D&D 5E Out of the Abyss - No Drizzt afterall?

[Iosue]

Did not think he was in Out of the Abyss but was in Rage of Demons, two different books? Or is this just one book with many titles? Oh, man feel like I have black pudding on my face.

"Rage of Demons" is the title of the overarching storyline. That storyline is then played out in various platforms: a module for Neverwinter Nights, the story mode for Sword Coast Legends, the plot of Salvatore's new book "Archmage", and the TTRPG adventure, "Out of the Abyss". Each tells a different part of the story of Demon Princes being summoned to the Underdark.

 

[Prism]

Baphomet CR 23
Fraz-Urb'luu CR 23
Jubilex CR 23
Zuggtmoy CR 23
Graz'zt CR 24
Yeenoghu CR 24
Demogorgon CR 26
Orcus CR 26

Poor Graz'zt. There he was thinking he was one of the big three.

This is the section I'm probably most exited about. Brings back memories of Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth where they released the demon lord stats in the appendix

 

[Hand of Evil]

And what is wrong with giving the players what they want?

Story and balance, if you have a race of evil dark elves you have to think how a player character will impact the campaign, for every action there is a reaction. A drow character would remove all the suspense and mystery from the drow with the knowledge that they would bring to the table, unless you keep having the same backstory, raised by surface elves or memory loss.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

"Rage of Demons" is the title of the overarching storyline. That storyline is then played out in various platforms: a module for Neverwinter Nights, the story mode for Sword Coast Legends, the plot of Salvatore's new book "Archmage", and the TTRPG adventure, "Out of the Abyss". Each tells a different part of the story of Demon Princes being summoned to the Underdark.

Also, the storyline for the current season of D&D Expeditions is tied into Rage of Demons as well. Those adventures dealing with the area in and around Hilsfar and the effect the disease known as the "Rage of Demons" is having on the area.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Story and balance, if you have a race of evil dark elves you have to think how a player character will impact the campaign, for every action there is a reaction. A drow character would remove all the suspense and mystery from the drow with the knowledge that they would bring to the table, unless you keep having the same backstory, raised by surface elves or memory loss.

I don't know that the drow have much suspense or mystery. Everyone who's read a R.A. Salvatore novel knows everything there is to know about the Drow: They mostly all live in one big city which is divided into Houses that are ranked according to influence, they all worship the goddess Lolth, they like spiders, and they are a matriarchy. They hate the surface world.

Beyond that, there's not much a Drow who is just a random member of some Drow house is going to know. Especially not one who ran away years ago. Or one who was a member of the "good drow" colony on the surface. Or even a former member of Bergen D'aerthe who might have spent the vast majority of his life on the surface spying and spent very little time in Menzoberranzan.

There are quite a few reasons to play a Drow in the Forgotten Realms who doesn't know anything.

 

[aramis erak]

Wow, what's with all the hate? He is the most iconic character in D&D history. This is pretty much a fact.

Because as DMs we are sick of seeing a Drizzt clone in every campaign we run. Or the people who insist on playing Drizzt himself. We can love the character in the book, we don't need 10 of him running around in our games. Fanboyism is annoying.

And he's been the most hated-by-gm's archetype for power-gamers to emulate since 1992. Actually, probably earlier - once people saw the combat uses of Dance and/or acrobatics in AD&D 2e, coupled with style specialization - two weapons.

Including him in the videogames, where he cannot be screwed up by the GM, is good business. He's Iconic, and it's kinda cool to meet the big names that way, without becoming shadowed out of the spotlight by them. Tabletop, not so much.

 

[aramis erak]

Do people REALLY have those or is it like the stories where the infected spider bite starts spilling baby spiders? The only Drizzt clone I ever ran into was in 1987, actually BEFORE The Crystal Shard was published, and I don't think I've ever seen a dual wielding scimitar-equipped dark elf in my D&D games in 25 years. Not to say it's NEVER happened, but I just haven't seen it as a common occurrence. I've seen far more Housewives on the Bravo Channel than I have seen drow wielding scimitars.

I've seen three since 1992. One took just the concept, and developed organically away from it. The other, he got pissy when he found that I didn't share his view of the world with him at the center as the special snowflake. The other is a rogue in my current AL game, but at least he's being subtle about it.

 

[Mephista]

So I have been thumbing through my copy of Out of the Abyss and I was initially concerned that Drizzt would be in the spotlight too much, but now after browsing the highlights and stuff, I don't see one mention of him outside of the Forward by Perkins? Did I miss something here? Did WotC decide against injecting him into the story?

Drizz't was never in the TT release, only the Neverwinter and Sword Coast Legends games (and very likely novel line).

 

[Mhyr]

If Drizzt is on an encounter table, are there stats for him in OotA as well? (Sorry if I overread it!)
I don't plan to incorporate him in my game, but I am just curious.

 

[delericho]

Poor Graz'zt. There he was thinking he was one of the big three.

He's been losing power ever since Drizzt stole his double-z shtick.