Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus review

Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus is the latest hardback adventure book for the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game from Wizards of the Coast. Its a series of adventure setups that can form the basis of a campaign, taking characters from 1st to 13th level.

The archduke of Avernus, Zariel. Art by Tyler Jacobsen. 

The adventure starts players in Baldur’s Gate, a city in the Forgotten Realms setting made popular by a series of video games. It sets a dark tone right away by encouraging the group to come up with a dark secret they’re hiding, and being sent on missions by an amoral mercenary company trying to maintain law and order by any means necessary as the city deals with chaotic events. There’s a gazetteer for Baldur’s Gate that would be useful for any campaign set in the city, and also includes options for backgrounds to tie a character to the setting.

The only downside is that the rest of the adventure is so awesome you’re going to want to skip the city stuff and go straight to Hell.

Around 6th level players will have to travel to Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells, and become involved in the eternal war between devils and demons. Again there’s lots of detail given to the setting, with descriptions of strange horrifying things that can happen in Hell, what makes the place truly awful and hopeless, and a glimpse at the psychology of devils and why they’re so miserable. There are various paths to success and multiple possible endgames outlined in the book. Redemption can be a means to defeat evil instead of hack-and-slash combat. Its a sign of the game’s popularity and maturity that its embracing the infernal themes it avoided during the height of the satanic panic in the 80’s.

Besides the adventure itself and the previously mentioned gazetteer for Baldur’s Gate, the book also includes new magic items and creatures, rules for diabolical contracts, and vehicle rules for Infernal War Machines! Travel across the war-ravaged plains of Hell gets more interesting when you have a fantasy equivalent of an armored motorbike or big rig. There’s also a removable double-sided map with a ridiculous level of detail.

Overall, this book continues the trend of increasing quality in hardback adventure products from Wizards of the Coast. There’s helpful outlines, more ways to tie characters into the story, new useful tools that can be used in this adventure or any game. The art continues to be amazing, from the cover art to several double page spreads and various character portraits throughout.

Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus releases on September 17th, with alternate covers by Tyler Jacobsen and Hydro74. Also available is a Dice & Miscellany set that includes custom dice, double sided cards with art for various devils and demons, and a fold-out map.