For players and Dungeon Masters exploring Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, Reddit has become a treasure trove of tips, resources, and shared experiences. This epic Dungeons & Dragons campaign takes adventurers from the seedy streets of Baldur’s Gate into the burning depths of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. While the module provides a strong narrative, it’s the community discussions on Reddit that often help shape, clarify, and elevate the game. Whether you’re looking for creative ways to run encounters, ideas to deepen NPCs, or feedback on pacing, Reddit offers practical advice straight from fellow players and DMs navigating the infernal storyline.
The Power of Community Insight
Reddit Threads as a DM Toolbox
On subreddits liker/DnD,r/dndnext, and especiallyr/DescentintoAvernus, Dungeon Masters share their real-time experiences with the campaign. From session prep to post-game debriefs, these threads serve as a living guidebook. One of the most common uses is solving plot pacing issues, particularly how to handle the transition from Baldur’s Gate to Avernus smoothly. Some DMs feel the module rushes this segment, while others use Reddit’s shared side quests and roleplay scenes to enrich it organically.
Advice from Experienced DMs
Reddit is full of seasoned DMs who have completed Descent into Avernus and are eager to help others succeed. Their advice often includes detailed breakdowns of problematic encounters, such as managing the complexity of Mad Maggie’s dream machine or balancing the soul coin economy in Avernus. These insights prevent novice DMs from being caught off guard and improve the overall quality of the game.
Enhancing Baldur’s Gate
Making the City Feel Alive
Many Reddit users note that the Baldur’s Gate portion can feel short or underdeveloped. To fix this, DMs often expand the city using homebrew content found on Reddit. Popular additions include:
- Expanded city factions with detailed goals
- Extra encounters tied to the Vanthampur family
- Custom maps of key city locations
This helps the players form a real attachment to the city before it’s threatened by infernal forces, giving the campaign more emotional weight.
Integrating Player Backstories
Reddit discussions encourage DMs to personalize Baldur’s Gate by tying player backstories directly into its politics, criminal underworld, or Watch operations. If a character has a shady past, it’s easy to link them to the Guild. Noble characters might have ties to patriar families. These custom threads deepen immersion before the group plunges into Hell.
Surviving Avernus: Reddit’s Best Tips
Handling the Harsh Environment
Once the players enter Avernus, survival becomes more than just winning fights. The land itself is hostile, and many Reddit threads offer guidance on how to make this hellscape feel truly dangerous. Common suggestions include:
- Tracking exhaustion from extreme heat and stress
- Making soul coins rare and meaningful
- Forcing tough moral decisions involving devils and contracts
These elements help reinforce the theme of moral decay and the cost of power.
Infernal War Machines Done Right
One standout feature of Descent into Avernus is the use of infernal war machines. However, many DMs on Reddit say the mechanics can feel clunky or underdeveloped. The community offers simplified rulesets, custom chase encounters, and suggestions for cinematic vehicle battles. Some even create new machines or devil-riding factions that keep players engaged during long stretches across Avernus’ ash-covered wastes.
Devil Deals and Roleplay
Reddit is rich with creative devil NPC ideas and contract examples. Since deals with devils are central to the Avernus theme, many users post unique contracts with tempting terms and hidden consequences. These deals often tie into players’ flaws, ambitions, or fears, encouraging heavy roleplay. DMs are advised to foreshadow the true cost of each agreement, creating long-term consequences that ripple throughout the campaign.
Expanding Zariel and the Story’s Heart
Humanizing the Fallen Angel
Zariel, the central antagonist, is often described on Reddit as a character who deserves more depth. To address this, DMs add flashbacks, NPCs who knew her before her fall, or prophetic visions. Redditors frequently share dialogue snippets, homebrew scenes, and modified dream sequences that allow players to better understand Zariel’s tragic descent. This adds emotional complexity to the final confrontation and can open up redemption paths that players feel invested in.
Layered Choices for the Finale
Rather than a simple fight or spare decision, Reddit DMs create branching outcomes based on player actions throughout the campaign. Did the players free Lulu from guilt? Did they resist temptation or become corrupted themselves? Did they gather allies from Hell? These Reddit-influenced ideas result in more satisfying, personalized endings that feel earned through months of storytelling.
Common Reddit Homebrew Additions
Side Quests and Custom Maps
To prevent travel fatigue, Redditors have created dozens of side quests scattered across Avernus. These include:
- Fortresses taken over by rival devils
- Lost souls seeking redemption
- Infernal relics with cursed powers
Custom maps and art assets are also widely shared, helping DMs visualize Hell’s surreal geography without relying on the official content alone.
Revamping Weak Encounters
Some encounters in the official module such as the Crypt of the Hellriders or the Bone Brambles are criticized for being underwhelming. Reddit often suggests better encounter pacing, thematic enemy replacements, or puzzle mechanics to elevate these moments. These tweaks not only increase challenge but also tighten the narrative connection between scenes.
Balancing Combat and Roleplay
Giving Players Agency
Reddit frequently emphasizes the importance of choice. DMs are encouraged to let players shape the outcome of the story through meaningful dialogue, faction alliances, and personal sacrifice. Rather than railroading them through scripted events, the Reddit community favors sandbox-style storytelling where Avernus feels alive and reactive.
Encouraging Player-Driven Goals
Some campaigns lose steam when players don’t feel invested. Reddit offers suggestions like giving each player a personal goal in Avernus rescuing a loved one, reclaiming a lost memory, or undoing a past mistake. These goals can be used by devils as bargaining chips and help turn the overarching narrative into something more intimate and driven by emotion.
Why Reddit Makes a Difference
Whether you’re a first-time Dungeon Master or a veteran storyteller, Reddit provides immense value when running Descent into Avernus. From homebrew enhancements and gameplay fixes to deep thematic analysis and shared battle maps, the platform helps refine every aspect of the experience. Community feedback turns a good module into a great campaign. It’s a living, evolving space where ideas are tested, refined, and passed on to help the next table tell an even better story.
For those descending into the burning pits of Avernus, Reddit isn’t just a resource it’s a lifeline. It gives you the tools to make Baldur’s Gate feel like a living city, Avernus like a cursed land full of danger and opportunity, and your players like true agents of fate. And in the hellish inferno where angels fall and devils reign, that makes all the difference.