Go to Part 1

Having concluded that mid-dungeon rests should generally be risky and usually require effort in order to pull off successfully, how should we handle spells or other special abilities that make these rests easier to achieve? Some of these – particularly rope trick and Leomund’s tiny hut – seem tailor-made to make risk-free rests effortless!

In handling these spells in play, there are a couple general principles I think are useful to keep in mind:

First, we’ll want to think about how these spells fit into our procedure. Much like our response to a fireball spell shouldn’t be, “Well, I guess this means we don’t need the combat system any more!” our response to PCs using spells to achieve safer rests shouldn’t be to throw out our procedures for handling risky rests.

Second, it will help to remember that spells cast to increase the likelihood of a successful rest are, in fact, resources being spent. (Even if spells can be ritually cast, they’re still chewing up a prepared spell for most classes.) This is particularly true if such strategies require multiple spells to be used. (For example, using pass without trace to conceal the trail leading to an invisible rope trick while using alarm to prevent ambushes.)

In concert, these principles should make us wary of a kneejerk desire to “nerf” such spells. It’s easy to slip into thinking that the goal is to interrupt and disrupt the PCs’ rests, and thus become frustrated with strategies that successfully allow them to rest.

But if we return to thinking about an expedition model, in which players strategically choose how to spend your resources in order to maximize their rewards, this is exactly what we want.

On the other hand, if there’s a strategy which is costing them no resources at all and always results in successful rests, those are the ones we’ll want to interrogate closely and figure out how to handle better. (Or modify mechanically in order to balance them.)

LEOMUND’S TINY HUT

As our first example, let’s look at Leomund’s tiny hut, a 3^rd-level spell which lasts for 8 hours:

A 10-foot-radius immobile dome of force springs into existence around and above you and remains stationary for the duration. The spell ends if you leave its area.

Nine creatures of Medium size or smaller can fit inside the dome. The spell fails if its area includes a larger creature or more than nine creatures.

Creatures and objects within the dome when you cast this spell can move through it freely. All other creatures and objects are barred from passing through it. Spells and other magical effects can’t extend through the dome or be cast through it. The atmosphere inside the space is comfortable and dry, regardless of the weather outside.

Until the spell ends, you can command the interior to become dimly lit or dark. The dome is opaque from the outside, of any color you choose, but it is transparent from the inside.

How does this spell affect our dungeon rest procedure?

By and large, it doesn’t.

The procedure determines whether or not the bad guys locate the PCs. And whether they find the PCs or “just” a mysterious dome of force energy that wasn’t there yesterday, it doesn’t really change anything.

Leomund’s tiny hut makes the PCs perfectly secure… but also perfectly detectable. (You could even argue that an immobile dome of force is probably more difficult to conceal in many circumstances, perhaps granting disadvantage to their Stealth checks.)

What I’ve discovered, in practice, is that this creates a really interesting dilemma for the PCs when the monsters discover their position: Do you remain within to finish your rest, while allowing the monsters to fetch reinforcements and set up preparations to assault you as soon as the spell drops? Or do you disrupt your rest and leap out to deal with the threat?

The challenge for the DM, in my opinion, is to create varied and interesting threats. These will be dependent on the particular circumstances of the dungeon, but can be almost limitless in variety.

For example, in one instance the NPCs in my game pulled a Cask of Amontillado, simply walling up the room that the PCs had placed their dome in. Others have built bonfires over the dome and drenched them in oil. Triggering a cave-in to bury the dome can also be a really interesting option.

Of course, you can almost always default to the bad guys fetching reinforcements, bringing into play the principles of running an active dungeon that we discussed in Part 1. This can easily be the most dangerous option for the PCs to wait out, as a large part of strategically conquering an active dungeon is NOT allowing all the denizens of the dungeon to attack you at the same time.

As a result, in addition to simple fight now / fight later dynamics, I’ve also frequently seen tiny hut dilemmas result in tense negotiations.

My point with all this is that the tiny hut, while it gives the PCs a lot of advantages, doesn’t actually negate the logistics of seeking rest in the dungeon. In fact, the spell creates the opportunity for incredibly cool moments and incredibly difficult choices that otherwise wouldn’t exist.

Nerf Note: If you want to nerf this spell, consider reverting a major change that was made to the spell with 2^nd Edition (which inflated the number of creatures which could fit inside the hut) and 3^rd Edition (which inflated it again to the current total of nine). In 1^st Edition, it could only hold six man-sized creatures.

This makes the spell useful for a PC-only adventuring party, but the minute you add hirelings, allies, or just some mounts, the utility of the spell rapidly degrades.

ROPE TRICK

Next up, let’s consider rope trick, a 2^nd-level spell that lasts for 1 hour:

You touch a length of rope up to 60 feet long. One end of the rope then rises into the air until the whole rope hangs perpendicular to the ground. At the upper end of the rope, an invisible entrance opens to an extradimensional space that lasts until the spell ends.

The extradimensional space can be reached by climbing to the top of the rope. The space can hold as many as eight Medium or smaller creatures. The rope can be pulled up into the space, making the rope disappear from view outside the space.

Attacks and spells can’t cross through the entrance into or out of the extradimensional space, but those inside can see out of it as if through a 3-foot-by-5-foot window centered on the rope. Anything inside the extradimensional space drops out when the spell ends.

Although a lower level spell with a much shorter duration, rope trick, in my opinion, can actually be far more effective in gaining a secure rest than Leomund’s tiny hut.

Once again looking at our dungeon rest procedure, the key thing to note is that the rope trick is a very good way of creating an effective hiding place almost anywhere in the dungeon.

However, let’s consider the key feature of the spell: The dimensional portal created by the rope trick is invisible, but does not actually disappear.

This means that NPCs can enter the portal. (And it only takes a few for the whole thing to collapse.) This might be the result of them tracking the PCs’ to the portal entrance. Particularly tall creatures might also just stumble straight into it if the PCs aren’t careful in where they place the entrance.

The other key thing is that the spell doesn’t block sound. This is particularly significant in 5^th Edition because of how the game handles invisibility: Being invisible makes it possible to hide, but doesn’t even grant advantage on Stealth checks (including the Stealth checks built into our dungeon rest procedure).

In addition to assaulting a rope trick, of course, the NPCs might also choose to besiege it using tactics similar to those described for a tiny hut above.

Nerf Note: A really key limitation of rope trick from previous editions was that you couldn’t put extradimensional spaces inside other extradimensional spaces, preventing anyone carrying a bag of holding from entering a rope trick. Given the ubiquitous utility of a bag of holding, this creates a meaningful strategic dilemma: Be able to carry a lot more loot out of the dungeon OR take advantage of the respite of a rope trick. You can’t do both.

MORDENKAINEN’S MAGNIFICENT MANSION

Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion is a 7^th level spell that lasts for 24 hours:

You conjure an extradimensional dwelling in range that lasts for the duration. You choose where its one entrance is located. The entrance shimmers faintly and is 5 feet wide and 10 feet tall. You an any creature you designate when you cast the spell can enter the extradimensional dwelling as long as the portal remains open. You can open or close the portal if you are within 30 feet of it. While closed the portal is invisible.

There is more to the description of this spell, but this first paragraph contains the bits relevant to our discussion.

The key thing to note is that Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion largely bypasses most of the strategies we discussed for tiny huts and rope tricks: Once the portal is closed, it blocks sound and cannot be accidentally passed through. And it’s invisible, so the whole thing will not be easily discovered by patrolling monsters.

Its only Achilles’ heel is that the entrance to the mansion will still be readily apparent to any creatures with truesight (or other means of seeing the invisible).

How much of a problem is this?

Well, probably not that much. This spell is the same level as teleport, which provides an entirely different way of securing a safe rest before resuming your dungeon exploration from the exact point you left off (by, obviously, teleporting out of the dungeon and then teleporting back in).

This isn’t an accident: At the levels where these spells become available, the game is shifting away from dungeon expeditions being the focus of play. (This is not always reflected in published adventures, but nonetheless remains true in the game’s design.) Teleport away? Hide in a magic mansion? Use passwall (albeit nerfed in more recent editions) or transmute rock to reengineer the dungeon? From a design standpoint, that’s fine, because at these higher tiers of play, the game has (or at least should) move beyond the low-key logistics of dungeon delving.

This was an unexpected Part 2. Thanks to the Alexandrites on my Discord, particularly Pooserville, for suggesting it.

D&D was strategically built around the expedition. In its most basic form, your group gathers its resources, journeys into the unknown, and attempts to maximize the treasure they can gain for the resources you’ve invested. If you plan your expedition carefully and execute it well, you’ll return home with riches.

At low levels, these expeditions generally descended into dungeons. At mid-levels, funded by resources from the dungeon, more complicated expeditions would be mounted into the wilderness, with commensurately larger rewards. The resources thus gained, at high level, could be used to clear the wilderness and found baronies or establish churches.

The game has long since evolved to support many more styles of play than this three-tier expedition structure, but its DNA remains deeply embedded in D&D’s mechanics.

A dungeon expedition, for example, is largely about managing a pool of daily resources: Once you’ve expended those resources (spells, hit points, etc.), it’s usually time to withdraw from the dungeon and regroup for your next expedition. Many of these resources, of course, were baked into the class and level of player characters, and most of them are still there today.

The drawback of leaving the dungeon to regroup, of course, is that you’re back at the entrance, and your next daily expedition will have to start over from the beginning. While you were gone, the bad guys will have reoccupied rooms, reset traps, raised new defensive barricades, and generally made it difficult for you to get back to where you were and continue your exploration.

(Or, worse yet, they might just pack up and leave, taking with them whatever you were there to obtain in the first place.)

In other words, it’s going to raise the costs of your next expedition, which will result in it being less profitable.

So even today, whether you’re in the dungeon to liberate treasure or not, it can be very tempting to skip the withdrawal and stay in the dungeon while resting to recover your pool of daily resources. If you can pull it off, you can avoid some or all of the costs of leaving the dungeon and then working your way back to where you are.

Now this is the point where many DMs – particularly new DMs – make a mistake: Their dungeons are static and reactive. In other words, the challenging content of each dungeon room simply waits for the PCs to enter the room. Furthermore, when a dungeon room is emptied by the PCs, it simply remains empty instead of being restocked.

The result is that there is no challenge to resting in the dungeon, and rarely any cost for leaving and then returning.

This breaks the expedition cycle at the heart of D&D’s mechanics. Instead of needing to carefully budget and strategically employ your pool of resources, you can instead simply burn through them as quickly as possible, automatically rest to regain them without consequence, and then do it again. (This is sometimes referred to as the 15-minute adventuring day or the nova cycle.)

In 5^th Edition the cycle of daily resources has been disrupted somewhat through the short rest mechanic, allowing PCs to regain some of what would have previously been daily resources with just an hour of rest instead of eight hours of rest. This can alleviate some of the narrative oddity of the literal 15 minute adventuring day (because after a short rest, the PCs can continue accomplishing things in the same day), but structurally and in terms of mechanical balance, you’re still looking at many of the problems of the nova cycle. In fact, in some cases they can be worse, because it’s far easier to justify being able to catch your breath for an hour than it is to take a break for twenty-four hours.

ACTIVE DUNGEONS

So you’re the Dungeon Master. What can you do about all this?

Well, the first thing is to make sure that there’s a cost to leaving the dungeon to rest. The way to do that is by having the dungeon actively respond to the PCs.

An adversary roster can make it much easier for bad guys to actively respond to PCs. It also makes it very easy to redistribute them into new defensive positions if the PCs retreat and give them time to prepare for their return.

Other restocking procedures, which will refill previously cleared rooms with new adversaries, are also possible.

Beyond that, you really just need to think about what the NPCs would logically do in response to the PCs’ assault and then have them do that. There’s not really a big trick here: Your goal is to make it harder for the PCs to freely return to the dungeon, and that’s conveniently also what the bad guys are going to want.

Note: There are ninety umptillion exceptions to this, because there are any number of dungeon concepts which logically wouldn’t stage an active response to the PCs. That’s just fine. But you’ll probably want to design such dungeons with the nova cycle in mind (or provide some alternative explanation for why the PCs can’t freely rest, like a looming deadline).

RESTING IN A LAIR

A lair-type dungeon is one in which all of the inhabitants are part of the same organization or otherwise closely aligned with each other. (It might be the sewer lair of an organized crime family, a cavern complex swarming with goblins, or a fortified slavers’ compound.) If the PCs attempt a short rest within a lair-type dungeon, here’s a quick procedure you can use:

Is the compound on alert? Do the NPCs know that the PCs have infiltrated the dungeon or been killing them off? Then they’re probably actively looking for the threat. The PCs need to make a Stealth check opposed by the Wisdom (Perception) of the NPCs.

Give advantage and disadvantage for the check appropriately. (If they made some efforts to identify an out-of-the-way portion of the dungeon or disguise their presence, it’s probably a standard check. If they just closed the door to a random room, they should probably have disadvantage. Did they not even bother to close the door? The bad guys find them. You can’t succeed at hiding if you don’t even try.)

If the NPCs don’t find the PCs, they may assume that the PCs left. They’ll spend the rest of the hour calling for reinforcements, raising barricades, or getting ready to pack up and leave (depending on the situation).

If the compound is not on alert, make a random encounter check. 1 in 6 chance if the PCs closed the door, so to speak; 2 in 6 if they didn’t.

If an encounter is triggered and the PCs set a watch, let them make appropriate checks to detect the approaching encounter before they’re spotted. (They may still be able to salvage the short rest if they take clever/decisive action, or if they’ve taken appropriate actions to disguise their presence beforehand.)

If the PCs left evidence of their presence, make an additional random encounter check for each area where they left evidence. If an encounter is indicated, the NPCs have discovered the evidence and the alarm is raised during the short rest. The NPCs will start looking for the PCs, but they’ll make their Wisdom (Perception) checks with disadvantage (since they’re only searching part of the time).

If the PCs took efforts to hide the evidence or clean up after themselves, use an Intelligence (Stealth) check to see if the NPCs actually spot the evidence on an indicated encounter.

Note: Similar techniques can be used if the PCs fully retreat from a dungeon without raising the alarm to determine whether or not evidence of their trespass is discovered after they leave (which could result in pursuit and/or defensive preparations being made).

RESTING IN A MEGADUNGEON

A megadungeon, or any larger dungeon featuring multiple distinct factions, should be broken into zones, with each zone corresponding to territory controlled by one of the factions. These zones can be prepped ahead of time, but this is not strictly necessary: It’s usually pretty easy to eyeball what faction’s territory the PCs are currently in.

Each zone is simply resolved using the procedures for a lair-type dungeon, above.

No Man’s Land: In large dungeons like this, there may be abandoned sections which are not claimed by any faction. It’s also possible that the PCs might clear a zone (by wiping out the faction that lairs there). It’s much safer for the PCs to rest in such locations; even if the alarm is raised elsewhere, factions will generally focus on searching and securing their own areas of the dungeon, rather than venturing out into uninhabited regions. (An exception might be made if the PCs have really pissed somebody off and can be directly tracked to their new location.)

Make a single encounter check at a much reduced rate (1 in 20 if they’ve taken reasonably precautions; 2 in 20 if they haven’t), with a successful check indicating creature(s) from a nearby zone have unluckily entered the area and threatened the PCs’ rest.

It’s not necessary to make checks in such areas to see if evidence left by the PCs has been noticed, although you might make a similar check at a reduced rate (1 in 20) to see if a nearby faction has noticed that the a zone has been recently cleared. (This may also be indicated through general restocking procedures.)

LONG RESTS IN THE DUNGEON

If the PCs attempt a long rest in the dungeon, simply repeat the procedures listed above eight times (once per hour).

This does make it extremely likely that their rest will be interrupted, unless they’ve made a concerted effort to find a truly safe location AND taken precautions to avoid detection even if foes draw near. This is, of course, quite intentional: Dungeons are dangerous places, and if the PCs want to reap the rewards of pulling off a successful long rest in the middle of a delve, they’ll need to earn it.

Go to Part 2

How does an encounter begin?

It’s easy to fall into a simple formula: The encounter begins at line of sight (“you see an orc”) and immediately launches into an initiative check (“the orc tries to kill you”). There are usually minor variations on the line of sight (the orc opens the door, you open the door, the orc comes around the corner, etc.) and also the possibility of an ambush (you see the orc, but the orc doesn’t see you; or vice versa), but the formula remains pretty straightforward.

One way to break away from this formula is to vary the creature’s reaction to the encounter: Instead of leaping into combat, they might be friendly or attempt to negotiate or beg for help. In 5E Hexcrawl, I discuss how a mechanical reaction check can be used to prompt these disparate agendas.

I also talk about this a bit in the Art of Pacing, and also look at how shifting the bang – the moment at the beginning of a scene which forces the PCs to make one or more meaningful choices – can significantly shift the nature of the encounter:

Does the scene start when the ogre jumps out and snarls in their face? Or does it start when they’re still approaching its chamber and they can hear the crunching of bones? Or when they see a goblin strung up on a rack with its intestines hanging around its ankles… and then the deep thudding of heavy footsteps fills the corridor behind them as the ogre returns for its meal?

You can see how each of those creates a different encounter, and in most of them the scene starts before the ogre enters the PCs’ line of sight.

RANDOM ENCOUNTER DISTANCE

Another mechanical prompt that can help break the “line of sight” habit is a random encounter distance. This is a mechanic which dates back to the earliest days of D&D, but has faded away in more recent editions. But it can be a useful one in an game.

In the original 1974 edition of D&D, an encounter would begin at 2d4 x10 feet (or 1d3 x 10 feet if surprised). Many OSR retro-clones modify this to 2d6 x 10 feet.

This simple mechanic is largely all you need, neatly prompting you to think about how encounters begin in unusual and unexpected ways:

• If the distance generated is longer than line of sight, this suggests the encounter begins before the PCs can see the creatures (and vice versa), most likely because they can be heard (or their light seen around a corner).
• If the distance is closer than line of sight, what could explain the close proximity? (This is how you get moments like xenomorphs climbing through the ceiling panels.)
• In the case of wandering encounters, the result may also indicate the direction of approach: If one entrance to the room is 80 feet away and the other entrance is 20 feet away, and then you roll a random encounter distance of 20 feet… well, you can be pretty sure which entrance they’re using.

There may, of course, be times when common sense and the particular circumstances of the current situation will need to override the simplicity of this mechanic (but that’s why the GM exists in the first place).

CALCULATED ENCOUNTER DISTANCE

There’s another mechanical approach to this technique which was secretly hidden in 3^rd Edition D&D.

See, in 3^rd Edition there was a -1 penalty to perception-type tests per 10 feet. This meant that if you succeeded on a perception-type test, you could directly calculate the distance at which you detected the encounter by multiplying the margin of success by 10 feet.

For example, if an ogre rolled a Hide check of 15 and you rolled a Spot check of 24, then you’d have a margin of success of 9 and would detect the ogre at 90 feet. If, conversely, you rolled a Hide check of 18 and the ogre rolled a Spot check of 20, the ogre would be able to detect you at 20 feet. (Which, of course, means you would detect the ogre before the ogre detected you. The larger margin of success sets the encounter distance.)

You can follow this same basic guideline in 5^th Edition D&D and many other RPGs. And, once again, if the result is farther than the current line of sight, you’ll know that the opposition must have been detected in some other way (heard them talking, spotted in a reflective surface, etc.).

WILDERNESS ENCOUNTER DISTANCES

It should be noted that both the OD&D and 3^rd Edition mechanics don’t really work in the wilderness, which is why they included encounter distance tables for wilderness encounters, customizing encounter distances based on terrain type.

These tables were eliminated from the 5E core rulebooks (except, oddly, for underwater encounters), although they apparently appear on some of the official 5E Dungeon Master screens.

You can also find a continuation of these tables in Hexcrawl Tool: Spot Distances as seen here:

Thanks to the Alexandrites on my Discord and Twitch chat, who prompted and encouraged this tip.

Go to Part 1

The next two adventures  — Fang and Claw and Where Devils Fear to Tread – form the Red Hunt series and the conclusion of Season 9 of the Adventurers League.

FANG AND CLAW (DDAL 09-19): The Red Hunt duology is about the PCs hunting down Commander Rotger’s corpse. Or possibly his soul? (The authors seem collectively a little confused about this.) In any case, this is essential, because the Bloody Hooves have absolutely no chain of command, so without Commander Rotger they are completely incapable of doing anything. (No wonder the Hellriders got utterly wrecked on the battlefield.)

The usual litany of senseless continuity errors aside, Fang and Claw gets off to a good start. The PCs are ambushed while receiving their mission briefing, and the encounter is given a unique flair because the bad guys can make the PCs’ allies’ heads explode. Will Doyle provides a random table of Exploding Head Effects (splatters of brain, shrapnel shards of skull, and so forth) to provide a memorable, cool, and totally gross experience.

Doyle continues to deliver the awesome when the interrupted mission briefing resumes and the PCs are told they need to stage a raid on a mobile, quadrupedal colossus built from the corpses of devils and demons slain during the Blood War and piloted by followers of Yeenoghu (who have intercepted the Commander’s corpse).

The interior of the colossus is a three-dimensional dungeon (which, blessedly, has a properly keyed map), studded with memorable locations chock full of devilish flavor as the PCs worm their way into the heart of the machine.

• Grade: B+

WHERE DEVILS FEAR TO TREAD (DDAL 09-20): Fang and Claw ends with the PCs staring into a portal into the Abyss, through which Commander Rotger has been hurled. Leaping through it themselves, they arrive in the Death Dells, where Yeenoghu is now hunting Commander Rotger for sport.

(Commander Rotger, however, is a floating ball of light that is completely defenseless, so I’m a little unclear on what “sport” is to be had here.)

The structure in Where Devils Fear to Tread for hunting down Commander Rotger is rather well done:

• There are multiple methods of potentially tracking Rotger, some being generally applicable and others being specific to the individual scenes along the way (which are triggered as random encounters).
• If the PCs are following a good path, they get an Advancing encounter.
• If they are not following a good path, they get a Delaying encounter.
• The situation they encounter at the end of the trail depends on how many Advancing or Delaying encounters were done, dynamically responding to the PCs’ success (or failure).

The confrontation with Yeenoghu is weighty with purpose: With the Commander as unwitting bait, Yeenoghu has been lured into a confrontation on his home plane. If he’s destroyed here, the multiverse will shift. (It’s even possible for one of the PCs to end up as a new Demon Prince.)

The PCs then return to Avernus and discover that a huge battle has broken out around the colossus and its Abyssal portal. Using all of the allies and resources they’ve gained over the course of Season 9, they now have the power to turn the course of the Blood War.

This all adds up to a fairly satisfying finale, but there are two major Chekhov’s Guns left curiously unfired and a squandered opportunity:

• In the last adventure, the PCs have the opportunity to learn how to control the quadrupedal colossus. As they stand on top of the colossus’ head and gaze out at the raging battle between demon and devil, it curiously never occurs to anyone that the PCs might just take control of the giant demon mecha.
• I don’t understand why Season 9 framed itself as, “Save the Hellriders, save Elturel,” knowing that it was absolutely, positively not going to deliver on the “save Elturel” part of that equation (since that was reserved for the Descent Into Avernus campaign). As a result this final adventure just kind of goes… “Gee, I really don’t know why you did all of this.” Even Dara, who has ostensibly been on a holy mission this whole time, literally just shrugs her shoulders.
• Where Devils Fear to Tread also struggles to explain WHY this battle is of such crucial importance in the balance of the Blood War. But the answer is right there just waiting for someone to pick it up and run with it: Zariel has disappeared, leaving Avernus’ forces disorganized and vulnerable to the sudden demonic assault.

Regardless, despite the overall disjointed and discordant mess which is the totality of Season 9, both halves of this final adventure do an admirable job of delivering a satisfying and momentous conclusion.

• Grade: B-

REMIXING SEASON 9

As I just mentioned, Season 9 is inconsistent at the best of times. Large chunks of it are, sadly, utterly useless. So what are we to make of it? What can be salvaged from it?

I think the first step is to cut away the cancerous material and assess what’s left.

The first chunk of the season consists of the PCs leading a refugee caravan into Baldur’s Gate and then getting tangled up in a second-rate carbon copy of the Zarielite murder investigation from Descent Into Avernus. The refugee caravan scenario is passable, but the rest of this is (a) poorly conceived and (b) poorly executed. So my first suggestion is to cut it:

• Escape From Elturgard (DDAL 09-01): The PCs help defend a refugee caravan from the ruins of Elturel to Baldur’s Gate. Twist this up so that the murder victim is a Hellrider, establishing that the Hellriders are being targeted At the end of the adventure, Dara, the leader of the caravan, reveals that she is actually the Chosen of Ilmater and has been approached by two celestials with a holy mission. She was impressed by the PCs’ deeds of heroism and asks them to accompany her.

At the beginning of the next scenario (picking up from that exact same moment), Fai Chen appears, kneels before Dara, and says, “Milady, I have awaited your coming and am in your service. What would you have me do?”

And then Dara says, “We must journey to Avernus to save the souls of those Hellriders wrongfully imprisoned there. Can you take us to a place of safety within the burning fires of Hell?”

And Fai Chen smiles and says, “I know just the place.”

This sets us up at Mahadi’s Wandering Emporium. You’ll want to cull the disparate references to the caravan and its denizens from across Descent Into Avernus and the Season 9 adventures to give yourself an authoritative reference. It might also be useful to:

• Use a long-term party-planning or Tavern Time™ structure to bring the Emporium to life.
• Develop a more coherent motivation for Mahadi’s interest in Dara, preferably with some sort of conclusion or, at least, intended endgame.

Now ensconced at the Emporium and running missions for Dara, let’s simply pull out the adventures that are worth keeping:

• Faces of Fortune (DDAL 09-05): PCs arrive at Mahadi’s Emporium.
• Infernal Insurgency (DDAL 09-06): PCs raid a munitions dump.
• The Diabolical Dive (DDAL 09-07): PCs raid Plagueshield Point and get the Bloody Hooves’ battleplan.
• Ruined Prospects (DDAL 09-09): PCs raid Weatherstone Keep to save a Hellrider.
• The Breath of Life (DDAL 09-12): PCs perform a heist at a devil’s party to steal an angel’s skull.
• The Swarmed Heist (DDAL 09-13): PCs invade a hellwasp nest to save another dead angel.

But now we run into a problem, because hypothetically all of this has been leading up to rescuing the Bloody Hooves, but those adventures are garbage.

What we can do is reach over to our copy of Descent Into Avernus and grab Haruman’s Hill and the Crypt of the Hellriders. To do this, we just swap a couple McGuffins:

• In The Diabolical Dive, instead of retrieving nonsensical “battleplans,” what the PCs instead recover is information indicating that the souls of Hellriders taken during the Fall of Elturel and the subsequent murders in the refugee caravans and Baldur’s Gate are being taken to Haruman’s Hill.
• In Ruined Prospects, the Hellrider in suspended animation is one who fled with Jander Sunstar during the Charge of the Hellriders, but later returned with an expedition who attempted to rescue their former companions. They discovered that those who remained loyal to Zariel until the end had their souls bound to the Crypt of the Hellriders and they attempted to rescue them, but ultimately failed.

Okay, so now the PCs know that the Hellrider souls they’ve come to save are at Haruman’s Hill and the Crypt of the Hellriders. What about the angels? Well, Dara needs those powerful allies to form a triad that can perform the ritual at both locations which will free the Hellriders.

(Throughout this section you could also have Dara uttering cryptic prophecies alluding to the ongoing events of Descent Into Avernus. For example: “The Tome of the Creed has been destroyed, clearing the path of salvation for these false-damned souls.”)

With all the pieces in place, the PCs mount raids on both the Hill and Crypt. The Hellriders are freed.

Honestly, this is probably a pretty solid campaign and you could easily have a big, satisfying conclusion right here.

But the last two scenarios in Season 9 are quite good. Is there some way we could incorporate them?

• Fang and Claw (DDAL 09-19): The PCs infiltrate a demonic mecha to save the Commander of the Bloody Hooves.
• Where Devils Fear to Tread (DDAL 09-20): The PCs pursue the Commander’s soul to the Abyss and then return, only to find themselves in the middle of a giant battle that will determine the future course of the Blood War.

Here’s my suggestion: While the PCs are mounting their raids on Haruman’s Hill and the Crypt of the Hellriders, a demonic strike team raids Mahadi’s Emporium and kidnaps Dara! Dara takes the role of the kidnapped Commander and the PCs have to go rescue her.

A few things:

• Structure the mecha raid so that the spectral Hellriders the PCs just freed can help. For example, the Hellriders can engage the demonic outriders defending the mecha while the PCs sneak onboard.
• Information onboard the mecha reveals why Dara was kidnapped: Demonic divinations have revealed that recent events in Avernus may soon leave the Stygian defenses vulnerable. To bolster their forces, the local demonic commanders have kidnapped Dara in order to offer her as a hunting sport to Yeenoghu in exchange for troops. Lots and lots of troops. (You might leave this mysterious for the moment and then later reveal that the “recent events” are the death and/or redemption of Zariel; or you might just spill the beans here.)
• When the PCs get back with Dara and look out over the battlefield, have Dara say something like, “I thought our purpose was to save Elturel. But I see now that task belonged to others. We stand here upon the brink, and I see with divine clarity that we have gathered the strength to turn the demonic tide. If we are brave enough to use it.”

Finding opportunities to lace this concept – that without the eternal vigil of Hell’s fiends, the multiverse would be overrun by demonic hordes – into the rest of the adventure (Zarielite cultists prattling Asmodean ideology; devils discussing Blood War logistics at the party; additional strategy documents found at the munitions dump or Plagueshield Point; etc.) will help sell this ending.

And then the PCs lead the Second Charge of the Hellriders while piloting a demonic mecha.

Go to the Avernus Remix

Go to Avernian Hex Key Index

I1. MIRROR OF MEPHISTAR

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 99

Rigorath can offer the PCs knowledge about:

• Leads on a location for the four dream machine components (roll on the Dream Machine Component Rumors table in Part 7I).
• Details of Zariel’s history, particularly her fall after the Battle of Avernus and her role in the Reckoning.
• Whatever other valuable knowledge seems relevant and/or requested by the PCs. (Perhaps pass-keys to Zariel’s flying fortress?)

I2. WARLORD LAIR: FEONOR’S LAIR

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 91
• Map by Dyson Logos
• On the Styx

Feonar has a supply of Phlegethosian sand which is useful for her necromantic work.

Feonor is in a relationship with Carol D’Vown (Hex D2). She previously was in a relationship with Mahadi, but fell in love with D’Vown when she met her at the Wandering Emporium. There is a 1 in 4 chance that D’vown and her gang of infernal constructs are visiting Feonor here.

The Amphibious Warlord: Feonor has a number of amphibious infernal machines, including some which can operate on both water and land. Her lair is built around a cavern located along the Styx.

Ossuary Arsenal: Lady Bladeharrow is an undead devil forgemaster created by Feonor herself. She is described in Forges of Avernus, p. 4.

Design Note: As described in Forges of Avernus, Lady Bladeharrow has a “mobile forge” called the Ossuary. We are removing the mobile concept and ensconcing her in Feonor’s Lair. Remember that soul coins can be used to create undead, so Feonor is likely to have a substantial cache of them.

I3. CIRCLE OF FLAMES

This site resembles a druidic stone circle (like Stonehenge), but the sarsens are formed from plasmic masses of flame. Half sunken into the acidic muck (much of it polluted run-off from Bel’s Forge, Hex H2), several of the flame-sarsens gutter and flicker like torches on the verge of being blown out.

I4. FORT KNUCKLEBONES

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 80

See Part 6C.

I5. SPAWNING TREES

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 96

The devilish work crew knows details of the surrounding area (major landmarks, keyed locations, etc.) to a distance of two hexes.

I6. SHADOWSWIMMER TOWER

• The Diabolical Dive
• On River

Respen Shadowswimmer escaped Plagueshield Point (Hex G5b) shortly after it was sucked into Hell and eventually found his way to this abandoned tower, which he has made his own. An arcane researcher, he is fascinated by the properties of the Styx and has been researching its long-term effects on various creatures. Most recently this has resulted in the creation Stygian behemoths.

Respen Shadowswimmer used a heartstone during his research at Plagueshield Point, but wasn’t able to bring it along. He’d dearly prize a replacement, as he thinks it would prove invaluable in continuing his research here.

J1. SIEGEWORKS OF DIS

A tower of reddish, Avernian stone thrusts into the sky near a gaping black maw tunneled into the side of an obsidian peak.

Abandoned Tower: The tower was once barracks and armory for hundreds of Blood Legion troops, with half-finished construction suggesting it was destined to house thousands more. But the tower stands unfinished and empty today, its strategic purpose lost with the end of the Reckoning and the abandonment of the mineworks.

Mineworks: The tunnel is artificial, having been carved into the mountain. The work was begun during the Reckoning, when Zariel was laying siege to Dis. Stymied by the defenses of Dis, Zariel had the idea to create a second passage between the first and second levels of Hell.

At the bottom of the shaft is an infernal drill that, in that bygone era, might have been able to pierce the planar boundaries and undermine Dis. With the end of the war, the drill was abandoned and has long since decayed to uselessness. However, astral pistons were used in its construction and can be salvaged.

Hellwasp Nests: The tunnel struck a number of natural caves and other cavities. Hellwasps have established a hive in one of these.

Note: You could fill this dungeon with any number of cross-chambers filled with various denizens or Avernian wildlife (or even stranger stuff). Particularly relevant would be anyone seeking to hide from Avernian authorities. (Perhaps there’s a force of inbred demons who got stuck behind the lines when the Blood War moved Abyss-ward. Or even Baatorians who escaped Zariel’s wrath at the end of the Rift War.) Some of these inhabitants could have blocked the main passage, forcing the PCs to either excavate or find a route around the blockage.

J2. KOSTCHTCHIE’S MAW

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 104

Kostchtchie is more than willing to team up against Zariel if freed. What form that assistance takes will depend a lot on the plan the PCs propose (don’t feel bound by the adventure’s script here).

As described in Dance of Deathless Frost, the demon cannot be permanently killed unless Kostchtchie’s phylactery is destroyed. This is why Zariel has imprisoned Kostchtchie instead of killing him. PCs who obtain the phylactery (see the Witch-Queen’s Abode, Hex B3) would have something of value to Zariel… and even greater value to Kostchtchie.

J3. WARLORD LAIR: GOREGUTS GANG

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 87
• Map by Dyson Logos

Raggadragga and his gang got into a war with Princeps Kovik and the 8^th Remnant (Hex J5), which the Goreguts decisively lost. Raggadragga and a ragged band of survivors managed to escape, but their lair was ravaged by Kovik.

Inverted Crucifixes: Kovik took the dead and nailed them to inverted crucifixes in the former courtyard. Words blasted into the stone wall here read, “Damned be those who challenge Princeps Kovik of the 8^th.” There are three dead wereboars and five dead wererats.

Ruined War Machines: Three burned out husks of what were once infernal war machines are just outside the walls.

Raggadragga has several potential scenario hooks related to these recent events:

• He’s actively seeking anyone with resources or skills who might help him rebuild the lair.
• He’s also looking for alternative locations for a lair (including the possibility of seizing one).
• He would also like to return to the lair long enough to bury his dead.
• He’d like to stage a raid on the 8^th Remnant’s lair (Hex J5) to steal back the infernal war machines they took from him.

For more details on the Avernian warlords, see Part 7E of the Remix.

Design Note: As you’re working up the key for this location, think about dropping clues pointing to both its original owners (the Goreguts) and its destroyer (Princeps Kovik).

J4. TEMPLE OF THE BROKEN PRINCE

• Temple of the Broken Prince

This dungeon is located beneath a razed demonic fortress that was wiped out when Zariel’s forces drove back the front lines of the Blood War from the banks of the Styx.

J5. WARLORD LAIR: THE EIGHTH REMNANT

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 91
• Map by Dyson Logos

Princeps Kovik and the Eighth Remnant are ensconced within the bone brambles. Signifier Hraxioch of the 9^th Cohort (Hex J6) has been charged with hunting down these rebels and there is a constant guerilla warfare of sorts between them within the twisted eaves of the brambles.

Fetterworks: The Eighth Remnant has a forge for weapons and infernal machines maintained by an enslaved centaur named Hobblehoof. See Forges of Avernus, p. 3.

For more details on the Avernian warlords, see Part 7E of the Remix.

J6. CAMP OF THE 9th COHORT

• Encounters in Avernus, p. 5
• Visible

Camped on a low mesa overlooking the area is the 9^th Cohort of the 497^th Infantry Legion (9/497) commanded by the chain devil Signifier Hraxioch.

The 9^th is charged with guarding the narrow pass between the mountains and the Styx here. From atop the mesa, they can see the entirety of this hex. Characters passing through this hex are likely to be spotted and a patrol sent out to intercept them.

Go to Part 7D: Raid on the Flying Fortress