The latest adventure to hit store shelves is Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus. The selling point is that adventurers will delve into the first level of hell, battling demons and taking command of radical soul-powered machines. The minds behind Descent Into Avernus even creatꦚed new demons to keep the action exciting. The most deadly of these, if used right, is the Abyssal Chi🦋cken.
As detailed in , Abyssal Chickens are small creatures of the Fiend type. They're native to the Abyss of Avernus, where they're apparently very low on the food chain. That's due to their small size, lack of flight despite having wings, and the fact that they taste just like chicken. At a CR of 1/4, Abyssal Chickens are not exactly the deadliest creature out there. But a DM friend of mine came up with the perfect way to make them an unexpected threat.
Make Abyssal Chickens act like Cuccos.
It probably doesn't bear explaining, but Cuccos are what The Legend of Zelda games call their chickens. There's just one important difference between Cuccos and actual chickens; If the player hits a Cucco too much, the birds will fly into a rage and attack ceaselessly. Its friends will join in, too, until the player is faced with a flock of tiny attackers that just won't stop.
My friend's idea is to place Abyssal Chickens all throughout Avernus when he runs the campaign. If his players decide to kill an Abyssal Chicken, its friends will come calling (clucking? Do Abyssal Chickens cluck?).
A flock of Abyssal Chickens would prove deadly for a party of Tier 1 adventurers (levels 1-4). Despite being small, th🅠e creatures have the Multiattack ability that lets them attack twice a turn. That ability is ridiculous on a monster of its challenge rating, and could probably down a low-level sp🌟ellcaster in one turn. Such an encounter would be a great way to show a party that everything is dangerous in Avernus.
Thankfully, Descent Into Avernus doesn't send players to hell right away. The mod is designed to have a party get into the thick of things around level seven. At that point, the DM could throw ten Abyssal Chickens at the party and it would be an easy encounter. Still, it would serve to make the point that everything in Avernus will fight back if you piss it off enough. And it would just make for a fun story later on. Consider adding more crazed Abyssal Chickens to your run of Descent Into Avernus, D꧟Ms. You may just give your play𒅌ers a battle to remember.
NEXT: The Untitled Goose Has Invaded Dungeons &𒅌;💧 Dragons Too