Out of the Abyss

Game Master Angie H

Captured by the drow! You wouldn’t wish this fate upon anyone, yet here you are – locked in a dark cave, the cold heavy weight of metal tight around your throat and wrists. You are not alone. Other prisoners are trapped in here with you, in an underground outpost far from the light of the sun.

Picture of your fellow prisoners.

character generation:

You’ll be starting at level 1, with NO GEAR OR WEALTH. No, nothing, don’t even ask. No spell components, spell focus, nothing. That won’t last long, if you’re clever and motivated.

Abilities:
Start with 27 point buy.
We’ll be using some of the newer customization options: instead of Racial Ability Score Increases, everybody gets to increase one ability by 2, and one ability by 1.
Hit points: PHB standard – full at 1st level, then half+1 moving forward.
Character Creation/sheet: Whatever works for you. You can put the info in your profile, or if your character sheet is on mythweavers or some other online host, please put a link to your sheet in you profile.

Resources allowed:
PHB
Xanathar
Tasha
Mordenkainen
Fizban
Eberron
Volo maybe – convince me you can make those races work.
If you want something else, just ask and I’ll consider.

Header: please include: Inspiration 0/2, AC, HP, Passive Perception and Insight, Exhaustion: 0/6, plus whatever else is useful to you.

***House Rules***
Inspiration
You can have up to 2 inspiration points. They cannot be used on the same roll. You can use inspiration to:
* Roll attacks, skills, and saving throws with advantage, after you see the results of your first roll.
* Add 1d6 to the results of a d20 roll, after you see the results of your first roll.
*Add 1d4 to a damage roll.
* "I have a thing for that." You have a mundane item in your stuff that could help with the current situation. You must spend the gold on it right then, and you can "find" it in your pack. After all, I find random s#~+ in my purse all the time, never mind an adventuring pack.
*Give it to a friend! Any time, for any reason.
Initiative: On the first round of combat, you may choose to lower your initiative to one point lower than that of an ally. Teamwork baby!
Crit 20: You can turn any attack into a critical hit by gaining 2 levels of exhaustion.
Critical damage: Instead of rolling twice, take the damage you rolled, and add it to max damage. For example, if your dagger does 1d4+2 and you roll a 1, you do 1+2+4=7 damage.
Smarty pants: You can learn one extra language or tool proficiency for every point of your INT bonus.

Exhaustion rules:

Exhaustion is primarily a mechanic to address overexertion while adventuring. This means that any extreme circumstances can cause a level of exhaustion. This includes, but is not limited to:
*Not eating or drinking enough (1lb food and 1 gallon water)
*Exposure to extreme heat or extreme cold
*Traveling for longer than 8 hours in a day
*Going 24 hours without a long rest
*Bad night's sleep (nightmares)
*Dashing too often (>3+CON mod)
*Falling into frigid water
*Swimming for more than 1 hour
*Rowing a boat for longer than 8 hours

Level: Effect
1: Disadvantage on ability checks
2: Speed halved
3: Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws
4: Hit point maximum halved
5: Speed reduced to 0
6: Death

Ways to Remove Exhaustion
The simplest way to remove a level of exhaustion is by completing a long rest, assuming that food and water is also ingested as part of the long rest. Keep in mind that if you are still exposed to extreme heat or cold during a long rest, saving throws against exhaustion will need to be made.

Barring magical artifacts, the only other way to fix exhaustion is to use the Greater Restoration spell, which can reduce the target’s exhaustion level by one.