D&D 5E DMing "Out of the Abyss"

[zingbobco000]

I ordered this adventure because my players are getting close to the end of the Starter Set and this adventure appealed to me more than the others that were already released.

I'm getting a bit scared though after reading this is for experienced DM's.
I only have about 7 sessions under my belt and don't consider myself that experienced yet.
But perhaps this is the best way to learn and improve?

I wouldn't recommend this as a new DM, I would recommend trying Princes of the Apocalypse as it is still a general mix between sandbox and railroad (story is in a lot of places but clear goal of where adventurers should go) and it also includes a tie-in to Lost Mine of Phandelver. Not trying to say Out of the Abyss is bad or anything but sandboxes can be kinda hard to fully grasp and Out of the Abyss itself is a pretty tough adventure to run.

 

[Bigassgeek]

I wonder how Stool can possibly survive even the initial escape from the outpost, given that he has a movement rate of only 10'. Someone is going to have to carry the little guy to give him a chance.

That's exactly what my party did. They were taken with the little fellow.

 

[Istbor]

I ordered this adventure because my players are getting close to the end of the Starter Set and this adventure appealed to me more than the others that were already released.

I'm getting a bit scared though after reading this is for experienced DM's.
I only have about 7 sessions under my belt and don't consider myself that experienced yet.
But perhaps this is the best way to learn and improve?

Take this for what it is worth: I have been DMing for 15 years now and maybe because it have never run an published encounter, I am still a wee bit scared. I think it is natural. I am well versed in running sandbox campaigns so that aspect is known to me at least.

I play with friends generally, and so failure, while always a possibility becomes more of a learning experience. What did I do wrong? What could I have included or excluded to make the campaign more gripping? These are things you can learn after a not so good attempt.

This adventure looks like an excellent way to cut your teeth in regards to Dming. I do agree though, it will require some experience with Dming. Fitting together your encounters both random and pre-built into a seamless adventure is going to be a good portion of what you will want to do.

Here is something else I am planning on working on while running this campaign. As it has been said, there is the potential for a lot of random encounters. I am fine with that, and my players are fine with that. They do not like to fast forward travel all of the time. I like that some of the terrain has suggested monster encounters, I am taking that further and sectioning off the journey into several territories for certain monsters/encounters.

Think the Raptors' tall grass from Jurassic Park. I think it will add to the progression as they travel and make it more interesting for the players to map as they go along. Probably not a revolutionary idea, but I like to take some of the random out of my random encounters from time to time in favor of verisimilitude.


: / I feel now like I was all over the place in this post. Oh well!

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The huge number of NPC right off the bat, along with a 7 person group, is bit unwieldy. Thankfully 3 days in to the trek to the Darklake a few encounters have whittled them down slightly, Unfortunately 2 of the 3 deaths are PC! Hopefully by the time they get there most of the NPC have been removed.

They fail a few days of survival checks for forage and I think poor Stool may be served...

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Oh, and I really wish WotC would sell a deck of NPC/Monster cards to go with this. It would be really handy to have cards for all those allies, with the artwork on one side to show players. Guess I'll have to make 'em myself.

I used the handout for HotDQ along with a pdf to make some index cards for that but I'd pay money for a set of monster and NPC cards in a heartbeat. Either a general MM list of monsters or a pack for the adventure. WotC is really coming up short on adventure support. IMO.

 

[Kestrel]

Any thoughts on having a ranger in the party with Favored Terrain: Underdark? I'm wondering how much it should alleviate the survival part of this adventure.

 

[DMCF]

I ordered this adventure because my players are getting close to the end of the Starter Set and this adventure appealed to me more than the others that were already released.

I'm getting a bit scared though after reading this is for experienced DM's.
I only have about 7 sessions under my belt and don't consider myself that experienced yet.
But perhaps this is the best way to learn and improve?

I gave zingbobco000 exp for his post because having started DMing live with Princes of the Apocalypse I can tell you despite my problems (up to 9 players per game) it was a much easier book to read and since you are above ground you can do lots of fun sandbox stuff that will come more easily to you. There's also the fact that deep below the Dessarin Valley is the Underdark. OotA takes place 30 years later so you can offer your players a "trait" system if they want to play their former character's kids.

OotA was much harder to read, plus they throw Insanity and a ton of NPCs at you out the gate. This doesn't mean it is worse. I think it is volumes better than PotA because it allows you to play each of the areas in a more subtle fashion. Both are great adventures and both have great re-play-ability due to their openness.

 

[DMCF]

Any thoughts on having a ranger in the party with Favored Terrain: Underdark? I'm wondering how much it should alleviate the survival part of this adventure.

A ton if your group is going to be very stringent with rations.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

My ranger is exactly that. We will see how it goes. They lack things to carry stuff in so far, water especially.

 

[Daern]

I ordered this adventure because my players are getting close to the end of the Starter Set and this adventure appealed to me more than the others that were already released.

I'm getting a bit scared though after reading this is for experienced DM's.
I only have about 7 sessions under my belt and don't consider myself that experienced yet.
But perhaps this is the best way to learn and improve?

Play the game that inspires your imagination the most.
Just remember you can chop and change it, and most especially in Abyss, offer a way out almost anytime, so you don't have to completely lose your campaign in the dark!