D&D 5E [CAMPAIGN] Out of the Abyss [SPOILERS]

[Celtavian]

Enemy Modifications: Elite Drow Warrior

ELF: DROW ELITE WARRIOR CR 5 (1,800 XP)
Medium humanoid (elf), neutral evil
Armor Class 18 (elven chain, defense fighting style); Hit Points 71 (11d8+22); Speed 30’
STR 13 (+1) DEX 18 (+4) CON 14 (+2) INT 11WIS 13 (+1) CHA 12 (+1)
Saves Dex +7, Con +5, Wis +4
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +10 (advantage on hide checks, disadvantage on perception to spot due to piwafwi)
Senses darkvision 120’, passive Perception 14; Languages Elvish, Undercommon

Fey Ancestry. The drow has advantage on saves against being charmed, and magic can’t put the drow to sleep.

Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks that rely on sight.

Innate Spellcasting: Dancing Lights (at will). Action to cast, 120’, concentration up to 1 minute. The drow creates four torch-sized motes of light within range, or one in the form of a Medium humanoid. The lights shed 10’ of dim light. As a bonus action, the drow can move them up to 60’ to a spot within range.

Innate Spellcasting: Darkness (1/day). Action to cast, 60’, concentration up to 10 minutes. The drow spreads darkness in a 15’-radius sphere centered on a point within range, an unattended object in range, or an object the drow is holding. The darkness spreads around corners. The darkness dispels an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower.

Innate Spellcasting: Faerie Fire (1/day). Action to cast, 60’, concentration up to 1 minute. Each object in a 20’ cube within range is outlined in light. A creature in the cube may make a DC 13 Dex save to avoid the effect. If outlined, attacks against the target have advantage, and the target can’t benefit from being invisible.

Innate Spellcasting: Levitate (1/day). Action to cast, self only, concentration up to 10 minutes. The drow rises 20’ and can change its altitude 20’ as movement. It can move horizontally by grabbing a nearby fixed object, essentially climbing.

Defensive Fighting: Drow elite warriors are trained to defend themselves when fighting. They have a +2 bonus to AC.

Piwafwi (Cloak of Elevenkind): Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when hiding. Opponents have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to see them.

ACTIONS: Multiattack. The drow makes two shortsword attacks and can make two offhand attacks as a bonus action.

(2) +1 Shortswords. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5’, one target. Hit: 1d6+5 piercing damage.

Hand Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30’/120’, one target. Hit: 1d6+4 piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Con save or be poisoned for 1 hour.
If the save fails by 5 or more, the target is unconscious while poisoned. The target wakes up if it is damaged or if someone uses an action to awaken the target.

REACTIONS: Parry. The drow adds 3 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. The drow must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon

 

[Celtavian]

Enemy Modification: Shoor the Elite Drow Warrior

SHOOR ELF: DROW ELITE WARRIOR CR 6 (2,300 XP)
Medium humanoid (elf), neutral evil
Armor Class 19 (+2 elven chain, defense fighting style); Hit Points 80 (12d8+24); Speed 30’
STR 13 (+1) DEX 20 (+5) CON 14 (+2) INT 14 (+2) WIS 13 (+1) CHA 12 (+1)
Saves Dex +8, Con +5, Wis +4
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +11 (remember piwafwi)
Senses darkvision 120’, passive Perception 14; Languages Elvish, Undercommon

Fey Ancestry. The drow has advantage on saves against being charmed, and magic can’t put the drow to sleep.

Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks that rely on sight.
Innate Spellcasting: Dancing Lights (at will). Action to cast, 120’, concentration up to 1 minute. The drow creates four torch-sized motes of light within range, or one in the form of a Medium humanoid. The lights shed 10’ of dim light. As a bonus action, the drow can move them up to 60’ to a spot within range.

Innate Spellcasting: Darkness (1/day). Action to cast, 60’, concentration up to 10 minutes. The drow spreads darkness in a 15’-radius sphere centered on a point within range, an unattended object in range, or an object the drow is holding. The darkness spreads around corners. The darkness dispels an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower.

Innate Spellcasting: Faerie Fire (1/day). Action to cast, 60’, concentration up to 1 minute. Each object in a 20’ cube within range is outlined in light. A creature in the cube may make a DC 13 Dex save to avoid the effect. If outlined, attacks against the target have advantage, and the target can’t benefit from being invisible.

Innate Spellcasting: Levitate (1/day). Action to cast, self only, concentration up to 10 minutes. The drow rises 20’ and can change its altitude 20’ as movement. It can move horizontally by grabbing a nearby fixed object, essentially climbing.

Defensive Fighting: Drow elite warriors are trained to defend themselves when fighting. They have a +2 bonus to AC.

Piwafwi (Cloak of Elevenkind): Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when hiding. Opponents have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to see them.

ACTIONS Multiattack. The drow makes two shortsword attacks and can make two-offhand attacks as a bonus action.

(2) +1 Shortswords. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5’, one target. Hit: 1d6+6 piercing damage.

Hand Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30’/120’, one target. Hit: 1d6+4 piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Con save or be poisoned for 1 hour.
If the save fails by 5 or more, the target is unconscious while poisoned. The target wakes up if it is damaged or if someone uses an action to awaken the target.

REACTIONS
Parry. The drow adds 3 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. The drow must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon

 

[Celtavian]

Enemy Modification: Asha Vandree Drow Priestess

DM Notes: I wanted the drow priestess with the slave hunting group to be more powerful given the spell power on the side of the characters. I also refuse to allow the wand of viscid globes to short circuit encounters if it falls into the hands of the PCs. I read Mike Mearls making a flippant remark about the power of Lolth allowing the wand to work against Legendary Creatures and her fellow Demon Lords. I find this to be a completely ridiculous idea. The Restrained condition could turn fights against powerful legendary creatures into an anticlimactic joke. Hit the creature, restrain it, and then pepper it with ranged spells and weapon attacks. The fight goes from epic to a foolish joke that only a hack DM would allow the PCs to exploit against such powerful creatures. It was hack adventure design that allowed the wand of viscid globs into the game without limitation. I find Mearls comment rationalizing why an item classified as rare and created by drow would affect creatures classified as legendary including unique beings like Demon Lords. WotC should have taken quick and decisive steps to limit this magic item's ability to affect combats against legendary creatures, especially demon lords. I highly recommend that any DM that doesn't want a foolish design decision to short circuit epic fights against demon lords to modify the wand accordingly. This is by far the worst design choice other than usual overly weak enemies I've found im the module. This kind of magic item can completely short circuit nearly every major fight. It's way too powerful and easy to use in its current form. It should have never made it into an adventure like Out of the Abyss in its current form. If I had Mike Mearls job at WotC, I would have made it known how unhappy I was with the designer of the item and immediately issued a change to maintain the difficulty of fights against the demon lords. Its decisions like this that can harm an otherwise high quality product. That is my little rant on this decision.

Asha Vandree: ELF: DROW PRIESTESS OF LOLTH CR 8 (3,900 xp)
Medium humanoid (elf), chaotic evil
Armor Class 18 (elven chain, shield); Hit Points 71 (13d8+13); Speed 30’
STR 10 DEX 14 (+2) CON 12 (+1) INT 13 (+1) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 16 (+3)
Saves Con +4, Wis +7, Cha +7
Skills Insight +7, Perception +7, Religion +4, Stealth +5
Senses darkvision 120’, passive Perception 17
Languages Elvish, Undercommon

Fey Ancestry. The drow has advantage on saves against being charmed, and magic can’t put the drow to sleep.

Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks that rely on sight.

Piwafwi (Cloak of Elevenkind): Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when hiding. Opponents have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to see them.

Innate Spellcasting: Dancing Lights (at will). Action to cast, 120’, concentration up to 1 minute. The drow creates four torch-sized motes of light within range, or one in the form of a Medium humanoid. The lights shed 10’ of dim light. As a bonus action, the drow can move them up to 60’ to a spot within range.

Innate Spellcasting: Darkness (1/day ). Action to cast, 60’, concentration up to 10 minutes. The drow spreads darkness in a 15’-radius sphere centered on a point within range, an unattended object in range, or an object the drow is holding. The darkness spreads around corners. The darkness dispels an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower.

Innate Spellcasting: Faerie Fire (1/day ). Action to cast, 60’, concentration up to 1 minute. Each object in a 20’ cube within range is outlined in light. A creature in the cube may make a DC 15 Dex save to avoid the effect. If outlined, attacks against the target have advantage, and the target can’t benefit from being invisible.

Innate Spellcasting: Levitate (1/day ). Action to cast, self only, concentration up to 10 minutes. The drow rises 20’ and can change its altitude 20’ as movement. It can move horizontally by grabbing a nearby fixed object, essentially climbing.

Spellcasting: 10th-level, Wis-based, DC 15, +7 to hit; 1st (4 slots): cure wounds, command, healing word, bless, bane 2nd: (3 slots) spiritual weapon, hold person, blindness/deafness, web 3rd: (3 slots) dispel magic, mass healing word 4th: (3 slots) banishment, death ward. 5th: (2 slots) scrying, insect plague.

Guidance (cantrip). Action to cast, touch, 1 round. Once before the spell ends, the target may add 1d4 to an ability check of its choice.
Poison Spray (cantrip). Action to cast, 10’, instantaneous. The target creature must make a DC 15 Con save or take 3d12 poison damage.
Resistance (cantrip). Action to cast, touch, instantaneous. Once before the spell ends, the target can add 1d4 to a save.
Spare the Dying (cantrip). Action to cast, touch, instantaneous. The drow stabilizes a living creature that has 0 hit points. The spell has no effect on constructs or undead.
Thaumaturgy (cantrip). Action to cast, 30’, Up to 1 minute. The drow can create one of the following magical effects within range for the duration: a booming voice; flames that flicker, brighten, dim, or change color; harmless tremors; an instantaneous sound (e.g., a thunder clap); the opening or closing of an unlocked door or window; or the alteration of the drow’s own eyes. If cast more than once, the drow can have up to three effects occurring simultaneously.

ACTIONS Multiattack. The drow priestess makes two scourge attacks.

Scourge. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5’, one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage plus 17 (5d6) poison damage. The scourge only functions for worshippers of Lolth.

Summon Demon (1/day). The drow magically summons a yochlol with a 30% chance of success. If the attempt fails, the drow takes 5 (1d10) psychic damage. Otherwise, the demon appears in an unoccupied space within 60’ of the drow and can’t summon other demons. It remains for 10 minutes, until the drow dies, or until the drow dismisses it as an action.

Wand of Viscid Globs: +7 ranged spell attack. Damage: Restrained for one hour. 60 feet range. Dissolves instantly if exposed to direct sunlight. 7 charges. Does not work on creatures with Legendary Actions.

 

[olderj]

Looking forward to updates. This has been a great resource so far.

 

[Celtavian]

Real life came up for a buddy of mine. He has to take a break from the table. He's a new father. He likes the campaign and wants to keep playing, so we're waiting for him to get back before continuing. Might be a month or more depending on how soon he can get time for gaming. Updates will be slow for a while, but I will continue this campaign and have lots of fun and evil stuff planned.

I will toss up some encounters I changed before we took a break and some stuff for the start of Gracklstugh.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Why did you buff Asha instead of Illvra give that Asha is supposed to be a normal NPC Priest not even near the level of Illvra. Also why can the Elites make 2 attacks as a bonus action instead of the 1 they are supposed to.

 

[Celtavian]

Why did you buff Asha instead of Illvra give that Asha is supposed to be a normal NPC Priest not even near the level of Illvra. Also why can the Elites make 2 attacks as a bonus action instead of the 1 they are supposed to.

I buffed Asha because I want to use Ilvara later and the characters are higher level, an NPC priest would be an insufficient challenge along with insufficient xp against level 5 characters. I've modified the encounters so the PCs will be level 5 by the time they reach Gracklstugh because I intend to take the PCs to level 20 and higher by the end of the campaign. This is one of the few adventures where the PCs are fighting enemies that are powerful enough to shake the very planes of existence as well as the entirety of the FR, so I want to use this as an opportunity to have the players become heroes that are known across the planes. By the end they will have cast the rulers or The Abyss back into The Abyss by the might of their arms. I feel that will be best represented by players level 20 plus.

I modified the drow elite warriors to match the damage output for their level. They originally had poison blades that never stopped producing poison, like they are magical. When my players fought the drow elite warriors initially, they wanted to take their poison blades. As a DM I didn't want to tell them no because I felt it would hurt verisimilitude. Drow have no means to constantly produce poison like a snake, spider, or other magical creatures. I imagine I could have written Elite Warriors as having blades blessed by Lolth to produce endless poison while in the hands of a worshipper. I decided to take a little page out of the past and make Drow Elite Warriors the best two-weapon fighters in Faerun and take away their poisonous blades. It produces roughly the same damage output, while providing the drow with a unique fighting ability they possessed in the far past that I always liked. To simplify, it was a style choice.

Now my players are asking if they can obtain drow two-weapon fighting. I told them I might allow such a feat or an archetype if someone truly wants to pursue such a path, eventually giving them an extra off-hand attack as a bonus action. I'll have to balance it against other abilities. For the moment my reason is that the drow train very hard to fight with two-weapons. The elite warriors are masters at two-weapon fighting exceeding the skill of other races due to genetics and rigorous and focused training beyond what other races could obtain.

 

[Celtavian]

Session 5

We're back in action.

Day 8 Continuation: The remaining Fangs of Yeenoghu hearing the previous battle turned from their pursuit of the Hook Horrors to attack the party. It was a vicious fight with Tytus and Karzak taking the worst of the Fangs attacks. They killed the six remaining Fangs. Buppido cut off the face and claws of one making a mask and bone claws he wielded with the protruding bone from the stumps. He wore them as a disguise, so that any further enemies might think twice before attacking him if they thought he was a gnoll. In typical drow fashion, they tracked down the Hook Horrors, killed them, and ate the developed eggs considering it a delicacy like Filipino balut. They found a magical shield the Hook Horrors were using as a nest for a few eggs and some gems on the gnolls.

Day 9 through 14: These days were uneventful other than a sinkhole.

Day 15: A powerful earthquake shook the earth causing the passage front and back to collapse. They quickly determined both passages were unpassable. An opening in the side of the tunnel wall revealed worked stone. The party found an ancient temple of Seveltarm inhabited by ooze creatures.

A telepathic voice spoke to Tytus, "Are you a champion or a morsel? We shall see. I have slept in fetid waters in this deep place. You have awakened me. If you are worthy to wield me, come claim thy weapon of war." Tytus led the way the through the temple with his brother Jharzzle at his back. They carved a path through a gelatinous cube, a few gray oozes, and a black pudding in a pit trap until reaching the inner chapel of the Temple to Seveltarm. The voice sent images of its location to Tytus until he pulled the blade from the fetid pool in the chapel seeing his face in its mind's eye. When he pulled the sword from the fetid waters, the temple came to life with four gray ooze sculptures coming to life and three more black puddings oozing forth from their hidden pits to kill the wielder of the blade. They slew everything making their way to where water flowed into the area from cracks in the ceiling. Once they determined they had no way to survive other than letting the water flow in and swimming upwards hoping they would find a way out, they blasted the ceiling with force blasts and fire bolts until the stone fell in letting the water carry them up to a new passage next to underground river.

The party did find a +1 mace, a +1 dagger, a couple of potions (greater healing, oil of slipperiness, and some coin in the former temple.

That is where the session ended.

DM Notes
1: I changed The Oozing Temple into a former Temple of Seveltarm. I had Jubilex's servants guarding a powerful weapon once wielded by champions of Seveltarm that the Demon Lord did not want anyone obtaining to use against them. I figured this would be more interesting than The Oozing Temple in the book.

2: I found The Oozing Temple's environmental features to be too generous. There was too much air and the water flowed too slowly. It takes the party maybe thirty minutes moving slowly to traverse the temple. 160 hours of air left 9 players over 16 hours of air each. The only way I can see breathable air being a problem is if you have a substantial number of prisoners still alive. Even with a few fire bolts being used, they never came close to consuming the breathable air. I can see a party using more fire spells having a problem. If the party doesn't use fire spells, they will have zero difficulty with the environmental factors. If you want to make the environmental danger more of a factor, I suggest you tailor the amount of air and the inflow of the water to fit the level of danger you want from the environmental factors. So smaller party, less air. You'll have to substantially increased the water flow to have any chance of making the rising water feel like a real danger.

I kept the air and water as described because I wasn't sure how many fire spells they would use. They never became a factor since the sorcerer opted for thunder chromatic orbs over fire spells. A scorching ray or flaming sphere user would have really eaten up the breathable air. The party made a lucky choice, so I didn't punish their good fortune. I figured I'd let other DMs know in case they want more dramatic tension with the environmental effects.

3: I'll list the item under the character that has it in the character description post near the beginning.

 

[Celtavian]

GRACKLSTUGH

Gracklstugh: The City of Blades

General Features: The city is next to the Darklake, an immense underground lake. It is built in caverns in the side of the walls bordering the Darklake.

Light: A hellish red glow from the numerous forges in the city mixed with patches of darkness. Duergar darkvision allows them to see in this dim light and darkness.

Noise: Clanging and clacking hammers and machinery echoes constantly giving disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to listen.

Smoke and Haze: Fumes linger at ground level mixed with some natural gas. Characters might contract Grackle-lung.

Grackle-Lung: Persistent cough and spewing of thick, black phlegm.

• a. After long rest make DC 11 Con save. Each failed save causes one level of exhaustion as airways become clogged.
• b. One or more levels exhaustion must succeed on Con check to take Dash action or complete spell with verbal component. Check: DC 10 + creature’s current exhaustion level.
• c. If creature’s exhaustion level drops below 1, no longer suffer effects and become immune for next week.
• d. Duergar and derro make con checks with advantage.

 

[Celtavian]

Gray Ghost Thief

Duergar Gray Ghosts: CR 2 (450 xp) Medium humanoid (dwarf), neutral evil
Armor Class 14 (studded leather); Hit Points 39 (6d8+6); Speed 30’
STR 12 (+1) DEX 14 (+2) CON 12 (+1) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 16 (+3)
Skills Deception +5, Insight +4, Investigation +5, Perception +6, Persuasion +5, Sleight of Hand +4, Stealth +6.
Damage Resistance: Poison
Senses darkvision 120’, passive Perception 16
Languages Dwarvish, Undercommon
Cunning Action: Bonus action Dash, Hide, or Disengage.

Duergar Resilience: Advantage on saving throws against poison, spells, and illusion, as well as to resist being charmed or paralyzed.

Sunlight Sensitivity: Disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when in sunlight.

Sneak Attack: 2d6.

Actions: Makes two attacks or one crossbow attack.

Enlarge (Recharge after short or long rest): For 1 minute, the duergar magically increases in size along with anything it is wearing or carrying. While enlarged, the duergar is Large, doubles its damage dice on Strength-based weapon attacks, and makes Strength checks and Strength saving throws with advantage. If the duergar lacks the room to become Large, it attains the maximum size possible in the space available.

Invisibility (Recharges after short or long rest): The duergar magically turns invisible for up to 1 hour or until it attacks, it casts a spell, it uses Enlarge, or its concentration is broken (as if concentrating on a spell). Any carried or worn equipment turns invisible as well.

Short Sword: Melee weapon attack. +4 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 1d6+2 piercing damage or Enlarged 2d6+2. One dose Assassin’s Blood poison applied: DC 10 Con save. Fail 1d12 poison damage and poisoned for 24 hours. Successful save half-damage and isn’t poisoned.

Apply Poison: 3: doses each of Assassin’s Blood poison.

Light Crossbow: Ranged Weapon Attack. +4 to hit, 80/120 foot range, loading, two-handed. Hit: 1d8+2 or Enlarged 2d8+2. 20: bolts. 3: Assassin’s Blood coated bolts: DC 10 Con save. Fail 1d12 poison damage and poisoned for 24 hours. Successful save half-damage and isn’t poisoned.