Out of the Abyss (Inactive)

Game Master caster4life

Yes it was. My home game managed to get by without any rangers or outlander backgrounds but we got fairly lucky with our rolls. But that had very little to do with my choice, I just went with what felt right and I haven't tried a ranger in 5e just yet.

If there is still time to submit I have a warlock into bard build that looks like it could work well with the present group. A bit of healing/buffs, with needed skill filler, and some small damage output.

Tiefling is ok?

Yep. That all sounds good.

So we have 5 characters all ready to go. If no one else expresses interest before Decimus' ranger is ready to go, I say we start. Sound good? I'm really surprised and amused at the prospective party composition being:

1 fighter who will probably add paladin levels
1 paladin
1 dwarf wizard who wants to hit things in melee
3 rangers

I guess the "survival" part of survival horror really got people's attention. Fair enough. Hopefully at least one of our rangers will be an archer. Is that your plan Cyrus? Hard to tell since you don't pick a fighting style until level 2.

Regarding starting equipment, don't worry about it. ;)

Thought as much with the equipment :)

I'm keen to go! As I said, I'm running four 5e campaigns, but have never been a player, so really looking forward to it. I'll get an alias up now.

To be more specific, while I'm planning to fight at range primarily, I was thinking Mariner for the fighting style.

Perhaps a discussion among the rangers about our possible plans would be warranted, to reduce toe-stepping. I was planning on Two weapon fighting beast conclave.

With a goblin pirate and a dwarf mercenary (who's also an outcast), and possibly an elven ranger, I think the three PCs will be pretty well distinguished despite some similar abilities via class. :)

Speaking of which, what kind of racial dynamics will we have here? What are your characters' various opinions of other races - especially amongst the ones who are traditionally enemies? I'll admit, it's a question I'm struggling with, as I haven't thought about how my PC would think of other races.

I'm open to some opening hostilities if we want to go that route, but as a group I'd prefer it if we eventually came together as a team despite our differences.

Is this something we want to discuss before game, or explore in character during the opening?

I'm fine with some out of character discussion of prospective dynamics as long as we still play those things out in character. Discussion of prospective builds at later levels are also useful. Of course, none of this discussion is binding. Just helpful.

As Kanzen is a devotee of Eilistraee, his conscious focus is on doing good in order to reject his heritage. However, the evil of drow society has left its mark on him. I could see him making unfortunate comments in stressful situations that could cause tension, but also apologising later. He will be of a mind to break down racial division, even though his prejudices run as deep as anyone else's.

It's definitely a motley crew though!

@GM Speaking of which, what style of game do you like to run? I really enjoy narrative and character development, and prefer to make it a significant part of a game, but I'm okay with less in-depth games as well. Just wondering what mindset to bring to the game.

Cyrus has a rather unique history with Dwarves and would likely not go out of his way to provoke one due to something like race.

That being said, as a pirate, I imagine him having quite the mouth and would be an equal opportunity offender to all peoples. ;)

"The only enemies I have are the ones I'm paid to fight. But elves are pointy eared dinks"

Here's Werepox's submission. Still need some fluff but the crunch is there to examine. Plan on adding Warlock for levels 2 and 3 and back to Bard for the remainder.

There might be a bit of skill shuffle if she is selected, based off of the groups needs.

Changed Eddrikk's stats
From: 16, 14, 16, 10, 12, 8
To: 16, 14, 16, 9, 13, 8
In the event I choose to multiclass I will need a 13 wis

Galenus is a treasure hunter first and foremost. That's what he really cares about. He'd been delving in the underdark for years and knows most of the various cities and civilizations that live down here. He's likely worked with a lot of different teams of people on his expeditions.

So with that, I figure his attitude on other races can be summed up as, "You get who you get, and you can't always choose who you work with. You just gotta deal with it as it comes along. Any in-fighting can quickly lead to death in the underdark, so check your baggage at the door and leave that shit at home. We got a job to do."

More specifically, he views individual races as such:

Elves are haughty and annoying, but otherwise ok to work with. There really isn't any difference between drow and nother elves. They're all the same.

Duergar are just like most other dwarves, but in the bad part of town. Be cautious.

Svirfneblin seem to be the same as other gnomes, and they're generally liked as a cousin to dwarves.

Kua-Toa are rather crazy, but generally good people. He likes them, as they saved his life once, even if that are batshit insane.

Goblins? He's never worked with one personally. He knows they're hated Hy most dwarves, but Galenus has worked with a lot of races that are hated by the dwarves. Well, they can't be any worse than anyone else. And like all people, some are good and some are bad. Just gotta roll with it as it comes along.

Any other race, he'll treat the same as goblins, without the racial baggage of knowing that they're hated by the dwarves.

@Kanzen: Great question. I'm also a big fan of those things and will encourage that to a significant extent. This campaign does not skimp on the over-arching narrative and drawing players into it. That said, I do also intend this to be a campaign in which players are attempting to "win", that is survive and achieve their goals. I greatly enjoy creative solutions to difficult problems and battles on a razor's edge between life and death.

@Idril: Crunch looks good upon scanning. Let's see the fluff.

@All: Shall we start with 7 once everyone locks in some last minute changes? I could see us starting as soon as Idril has some character background planned out.

Ok fluff added.

Ok fluff added.

Great! Can you add a little on what Irdril's motivation is? What is she looking for in life? What kinds of things does she like? Much of this can be developed over the course of the campaign but it's helpful to have a starting point.

Updated.. She may be more than a group of men can handle lol.

All right. Should be interesting. I'll have gameplay up within a few hours. Won't start immediately. Decimus and Tiberias (rorek55) could still use a little time, I think. I'm just putting some things in place. I'm trying a kind of cheesy thing by adding in links for ambience that you can listen to while posting. Let me know if you like that or never end up using it.

Per our agreement in PM, I have altered my background feature. My character no longer has extensive knowledge of the underdark, but rather has worked with quite a few of the underdark denizens, and has a contact in most cities he may call upon for aid (sometimes for a cost, but at least he has a personal connection to them).

It's a combination of Underdark Explorer and Criminal Contact. I call it "Underground Contacts." :)

With that change, I'm ready to go!

I'm thinking a big focus on two weapon fighting for my wood elf, hoping to have him ready tonight.

Decimus here with Galinndan Siannodel. He helped saved his village from a Drow incursion and he despises his dark kin and the orcs they used as frontline fodder. Galinndan believes that it is his calling to keep fighting back against the Drow so that they will be trapped on the defensive, and less able to threaten his people.

Awesome. I think I'll get us started in a few minutes then.

Rorek55: Feel free to jump right into gameplay. Write up a little more background on your paladin once you get a chance.

Everyone who didn't get a character together yet: There may still be a chance for you to hop in depending on how strong your submission is and how quickly you have it ready. I understand that this was quite a rapid recruitment but it reflects the pace of the game that I am hoping to achieve.

I was gonna hop in. I just saw three rangers so I took a day to think of another idea. I’ll have a submission up tonight.

@Kanzen: Great question. I'm also a big fan of those things and will encourage that to a significant extent. This campaign does not skimp on the over-arching narrative and drawing players into it. That said, I do also intend this to be a campaign in which players are attempting to "win", that is survive and achieve their goals. I greatly enjoy creative solutions to difficult problems and battles on a razor's edge between life and death.

So the best of both worlds then, gotcha :)

This is Greycastle's submission

caster4lyfe wrote:

@Kanzen: Great question. I'm also a big fan of those things and will encourage that to a significant extent. This campaign does not skimp on the over-arching narrative and drawing players into it. That said, I do also intend this to be a campaign in which players are attempting to "win", that is survive and achieve their goals. I greatly enjoy creative solutions to difficult problems and battles on a razor's edge between life and death.

So the best of both worlds then, gotcha :)

Haha. That's the hope. But probably more like a reasonable amount of both. I can't promise I'll be able to maximize two major categories simultaneously.

This is Greycastle's submission

I'll let you know tomorrow morning.

Hi all! We have lost several players recently and are looking for two replacements to play through Out of the Abyss. The party is level 4 and has just reached Neverlight Grove, the home of the sentient fungi. Current party composition is:

Ranger
Ranger
Bard 2/Warlock 2
wizard

This is a survival/horror game where creepy and surprising problems are often thrown at the party. Challenge ratings are fairly high and the PCs frequently have limited resources.

I am interested in joining. I'll prepare a proper submission tonight. Do you guys need a cleric badly?

I would be interested with and Artificer if you'd allow one. A strange Gond Worshipping Rock Gnome

or

A Firbolg Monk of some kind, probably a Drunken Master

Cleric would certainly be useful. They're kind of ok on healing but don't have much buffing, debuffing, or battlefield control.

Yes you can also have been fellow prisoners from a different outpost.

Artificer is fine too.

There's a list of NPCs which one could play as also. Will add when I'm at my computer tomorrow morning.

Also, go ahead and roll 1d20 for your magic items.

1d20 ⇒ 2

Mithral armor. You may reroll once if you like but then you must take the second roll. Table is under character creation spoiler.

I would be interested with and Artificer if you'd allow one. A strange Gond Worshipping Rock Gnome

I'm the wizard of the party. I took artificer as my wizard archetype. I'd love to have a fellow artificer to finally talk shop! Not like all them other ragamuffins, who don't understand half of what I'm talking about. ;)

I assume artificer class? Another artificer wizard would be a funny degree of overlap... Maybe too much.

Yeah, I assume he meant the class and not the wizard archetype. Few people voluntarily choose the wizard archetype, as it's notoriously underpowered. Don't know what's wrong with those kinds of players. ;)

Dreaming Warforged here with a Dwarven Cleric of Marthammor Duin.

Let me know if you have questions or comments. I can always add more to the background if needed.

Tanic was in a Out of the Abyss campaign and made it to level 3 before the game died. I would love to give him another chance.

Yep The Artificer Class

Tanic was in a Out of the Abyss campaign and made it to level 3 before the game died. I would love to give him another chance.

Tanic, the linked sheet looks like a Pathfinder sheet. This is a Dnd 5e game. Am I misunderstanding something?

Tiberius here, I had to leave due to life things coming up, but now things have settled down and I am looking to get back into the fun! not updated yet, should be later tonight or tomorrow though.

magic Item: 1d20 ⇒ 7

reroll: 1d20 ⇒ 3

This is Critzible and this is what I have so far

If you are still looking for one more, I can whip up something by tonight.

I was thinking a Rouge (just have to change this character a little) for the party. But it depends on the magic equipment he gets.

1d20 ⇒ 13
1d20 ⇒ 13

Well with that roll, do you guys need a heavy armored Fighter/ Paladin or Barbarian?

Thanks for throwing your hat back in the ring, Tiberius.

Thanks, Critzible. Will review soon.

Hi Antonio. It looks like 13 is pearl of power. Perhaps you're looking at a different table?

you listed the option to purchase magic items, are we allowed to purchase anything at this time, or can we only roll on the table for a magic item?

Sorry my eyes at a glance saw Gauntlets of ogre power on line 12. Am I able to do a re-roll or do the dice god demand that I have the pearl of power? I am fine either way.