OUT OF THE ABYSS Preorders Live

Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble both now allow you to pre-order Out of the Abyss for $49.96. Both have the already-confirmed release date of September 15th, 2015. Out of the Abyss is the seventh studio album released by the band Manilla Road. Oh, it's also the upcoming hardcover adventure, part of the Rage of Demons storyline, produced for WotC by Green Ronin. "The demon lords have been summoned from the Abyss and players must descend into the Underdark with the iconic hero Drizzt Do’Urden to stop the chaos before it threatens the surface." (thanks to Charles Akins for the scoop).

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble

 

[Morlock]

*sigh*

So basically the PC's get to be sidekicks to Drizz't so that he can stop the demon invasion... well, unless Drizz't is being carried on a litter because he's in a coma, and only his ritual sacrifice at some ancient underdark temple can close the demon gates and send Grazzit, FrazUrbLuu and Kostitche back to the Abyss. If that's the case...sign me up!

Nope. Definitely passing on this one.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

So negative! Look on the bright side. There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. The Underdark's full of deep, dark holes. It would be unfortunate if something happened to Drizzt on the way to the adventure...

Or just say "yeah, Drizzt was in my version of the Realms. Was. Then he got cacked, and now he's pushing up daisies. Here's the NPC that's replacing him in this AP."

Use your imagination, that's what it's there for.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Since when did it become so hard to tweak adventures to suit one's needs? Regardless of how much the written product involves Drizzt, every individual DM can customize his involvement to their own taste.

I see no issue here, except perhaps another variation of "Why isn't WotC writing every product to suit my own specific needs?"

Why tweek an adventure when it would be better to just have an Underdark campaign guide that I could use to create my own stories?

 

[Morlock]

I'm looking at it as the adventure where you get to kill Drizzt. I actually don't mind Drizzt, but but I think killing him would be fun.

That's pretty much how I feel about it. I'd probably feel differently if I'd read more than The Crystal Shard books, though.

Now, Drizzt fanboys, on the other hand. Well, like I said, the Underdark's a dangerous place. Lots of room at the bottom of those mine shafts and chasms...

Geez WotC...Not complaining here but we're just now finishing Lost Mines...tonight will be our 8th session, each session has averaged about 5 hours. So we're closing in on 40 hours of play from a 32 page adventure. And you have since released TWO 200+ page adventure paths. Not. Enough. Time. To. Game...

I like the focus of their publishing so far, leaving frequency aside. Not everyone likes every adventure premise or setting (e.g., "Underdark, *yawn*"), so producing more adventures than people can play through is probably a good thing, generally speaking. Being spoiled for choice is one of those good problems.

What I'd like to see in a WotC product is a bunch of unrelated one shots.

True, it would be nice to have some shorter adventures. Really, really nice.

I'd much rather run a sandbox where at any given time my players have available to them 2 or 3 short, mostly unrelated adventures that take 2 or 3 sessions to complete.

True again. Wizards should produce some hardcover sandboxes, too. That way they get the $ they want and we get sandboxes.

 

[Morlock]

Why tweek an adventure when it would be better to just have an Underdark campaign guide that I could use to create my own stories?

Seems like the crunch for an Underdark campaign would end up in the book, regardless of whether it's a campaign setting or an AP. And since there are already quite a few of the former, the latter's a better buy. Well, maybe. I guess I'm of two minds on the subject, because I'd like to see an Underdark/Drow campaign setting, too. I'd rather see a big ol' Underdark/Drow sandbox than either, though.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Seems like the crunch for an Underdark campaign would end up in the book, regardless of whether it's a campaign setting or an AP. And since there are already quite a few of the former, the latter's a better buy. Well, maybe. I guess I'm of two minds on the subject, because I'd like to see an Underdark/Drow campaign setting, too. I'd rather see a big ol' Underdark/Drow sandbox than either, though.

I don't want just drow.

I want duergar kingdoms, cloakers, derro, ancient kingdoms, beholder hives, aboleth conclaves, old dwarven halls etc...

 

[Mirtek]

A powerful Drow Cleric and her team of Drow

Note that this team was a ragtag bunch of exiles who nevertheless managed to set all this in motion without any support from any of the drow cities.

When later the drow city of Menzoberranzan wanted to have the now peacefull kingdom once again start a war they just killed off the orc king, drove his son into exile and placed a puppet on the throne just like this. Without any difficulties at all. The drow cleric even cowed the clerics of Gruumsh into submission and dictated them what Gruumsh's will was.

Heck, the greatest compliment the greatest orc warrior received was that he may be able to parry the first blow of the drow champion.

The quotes from Majoru Oakheart are by far not the wortst "drow are so much more uber than anyone else" quote from the Salvatore novels.

Salvatore has downplayed the Drow's skills as of late. An entire brigade of Drow including Wizards and Elite warrors were slaughtered and strung up by a camp of Orcs recently. And these were just normal fodder orcs.

Actually that wasn't a brigade that was a dozen or two and they were slain when the entire orc army of tens of thousand turned on them while they tried to leave the encampment and the orcs had to take XXX:1 losses to kill them

100 Drow could die like chumps to kobolds in one scene

But only if it were 8,000 kobolds and Salvatore wrote how the last 5 surving kobolds were finally standing victorious over the 100 dead drow

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Note that this team was a ragtag bunch of exiles who nevertheless managed to set all this in motion without any support from any of the drow cities.

When later the drow city of Menzoberranzan wanted to have the now peacefull kingdom once again start a war they just killed off the orc king, drove his son into exile and placed a puppet on the throne just like this. Without any difficulties at all. The drow cleric even cowed the clerics of Gruumsh into submission and dictated them what Gruumsh's will was.

Heck, the greatest compliment the greatest orc warrior received was that he may be able to parry the first blow of the drow champion.

Not quite. It was a Wizard and they managed to trick the clerics of Gruumsh using illusion magic. Hartusk was not their greatest warrior ether he was just the War chief they could best use as their puppet. Obould XVII was not as intelligent as Obould I anyway. It's unlikely the Drow would have been able to poison him in the same way. Likely Tiago and his team would have gotten killed rather then the first Obould risking them being around.

On the Drow that were killed by the Orc's it was all the Drow that were with that part of the army. Which was only a part of the army the entire Orc army was in that small area. It was not stated if the Orc's took any losses and it was implied to have been a one sided slaughter likely due to the Drow not expecting it. The Orc's were tricked into killing them. But Orc's are not the smartest.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]But only if it were 8,000 kobolds and Salvatore wrote how the last 5 surving kobolds were finally standing victorious over the 100 dead drow

[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]As mentioned it was one sided on the Orc's who killed them. The same Drow were routed by numerous forces during the end of the war. Drow have been downplayed. [/FONT]

 

[Mirtek]

On the Drow that were killed by the Orc's it was all the Drow that were with that part of the army.

Which was the leftover of the contingent send by the new drow city, after all drow send by Menzo have already left.

Not quite. It was a Wizard and they managed to trick the clerics of Gruumsh using illusion magic.

No, they tricked the frost giants using fake clones of the "brothers of Thrym" (and that Thrym didn't give his clerics the slightest hint that something was off, it only shows how in Salvatore's novel Lolth is the only deity that get things running, with some occasional nod to the dwarven deities and Mielikki).

Drow clerics and even fighters direclty intimidated high ranking orc clerics on several occasions. Oh how I would have loved to read them actually messing with the wrong orc and being faced with a high priestress of Luthic, as powerful and nasty as an matron mother. But Salvatore would have none of that.

An entire kingdom of hundred thousand orcs and more and among them not a single high level orc the drow took more than semi-seriously. You know, because drow are just uber and the orcs are entirely fodder for them

Hartusk was not their greatest warrior ether he was just the War chief

It was stated that Hartusk was one of the best, if not the best, fighter in the entire orc kingdom, which is the reason why he became a powerful warchief before the orcs decided to make him king.

The ease whith which the drow were able to stage their game of orc thrones tells all regarding how Salavtore rates the two kingdoms. The orcs could not even muster the least bit of resistance to the drow just arranging their rulers however they needed.

Which was only a part of the army the entire Orc army was in that small area.

Against an even smaller number of drow, which they outnumbered by a vast degree.

It was not stated if the Orc's took any losses and it was implied to have been a one sided slaughter likely due to the Drow not expecting it.

I have to reread, but I am pretty sure the heavy losses were stated. Also the drow were expecting it, as they were trying to sneak out of the camp because they wanted to abandon the orcs before the noticed and knew they would have to fight their way out if their stealth failed them.

 

[guachi]

I have no interest in buying anything related to this AP. I actually think I will end up buying zero D&D related items (or any items at all) that will give WOTC any money at all this year.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I have no interest in buying anything related to this AP. I actually think I will end up buying zero D&D related items (or any items at all) that will give WOTC any money at all this year.

Any reason why you are not interested?