Out of the Abyss | A Masterpiece or a Mess? | D&D 5e Module Review

[Music] notorious for its challenging gameplay and immersive storytelling out of the Abyss takes Adventures on a chaotic Journey Through the underdark blending heavy elements of survival and horror with a little bit of political Intrigue out of the Abyss has players facing off against the demon Lords in a desperate fight for survival over the years players have voice mixed opinions appreciating its creativity and yet criticizing its pacing and structure being praised for its originality and at the same time criticized for its complexity out of the Abyss finds itself in a difficult position being considered both one of the worst and one of the best modules ever released for fifth edition but does it truly deserve that mixed reception today I'm going through out of the Abyss breaking it down chapter by chapter I'll dive into how the narrative unfolds assess the challenges it provides both the players and dungeon Masters alike and evaluate the overall structure of their module to determine if out of the Abyss is truly deserving of being a fan favorite or if it's just a relic of a Time past so sit up because you're probably slouching and why not hit that like button while you're at it as I take you through this deep dark journey of the underd dark and determine if out of the Abyss was one of the best or worst campaigns for fifth edition if you want to avoid any spoilers you can jump to the best or worst section of the video right now I'll be going going over a broad impression of the module overall without going into any specific detail but with that warning out of the way let's jump into out of the Abyss starting players off in the underd dark chapter 1 sets the overall dark tone for this adventure the party initially finds themselves captured stripped of all of their equipment and held captive in the Dr Fortress of venville and right off the bat we're into a dire situation that immediately challenges the players which perfectly sets up the stakes for this entire Adventure players are almost immediately introduced to a number of unique NPCs also imprisoned by the drought each bringing their own unique backstory and skills to the table just to name a few we have bubo a deranged Darrow who believes he's a god Prince Darelle who is a quag and thinks he's a cursed Elven Prince sushar the awakened is a pacifist kuoa who happens to be familiar with the area and let's not forget the best mushroom lad stool I mean look at him don't you just want to put him on your shoulder and buy him a balloon anyways these NPCs aren't just Side characters they all hold their own story within their character and they might even be the potential keys to your Escape each have their own unique personalities and goals with potential benefits they can grant the party if they decide to escape with them as well as giving them guidance after they do Escape The Escape itself can unfold in numerous different ways with some being easier than others players might try to incite a rebellion amongst the prisoners make it deal with a less than happy Dr NPC or they could go the incredibly low chance of success route of trying to stealthily sneak past the guards regardless of how they escape the players have three potential options or Trails they can follow after their escape they could go north bringing them to the D city of menzo banen and blingdenstone South to the dger city of GRL or west to the dark Lake depending on the NPCs your party might have escaped with they all have their own unique directions that they might want to go urging the players to go that way setting up another difficult decision however they all do generally agree not to go North to the Dr city of menzo banen and that's the introduction to out of the Abyss while the chapter succeeds in creating a tense environment with meaningful choices it can be daunting for Dungeon Masters and new players just due to the sheer amount of moving Parts the stakes are high and the margin for error is low which might not suit every party's play style and this places a heavy toll on the dungeon master to not only manage all these moving Parts but to ensure that the players don't feel as if they're stuck in an unwinable situation and after the party's initial Escape it gives them the decision to make of where to go next and while this decision seems harmless it is actually one of the biggest criticisms of the adventure overall this decision can heavily impact the over the game however at this point the only Stakes for the players are we have to escape the drought with that single goal they don't really have any insight of where they should go or where they even really want to go what little insight that they do have is entirely based on the NPCs that they might have escaped with which actually highlights a big strength of the adventure the NPCs all of these characters are incredibly unique and have their own personality and desires which really makes it feel like a living breathing Adventure we'll talk more about the strengths and weaknesses of the adventure later but overall the initial chapter is a a strong start which engages players and sets the stakes for adventure really well chapter 2 Thruster Adventures further into the sprawling caverns of the underd dark for the sake of the video I'm just going to go by chapters but just know that the order of these chapters does not necessarily depict the order of the adventure you're going to take either way after the intense escape from velen valve the party find themselves navigating these dark treacherous path of the underd dark which reveals an entirely new set of challenges for the players it's here that the players start to realize the depth of the world that theyve been plunged into both literally and figuratively from bioluminescent fungi and strange alien creatures the environment itself is as much a creature as any one of the NPCs however chapter 2 is a bit unique in that it's not focusing on a single location but rather the underd dark as a whole in the part's traversal through it the book does provide detailed tables for Random Encounters and challenges the party might encounter during their travel however due to the sheer unpredictability and frequency of these encounters it can very quickly become a drawback while they do add some semblance of richness and excitement to the adventure they can also lead to some pacing issues which can lead to this segment feeling like it's dragging on and this is another large complaint about out of the Abyss this adventure is about 75% traveling through the under dark and chapter 2 is really the only section with any detail about that we'll talk about this a little bit later but yet again we have an example of this book putting a lot on the dungeon Master's shoulders to make this section interesting however even though the module struggles to provide a lot of Engagement I will give it credit for some incredibly fun and unique encounters the Lost Tomb of KM K cam C km I think I I don't know it gives players the opportunity to find a legendary magical weapon early on or later on in the adventure the silken paths opens up a new traversal method through the underd dark and introduces some really cool fun unique NPCs and let's not forget the ultimate encounter in this book gabag come come here come here if you're planning on running this module you have to run the ooing temple I cannot overstate the importance of this fact this Temple introduces glab which is by far one of my favorite NPCs that I have ever had the joy of running ooing Temple do it overall chapter 2 does a good job of expanding upon the themes of isolation set in chapter 1 but as I mentioned it does require careful attention from both players and dungeon Masters alike to keep the narrative engaging but regardless of what you might think of the adventure thus far just remember if you have found gabigol then spending the time running this adventure has been worth it chapter 3 takes our adventurers to one of the most iconic and perilous locations in all of the underd dark the dark Lake a sprawling underground network of brackish water filled with strange creatures and fraught with navigational hazards if you like me and open water in video games gives you anxiety this chapter is so much worse it's effectively a continuation of chapter 2 only rather than navigating just the underd dark the chapter focuses on navigating through the dark Lake and just like the previous chapters it's not about getting from point A to point B it's about surviving the journey there's really not much to add here regarding the dark Lake aside from it just expands upon the strengths and weaknesses of the last chapter the constant threat of Random Encounters and the need to track progression and progress can slow down the game potentially leading to some frustration if not managed by the DM properly but this chapter does hold the first big reveal of the entire Campaign which is a turning point for the adventure and honestly one you're not going to forget upon their arrival to the kuoa city of slop and yes you heard me correctly Yes you heard me correctly SLO BL do God it's it's contagious upon their arrival the party are thrust into a power struggle between two competing religious factions both led by different kuoa Arch priests now to all outward observation all kuoa seem completely insane regardless of their affiliation kuoa all have strange social norms and worship obscure if not downright OBS setting deities by interacting with These two factions the players learn about the internal struggle tearing the settlement to part which provides them the chance to engage with both of the leaders each trying to recruit the party to their side the tension comes to a head during a religious ritual in which the prince of demons himself demogorgan Rises up through the dark Lake and begins to lay waste to the settlement of slop leaving the party left with just having to escape the ensuing chaos this is the moment in the adventure where the player's expectation goes from I want to go back to the surface to oh sh this chapter reinforces the theme of survival and UPS the anti of the adventure just a little bit at least but it pushes the party to band together and makes some quick difficult decisions which makes for some really fun moments overall chapter 3 and specifically SL SL SL SL slop slop does a great job of personifying the madness of the underd dark right up to the dramatic reveal of the Demon Lord himself chapter 4 introduces the party to the dwar city of GRL stug ominously known as the city of blades grug is the first true City the players will encounter and it has more than its Fair sare of NPCs factions conspiracies and even a red dragon the dwar are governed by a rigid cast system where everybody knows their place and deviation from the norm is not tolerated and unfortunately for the party the dgar are not exactly known for their hospitality and view them with suspicion if not downright hostility what's more is with the recent emergence of the demon Lords the dwar are becoming more and more unpredictable which serves as the Catalyst for much of what happens within the city and this madness slowly begins to unfold the more the players interact with the city over the course of the time here and between all these volatile factions in the city the players will inevitably find themselves right in the middle of this complex plot of deception Madness and Corruption the chapter does do a good job of making GRL stug feel truly alive with its moving Parts many factions encounters and unique NPCs in fact it may as well have the opposite of the other chapters with a little bit too much detail but for Dungeon Masters that can maintain that delicate balance of narrative and engagement GRL offers an amazing opportunity for some political Intrigue as well as some unique information for players who are willing to take a little bit of risks chapter 5 brings the party to the neverlight Grove the sanctuary city of the mikids The Grove is a fungal Wonderland with an alien and spores that light up the cavern in a dazzling da dazzling dazzling array of colors upon entering the Grove the party learned about the mik and its peaceful ways and their deep connection to the fungal Network below them that Spann the entire Grove if not the entirety of the underd dark eventually they are introduced to the two Sovereign leaders of the miked Colony Pho and basidia Sovereign Pho has been swayed by the corrupting influence of zugo the demon queen of fungi and has been slowly corrupting his followers to follow the demon queen Sovereign bid on the other wants to maintain their peaceful ways and while he is suspicious of his fellow Sovereign he doesn't have any conclusive evidence of his colleague's corruption The neite Grove is actually one of my favorite chapters in this adventure as it opens up some real investigative Nuance into the adventure allowing players to incite bia's weariness to his fellow Sovereign and investigate the situation as a whole to uncover the terrible truth of the Grove the climax of this chapter comes during the aptly named wedding rehearsal where the players are once again face to face with the Demon Lord zugo witnessing The Madness of some mikids and the emergence of another Demon Lord the players really have no choice but to retreat the only real option the players have at this point is if they warn Sovereign bid about the corruption and if they do Sovereign bid leads his followers out of the Grove saving them from corruption and the party gains some new allies later on down the road if not then the neverl Grove will effectively mirror the events of slbl eventually corrupting all of the mik init and spiraling into chaos over time this is another big reveal of the campaign where the players have confirmation of not one but now two demon Lords and if the party wasn't already alarmed the reveal of a second Demon Lord should at least alarm them and guide them to the inevitable conclusion of where this adventure is going to be going chapter 6 is inevitably one chapter in out of the Abyss that I did not spend much time on my players opted to go through other routes and as such this section is purely based upon my reading of the module blinkon stone is an ancient Gnome city that has been through the trials and tribulations of a recent war and are now in the midst of a reconstruction period approaching the city the party must earn the trust of the deep gnomes before they're allowed to gain access to the city itself and once inside they see a community striving to reclaim their former glory the city is buzzing with activity but like every other City blinkon Stone has its own set of problems each faction and specifically leader within this city has their own unique perspective on the problems and how to best solve them and the party has to navigate this political situation without causing too much of a stir the chapter culminates with the confrontation of the one apply named pudding King who happens to be controlling these slimes to undermine these City's efforts and yes you heard me correctly I said the pudding King this is a mad deep gnome who has been corrupted by the maddening influence of jux the Demon Lord of slimes the party can learn about jux through their interactions with blinging Stone but this chapter ultimately culminates in the battle for blinging Stone depending upon the party's actions prior to the battle different factions or NPCs might Aid them during the battle for a more unified front against the pudding King now how the party handled this can either secure blinkon Zone's future or plunge it into madness and again for the third time the players are introduced to yet another Demon Lord chapter 7 similar to chapter 2 mainly focuses on the how of the parties escape from the underd dark it goes over some information about the where and how the party might Escape which is a little bit strange and late in the module because you think it would be something that would be important for the dungeon master to know early on so they could slowly guide their players to the right direction oh yeah and one thing I forgot to mention about the entire Adventure thus far is that since the party's initial escape from the Dr prison camp they have been being pursued by a Dr Hunting Party to bring them back and that confrontation between the Dr Hunting Party and your own party is really the only bit of information in this chapter aside from the where and how the party can escape the underd dark chapter 7 is effectively the end of the first half of the adventure where your party escapes the underdark with knowledge of the Demonic incursion but once they escape there is an in-game 3month period of wait time that passes prior to the events of chapter 8 so this could be a good breakpoint for your adventure where your party could go do a side quest or do the classic time skip just to get to the next chapter chapter eight leads the party to the Dwarven city of gunal grim this chapter while maintaining the overall darker tones shifts from that constant struggle for survival to the political Intrigue and diplomacy feeling which sets up the second half of the adventure beautifully it opens up with your party receiving summons from a king Bruno battlehammer the Lord of gunal grim who is an acute awareness of the dangers that lurk in the underd dark having dealt with demonic forces before the king is keenly aware that any rise in demonic activity is not just a local threat but could be a potential catastrophe for an entire region and as such summons the party given their history the king's goal at this point is to assess the party determine the level of the threat and to learn if the information about the Demonic activity in the inner dark is true depending on the party's interaction with the King he will consider leveraging his resources to prevent any spillover onto the surface but aside from that the King has created a feast in invited representatives from five well-known factions the Harpers the order of the gauntlet the emerald Enclave the Lords allons and the zarum each faction has their own unique goals and purposes for potentially helping the players with successful diplomacy checks this could mean the difference between facing the Demonic incursion as a united front or dealing with it in isolation overall gunal Grim is a fantastic chapter for building unique character relationships but yet again it places a heavy toll on the dungeon master with their ability to balance these political Intrigue without overwhelming the player characters as well as a nuanced understanding of the NPCs the factions and their motivations meanwhile the parties ability to negotiate and align these factions interests with their own will be crucial for the second half of the campaign chapter eight is where the players motivations shifts from simple survival to dealing with an existential threat while it is a stark difference to the prior seven chapters it maintains a fantastic opportunity for players and dungeon Masters to engage in some political roleplay which is sorely overdue after seven full chapters of the party running around in the dark chapter 9 leads the party to mantle Darth an outpost maintained as a trading Hub known for its neutral stance amidst the Waring factions of the underdog it's a place where the zentar the D the dgar the snerf liin and more all converge to trade precious resources and information all while keeping a Keen Eye on one another depending upon how your party arrived here can determine the paths they might take through this Outpost the adventur specifically mentions a zarum contact to help guide the adventures to the next section of the module the ancient library of Graven Hollow however it does offer additional options if the party did not gain their favor in the gunal Grim Feast regardless of their path Manel Darth introduces a bunch of different NPCs with different interests and information which may prove useful to the party later on specifically players might be introduced to yet another Demon Lord in my personal favorite of the bunch Fraz ero the demon Prince of deception while it is a small and inconspicuous chapter it marks the first possible time in the adventure where the party could dispatch with a single Demon Lord this as an idea is great being able to remove a Demon Lord from the equation prior to the end of the adventure is good design and I hope we see more of this later and spoiler alert but we do there's not much more to say about this chapter aside from depending upon how your party interact with it can have lasting implications for the rest of the campaign chapter 10 is another chapter focused on underdark exploration only the focus is no longer on escaping but rather leading the charge back into the underdark ready to face whatever challenges may arise with whatever allies they have left this is effectively the chapter 2 of the second half of the module providing insight and information on the Travel as the parties return to locations in the underd dark the party's immediate goal at this point is to reach the ancient library of Graven Hollow to get information which may be crucial to their success the path they choose to take to Graven Hollow is entirely up to them this allows for a flexible exploratory approach and freedom to visit locations that they had previously encountered and depending upon which places the party aided in the past determines their state at this part of the adventure for example if our party never aided blinkon Stone they might find the aftermath of the battle only without their aid that did not go so well for the Gnomes but if the party did Aid them in their battle then the Gnomes will return the favor and offer you Aid in your own fight I really enjoy this chapter because it mentions all of the locations that your party are already familiar with as well as all of the changes that have occurred since they've been there last however it does also provide some incredibly basic and honestly useless information on building your party's own Outpost in the underdark while it is conceptually cool that section in particular provides little to no detail making it effectively useless but regardless of what your party decides to do when they return to the underdark every Ally they find a decision they make will shape the future of the climactic finale if this campaign does nothing else it does a great job of setting up your party's initial actions to impact you later on in the actual campaign now chapter 11 takes your party to the mystical and ancient library of Graven Hollow the library itself transcends time allowing visitors to see the past present and potential futures it's also the first place where your party learn of a way to actually combat the rising threat of the demon Lords through research the party can learn details about the origins of the demon Lords as well as specific information about the individual demon Lords themselves they're also introduced to an arch Mage visin deir a d who came to the library in search of the same thing the party did wary of the Demonic incursion they have been researching it and looking for ways to combat it when you happen to arrive vizin maintains knowledge of the demon Lords and has a plan to combat them and if the party is willing to work with them will invite them all back to his Tower and discuss the details while it is a relatively short chapter Graven Hollow provides the players the final puzzle piece to figure out how the demon Lords came to be in the underdark as well as provides them the first potential solution they find by this point in the adventure they should have at least a decent idea of what's going on however in the unlikely event that they don't Graven Hollow provides an amazing opportunity for the players to gain information that they might have missed earlier in earlier segments of the adventure realistically Graven Hollow is the point where you can paint the whole picture for the players and guide them to the inevitable solution that they've been searching for since they returned to the underd dark so while it is a short chapter it does give the party something that they have been sorely missing for the entirety of the adventure a plan chapter 12 covers the Tower of Vengeance home of the arch Mage vzan deir depending upon how the party interacted with vizin heavily determines the direction this chapter takes assuming the party accepts his invitation and were cordial with him during their initial meeting viser welcomes them with open arms and offers them refuge in his Tower he can provide the party with some information on the background regarding the entire situation and as long as the party agree to his terms he will gladly share his plan with them basically the entire plan is to summon all the demon Lords to one location have them all fight each other and then deal with whichever one is left standing sounds pretty simple right I mean aside from the whole deal with whichever one is left part but aside from that pretty simple the only problem is that the ritual is really not that simple and requires some incredibly rare components just to name a few it requires a purple worm egg a central Beholder eye the heart of a goristro and the blood or ior of a Demon Lord depending upon the route of the adventure thus far the party may have some of these items already however if not then they're going right back into the underdark on a huge fetch Quest the good news is that vizin can provide locations on most of these items so while they are traversing ing into the underd dark at least they're doing so with a clear Direction in mind but this is where two of my biggest issues with this adventure pop up firstly the book provides no potential options for finding the blood of a Demon Lord which is in itself a near suicidal task not to mention it doesn't even make note to the dungeon master about where they might find it later on and only mention it in a small passage in a future chapter making this an unnecessary headache for at the DM but the second and more overt issue is that if the party doesn't trust vizin which is incredibly likely because the dude's kind of a jerk it only provides an incredibly small section about succeeding without him specifically it has a two paragraph section named Victory without vizin that pretty much says yeah they can win but have fun figuring out how it leaves this entire possibility which is actually pretty likely to happen totally up to the dungeon master normally this wouldn't matter too much but the only suggestion the module makes is that hey maybe they can do the ritual without him but even that singular suggestion it gives you is totally assuming that they learned the plan in the first place so at this point in the adventure the direction it takes from here on entirely depends on if your party trusts a single NPC Which is less than ideal to say the least but we'll talk more about that later with the strength and weaknesses chapter 13 takes the party further into the the underd dark inserts of two ritual components being the purple worm egg and the central Beholder eye the chapter pretty much boils down to three encounters a trog layer a purple worm nursery and kazac kazmar Caris Kikar ma without going through any of them in great detail each offer unique opportunities to engage with interesting NPCs and challenging combat scenarios the only real thing of note here is that if the party already happens to have a central Beholder eye from an earlier encounter then they wouldn't need to Traverse to kakar's mall but if the party do find their way there then they not only find a Beholder and a very creepy humanoid but they also find a monod drone prisoner with information regarding a maze engine which actually leads us right into chapter 14 chapter 14 once again leads our party right into danger in hopes of finding two ritual components being the gistro heart and Angel feathers while it offers information on the Labyrinth as a whole and makes mention of baffet the real main focus of this chapter is the introduction of another Demon Lord yogu as the party navigate The Labyrinth Yu's minions are on the prow turning what would be an already dangerous maze into a deadly hunting ground evidence of the NES and the corrupting influence of yogu can be seen and felt within the trails as the Carnage of the labyrinth but the Labyrinth holds more than just nolles specifically yogu the Demon Lord of nolles is not merely a passive threat in the darkness but actively hunts the Labyrinth making every turn the party takes a potentially deadly gamble this chapter however does do something different than the others in that it offers the dungeon master options on how to handle certain situations the party May initially encounter Yugo locked in combat with a gistro this is obviously very convenient as the party could potentially get two components for the price of one being a gistro heart and maybe even the blood or ior of a Demon Lord the module suggests that the party hide away and wait for yogu to leave after defeating the gistro and it offers guidance on how to make yogu and more active threat in the adventure specifically mentioning and giving guidance to the dungeon master allows for some Nuance without leaving everything on their own imagination I like this a lot even the smallest amount of guidance allows the dungeon master some Nuance when designing encounters and it does this without leaving it all on the dungeon Master's shoulders and this is the second Demon Lord which could be potentially dealt with prior to the ending of The Campaign this is still good design and I love this dispatching of a Demon Lord now is great because it builds upon the story of the party and should theoretically make the last encounter easier oh man I really hope we see the fruits of our labor later on chapter 15 introduces the party to the heart of a Dr civilization menzo barzen this is where the party can find yet another another ritual component their grimore originally used to summon the demon Lords to the underdog make no mistake this may be a city but it is as dangerous or any dungeon or any encounter thus far menzo banen aside from being just the origin of the adventure's entire plot is a den of Deceit where every shadow hides a secret and every smile masks a dagger the party is not welcome here and citizens of the city make it known but even in this unforgiving city there are allies hidden amongst the enemies as the party make their way through the city they discover these allies and enemies alike eventually leading them to the grimoire needed for the ritual this is another chapter that holds a lot of information and Nuance between the player characters and NPCs again it requires a lot of foresight and preparation from the dungeon master in order to maintain and balance all of them and this task is made particularly difficult as the NPCs and the menzo barenz and rarely tell the whole truth as to their motives in fact this is where the party learned that vizin wasn't exactly telling the whole truth about the ritual and brings me right back to my initial problem with his character in the first place overall chapter 15 is really just another big city with a bunch of NPCs and even though there are a lot of them the city itself is often regarded as one of the most boring sections of the entire module chapter 16 is where the party finally confront the demon queen of fungi zugo the outcome of this chapter determines if not only zugo but also jebl are sent back to the the abyss as well as determines the fate of the mikids either freeing them from her corrupting influence or condemning them to demonic corruption if we remember all the way back to chapter 5 the party learned about zimoy and her plan to Wed a giant fungal creature known as Aros as you might have guessed this is not actually a wedding but rather a ritual that would give Zuko immense power and influence of not only the underd dark but also the surface world if the party saved Sovereign bidia and his loyal mikids they reach out to the party in a vision and inform them of Zuko's plans once the party arrived they are tasked with saving Aros and stopping the wedding and are granted raor spores from saor bidia in order to telepathically communicate with Aros in an attempt to save it this leads to one of the more unique Encounters in the book where the party enters the consciousness of Aros in an attempt to save it from Z's corruption par for the course with any Adventure something goes wrong and Z tooy eventually catches wind of what's happening however as luck or un luck may have it jubil also heard about the wedding and has something to say about it leading his army of uses to crash the wedding the party have to navigate the consciousness of Aros and save him while zugo is busy dealing with jubil assuming they're successful with this then on their retreat they witness zugo being consumed by The Faceless Lord himself sending her spear back to the abyss and thus removing yet another Demon Lord from the under dark and at this point the party can make an important decision to either engage a weakened jubil X or Retreat if if the party fights then Sovereign bid and his miket stand beside them and in his weaken State this is arguably the best chance the players might have to deal with another Demon Lord but regardless of whether they decide to engage or Retreat this brings us to our final chapter finally in chapter 17 the fate of the underdark and possibly the fate of the surface world is determined as the party confront the demon Lords once and for all this chapter only takes place if the party was successful in finding the ritual components and are able to complete the ritual once completed the ritual Talisman sends forth a powerful call that draws demons towards it and portals open summoning forth the demon Lords and their armies if the party had previously dealt with any demon Lords prior to the ritual then they're not summoned by this which is a fantastic moment to showcase the impact that the party made in their entire Adventure the remaining demon Lords both Furious and disoriented from the summoning become consumed by their ancient hatreds and Sparks a massive battle between them and their forces the adventure actually offers a few options for running this demonic Showdown but the only one really worth mentioning is handing your players stat blocks to the demon Lords and letting them play out the battle this is a really cool concept but it's been criticized as it kind of can feel like the climactic ending is more of a movie The Players watch than an encounter they interact with but the module doesn't really offer the players much to do during this encounter aside from that singular suggestion which is really just flat out a massive flaw regardless after the battle and depending upon which Demon Lord Remains the party as well as any allies that they may have remaining at this point engage the remaining Demon Lord and ultimately destroy their physical form sending them back to the abyss or at least that's what you would expect the module designates that regardless of which demon Lords are present during the fight that demogorgan is going to be the last one standing while that's not necessarily a massive issue it just kind of feels bad sure the demon Lords you dealt with don't show up but if if they did it wouldn't even necessarily make a difference anyway so why did you do it this is really a small complaint that really only DMS would notice but still it's worth mentioning just because it just doesn't feel satisfying it doesn't even have a table to roll on to see which Demon Lord wins it's just demogorgan now the Demon Lord could obviously just decide which demon Lords win but the remaining Demon Lord would be in a weakened State and the module only specifies the stats of a weakened demogorgon so while it might seem like a minor complaint since it's the last encounter for an official book it feels really half-baked anyways the party and whatever allies they have remaining engage that remaining Demon Lord and destroy their physical form sending them back to the abyss and that's the entire story as the demon Lords are now back to the abyss but now that we've covered the entire story about the abyss how does it compare to other modules does it stand tall on its own merits or does it fall flat as a relic of early fifth edition modules let's now move into what out of the Abyss does well and where it might fall a bit short expanding upon the strengths that make the adventure memorable and the weaknesses that have left some DMS and players confused to start off we have to talk about this narrative out of the Abyss boasts an incredibly compelling and engaging narrative the stakes are high from the very beginning with constant reminders of the danger and the urgency of this adventure the story is filled with thrilling moments and big reveals with none more jaw drop than the reveal of demagorgon this moment in particular is one that I know my players as well as yours will likely not soon forget and sets the tone for the chaotic journey ahead alongside this compelling narrative we have some of the most standout and well-written NPCs in any Adventure module I've read to date each character has their unique personalities and goals which can significantly shape the form your adventure takes the starting NPCs in particular are exceptional characters like stool Bido and jimjar bring a depth and richness to the story making every encounter memorable which can Elevate the already incredible narrative but every narrative is defined by the adventure and the form the adventure takes is entirely up to your players while out of the Abyss does obviously have some clearly defined linear story progression it also maintains sandbox's Elements which allows the party the freedom to explore however they see fit this balance between structure and freedom lets the players experience this well-defined narrative while also enjoying the Liberty to make their own choices and discover the vast world of the underdog at their own pace and finally there's gabou nope I'm not going to elaborate on this gabigol is just a massive positive note for the entire adventure and trust me if you know you know but even for all of its positives out of the Abyss is definitely not without its flaws while out of the Abyss does maintain sandbox elements it is still very clearly designed for a linear story progression this linear path is heavily incentivized which can sometimes make the adventure feel restrictive for players who enjoy a more open-ended exploratory style of play this can be a source of frustration as it can lead to the party encountering challenges much too easy or much too difficult for their current level and speaking of exploration we have to talk about travel I would estimate that if you follow the book's guidance that 75% of your adventure would be spent purely on travel this requires heavy use of the random encounter table and the travel rules which are unfortunately incredibly minimal compared to the amount needed to fill the actual travel time this can and will grind the game's Pace to a complete halt and make sessions feel repetitive and slow and this leads us to my personal largest complaint about out of the Abyss being the sheer amount of prep work required from the dungeon master being brutally honest this module does a terrible job organizing crucial information there are so many NPCs and vital details that aren't mentioned until much later in the module making it incredibly difficult to get a handle on the campaign without having read it multiple times and taking extensive notes this adventure requires a lot of extra prep work to run a effectively which can be daunting for both new and experienced DMS alike at the end of the day just like any Adventure module out of the Abyss is filled with its own highs and lows on one hand we have incredibly engaging narrative well-crafted PCS and sandbox Elements which can make this an incredibly memorable Adventure but on the other hand the heavy emphasis on travel and the obvious linear story progression and then not to mention the extensive prep work card from the DM can make this a daunting experience for Dungeon Masters and players alike so with all of that considered I return to my initial question out of the Abyss is it one of the best or the worst Adventures for D and D fifth edition whether you love or hate this module is going to ultimately depend upon the dungeon master and I know that sounds super cliche and like a copout but this adventure really really exemplifies a problem that a lot of modules have since the module clearly lacks any supporting elements for DMS newer dungeon Masters are going to want to steer clear out of the Abyss but for an experienced DM who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty and muck around in the details this can be an incredibly fun and memorable adventure and yet even with all of its flaws out of the Abyss holds one of the most compelling and engaging narratives of any Adventure I have personally read and is one of my personal favorites ever released so I'll leave it up to you is out of the Abyss one of the best or worst Adventures that's for you and your party to decide thank you very much for watching if you enjoyed this breakdown you can support the channel simply by liking the video and letting me know what you thought in the comments below and if you want to keep up with my content consider subscribing I post weekly D and D videos and while they definitely aren't always this massive I like to think they're pretty fun plus the more subscribers and members we get the more I can rationalize making Giant videos like this in the future so once again thank you very much for watching I hope you enjoyed and until next time remember to sit up straight see you next time

Channel: This Crits!

Views: 425

Keywords: Dnd, Dungeons and Dragons, Roleplaying, Tabletop, Critical Role, DM, dungeon master, Pathfinder, 5e, fifth edition, 5th edition, dungeons, dragons, tabletop, gaming, roleplaying, game, rpg, d&d, guide, review, dice, dungeons and dragons for beginners, dnd storytime, dnd stories, d&d 5th edition, Beholder, dungeon master tips, dnd 5e, role playing game, matt mercer, matthew mercer, vox machina, game master, crit role, mighty nein, One D&D, One Dnd, D&D one, Dnd One, critical role

Id: hhnYv0jvkro

Length: 39min 37sec (2377 seconds)

Published: Wed May 29 2024