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A Paladin in Hell

Under construction!

I’m kicking off Obormot’s Dungeon Maps with a classic adventure module from the late ’90s (the final days of D&D’s 2nd edition): Monte Cook’s A Paladin in Hell.

(Scroll to the end of the post for download links.)

This is a great module, one of Monte Cook’s own favorites, and one that I’ve run myself (using the Pathfinder rules) to great effect. If your high-level party is itching to go on a quest to the Lower Planes, save the universe from the machinations of the Lord of Hell, and kick a whole lot of devil (and demon!) ass, A Paladin in Hell will give them the chance to do all of that as few other modules do. Players of Good-aligned characters—especially paladins, of course—really get to feel like righteous crusaders against Evil in this adventure.

A Paladin in Hell features several imaginative and interesting dungeons, which really evoke the strangeness of the Outer Planes, and explore some of the possibilities for the bizarre that open up when you go plane-hopping. The environments that the player characters explore (and fight their way through) positively drip with evil.

(Go to Power Score for an excellent rundown of just some of the awesome stuff this module has. Contains lots of spoilers!)

Here’s one of the original maps. This is Citadel Coldsteel, the stronghold of Geryon, deposed Lord of Stygia. Coldsteel acts as the staging point for the diabolical plot that will put Geryon back in the good graces of Asmodeus, and once more win him rulership of the fifth layer of Hell—unless the PCs stop him, of course!

Yes, that does say “Stuffed Bulette”. It’s been hollowed out and fitted with mechanical controls—basically, converted into a tank. (Have I mentioned that this module is awesome?) The PCs in the group I ran the module for commandeered the thing, took the triple-barreled ballista from area 20, mounted it in the bulette's mouth, and used the now-armed bulette tank to terrorize the devils.