Out of the Abyss - Starting Information

[Guu]

Just a little reference information to start the Out of the Abyss campaign.

Characters

• Ability scores:  4d6 drop lowest six times = 1 set, make 3 sets, arrange to taste.  After rolling if you hate your rolls you can substitute the standard array:  15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.  Once we're at the table I'll look over everyone's sheet and do some adjusting so I feel most of the players are balanced.
• All PhB races/subraces are fine.  I like human variant traits, so let's use them.  I feel like SOME of the feats can be a little gross at 1st level though so if you take a human with a feat you feel is really quite good you should be cautious.  I may veto.
• Feat rules are in, for most people this won't matter until their first stat up.
• Forgotten Realms setting and gods.
• You need to pick a background, ideals, flaws, bonds.
• We're starting at 1st level.

The Campaign

• I'm planning to run Out of the Abyss.  It seemed like Bill really wanted to run Princes of the Apocalypse instead, but I didn't get a chance to make sure he was OK with OotA.  (Hope he's OK with it...if not we should have more discussion.)
• Most of the game takes place in the Underdark.
• The game opens with players being Drow prisoners and needing to escape.
• The start of the campaign features players wanting to get out of the Underdark, or at least find some base of operations in the Underdark.  As the plot unfolds, you'll find major threats in the Underdark to confront.  Be aware though that once you escape the Drow prison, you'll pretty much be in the Underdark without a home base.  You'll need to survive in the 'wilderness' and make your own way or rely on NPC allies.
• There are some unique rules in the campaign that people seem to like.  Your expectation going into this though should be kind of a Demonweb Pits meets Call of Cthulhu.
• Included in the rules are a few Underdark-themed bonds and background features.  We can substitute in one of these for you if you like.

Rick was interested in laying out who's who of players here, so we can use this thread to field questions and plan characters.

[Guu]

Rick found an official errata page, which gives some good clarification on a few rules.  A big one here is an unarmed strike can officially be any part of your body.  Which means every character can now claim that coveted class feature...EVERY PART OF MY BODY IS A WEAPON.

http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/PH_Errata_1.1.pdf

Just one page of errata so it's worth a look.

[Guu]

The class list so far:

• Steve - Paladin
• Rick - Monk
• Tom - Human Cleric of Mielikki
• Bill - Wizard, Sorcerer, or Rogue

[jbkilroy]

They even put the unarmed strike on the weapons list (p149) so you also got the uber-bonus that the fist was both a manufactured AND a natural weapon.


...sadly the errata says that it's inclusion on the weapon list was a mistake, and it's not really a weapon after all.

I'll be playing the super-stealthy monk.  Teleports between shadows, turns invisible at will.  Totally ninja!

So nobody else be ninja!  Otherwise the law of conservation of ninjutsu ensures we will both be defeated...

(totally a real thing, by the way:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu)

[Thomas callahan]

Currently I'm torn between human and half elf.

But my more pressing matter is my backround. Josh I'm going down the hermit backround but the class feature is called discovery and needs me to talk to the DM on what the discovery is.

[jbkilroy]

Here's what I was talking about: http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/SA_Compendium.pdf page 2. 

I know Josh already ruled that it didn't matter (and the official ruling is stupid anyway) but I just wanted to show that I wasn't crazy/making it up.  WOTC really is that strange now...

[Lykosan]

Yea I just read that thing Rick. I now see what they were getting at. "A long rest and sleep aren’t the same thing" is what they are saying. So an Elf trances for 4 hours, effective 'sleep' for them, and then is fully aware of what is going on. So if their party was ambushed they could be fully armed and armored and not have to get their gear or 'wake up' after they have tranced. In game terms they still need 8 hours to complete a long rest is all it is meaning.