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An Avernus Rising Adventure
Zariel’s deputy, General Everbleed, has fled with Commander De La Reue’s soul only
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to be captured by Yeenoghu’s brood! Dara implores you to recover the commander,
though his soul has been taken to a most unusual place.
Part One of the Red Hunt series of adventures.
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Designer: Will Doyle D&D Adventurers League Wizards Team: Adam Lee, Ari
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Editing: Travis Woodall, Greg Marks Levitch, Chris Lindsay, Mike Mearls
D&D Adventurers League Guildmaster: Chris Lindsay D&D Adventurers League Administrators: Alan Patrick,
Amy Lynn Dzura, Travis Woodall, LaTia Jacquise, Ma’at
Art Director and Graphic Designer: Rich Lescouflair Crook, Claire Hoffman, Greg Marks, Shawn Merwin,
Interior Art: provided by Wizards of the Coast Will Doyle
Cartography: Will Doyle Playtesters: Gary Affeldt, Rick Brown, David Krolnik, Ben
Siekert, Phil Tobin
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D
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All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America.
Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.
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Adventure Primer • Part 1: Wake of the Colossus. The characters must
infiltrate the caravan of demons traveling alongside the
House of Gore and find a way inside the citadel. This is
“Where in the Nine Hells did you ever get the notion I Story Objective A.
would fight fair?" • Part 2: House of Gore. The characters explore
— Drizzt Do’Urden the House of Gore in search of General Everbleed,
ultimately facing Bertheraan, Razek Vowbreaker, and a
This adventure is designed for three to seven 17th- to host of other demons in the portal room. This is Story
20th-level characters and is optimized for five characters Objective B.
with an average party level (APL) of 18. Characters • Bonus Objective A: Soul Trader. An imp offers to help
outside this level range cannot participate in this adventure. the group get inside the fortress if they agree to rescue a
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This adventure occurs in the hellish wastes of Avernus hag from the dungeons. This bonus objective is found in
and the interior of the House of Gore, a grotesque walking Appendix 1.
citadel made from the lashed-together corpses of demons • Bonus Objective B: Heads of State. To enter the portal
and devils slain in the Blood War. chamber, the adventurers must solve a puzzle on the
door. This bonus objective is found in Appendix 2.
Background
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Previously in the Avernus Rising campaign, the characters Adventure Hooks
helped DARA, the CHOSEN OF ILMATER, in her quest This is the first part of the Blood Hunt, a two-part storyline
to revive the fallen angels trapped in Avernus and rally of adventures. If your players are new to this campaign, use
them to the defense of ELTUREL. Only one mortal soul the following hooks to draw them into this story:
eludes her: the HELLRIDER ROTGER DE LA REUE, Divine Calling. The gods themselves have summoned the
whose soul has been stolen by the ice devil GENERAL characters to aid Dara on the first layer of the Nine Hells,
EVERBLEED. Without Rotger to guide them, the knights Avernus. After manifesting to the group in their chosen
of the BLOODY HOOVES remain leaderless and broken. forms, the gods open a portal to the Nine Hells and send
With Dara in tow, the characters have just left the characters through.
MAHADI’S WANDERING EMPORIUM, having
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learned the location of the HOUSE OF GORE. Demons
interrogated after a recent attack on the emporium
have revealed that Yeenoghu’s brood have imprisoned
GENERAL EVERBLEED inside their shambling citadel!
Blood Debt. A warlock or other pact-bound character in
the group is summoned by their patron and ordered to aid
a priest of Ilmater at Mahadi’s Wandering Emporium. If
they refuse, their powers are stripped from them and their
soul is forfeit.
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The demons’ nalfeshnee master, BERTHERAAN, plans to Vengeance. General Everbleed has delivered a terrible
offer the general’s soul to Yeenoghu’s chosen, the goristro blow to one or more of the characters in the group—
RAZEK VOWBREAKER, who once followed Baphomet perhaps by slaying a beloved mentor or family member,
before pledging himself to the Lord of Savagery. sacking a homeland, or denying a character their destiny.
The group has tracked the general to Avernus and learned
Overview of a potential ally who could help find him: the cleric Dara.
The adventure’s story is spread over two parts and takes
approximately four hours to play. The adventure begins Dara, Chosen of Ilmater
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with a Call to Action. It also contains two optional bonus Even though she is the Chosen of Ilmater, Dara is particularly
objectives—each taking one additional hour to play. fragile, and the characters need to do all they can to protect
• Call to Action: Off with Their Heads! Dara, the Chosen her. Temporary hit points, buff spells, and smart tactics are
key to her survival. If she dies and the characters return her to
of Ilmater, recaps what she knows about General
life, her powers diminish, so just letting her die and bringing
Everbleed’s imprisonment in the House of Gore. Her her back is a losing proposition. Every time Dara dies, she
briefing is rudely interrupted by a surprise attack from loses one of these abilities chosen randomly: her damage
Zariel’s infernal agents. resistances, her condition immunities, her Magic Resistance
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trait, and her Innate Spellcasting trait. If she loses all four, she
has lost all her abilities as a Chosen and may no longer return
Hellriders or angels to life.
If Dara dies during the adventure, award the story award
You Let Dara Die and note how many times she died. In
future adventures, use the average number of deaths among
the characters for determining how many abilities she loses.
Dara’s stat block is available in “Creature Statistics.”
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Call to Action: Off with Their Heads!
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Mahadi’s Wandering Emporium trundles away through
the wastes of Avernus, leaving a storm of dust in its wake.
Amid the swirling embers, a host of knights are encamped
in the ruins of a forgotten town. At the heart of their
camp, the exalted child Dara meets her advisors inside a
Sir Gidor Honorsbright, the dwarf paladin, is seated
nearby with the merchant Fai Chen, haggling over the
price of outfitting the knights with magic armor. Several
of Fai Chen’s doubles move around the room, pouring
water, adding opinions to the debate, or whispering
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conspiratorially to each other. There should be one double
pavilion tent. for each character in the group, not including the double
seated at the table.
What Do They Want? Dara greets the characters eagerly.
Meeting Dara Having gleaned General Everbleed’s location from the
demons, she is keen to locate him. Unfortunately, the devils
The adventure begins with the characters meeting Dara attack before Dara can fully explain the task at hand (see
outside Mahadi’s Wandering Emporium. The marketplace “Interruption: Mind Blast!”).
What Do They Know? To fulfil Ilmater’s bidding and
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spells: mirror image (2nd-level slot), greater invisibility (4th- holding. Each object in your hands lands 10 + 2d6 feet
level slot), and dimension door (4th-level slot). Once inside away from you in a randomly determined direction.
the pavilion, the fiends attack with surprise using lightning 6–7 Flying teeth impale you, and you take 3d6 piercing
bolt, chain lightning, and a deadly artifact that detonates damage.
their enemies’ skulls (see “Legendary Action: Explosive
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Mind Blast”). They try to keep Dara, Sir Gidor, and Horst 8–9 Your face is showered in brains. You are blinded until
alive for interrogation. you spend a bonus action to wipe your face clean.
At the start of combat, Sir Gidor leaps over Dara and 10+ No effect.
shields her from harm for the duration of the battle. Fai
Chen’s doubles do not fight; instead, they take the Dodge Choosing Targets. To determine who is targeted by the
action for the first two rounds, and then they dash to Explosive Mind Blast, ask each player to roll two twenty-
escape the tent. Horst Atheraice stands protectively over sided dice: one for their character, and the other for one
Dara but uses his magic to aid the group. of Fai Chen’s doubles. Reroll ties until the lowest result in
Reinforcements. It takes 1d4 + 1 rounds for the the group is determined: this character or double is now
Hellriders outside the pavilion to react to the ambush and targeted. If a Fai Chen double is targeted it is instantly
rally to protect their leader. After this, two knights enter killed, and the player who rolled for it subsequently only
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the tent at the start of each round. To stem reinforcements,
one fiends casts wall of force around the tent (dropping
its concentration on greater invisibility if that spell is still
active).
rolls for their own character. The fiends do not target Dara
or Sir Gidor.
If the abishai wearing the eye is killed, another creature
can use its action to extract the eye from its corpse. An
abishai can insert the eye into its own eye socket as part
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of this action. The eye explodes if all three abishai are
Adjusting the Encounter captured or killed. All creatures within 30 feet of the eye
Here are the adjustments for the encounter. when it explodes must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving
• Very Weak: Remove a blue abishai. The two remaining throw, taking 42 (12d6) fire damage on a failed save, and
monsters only have 104 hit points each. half as much damage on a successful one. An abishai dies
• Weak: Each blue abishai only has 104 hit points.
if it is wearing the eye when the artifact explodes.
• Strong: Each blue abishai has 286 hit points.
• Very Strong: Add a fourth blue abishai. Call to Action
Dara is horrified by the attack, but she says it proves there
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While wearing the eye, a fiend can take 3 legendary their own character. The double acts on their turn.
actions, using the Explosive Mind Blast option below. It Dara knows that the House of Gore is surrounded by
can take only one legendary action at a time and only at an army of demons and their infernal machines. Riding
the end of another creature’s turn. The fiend regains spent there with the Bloody Hooves would be madness; the best
legendary actions at the start of its turn. way inside is for a small group to infiltrate the camp. Dara
Explosive Mind Blast. The wielder of the eye targets one random volunteers to join the characters while Sir Gidor waits here
enemy creature that it can see within 120 feet of it (see “Choosing with the knights.
Targets”). If this creature has 100 hit points or fewer, its head
explodes, and it dies. Otherwise, the target takes 61 (7d8 + 30)
“Time is against us,” Dara whispers, “but not the gods.
psychic damage. If a creature dies as a result of this effect, all
characters within 10 feet of it must roll on the Exploding Head Even here, I feel Ilmater’s guiding light. It is my destiny to
Effects table. join you on this quest.”
Proceed to Part 1.
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Part 1: Wake of the Colossus
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Estimated Duration: 1 hour Area Information: Exterior Site
The site has the following features:
Arriving at the Dimensions and Terrain. The terrain underfoot is made
from hard rock and crushed bone.
House of Gore Light. The site is well lit by the hellfires of Avernus.
The House of Gore is roaming through Avernus, followed Sounds and Smells. The stench of rotten flesh and the
by a host of demons. With Dara’s guidance, the characters deafening roar of the infernal machines permeate the area.
find the citadel after a trek through the hellscape. They gain Walking Citadel. The citadel stands 200 feet high at the
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the benefit of a long rest before reaching the site. shoulder. There are two routes inside: the gate in its head,
and an armored hatch in its right heel. The citadel’s iron
plating is red-hot, and any creature that touches the metal or
A colossal monster trudges through the battlefields of starts its turn in contact with it takes 13 (3d8) fire damage.
Avernus, trailed by a convoy of infernal machines. It moves See “Site Encounters” for details on each entrance.
like an ape, with limbs crafted from the corpses of fiends War Machines. The citadel and its convoy of six war
machines move at a speed of roughly 14 miles per hour
slain in the Blood War. Red-hot iron plates are riveted to
(speed 60 feet)
the dead flesh of its tower-shaped body, with a jagged
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Avernus on limbs crafted from animated corpses bound in
barbed wire, leaving a trail of demon ichor in its wake. Herd Encounters
d6 Encounter
Site Encounters 1 Two fiends duel to the death while their comrades
holler and roar for blood.
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The following encounters correspond to notes on the
2 The armanites chant, “Blood for Razek Vowbreaker,
House of Gore Site Map (Appendix 3).
Chosen of Yeenoghu!” in Abyssal while bashing horns
together.
3 The fiends argue in Abyssal about one of the infernal
machines that keeps breaking down. Some of them
say that the crew should be eaten alive for shaming
Bertheraan.
4 A single armanite trails behind the pack, muttering
curses. It has been bullied by its comrades and is keen
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on revenge.
The fiends toss a slobbering abyssal wretch between
them for sport. Characters who succeed on a DC 20
Intelligence (Religion) check know that only a wish
spell can undo the curse that warped this creature into
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its current form. If cured, the wretch is revealed as an
apprentice of Khemed Rein, architect of the House of
Gore (see Part 2, area G2).
6 An armanite drowns one of its weaker comrades in a
pool of demon ichor (see the “Ichor Trail” section).
Armored Hatch
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Cadaver Collectors psychic damage. Creatures with a combined Strength score
Four cadaver collectors serve Bertheraan by trawling of 33 or more can lift the portcullis, but each creature takes
the hellscape for fresh corpses to lash to his citadel. They 13 (3d8) fire damage each time it touches the portcullis or
attack any non-fiends they encounter. The collectors move starts its turn in contact with it.
slower than the citadel, so they often fall far behind and Three nalfeshnee demons perch on the jagged crown
become hidden behind ash clouds and heat haze. above the gate. The fiends guard the gate from intruders,
Characters who observe the collectors for at least 5 using truesight to scan for invisible creatures, illusions, and
minutes witness an infernal machine drive over and seize shapeshifters. If they sense trouble, they teleport to attack,
one of the trailing constructs in its iron jaws. The machine but they might accept bribes (see the “Playing the Pillars:
hefts its burden into the path of the House of Gore, which Exterior Site” sidebar). The demons have grown used to
stoops and “swallows” the construct whole (see “Maw transporting war machines through the gate and simply
Gate”). A few minutes later, the citadel lowers the cadaver wave them through.
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collector back onto the battlefield, having stripped it of its The demons can telepathically command the citadel to
corpses. This process repeats whenever a cadaver collector move, open or shut the portcullis, or bend over to allow
falls too far behind the citadel. egress to the gate from ground level. If they die, the citadel
If a character disables a cadaver collector, they can continues performing its final orders until Bertheraan
conceal themselves among the corpses impaled on issues a new command.
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its armored body. Each collector can conceal up to six War Machines
Medium-sized characters or twelve Small or smaller
Six demon grinder infernal machines range around the
characters. The infernal machines only pick up collectors
citadel. Each machine is crewed by eight ghasts. See
that are standing upright and appear functional, so the
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus for rules on handling
party may need to employ illusion magic to aid their ruse if
vehicle combat. The war machines stick close to the citadel
they destroy the collector in combat.
but take turns collecting any roaming cadaver collectors
Ichor Trail that have fallen too far behind. The fiends at the Maw
The citadel leaves a trail of demon ichor—the viscera of Gate stop the citadel and lower the gate whenever a war
countless dissolved demonic corpses—in its wake. Any machine holding a cadaver collector drives in front of it.
creature that touches this black goo must succeed on a DC One of the machines is damaged and malfunctioning:
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10 Constitution saving throw or become magically warped
by the ichor, as determined by rolling on the Flesh Warping
table (if you wish, you can use the table in Baldur’s Gate:
Descent into Avernus instead). Fiends, oozes, plants, and
undead automatically succeed on the saving throw.
it only has 100 hit points, and its mishap threshold is
reduced to 12. If the group observes the exterior site for
an hour or more, they see that this machine occasionally
breaks down and stops while its crew carries out repairs.
During these moments, the machine falls behind the
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citadel and is obscured behind clouds of ash and bone dust.
Flesh Warping
d8 Effect Playing the Pillars: Exterior Site
1 The target’s nose turns into a fully articulated child- Here are some suggestions for this encounter:
sized hand; the target loses all sense of smell. Combat. The players can blast their way inside the citadel if
2 The target’s flesh is afflicted by large, smelly boils that they move quickly. Flying characters have the best hope but
must still contend with the three nalfeshnee demons at the
occasionally hatch spiders or beetles.
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