I am preparing to run Out of the Abyss as my next campaign, and wanted to ask about the impact that the Wild Magic stemming from the Faerzress seemed to have on the game as a whole. As far as I have read, some parts of the Underdark are so suffused with the stuff that a spellcaster needs to roll a d20 after every spell they cast. On a roll of 20, the spell has an additional effect determined by rolling on the Wild Magic table for the sorcerer.
For other DMs who have run this campaign, did you feel that this had a strong impact on adventures? Did you modify it in any way?
One idea I had to make things interesting was to replace the Wild Magic table with the Unraveling Magic Zone presented in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Do you think this would alter the impact too greatly?
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I have run the campaign twice now, my fav published campaign to run, and to be honest that whole part of the adventure doesn't really impact the game overly much. The biggest issues for me with my first run through came after the prison escape when the players had no equipment to start with, allowing the magic users to make a focus/find components was interesting so I ended up actually saying that in those areas the whole are acted like a focus.
I would also say if your reading through the campaign book the other area that has significant issues is the Duregar city, that section is half finished and leaves alot of open threads for the DM to follow up, one of my parties ended up spending almost 120+ hours of game time in that area alone before I hurried them out of it, partly because there are so many threads the characters can get involved in which is a lot of time. So be prepared that the campaign as a whole runs a lot slower than other published campaigns can.
I would also say if your reading through the campaign book the other area that has significant issues is the Duregar city, that section is half finished and leaves alot of open threads for the DM to follow up, one of my parties ended up spending almost 120+ hours of game time in that area alone before I hurried them out of it, partly because there are so many threads the characters can get involved in which is a lot of time. So be prepared that the campaign as a whole runs a lot slower than other published campaigns can.
I did notice a ton of sidequests and interconnected encounters for that part, lol. If you think of any other tips (even if its unrelated to the original question) please feel free to post them. I appreciate your experience with this
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Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I would also say if your reading through the campaign book the other area that has significant issues is the Duregar city, that section is half finished and leaves alot of open threads for the DM to follow up, one of my parties ended up spending almost 120+ hours of game time in that area alone before I hurried them out of it, partly because there are so many threads the characters can get involved in which is a lot of time. So be prepared that the campaign as a whole runs a lot slower than other published campaigns can.
I did notice a ton of sidequests and interconnected encounters for that part, lol. If you think of any other tips (even if its unrelated to the original question) please feel free to post them. I appreciate your experience with this
For my second run through I found a published piece for this part online, will see if I can dig it out, it only cost a couple of pound and filled in a lot of gaps and made running this part much easier.
One other question I thought of. Since the adventure begins in a drow prison, do you normally choose to tell players their characters will be starting in this situation during session 0 or do you leave it as a surprise?
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Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
One other question I thought of. Since the adventure begins in a drow prison, do you normally choose to tell players their characters will be starting in this situation during session 0 or do you leave it as a surprise?
I always let players know the general sense of the campaign, with this one there are 2 key things I let them know 1) this is an underdark adventure, be aware that not having dark vision will be a negative
2) you will be starting off in a prison with no equipment, and it is not guaranteed you will get your starting equipment back, are you ok with that.
The surprise come later on with the plot reveals, the prison aspect doesn't need to be a surprise.
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I am preparing to run Out of the Abyss as my next campaign, and wanted to ask about the impact that the Wild Magic stemming from the Faerzress seemed to have on the game as a whole. As far as I have read, some parts of the Underdark are so suffused with the stuff that a spellcaster needs to roll a d20 after every spell they cast. On a roll of 20, the spell has an additional effect determined by rolling on the Wild Magic table for the sorcerer.
For other DMs who have run this campaign, did you feel that this had a strong impact on adventures? Did you modify it in any way?
One idea I had to make things interesting was to replace the Wild Magic table with the Unraveling Magic Zone presented in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Do you think this would alter the impact too greatly?
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I have run the campaign twice now, my fav published campaign to run, and to be honest that whole part of the adventure doesn't really impact the game overly much. The biggest issues for me with my first run through came after the prison escape when the players had no equipment to start with, allowing the magic users to make a focus/find components was interesting so I ended up actually saying that in those areas the whole are acted like a focus.
I would also say if your reading through the campaign book the other area that has significant issues is the Duregar city, that section is half finished and leaves alot of open threads for the DM to follow up, one of my parties ended up spending almost 120+ hours of game time in that area alone before I hurried them out of it, partly because there are so many threads the characters can get involved in which is a lot of time. So be prepared that the campaign as a whole runs a lot slower than other published campaigns can.
I did notice a ton of sidequests and interconnected encounters for that part, lol. If you think of any other tips (even if its unrelated to the original question) please feel free to post them. I appreciate your experience with this
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
For my second run through I found a published piece for this part online, will see if I can dig it out, it only cost a couple of pound and filled in a lot of gaps and made running this part much easier.
I would also say https://slyflourish.com/out_of_the_abyss_chapter_1.html that helped me a lot
One other question I thought of. Since the adventure begins in a drow prison, do you normally choose to tell players their characters will be starting in this situation during session 0 or do you leave it as a surprise?
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I always let players know the general sense of the campaign, with this one there are 2 key things I let them know
1) this is an underdark adventure, be aware that not having dark vision will be a negative
2) you will be starting off in a prison with no equipment, and it is not guaranteed you will get your starting equipment back, are you ok with that.
The surprise come later on with the plot reveals, the prison aspect doesn't need to be a surprise.