History TabletopGame / BaldursGateDescentIntoAvernus

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: If the adventurers prove to be convincing enough to sway Zariel back into good, the archdevil eventually comes to a realization that she may have gone too far with her drive to thwart the demonic threat before reclaiming her sword and reverting back to her angelic form. Bonus points if the adventurers brought Lulu and/or Olanthius with them, as their presence makes Zariel feel remorseful that her actions almost costed her friendship with Lulu, and/or left Olanthius to suffer a FateWorseThanDeath.]]
* HellHasNewManagement: [[spoiler: If Zariel would be redeemed or defeated in the course of the adventure, another powerful character can fight to take her place and claim Avernus for themselves. Either one of the demon lords (Baphomet, Yeenoghu, or Kostchtchie) would rule Avernus and shift the balance of the Blood War in their favor, Bel reclaiming his title as archduke, Gargauth becoming the new ruler of Avernus after being freed from the Shield of the Hidden Lord (and most likely betraying the adventurers in the process), Arkhan the Cruel taking over Avernus in Tiamat's stead, or one of the adventurers themselves would become very willing to rule Avernus on their own terms.]]

* WastelandWarlord: Avernus is rife with countless gangs that roam on infernal war machines, each being led by a ruthless and brutal warlord. Among these warlords are [[PigMan Raggadragga]], [[WickedWitch Mad Maggie]], Bitter Breath, [[LadyOfBlackMagic Feonor]], [[ChainedByFashion Princeps Kovik]], and [[StepfordSmiler Smiler the Defiler]]. Since Zariel is too focused on the Blood War to get rid of them, she is content to let the warlords destroy each other instead.

* WeirdCurrency: The adventure introduces soul coins, which are essentially coins with mortal souls trapped within them. They are highly valued by devils and are used throughout the Nine Hells for various goods and services, forging infernal deals and bribing other fiends.

* UndyingLoyalty: Arkhan the Cruel serves his goddess faithfully. Even [[spoiler:when offered the chance to rule Avernus, he would rather do so as his mistress' champion than make any bid for power on his own]].

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: In the prequel module, which takes characters on a short jaunt through Avernus (and from level 1 to 3), you have a couple of options for getting out. Take the bad one and [[spoiler: sell out Lulu, who has been nothing but kind and altruistic to you this whole time and considers you her friend]], and you'll find yourself [[spoiler: damned to Hell anyway, ''and'' indelibly marked as evil, so that all Good-aligned clerics and Celestials can tell and will refuse to aid you in any way, if they're not actively hostile.]] Not to mention it will deprive you of an important ally in the main module. The prequel is optional, so players can sidestep the consequences easily, but still, it very much rewards heroism and punishes selfishness.

* WastelandWarlord: Avernus is rife with countless gangs that roam on infernal war machines, each being led by a ruthless and brutal warlord. Amongst these warlords are [[PigMan Raggadragga]], [[WickedWitch Mad Maggie]], Bitter Breath, [[LadyOfBlackMagic Feonor]], Princeps Kovik, and [[StepfordSmiler Smiler the Defiler]]. Since Zariel is too focused on the Blood War to get rid of them, she is content to let the warlords destroy each other instead.

* DropTheHammer: Zariel wields Matalotok, a magical warhammer forged by the frost giant god Thrym. It gives her cold immunity and deals massive cold damage in an area on impact whenever it hits a target. It originally belonged to the demon lord Kostchtchie, until Zariel defeated and imprisoned him. [[spoilers:If the adventurers freed Kostchtchie from his captivity, the demon lord will actively seek out Zariel to reclaim his stolen warhammer.]]

''Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus'' is an adventure module for the fifth edition of ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'', released on September 17, 2019. It also serves as a "pen-and-paper" {{Interquel}} of sorts between ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' and ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', set roughly 100 years after the events of the former and shortly before the events of the latter.

* AChatWithSatan: The module encourages a DM to do with to the player characters, often by having Fiends try and tempt the heroes into giving in and becoming like them. Many of the higher ranking Fiends on both sides are likely to try this, especially if they see the adventurers have a chance at shaking up the status-quo of the conflict/Avernus.

* DropTheHammer: Zariel wields Matalotok, a magical warhammer forged by the frost giant god Thrym. It gives her cold immunity and deals massive cold damage in an area on impact. It originally belonged to the demon lord Kostchtchie, until Zariel defeated and imprisoned him.

* MagicMap: The map of Avernus was made by a madman ([[EldritchLocation or rather, he went mad in the process]]) and only reveals parts of the landscape that the players are either on their way to, or have already discovered. The voice of the cartographer also provides commentary on places marked on the map.

* OrderVsChaos: The central conflict of the Blood War. Both devils and demons are evil bastards, but they are in some disagreement about what should happen to the multiverse once they conquer it. LawfulEvil devils want to turn it into an endless, dystopian nightmare where there is no free will and all are part of a strict hierarchy culminating in Asmodeus. ChaoticEvil demons just want to indulge their vices and destroy and torture as they like.

* WastelandWarlord: Avernus is rife with countless gangs that roam on infernal war machines, each being led by a ruthless and brutal warlord. Amongst these warlords are [[PigMan Raggadragga]], [[WickedWitch Mad Maggie]], Bitter Breath, [[LadyOfBlackMagic Feonor]], Princeps Kovik, and [[StepfordSmiler Smiler the Defiler]].

* AlwaysABiggerFish: Zariel would like to believe she's the biggest fish in Avernus. She is not, not with a true [[PhysicalGod goddess]] like [[DragonsAreDivine Tiamat]] hanging around.

** [[spoiler: The infamous Hand of Vecna]] makes an appearance in this adventure, being wielded by Arkhan the Cruel. He believes he can use its power to [[spoiler:free Tiamat from her prison in Avernus, even as the artifact slowly corrupts his flesh into a state of decay. In order to stave off its detrimental effects, Arkhan resorts to using the Hand to snuff the life out of good-aligned creatures from wherever he or his servants can find them.]]
** The Shield of the Hidden Lord functions like this, as [[spoiler:the devil Gargauth is imprisoned within it and can telepathically communicate with any creature that comes into contact with it, often to compel them into committing cruel and evil acts for him]]. It was once safeguarded by the Hhune family, only to be stolen by the Vanthampur family as part of Duke Thalamra's EvilPlan, and the adventurers can acquire the shield and even take it with them to Avernus if they choose to. From there, [[spoiler:Gargauth can even assist the adventurers in their quest within Avernus as long as they can find a way to free him from the shield]].

* CallBack: The book discusses the history of Baldur's Gate, even mentioning the infamous [[Franchise/BaldursGate Bhaalspawn]] incident from many years in the past.

* ContemplateOurNavels: One of the random encounters the players can have in Elturel is a demon (a vrock) who broke off from the Blood War and is now thinking over his lot in life, the nature of the war, and just in general the state of things. If spoken to, he actively discusses these things with the players without hostility. In fact, being nice and talking to him is arguably the best option since if one rolls a relatively easy to make Persuasion check after, he'll happily give some information to the players that can be extremely beneficial.

* DreamingOfTimesGoneBy: Thanks to a ritual performed by a night hag, the party can experience a demonic incursion into the Material Plane that happened centuries ago, when Zariel first decided to challenge Hell.
* DropTheHammer: Zariel wields Matalotok, a warhammer forged by the frost giant god Thrym. It gives her cold immunity and deals massive cold damage in an area on impact. It originally belonged to the demon lord Kostchtchie, until Zariel defeated and imprisoned him.

* EnemyCivilWar: The demons of the Abyss and the devils of Hell are constantly battling it out, which is good for the rest of the multiverse, since either of those forces would be a force to be reckoned with alone. The different archdevils of Hell also don't really get along, and many of them (namely Bel) are looking to usurp Zariel. Finally, Tiamat and Asmodeus rarely see eye to eye ([[MultipleHeadCase to eye to eye...]]), and she would certainly not mind having one of her own rule Avernus in Zariel's stead.
* EnemyMine: Individual devils may work with adventurers to further their own ends, the most powerful of these being the archdevil Bel, who hopes the party will sabotage Zariel's plans. Some devils, such as Zariel's pit fiend general, are also perfectly willing to let players go about their day as long as they don't intervene in the Blood War on the demons' behalf.
* EvilMatriarch: [[spoiler:Thalamra Vanthampur, matriarch of the noble Vanthampur family and one of the ruling dukes of Baldur's Gate, is secretly plotting to take over the city as its new Grand Duke and offer it to the archdevil Zariel, with whom she is very loyal to. Even her own sons (except [[TokenGoodTeammate Mortlock,]] [[TheUnfavorite whom she and her other sons despise]]) are also helping her with her goals by acquiring the Shield of the Hidden Lord from the Hhune family and assisting the Cult of the Dead Three in carrying out murder sprees across Baldur's Gate to hinder the Flaming Fist's influence over the city.]]

* FallenAngel: Zariel, the archduke of Avernus. The adventure also allows the [[PlayerCharacter player characters]] to learn the story behind her descent into devilhood. [[spoiler: Though later in the adventure, and only if the adventurers are persuasive enough to redeem her, Zariel [[HeelFaceTurn relinquishes her position as an archdevil]] and returns to her [[AscendedDemon former, angelic self]].]]
* FallenHero: Zariel herself, as well as Haruman and Olanthius, two Hellrider paladins once loyal to the angel Zariel, who followed her into damnation. Haruman, now a Narzugon, willingly sold his soul to join Zariel's doom, while Zariel brought Olanthius back to "life" as a Death Knight against his will.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: Asmodeus, [[SatanicArchetype archduke of Nessus and Supreme Master of the Nine Hells]], obviously falls under this trope given the setting of the adventure. It states that he was the one who offered Zariel a place in the Nine Hells as the archduke of Avernus, a position then taken by the archdevil Bel, so that she can pursue her vendetta against the demons and became his champion in the Blood War. He also has Mahadi under his thrall as well, with the rakshasa acting as TheMole to privy into all sorts of dealings and information that might otherwise escape his attention. And by the adventure's end, he may even offer one of the [[PlayerCharacter adventurers]] the opportunity to rule Avernus as an archdevil should Zariel be redeemed or defeated.]]

* HateSink: Thavius Kreeg. [[spoiler: In desperation to save Elturel from its vampiric ruler, he made a deal with Zariel to save it. But from that moment, he used that deal to claim he saved the city, allowing him to gain massive political power. Knowing that Elturel would eventually fall into Avernus, however, he [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere left it to its fate when that time comes]] and fled to Baldur's Gate, and [[HistoryRepeats attempted to do the same thing]] to the city just so he could survive. If he dies before the players head to Avernus, he ends up in Avernus as a devil because of his pact, but when encountered, [[DidntThinkThisThrough he's crying because he didn't think Zariel]] would [[ItsAllAboutMe have him suffer anything bad]]. He's a selfish man who cares not for the many innocent people who died for his own ambition.]]

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: If the adventurers prove to be convincing enough to sway Zariel back into good, the archdevil then comes to a realization that she may have gone too far with her drive to thwart the demonic threat before reclaiming her sword and reverting back to her angelic form. Bonus points if the adventurers brought Lulu and/or Olanthius with them, as their presence makes Zariel feel remorseful that her actions almost costed her friendship with Lulu, and/or left Olanthius to suffer a FateWorseThanDeath.]]

* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Throughout the course of the adventure, the hollyphant Lulu firmly believes that there's is still a spark of hope to save her friend Zariel, and she actively encourages the adventurers to use the Sword of Zariel to try to sway the archdevil back into goodness. Should they fail to redeem her, however, such a tragic outcome would drive Lulu insane, causing her to suffer the effects of a long-term madness.]]

* MagicMap: The map of Avernus was made by a madman ([[EldritchLocation or rather, he went mad in the process]]) and only reveals parts of the landscape that the players are either on their way to, or have already discovered. The voice of the mapmaker also provides commentary on places marked on the map.

* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: [[spoiler: The Sword of Zariel, while it is meant to be wielded only by its namesake FallenAngel, can also allow itself to be attuned to by anyone the artifact deems as [[OnlyThePureOfHeart "someone who embodies bravery and heroism"]].]]
* OrderVsChaos: The central conflict of the Blood War. Both devils and demons are evil bastards, but they are in some disagreement about what should happen to the multiverse once they conquer it. LawfulEvil devils want to turn it into an endless, dystopian nightmare where there is no freedom and all are part of a strict hierarchy culminating in Asmodeus. ChaoticEvil demons just want to indulge their vices and destroy and torture as they like.

* ToHellAndBack: Bluntly speaking, this is the gist of the module. The player characters must brave the first layer of Hell, Avernus, and return alive with the city of Elturel and its surviving inhabitants.

The adventure begins in [[CityOfAdventure Baldur's Gate]], where adventurers are being called upon to help defend the city, which is in the midst of a refugee crisis following the [[DraggedOffToHell "disappearance"]] of the neighboring city of Elturel. But soon, they become embroiled in a dangerous quest that takes them to Avernus, the first layer of the [[CirclesOfHell Nine Hells of]] [[{{Hell}} Baator]] and the main battleground of the [[EvilVersusEvil Blood]] [[ForeverWar War]] between devils (led by the archdevil [[FallenAngel Zariel]]) and demons (led by various [[MonsterLord demon lords]]), along with some yugoloths, local warlords, and a certain evil dragon goddess caught in between. With the fates of Elturel and Baldur's Gate at stake, adventurers must navigate through the infernal landscape with the help of [[WeaponizedCar infernal war machines]], and deal with the various denizens of Avernus who can either help them in their quest or prevent them from returning home...including those with [[DealWithTheDevil tempting offers that the adventurers can bargain for]].

** The Shield of the Hidden Lord functions as this, as [[spoiler:the devil Gargauth is imprisoned within it and can telepathically communicate with any creature that comes into contact with it, often to compel them into committing cruel and evil acts for him]]. It was once safeguarded by the Hhune family, only to be stolen by the Vanthampur family as part of Duke Thalamra's EvilPlan, and the adventurers can acquire the shield and even take it with them to Avernus if they choose to. From there, [[spoiler:Gargauth can even assist the adventurers in their quest within Avernus as long as they can find a way to free him from the shield]].

* ContemplateOurNavels: One of the random encounters the players can have in Elturel is a Demon (a Vrock) who broke off from the Blood War and is now thinking over his lot in life, the nature of the war, and just in general the state of things. If spoken to, he actively discusses these things with the players without hostility. In fact, being nice and talking to him is arguably the best option since if one rolls a relatively easy to make Persuasion check after, he'll happily give some information to the players that can be extremely beneficial.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: The adventure presents Devils as this. Devils are LawfulEvil creatures, and while they do commit evil deeds, they have a hierarchy and do act within the rules. Demons, being ChaoticEvil, destroy and ruin anything and everyone they meet. Due to this, the book details how, ultimately, devils are less of a threat at times than the demons since you can haggle with a devil. Try to haggle with a demon, and you'll likely get killed instead.

** Zariel: [[spoiler: Redeem her by returning the Sword of Zariel to her and convincing her to return to the angelic host, fight and defeat her, surrender to her and become devils to fight in the Blood War, make a deal with her, or if you have a good-aligned Cleric of Paladin, make a TakeMeInstead deal.]]

* SealedEvilInACan: Three of them.
** Gargauth, a Pit Fiend so powerful and influential he's known as the Tenth Lord of the Nine, is currently stuck ina magical shield. He wants the players to free him, but [[spoiler:his imprisonment has left him weakened enough that even mortal adventurers could take him out]].
** Kostchtchie the demon lord was defeated by Zariel recently. Rather than let him be reincarnated in the abyss, she dumped him in a pit in Avernus, guarded by chain devils. Adventurers can free him if they need a distraction.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: Jander Sunstar, a FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire from ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'', returns here for the first time in 5th edition. He is found impaled on a metal spike in Hell.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Jander Sunstar, a random High Elf warrior that players find within Avernus stuck on a pike to suffer for some past event. [[spoiler:Turns out he was one of the primary reasons for Zariel's descent, as he and many other Hellriders [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fled back to the Material Plane after entering Avernus due to being overwhelmed by the horrors of the Blood War]]. And in doing so, he sealed the portal closed and left Zariel and her remaining troops in Avernus to die, essentially acting as the face for what caused Zariel's fall.]] Despite this, he's a very minor character in the overall story.

* StoryBranchFavoritism: While the adventure has several different endings with ways to achieve them, its clear that [[spoiler: [[HeelFaceTurn redeeming Zariel]] is the one most intended. It's the only one with a clearly written epilogue, is the easiest of all of the possible endings to get since you have ways of lowering the requirements to achieve it, and it's the ending where Elturel is saved, people and all, without having to sacrifice people or make a deal with Zariel]]. All the other options for this adventure are less fleshed out by contrast.
* SummonBiggerFish: [[spoiler: One of the ways Elturel can be saved is with [[DragonsAreDivine Tiamat]], whom the adventurers can make contact with through her champion Arkhan the Cruel. In this case, [[EnemyMine she is more than willing to help them free the city]] by breaking the chains binding it as well as destroying the Companion as long as they can handle Zariel and/or support Arkhan into ruling Avernus in Tiamat's stead. Should the adventurers confront Zariel as Tiamat helps them free Elturel, the archdevil will focus on attacking the adventurers with the hopes that the dragon goddess will cease her efforts upon the deaths of her accomplices.]]

* UrbanWarfare: The Elturel section of the module amounts to this. Now in Hell, Elturel's streets have been overrun with Fiends that either are hunting down surviving people of Elturel, or are battling each other. The players have to fight a rather grueling trail of enemies to make it to the location, with various random encounters on the way ranging from fights, to civilians needing help.

* AscendedFanon: This adventure is the one that makes ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' canon to the ''Forgotten Realms'' setting (thus making Exandria part of the canonical D&D multiverse) with the introduction of Arkhan the Cruel (based on [[Creator/JoeManganiello Joe Manganiello's]] PlayerCharacter of the same name), where his character profile briefly mentions of his exploits in Exandria. [[spoiler: In particular, of how he acquired the Hand of Vecna.]]

* CanonImmigrant: This adventure is the one that makes ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' canon to the ''Forgotten Realms'' setting with the introduction of Arkhan the Cruel (based on [[Creator/JoeManganiello Joe Manganiello's]] PlayerCharacter of the same name), where his character profile briefly mentions of his exploits in Exandria. [[spoiler: In particular, of how he acquired the Hand of Vecna.]]

* FallenHero: Haruman and Olanthius, two Hellrider paladins once loyal to the angel Zariel, who followed her into damnation. Haruman, now a Narzugon, willingly sold his soul to join Zariel's doom, while Zariel brought Olanthius back to "life" as a Death Knight against his will.

* AngelicTransformation: [[spoiler: Anyone who is attuned to the Sword of Zariel and is deemed worthy of its power is transformed into an angelic version of themselves. This includes a change in alignment and personality, sprouting feathered wings, gaining TrueSight, etc. However, the sword is also very strict in how it operates. Meaning while wielding it, its personality overrides the wielders to a degree, forcing a new set of personality traits onto them.]]

** [[spoiler: The infamous Hand of Vecna makes an appearance in this adventure, which is wielded by Arkhan the Cruel. He believes he can use its power to free Tiamat from her prison in Avernus, even as the artifact slowly corrupts his flesh into a state of decay. In order to stave off its detrimental effects, Arkhan resorts to using the Hand to snuff the life out of good-aligned creatures from wherever he or his servants can find them.]]
** [[spoiler: The Shield of the Hidden Lord functions as this, as the devil Gargauth is imprisoned within it and can telepathically communicate with any creature that comes into contact with it, often to compel them into committing cruel and evil acts for him. Once safeguarded by the Hhune family, only to be stolen by the Vanthampur family as part of Duke Thalamra's EvilPlan, the adventurers can acquire the shield and even take it with them to Avernus if they choose to. From there, Gargauth can even assist the adventurers in their quest within Avernus as long as they can find a way to free him from the shield.]]

** [[spoiler: In Chapter 5, the archdevil Zariel would become this '''only if''' the adventurers prove successful in redeeming her. With a newfound sense of hope for herself after being forgiven by the adventurers, she takes the Sword of Zariel once more and reverts back to her angelic form.]]

* UrbanWarefare: The Elturel section of the module amounts to this. Now in Hell, Elturel's streets have been overrun with Fiends that either are hunting down surviving people of Elturel, or are battling each other. The players have to fight a rather grueling trail of enemies to make it to the location, with various random encounters on the way ranging from fights, to civilians needing help.

* EldritchLocation: Avernus is a place mortals were never really meant to go to, and it shows. Being in Avernus means running the risk of becoming corrupted into evil or going mad, there is demonic ichor that can horribly mutate anyone who makes contact with it, and being within the plane itself weakens one over time. There are only very few locations in Avernus that offer respite, and everywhere else are extremely dangerous due to the demons and/or devils being present.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: The adventure presents devils as this. Devils are LawfulEvil creatures, and while they do commit evil deeds, they have a hierarchy and do act within the rules. Demons, being ChaoticEvil, destroy and ruin anything and everyone they meet. Due to this, the book details how, ultimately, devils are less of a threat at times than the demons since you can haggle with a devil. Try to haggle with a demon, and you'll likely get killed instead.

* CallBack: The book discusses the history of Baldur's Gate, evening mentioning the infamous [[Franchise/BaldursGate Bhaalspawn]] incident from many years in the past.

* SoulPoweredEngine: An infernal war machines is fitted with a furnace fueled by soul coins, which can then provide power to the machine as long as the souls that are trapped inside haven't yet been destroyed by the furnace.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: In the prequel module, which takes characters on a short jaunt through Avernus (and from level 1 to 3), you have a couple of options for getting out. Take the bad one and [[spoiler: sell out Lulu, who has been nothing but kind and altruistic to you this whole time and considers you her friend]], and you'll find yourself [[spoiler: damned to Hell anyway, ''and'' indelibly marked as evil, so that all Good-aligned clerics and Celestials can tell and will refuse to aid you in any way, if they're not actively hostile.]]