D&D 5E Chains of Asmodeus: Official 286-Page Nine Hells Book & Adventure Released!

For Extra Life, the children's hospital charity, Wizards of the Coast just released Chains of Asmodeus on DMsGuild in PDF format. Written by James Ohlen and Adrian Tchaikovsky, this book includes an adventure for levels 11-20, stat blocks for Asmodeus and the other archdevils, a corruption mechanic, and more.

Arcanum Worlds Presents: Chains of Asmodeus
Chains of Asmodeus is a 286-page source book and adventure for the Nine Hells written by legendary game designer James Ohlen (Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins) and award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky (Children of Time, The Tiger and the Wolf, The Doors of Eden). This book is beautifully illustrated with haunting art from Sergei Sarichev, Sergey Musin, Julian Calle, Sebastion Kowoll, Paul Adams, Luis Lasahido, and the Aaron Sims Company.

Travel through the Nine Hells to save your soul in this tome that includes:

• 50+ High Challenge Monsters
• Stat Blocks for Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine, and all major Archdevils
• 20+ Infernal Magic Items
• New Item Corruption Mechanic
• Details on all Layers of the Nine Hells, with Beautifully Illustrated Maps created by John Stevenson
• A Fiendish Adventure for Levels 11-20

The book includes full stat blocks for Asmodeus (CR30), Beelzebub, Belial, Dispater, Fierna, Glasya, Levistus, Mammon, Mephistopheles, and more including Bel, Zariel, and a ton of monsters and NPCs.

You can pick it up for $29.99 on DMsGuild.

 

[dave2008]

Maybe someone who owns it can confirm, but I am guessing that the adventures in this book are all high CR (and therefore high XP) affairs.

Or, just as likely, they are all milestones and you are expected to level the party every time they fight a demon lord or "finish" a layer of Hell.

I posted it up thread, but each Layer of Hell has an expected PC level range, with the level range getting higher the further you delve into Baator. I don't use XP in my own games so I really have no idea if there is enough XP in the adventure to achieve those goals.

 

[dave2008]

Yeah. I'll still argue it.
To me, having a collection of standalone, unconnected adventures doesn't count as a high level campaign.
When something like this is discreetly dropped on DMs Guild with 0 promotion or fanfare - I'm a little leery that maybe WotC doesn't know what they're doing. Especially when you consider Rise of Tiamat was outsourced to a 3rd party and Wizards didn't even write it.

To be clear, this was primarily made by Arcanum Worlds team, not the D&D Studio. They make most of the extra-life charity content with blessing, input, and financial backing from WotC. Also the founder /owner of Arcanum Worlds is a WotC employee. But again, not the D&D studio team at work here. In fact, the lead writer is a novelist, not a RPG designer.

Also, I am not sure how you can claim an adventure that goes from 5-20 (DotMM) doesn't count as a high level campaign.

 

[Retreater]

Also, I am not sure how you can claim an adventure that goes from 5-20 (DotMM) doesn't count as a high level campaign.

Because it's individually designed, portable dungeon levels with little regard to story, interconnectivity. And - just for my tastes - it's also badly written, mostly empty and boring.
I guess I'm trying to figure out if this adventure is an actual story, with exploration, rising action, etc. Or is it a "boss rush" series of battles (i.e. "here's the ruler of Dis - kill him - now you're Level 13. Here's the ruler of Layer 3...")

 

[dave2008]

I guess I'm trying to figure out if this adventure is an actual story, with exploration, rising action, etc. Or is it a "boss rush" series of battles (i.e. "here's the ruler of Dis - kill him - now you're Level 13. Here's the ruler of Layer 3...")

There is definitely a story, the lead writer is an award (Hugo) winning author, not a RPG designer. How well it holds together, I haven't looked that closely yet.,

 

[Distracted DM]

And it's still not POD! :'(

 

[Burnside]

And it's still not POD! :'(

It's not a plug-and-play process. The decision to do POD was probably made quite late in the game; the PDF version certainly isn't print-ready in the way that POD products have to be for DMsGuild. There'd be some considerable design/layout changes needed - for every page.

 

[Shardstone]

I don’t think it is even close to a default that a sensitivity reader adds quality to the work. I am not even sure what type of sensitivity reader can be used on a book full of devils and archfiends. Avoiding topics that can make people feel uncomfortable can result in a weaker product and weaker experience all in the name of protecting a theoretical person that would be hurt by something.

The really egregious recent examples seem to lack common sense and should not have been done in that form.

I think RPG budgets are much better spent on development (not the same as writing) and editing. A good art and cartography budget also can pay dividends in the quality of the product.

As a major publishing house and being a standard bearer for the industry and the many examples of them lacking common sense, sure WoTC should probably have a pass by an editor specializing in sensitivity. I would not that it is a very common review comment about how bland their products are.

The book here begs questions in the nature of evil and how it prospers. That means you need to discuss the temptations and the actions and the results. Too much watering down and you just get boring stat blocks.

Just because you don't understand how a sensitivty reader can improve a work doesn't mean it can't. This post is really just you saying you don't really know anything about what a sensitivity reader that's really good can do. It's essentially a cultural consultant that can help you represent ideas in a better, "truer," way, essentially sharpening the vision for the work and adding a level of freshness that casual research or mainstream knowledge won't give. Not every reader will do this, and not every suggestion offered should be used.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Just because you don't understand how a sensitivty reader can improve a work doesn't mean it can't. This post is really just you saying you don't really know anything about what a sensitivity reader that's really good can do. It's essentially a cultural consultant that can help you represent ideas in a better, "truer," way, essentially sharpening the vision for the work and adding a level of freshness that casual research or mainstream knowledge won't give. Not every reader will do this, and not every suggestion offered should be used.

I've always read their role in the process as the person who tells you what things in your art people will be offended by and complain about. Change them or suffer the slings and arrows of social media,and be ashamed of yourself for not following the internet's lead on what's ok to present to the public.

 

[ReshiIRE]

A sensitivity reader would have prevented Wizards printing racist dumb naughty word in Spelljammer, so excuse me if I think that the job is important and taking their concerns seriously instead of boiling it down to the 'arrows of social media'.

 

[Shardstone]

I've always read their role in the process as the person who tells you what things in your art people will be offended by and complain about. Change them or suffer the slings and arrows of social media,and be ashamed of yourself for not following the internet's lead on what's ok to present to the public.

That's what happens when you hire a bad sensitivity reader, not one who can help guide the work into being sharper.