Tiefling Works
Villager
I am going to start DMing Out of the Abyss soon, does anyone have any advice?
D&D 5E I am going to start DMing OotA in a few days- Any advice?
Benjamin Olson
Hero
Personally I'm not really running the module but using it as a resource for my current Underdark campaign. In terms of my usage it's great, as it has lots of good content to mine, but I wouldn't want to run it as is because I don't think the plot really works. I think the Demon Prince problem can feel too distant and radically beyond the power levels of the characters for them to really engage with, and the main motivation the module gives the characters is to get the hell out of the Underdark.
In my experience the plot is unnecessarily convoluted and doesn't really do a good job of providing motivations for the characters to think that they should stay in the Underdark and fight Demon Princes. I recommend either coming up with your own plot that actually makes sense for the player characters and gives them better incentive to stay in the Underdark, or else just run the opening chapters, have them escape the Underdark, run some unrelated adventures with those characters until they are higher level, and then when they feel qualified to save the world send them back to have some epic Demon Prince fights. The adventure is actually sort of set up for this (they are supposed to leave and then be summoned back after some time has passed by a Dwarven lord who needs their help or something like that) but if you aren't planning around doing that then you'll be put on the spot by them leaving the Underdark.
In my experience the plot is unnecessarily convoluted and doesn't really do a good job of providing motivations for the characters to think that they should stay in the Underdark and fight Demon Princes. I recommend either coming up with your own plot that actually makes sense for the player characters and gives them better incentive to stay in the Underdark, or else just run the opening chapters, have them escape the Underdark, run some unrelated adventures with those characters until they are higher level, and then when they feel qualified to save the world send them back to have some epic Demon Prince fights. The adventure is actually sort of set up for this (they are supposed to leave and then be summoned back after some time has passed by a Dwarven lord who needs their help or something like that) but if you aren't planning around doing that then you'll be put on the spot by them leaving the Underdark.
ccs
41st lv DM
Make sure your group is ok with helping Drow/Duargar/Koa-Toans & other such beings they'd traditionally see as mortal enemies.
For ex;
My group? As they escaped the Drow in the opening chapter they intentionally killed the Drow, Kuo-Toan, & quaggoth prisoners. They took the myconid, dwarf, & deep gnomes (not realizing the gnomes were infact lycanthropes) with them.
And coming across the Koa-Toan town? They cared not at all about the different factions & were quite happy to see Demogorgon wreck them all. Their only concern was staying out of the way while watching the show. When things really went south & the PCs decided to get out of town? They killed any K-T that crossed their path/was between them & the exist.
For ex;
My group? As they escaped the Drow in the opening chapter they intentionally killed the Drow, Kuo-Toan, & quaggoth prisoners. They took the myconid, dwarf, & deep gnomes (not realizing the gnomes were infact lycanthropes) with them.
And coming across the Koa-Toan town? They cared not at all about the different factions & were quite happy to see Demogorgon wreck them all. Their only concern was staying out of the way while watching the show. When things really went south & the PCs decided to get out of town? They killed any K-T that crossed their path/was between them & the exist.
I would montage some of the traveling, with way less dice rolling. The characters can still spend days and weeks between the major stops, but for your players, a couple of encounters and some brief descriptions might be quite enough.
And I would look for some smart choices for the npc group members in combat. We enjoyed them a lot outside of combat, but found that they led to annoying slowdown in combat. Still we liked the IDEA of them helping. I would look for a really simple solution, like: Maybe each combat each player gets a random npc to controll, that npc goes right after the players initiative count, and only has a couple of quick and simple actions to perform - no multiple attacks or reactions or bonus actions or anything like that.
And I would look for some smart choices for the npc group members in combat. We enjoyed them a lot outside of combat, but found that they led to annoying slowdown in combat. Still we liked the IDEA of them helping. I would look for a really simple solution, like: Maybe each combat each player gets a random npc to controll, that npc goes right after the players initiative count, and only has a couple of quick and simple actions to perform - no multiple attacks or reactions or bonus actions or anything like that.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Agreed! Come up with something interesting for travel, with interesting choices (do you take the half-flooded tunnel or the hook horror hunting grounds, not "left tunnel or right tunnel?").
I might recommend changing the introduction. Being captured by the drow is a bit jarring considering the recent changes with the game.
I also cut back on the massive group of NPCs that they start off with. After getting to know them all, I had them pick one that came with them when they escaped.
I might recommend changing the introduction. Being captured by the drow is a bit jarring considering the recent changes with the game.
I also cut back on the massive group of NPCs that they start off with. After getting to know them all, I had them pick one that came with them when they escaped.
These threads may have some useful tips for you:
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
D&D 5E - DMing "Out of the Abyss"
*** SPOILERS **** I'm almost through reading Out of the Abyss and I'm psyched to run it. At least the first half. There are two broad areas where I'm wondering what thoughts/ideas other DMs have. 1) "Random" encounters in Underdark A lot of time will be spent traveling in Underdark, and not...
www.enworld.org
D&D 5E - Out of the Abyss Thread Collection
Add links to threads that talk about the Wizards of the Coast adventure Out of the Abyss here. Please take any discussion to those threads and let this one be a thread collection only. Thank you. Zapp DMing "Out of the Abyss"...
www.enworld.org
I attempted a high level remix and it wasn’t great. The two main problems with underdark IMHO is it’s quite samey on the terrain front and there’s not many NPCs to interact with. If your group is OK with that (or if you can figure out a way to mitigate those issues) then great.
We blew that campaign up with a wish spell and there was much rejoicing
We blew that campaign up with a wish spell and there was much rejoicing
I would have the PCs get help at various points from either a group of higher level demon hunters that are super likeable, or some of the folks from the dwarven town near the exit.
They need some group that they actually give a toss about, or else when they leave the underdark, they will never choose to go back there again to deal with the higher level threats. IMO it is way too easy to just be genocidal and not care if the place is wiped out. 95%+ of people in the Underdark are evil anyway.
<Edit> The other thing that is a problem in almost every RPG is, "What is everybody else doing about this?" Why are people calling in PCs to deal with a problem while they sit around doing nothing? I would stress that the dwarves/demonhunters are working themselves to the bone to fix the issue, but need more help. Have problems arise, then get solved off screen by NPCs. So PCs don't feel they are doing everything themselves.
They need some group that they actually give a toss about, or else when they leave the underdark, they will never choose to go back there again to deal with the higher level threats. IMO it is way too easy to just be genocidal and not care if the place is wiped out. 95%+ of people in the Underdark are evil anyway.
<Edit> The other thing that is a problem in almost every RPG is, "What is everybody else doing about this?" Why are people calling in PCs to deal with a problem while they sit around doing nothing? I would stress that the dwarves/demonhunters are working themselves to the bone to fix the issue, but need more help. Have problems arise, then get solved off screen by NPCs. So PCs don't feel they are doing everything themselves.
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