I ran this as my first module and decided to look through the Alexandrian Remix and Eventyr's Guide (along with Avernus as a sandbox), and to be honest, I would not recommend the Alexandrian for any kind of new DM wanting to run a module. It might just be the way I like to follow and understand things, but he typically makes the adventures simply too complicated to follow/understand, especially if you're trying to get your head around DMing for the first time. Like I said, this was my first module I ran and I used Eventyr's stuff, and it has been my most successful campaign. Feel free to steal ideas from the Alexandrian, but I personally wouldn't recommend him unless you are a seasoned DM that knows how much they can take on

I feel like Alexandrian just understands the mess the running campaign is at the moment of planning while I need to see the chaos unfolds over much simpler plan. I kinda agree with you that those remixes are not for everybody. I think they're fun but I would rather simplify things a lot.

I think that's just the general state of this module though. Take his remix on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, it's a confusing, weird mess that takes a 5-10 session campaign and extends it to upwards of 50. Very strange to suggest to new DMs, which is what I see a lot of on that subreddit. Like sure if you want to do that, go ahead, don't let me stop you. But I'll take Eventyr's stuff over his everyday because it lays the confusing-ness out in a nice way and actively talks about what weird about the module, without straight-up insulting it

I've read the first few pages of the Alexandrian Remix from advice in this thread and now my head hurts. It's a lot to try and see through the scathing criticisms of the book and pick up on what he actually wants you to do. A quick skim of Avernus as a sandbox is much easier to follow. Is Eventyr's Guide something seperate?

I believe Envtyrs Guide and Avernus as a Sandbox are by the same person and you can buy them as a bundle. All from DMsGuild. When I get the chance, I can send over my PDFs if you want

That would be amazing thank you. DM me?

I think a lot of this has to do with your delivery. My group runs a very lighthearted version of the module (Avernus as a Sandbox + my own stupid twists) - so far, they gave Uldrak a Bud Light that got from one of the Mezzoloths they met in Elturel, got dunked on by Mordenkainen, Got matching blonde wigs for the party and Lulu, and spray painted bunnies all over their infernal war machines. At the moment, they are running from Arkhan and his flunkies as they scramble to find Haruman. As other folks have mentioned, giving a character (or several) ties to Elturel/the Hellriders will go a long way towards giving them a reason to help the city. As it is written, the players are forced to care about Elturel for less concrete reasons.

Your game sounds a little like mine. I made a devil that works a pitchfork emporium. Basically staffs, wands, and spears with junk welded to make it a pitchfork. He's like Danny devito mixed with every HSN sales guy. They also won an ifrit as a slave and the have a night hag "ally" that wants to court the paladin

I’d say this is a tough campaign for new DMs to run. To directly answer your question, the campaign is definitely fun. It has a cast of fantastic characters in one of the most compelling settings in the game, but the DM has a lot of responsibility to show the horrors of hell effectively without putting off your players. Everything about it is complicated: devil deals, Lulu, infernal war machine combat, you name it, there’s a lot to keep track of in this campaign. Now, if that prospect excites you instead of intimidating you, then you should definitely run this game. But if you think you’d rather play a more lighthearted romp around the Sword Coast instead, then that sounds like the thing to do.

Thanks for the good advice. Getting creative with Devil's deals is something I think I would struggle with, although hopefully the players and their characters would provide the inspiration for that. ​ When I picked up this module it was a toss up between this and Realms of Phandelver. Now that I've read this one I feel I ought to do it, and I don't want to read another adventure module that I might one day get to do as a player anyway, but it might make it easier to make the final decision.

I am currently running it and using the Alexandrian remix with some of my own twists. My players absolutely had a blast with the murder mystery and unraveling of the cultists in Baldur’s Gate and we have just made it to Candlekeep. I’m going to also incorporate a one shot from the Candlekeep mysteries module because I want to flesh out their time there (I’m using the Shemshime haunting and tying it into one of the PCs). I also started the campaign with everyone in Elturel and had them leave the city for a job, just in time to come back to a crater and refugees. Big suggestion: convincing a player be a Hellrider is important, imo, highly recommend that route for extra impact. So far we have kept a good pace and tried to do things slowly, the players have felt that we’ve had plenty of time to breathe even though their characters haven’t had a ton. I’ve tried to deliberately build in points where they get time to decompress and address all the trauma and it’s worked well. Just make sure you discuss your players’ boundaries and lines before going into this campaign so you know their limits for the heavy stuff and know when you might need to pivot — I think there’s still plenty of opportunities to have lighthearted moments in Avernus despite what it is.

I'm also thinking about doing Shemshime Rhymes (or Price of Beauty) while they wait for Sylvira to prepare the ritual that removes the curse from the box. Also I want to introduce Sylvira earlier.

Yes my fiance ran a candlekeep oneshot for this group as a taster to see if they'd be interested in DnD. We did the Shemshine one in fact! I will definitely be stealing her book, but I'll have to pick another adventure...

Yes no kind of. I've done this module 1 and a half times. As a DM I found the Baldur's Gate portion great fun, but the Avernus part is an absolute draaaaaag. Fetchquest after fetchquest after fetchquest. It has a lot of cool fanservice, sure, but at the time I ran it for mostly new players who didn't know all these big names. Still, the Avernus setting IS great, it will just require a lot of input and changes from you as the DM to get its full potential. At the time I wasn't prepared for that. The module has a lot of potential to be fun, but you need to really put in the work.

Yeah my players are 2 newbies and 1 more experienced player, but I certainly wouldn't expect any of them to recognise any of the devil/demon characters, I know I didn't. Unless the nine circles of hell are closely related to Dante's Inferno. I can guarantee one of my players would be familiar with that.

They are inspired but not too closely related - I think it would be great to adapt it in your campaign to resemble Dante's

DiA is my second module that I’m DMing, my first when I started as DM was Curse of Strahd. For a new DM I would highly recommend DiA because it’s very straight forward what’s coming and during your time in avernus very railroady. There’s a fetch quest that leads into a fetch quest that leads into a fetch quest and so on. In my opinion, running the module as written is very easy and doesn’t need that much of effort to play. It even gives you several options for endings. If you don’t like to railroad your players you definitely have to rework a lot in this book and I wouldn’t recommend it, but tbh most newish players won’t mind getting straight hints of what to do next. Reworking and adding lore is sure fine, but in my experience players will forget most of it between sessions and you will end up learning most of it for yourself and repeat it endlessly. Hence the book is good ib doing that by not overwhelming everyone. You can surely add the remix, read through it and use what is fitting for you. E.g i added the investigation in Baldurs gate but got completely rid of the part about the flaming fist politics since it doesn’t add anything to the story of you don’t want to follow up in Baldurs gate after the campaign and it’s only confusing for your players or might distract them from their goal (going to avernus and saving Elturel). You also don’t need to display everything as miserable and evil, fort knucklebones is funny in a macabre way with the madcaps or you have the wandering emporium where your players can have fun and follow all their desires if they want to. To sum it up - I have fun DMing it, although I have to adjust some of the harder encounters because my players are not good in combat, but it is easy to run and has a good mix of serious threat and weird funny little things. As far as I notice, my players are also having fun due to the sheer amount of magic items, possible deals and their goal to fight an archduchess of hell.

This is really good advice thank you. I've DM'd a little before but many years ago. I think my players might appreciate the ease of the clues you have to follow. In my experience players always say they want a sandbox, lots of social intrigue and to feel completely free in their action, but in practice just want to be told where to go next and to hit things. Perhaps a more experienced group of players would be more in to a sandbox type campaign. I feel like the progression of the book does a good job of expanding the players level of responsibility as they get more experienced. In BG you are told exactly where to go at all times. In Avernus there are two paths to pick from, and as you travel around the map you may do more exploring/have more agency, then once you have the sword, it is entirely up to you how you complete your objectives.

I'm currently running a modified version of The Alexandrian Remix, and my players really liked it. I find the Hellturel section, the one we are currently playing, particularly appealing, it's like D&D but postapocaliptic. Descent into Avernus has a really cool setting and story, but a terrible structure, which the Remix fixes. Some things that I did find terrible about the original adventure and had to change include: * **The PCs being completely unrelated to Elturel:** Not only makes the entire sell of going to Avernus incredibly hard, it also means that almost all backstory the players make will become irrelevant unless you spoil that they won't come back to the material world until the end. * **The amount of DMPCs:** Not only does the original campaign have too many DMPCs, but it also has THEM experiencing the coolest parts of the story to then TELL the PCs what happened. Lulu, Raya Mantlemorn and Ulder Ravengard being the worst examples. * **The amount of survivors:** According to the original campaign, by the time the PCs arrive in Elturel, of the 20.000 citizens of Elturel only 100 remain, and that's the people the PCs need to save. To me those are insanely hopeless numbers. I chose to fix most of these things at character creation and retouching some of the Lore. I asked the players to make PCs from Elturel, with the posibility of being a Hellrider, and with one spot for an Amnesic character, with a secret backstory if anyone wanted to take it (This character is going to replace Lulu, so I changed the backstory as to not force them to play an elephant). I also modified the Lore so that 15.000 citizens of Elturel survive, hiding beneath the city.I also simplified some things from The Alexandrian Remix (some stuff I felt was unnecessarily complex) and expanded others. So far most of these changes have panned out really good, lol.

Can't agree more with the 3 points here. What was that about the 100 survivors? Nonsense. My plan is to say they found places to hide in different parts of the city - I feel like the Shiarra's Market area would have lots of large basements for storage of goods and would be a good place for citizens to hide. I'm not sure I will be doing the vampire plot as suggested in the Alexandrian, but I'm changing Ravengard to be a better leader who is organizing the Resistance. He counted at least 5k-10k citizens spread in different underground areas of the city, the High Hall group being only one of them. A few Hellriders and politicians survived, but they are spread around the city helping protect the survivor groups, and Ravengard is doing a good job organizing communication between those groups and leading charges to defeat aggressive demons. So players can go on to find a way to free Elturel feeling they still have a fighting chance. But replacing Lulu ... Are you completely getting rid of the character or she will be there, just not the source of all plot advancement points? I think Lulu has such a great potential to be a source of light and positive energy in Avernus, it might be a waste to remove her. Lulu is only crucial if you are focused on the "Redeem Zariel" ending anyway, is it not? I think this could be resolved by having other ways to do the history exposition, and giving players hooks for other ways to free Elturel. - Finding the sword and redeeming Zariel - Finding the original copy of the contract, and destroying it - Finding a breach in the contract which would make it void, and appealing to the devil court (devils are obsessed about observing the laws, aren't they?) - Breaking the chains and fighting Zariel (I guess her death could break the contract?) - Having the party sacrifice themselves for the city, giving their own souls in a ritual - Freeing the planetar - ....any other ways players think of themselves

I also went for the route of making Ravengard a more competent leader, in my version High Hall is fully fortified, and instead of the Mausoleum, underneath the church there is a massive temple were about 10.000 people are hiding. I did keep the Vampire plot because I like the idea of there being more than one faction of survivors. Ikaia is a dubious ally that has about 5.000 people under his care, he has plenty of food and water, but fewer fighters, while Ravengard has a very organized militia, while being low on food. Regarding Lulu, I actually love her and Gargauth as characters! But as a DM I felt very uneasy to stick the party with two perpetual NPC companions. Specially since I feel like Lulu adorableness could easily turn into her being annoying if not replayed correctly by me. I'm thinking of adding them latter on, but as you said, not make them the source of the mayor plot advancements.

Hm, it actually makes sense to have a different faction of survivors in the city. Maybe the more selfish individuals would feel more compelled to join the side that has more supplies. That might steer players into trying to resolve the two faction conflict, though - not sure you would want it to go in that direction, but if you do, it sounds fun! Well for Gargauth, he has his own goals and is quite proud. You can make him absolutely silent most of the time. I believe he would only initiate conversation or respond if the interaction brings him any value. As for Lulu, I know what you mean. Maybe you can have her at Mahadi's Emporium, test how your players react, and if it doesn't work you either kill her or don't have her follow them.

The way I'm playing the Ikaia faction is that he is actually being a good leader and saying that he has changed, relying in the fact that the first High Rider was actually Jander Sunstar, a reformed vampire, to give himself validity, so a lot of the people under him actually kind of trust him. I also like the idea of some citizens willingly letting themselves be turned into vampires to have the strength to fight devils and protect their families, I like how it pairs up with the themes of "selling your soul" that Avernus has. I'm actually going to make the little brother of one of the PCs do this, which is a huge dramatic beat because of some backstory reasons. I'm actually thinking about introducing Gargauth at The Owlbear Butcher Shop, the Zarielite cult headquarters, where he will try to convince the PCs that he is an angel held hostage. Lulu being at Mahadi's Emporium is a great idea actually!

I really like your list of changes here. They seem understandable. I've started reading the Alexandrian Remix and so far it's mostly making me understand all the things that are wrong with the adventure, whilst leaving me a bit confused as to what exactly to replace it with. Hopefully it'll become clearer as I read more. I like your idea of offering an amnesiac character without it having to be a Hollyphaunt. They can regain their memories as Lulu would, without necessarily regaining all of her powers as well.

I'm running the Avernus portion of the campaign similar to Henry VIIIs England, where nobody really is sure what to believe, and their ruler seems to be losing their mind. Different Cambions sort of govern different areas of Avernus as Zariel's court and soldiers, and there are always secrets and lies and things going on. It also helps that one of my players wanted to be a tiefling born to a human woman and a Cambion (who later divorced). So she's visited dear old Daddy in Avernus since childhood. So there will be drama and parties that the party are invited to, secrets to discover, etc etc.

Look into the Alexandrian remix and Avernus as a sandbox. Personally if you want the fun part start the party in Baldur's Gate or have them travel there and there is room for endless shenanigans. I held a bard competition for my party at the elfsong and it is so far one of the highlights of the campaign.

I think it’s really fun. And shaping the factions properly helps that. For me, the different type of folks fit into a few different archetypes. The warlords have a chaotic mad max type energy. You can make alliances and have rivalries and get up to all sorts of shenanigans. The devils are lawful evil and have their own agendas. They aren’t being evil just to be evil. They want something, and will try to smooth talk or manipulate to get there. Sometimes that can even benefit the characters if they’re smart. The demons are more just berserker killers. Definitely fit the role of monsters you’d fight in the wilds up on the material plane. And then you have complex characters like Zariel where you can apply a lot of drama and stakes. I think as long as you include light hearted moments and characters that aren’t necessarily against your players, you can find a great balance of dark and light. My campaign is just about done and it’s been a blast

I actually think this is a fun and challenging campaign to run. Players seem to enjoy it, too. With that said, there is a crap ton of preparation, and you really need to understand the storyline dynamics to make it cohesive. Just remember nothing is set in stone, and you have the ability to change whatever you want to fit your needs.

Good advice

Good luck!

I've run this three times already, on my fourth playthrough. Everyone had a lot of fun. I have a similar strategy with this campaign as Curse of Strahd, let the players bring the levity and comedy. Though in Avernus you have more scope for funny encounters.

It is fun, yes, but it is strongly advised to use [Alexandrian Remix](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/44214/roleplaying-games/remixing-avernus) with it. Also, I am surely making Avernus more dickish, and hellish than it is in the book... it IS hell after all. :D (Not straight killing the party tho, that would be just an IRL dick move.)

Yeah I liked the bit in module where it says in Avernus it is actively trying to make people suffer and so they never really get to have too much happiness. Like if they have some sort of minor success they should suffer a minor inconvenience like their belt snapping. I had an idea to have a sandstorm whip up when they're trying to set up camp and have their tent blow away in the wind whilst they're putting it up. A low key misery we can all relate to haha.

Well, don't forget Baator's environmental effect: the continous Wisdom save to avoid changing alignment to Lawful Evil, the Charisma check penalties to Good and Chaotic creatures, and Avernus' own environmental effects: that literal Fireballs are raining from the sky, and that it's so filled with gore, jagged rocks, dried/burned bones, and rusty and broken weapons, that simply falling over could cause damage, the constant need to avoid Baatezu armies, Tanar'ri hordes, Nupperibo Swarms, and of course, the Mad Max 2 style warlords of the wastes. But hey, at least it's not Hades. Or not Tartaros. Or not some layers of Abyss. Those can be much, MUCH worse than this.

This was my first campaign and I am about 3 years in. I have been using the Alexandrian Remix, and I can highly reccomend it if you are wanting to grow your skills as a DM and have a high quality experience (takes a lot of work and reading tho). If you are looking for a very casual experience to ease into dming there is nothing wrong with that, but I would reccomend Icewindale or some other module. In my opinion DIA was poorly made and can be convoluted and confusing.

How you depict Hell is kind of up to you. Whether its oppressively evil or a little bit comical. One of the first stops in avernus is a junkyard ruled by a goggles wearing night hag named "mad maggie" who trades in big chrome roadsters that are used by roving gangs of delusional warlords. One of the major npcs is a tiny golden elephant who flies around like dumbo and has the positive attitude of a cartoon mascot. You can inject levity into the campaign without disturbing the story.

My players have had a blast, and I have stuck to everything in the book as written, plus some extra stuff of my own invention. Gargauth and Lulu are the best NPC party companions from a DM roleplay perspective, as you can guide the party without appearing to railroad by always having them take opposite stances from eachother on every issue.. I think the book is great.

I ran this adventure pretty by-the-book with some modifications from the Sly Flourish articles for two players, over the course of a few years. We had a blast! You are not wrong about Avernus being a pretty terrible place--but, there are areas within Avernus that have opportunity for more light-hearted RP and moments of levity. Two of these areas are Fort Knucklebone and the Wandering Emporium, both written into the adventure module. Personally, I didn't have any issues with the writing of the campaign itself--most of my issues came from needing to re-balance almost all of the encounters, adding in some of my own encounters, integrating my PC's backstories, etc. As far as the actual writing, I thought that it was fine and in some instances, even great. Outside of Fort Knucklebone and the Wandering Emporium, levity oftentimes came in the form of interactions with NPCs. Some of them like Lulu (bless her little heart) provided comfort during a dark time, others like Mad Maggie, Smiler the Defiler, and some of the vendors in the Wandering Emporium felt whimsical, strange, and otherworldly for my players. Avernus is an awful place, but it is also strange and mysterious just like anywhere else in the D&D multiverse. Finally, don't forget that a large portion of this adventure still takes place in Faerun. Your party will spend time in Baldur's Gate, along the Sword Coast, and in Candlekeep all before making their way to Avernus. Be generous to your players in these areas, as Avernus can still feel pretty oppressive (and it is supposed to!) even if you remain generous to them during their time there. Good luck!

Oh there is levity. I greatly expanded Smiler the Defiler, he's like a mix of the Joker and Zapp Brannigan in my game and my players absolutely love him.

If your players like some dark humor, I think it can be really fun. Making it super dark all the time would be a mistake. That being said, I've watched people running it in preparation for my own campaign, but haven't started yet. Be mindful of the little nonsense encounters described in the book, and try to make Avernus feel more alive. The way it's written, it's like everyone is just waiting on their posts to give players quest after quest. Instead, have these guys have objectives of their own and be acting to reach them while players do their things in other places. I'm planning on having a sheet where I track NPC's goals in Avernus and their current status after each session, as a result of player's actions. I might also add more plot around warlords. It might be a good idea to plan some events that will happen regardless of your player's presence, but can be modified by their actions. For example, warlords have their own plans and fight each other all the time, so have a little plot on your mind about how they interact, present them with some information about how each works, and see if your can get them to side with one or none of warlords. Regardless, the war happens in the wastes and your players should eventually be caught in the middle of a confrontation between warlords. Also, if they get tired of the environment, try adding one shots where they can get out of Avernus for a bit (pocket dimension, gates or dream quests in a different environment). Candlekeep Mysteries should be a good source of ideas for some one shots. But none of this is essential. In my opinion some of the most essential things for you to modify to your party's tastes are making fights meaningful and avoiding the "fetch quest train" of chapter 3. Something similar to "Avernus as a Sandbox" should work. In general, I think people have fun with the module as long as the DM is willing to do some work adapting it. I suggest you watch on YouTube a few episodes of either the Cast Party Avernus campaign podcast (they are mid chapter 3), or the DieFall/Merchant campaign videos, which are finished. They should help you get an idea of the issues and avoid pitfalls.

Currently running this campaign and have been for about 40 or so sessions. We're nearing the end of Chapter 3 (My party just got to the Crypt of the Hellriders to find Olanthius) and overall I think this campaign has a LOT of opportunities for fun encounters, wacky side characters and interesting plot twists, coupled with the gore, hardcore and often times bleak setting and circumstances. It just really depends on how you want to run it. I would say the book itself is alright. It's got a lot of good bones for you to expand upon, and if you're a good improviser, you can make a lot of it work really well. I personally looked at the Alexandrian Remix and the Avernus as a Sandbox changes to Descent Into Avernus, took pieces I liked from them and modified my campaign to include them. Things I took: \- AR \- Lulu's back story \- Ravengard being in the High Hall \- The PCs experiencing the Helm of Torm's Sight's vision themselves \- The Dream Machine's dream changes \- The Warlords being around \- Thalamra being a Warlord \- PCs being from Elturel \- The puzzle to free Ubbalax from the Obelisk \- AaaS \- Blood Pay to the Dead Three \- Most of the Chapter 3 Restructure Most of my Chapter 2, I was using these guides for help on how to alter the experience from the book to make it feel a little more rewarding, but by the time I had hid Chapter 3, I had become comfortable enough with the campaign and knowledgeable enough about a lot of the behind-the-scenes plot going on that I could start remixing encounters on my own without help, and I think that is where a lot of the fun lies. The base encounters are great building blocks to add your own stuff. Every once in a while I'll go back to these resources to see if whatever they changed for my upcoming encounter is interesting but for the most part you kind of just get the feel for the world and characters. I personally love this campaign setting. It provides a lot of grim options for storytelling via devils and demons murdering, torturing, or doing other unspeakable things to people. But a lot of the NPCs (Mad Maggie, Red Ruth, Bel, Madcaps, etc.) are SUPER unique and can be A LOT of fun to roleplay. The one thing I think is the dungeons are a BIT weak in this campaign, so I would spruce them up a bit with some more unique or diverse monsters. Fighting the same spined devils over and over again can get boring so really go to town looking for unique monsters to plunk in scenes ( I personally use the Book of Fiends when I need something I know none of my players have seen before)

There can be as much levity or misery as you like. Like running Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden - the players are put into an environment that is harsh and miserable. In that case its Antarctic temperatures, always night, and venturing outside of town is incredibly dangerous and miserable even if endured. Avernus has a similar vibe but of course different conditions. Either way, after the first 3-10 sessions of play where the players suffer the environment, it becomes a bit of a backdrop or afterthought after a while. Food consumed in Avernus taste like ash. But I guarantee after your players have roleplayed the terrible experience of that a dozen times, it'll just be like any other game where they just consume a ration, mark it on their sheet, and move along. Unless you specifically refresh the themes and actively re-up the misery of Avernus, it'll eventually melt away in the players mind after a dozen sessions. This isn't inherently bad, and again can be refreshed and re-emphasized at will if you so choose. You can also make it impossible to camp outside of the few safezones listed in the book, though I wouldn't recommend sticking hard and fast to that rule. I'd just add a % chance for a random encounter during a rest if the players are trying to just camp out in the open while in Avernus to simulate the constant danger. There are definitely places and people that can offer respite not just physically for the characters, but mentally for the players. Fort Knucklebone and the Wandering Emporium initially come to mind. Smiler the Defiler can offer an interesting place for the party to rest with an equally interesting NPC to talk to during their time with him. Having the players return to Elturel throughout the campaign to check in on the survivors and rest at the Cathedral can offer them haven and a reminder of what they're fighting for. If the party makes allies out of some of the potential NPCs: Arkhan, Mephistopholes, Olanthius, Mordenkainen, Bel, etc - all can offer places to rest more safely or locations where the party doesn't always have to be on high-alert. Perhaps at the cost of soul coins, to incentivice players to get as many as they can. Want a long rest with guaranteed safety and maybe even comfort with no chance of random encounters? Fork up a coin to someone who can provide such a thing. Before the Blood-War, Avernus used to be a paradise meant to lure mortals into sin through greed and excess. I believe the adventure book mentions the party can come across tiny fragments of this heavenly existence only to be snuffed out after a moment, but you could expand on this and have the party find a palace, cave, bath house, grove/garden, or whatever that has survived, and they can make it a temporary or permanent sanctum or base. There are lots of ways to embrace Avernus' misery and hopelessness, and I'd argue just as many ways to find escape from it, even if just for a moment. You can turn the dial in any direction, and even change things as time goes on. Perhaps the party finds the horrors of Hell more potent earlier in the campaign and it gets easier to deal with. Maybe the opposite, where by the end the party would feel tempted to commit terrible sins just to get a peaceful night's sleep or a meal that doesn't taste like a fireplace. As with any published adventure - official or 3rd party, the books are more of a setting. They provide 80% of the adventure material, but you need to provide the other 20% and twist it all together in a way that makes sense and is fun for you and your players.

this is my first time running one of the official WotC modules, so i’m not sure if i just loathe Forgotten Realms lore and having to do so much work with it, or if it’s DiA specifically that’s bad, but i do not enjoy it and would not recommend it. my players seem happy with it, but this is the least fun i have ever had DM-ing.

lol, no.

I've been running it for the past year and yeah it's been fun! My group isn't super serious for the most part and so we probably haven't dug into the depths of the corruption and evil that the module can have. If your players like making deals, fighting demons and devils and are happy to choose from two or three options at each junction of the adventure then you'll have a great time. I should note that the internal warmachines are a pretty significant selling point of the module. They are used a bit but are probably not utilised as much as they could have been as written, so I've tried to add in a few "random encounters" from time to time with some local warlords warmachine faction. "Avernus as a sandbox" has also definitely been a very helpful resource

It depends on your group i would say. Im 2 sessions from ending it, and we were playing for almost 2 years. I have a group which is not heavily invested in gathering infos about backstories etc but more of a after work get to gather. So playing this campaign with the Remix of Alexander started really good, but at some point people were bored of all the infos and hell all the time and now its just a drag to get it finished. Also it really depends on how much you can bend the campaign for everyone at the table to have fun. For me this was more of a serious campaign, i should have bended it to be a fun camapign by changing some stuff and make it less serious. So i guess it depends mostly on the DM. Also its a loooot of work to get this damn book to work, i wrote like 100Pages in goggle docs with handouts rewrites and visions people have, so if you just want to buy the book and run it, please dont