Descent into Avernus Homebrew #1: The Thayan Compound

 Diverging a bit from my usual Basic D&D, I thought I would go over some of the stuff I have come up with in 5E D&D for the campaign I am currently DMing, Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. 

Spoiler alert: many of the things I will be discussing involve plot points in the published book. If you are a player playing through the same campaign book, then you have been warned. 

Descent into Avernus is a bit of a mixed bag. It has some great ideas and set pieces but joining them up in a way that the PCs want to follow is not always clear in the published book.  Furthermore, the adventure requires advancement at a much higher rate than the encounters in the book will allow. Advancing automatically after two or three encounters regardless of XP is not my preferred way of PCs levelling up. So some of these homebrew encounters are opportunities for the PCs to earn sufficient XP to get to the levels needed to move onto the next crucial parts in the adventure. 

Side Quest #1: The Red Wizard Enclave in Elturel

This side quest was created for three main reasons. Firstly to award the PCs some magic items. Secondly to award the PCs enough XP to take on the Elturel Cemetery. Thirdly to secure a source of food for the refugees in the High Hall cathedral in Elturel. The background here is that the Red Wizards of Thay have set up a trading enclave  (actually a walled compound) within Elturel, and this was dragged into Avernus along with the rest of the city. 

The acolyte in the High Hall, Pherria Jynx, knows of a magic item, a minor Cornucopia, that can conjure sufficient food to keep the refugees in the High Hall crypts alive. The Cornucopia was last seen being sold to the Red Wizards at their Enclave. The PCs are requested to retrieve it, with the incentive that they can keep any other magic items they find.

The Red Wizards tried to defend themselves against the devils of Avernus by summoning demons to protect them. This did not work out as planned and the demons have run amok in the enclave. Some red wizards are slain, others barricaded in their rooms, terrified. Thus the PCs find themselves investigating this walled compound, with a combination of angry demons, scared apprentice wizards and random magic items. 

Key to map: 

    1) Apprentices’ living quarters & Kitchen: 1 shadow demon (as Monster Manual) + 1 deceased neophyte

    2)  Apprentices’ dormitory: 3 Red Wizard Neophytes (see below for stats). All three are scared and will welcome any rescuers. Braddock in particular is questioning why he joined the Red Wizards at all. 

• Catrina (human female)
• Braddock (human male)
  
• Welph (human male)

    3) Stables. Contains 3 dead horses, slain by demons

    4) Senior Mage's Living Room. Nothing of interest except some nice chairs and carpet. 

    5) Senior Mage's Bedroom: Denthoros is a Mage (as per Monster Manual), a Neutral Evil human male who is the surviving leader of the Red Wizards still in the compound - his senior in the enclave has plane-shifted on his own back to Faerun leaving Denthoros and the others to their fate. Denthoros intends to survive and will do whatever it takes. He will only attack humanoids if they seem intent on attacking him, though any fiends will be treated as hostile. His wooden chest by his bed holds 250gp, 1200sp and his spellbook. Crucially Denthoros holds the key to to the Vault (room 10) and will only hand it over if offered something worthwhile. 

    6) Kitchen and Food Stores. A Barlgura Demon is in here and will attack any mortals or devils. Denthoros (room 5) is aware of this demon. The demon has devoured or spoilt any food that had been here.

    7) The Shop Floor. In here is a Chasme Demon (as Monster Manual) that will attack any mortal. There were shelves holding various baubles and trinkets for sale but the chasme has smashed everything into worthless scraps. However, behind the counter are three bags, one with 43sp, one with 60gp and one with 5pp. 

    8) Corridor

    9) Spell Components Stores: 1 Red Wizard Junior (stats as below) + 2 Veterans (as per Monster Manual). Similar to Denthoros in room 5, the Red Wizard Junior (human female, name Eriadnee) and her two guards are not interested in unnecessary fights and will try to negotiate their way out. They all know that Denthoros holds the key to the vault (room 10) but will only offer this information if pressed or offered something in return. They are trapped here by the chasme in room 7. 

    10) The Vault: This room is sealed by a locked steel door. Denthoros the mage in room 5 holds the key. Inside are 1 shadow demon +2 dretches (all as in Monster Manual). Also in here are locked boxes containing:

• The Cornucopia (a horn that constantly provides food on demand, enough to feed dozens of people every day. 
• A Bag of Holding
• A suit of Chain Mail +2
• A Wand of the War Mage
• A pair of Bracers of Defence +2

Red Wizard Neophyte:

Medium Humanoid, Neutral Evil, based on 2nd level wizard

AC: 10, HP: 9,  Speed: 30ft

Str 10 (0), Dex 10 (0), Con 13 (+1), Int 15 (+2) Wis 12 (+1), Cha 10 (0)

Saving Throws: Int (+4), Wis (+3)

Skills: Arcana (+4), Insight (+3)

Senses: passive perception (12)

Languages: Common, Thayan, Abyssal

Challenge: 2 (450xp)

Special Equipment: Dagger, red robes

Action: Dagger, melee attack (+2 to hit, 1d4 damage)

Spellcasting: Red Wizard Neophytes are spellcasters of 2nd level using Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +4 to hit with spell attacks)

At Will Cantrips (3 known): Acid Splash, Fire Bolt, Light

1st L spells (3 slots): Charm Person, Fog Cloud, Silent Image

Red Wizard Junior:

Medium Humanoid, Neutral Evil, based on 4th level wizard

AC 12, HP 21, speed 30ft

Str 10 (0), Dex 10 (0), Con 13 (+1), Int 17 (+3) Wis 14 (+2), Cha 12 (+1)

Saving Throws: Int (+5), Wis (+4)

Skills: Arcana (+5), Insight (+4)

Senses: passive perception (13)

Languages: Common, Thayan, Abyssal

Challenge: 4? (1100xp)

Special Equipment: Dagger, red robes of Protection +1, Ring of Protection +1

Action: Dagger, melee attack (+2 to hit, 1d4 damage)

Spellcasting: Red Wizard Juniors are spellcasters of 4th level using Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +5 to hit with spell attacks)

At Will Cantrips (4 known): Acid Splash, Fire Bolt, Light, Message

1st L spells (4 slots): Charm Person, Fog Cloud, Silent Image, Sleep

2nd L spells (3 slots): Invisibility, Detect Thoughts, Web

Description: Red Wizard Juniors are deemed competent enough by the Red Wizards of Thay to be entrusted with basic tasks and minor responsibilities. They are sometimes found looking after Thayan camps while team leaders are leading missions, or perhaps leading a patrol of minions, looking for minor foes of the Red Wizards. Red Wizard juniors have survived their apprenticeship and are a bit more aware of the manoeuvring and backstabbing among the Red Wizards, so are not as trusting of their fellows (Insight skill and Detect Thoughts spell are more used on their colleagues in the Red Wizards than their obvious enemies). 

Note that as the DM I awarded XP rewards for peacefully dealing with Red Wizards and retrieving the Cornucopia and bringing it back to the High Hall.