spell, they are creating an entanglement between their souls and the quantized fields of ley energy which permeate the cosmos. (Or, more accurately, they shape their spiritual valence – the “surface” at which the soul’s energy interfaces with the rest of reality – to create specific desmata, or channels, which are entangled with the ley fields. Hence, channeling magic.)

This process is incredibly dangerous. If the entanglement goes wrong, a spellcaster can essentially “ground” themselves – becoming (very briefly) a living conduit through which unrestrained magical energy pours into the Material Plane. At best, this can burn out some or all of the caster’s magical potential, creating a scar on their soul. Usually such events simply kill the caster outright.

In practice, arcanists have learned very stable configurations of entanglement. Different bodies of arcane theory feature different stable patterns through which they progress, but, for example, wizards have perfected patterns for creating two entanglements with the first sphere of energy (1^st level spells), another for four entanglements with the first field of energy and two with the second field, and so forth.

Magical theory believes that the nature and shape of the ley fields are due to the configuration of the major planes. The “turning of the Great Wheel” or “branchings of the Great Tree” are really just metaphors for how arcanists believe energy flows through the multiverse. (This is also why you may hear some arcanists referring to the “first sphere” or “seventh sphere” of magic, while others refer to the level or branching or so forth.)

If you were to truly “blow up Hell,” or whatever, the quantum levels of the energy field would shift, completely disrupting all magical theory: A 3^rd level spell slot would no longer have the same amount of mystical energy. There might even be more or less discrete layers – i.e., spell levels – in the ley field.

Ley lines can be thought of as “cracks” in the skein of reality where this interplanar energy is pushing through into our plane of existence. They are a sort of obduction where magical energy enters the Material Plane, similar to how new crust is “pushed up” through ocean rifts. In any case, this means that a given ley line can be associated with one, some, or all nine of the energy fields (spell levels).

THE EVOLUTION OF MAGICAL THEORY

It used to be the case that each desmata had to be carefully customized to a specific flow of energy. (In other words, you had to prep a specific spell into each spell slot.) It was always known, however, that this was merely a theoretical limit: There were creatures with natural desmata, for example, who could use them to flexibly cast a variety of spells.

Some individuals were similarly known to be born with or later manifest natural desmata. In some cases, these desmata would become “active,” allowing these “natural spellcasters” to create variable magical effects without any formal training. However, this was an uncontrolled, dangerous, and incredibly unstable process. The spontaneous alignment of any desmata could go horribly awry. It might kill the spellcaster, burn out their magical ability, or, in rare cases, cause the desmata to become stuck “open” – basically spewing forth wild magic in a chaotic torrent.

These spontaneous spellcasters were basically walking cataclysms that could be unpredictably triggered at any moment. As a result, they were usually social pariahs. (People don’t like it when their neighbors randomly blow up.)

In the last century, however, significant breakthroughs in arcane theory made it possible for these spellcasters – or sorcerers – to, first, wield much greater control over which spells they could cast through their desmata (allowing them to learn specific spells instead of just manifesting random abilities) and, later, safely activate their dormant desmata in stable configurations.

Sorcerers stopped exploding. Some of the old prejudices remain, but over the past several decades they have mostly been reintegrated into society.

These theoretical breakthroughs also led to a greater understanding of the structure (or “weave”) of desmata. Studying the flexible desmata of sorcerers allowed other arcanists to perfect the design of non-specific desmata aligned to each ley field.

This was a revolution in magical theory!

The first flexible desmata to be perfected was actually for the third sphere of magic, but over the next decade arcanists rapidly perfected flexible desmata for each quantized field. You still had to study and master specific spell effects, but you no longer had to create one custom desmata for a fireball and a different custom desmata for a lightning bolt – you simply had a single flexible desmata of the third sphere which could be used to channel energy for either effect.

The insights gleaned from these new breakthroughs, however, also spilled into general field theory to arguably even greater effect. To fully understand that, however, we’ll first want to take a closer look at cantrips.

CANTRIPS: GENERAL FIELD THEORY

It has long been understood that in addition to the large, quantized ley fields, there is also a pervasive field of discordant, low-level mystic energy that appears to permeate all etheric and material matter. In older texts it is often referred to as the Discord. In bardic traditions it is sometimes referred to as the “unchorded song.” We’ll refer to as the general field.

The energy levels of the general field are so small that they’re generally “washed out” by the nine spheres of magic. As a result, the general field was first detected by elven arcanists studying the ambitus (or perimeter) of antimagic fields. (It is now widely recognized that certain arcane traditions of the beholder magi-lines had been aware of the general field for centuries before it was “discovered” by the elves, but, of course, beholders are infamously secretive about their arcane traditions, even with each other.)

The low energy of the general field severely limited the effects which could be created with it. In addition, the cumbersome desmata created to interface with the general field actually interfered with the far more useful desmata of the first sphere, reducing the number of such desmata that could be safely entangled!

However, the low energy and pervasive nature of the general field also made it considerably safer to manipulate. The general field spells – which became known as cantrips – were ideal for training new students in the arts of magic. The success rate (as opposed to the “messy death” rate) for apprenticeships soared, greatly invigorating arcane studies.

Huge tomes of cantrips were developed for apprentices, but due to the interference effects most magi abandoned them entirely once they were ready to master more powerful desmata, although it was not unknown for some to maintain a cluster of four or so of their favorite cantrips despite the sacrifice.

The next major breakthrough in cantrip theory came when Xylarthen perfected a spell form of the first sphere that could be used to flexibly channel any cantrip known to the caster. Ironically, the complexity of this form made it unsuitable for apprentices, but it did mean that more powerful magi who were nostalgic for their old cantrips no longer needed to maintain a disrupting cluster of cantrip desmata to practice them.

Hidden within Xylarthen’s cantrip spell, of course, was an alternative theory of flexible desmata (which, at this time, had not yet been perfected). This was widely recognized and any number of experimental arcanists began trying to expand the theory. The general belief was that it would be possible to create desmata of a higher level that could be used to flexibly cast less powerful effects: Just as a desmata of the first sphere could be used to flexibly cast cantrips, so a desmata of the fourth level, for example, might be able to channel spells of the third level. Various theories were promulgated, many of them featuring increasingly baroque arrangements of “resonance” (i.e., the idea that a fourth level desmata might be able to cast any second level spell, but not a third level one; or vice versa; or only a third and a first; and so forth). There was another school of thought which postulated that flexible desmata might be able to achieve stability within specific schools of magic.

All of these theories ultimately proved unsuccessful. There was a single desmata of the eighth sphere that could be used to cast spells of the fifth level and lower, but it proved to be incredibly unstable. After several spectacularly lethal disasters, the form was abandoned. The wizard Rary did eventually manage to construct a deserata of the third sphere that could be used to cast mixtures of lower level spells, but its use was highly specialized and he was never able to generalize the somewhat fluke discovery back into general principles.

The next true breakthrough in cantrip-related theory actually came from a completely different direction: Minor desmata were perfected which could be used to prepare cantrips powered by the “zero-level” field of mystical energy without disrupting higher level entanglements. These were not flexible desmata (each needed to be prepared for a specific cantrip), but it meant that arcanists could now continue using cantrips throughout their careers. They were also closer in theory to other desmata, making it easier for apprentices to transition from their early studies to more powerful spells.

When the theory of flexible desmata was later perfected, however, the old Xylarthenic theories were revisited. The new models made it clearer how Xylarthen’s cantrip spell had been using higher orders of magic to create a flexible construct that could channel energy from the general field. What was even more interesting, however, was that the new theories of desmatic creation suggested that it should be possible to create a flexible cantrip desmata which, due to the pervasive properties of the general field, would not lose its entanglement with the general field when used to cast a spell.

In other words, once a spellcaster had entangled their soul with the proper desmata, it was possible in theory to cast a limitless number of such spells.

It took some time to perfect, but that was more or less what the arcanists did, creating the order of magic as we know it today: Flexible desmata for spontaneously casting of spells of the first through ninth sphere and clusters of cantrip desmata that have no limit on often they can be used.

A MISCELLANEA

A few miscellaneous thoughts:

• The really interesting element of modern arcane theory is that there’s theoretically no limit to how much energy can be pulled from the general field. This means that a grand unified theory of magic would theoretically allow ALL magical spells to be powered by the general field and, therefore, cast without limit. At the moment, however, arcanists are limited to “solving” each spell individually. But each new spell that becomes a cantrip is a major achievement!
• Don’t get too excited: Elven arcanists will point out that the “grand unified theory” is always just twenty years away (for humans) or a hundred years away (for elves).
• Insofar as “magic” is the interface between a caster’s soul and the ley fields, psionics cannot be properly understood as “magic.” Psionic abilities are the result of manipulating, focusing, and multiplying the energy of the soul itself.
• Warlocks don’t have level-associated slots because they don’t actually entangle with the ley fields. They are instead directly entangled with their patron, which simply feeds them the ley energy. (This is why other arcanists often look at them with roughly the same terror that you might look at a high-capacity power line dancing around on the ground and shooting out sparks.)
• Divine mystic traditions used to be based on very different theories of how magic worked, allowing an interface with only seven of the spheres (although the particulars of that interface allowed them to create effects similar to arcane traditions using different ley fields). Over time, mystic theory has become more unified, with divine traditions tapping into arcane theory to create desmata that can entangle with all nine spheres.
• What hasn’t changed is that clerics are generally dependent on the connection to their god to create and entangle their desmata. This means most clerics are significantly less familiar with the fine details of arcane theory. These divine desmata, however, still have unique properties which make certain magical effects (like healing) possible that are still beyond arcane theory.
• There are magical “viruses” that can interface with desmata. Most only interface with spent desmata, but there are also some that can attach to entangled desmata. (These tend to be more dangerous.)

FURTHER READING
Spells: Parasites of the Mind
Scrolls: Bonds of Power

Go to Table of Contents

While exploring Avernus, the PCs have several opportunities to actually meet the crusaders who rode with Zariel into Hell itself.

At Haruman’s Hill they can speak with Jander Sunstar, the other crucified Hellriders who abandoned Zariel and their comrades, and Geneal Haruman himself.

At the Crypt of the Hellriders they can speak with the disembodied spirits of the crusaders who remained in Hell when the others fled. They can also meet General Olanthius.

And, of course, Yael herself will be met at the Bloody Cyst.

These encounters provide a really amazing opportunity for the PCs to interact with history. And if we’ve set things up correctly, the players will really feel that: Getting to meet Sunstar or Olanthius or Yael – after learning so much about them – will carry the same weight as meeting JFK or Cleopatra or Shakespeare.

To this end, I’ve prepped a basic NPC roleplaying template for each of the Hellriders, allowing us to run these encounters with easy confidence within the revised continuity of the Remix. The Key Info section for each Hellrider contains the key references for the Memory Revelations, but since the PCs will likely be interested in hearing their tale, I’ve tried to keep the Background sections as clear and straightforward (for easy reference) as possible.

JANDER SUNSTAR

Appearance: Impaled upon an iron tree, his pale skin is stained with a thin network of red and lurid veins. His dull-grey eyes are sunken pits of bruised crimson.

Roleplaying:

• His voice is wracked with eternal anguish.
• His arms are pinioned; his hands straining and palsied, their motion limited.
• He feels he deserves this punishment, possessing endless guilt for leading his Hellriders to this fate.

Background – Early History:

• Gold elf born on the island of Evermeet.
• Left Evermeet in search of adventure.
• 786 DR: Joined the armies of King Sarshel of Impiltur, serving under the three Paladin Princes (Essys, Araln, and Nord) as a knight of the Order of the Triad. In the Battle of the Moaning Gorge, Essys and Araln were killed, but the Impiltur forces defeated the armies of the balor Ndulu, driving both the demon and his horde back into the Abyss.
• 788 DR to 794 DR: Nord became king of Impiltur and begins the Harrowing of Nord, seeking to purge all the fiend-worshippers in the kingdom. Jander grew weary of the work and, with his friend Gideon (another knight of the Order of the Triad), left Impiltur and headed west into the Dalelands.
• 796 DR: In the Year of Grey Mists, Jander and Gideon become two members of the Silver Six and slay a red dragon in Merrydale. A few weeks later, the dale is plagued by a group of vampires. Two of the Silver Six are killed. In the same year, Merrydale is renamed Daggerdale.
• 798 DR: Jander is turned by the vampire lord Cassiar.
• 892 DR: Jander manages to slay Cassiar and escape from his influence.
• Early 10^th Century DR: Jander ends up in the Goblin Marches, where he falls in with a slave revolt led by Haruman, the Boy Warlord. Haruman eventually becomes the Lord Knight of the Far Hills, ruling a fiefdom out of Farkeep (the citadel which would later become known as Darkhold). Jander became a knight-banneret in his service.

Background – Zarielite Crusade:

• While questing to the west of Farkeep, Jander encountered Zarielite crusaders and learned of their cause. Moved by their grand desire to strike at the very heart of evil – something which seemed to echo with his own eternal struggle – he returned to Farkeep and converted Haruman to the cause.
• Jander rode to Elturel with Haruman, where the Lord Knight of the Far Hills pledged himself as the Third General of the Crusade, joining General Yael and Olanthius, Lord of Elturel.
• Under the command of the Zariel and the Three Generals, the cruaders marched to war against a demon lord named Yeenoghu outside a small town called Idyllglen. Jander was the commander of one of the cavalry wings.
• As the battle seemed to be drawing to a close, Yeenoghu captured General Yael and fled through a portal. Zariel, riding a golden hollyphant, led the army through the portal in pursuit, emerging onto the plains of Avernus.
• During the Battle of Avernus, while the Three Armies were engaged with Yeenoghu’s army, an army of devils approached. Jander panicked (“We can’t fight both Hell and the Abyss!”) and led a large chunk of the army back through the portal to Idyllglen. The portal then slammed shut behind them, leaving Zariel, Yael, Olanthius, Haruman, and most of the crusaders trapped in Hell. (Jander doesn’t know what caused the portal to close.)
• Jander was the highest ranking officer among the crusaders who had fled (and therefore survived) Avernus. The deserters became known as the Hellriders, their acts of infamy instead being told as deeds of glory.
• Jander became the first High Rider of Elturel. He changed the Riders’ heraldry from the twin stars of the Zarielite Crusade to a horse rampant in flames.

Background – Later Life:

• Sickened by his betrayal of both Zariel and Haruman, Jander felt he was living a lie. The dark blot of the vampiric curse on his soul grew larger and he was no longer able to fully control his need for human blood.
• Resigning his position, Jander left Elturel and resumed his long-delayed journey to the west, eventually ending up Waterdeep.
• In Waterdeep, he withdrew further and further from human society, eventually becoming a hermit living in a cave outside of town. He would occasionally come into town to “sip” from the inmates of Waterdeep’s asylum.
• During one of his feeding trips, he met a mad women named Anna and fell in love with her. He discovered that she had been cursed in a land called Barovia.
• After Anna’s death, Jander journeyed to Barovia to seek revenge against the one who had placed the curse of madness upon her. He eventually discovered that Anna was Tatyana, a woman who had been pursued by Count Strahd of Ravenloft, the ruler of Barovia.
• Although he attempted to end Strahd’s life, Jander failed. Finding peace with himself at long last, however, he climbed to a high cliff, prayed to Lathander, and waited for the sun to rise.
• … but he found no grace or forgiveness from Lathander. Upon his suicide, his soul was taken to Avernus. Reformed into the vampiric form he loathed in “life,” Jander was taken to Haruman’s Hill and crucified as an eternal punishment for his betrayal of the Archduchess Zariel during the Battle of Avernus.

Key Info:

• Jander was a Zarielite Crusader.
• The Three Generals were Yael, Olanthius, and Haruman.
• Jander betrayed Zariel during the Battle of Avernus, leading a chunk of the army back through the portal. The deserters became known as the Hellriders, cloaking themselves in false glory.

Design Note: Jander Sunstar first appears in Christie Golden’s Vampire of the Mists and various short stories. The continuity of those stories is impossible to bring into accord with the events described in Descent Into Avernus. Not only are the particular dates of the original story not internally consistent to begin with, but the sequence of events is fundamentally different: In the original stories, Jander serves as a Hellrider with Gideon, is later turned into a vampire, goes to Ravenloft, and then dies. In Descent Into Avernus, on the other hand, he becomes a vampire, goes to Ravenloft, apparently doesn’t die when he attempts suicide, serves as a Hellrider, and then commits suicide at some unspecified later date.

(The “doesn’t die” thing can actually be traced back to AD&D sourcebooks that apparently wanted to include a prominent character from the tie-in novels, but didn’t have any utility for a long-dead NPC. But most of the confusion once again maps back to the decision to move the Charge of the Hellriders to the 14^th century, as we’ve discussed previously.)

I’ve done my best here to weld the continuity back into something semi-coherent: You still have to basically ignore any specific dates given in Golden’s original stories, but the actual sequence of Jander’s life is now consistent through those stories. I’ve provided an alternative military campaign for Jander to meet Gideon during and also unified his suicide “attempts” so that everything leads up to the culmination of the original novel.

My goal is that – if your players have read the novel – the scene with Jander will be a really cool experience that builds on their existing knowledge of the character.

HARUMAN

Appearance: He wears armor formed from countless, curved plates of razor-sharp, black steel. From beneath the visor of his scythe-topped helm a pair of glowing red eyes glare out with baleful hatred.

Roleplaying:

• Does NOT like being referred to as a Hellrider. (He idiosyncratically associates that title with the traitors.)
• Taciturn to a fault. It takes effort to draw him out. (Appealing to his hatred for the crucified traitors is a particularly effective method, however.)
• When still or in conversation, keeps both hands clasped atop his claymore, held in front of him.

Background:

• Haruman was a slave in the Goblin Marches.
• When he was eleven, he killed his goblin overlord and initiated a slave revolt.
• He marched out of the Goblin Marches as the Boy Warlord, eventually conquering Farkeep (the citadel which would later become known as Darkhold) at the age of thirteen. He became known as the Lord Knight of the Far Hills.
• Zarielite Crusade: Eight years later, he learned from Jander Sunstar – a knight-banneret who had fought by his side during the slave revolt – of the Zarielite Crusade. Mustering his forces, he marched to Elturel and swore an oath of loyalty to Zariel and the Crusade. He joined Lady Yael and Lord Olanthius as one of the Three Generals.
• Battle of Idyllglen: He marched with the rest of the Crusade to Idyllglen when they learned it was being attacked by a demon lord named Yeenoghu. During the battle, Lady Yael was captured and carried through a portal by Yeenoghu. Zariel ordered a pursuit, and Haruman led his army through the portal.
• Battle of Avernus: The portal led to Avernus. The crusaders were doing well against Yeenoghu’s demon army when an army of devils approached. Jander Sunstar betrayed them, rode back through the portal to Idyllglen with hundreds of other cowards, and then sealed the portal behind him, trapping everyone else in Hell.
• Olanthius and Haruman were able to pincer the remnants of Yeenoghu’s army and finish them off, while Zariel and Yael wheeled her command about to meet the devil army. Yeenoghu escaped, but Zariel killed the devil general Terza’reg.
• Then a second devil army, this one under the command of Baalzephon, arrived.
• The Crusaders fought to the last man, but Olanthius and Haruman were among those captured. They were brought before Zariel, who had been transformed into a glorious devil. She told them that their battle against the Demons of the Abyss would continue; that Hell had granted her the power to continue their great work. And she asked them to join her.
• Haruman accepted and was transformed into a narzugon. Olanthius chose to commit suicide instead… but discovered that even in death he was bound to Zariel by the oaths they had sworn and was raised as a death knight to serve as her thrall.
• Zariel set for Haruman the task of punishing those who had betrayed them. It has been his driving obsession down through the centuries since then.
• The Reckoning: Haruman fought alongside Zariel during the Reckoning, laying siege to Dis, the great city which is the second layer of Hell. He was nearly killed when, near the end of the Reckoning, Tiamat betrayed Zariel and took her prisoner.
• The Rift War: Centuries later, Haruman was serving in the legions of Bel when the Rift gaped open and vomited forth a baatorian invasion that washed over the defenses of Avernus.
• When Zariel was released from Tiamat’s prison by Glasya, the daughter of Asmodeus, Haruman gathered the soldiers loyal to him and rode to join Zariel in her Second Avernian March: As Bel retreated (yet another traitorous coward!), they attacked.
• Zariel forded the Styx, sacked the war palaces that had been taken by the baatorians, and broke the baatorian supply lines. Then she turned around and marched back to the Styx, intercepting the baatorians’ main army as it was attempting to cross the river. During the Battle of Lost Memories, the baatorians’ strength was broken.
• Haruman took command of several watchposts along the Styx while Zariel marched to lay siege to the Rift itself. When the Rift fell, Zariel was made Archduchess of Avernus by Asmodeus’ decree. (A reward for her loyalty!)

Key Info:

• He resents that Olanthius (who tried to “forsake his duties” by committing suicide) has been given the honor of keeping watch on the Crypt of the Hellriders while he must serve as guardian over the eternal damnation of these traitors.
• Like Jander, Yael abandoned Zariel at the final hour. She is the great prize; and although she has so far managed to hide her soul from Haruman, he will some day bring her to justice. (False, but he believes it.)
• Haruman was present in Zariel’s court when the amnesiac Lulu was brought as a gift for the freshly crowned Archduchess of Avernus: He knows that Zariel believed Lulu had hidden the Sword of Zariel and she was angry that Lulu had lost her memories and could no longer reveal the secret of its hiding place.
• Haruman uses tales of his service with Zariel in the Reckoning and the Rift War as an example of what true loyalty looks like; and of the eternal glories which traitors like Sunstar gave up in their cowardice.
• If asked about why it’s the Second Avernian March, Haruman is familiar with the tale of Zariel’s First Avernian March: Long ago, before Avernus had become a part of Hell, Zariel was betrayed by her commanding officer, an angel named Chazaqiel. Zariel and a small band of angels loyal to Heaven broke away and began a long march across Avernus before finally escaping down the River Styx (which in those days followed a very different course through the Outer Planes).

OLANTHIUS

Appearance: A skeletal warrior in matte-black plate armor. Blue flames flicker in the sockets of his skull. He wears a tattered, azure cloak embroidered with faded golden thread in the symbol of twin suns.

Roleplaying:

• A sibilant, hissing voice is all that remains of a once commanding presence.
• Flames in his eyes flare when frustrated or angry. (But they dim when he thinks of Lady Yael.)
• He is bound by an oath to Zariel, and yet struggles against it eternally.

Background:

• Olanthius inherited his position as Lord of Elturel when it was yet a relatively small fiefdom, but he commanded a large order of knights who spread peace along the River Chionthar.
• Zarielite Crusade: Yael and Lulu came to Elturel to proselytize the Cruade. Olanthius was impressed with Yael’s courage and righteousness, and pledged his service to the Crusade. Elturel became the headquarters of the Crusade and Olanthius became one of the Three Generals.
• Olanthius and Lady Yael fell in love. They were never married… the work of the Crusade kept them too busy.
• Battle of Idyllglen: He marched with the rest of the Crusade to Idyllglen when they learned it was being attacked by a demon lord named Yeenoghu. During the battle, Lady Yael was captured and carried through a portal by Yeenoghu. Zariel ordered a pursuit, with Olanthius close on her heels.
• Battle of Avernus: The portal led to Avernus. Yael freed herself and fought her way to Olanthius’ side. The crusaders were doing well against Yeenoghu’s demon army when an army of devils approached. Some of Haruman’s soldiers betrayed them, fleeing back through the portal and then shutting it behind them.
• Olanthius and Haruman were able to pincer the remnants of Yeenoghu’s army and finish them off, while Zariel and Yael wheeled her command about to meet the devil army. Yeenoghu escaped, but Zariel killed the devil general Terza’reg.
• Then a second devil army, this one under the command of Baalzephon, arrived.
• The Crusaders fought to the last man, but Olanthius and Haruman were among those captured. They were brought before Zariel, who had been transformed into a glorious devil. She told them that their battle against the Demons of the Abyss would continue; that Hell had granted her the power to continue their great work. And she asked them to join her.
• Haruman accepted and was transformed into a narzugon. Olanthius chose to commit suicide instead… but discovered that even in death he was bound to Zariel by the oaths they had sworn and was raised as a death knight to serve as her thrall.
• Crypt of the Hellriders: Zariel tasked Olanthius with building a crypt for their fallen comrades and protect it. For long centuries that was the totality of his existence. When she became Archduchess, he became a minor member of her court.

Key Info:

• Haruman was one of the Three Generals. Unlike Olanthius, he willingly followed Zariel in swearing allegiance to Hell and became a devil. A once noble man, he is now bereft of compassion – obsessed with punishing anyone who has “betrayed” Zariel. He can oft be found at Haruman’s Hill.
• He doesn’t know Yael’s ultimate fate, although he knows Zariel asked Lulu to help her escape. (If it seems the PCs seek her, he will ask them to give his love to her if they were to somehow to succeed.)
• Olanthius is a member of Zariel’s court: He could lead them to her flying fortress and even potentially help them gain access to it.
• Olanthius would like to see Zariel dead (which would free him from his bondage), but would require considerable proof that an assassination attempt is plausible before being willing to assist it. (And he would struggle with his oath throughout.)
• Yael told Olanthius of the legends of Zariel’s first visit to Idyllglen: How the demonic lord Yeenoghu was leading a gnoll army and sacking settlements north of the Chionthar, and Zariel led a band of angels to put an end of to his depredations. Idyllglen raised a shrine to honor what Zariel had done for them, and it was in this shrine that Yael prayed for Zariel’s return when a marauding band of ogres led by a warlord named Irontusk threatened Idyllglen hundreds of years later. Zariel once again came, and that was the seed that began the entire Crusade.
• Yael used to tell him – tell them all, really – to “dream a little bigger.” (It’s what convinced him to join the Crusade.) But he hasn’t been able to dream for centuries now.

LADY YAEL

Appearance: The translucent image of a woman in her thirties wearing plate armor and bearing a thin scar on her cheek. She is surrounded by a soft, comforting glow of radiant energy.

Roleplaying:

• A kind smile; her warmth and charisma undimmed by death or the passing aeons.
• A soft and gentle voice, touched by an immense sadness.
• Very excited to see Lulu; an old friend she thought long dead.
• “You just need to dream a little bigger.”

Background:

• Yael was born in the village of Idyllglen. When she was a young woman in the 10^th century DR, Idyllglen’s existence was threatened by a marauding band of ogres led by a warlord named Irontusk.
• Yael organized the younger villagers into a defensive militia of sorts, but it wasn’t enough. She prayed in a shrine dedicated to Zariel – who had come to Idyllglen once centuries earlier and saved the village from a horde of gnolls led by the demon lord Yeenoghu – and asked for her help. Zariel answered the prayer, coming with Lulu
• Zariel, Lulu, and Yael became fast friends. With each challenge they faced, Yael would smile and say, “We just need to dream a little bigger.”
• The campaign lasted for several months, but they were ultimately successful.
• After Zariel left, Yael turned their militia into a regional peacekeeping force. (The ogres didn’t return, but there was a spot of trouble with trolls out of the Trollclaws. Mostly they secured the Winding Water settlements.)
• Zarielite Crusade: Several years later, Zariel returned. She had hatched a plan: Raise a mortal army in the Material Plane to invade the Abyss and create a second front in the Blood War. Yael’s response when she head the plans? “Aye. Let’s dream a little bigger.”
• The militia became the first Crusaders. They wore a badge with twin suns, representing Zariel and Lulu as their angelic saviors.
• Olanthius: Yael and Lulu went on a number of recruitment missions. Perhaps the most important proved to be to Lord Olanthius in Elturel. Olanthius became a convert and the Crusade moved its center of operations south to the city. Yael fell in love with the young lord, and he with her. (They were never married – the Crusade simply consumed too much of the time. Yael regrets that now and hopes that Olanthius’ spirit is at peace.)
• The Three Generals: Yael, Olanthius, and another lord named Haruman became the Three Generals.
• Battle of Idyllglen: Then Yeenoghu returned. They learned that the demon lord was attacking the settlements of the Winding Water. They rode north and intercepted his army at Idyllglen. During the battle, Yael was captured and carried through a portal by Yeenoghu. When she saw the Crusaders emerge through the portal behind them – with Zariel leading the charge – it was both the most relieved she had ever been, and also the most terrified. For she realized that Yeenoghu had laid a trap for them.
• Battle of Avernus: The portal led to Avernus. There were a number of glorious deeds that day, among them Yael freeing herself from captivity and fighting her way to Olanthius’ side.
• The crusaders were doing well against Yeenoghu’s demon army when an army of devils under the command Terza’reg approached. Jander Sunstar, one of Haruman’s knight-bannerets, panicked and led a rout of many of the knights back through the portal (which then shut behind them; Yael is certain it was Yeenoghu’s last cruel joke).
• The Final Fight: Olanthius and Haruman were able to pincer the remnants of Yeenoghu’s army and finish them off, while Zariel and Yael wheeled her command about to meet the devil army. Yeenoghu escaped, but Zariel killed the devil general Terza’reg.
• Zariel led the flying cavalry squadron (featuring primarily pegasi) into the air to meet the flying devils that swarmed over the battlefield.
• Zariel and Lulu engaged in an aerial duel with Terza’reg, which ended when Terza’reg cut off Zariel’s right hand (still clutching her sword). Zariel leapt off of Lulu and dove after sword and hand, with Terza’reg in hot pursuit. At the last possible moment, Zariel snatched her sword from the air, reversed her flight, and plunged it through Terza’reg’s breast. A huge explosion rocked the battlefield as the devil general died, clouding the affair in a haze of red dust.
• Despite her dreadful injury and the ensuing chaos, after Terza’reg’s death it was possible that Zariel and her generals might have been able to rally. But then a second army under the command of Baalzephon arrived.
• Zariel’s Final Request: Yael had joined Zariel and Lulu. As Baalzephon tightened the noose around their necks, the three old friends fought side by side. As the devils closed in, Zariel knew what would come and feared her own weakness. She took a shard of her angelic essence – a spark of goodness – and placed it within her sword. She asked Yael to take the sword and make certain it was not captured by the forces of Hell. Yael refused. Zariel smiled sadly. “Look beyond this forsaken day. One last time, I need you to dream a little bigger.”
• With tears in her eyes, Yael accepted.
• Zariel then turned to Lulu, said goodbye to her old friend, and asked her to go with Yael and keep her safe.
• The devils’ aerial forces had been decimated, and so Yael – having concealed the sword within her cloak – was able to escape through their depleted ranks upon Lulu’s back.
• Hiding the Sword: Yael and Lulu tried to escape Hell, but were intercepted at the Styx by Yeenoghu. They fled back into Avernus. With both demons and devils closing in on them, they realized that escape was impossible.
• Yael plunged the Sword of Zariel into a rock and called for divine intervention. Lulu poured her own celestial essence into the call, the sympathetic resonance of her trumpet echoing across the Avernian plains as she drove Yael’s plea across the outer planes. Even so, the gods could wield little power in Avernus, but Lathander gave them an opportunity. Yael sacrificed herself, pouring her life force into what Lathander offered, raising an alabaster fortress around the Sword to protect it.
• The skein of Avernus itself rebelled at this holy touch, however, and a bloody cyst engulfed the fortress, Yael’s corpse, and Lulu.

Key Info:

• Yael will be reticent until the PCs have proved their worthiness by claiming the Sword of Zariel.
• After that, with very little prompting, Yael will answer any questions that they have. (This may include relating her entire biography, above.) She will be able to fill in many of the holes the PCs might still be missing.
• She knows nothing of what happened after the Battle of Avernus and the formation of the Bloody Cyst, but she and Zariel spoke often of Zariel’s past, so you can similarly use Yael to fill any gaps in the PCs knowledge regarding Zariel’s past (the Averniad, her Long March across Avernus, the Trial of Asmodeus, etc.).

OTHER CRUSADERS / HELLRIDERS

Other Crusaders and/or Hellriders can generally fill the PCs in on a brief overview of the true history of the Crusade:

• Zariel and Lulu descended from the Heavens to lead a mortal army of the chosen faithful on a glorious crusade into the Abyss where they would turn the tide of the Blood War.
• Supporters swarmed to the Crusade from across the Sword Coast.
• Yael was the first of the Three Generals.
• Lord Olanthius of Elturel became a convert and invited the crusade to use the city as its staging ground.
• Haruman, Lord Knight of the Far Hills, rode to Elturel, pledged his service to Zariel, and became the Third General.
• The demon lord Yeenoghu led an army onto the Material Plane and the Crusaders fought him at the Battle of Idyllglen.
• The Crusaders pursued Yeenoghu through a portal which led them, inexplicably, to the plains of Avernus.
• Many of the crusaders panicked and fled back through the portal, closing it behind them and stranding the rest of the crusaders in Hell.
• The crusaders who remained bravely fought to the last man.

KEY INFO: They’ll all make a point of mentioning Zariel’s glowing sword.

• She was wearing it when they first saw her.
• She knighted them with it.
• She was wielding it in battle.
• It was the last thing they saw before riding back through the portal / dying on the field of battle.

CUSTOMIZING THE CRUSADERS: Every crusader is a unique individual and their story should reflect that.

• When did they join the Crusade? (Idyllglen before Zariel, after Zariel, one of Olanthius’ knights, one of Haruman’s knights, rode independently to Elturel)
• If they’re a Hellrider, how do they feel about fleeing Avernus? If they’re a crusader who didn’t flee, how do they feel about the Hellriders who did?
• Where and how did they die?
• Try to give them one unique anecdote associated with one of the key moments or characters discussed above. (For example, they were sent to protect Idyllglen from a phalanx of demonic warriors. Or they died at Zariel’s feet. Or they, too, were trying to flee through the portal, but it snapped shut just before they could pass through it.)

Go to Part 7: Exploring Avernus

This week’s Advanced Gamemastery takes a first look (and then a much closer look!) at what it’s like to run a sandbox campaign. I use a D&D-esque campaign as the example, but the lessons can be applied to almost any RPG.

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