These Random Encounters For The Nine Hells Will Make A Hellish Experience For Any D&D Party

Summary

Devils and demons causes chaos in Hell’s Blood War, offering unique encounters for players with unexpected alliances.
Hell has cities, bars, and markets for players to explore. Players can trade with devils for powerful items, but at a cost.
Players could encounter Tiamat, corrupted good beings, and damned souls in Hell. Players must navigate dangerous territories and make tough choices.

Dungeons & Dragons offers many areas to explore, but few of them reach the same level of danger as Hell itself – and there are many dangerous places in this multiverse. It’s divided into nine layers, so there are quite a few things you can throw in your players’ way – aside from any devil from the 2025 Monster Manual, obviously.

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a barbed, horned and chain devils.

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After all, Hell in D&D is a civilization of its own rather than a hellscape where monsters are just roaming and fighting one another. Between places to have fun, iconic characters, and dangerous locations, you can run into many things while venturing into the Nine Hells.

10

Demonic Invasion

Consequences Of The Blood War

Dungeons & Dragons art of a gnoll or evil wild shape druid moves to attack. — Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll by Tyler Jacobson

Devils and demons are not the same, and they hate each other, in fact. They’re known for the constant fights against one another, aka the Blood War. While your party is definitely expecting to see devils in Hell, a sudden appearance of demons might be a fun twist.

Since this would be an invasion, it can happen anywhere at any time, and if you want your players to actually befriend a particular devil (to backstab the party later), having them fight side by side against demon invaders is a good way to make them bond.

9

Devil Battalion

Or Maybe Just A Squadron

Bearded Devil from Dungeons & Dragons. — Art by Yongjae Choi

Finding devils in Hell is obvious, but to make things a little different, the party could come across a group of militarized devils. The party can run into a full squad of devils who are ready to descend into the Abyss or defend Hell from demons.

All that said, devils are not nice, so a group of fully militarized devils spotting a party of outsiders can easily develop into a fight, as souls are an interesting coin for hellish creatures, and a party of players has a few souls that might interest them.

8

A Bar

Yes, Really

Dungeons & Dragons image showing several tiefling playing cards. — Tieflings playing cards by Clint Cearley

Hell actually has a lot of cities in it, and devils also need to blow off some steam, apparently. Not to mention that Avernus, in particular, usually has the occasional mortal (your party included), so a place for them to visit (and be tempted by devils) is not uncommon.

Hell also offers drinks that burn the inside of your body a bit but are theoretically good, so you can even have some fun moments with players drinking, having fun, and feeling pain, too. How much can they stomach?

7

A Market

Yes, This One Works, Too

A longsword with a rocky hilt and an obsidian blade. — Blackrazor from Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014) via Wizard’s of the Coast.

Another thing that surprisingly works in Hell is devils selling things. You can use this as a perfect opportunity to offer extremely powerful magical items for your players, but the cost can also be something intense.

Orcus, Tiamat, and Asmodeus, from Dungeons & Dragons

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You can trade for favors, make pacts, or even demand complicated things, like an innocent person’s soul, a player’s precious memory, or other abstract things, like an emotion. You can demand weird things with a devil.

6

A Devil With A Bargain

Let’s Make A Deal

Asmodeus sits on a throne, wielding a scepter. He has red horns and wears dark red and black robes. — Asmodeus the Archfiend by Aleksi Briclot

Speaking of pacts, the party can run into a devil who is happy to help them with whatever they need to do in Hell in exchange for similar things we listed above or something else entirely, depending on what you want to go with.

This devil can even become a temporary ally, but depending on how you phrase your deal and what exactly you said you’d help with, you can easily leave the party in a bind while technically doing your part.

5

Styx

The River Of Blood

Dungeons & Dragons image showing dead adventurers traversing the river Styx. — Art by Irina Nordsol

Styx isn’t a creature but a river, so the players won’t have a random encounter with it. However, this is a complicated river, as its waters can make someone forget who they are completely, and the effects can even be permanent.

Having a random encounter that involves traversing the river, fighting monsters on the river (some live there), or maybe even having to traverse the river while fighting and making sure no one falls into the water are all excellent ideas with high stakes.

4

Tiamat

Mother Of Dragons

D&D A wizard gesturing to the five headed dragon Tiamat that roars. — Tiamat MtG Art from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms by Chris Rahn

This encounter shouldn’t end in a fight (unless your party is really strong), as Tiamat is a CR 30 monster, but since she’s trapped in Avernus and your players are hanging out there, this is the perfect moment to have them meet one of the most iconic characters in D&D.

You can have a simple roleplaying segment, or she can offer powers or deals similar to devils (and her help is even better, so she can demand more in return), or it could lead to escaping from her since fighting her is too much. Or have them fight her if they can take it.

3

Corrupted Good Beings

Evil Corrupts All

Dungeons & Dragons image showing Zariel and her devils fighting demons in Avernus. — Descent into Avernus Cover Art by Tyler Jacobson

One thing a lot of players (and even DMs) forget about the Lower Planes is that they’re made from the essence of evil itself, and merely staying in Hell for a long time, exposed to such evil, can corrupt anyone, including the players.

dungeons & dragons collague showing a volcanoe, asmodeus and an iron city

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A fun random encounter (and a reminder that they can’t stay there long) is having a famously good-aligned creature, like a celestial, as a corrupted enemy for them to fight against. Bonus points if it’s someone they met before Hell and know that they’re good, making the corruption clearer and making them risk killing an NPC they may like.

2

Damned Souls

The End Of The Pact

Lemures from Dungeons & Dragons (DND). — Art by John Tedrick

Along with good beings, they can see mortals suffering from the consequences of whatever pact they sealed with a devil, leading them to Hell. They can be lemures, their souls can be used as currency, or they could be slaves, among other options.

This idea also works if they see a known NPC who became a damned soul for dealing with a devil, or also a strong image to show your party if one of the players has made a pact with a devil – they can see what their future could become.

1

A Caravan Of Ores

Or Souls

A vistani wagon in Dungeons & Dragons in the Curse of Strahd module. — Vistani Wagon via Wizards of the Coast

We mentioned how you could add magical items here or there through markets or deals, but one thing that’s also valuable from the Hells is its unique minerals. The players could gather resources and later make special gear or sell it once out of Hell.

Finding caravans moving these ores around is an efficient way to run into this without having to divert the session into searching for ores. Alternatively, a caravan transporting souls as currency can be a morally intriguing choice since good-aligned players might want to free these souls.