Traveling to the Nine Hells

[Dragonwriter]

I'm not using the Fiendish Codex, but I am using the MM, MMII, BoVD, Manual of the Planes, and the Monsters of Faerun book (for abishai in the latter case). I'm also using the Geryon build from EnWorld's Creature Catalogue (he's not in BoVD), but I'm reworking him as well, removing his ability to cast spells as a 20th level cleric and sorcerer, replacing feats, and I'm dropping his posted CR of 31 to about 25 or 26 depending on the PCs' levels when they try this. Amon also comes from the Creature Catalogue. I updated his feats and equipment, giving him a wolf-headed +6 large silver unholy icy blast warmace.

Okay, I seriously suggest getting FC2. Planning a foray into Hell is not easy. Even with Manual of the Planes, there is still so much. Personally, I have used FC2 in a campaign and have gotten a lot of mileage out of it. It is a really good book, all the moreso because you need it to get a better idea of the layout of Hell, and how to assault it/plan an adventure in it. Also, it will give you more devils to throw at the PCs.

OK. This is my rationale (please bear with me): If you've ever read Ed Greenwood's Elminster in Hell (where Elminster is captured and tortured by an arch-devil named Nergal), there's a scene where Mystra, the goddess of magic in Faerun, descends upon Avernus in search of her most-beloved wizard, hollering, "Where is he? What have you done with him?" Hell itself becomes aroused, and in the midst of that mad chaos, as what appears to be the entire populace of Avernus converges on Mystra, one particular sentence reads: "In the heart of a million devils and more, Mystra glared and slew, glared and slew..." That's right: a million devils and more. The scene is absolutely unbelievable, with black clouds of devils throwing themselves at Mystra while pit fiends erupt from the very mountains and massive dragons and other unmentionable horrors are called into service. How it ends... well, read the novel. It's awesome to put it mildly.

That's part of my inspiration. Also, keep in mind that I'm using least and lesser devils here, so they can either attack the party or suffer the wrath of their superiors. Either way, they die. Forever.

Beautiful scene. I have not read the book, but the description evokes a truly amazing and awesome picture. However, as others have pointed out, there is a huge difference between the power level of even epic PCs and the gods. The devils likely have ore pressing concerns than a bunch of upstarts checking out their territory. Your PCs may not actually be "upstarts" but this is how devils would view them. Either upstarts or servants...

If the PCs manage to slay the mighty linnorm, Tiamat will take notice, though not immediately. I don't plan on her just appearing out of nowhere. I'll let the PCs lay waste to the minor devils, thinking they're owning Hell, then I'll describe a colossal+ five-headed dragon winging toward them accompanied by a half-dozen massive dragons of various colors. Tiamat is broken down in the Manual of the Planes, and with other great wyrm dragons accompanying her, the PCs should see their doom. If they don't flee by then, then they deserve the TPK.

Okay, I have to say it again, Tiamat would not really care what happens unless it is in her realm. Linnorms, while mighty, are also not her main concern. She cares more about evil True dragons. The flights of powerful dragons is a good way to get the PCs moving, but throwing the actual goddess at them is probably WAY too much. Maybe an Aspect of Tiamat, beefed up. I know they are in Races of the Dragon and Dragon Magic . If you don't have those, you can basically create something along the lines of five-headed dragon that uses all the breath weapons of the chromatics.

The NPC in question (a human female cleric of Selune) was captured and imprisoned by a 27 HD paeliryon devil (Fiend Folio) and placed here out of jealousy, thinking the NPC pompous, arrogant in her faith, and overly beautiful. She'll be tortured and maimed, acting as bait for the PCs, drawing them to Hell and certain torment and death. I'm not really interested in where. The module Paladin in Hell takes the PCs to Stygia and that waypoint between Stygia and Malbolge in search of a paladin's spirit, so I switched the spirit for the living NPC cleric.

Very neat. One thing to mention, (if you do pick up FC2) paeliryons are used a lot by Glasya, new Archduchess of Malbolge, daughter of Asmodeus. You could include her in your group's adventure. Nothing quite like taking down a full Archfiend.

Another thing to note... as of 3.5 (especially FC2), Amon and Geryon are not Archdukes. You should just refer to them as Dukes (Though Geryon is effectively destroyed, thanks to Asmodeus' betrayal of him).

 

[Crust]

Holy crap, people. This is awesome. Thanks for the help! I knew I could count on EnWorld's community...

Akbearfoot,

Points taken. I'm not going to force a TPK, but my players are brash and a bit reckless, and their builds often spell doom for my baddies. If they don't respect the advice of their mentors, they'll either flee or die. They'll certainly experience Hell, and I'd expect that most mortals who experience Hell end up dead, so it'll make sense to them.

Concerning the linnorm, I wanted to use a dragon type that is uncommon and bizarre, something that's not in the MM, and something that is capable of using 9th level arcane spells. Its mid-level intellect will allow it some curiosity, but not enough brains to realize that a team of mortals flying through Hell should be left alone. The disjunction will also make things that much more difficult for the PCs, giving me the opportunity to implement some arch-devil scenarios as a previous poster suggested.

Washout,

I'm not going to force an all-out battle. I'm anticipating that the PCs immediately try to butt heads with Hell. If they do, the above scenario will play out. I'm hoping the marraenaloth (a daemon) will be their guide as you suggest, taking them to Stygia and informing them when it's time to jump ship and head for Geryon's stronghold of Coldsteel.

Concerning Tiamat, of course they're not going to be attacked by Tiamat "the god." Her stats in the Manual of the Planes are realistic. She has no divine rank, she misses on natty 1s, etc. It most-certainly won't be the god Tiamat, though the players are welcome to assume that.

Dragonwriter,

OK, I'm buying Fiendish Codex 2. [Edit: I just ordered it on Amazon.] Happy now?

I also see your point about "arousing Hell" on the PCs. Like I said, if the PCs unleash massive amounts of damage, drop a wish or two, or go about in any flashy manner, they're going to get mobbed. Period. I might wait a bit longer to do that, or I might lower my reaction time, but the longer they spend fooling around in Avernus, the sooner they'll get either mobbed by least and lesser devils (primarily spinagons and abishai) or accosted by opportunistic arch-devils.

Again, concerning the linnorm, I wanted to use a "hellish" dragon type. That might not be the linnorm as it's portrayed in MMII, but it's a dragon type the PCs haven't fought before, it can use 9th level sorcerer spells, and it can still fly using the fly spell as a spell-like ability at will. And my players won't understand that, technically, Tiamat wouldn't care about a linnorm. It's a rare dragon type, and I think it's cool.

And why couldn't it be Tiamat's realm that the PCs wind up in when they enter Avernus? How will the PCs ever know or care? And why couldn't the wholesale slaughter of mobs of abishai not catch Tiamat's attention? Tiamat the aspect as per Manual of the Planes, mind you, not Tiamat the divine ranking god.

Concerning the paeliryon, I'm so glad you informed me of their connection to Malbolge. That makes this whole scenario that much more meaningful, as my 27HD paeliryon is actually a remade NPC foe from Dungeon's Age of Worms campaign named Lashonna. In the modules, she's a vampiric silver dragon, but I didn't quite like that, so I switched her to a paeliryon. The idea that those devils primarily function in Malbolge makes the imprisonment of the cleric near there all the more relevant, so thank you! The PCs are now assaulting one of Lashonna's strongholds, so using A Paladin in Hell makes even more sense, allowing me to string along the Age of Worms past the destruction of Kyuss. You da man!

Lastly, Elminster in Hell is my favorite Forgotten Realms novel. It's true literature, and it's eye-popping. The scene with Mystra is cool, but scenes where The Simbul is rampaging through Hell as a comet of spellpower, blowing through arch-devils, summoning beholders and archwizards and a dragon to her side, annihilating pit fiends... It's also much more than combat, but this isn't the place for all of that. You should read the book, though it helps to have read other Greenwood (and other author's) FR novels so you can make sense of everything.

You people are awesome! Thanks for helping me corral this foray into Hell into something that makes more sense to me and my players.

 

[Dragonwriter]

Dragonwriter,

OK, I'm buying Fiendish Codex 2. [Edit: I just ordered it on Amazon.] Happy now?

Yes, I'm happy now. Trust me, it is a wonderful book. In the infernal sense...

I also see your point about "arousing Hell" on the PCs. Like I said, if the PCs unleash massive amounts of damage, drop a wish or two, or go about in any flashy manner, they're going to get mobbed. Period. I might wait a bit longer to do that, or I might lower my reaction time, but the longer they spend fooling around in Avernus, the sooner they'll get either mobbed by least and lesser devils (primarily spinagons and abishai) or accosted by opportunistic arch-devils.

Okay, yeah, I agree with flinging bunches of baddies at them if they are so arrogant as to use a whole bunch of fancy stuff on Avernus. The devils could consider that a threat, as could any demons in the area. Then the PCs could be caught in a decent Blood War skirmish. However, I disagree with the arch-devils checking it out until a good bit later. They have other things to worry about. Like the other arch-devils and their schemes.

Again, concerning the linnorm, I wanted to use a "hellish" dragon type. That might not be the linnorm as it's portrayed in MMII, but it's a dragon type the PCs haven't fought before, it can use 9th level sorcerer spells, and it can still fly using the fly spell as a spell-like ability at will. And my players won't understand that, technically, Tiamat wouldn't care about a linnorm. It's a rare dragon type, and I think it's cool.

Yeah, the linnorm is cool. But you might consider the Hellfire Wyrm. It kinda has the whole "hellish dragon" going on and is very close to the same power level. I'd have to look at it (which I am not right now...) to see if it has the 9th level spells, but it is a very nasty looking dragon and could be a lot of fun. It's too bad that you don't have Draconomicon... There are some great Lower Planes dragons in there.

Concerning the paeliryon, I'm so glad you informed me of their connection to Malbolge. That makes this whole scenario that much more meaningful, as my 27HD paeliryon is actually a remade NPC foe from Dungeon's Age of Worms campaign named Lashonna. In the modules, she's a vampiric silver dragon, but I didn't quite like that, so I switched her to a paeliryon. The idea that those devils primarily function in Malbolge makes the imprisonment of the cleric near there all the more relevant, so thank you! The PCs are now assaulting one of Lashonna's strongholds, so using A Paladin in Hell makes even more sense, allowing me to string along the Age of Worms past the destruction of Kyuss.

Glad I could help. Really, I pointed it out to give you another avenue for Archduke/duchess interference.

 

[Crust]

I'm excited to get my hands on FC 2.

OK, I see your point. Arch-devils later, if ever. I just wanted to introduce some nasty, unknown devils to the players. Give them something to gawk at. You know.

And I do own Draconomicon. I looked at the planer dragons, and they were all too, well, dragony. I was hoping I could use something like the magma drake, but those drakes are weak, and the planar dragons have no spellcasting levels. I might toss in a pyroclastic dragon with Tiamat's retinue, but it doesn't have the punching power I need. The group will obviously be immune to fire, so using the pyroclastic alone isn't enough. The styx dragon might be useful. In fact, just glancing at the book, I might have to toss in a pyroclastic or two, just to add another "hellish" dragon. The hellfire wyrm is cool, and I'll have to add some hit die to it, so that's also a good idea.

In fact, I've been paging through my issues of Dungeon, and I found a Styx Linnorm in issue #150 that inhabits the River Styx. It could work. Charon is also beefed up from the base maraenoloth, which I like a lot. Yeah, Charon might have more important things to do, but the PCs won't know it's "THE" Charon. They can guess, but that's all they'll be doing.