Out of the Abyss

Game Master Angie H

No worries, let me know when you want me to roll the next save since we are out of round tracking.

If someone wants to save spell slots, its just a wisdom DC 10 check to stabilize so I don't keep rolling death saves (can add medicine to check if you have it). Then I would wake up with 1 hit point in 1d4 hours.

Somebody needs to save you from drowning first. I know you wrote that your head hit a rock, but you did fall in the water. Otherwise I think it's 7d6 falling damage, and you're splattered.

I dont think Alex knows where you are, and she is not a great swimmer. Shushar is certainly the best swimmer but a fair bit away. I think you are not far away from Kalanzar, Jimjar and Maddy are iirc also in the same rough area?

Do Vrocks have dance of ruin in 5e?
Because if yes then clearly:
Vrock dance of ruin in real life Run 100 feet in 3 turns or else!

I think we don't know for sure. As characters.

I am enjoying having no idea as a player. Cant metagame if the meta is not known haha!

I agree completely )) As a PF player, I enjoy being surprised sometimes by even the most obvious and hackneyed things in "the most popular tabletop role-playing game in the world."

Those who lost their NPC - would you like another one? Or does anybody want to trade?

I am fine with trying to convert T&T to Nocticula!

All we need to find, for our nutritional needs, is this!
Scrool of instant cookies

Love it!

Also, before you drink your armour, remember that the waterfall is where you've been dumping kitchen scraps and chamber pots. "Sweet" isn't how I'd describe the pool.

Sweet as in "not salt water", mistaken translation from german, "Freshwater" in German is "Süßwasser", which would be "sweet water" if you translate it correctly, but ye, I meant "Freshwater" :).

Ksenia hands off the stolen pack to the group: I don't think it was ever really inventoried other than having some weapons and armor, but I may be remembering wrong

So, wizard gets 2 free spells on level up, but I don't have a spellbook of course. Wondering if I could do something like etched clay tablets that get fired hard? If not no worries, don't mind being severely limited in this survival scenario.

Also, 2nd level means my specialty school power kicks in:

So hopefully can start being helpful conjuring tools/supplies etc.

edit: Also are we rolling hp for the level up? 2nd level: 1d6 ⇒ 3

On a related sidenote, how would you invision your character singing?

I don't know how he would sing, but all the time when I think about Kalanzar, I involuntarily imagine Jon Snow in the form of a drow, with the same sad eyes. So his theme music would be like this.

edit: Also are we rolling hp for the level up?

No, half +1. Campaign info.

Good catch,

Alex HP: 8 +3 (level 1) + 5 +3=19.
She is still pretty chunky, yay.

One more level and I dont have to look at spell components again! (via improved pact weapon eldritch invocation, it means I will swap out agonizing blasts, but unless I can buy a focus somehow its probably worth it).

I love all the theme music. Ziyad's made me laugh out loud. And a drow Jon Snow? Yes please!

Been thinking a lot about that arcane focus. Minor conjuration creates non-magical items. A focus isn't magical, but it is specifically crafted to be a focus (not any old stick will do). I can't think of a reason why you couldn't conjure a spell focus.

I've put a party loot/supplies list up on the slide deck. Could you look at it and see if I've missed anything? Ksenia's collection of stuff she grabbed from under the bed wasn't in a pack, it was just a jumble of armour and weapons.

Any other questions, levelling up or otherwise?

Thanks, I've done conjurer before but that one never came up...Mike Mearls agrees (able to duplicate foci or components with no gp cost) but nothing from Crawford on the subject I could find (I tend to put more stock in Crawford).

Nothing I can see missing from the supplies list, but to be honest I was rather lost during that time as my work year was winding down.

Only other question I had was about the spells wizard auto-gains on levelup. Since a spellbook certainly wasn't in the spoils, could I perhaps explore an alternative, such as etching clay tablets or something?

Oh right, spellbook. I think we can have a lot of fun RPing different things to try. So absolutely, go ahead. Let's get creative.

On the Run

You think you will be pursued. Please keep player and character knowledge separate. You don't know if Ilvara herself will be chasing you.

Yes, Alex, you can scorch rocks to make a message if you want.

You can choose to travel normal (6 miles per day), slow pace (4 miles), or fast pace(8 miles). All distances are of course very approximate.

Normal means regular passive perception, and you can forage with a typical survival DC of 15, though that will depend on where in the Underdark you are.

Fast pace means -5 on passive perception rolls - it's harder to spot ambushes or places of interest, and no foraging.

Slow pace means you're being stealthy enough to possibly surprise or sneak past hazards, and you can forage along the way with a typical DC of 10.

I will be tracking how far behind you the pursuers are. Your pace will affect that.

If somebody wants to try and make a map, you must spend all your travel time doing this, and can't help forage or look for danger.

If you want to go someplace specific, choose a navigator. They will make a survival roll each day to stay on route. DC will vary.

When you get going, I need two marching orders. One for single file, one for two-abreast. You choose where the NPCs will go. Stool has a speed of 10, Jimjar, T&T have a speed of 20, Buppido and Shuushar are 30. Normal pace for medium creatures is a fast pace for the small ones, and impossible for Stool.

Exhaustion will be a factor. I've put the rules in the slide deck and the campaign page.

Everybody please roll your first CON save right now, during this short rest. DC 13. Please track exhaustion in your header. (x/6)

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but we'll go with this for now. I'll also post this in the slide deck for ease of finding it again.

Didnt Szarith tell me Ilvara would pursue?

He said that she'll send whomever survives after you.

Eh, would be great if she doesnt pursue us personally, her to hit boni were kind of scary :).

Joking aside, as far as marching order goes:

--Alex has darkvision 120 now (probably the highest), on account of Warlock being a perfectly fine and balanced class yesyes. Her perception is "ok" at +1, stealth is +2, survival is neglible.

I think putting her in the second place in terms of marching order is reasonable.

> You think you will be pursued. Please keep player and character knowledge separate. You don't know if Ilvara herself will be chasing you.

In my case, this is the deep conviction of my character. He had heard enough about the vindictiveness of his underground relatives. And he is also sure that those who have lost slaves will lose so much in status (if they survive at all) that they'd rather put everything on the line to bring us back alive or dead.

Maybe he's exaggerating by the way. That's what I don't know as a player and I don't want to know ))

If DM approves my 'spellbook' described in gameplay, one of the spells will be Floating Disc. That will let us carry Stool and probably TnT (500 lbs) along at a speed that matches mine (30 ft).

Additionally, I vote for the slow pace for food and stealth. Ziyad could cast Alarm behind us every mile as we go, and if triggered, we then pick up the pace.

Very cool new spell book, you have DM approval and you can take inspiration.

I need some marching orders, and is this going to be a short rest or a long rest? We've had one vote for slow movement, any other votes?

Food and water requirements are 1 lb of food per day, and 1 gallon of water. Stool can get by on half that.

Very cool new spell book, you have DM approval and you can take inspiration.

I need some marching orders, and is this going to be a short rest or a long rest? We've had one vote for slow movement, any other votes?

Food and water requirements are 1 lb of food per day, and 1 gallon of water. Stool can get by on half that.

Edit: inspiration for Kalanzar as well, for a beautiful description of his level up powers

Voting slow pace, Alex being second line to make use of her 120 feet super dark vision (maybe I can assist someones survival check with that).

If I read exhaustion rules correctly, we dont have food right now so we dont get the full benefits of a long rest in terms of exhaustion removal.

Alex has one level of exhaustion, and gets disadvantadge on skill checks.

Angie H, thank you for the Inspiration, I am very pleased!

> Shuushar, can you guarantee our safety in Sloobludop?

If he can guarantee it, then I suggest we head there. At least there is food there.

> Normal means regular passive perception, and you can forage with a typical survival DC of 15, though that will depend on where in the Underdark you are.

I vote for this option. The time for slow movement has not yet come - we are too close to our recent prison. I would say that for me now the question is only between an average and a quick retreat.

I made tokens for all the characters. The green ones are NPCs. The blue ones are the players. The Reds are enemies.

Angie, please check that you can download this from the link.

In addition to the fact that they can be useful for tactically complex combat situations, I suggest you to make a slide with the order of movement and give players rights to edit it. In my experience, this dramatically speeds up the process (example, slide 4).

I made tokens for all the characters. The green ones are NPCs. The blue ones are the players. The Reds are enemies.

Angie, please check that you can download this from the link.

In addition to the fact that they can be useful for tactically complex combat situations, I suggest you to make a slide with the order of movement and give players rights to edit it. In my experience, this dramatically speeds up the process (example, slide 4).

AMAZING! Thank you!

I've changed the sharing permission, so you should all be able to edit the slide deck. I trust you won't abuse the privilege. :) So pop your token in the marching orders please.

No plants in the underdark, period. Or at least, no plants growing wild. But lots of types of fungus.

Two votes for slow, one for normal.

If I read exhaustion rules correctly, we dont have food right now so we dont get the full benefits of a long rest in terms of exhaustion removal.

DM, can you confirm/deny this? We collected 10 lbs of food which should be enough, right?

You just collected 10 lbs of food, and Ksenia cooked it up for you. What you don't currently have is water. Alex, you can't use your armour spell to create water. The cup of water is used up in the spell.

Very cool tokens and slides for marching order! Ksenia is happy where she was placed on both all the way at the front. She'd take a scouting role I think. She's not great on perception or survival, but decent at stealth so she'd sneak around out there with her dark vision.

Ksenia would vote for fleeing as quickly as possible as she is terrified of being caught again by the drow, willing to push past all reasonable exhaustion. But if the party feels the other way, she would go with the party.

Glad to be of service!

I have now arranged everyone in a line and two, but this is more to streamline the process. Looks like that only Ksenia and Alexandra have chosen their location so far. I'd just like to be somewhere in the center -at least as long as I'm in the form of a drow and not an animal. Everyone else is standing almost randomly - rearrange yourself (and me and the NPCs) as you see fit.

Party order looks find to me.

Is Kalanzar planning to prepare Create Water?

Maddy is good with being near the front considering she can fight and has survival. However, that will be a liability rather than a help if we're traveling in the dark. If she can have light, she can take the lead.

If we're traveling in the dark, Maddy will need to go slow. If we're traveling with light, she would want to move normal in order to get as far away from the expected pursuers as possible.

Unless I hear otherwise, I assume you're ready to move on after a short rest.

Is there any interest in a discord server for chatting?

> Is there any interest in a discord server for chatting?

I don't mind as long as the game doesn't actually move there since I won't be reading it regularly. But for some offtop it is quite suitable.

> Unless I hear otherwise, I assume you're ready to move on after a short rest.

Yep!

> If we're traveling in the dark, Maddy will need to go slow. If we're traveling with light, she would want to move normal in order to get as far away from the expected pursuers as possible.

I suggest going with the light.

> Is Kalanzar planning to prepare Create Water?

Anything that will be useful to the party.

I'm moving us along, but you should also divvy up the party loot. There are two chain shirts that can be worn, and three hand crossbows. Equip yourselves before the NPCs. I've put everything in "General loot" on the slide - please cut and paste anything you want onto your character in that slide please. If you're taking armour, adjust your AC accordingly.

If you wait until the next encounter starts, it's too late!! bwa ha haaaa

Here's the discord server link. No pressure to use it. Sometimes quicker to get answers to quick questions there.

link

Maddy took one of the chain shirts.

I really liked the description of the creation of the Sphere by Ziyad. Bravo.

Ksenia grabbed one of the short swords.

Sweet baby Baphomet! I'm doing better with disadvantage than I did with advantage!

Also, does the black drow shirt that I was given have any stats, or is it just for flavor (which is also great!)?

Equipment wise, Alex does far more damage (d10+3 vs d6+2) and at a better to hit (+5 vs +4) with her blasts then with a hand crossbow, and force damage is also generally speaking a superior damage type. As such she has little need of a hand crossbow and is happy to let Topsy keep the one she gave him.

She can wear armor, and would appreciate it, but it should definitly go to frontliners. Alex can eventually frontline, but that can wait.

Sweet baby Baphomet! I'm doing better with disadvantage than I did with advantage!

Also, does the black drow shirt that I was given have any stats, or is it just for flavor (which is also great!)?

Your rolls are on fire - better go buy a lotto ticket.

The shirt is just a shirt. Or practically a dress on Ksenia.

I really liked the description of the creation of the Sphere by Ziyad. Bravo.

Agreed, that was lovely.

Would it be a survival roll or part of the nature roll to know whether the algae would continue to glow if she removed some to take it with them as a source of light?

Clever. Yes, it will continue to glow for a few days if you scrape it off and put it in a container. Longer, if you keep it damp.

DM, can we use the rules in XGtE for having tool proficiencies grant advantage to certain skill rolls? For example, herbalism kit proficiency could give me advantage on this nature roll to identify plants.

Sure, I like that. And since there isn't a tool that corresponds with fugus, we'll allow herbalism to count for that too. The DCs will be a bit higher because everything down here is so foreign, but it makes sense that if you're well trained in plants, you'll know a lot about fungus too.

Oh, did Turvy have some fun doing pew pew pew with the finger blaster?

I am totally not giving people a taste of being a Warlock in order to later convert them to the Lady in Shadows! Lies!

I think survival would tell you it could be done, while medicine would allow you to actually find it and remove it. That roll is high enough to make a waterskin successfully, especially since those creature's aren't exactly delicate.

Sidebar: Gross.

Side sidebar: Cool.

Supposedly Native Americans historically used this technique with buffalo bladders. Before you ask, yes they also cleaned it by casting Prestidigitation. ;)

I assume Ziyad will be scouring the ground for small colourful stones for his beadwork?