D&D 5E Princes OR Abyss

[Nebulous]

This is NOT a comparison thread! It can't be, as of this day i don't think Out of the Abyss is out quite yet.

Anyway, Princes is awesome, we love it, I love it, but the Abyss campaign sounds....well, better. It has a slant to it I haven't done in D&D, and frankly, I haven't run a full Underdark campaign in probably a decade. That appeals to me greatly.

My question is, IF you are running Princes of the Apocalypse currently, do you have any desire to end it early to run Out of the Abyss, or can that just wait six months or so?

AND....

Did these Paths come out really fast on each other's heels? That last question is important because I really don't know how the "average" group levels up. My feeling personally is that not many groups could have finished Princes as a whole before Abyss was out. That's not a bad thing, I just wonder if anyone actually FINISHED Princes to 15th and was jonesing to start Abyss?

 

[Rabbitbait]

The characters in my game are now up to 5th level and I can see a good way to easily transition to OotA. I'm veeerry tempted.

One thing that is holding me back though, is that I'm running my game in Eberron and I'm not sure how difficult it will be to change over all the drow stuff. Just how drow heavy is it? How easy is it to convert this adventure to Eberron?

I'll have to wait and see...

 

[Agamon]

OotA will fit fantastically into Primeval Thule, so I'm going to run it there when we're done with PotA. The 5e conversion of the setting should be long done by then.

 

[Uller]

OotA will fit fantastically into Primeval Thule, so I'm going to run it there when we're done with PotA. The 5e conversion of the setting should be long done by then.

That's...not a bad idea!

I'm not a fan of FR. I don't like running in well developed worlds because often I end up with a player that knows the canon better than I. I want to be able to just make up whatever is interesting to me at the moment it becomes relevant.

I am definitely looking forward to OotA. Setting it in Thule might be an option.

My group just entered the Earth Temple (and their only 7th level and already found Marlos and are about to battle him. So maybe the campaign will end there? I think they can beat him, though.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

I definetly think I want to run Rage of Demons down the road but having said that I love the EE thing too. Which means I probably wont run ROD for years

 

[Queer Venger]

This is NOT a comparison thread! It can't be, as of this day i don't think Out of the Abyss is out quite yet.

Anyway, Princes is awesome, we love it, I love it, but the Abyss campaign sounds....well, better. It has a slant to it I haven't done in D&D, and frankly, I haven't run a full Underdark campaign in probably a decade. That appeals to me greatly.

My question is, IF you are running Princes of the Apocalypse currently, do you have any desire to end it early to run Out of the Abyss, or can that just wait six months or so?

AND....

Did these Paths come out really fast on each other's heels? That last question is important because I really don't know how the "average" group levels up. My feeling personally is that not many groups could have finished Princes as a whole before Abyss was out. That's not a bad thing, I just wonder if anyone actually FINISHED Princes to 15th and was jonesing to start Abyss?

Makes no sense. Why end it? If your players and you are enjoying PA, then keep at it, complete it, wrap it up. If after that you want to play through OoA, then start new characters, and start that one next. Seems pretty simple to me.

Im getting ready to start my campaign with HotDQ/RoT. Once that is done I'll probably run a complete Underdark campaign using OoA.

 

[Nebulous]

Makes no sense. Why end it? If your players and you are enjoying PA, then keep at it, complete it, wrap it up. If after that you want to play through OoA, then start new characters, and start that one next. Seems pretty simple to me.

Im getting ready to start my campaign with HotDQ/RoT. Once that is done I'll probably run a complete Underdark campaign using OoA.

It's a theoretic thing, Chibi. Yes, we love Princes. I myself, AS DM, who have read the whole adventure and know what is coming up, i have personal concerns that once they start hitting the Haunted Keeps and Temples, it might get repetitive. Now, I can avoid all of this of course if I start tweaking things, and that's fine, I always, always do change stuff in premade adventures. I appreciate them for the overall arc and awesome maps they provide, it saves me so much time. I spend time in other ways, but that's another thread.

That SAID...the gist of ABYSS is even more appealing to me personally as the DM than the story of Princes. Me, just ME, likes this premise better, it appeals to me as a storyteller, like OH, i want to tell this story! And low level D&D stories for ME are usually more fun than 10th level +.

A) 4 Elemental Gods using cultists and four waypoints to break into the mortal world and lay waste. Yes, great stuff. And the presentation is exquisite.

B) 8+ demon Princes from the Abyss rampaging in an alien Underdark world using Alice in Wonderland as a template and *I personally love the previews*

I love the art, the NPCs offered, and I love that I haven't personally run a full Underdark campaign in a decade. So to ME...it is appealing. To me, it makes me want to cut short Princes so I can run a new story. This is not a good or bad thing, it is purely subjective. It's like reading a book and loving it, and then you put it down and start another.

I just wanted to know if other people felt the same way. No condemnation or anything. Hell, Princes could easily take us 6 more months to wrap up....

 

[aramis erak]

The guys I was having a slightly heated discussion with at our local enounters session this week would have finished princes this week if half their table's regulars hadn't bailed. (and been replaced with Lv 1 newbs)

 

[Daern]

You could switch to the Underdark but make some of the EE dungeons locations below?
I've been thinking the same thing in terms of switching over my current campaign. Reading the book today though, I think maybe the escape is the best part.
Anyways I'm thinking about how much Underdark source material I have that I have never used: 4e Underdark, 1e Dungeoneers Handbook, 4e Thunderspire Labrynth, Night Below (I actually ran this back in the day. OoA seems like a bit like a "fixed" retake on this.).

 

[77IM]

OotA seems MUCH more NPC-driven than PotA. In PotA, the most interesting NPCs sit in their boss rooms waiting to roll initiative. In OotA, the adventure begins by forcing the PCs to ally with a bunch of underdark wackjobs, most of whom have reasons to betray the PCs later.