The Vacation from Hell: Baldur's Gate, Descent into Avernus
A mortal city is dragged into the Nine Hells, and you're along for the ride. Can you save the city, your lives and your souls?
TYPE
LEVELS
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$27.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Friday - 12:00 AM UTC
Dec 12 / Session 11
Session Duration / 3 hours
Campaign Length / 20–50 Sessions
3 / 5 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
3/5
About the adventure
Explore a desolate wasteland battlefield between demons and devils, a desperate city of mortals suspended over the river Styx by black iron chains, vehicles and war machines powered by infernal engines. This adventure is a prequel to the computer game "Baldur's Gate 3", but your outcome might lead to a different future entirely. What to expect: knowledgeable but not rigorous application of the "rules" (which rules? See below), some fourth-wall breaking, moments of tension and drama often broken by a joke. This is a beginner-friendly table, where the published material will sometimes take a back seat as your plans and ideas redirect the story.
Game style
Combat Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(96)
4 years on StartPlaying
1166 games hosted
Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Teacher, Inclusive
Average response time: 3 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
What I provide: A game that fits your group. A laid-back, friendly approach that welcomes new players. Organization, focus, and online tools to help you tell your story. My intro to d&d was three beige books in a little white box , in 1978. My first hobbit thief was trampled to death by a herd of were-elk. Despite that setback, I persevered and have been DMing, and occasionally playing, ever since. I launched ColoradoGamemaster.com in 2019 to GM professionally in person, just in time for the Great Plague to make that impossible. StartPlaying and online platforms came along at just the right time, allowing me to bring my games to people around the globe.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
You can make your character with any of three rulesets: 1) the 2024 version of Dungeons & Dragons, 2) Tales of the Valiant by Kobold Press including options from the Labyrinth, the Old Margreve, the Campaign Builder books and other KP material, or 3) the "legacy" or 2014 version of Dungeons & Dragons including resources such as Tasha's, Xanathar's and Monsters of the Multiverse. I have all the materials for these on Fantasy Grounds, and it works best to make your character on Fantasy Grounds directly rather than try to make it in D&D Beyond or other software and then import it. Character guidelines: Stick to one ruleset in making your character. If a second ruleset has an option you really want to use, I can probably modify it to fit your main ruleset's format. Use the standard array for your ruleset (15,14,13,12,10,8 for the D&D rules or 16,14,14,13,10,8 for ToV). We'll start at first level. For people joining the campaign after it has started: make arrangements to meet with me before game day to get your character built at the appropriate level to join the story in progress. NOTE: Whether you are from Baldur's Gate, Elturel or far away, you know that local nobles have been recruiting heroes to fight demons, so it's not cheaty to build a character who would have come here to do that. Or not; you'll be swept up in the story no matter why you're here.
The party: Spiny Norman, Erina warlock-6 (Jane). Dog, Goliath barbarian-6 (Rachel). Boh-die, Firbolg cleric-6 (Brian). The holy city of Elturel has fallen into the Nine Hells, and our heroes are in a desperate race to save it. They need your help! You can make a D&D (2014), a D&D (2024), or a Tales of the Valiant character. There are HUNDREDS of subclasses in 17 classes, and over 60 lineages/races available if you want to try something new, but if you already have a favorite, it's there too.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Before the game: Download and install the FREE/DEMO version of Fantasy Grounds at fantasygrounds.com Make a Discord account if you don't have one, and verify that your mic and speakers or your headset work in Discord. At game time: use the information you got in your welcome email after joining this game to log into FG and Discord.
What Keith brings to the table
My tables are assertively welcoming and safe for all humans, of any gender, (adult) age, gaming experience, race, nationality, ability, background and neurotype. We are anti-fascist by inclination, although we're here to play D&D, not plan the resistance or hold an online rally. I try to balance "rule of cool" with "the game should work the way you expect it to". Clever ideas might work, but the infinite damage exploit you found on YouTube won't. There WILL be geek culture references; resistance is futile.
Homebrew rules
The version of a spell you learn is the one in your character's chosen ruleset, except: Healing Word and Cure Wounds use the increased effect of the 2024 rules no matter who you are. We use the Luck rules from ToV instead of (heroic) Inspiration. We use the opposed skill checks for grapple and other maneuvers from 2014 and ToV, not the saving throw version from 2024. Monster Knowledge rolls are a BONUS action, to see what you can discern by observation or remember from studies or old tales.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Keith creates a safe table
This game happens in Hell. Expect cruelty, torment, fire and bloodshed. Don't expect sexual assault or harassment or any non-consensual or explicit content, and any intimate situations will be "fade to black". We'll use the Deck of Player Safety to anonymously draw lines around any content you want excluded, and we have an anonymous "Halt" system in Fantasy Grounds to shut down any situation that's going in a direction your game shouldn't go.
Content warnings
Safety tools used