Ideas for Out of the Abyss

[Willie the Duck]

After the holidays, my group is going to be playing Out of the Abyss, and I am looking for suggestions. We are currently running straight from PHB, so no UA, probably no SCAG (unless someone gets it in the meantime and the DM okays it), but probably Volo since people have it and are somewhat excited (my understanding is that you start out as prisoners of the drow, and then spend a lot of time in the underdark, so unusual races would be just fine). We're all on our second 5e campaign (currently SKT).

I've thought about half-elven lore bard, valor bard, or cleric (either life, or Arcana if we pick up SCAG). Those seem like really good support characters. However, those are very obvious, tried and true choices. If I want to experiment, I was thinking either cleric/warlock for those short-rest heals, or rogue/warlock for the darkness/sneak attack ambushes. However, I worry that those are builds based around gimmicks, and those usually either get boring or end up being all you are good at. What are other suggestions? What would be fun to try in this adventure? Volo races ideas encouraged. No, anything interesting encouraged.

Thanks!

[Gastronomie]

A Kobold Cleric of Kurtulmak. In Kobold myth, Kurtulmak was tricked by the Gnome God, Garl Glittergold, and was "trapp[ed] in an underground maze for eternity" (from page 195 of the MM). Being a believer of Kurtulmak, your character decided to venture into the Underdark, thinking that the description of this "underground maze" fits the Underdark perfectly.

[Alejandro]

After the holidays, my group is going to be playing Out of the Abyss, and I am looking for suggestions. We are currently running straight from PHB, so no UA, probably no SCAG (unless someone gets it in the meantime and the DM okays it), but probably Volo since people have it and are somewhat excited (my understanding is that you start out as prisoners of the drow, and then spend a lot of time in the underdark, so unusual races would be just fine). We're all on our second 5e campaign (currently SKT).

I've thought about half-elven lore bard, valor bard, or cleric (either life, or Arcana if we pick up SCAG). Those seem like really good support characters. However, those are very obvious, tried and true choices. If I want to experiment, I was thinking either cleric/warlock for those short-rest heals, or rogue/warlock for the darkness/sneak attack ambushes. However, I worry that those are builds based around gimmicks, and those usually either get boring or end up being all you are good at. What are other suggestions? What would be fun to try in this adventure? Volo races ideas encouraged. No, anything interesting encouraged.

Thanks!

I am currently playing a PC in Out of the Abyss right now, almost level 3. Before I give any advice or suggestions, do you care about spoilers or not?

[NecroDancer]

Dark Vision helps a lot

[Willie the Duck]

I am currently playing a PC in Out of the Abyss right now, almost level 3. Before I give any advice or suggestions, do you care about spoilers or not?

Not really. Obvious cheating (of the "the Troll King is deceiving you, the ruby monkey idol is in the dwarven freehold, not the goblin warren, he's sending you into a trap" variety) would be, well, cheating. Spoilers (ex. "you think playing a drow wouldn't be a problem in an underdark-centric AP, but you're actually going to be crossing two desert"), however, I really don't care. Go right ahead.

[Alejandro]

Not really. Obvious cheating (of the "the Troll King is deceiving you, the ruby monkey idol is in the dwarven freehold, not the goblin warren, he's sending you into a trap" variety) would be, well, cheating. Spoilers (ex. "you think playing a drow wouldn't be a problem in an underdark-centric AP, but you're actually going to be crossing two desert"), however, I really don't care. Go right ahead.

1. Darkvision. Have it.
2. Initially, playing something dependent on special tools (like a spellbook, holy symbol, spell components, etc) will be very difficult. Don't count on being able to use magic at all right away, actually.
3. Survival is an extremely valuable skill.

If you were allowed to use the new version of the Ranger that WOTC released in Unearthed Arcana, it would be a kick ass choice, especially if using a darkvision having race. Sadly, you are not, and no SCAG either, which eliminates choices like duergar, deep gnome, etc (all of which are in my current party.)

[Willie the Duck]

1. Darkvision. Have it.

Understood.


2. Initially, playing something dependent on special tools (like a spellbook, holy symbol, spell components, etc) will be very difficult. Don't count on being able to use magic at all right away, actually.

Well, I know you are taken prisoner, so I'm assuming you have nothing except what you can scrounge. I was thinking of making a specialist in that (high-unarmored AC plus good weaponless attack, possibly with sleight of hand and deception skills to filch stuff from guards). The question is whether this is stuff that will work for exactly one scene, and then be foolish to have focused upon.


3. Survival is an extremely valuable skill.

I was thinking of playing a lizardman (but I don't think they have darkvision, darn). What about athletics (climbing, jumping)? Acrobatics? Basically, is this an old fashioned get-the-low-level-PCs-through-an-obstacle-course situation?


If you were allowed to use the new version of the Ranger that WOTC released in Unearthed Arcana, it would be a kick ass choice, especially if using a darkvision having race.

And if it is off the table?

[Alejandro]

You will begin play as prisoners, with nothing at all other than some randomly rolled things (like a sharp stone or stolen metal bar, etc.) And it is entirely possible you will flee into the Underdark with nothing more than that, and still in manacles.

Spellcasting, at least initially, is not possible other than very specific times. And if you need spell components, a holy symbol, etc to cast the spells, you won't have them. If your PC is something that can cast dangerous spells without needing anything at all, you will likely be stored in such a way that you cannot.

You CAN play without darkvision. The book has specific things to compensate. But you will have to find them, get lucky, etc. Two of our party are humans and they function.

Why are you restricted to PHB only, no UA, but Volo's is OK? Are you doing the AL rule of PHB+1 book?

[Willie the Duck]

No UA because it is playtest material. No one picked up SCAG because we said we were going to break in the new system before we felt the need to invest in splatbooks (regardless of whether they came out frequently or infrequently). Now Volo's has come out and people have gotten a little excited about it (the DM has looked through it, unsure on what he thinks yet). If someone picks up SCAG over the holidays, that might come into the mix. I'm thinking about things like a rogue-cleric who is either arcana domain or Magic Initiate to use Booming Blade to offset the one attack, but again it sounds like a gimmick which might not be worth the investment.


You will begin play as prisoners, with nothing at all other than some randomly rolled things (like a sharp stone or stolen metal bar, etc.) And it is entirely possible you will flee into the Underdark with nothing more than that, and still in manacles.

This really makes me think that urchin- or criminal- background half-elf rogue or bard with darkvision, lots of skills, and adaptability would be good, or choose something like monk or warlock who can fight really well with nothing on hand.

[Alejandro]

No UA because it is playtest material. No one picked up SCAG because we said we were going to break in the new system before we felt the need to invest in splatbooks (regardless of whether they came out frequently or infrequently). Now Volo's has come out and people have gotten a little excited about it (the DM has looked through it, unsure on what he thinks yet). If someone picks up SCAG over the holidays, that might come into the mix. I'm thinking about things like a rogue-cleric who is either arcana domain or Magic Initiate to use Booming Blade to offset the one attack, but again it sounds like a gimmick which might not be worth the investment.



This really makes me think that urchin- or criminal- background half-elf rogue or bard with darkvision, lots of skills, and adaptability would be good, or choose something like monk or warlock who can fight really well with nothing on hand.

SCAG is excellent, especially if you are going to play in the Forgotten Realms (as you are, with OOTA.) Someone should grab it. :) Booming Blade is a cantrip from SCAG though....?

[Grod_The_Giant]

Shadow Monk might be a lot of fun. Can solve your Darkvision problems too, if you can survive until 3rd.

[Willie the Duck]

SCAG is excellent, especially if you are going to play in the Forgotten Realms (as you are, with OOTA.) Someone should grab it. :) Booming Blade is a cantrip from SCAG though....?

I have read through SCAG and am relatively familiar with what is in it. I would like to try out some of the stuff in it. I do not know if the DM is going to decide that the group is going to start using SCAG material. It is up in the air. Same with Volo, but people have actually invested the $ in it, so I think it is more likely.



Shadow Monk might be a lot of fun. Can solve your Darkvision problems too, if you can survive until 3rd.


Same thing as Warlock. It really depends on whether you have to craft your character to the initial situation. We do have someone playing a shadow monk currently, so we might just skip that option simply for not-same-thing-twice-in-a-row reasons, even though it does sound like a good match.

[Alejandro]

OK. Well, assuming no splatbooks at all, no SCAG, and no Volo's (though there are some neat races in it) and no UA (which is sad, as that eliminates the ranger for most people) strong OOTA choices, at least *early on* (which is all I have experience with) are things like:

- Champion fighter
- Monk, no four elements (it's a trap!)
- Warlock (but be careful of spells that need components. Also be careful of being short rest dependent, as you may not get any.)
- Rogue
- Anything that doesn't rely on having specific weapons, equipment, components, holy symbols, books, etc.
- Anything that is good at the Survival skill and or creating food and water, if you can get the spells to do it.

See if your GM will at least let you use the current Unearthed Arcana rebuild of the Ranger. There's even an Underdark Scout path for the Ranger there which is perfect for OOTA. Our party has benefited greatly from having a non-suck version Ranger in it, as it is helping keep us from starving to death (HP and attacks and such won't matter if you die of thirst and hunger) and also preventing us getting lost.

https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/UA_RevisedRanger.pdf

[Willie the Duck]

OK. Well, assuming no splatbooks at all, no SCAG, and no Volo's (though there are some neat races in it) and no UA (which is sad, as that eliminates the ranger for most people)
Let's assume that. At least initially. If there are good Volo's ideas, though, please bring them up.

What you've told me suggest that the AP is very much a low-equipment obstacle course dungeon (feeding oneself being a significant hurdle), with not a lot of short rests (and less long rests I assume? Should everyone be champions and rogues?)


Anything that is good at the Survival skill and or creating food and water, if you can get the spells to do it.

Darkvision and Survival skill whenever possible. Got it. I was thinking the old Life Cleric/M.I. (goodberry) trick might be useful (if cheesy), but if there is no resting, that could be a problem.

[Alejandro]

Let's assume that. At least initially. If there are good Volo's ideas, though, please bring them up.

What you've told me suggest that the AP is very much a low-equipment obstacle course dungeon (feeding oneself being a significant hurdle), with not a lot of short rests (and less long rests I assume? Should everyone be champions and rogues?)



Darkvision and Survival skill whenever possible. Got it. I was thinking the old Life Cleric/M.I. (goodberry) trick might be useful (if cheesy), but if there is no resting, that could be a problem.

It is very dependent on your GM and also on the malice or charity of some excellent random tables.

You're going to need at least some healing, or people are going to die like flies.

[Willie the Duck]

It is very dependent on your GM and also on the malice or charity of some excellent random tables.

What is?


You're going to need at least some healing, or people are going to die like flies.

How will that be accomplished without rests? Can you comment more on the short/long rests?

[Alejandro]

Well... you will have to deal with things like exhaustion levels. Choosing whether to flee through the Underdark faster, to evade pursuit, but to gain exhaustion and gather less food to eat. Or go slower, avoiding those problems, but then your enemies may catch up to you (BAD NEWS.)

Taking an hour for a short rest may not be possible. Stopping for a long rest might or might not be possible. Your GM will be rolling on nasty Underdark random encounter tables, at any time of the 'day' or 'night.' Maybe nothing will happen and you get to rest. Maybe you will get attacked by a bunch of giant beetles that want to eat your flesh (we used their carapaces to make ****ty armor. :D )

[Willie the Duck]

Okay, all resting is hard. Short rests probably easier than long, but still hard. That's making something like champion or rogue (who do well without rest), or warlock (who do okay without rest, and recharge almost fully with short rest) sound good. Healing is tough as it is mostly long rest dependent except for the healer feat which is equipment dependent, or cleric 1/warlock X, which takes time to ramp up. What level have you gotten up to where this is a thing?

Anyone else have suggestions? :-)

[ruy343]

Right now, I'm playing a Barbarian in OotA, and it's been a pretty good choice thus far. I've been able to be the party tank, and you really need one of those (and a good teamwork dynamic).

I would also recommend a druid, because wild shape isn't dependent on components, and can be very useful for a variety of situations in which you might find yourself.

Also, I love wizards!

[Willie the Duck]

Also, I love wizards!

But would not recommend one for this adventure, right (what with the spellbook and all)?

[Ashuan21]

I'm playing OotA right now (we are at the beginning of the second half of the adventure), I can't really tell what you should play, but I can definitely tell you what you shouldn't.
Don't play a caster focused on Enchantment, please don't... The luckiest you could be is to find someone which is ONLY resistant to being Charmed/Frightened, but there are tons of immune creatures.
I played an Enchanter Wizard but had to change because it was clearly pointless to go on, as things worsen later on with the addition of Legendary Resistances.
I would also avoid PCs focused on social skills, as finding someone sane enough to discuss with might be sort of hard.

Sooo apart from this it's a great adventure so have fun, I feel like blasters and martial classes have the highest potential, but the new Ranger is amazingly useful (especially if you choose the right favoured enemies) and a sneaky guy could find its niche as well.

[Willie the Duck]

I'm playing OotA right now (we are at the beginning of the second half of the adventure), I can't really tell what you should play, but I can definitely tell you what you shouldn't.

Equally useful.


Don't play a caster focused on Enchantment, please don't... The luckiest you could be is to find someone which is ONLY resistant to being Charmed/Frightened, but there are tons of immune creatures.
I played an Enchanter Wizard but had to change because it was clearly pointless to go on, as things worsen later on with the addition of Legendary Resistances.

So... I should probably just tear up those bard ideas I had


I would also avoid PCs focused on social skills, as finding someone sane enough to discuss with might be sort of hard.

rippppp


Sooo apart from this it's a great adventure so have fun, I feel like blasters and martial classes have the highest potential, but the new Ranger is amazingly useful (especially if you choose the right favoured enemies) and a sneaky guy could find its niche as well.

My current thoughts are (all getting survival some way):
Rogue (if SCAG is allowed): an AT who uses Booming Blade plus disengage for combat (enchantment nerfing suggest maybe picking a different archtype and picking up BB with M.I.).
Rogue (if SCAG not allowed): a Strength-based shield-master+push+sneak-attack build. I was thinking mountain dwarf or hobgoblin, but neither actually has shield proficiency. Another gimmick I haven't figured out how to make work
Cleric-warlock: healing via short rests. Probably life cleric (but medium armor for sneaking) or trickster (if a Volo's race like kobold) and bladelock.
Rogue-warlock: darkness and SA, as you'd guess.
Revamped Ranger: I just don't know if it'll pass muster. I think I'm going to be very happy when this hits published paper.

[Alejandro]

I myself am playing a Life Cleric 1/Bard 1 (about to become Cleric 1/Bard 2) and it has been very effective. I have needed healing magic from Cleric 1, and all the many many options that come with Bard. Plus being sort of the party leader, due to being the party face and the only person with healing magic.

Be careful with Booming Blade, or other loud spells. I attracted another encounter to us by using Thunderwave. That noise carries down there.

[Ashuan21]

Consider that many fights will take place in tunnels and small chambers, what does it mean? I'm not sure but maybe that a character focused on mobility risks to not shine as well as it would in other environments... I don't know, just guessing.
As for the Rogue/Warlock Darkness combo I know it's a very fascinating one, but keep in mind that you are going to be in the Underdark, where many creatures don't rely only/at all on sight (Tremorsense, Blindsight and so on)!

I can't help you with your Cleric/Warlock idea, but we have a Cleric in our group and he is a fundamental PC because of the many nasty conditions and madness you will face.

[Theodoxus]

Our group has been playing OotA for months now. We're 8th. Party comp was originally 2 half-elf (Drow) rogues, Full Drow Ranger (UA underdark scount), Full Drow Wizard (Enchantment), Half-elf (Drow) Warlock (Chain). After a bit, my rogue went insane (we didn't know insanity rules were going to be applied, and I'd had a backstory of being a cannibal - had cooked a number of the NPCs we were trapped with... long story short, I went nuts, party tossed me overboard). I came back with a High Elf life cleric of Lathander. Spoiler - there's a sentient Sun blade named Dawnbringer you can find. I inherited it - thankfully for my sword prof, I could even use it. Much to the chagrin of the party drow who were blinded by it, but it has been useful in combats against enemy drow... disad to hit me ftw.

Anyway, my advice is to understand that insanity is a thing; it's potentially detrimental to the party; being able to clear it up is critical. Less Restoration helps against the first and second tiers of insanity. You shouldn't (unless you're like me and have a character accidentally specifically built to accrue lots of insanity quickly) run into a problem with it before 3rd level.

Bard is an excellent choice. Since it doesn't require a focus for most spells, you're not scrambling for an item in game to be able to cast. And while diplomacy is only lightly used in the beginning, it definitely can come up later on. There are a number of cities where being able to talk your way in and/or out will be critical to party survival. You might not want to put Expertise in Persuasion, but definitely take the skill if you're thinking face.

One last bit of advice. Darkvision is great, but tons of areas in the UD are pitchblack. DV turns that into Dim Light. Dim Light still imposes disadvantage on visual perception checks. It also allows you to hide without cover. Even if you have only 60' DV, guys with 120' won't really see you any better. Devil's Sight overcomes that limitation - but that's about it. [though Dawnbringer as discussed above, will wreck all of that - she is afraid of the dark, and will fight her owner at being extinguished for any length of time.]

A Bard 1/Warlock 2 build would probably eliminate a lot of problems... the Skulker feat is also amazing, as it eliminates your disad for perception in Dim Light - allowing you to get the drop on enemies while being 'hidden in plain sight.'

[Ashuan21]

Maybe it was the kindness of our DM I don't know... but we were able to retrieve our personal items from the Drow in the very first session (and a sane DM would anyway provide an alternative early on) sooo I wouldn't care too much about what you miss in the very first sessions, you are not going to be great but come on, I wouldn't play a Monk only because in the first 1/2/3 sessions I may have no sword/focus

[Alejandro]

Maybe it was the kindness of our DM I don't know... but we were able to retrieve our personal items from the Drow in the very first session (and a sane DM would anyway provide an alternative early on) sooo I wouldn't care too much about what you miss in the very first sessions, you are not going to be great but come on, I wouldn't play a Monk only because in the first 1/2/3 sessions I may have no sword/focus

I didn't want to spoil *too* much for the OP, but you are right. You totally can try to retrieve your possessions from the Drow. It's just extra dangerous to do so. Our party left it behind and got out ASAP.

[Addaran]

Maybe not a wizard cause of the spell book, but i wouldn't worry too much about caster without spell components. You can easily make a good list with a bunch of spells without M or with easy to find. Sleep for example needs fine sand (should be easy) , rose petals (harder) or a cricket (easy as soon as you're out). Magic Missiles doesn't have any and most cantrips don't either.

edit: A conjurer could also be fun. Need an item? You have it! (from lvl 2+)

[Telok]

Combat bards are fine, social bards are out of luck. Expertise in perception is really good. Heat Metal is a terrible wonderful spell and comes on line early. Don't try for heavy armor early, you're poor and away from civilization for a long time.

A lot will depend on the DM. This isn't an adventure for novice DMs, there are lots of npcs to deal with and lots of detail that is important to the player's abilitiy to make decisions.

[Ze_Azrael]

A lot will depend on your DM, there are some parts of the adventure that can be very social if they want to play it that way. Also the fact that you'll generally feel outclassed (at least for a while) will encourage you to think of different ways to bypass encounters, like social, stealth, fleeing, etc.

I think anything can be played effectively and it depends on how long you think your group will play it for... It goes to level ~15 so not choosing wizard because of that first couple chapters isn't very sound logic to me (there are also a few nice spellbooks and a decent amount of scrolls later on that you can find). So I would suggest play whatever you think is fun.

That said, things off the top of my head that i think will be effective (some have been mentioned already) are:
- Darkvision. Even if you use the proper dim light rules, not being blind 80% of the time, or attracting all the dangerous creatures with your torch is very nice
- Survival and Stealth. At least at first, there is a big emphasis on feeling like a fish out of water, doing everything you can to barely get by (food, tracking and covering up your tracks, navigating, etc)
- Undercommon. Depends a lot on your DM but we got two humans that have to sit out most of the social aspect. This goes with the social aspect and why many might think is not really a thing in the adventure, since there is a huge language barrier that the adventure doesn't really do anything about. But we have a deep gnome social bard who has been the MVP several times.
- Healing / a Tank. Tacking onto the "oh god I hate this I miss my countryside farm" feeling, you'll fight dangerous creatures and even just the environment can be hostile as well. Not dying is always nice.
- Madness. As mentioned, this is a pretty core mechanic to the adventure but it can be quite nasty (there's also a decent amount of Exhaustion). I personally like it so even if you go someone who can dispel it, I would encourage you to RP it and only dispel when your character would notice it since it can lead to some hilariously memorable character development.

So from all this, I would recommend (but only if you find it fun) a Kobold Druid.
Kobold gets darkvision and the sunlight sensitivity won't matter and they can be such a fun (and powerful) race. It could also lead to interesting interaction with some underdark races (like Gnomes due to the whole deceived god thing someone mentioned above).
Druid I think has the most potential to shine in this adventure. Can take care of food and water, some healing and lesser restoration, excellent at exploring and going unnoticed, has a very versatile spell list that will help with the very versatile thinking you might be doing, and there's also some cool jumping spiders you could shape into... Cleric is also another obvious choice (and can easily take care of the language barrier too).

Oh also worth mentioning is that I personally wouldn't recommend a heavily short rest reliant class (warlock) since at least for our group, combat days haven't been very attrition oriented in the 6-8 encounters kinda way. Big scary creatures plus lots of traveling and stuff, and the adventure tries to do attrition differently (madness, exhaustion, etc) have led to classes like the warlock feeling stifled and the paladin being able to smite often enough without feeling stifled himself. Also table dependent but worth mentioning.

[Theodoxus]

Oh also worth mentioning is that I personally wouldn't recommend a heavily short rest reliant class (warlock) since at least for our group, combat days haven't been very attrition oriented in the 6-8 encounters kinda way. Big scary creatures plus lots of traveling and stuff, and the adventure tries to do attrition differently (madness, exhaustion, etc) have led to classes like the warlock feeling stifled and the paladin being able to smite often enough without feeling stifled himself. Also table dependent but worth mentioning.

This! I typically blow my whole load of spell points on an encounter, as we typically only face 1 per adventuring day, with a week or more of "downtime" for traveling. [This adventure could really use the extended rest rules from the DMG]

One thing I will note, we had a druid at the very start of the adventure - I forgot about her, because she only played the first day. When she got wildshape, she was the MVP for the combat, shifting into a giant spider and running up and down columns poisoning and webbing - but, she had no access to mistletoe - so, no goodberries. Our DM is a bit of a stickler for things like that - so as Ze_Azrael notes, it's very DM dependent on what you can get away with and what will be blocked...

The kobold druid does sound quite fun though - and you'll be fairly free to go where you please with wildshape.

[Willie the Duck]

Thank you Ze. That's very much what I was looking for. I was leaning heavily towards cleric1/warlock X because I assumed that there would be a lot more quick catnaps while escaping than long rests, and that clerics for instance would effectively almost never get a recharge. Now I'll much more likely look at bards and clerics (I'm a paladin now, so probably not that), if I choose a more normal combination.

A kobold druid could be fun. What about other underdark-compatible races? Any good suggestions for them, and what classes would make sense? I've skimmed Volo's, but other than "I guess they want hobgoblins to be wizards," I haven't yet gotten a bead on them.

[Alejandro]

Thank you Ze. That's very much what I was looking for. I was leaning heavily towards cleric1/warlock X because I assumed that there would be a lot more quick catnaps while escaping than long rests, and that clerics for instance would effectively almost never get a recharge. Now I'll much more likely look at bards and clerics (I'm a paladin now, so probably not that), if I choose a more normal combination.

A kobold druid could be fun. What about other underdark-compatible races? Any good suggestions for them, and what classes would make sense? I've skimmed Volo's, but other than "I guess they want hobgoblins to be wizards," I haven't yet gotten a bead on them.

Other than having darkvision or not, what race you choose won't really matter too much. There are already going to be NPCs of basically every Underdark race.

[Willie the Duck]

Then. What. Would. Be. Fun.?

[Alejandro]

Then. What. Would. Be. Fun.?

That is a subjective question that we cannot answer for you. :) Anything in D&D can be fun, it depends what sort of play you enjoy.

If you are asking "What would be mechanically superior to pick for this adventure book" then yes, we have covered that pretty well. Fun is subjective.

[Maxilian]

Then. What. Would. Be. Fun.?

A Human (or anything that doesn't have Darkvision) Light Cleric that is scared of the Dark?

[Willie the Duck]

If you are asking "What would be mechanically superior to pick for this adventure book" then yes, we have covered that pretty well.

I know. We have covered that as far as I want to go without spoiling it, which is why I am trying to get suggestions for what people would think would be fun.

[Maxilian]

I know. We have covered that as far as I want to go without spoiling it, which is why I am trying to get suggestions for what people would think would be fun.

Also... Kobolds, they are always fun and the Sunligh Sensitivy becomes kind of irrelevant.

Deep Gnome also work well (Superior Darkvision for the win!)

[Alejandro]

Also... Kobolds, they are always fun and the Sunligh Sensitivy becomes kind of irrelevant.

Deep Gnome also work well (Superior Darkvision for the win!)

Get your GM to let you use the Warforged, and play a robot that was sent into the Underdark by a science team above to gather data, only to have the Drow steal it.

[Ze_Azrael]

No problem :) As for races that could be fun, i would suggest that if you don't have any particular preference, then races that can have interesting interactions with the underdark denizens you'll encounter could be pretty fun. Deep Gnomes and Duergar from SCAG, Drow, Kobolds, Goblinoids...

From your responses, if you want to play a Strength Rogue, i would suggest taking a look at Bugbear. They seem tailored for it. Rogues are always useful. Hobgoblins make good wizards indeed, and you can be Rogue-like by going Goblin.

Revised Ranger as mentioned has a lot of potential for this one, but even the standard Ranger if you feel so inclined. Goblin gives u a bit of Rogue and you can thematically ride your wolf if you go BM.

For Cleric I personally think a Trickery one could be really fun, and it multiclasses pretty well. Arcana is a good one too if you end up allowing SCAG, I've played one and they're pretty great power wise. Plus their typical downside of their Channel Divinity would find use in this campaign (tho there are less demons than you might think so don't really over specialize in demon slaying).

Overall don't worry too much about perfect race/class combinations (as I mentioned we have a Deep Gnome Bardlock who is having a ton of fun RPing her character and has been instrumental to the party even tho she's far from optimized), and don't get too caught up on the initial prisoner thing, a good DM shouldn't let you go multiple sessions without being able to cast anything if you're a full caster. I think by now you should have a pretty good idea of the overall 'theme' of the campaign without really young into spoiler details. A couple things I forgot to specifically mention: there's a lot of travel all throughout the campaign so eventually getting travel spells like teleport would be helpful. And the are TONS of NPCs and other potential companions (pets!), another place where social side (or character motivations) can come into play.

You'll see I'm making a bit of a case for casters and that's because they're the most versatile and versatility can be critical for this campaign.

Overall I'll say this... Yes, you start naked and shackled, lost in an alien world and surrounded by a score of Drow and their pets, any one of which could easily one shot you. You have a scant selection of random items and share the cell with a number of interesting prisoners. How will you get out? Who are you gonna take with you? What will you need once you escape and where are you gonna go? Right from the get go this campaign sets the feel of the adventure and forces you to make the most out of the few resources at your disposal and think outside the box. It's a wonderful campaign that I would describe as Alice in Wonderland meets Cthulhu, and no matter what character you play as, you're probably going to have fun. So take our suggestions (or go nuts too!) and make a few possible characters with back stories, and choose the one that appeals to you the most.

[Alejandro]

And hope that at least one person gets the metal bar. So you can club a Drow to death with it.

[Mandragola]

I'm DMing this at the moment. My party is nearly level 4. You're in for an interesting ride. It's an adventure with a lot of cool cinematic moments.

I gave the players the option of the standard phb+1, as used in adventurer's league. That seems to me to be a good way to allow splat content in, without having outrageous combos. I'm also letting one person play a revised ranger. He's a drow deep stalker, and actually might be too useful in getting around the place. It removes a lot of the survival issues in the adventure, which are fun.

The other characters are an aasimar draconic sorceress and a dwarf tempest cleric. So just three of them, though fortunately there are a fair number of npcs around too.

I've solved the potential problem of the drow ranger by sending the party on a side quest, following a vision that was sent to the aasimar. I don't want to give too much away, but if you end up doing this particular side quest you'll find that you'd rather not have sunlight sensitivity afterwards.

In the last session the party was exploring a dungeon where wild magic surges happened whenever anyone cast a spell. The sorceress is now blue, and dropped a confusion and a fireball spell on the party. She was the only one to save against the fireball, meaning that everyone else went unconcious, while a couple of friendly npcs got killed, and so did the boss of the dungeon! Great stuff.

[Telok]

Oh yeah. Bum around the Underdark for a bit. If you take the "escape from the underdark" thing as your goal and go hardcore for it then you won't be playing the adventure. It's a real bummer for the DM if your party manages to escape at level 5 or 6 because some of you had the right backgrounds and skills.

[Ze_Azrael]

Oh yeah. Bum around the Underdark for a bit. If you take the "escape from the underdark" thing as your goal and go hardcore for it then you won't be playing the adventure. It's a real bummer for the DM if your party manages to escape at level 5 or 6 because some of you had the right backgrounds and skills.

Yeah don't try to build to counter every mechanic the adventure has to throw at you cuz then you'll essentially end up missing out on a lot of the fun it has to offer.

Also as Mandragola mentioned, if there's one class I wouldn't recommend, it would be Wild Magic Sorc since everyone can get a chance at the fun Surges :p

[MintyNinja]

Hey, I think the Elemental Evil Player's Companion is a PDF somewhere and is an official book. It has a few race options I'd suggest for thematic/setting reasons.

Deep Gnomes (Svirfneblin): As an Underdark Race it gives you access to the Undercommon language which is super useful if your GM was like me and actually tracked who could talk to who. This race would excel at Monk or Rogue.

Water Genasi: A lot of areas are connected by a sea-sized lake, and a Water Genasi making a rough living as a ferryman would be a hell of an interesting character. Couple that with the ability to create water, that makes survival 50% easier for the whole group. The fact that their Stats are +2 Con and +1 Wis could help make a very interesting cleric.

[Addaran]

A lizardfolk that got captured by the drows! You don't have weapons? No worries, just kill something/someone and craft weapons. :smallbiggrin:

Probably that skinny guy with a limp, he won't be able to escape anyway.

[Willie the Duck]

A lizardfolk that got captured by the drows! You don't have weapons? No worries, just kill something/someone and craft weapons. :smallbiggrin:

Probably that skinny guy with a limp, he won't be able to escape anyway.

Heh. I like the survival skills. Lack of darkvision means it isn't hyper cheesy. Maybe a cleric (although lizardfolk bard would be hilarious...)?

[Telok]

Yeah don't try to build to counter every mechanic the adventure has to throw at you cuz then you'll essentially end up missing out on a lot of the fun it has to offer.

What was funny was that for us, only the DM knew the premise and plot of the adventure. The rest of us built characters, we knew that it was FR based and underground if we wanted to do backstory, and got dropped into the adventure on the "captured by the drow, now escape" note.

While we thought that there were lots of demons running around for a low level part of the adventure we never connected anything, they were just background noise and things to be avoided. So once we got hold of a directions (and eventually a map) we just raced towards the nearest exit at full speed.

Sort of broke the adventure there until the DM told us what the plot was and that we had to stay around and clear some dungeons/towns in order to be the right level when we got out.

[Willie the Duck]

Adventure design is tough.

I'll try not to let that influence me. I think my DM would plant some seed in the first town we came to on the surface saying kinda "there's something you need back in there, go back."

[Mandragola]

For some reason my players don't seem all that motivated to get out of the underdark. They escaped with a few friends, and are trying to get some of them home (with pretty limited success so far). They're currently just trying to get to a market so they can do some shopping.

It's quite a tough adventure to DM. Having lvls 1-15 in a single book means that quite a lot of the encounters are very brief - even just a single paragraph. And even though they aren't really likely to get lost, they have run into quite a lot of monsters in their travels.

[Willie the Duck]

Here are some potential ideas I've had:

Kobold Druid (urchin) - future moon druid
STR 7, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 14, CHA 12
Abilities: Darkvision, sunlight sensitivity, pack tactics, grovel (adv. Allies to attacks on enemies within 10’ of you for 1 rnd) 1/sr
Skills: Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Survival, Thieves’ tools, Disguise kit
First ASI: unknown

Lizardfolk Cleric (nature) (outlander)
Str 12, Dex 14, Con16, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 8
Abilities: bite (str based, 1d6), craft (club, dart, javelin, shield), hold breath, skills(animal handling, perception, stealth, survival), natural ac (13+dex), bite as bonus action (+ heal 3 hp) 1/sr.
Skills: Athletics, Handle Animal, Medicine, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth, Survival, undercommon
First ASI: war caster

Bugbear Rogue (outlander) – future rogue/fighter
Str 16, Dex 16, Con14, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 8
Abilities: darkvision, long limbed (+5 reach on turn), powerful build, skill (stealth), surprise attack (+2d6 on surprise attack)
Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth, Survival, thieves’ tools, undercommon
Future ASIs: medium armor master (???)

Goblin Warlock (criminal)
Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 14
Abilities: darkvision, add level to damage vs. larger creature 1/sr, disengage/hide as bonus action,
Skills: Deception, Investigation, Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Thieves’ tools
First ASI: +2 Cha

Half-Elf Bard (criminal) -- future valor bard
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 16
Abilities: darkvision, 2 skills
Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth, Survival, thieves’ tools
First ASI: War Caster

Kobold Cleric (trickery) (charlatan)
Str 6, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 12
Abilities: Darkvision, sunlight sensitivity, pack tactics, grovel (adv. Allies to attacks on enemies within 10’ of you for 1 rnd) 1/sr
Skills: Persuasion, Insight, Deception, Stealth
First ASI: Skilled (acrobatics, investigation, perception)

Yuan-ti Cleric (life) (outlander) – future Cleric/Warlock
Str 14, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 16
Abilities: darkvision, spells (poison spray at will, animal friendship on snakes, suggestion 1/lr at 3rd), poison immunity, magic resistance (advantage on saves vs. magic)
Skills: Athletics, Insight, Medicine, Survival, undercommon