FORBES: Out of the Abyss preview

Article here. Mostly just covers NPCs in the campaign and that's it, along with respective portraits. Have to say, so far it seems like I was watching a Saturday morning cartoon reading about them all

Is that bad? This looks absolutely amazing to me.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I'm genuinely glad that this article was up, because up until I read this, I was going to purchase it hands down.

That seems odd because someone who saw the earlier draft has already said that most of the campaign is really dark, so they put some of these NPCs in to lighten it a bit. Therefore, I would think it's super easy to just modify the personalities of the NPCs and still have a very dark campaign left as written.

 

[exile]

I will say that I do really dig the art; and the book looks like it will be worth the purchase for that alone.

 

[Agamon]

I think some people are mistaking this for sunshine and lollipops. It's more dark humor than golly gosh darn silliness.

Clowns can be silly. They can also be scary. Out-of-place crazy chaos can make one roll one's eyes, but it can also be quite creepy. Presentation matters, so a DM can create whatever atmosphere they want when running the game.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

People see a few NPC names and suddenly the long campaign is just all silliness? Castle Greyhawk all over again? I'd probably reserve judgement until some real reviews come in or you can read it. Maybe the Pudding King has control over a bunch of puddings? Who can say.

 

[Mercule]

I said this, in the poll, but it probably bears mention here:

1) I hate silly in my games, as a general rule. My players know better than to use pun names, tinker gnomes, etc.
2) I hate the Forgotten Realms and would love to see it go out of print/support.
3) I hate the Underdark. It's potentially the dumbest idea from a setting I loathe.
4) I hate the drow. They may not have originated in the Realms, but they have become a boil on the nethers of the Underdark (see #3). I don't know that they're in the module, but odds are better than even.

I am totally ready to drop my cash and run this module. I can't even fathom what about it interests me, but it does. I like demons, so maybe that's it. I don't think so, though. I'd say the whimsy that was added is going to push all the above stuff I hate to the side with a wink of "It's just a game, man. Relax and have fun." It may fail to live up to expectations, but the more I hear, the more I'm interested.

 

[Uchawi]

The NPCs appear to be roleplaying props. I would be more concerned about the story line. I prefer more motivations like the drow where there is a direct cause to what they are doing versus random side shows. It will be really interesting how the factions compete against each other. Regardless of demons the underdark is a harsh and formidable environment.

 

[I'm A Banana]

The dark whimsy especially strikes me as a little Planescape-y. I might like it because it reminds me a little of that. Some of the most hilarious things in PS were monsters and horrors and idiots who would quickly wind up dead. The reminder that life in this setting is nasty, brutish, and short had a dark humor to it that was very distinct and appreciated. It was very evocative of the low wit of a Dickensian dystopia. All the wonders of heaven and earth and all the horrors, too.

And over here we have the Pudding King, who will undoubtedly be melting the flesh off of innocent gnomes or somesuch, but his name is the Pudding King, and his pets are oozes, and that doesn't mean he won't be announcing his presence to illusory trumpets blaring over the tortured screams of his victims.

That's hilarious and dark and I want to run that scene.

Those are high expectations - the adventure might not live up to that hype - but it looks like it could.

Y'know, my current character in a Dragonlance campaign is a tinker gnome wild mage who is a little cartoonish and definitely mad and wants to slay the gods, and now I'm a little sad he'll be used up and not in the running for this campaign.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Clearly this campaign is made for a light cleric, from all the stuff released so far.

 

[HarrisonF]

Did anyone else notice that it mentioned that one of the NPC's was psionically gifted? Does that mean we are going to get psionics rules as part of the players guide?

 

[Staffan]

Did anyone else notice that it mentioned that one of the NPC's was psionically gifted? Does that mean we are going to get psionics rules as part of the players guide?

Probably not - the playtest wasn't that long ago, and they said that they're looking to do the psionics playtest in stages. It's more likely that the NPC will have innate spellcasting flavored as psionics, just like the mind flayer.