Suggestions for filling out a party for OotA

[INDYSTAR188]

Greetings! My gaming group is starting Out of the Abyss on Saturday! I am planning on using the modified companion system (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8QjneCgo6BpeEUyY0RhVEY1bjQ/view)(created by some of the good folk of this sub-forum) and the madness rules. We are using 27 point buy and starting at lvl 2. Im looking for recommendations on the party composition. So far we have:

- Variant Human Rogue 1/Monk 1 (planning on taking next 2 lvls in rogue for assassin sub-class, then the remaining lvls in the redux version of the Four Elements Monk (https://drive.google.com/file/d/OB1pdYlcfHauwNDM2MY1XeWFYSDA/view))

- Variant Human Blood Hunter (http://geekandsundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Blood-Hunter-Class-1.2.pdf) (custom homebrew class from Critical Hits, planning on taking the 'mutant' sub-class). *if you have any opinions/suggestions on this class I would really appreciate it. The only real issue I could find is they get studded leather at start.*

- Sun-elf or Drow Wizard. Is interested in transmutation, illusion and divination.

- Variant Human or Half-orc Barbarian or Paladin (leaning ancients paladin)

- open slot (player generally enjoys rogues/rangers and sneaking)

[Oramac]

I'm currently playing OotA in AL.

I highly recommend as many players as possible have Darkvision. Spending that much time in the Underdark, it's going to be a lifesaver for them.

Also playing a different game with a Blood Hunter (though the one in my game is a Ghostslayer). Overall, I feel like they're actually quite well balanced, studded leather and all.

EDIT: as for the open slot, he can play whatever he thinks is fun. Though for group composition, a Cleric/Druid would probably round it out the best.

[Noble_berserker]

If the player likes sneaking, he is going to have a lot of fun as a Deep Stalker ranger. He can make a great scout. He also gets better Darkvision (unless he is a Drow). You can find it in the UA about the Underdark

https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/02_UA_Underdark_Characters.pdf


Edit: Sorry about the link, I have very low post count.

[mgshamster]

Not having darkvision isn't as bad as it seems. The underdark caverns are full of twists and turns that hide the light the party may have. In addition, there is a ton of natural light from luminescent fungus and magic light from the faerzress.

Check it my signature for a link to my campaign log; I also use the companion system and have even added to it.

[fishdad]

Wood Elf Cleric of Light. Focus on DEX and WIS. Pick up stealth in a background and blast those Underdark heathens back to the holes they came from. I'm sure there are better Cleric domains but the RP flavor (a worshiper of light trapped in the Underdark) seems fun. You also can get your Perception/Passive Perception pretty high and that is always good in the depths of the Underdark.

[INDYSTAR188]

Also playing a different game with a Blood Hunter (though the one in my game is a Ghostslayer). Overall, I feel like they're actually quite well balanced, studded leather and all.

This is fantastic news. I was looking at it with a little apprehension because I'm pretty new to 5E and I'm not a game designer so it's difficult for me to effectively judge balance concerns. I told the player they will start with regular leather armor, not studded. He came back with a, "they probably give you studded because you have to sacrifice part of your HP total", :smalltongue:. I told him that was the cost of doing business.


I highly recommend as many players as possible have Darkvision. Spending that much time in the Underdark, it's going to be a lifesaver for them.

Not having darkvision isn't as bad as it seems. The underdark caverns are full of twists and turns that hide the light the party may have. In addition, there is a ton of natural light from luminescent fungus and magic light from the faerzress.

Interesting perspectives here. I can't remember exactly but I believe the Blood Hunter can make a mutagen that gives temporary darkvision. Are there any other options they should look into? It seems like we'll probably have at least 3 variant Humans. I think the twisty nature of the underdark is a good point but I'm positive that light would be a big detriment in a lot of situations. I was in the Navy and I was told that on the open ocean at night you can see a lighter spark from a mile away (granted it's open terrain).


If the player likes sneaking, he is going to have a lot of fun as a Deep Stalker ranger. He can make a great scout. He also gets better Darkvision (unless he is a Drow). You can find it in the UA about the Underdark

Do you know if this is a fairly well balanced option? Have you (or anyone) used it in your games? I think then we'd probably have the Monk, Blood Hunter (finesse weapons/Dex focused) and Ranger as possible scouts. Sounds pretty cool.


heck it my signature for a link to my campaign log; I also use the companion system and have even added to it.

This is great! You guys seemed to be making serious progress! How did you handle roleplaying the initial imprisonment? Did you have roleplay time in the cell, with the jailors/drow and then them working as well? I see where you wrote about the escape too. Did your players find their starting equipment?


Wood Elf Cleric of Light. Focus on DEX and WIS. Pick up stealth in a background and blast those Underdark heathens back to the holes they came from. I'm sure there are better Cleric domains but the RP flavor (a worshiper of light trapped in the Underdark) seems fun. You also can get your Perception/Passive Perception pretty high and that is always good in the depths of the Underdark.

I don't think we're at all concerned with optimization, just looking for fun concepts to try. The Light domain sounds pretty appropriate! I'll mention it to the player! May I ask why you went with Wood Elf?

[fishdad]

The character concept I submitted is meant to be very versatile. Wood Elf gives you DEX/WIS/Perception/Darkvision/Elf Weapons/Sleep Immunity/Hide in the Wild thing/Extra Speed. Using your background you can either be stealthy of change your stats around and focus on CHA based skills and be a passable "face" of the party. If you roll your stats and get lucky or have an extra points in your point buy system, you can focus on stealth and social skills. Combined with the cleric of light you get a little of divine magic and wizard magic. I know a lot of people love the Human Variant but this build is very versatile and I think interesting without being a human, which is supposed to be the most versatile race. This is the current character I play and I fill about every role there is in a role playing party. You really aren't very good a Damage Per Round but you can hold your own in a fight especially if you are smart. I took some inspiration from the article on the forum about being A God Wizard (it is in notable threads) and I try to "control" every situation instead of "beating" every situation. I only have access to the 3 main books of 5E so I didn't use of any of the newer classes and races.

[mgshamster]

Interesting perspectives here. I can't remember exactly but I believe the Blood Hunter can make a mutagen that gives temporary darkvision. Are there any other options they should look into? It seems like we'll probably have at least 3 variant Humans. I think the twisty nature of the underdark is a good point but I'm positive that light would be a big detriment in a lot of situations. I was in the Navy and I was told that on the open ocean at night you can see a lighter spark from a mile away (granted it's open terrain).

You're absolutely correct that one can see light from a long distance in open areas. Sometimes when my players enter in to very large caverns, they have to worry about their light spells and torches. But the twists and turns can hide light very well.

Think of it this way: yeah, you can see light for miles on the open ocean, but can you see the light in your bunk from the other side of the ship?

Also, there's roughly a 50% chance for magical or natural light to illuminate any given important scenario. 4-6 on a d6, I believe. Could be wrong, it's off memory right now.


This is great! You guys seemed to be making serious progress! How did you handle roleplaying the initial imprisonment? Did you have roleplay time in the cell, with the jailors/drow and then them working as well? I see where you wrote about the escape too. Did your players find their starting equipment?

We spent a solid three sessions in Velkynvelve, which was 1-2 longer than I had hoped for. But I'm playing this game to their decision, and they spent quite a bit of time talking it up in the prison. Each session I have them at least two "slave" events where I rolled randomly for which players would be involved. I gave them Jorlan's Gambit for their initial escape attempt, and then used the Demon Fight to speed things up a bit. Since the drow were distracted by the demons, escape was easier than it would have been otherwise.

And yes, I gave them their equipment, requiring them to fight a single quoggoth and a giant spider to get it (we only had two players that session; if we had more if have given them more baddies to fight).

More advice, or how I handled leveling:

I leveled them up to level 2 at the end of the first session, and I leveled them to 3 as soon as they made the escape. I leveled them to 4 once they made it to the outskirts of the first city (they chose to go to Gracklstugh). I'm planning on leveling them to 5 as soon as they finish the first city; they're planning on leaving via Darklake. I'll put them at 6 in the beginning or middle of the second city (most likely Neverlight Grove) and then 7 right as they get to the surface. They'll be 8 some time in Gauntlgrym, closer to the end of that part and ready to reenter the underdark.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

An Undying Light Warlock could do very well. When most of the enemies you're up against have problems with bright light, chucking it around a lot is pretty useful, and you are very good at Not Dying. Plus, very appropriate for Dawnbreaker.

Either a Scout Fighter or Deep Stalker Ranger will be very helpful, considering all the survival, navigation and pursuit stuff.

Given the probable composition, you could also do well as a Bard, Cleric, or other support-focused caster.

[Theodoxus]

I swapped out a rogue for a life cleric. Went High Elf with Booming Blade and at 4th grabbed Magic Initiate for Shillelagh and Produce Flame. Lesser Restoration is a god send when dealing with madness (and Calm Emotions is great to stop a rampaging party member trying to kill your friendly neighborhood wizard).

Our party has a Ranger (Underdark w/outlander background) so we are never lost nor low on food (even with an extended party list from the NPCs). If you really want to trivialize the environmental hazards, I definitely recommend a Ranger and Cleric in the party. Life is nice, as it gets the spells you want automatically. But any flavor will do well.

[Noble_berserker]

Do you know if this is a fairly well balanced option? Have you (or anyone) used it in your games? I think then we'd probably have the Monk, Blood Hunter (finesse weapons/Dex focused) and Ranger as possible scouts. Sounds pretty cool.


I have only seen the deep stalker played up to level 6 or so. It is not broken in any way. In my opinion the deep stalker ends up only slightly stronger than the Hunter because of the extra spells.

[INDYSTAR188]

Greetings! My gaming group is starting Out of the Abyss on Saturday! I am planning on using the modified companion system (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8QjneCgo6BpeEUyY0RhVEY1bjQ/view)(created by some of the good folk of this sub-forum) and the madness rules. We are using 27 point buy and starting at lvl 2. Im looking for recommendations on the party composition. So far we have:

Today's the day folks! I wanted to update the player's character choices for the people who took the time to give some advice.

- Variant Human Rogue 1/Monk 1 (planning on taking next 2 lvls in rogue for assassin sub-class, then the remaining lvls in the redux way of the four elements monk (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1pdYIcfHauwNDM2My1XeWFYSDA/view))

- Variant Human Blood Hunter (http://geekandsundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Blood-Hunter-Class-1.2.pdf) (custom homebrew class from Critical Hits, planning on taking the 'mutant' sub-class).

- Wood-Elf Arcana Domain Cleric (will probably single class this; player gave the suggested Light domain a really long look but in the end thought Arcana was cooler)

- Half-orc Battleaxe Barbarian (thinking about multiclassing Fighter or Deep Stalker)

- Drow Rogue 2 (will be multiclassing Blade Pact Warlock (Fiend)) *this was the player who liked sneaky/rogue-ey type characters