D&D 5E Out of the Abyss PC Races

[Werebat]

So I'm about to start the Out of the Abyss campaign. While discussing character generation, one of my players actually said they wanted to play a drow ranger with two scimitars.

Immediately after, another expressed an interest in a deep gnome, and then another, and then a fourth player wanted to play a myconid.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the assumption for the campaign that the PCs are NOT a group of Underdark races? It looks to me like they're supposed to be surface races trying (at least initially) to ESCAPE the Underdark, and unfamiliar with it, not native locals who know all about the place.

I don't want to limit my players, but I also don't want to regret allowing them to create an all-Underdark party. And I don't even know what the stats for a myconid would be.

One idea I had was to insist that anyone playing an Underdark race take the alternate background ability granting familiarity with Underdark cultures. It might be a slight deterrent that might result in a more mixed party.

What do you think?

 

[Affekonig]

Howdy.

I am actually starting that campaign this weekend. The only thing I told my players is that it takes place underground basically trying to hint that a race with dark vision would be most helpful. Other than that I would discourage them from playing strictly underdark races. I think that would take some of the fun away from them trying to play around their limitations.

 

[pukunui]

Hmm. Personally I would tell the players that Underdark races are off-limits to start with. The initial premise of the adventure is set around the PCs being surface races who've been kidnapped and brought down into the Underdark.

If you allow players to choose Underdark races, it'll take away a lot of the mystery. They'll know how to survive in the Underdark. They'll probably know their way around as well. They'd also probably have a better sense of what was going on in the Underdark.

I suppose you could rule that they're all from far-off Underdark realms and thus aren't familiar with the Darklake region. But even so, I'd be inclined to say no Underdark races to start with. Once the PCs escape from Velkynvelve and make their way to various Underdark locales, however, I think it would be fine to let the players replace dead or recaptured PCs with locals.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I think that the opening premise of being captured by the drow could work for surface or Underdark PCs. The Underdark is so vast and unfriendly that the PCs might still be considered out of their element.

There are only two tricky parts that I see. One is the early motivation of trying to escape the Underdark. Since that quickly dovetails into “investigating the demon menace” I think that’s easy enough to manage. Either that or their homelands are somewhere outside the given map – some place northeast, I’d imagine. The second potential issue is the half-way point, where the PCs potentially return to the surface until summoned to Gauntlegrym. Again, not a big deal, you just might need to come up with another section of the Underdark as a safe area.

 

[gyor]

Duergars in the Underdark are superpowerful, they long rest magic becomes short rests to regain in the Underdark, that means Enlarge and Invisiblity as short rest spells,plus suppior darkvision, and all the basic Dwarven goodies.

 

[Sunseeker]

I would say anything goes as long as the background of the player is not in alignment with demons or the drow.

However, I wouldn't allow anything that hasn't explicitly been written as a playable race in any of the official books. So I'd at least nix myconid.

 

[Pjack]

Quick fix: Let them play underdark races if they like, but make sure they have a backstory that explains why they've been living on the surface world and why they're eager to return there. Drow, duergar, and deep gnomes are rare on the surface world, but not unheard of. Maybe they're prisoners of the drow because an old enemy arranged for them to be kidnapped & returned to the underdark...

Duergar, by the way, are apparently a playable race in the new Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. I think a myconid PC could give you problems, though. Maybe a character who has really deep ties with the myconids. Or maybe a Warlock who made a pact with that gigantic fungus? Just reskin a Fey pact to be mushroom-related...

 

[jodyjohnson]

Only one of the captive NPCs in OotA knows their way around. I'm going to have his head explode next week.

Being an Underdark race is no guarantee of knowing your way around.

 

[Sunseeker]

Duergar, by the way, are apparently a playable race in the new Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. I think a myconid PC could give you problems, though. Maybe a character who has really deep ties with the myconids. Or maybe a Warlock who made a pact with that gigantic fungus? Just reskin a Fey pact to be mushroom-related...

It wouldn't be unreasonable to use the demon-pact with Zug or Jubi, but this might cause problems down the road.

A druid who is fungus themed might work. Could be an interesting twist on a drow druid.

 

[Istbor]

I think it really depends on what your party wants from the campaign Werebat. When I brought up running this adventure, I obviously left out many details but asked if they were okay with the general theme that pervades the Underdark. Usually that consists of alien terrain and cultures, twisted creatures and endless tunnels. The struggle to survive and prevail in an unknown and VERY hostile environment.

My players wanted that, it is how we all grew up understanding the underdark.

Perhaps your group differs, they don't want to overcome foraging for food and finding their way. Learning about 'new' cultures and mastering new languages. If they want to just fight against evil Drow and demonic forces, and not worry about basic survival, I would not try and stop them. It may take some retooling of the adventure however, but that is often times par for the course in D&D I find.