D&D- BALDURS GATE DESCENT INTO (Dungeons & Dragons)

This module reads like a bad novel. The developers have chosen to substitute a multitude of stereotypical characters and re-hashed monster types for an intelligent storyline with engaging creatures. Some reviewers have called this "Mad Max" in hell, but it reads more like Hasbro in hell; buy more toy minis, especially new devils, demons and their infernal war machines. My biggest complaint is the lack of player maps and the decreased size of the included B&W DM maps. As I am disabled and unable to draw quickly, I've relied on decent maps to scan and print out mural-sized for the table. Maps in previous offerings covered over half a page...in this book, many are smaller than a quarter of a page. The background material is extremely verbose, yet lacks substance and relevance to the story. This makes DM prep difficult. Further, the format they use is disorganized with misplaced references. For instance, when advising DMs how to play devils the authors relate how devils are very concerned with being promoted to greater types, but fail to mention that ranking information is included in an appendix for making deals with devils. In short, this has way too much useless information and not enough easily accessible information to facilitate presentation, and the plot relies on tired gimmicks instead of engaging ideas to make it interesting to play. Frankly, most experienced DMs can write as well as or better than this, and newer DMs will find this adventure too unwieldy to use.

Some have compared this to Mad Max in Hell. Which isn't wrong, but there's more to it than that.You can tell right off the bat that a lot of love went into this as you thumb through the pages. The artwork is stunning, and they even include a section of concept art, a few great but spoiler-y touches, an a large fold-out map of Elturel (side 1) and Avernus (side 2). And there's good reason why: the name Baldur's Gate has a lot of live up to. For me, it was my first foray into the world of D&D. Baldur's Gate II went down in history as one of the greatest RPGs of all time. And this campaign does honor to that—and more.Just reading through it, it feels and plays like the original Baldur's Gate series—it has a very similar vibe to the first game in particular, with what feels like some strong Planescape: Torment elements as well (although we really only go to one other plane). It's darker than your average campaign, I think. I've been getting my group ready to play this since it was announced, and I can't wait to get started.If you're a fan of the original Baldur's Gate series, I think you'll enjoy this campaign. Lots of callbacks and nods to the first game, but not so many that it feels like overt fanservice (with the exception of one miniature-giant-space-hamster reference that I still haven't recovered from).

I have read only about 2/3 of Descent into Avernus so far, but I can already tell that the book creates a really imaginative alternate world (like the Underdark in Out of the Abyss, Barovia in Curse of Strahd, Waterdeep in Dragonheist), peopled with compelling characters the PCs want to help and details that provide the right mix of dread and humor. Since this is the factor I care about most in these adventures, I'm going to give 4 stars, even though it probably deserves 4.5. The adventure is probably not quite as good as Out of the Abyss and Strahd (my favorites), but probably a little better than Storm King's Thunder (more imaginative than SKT, but with similarly creaky plot mechanics).Spoilers are included from this point forward: The basic story is that a city named Elturel is being dragged literally down into hell as a result of an infernal bargain between its mayor and a fallen angel/archdevil named Zariel. Huge chains are gradually winching it down into the area around the River Styx, and the PCs are trying to stop this from being finally accomplished. To do this, they must travel around a plane of hell, Avernus, and find a magical Sword of Zariel. They can use the sword to save the city in various ways. Interestingly, the ultimate outcome is much more open-ended than in other big 5e adventures: e.g., the PCs can try to persuade Zariel to renounce evil (DC 25 check reduced if certain NPCs are present), or they can sacrifice one of their souls in an infernal bargain to save Elturel, or they can try to enlist any of Zariel's several enemies (demonic or celestial) to destroy the physical chains holding the city down. I'm not sure yet how to present all these possibilities to my players, but the authors are definitely giving me and my players a lot of really interesting material to work with.Pros: Avernus is brought to life as a hellish place, peopled with really cool NPCs and tons of atmospheric detail. Example #1: there is a snuggly mini-elephant named Lulu with wings and Styx-induced amnesia, who can help the PCs as she recovers her memories as Zariel's sidekick back before Zariel's fall. Example #2: the PCs meet a hag who runs a kind of junkyard in hell, and who can give the PCs a Mad Max style war machine to drive across hell. She has a flameskull who might become friendly toward the PCs if they can recover one of his teeth, which has been pilfered by some mischievous devils who also work for the hag. Another really great thing about the story is that the possibility of redeeming Zariel or finding some other way to save Elturel seems like a pretty great overall objective. I also appreciate that the conclusion of the story is going to be up to the players, potentially with lots of negotiating with devilishly cunning adversaries. And the whole idea of a city being slowly dragged down into hell is great.Cons: 1) the PCs are often moved around the story by some pretty weak plot devices. For example, they are told to get the Sword of Zariel without being told how this helps save Elturel. I think the DM ideally would change these features. 2) the intro chapter in Baldur's Gate is kind of ho hum, and Baldur's Gate is such a bleak place that the PCs are unlikely to develop a connection to the city that is in any way similar to the love my players developed for Waterdeep in Dragonheist. (I may try to use Murder in Baldur's Gate, an older low-level D&D adventure available on DMs Guild, as a way to introduce my players to the city.) Similarly, the players are told they must save Elturel before they have ever visited that place or developed a connection to it, which might feel kind of artificial. A little homebrew prologue in Elturel before disaster befalls it might be a good way to avoid this.Verdict: Avernus is described in loving detail and also succeeds as a broad canvas; it is as vivid as a trip to hell should be. There are some weaknesses in the story, esp before the PCs arrive in hell. But I still think the good far outweighs the bad, and puts this in the top tier of published D&D adventures, just below Abyss, Strahd and Waterdeep, but above Storm King's Thunder and well above Princes of the Apocalypse and Rise of Tiamat. After I've actually run it with my players, I may revisit this review, and I suspect that if anything I'll be giving it a higher rating.UPDATE 7/3/2020: I finished running Avernus with my players and found that the experience mostly confirmed my initial impressions. A few additional/expanded criticisms: (1) The heart of the action in Avernus is asking monster X where the Sword of Zariel is, and the end result is this supposedly knowledgeable creature requires the PCs to perform a quest but then sends the PCs to someone ELSE supposedly in the know, who does the SAME thing. This eventually leads to the sword and the confrontation with Zariel, but the runaround leading up to this point feels artificial. Many of these quests are atmospherically interesting (e.g., retrieve something from a crashed flying fortress) but don't require any real ingenuity to perform. They feel like filler to get the PCs up to 12th level or whatever. (2) There is a section on "other locations" in Avernus (p. 122) where the PCs can happen upon some little random encounters at the DM's discretion. A few of these are really good and the best part of the adventure -- e.g., a devil who wants the PCs to go down in a barely functioning diving bell to retrieve something from the bottom of the river Styx. I tried to work these in as required steps toward getting the Sword of Zariel. (3) The final encounter with Zariel is hard to DM and again feels underwritten and artificial. Where does it take place? It seems to occur on a giant battlefield where Z's army is battling demons to take control of Elturel. But if the PCs start fighting her, what's to stop Z's army of thousands from coming to help her out? I just kind of hand waved that. (4) Still believe that the adventure works better if it is Baldur's Gate getting dragged down to hell rather than Elturel. (5) The lack of a defined geography in Avernus (e.g., this location is here, 3 days' travel from this other spot) makes the adventure feel a little thin, unless the DM adds these details.Overall I still feel comfortable comparing DIA to Storm King's Thunder, which like this adventure has some excellent bits but can also be a bit creaky in its plot mechanics. I would actually say SKT is slightly better, and less work for the DM, but for what it's worth my players told me DIA was slightly better, probably because of the more exotic environment. So think four stars is still about right.

Like the title says the quality of books produced by Wizards of the Coast has dropped. Lets start with the binding, it's as bad as every other book produced for D&D. If it's by design then congratulations. I'm sick of feeling like the binding is going to split on every book I've purchased over that past. Also the ink is not very durable. I don't know if the books didn't have enough time to dry but a droplet of water from my water bottle fell on a page and I hurried an blotted it off but the spot where I blotted it off is noticeably lighter now and the ink came off.Secondly, while I know the Realms are the default setting, I'm sick of the Forgotten Realms. Yes I know I can change things to fit my campaign but I'd rather have a generic book, but oh well.Third, the adventure writing is not great. I don't know how to put it better but the story just didn't grab me. Maybe I've played D&D too long but when I saw a pit fiend named Lucille I had to walk away for a bit. I'm all for levity but I have my ideas of how things should be and, yes I can change the name, pit fiends are not named Lucille.I liked seeing stats for Arkhan and Toregar but....that's about it.