D&D 5E Avernus Any Good?

[Mistwell]

Might get a new phb and give old one away.

If giving your old PHB away will encourage someone to join the hobby who otherwise likely wouldn't due to the expense, then I'd say get the new PHB!

 

[DND_Reborn]

Our DM has been using Avernus for some material for the last two mini-session where single characters were sent to Hell.

I've looked through it and think it is good for a free book. But, if you want an extra copy of the PHB, that could be useful, too.

 

[pukunui]

I own it, and have read in it, and have just started playing a heavily modified version of it. My understanding is that it suffers from having had like 15+ writers working on it, and it is rather barebones in some places. It seems WotC expects you to purchase a whole slew of DLC from the DMs Guild to pad out the thinner sections (like they did with Dragon Heist).

 

[shadowoflameth]

I thought it was a worthwhile book (Avernus). That said, our group is usually around 4-5 but has sometimes been larger. Always worthwhile to have another PHB around so people can look stuff up without (I dream) slowing the game down.

 

[Zardnaar]

Ok I'll probably get another phb then. I think one of my new players lacks a phb and my original one the glue is busted so a few pages are lose.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I haven't played it, but I've read it. It looks awesome. Locations, characters, and the overall premise are all really, really cool. Unfortunately, those elements are linked together by an NPC that literally leads the characters from one scene to the next in the worst kind of railroad. It's fixable, but it requires some work. I agree that the Alexandrian Remix is a great resource for just that.

 

[Shiroiken]

Currently playing Avernus right now, and I think it's really going to depend on the DM. Our DM is a huge fan of the planes, particularly the lower planes, so he's gone all out on it. He has admitted that it's pretty much a railroad (typical for APs IME), but he's trying to provide enough alternatives to give the illusion of choice. I think many DMs would not have done as well with it as he has.

 

[Fenris447]

I'm enjoying running it. We've played probably 15 or 16 sessions, and are still a few away from getting into the actual sandbox of Avernus. But the players are having a good time and so am I. And honestly, I'd say I've only added about 10% of the material they see. The rest is by the book.

 

[CapnZapp]

pretty much a railroad (typical for APs IME)

WotC doesn't do Adventure Paths, Paizo does.

 

[Todd Roybark]

For the last 4 weeks at the gamestore

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I found myself asking the same question the other day.
Avernus has potential, but like most of the WotC, big modules, it lacks focus, and does not stick the landing.

The Baldur's Gate portion of the module, is well written and good. The problem is starting off in Baldur's Gate. Especially, in the manner the module suggests, with a group secret such as: The PC group killed someone and covered it up. This setup in no way guarantees that a party will even care to investigate the disappearance of a rival city.

The best narrative result is basing the action in Elutrel, and having the PCs be in the city as it literally goes to hell. Instead that happens off screen.

It is the difference between a movie that shows you a city being ripped to hell......
....vs the movie that just shows you a smoking crater, to signal what happened.

Don't tell players what happened...let them live it....that is the whole point of imagination.

All that said, I like it better than a lot than came before, which is sad.