D&D 5E Out of the Abyss - Cutting out Surface Visit Thoughts

[Kilgore Trout]

Hi -

Lots of good OotA threads and articles out there in EN World and the InterWeb.

I am checking in with the community to see if anyone has had experience and (hopefully) success in running OotA with a group starting at Level 4 or 5? Also, anyone that has cut out the journey to the surface?

Asking because I am thinking of going this route and seeking ideas and input.

Running a group through LMoP right now. [sblock]When it ends, they will discover that Baphomet was using the Black Spider to pervert the Spell Forge to create new monstrous races by combining other races (think magical gene-splicing) and is behind most of the troubles they've encountered in and around Phandelver. Assuming he plays along (and I think he will), one of the party members will betray the others and become Baphomet's Champion, following him into the Abyss so as to wage war against the other demon lords. While they will have (hopefully) defeated the Black Spider at the end of Lost Mines and have recovered the Spell Forge, the cost will have been high. That should give them sufficient motivation to pursue their former friend into the Underdark to put a stop to the dark machinations set in motion by his Demon Lord master.[/sblock]

So, coming back to the surface doesn't really make sense.

Just wondering if anyone else has altered the module in such a way that maybe they are captured in the beginning (perhaps willingly, to get information on what's happening in the Underdark?) and even pursued, but they never go to the surface.

Looking for ideas, input, experience, etc not only with cutting out the return to the surface but also starting with a higher party level (4 or 5).

Still making my way through the hardcover so an answer may reveal itself as I get further on but given the amount of prep I'm having to do wanted to try and get ahead of it!

Thanks as always!

 

[ninjayeti]

Cool idea! I ran the adventure starting at level 1 but I don't see any real issues with starting at level 4-5 beyond beefing up the random encounters and some of the early adventure locations. Generally speaking Sloob is appropriate for level 3 characters, Grack for level 4, Neverlight for 5 and Blindingstone for 6. So you can make each of these slightly harder or make a couple locations much harder and keep others as written depending on the order your players reach them.

Leaving the underdark is the nominal goal of the first act of the adventure, but the real story goal is for the players to discover that the demon lords are loose in the underdark. So you can replace "escape to the surface" with "track down NPC x" without any major issues as long as your party hits the story encounters in Sloob and Neverlight. You also need a different NPC to task the party with stopping the demon lords and moving into the second act, but there are many that could fit the bill.

The biggest issue I would flag about OotA is that the second half is very light on content for an arc that is supposed to take the PCs from level 7 to 15. You either have to use VERY fast milestones, scale down the later encounters, or (as I did) just kind of rewrite the whole thing. If I were going to run it again starting with level 4 or 5 PCs I think I would use OotA as more of a sourcebook for the underdark to adapt to my own storyline, rather than trying to hew too closely to the story as written. It sounds like you already have some good ideas going, so this may be a path worth considering for you.

 

[MonkeyWrench]

It's doable, no doubt. My group consisted of all Underdark natives, so going to the surface was never a goal. I had Devir play a more active role in feeding the PCs info if they had questions. The party went straight from Neverlight to Gravenhollow with no problems.

 

[machineelf]

I think it's a good idea in certain circumstances. I don't think the designers of the adventure thought much about the possibility that all of the player characters might hail from the underdark themselves and might not have any personal motivation for going to the surface.

 

[CapnZapp]

I second the previous posts. Going to the surface is actually just a footnote. As long as you provide the heroes with a different motive for travelling the Darklake, everything else should just work fine.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

My group went to the surface, but there was at least one PC advocating for not doing so. I think the only thing to be concerned about is making sure they don’t follow the thread of the module until they’re ready. As long as there’s a compelling hook to keep them from it until they’re the right level.

That being said, if you’re already starting at a higher level in the opening, you might not even need the break.

As far as starting at a higher level, one thing I’d definitely recommend is beefing up the battle of Blingdenstone, especially the Pudding King’s fight. My PCs trounced him, and they were level-appropriate for the battle.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Appreciate the feedback from everyone!

There is going to be at least 1, if not 2 new PCs in the party after we finish Lost Mones, so I was thinking of having them come to the party with some information on tracking down their old friend as well as the Demon Lord. In between the adventures, going to expand the background by talking about what's happened since Lost Mines...strange beasts in the woods, rumors of cults brewing in Neverwinter, increase in animal attacks, roving bands of bloodthirsty minotaurs...stuff like that. Will also ask the new PCs to pick some of the backgrounds from OotA.

Then, they approach the party, tell them that a drow outpost has prisoners that may have information on what's happening in the Underdark that's spilling onto the surface, and then they go down and assault the outpost. Maybe they become prisoners, maybe they don't.

After that, see where they go.

Good to know that i may have to re-write the last half and give more ways for characters to level, so I need to start thinking about some mini-arcs within the greater campaign arc.

Open to suggestions and thanks again!

KT