Sounds like a early 1E module with Drizzt added.
Fight alongside Drizzt Do’Urden in the new Dungeons & Dragons storyline on computer, console or tabletop this Fall.
So is the gimmick in this adventure a DMPC?
If there's an Underdark sandbox there, which it sounds like there could be, this would be a pretty useful book. I can ignore the rest.
Demons again? Really? I feel like we've trod this ground fairly recently. But that could just be Pathfinder I'm thinking of (H1-E3 sort of dealt with demons, but it felt fairly ancilliary). But I thought we had an Abyss as an Encounters season from WotC as well (Abyssal Plague?).
It'd be wonderful to get a Demonomicon out of it. My 4th ed one was filled with a significant amount of crunch (from memory) and I'd love a Demonomicon that was more geared towards the flavour. From what I've heard the bestiary in Princes of the Apocalypse didn't really have a lot of new monsters in it or flavour on the creatures it did have. A brand new Demonomicon to go alongside the adventure would be the perfect opportunity to release a supplement for the adventure (without having to try to pump out an entire book's worth of player flavour). Although I'm doubtful at this point. It would be a pleasant surprise to be wrong though.
To really do it justice I would want this as a high level adventure (levels 8-20). Otherwise we're just going to get more cultists (like in Tyranny of Dragons and Princes of the Apocalypse). Instead I'd love to be able to run a high level Underdark adventure. This fits perfectly into my campaign world and would be the perfect excuse to go spelunking down in the Underdark. I expect we'll get the same levels 3-15 though (yay! More cultists!) with the option to start at level 1 because Adventurer's League only covers level 1-3.
Co-op with Drizzt as a main selling point? I... uh - no, not into it. I wouldn't put it pass my players will team up with the demon lords instead to take out Drizzt haha.
EDIT: Ok, now that I am done laughing I can say that, Drizzt aside, this migth be good. As someone else already mentioned, if this is an Underdark sanbox that will be great. And I rather have demons than more cultists... >_> As for Drizzt, he can be easily removed and replaced with someone else. That's the hope anyway.
iserith wrote:
iserith wrote:
IxidorRS wrote:
Why do I feel underwhelmed by the announcement?
There's this drow guy I don't know, who goes down into the underdark where I have no interest in going, and fights some demons who I am utterly indifferent to and maybe be never comes back. Or maybe he does. Okay, d20: 1-10 the drow wins and I get 1000000 XP, 11-20 the demons win and I get 1000000 XP. Tough choice
Great for a railroady computer game, though. Lots of excuses to use red pixels.
I must be getting really old. 
This is so awesome!!!
Big fan of demons and as my avatar shows, cant wait to finally get official 5e stats on the big demon baddies (Yo papa Graz'zt)!! Plus the Underdark is easily portable to any multiverse setting (though Im a purist and prefer to keep it in the Realms). Super thrilled to see Driz'zt as an NPC again and probably his link to Graz'zt. 
I'm looking forward to 5e stats for Ocus, Demogorgon, and Graz'zt.
Also hoping that they release another freeom Player's Guide with it. Maybe we'll finally get Shadar-kai or something. Oddly enough, while Underdark is the theme of this, we already got the Svirfneblin subrace, which would have been ideal for this storyline. Guess they felt it was ready and didn't want to delay it any longer for the fans.
I'm interested in some new monsters to use but otherwise I've had enough of drow to last me a lifetime before 5e ever came out. And I read the majority of the Drizzt books. I liked him but I cannot believe his story is still going. Let him fade into legend already.
Marandahir wrote:
If I get some more demons to throw at the PCs out of this, I'll be happy.
As long as Drizz’t is a money-maker (and that’s not likely to change any time soon), he’ll be around.
I would love to see a remastered Forgotten Realms: Demonstone release out of this, but that seems unlikely.
TenaciousJ wrote:
Demogorgon is on the cover! Last time I fought him was with my 4ed Swordmage who threw a banana at him...
AndrewJO wrote:
Drizzt is the next big thing for D&D 5E. But not for me. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
noaharkwv wrote:
Kravell wrote:
dave2008 wrote:
dave2008 wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
JohnLynch wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
SWeet
We have to save the underdark and all its wickedness from something worst.......Sounds like the real world
I've always been a big fan of demon enemies... mostly because I dislike forcing any thinking race to be a specific alignment. When I do a home game, I have sometimes noble orc barbarians, Goblin tribes that suffer from PC Persecution, Gnoll nomads that wander the deserts and have different customs...
Anyway... when all the natural prime material plane races are not of a fixed alignment, it's necessary to sometimes have easily-identifiable bad guys who are really bad because of what they are, not because of choices they make. I don't like murder-hobos, but sometimes that's the fun part of D&D and we need some definitely-evil-kill-on-site bad guys. Demons are great for that, as are undead. I look forward to getting some more variety and crunchy flavor.
Drizzt - well, I got a bit tired of him during some of his middle books, but he has been getting a bit better lately.
I could see Duergar or Shadar-Kai as mentioned above in a player's companion as new race options. I'd love something more unexpected like a renegade Kua-toa though.
Class Wise I could see some of the dark / shadow themed Warlock options from Heroes of Shadow redone. Some Ranger options more built around underground demon and undead hunting might be nice, and since Drizzt is the event's signature character they *could* present options for a mystically generated beast companion (like the figurine panther) rather then the flesh ones Beast Master normally grants. A spider themed Sorcerorous Origin could also be amusing, manifesting some Drider-like aspects. Druid's could get a new Circle of the Underdark granting things like tremorsense and defense against underdark enemy mind attacks (which are pretty common).
Spelunker feat?
Some Underdark themed spells and weapons I'm sure can be dredged up from various sources.
It would be a good chance to introduce some rules options for making underground adventuring more crunchy. For instance they could establish how flight would work (wingspan space needs in cramped quarters, ceiling hight requirements), some quick rules for adjucating the effects of twisty little natural passages, maybe some oxygen consumption guidelines for handling bad cave-ins or setting to many fires in tight spaces.
Drizzt has been working the streets of Calimport as rough trade in my FR campaign for many years now, so he's out. As for the rest, I am interested in seeing the stats for the Demon Lords, and hopefully more demons (armanites, bulezau, etc), especially as I have converted all the Demon Lords and demons from previous editions to 5th Ed, recently, can't wait to compare!
I hope JohnLynch is right about the demon lords, although that would eat up 12-16 pages based on Tiamat and the Elemental Princes. Given that we already have a bunch of low level underdark monsters, I don't think there is the same need for 10 kinds of cultists that the Tiamat and Princes of the Apocalypse stories had, so there should be some room (and if the story starts after the demon lords have been released, there might not be any surviving cultists to fight). I am hoping we get a few midlevel demons (like say bebilths) and babaus (regardless of level).
I figure there will be some new poison spells (cause Drow) and acid spells (cause Underdark), so dragon bloodline sorcerers will be happy. I could see a demon bloodline sorcerer (red dragon bloodline sorcerer already makes a near perfect devil bloodline one). An antidemon fighting style would be nice for the martial characters. It is probably too much to hope for some kind of demonrage barbarian with infectious madness....
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
Goblin PC game!
A huge resounding "Meh" from me. I absolutely HATE drow, which also includes the Underdark in those feelings. I got tired of drow thanks to all the emo angsty teenagers back in the 90s and 3rd edition days saying drow were the greatest thing ever, and making Drizzt clones. I would punch Salvatore in his face with a jackhammer for creating that damn thing if I could. So I will definitely be giving this a pass. I lost all interest in Paizo's Second Darkness AP after the first "book" when it became nothing but drow, drow, and more drow.
Seeing the new CRPG being intertwined with this has destroyed all interest I had in that. This also reinforces my belief that the reason we are getting 1-2 adventures a year only, is because of that damn Neverwinter MMORPG. Since it is a 4th edition game, it is a little tougher to include mechanics, but so easy to include storyline. So, this reinforces my belief that we are getting no rulebook and only 1-2 adventures is the result of them intertwining the book releases of a 5th edition system with releases of a 4th edition video game. And since it takes quite a bit of time to create something for an MMORPG (typically 5-6 months), that's why you will only see 1-2 adventures a year, with mechanical options for players tacked on so they can perpetuate that they care about the new edition, as no new rules would drive a large number of people away. Hell, I see people saying they are abandoning this edition because WotC is only releasing adventures.
I have not seen a rulebook release announcement since they delayed the DMG by 2 weeks. I hope people enjoy this adventure, but it is definitely not for me. So I have nothing to look forward to for another year. GG Wizards... /sigh
Sounds like there might actually be a chance for Drizzt haters to kill him off if/when he "succumbs to his darker temptations".
pukunui wrote:
They didn't release rulebooks every year during 1st Ed's run, and it lasted the longest.
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
dave2008 wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
It is about time we got some more Drizzt lovin.
On the other hand, Demons trashing the Under Dark? Seems a little lame - you could have taken out a bit of a more populated country just to make it interesting.
My guess is that WotC are gun shy of causing any more damage to the Forgotten Realms so we get to save some nameless village/ empty cave/ deserted island.
pukunui wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
Serpine wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Serpine wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
Shasarak wrote:
Interesting. Might have to actually pic this one up... I'll just scrap the FR stuff, and place it in Greyhawk instead.
EthanSental wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Some Chris Perkins tweets:
- "Drizzt's role in the RoD story varies depending on the platform. In the TRPG adventure, the PCs are the stars."
- "My inspirations for RAGE OF DEMONS were Lewis Carroll's Wonderland stories and EXILE, by R.A. Salvatore."
- "R.A. Salvatore and Troy Denning were our consultants on the RAGE OF DEMONS story. It was a joy to work with them."
Also, here's the official product blurb about Out of the Abyss:
Dare to descend into the Underdark in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game!
The Underdark is a subterranean wonderland, a vast and twisted labyrinth where fear reigns. It is the home of horrific monsters that have never seen the light of day. It is here that the dark elf Gromph Baenre, Archmage of Menzoberranzan, casts a foul spell meant to ignite a magical energy that suffuses the Underdark and tears open portals to the demonic Abyss. What steps through surprises even him, and from that moment on, the insanity that pervades the Underdark escalates and threatens to shake the Forgotten Realms to its foundations. Stop the madness before it consumes you!
A Dungeons & Dragons adventure for characters of levels 1–15
Shasarak wrote:
SleepsInTraffic wrote:
Am I the only one noticing a trend for 5th edition?
Hoard of the Dragon Queen/Rise of Tiamat was Dragonlance... in the Forgotten Realms.
Princes of the Apocalypse is The Village of Hommlet/Temple of Elemental Evil... in the Forgotten Realms.
Out of the Abyss looks primed to be D1-3/Q1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, Vault of the Drow, Queen of the Demonweb Pits... in the Forgotten Realms.
Does that mean we should expect the first season of 2016 to be either G series (Against the Giants)... in the Forgotten Realms or,
A Series (Against the Slave Lords)... In the Forgotten realms?
Not that I'm complaining as long as they're done well, I like the current model trend of Adventure Campaign Module and splatbook all in one. Fits my wallet, so I'll keep buying in this format at 2, maybe 3 a year. Was just wondering if I was the only one wondering about this.
shaterbane wrote:
Erelhei Cinlu and the old D series were very cool. The Drow were still mysterious, working behind the scenes and excellent foes. I still think there's value in stories with the Drow- though it remains to be seen how much the Drow will actually be in the book. I'll be porting this over to the World of Greyhawk and that means, no Drizz't. Demon lords in the Underdark is not what I expected and I'm interested in seeing where the story leads. I'm also looking forward to 5e demon lords. Thus far, I've been able to use every adventure book, with a little bit of reworking, so I'm certainly excited for it.
I hope the give us the Dark pact Warlock which was my favorite other than Infernal pact since were going to the under dark and I hope it's played around a drow city or outpost for more flavor. I hope the new races are either Gray Dwarfs (Duergar) with poison quill in their beards, Deep Imaskari, Gloaming, shadar-kai, shade, and finally Aasimar and fey'ri!
Boo Drizzt.
I'm on board with a demons release.
Devils need a campaign arc too at some point. Some stats for Asmodeus would be epic!
It just struck me, drow, demons, but no mention of Lolth!
CCS wrote:
Serpine wrote:
Serpine wrote:
pukunui wrote:
AndrewJO wrote:
Another world threatening epic campaign involving several 'big bads'. How dull. 
Not interested in the book, though if there's another free companion pdf I'll naturally take a look!
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
Serpine wrote:
Lezta wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Damn! We already killed Demogorgon!
I'll have to replace him with a different demon lord, it's just a bit unfortunate that he's on the cover of the book...
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
SleepsInTraffic wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
In the end, it will turn out that the aboleths manipulated that drow mage into summoning demons so that they could enthrall several demon lords.
That sounds like something aboleths would do, at any rate.
Lord_Ventnor wrote:
[quote="EthanSental"]
Shasarak wrote:
[quote="Mechatarrasque"]
EthanSental wrote:
In a game where the monsters you and your party are able to go toe-to-toe with start to be primarily extradimensional, dragons, or potent (and often magical) beings at CR 9... I just straight don't understand how anyone can say "epic levels" and not be talking about 10+
This whole "you're not an epic character until you think taking down an adult red dragon is pretty easy" trend makes me think that people have simply lost perspective. like "Oh yeah, we are destroying demons, raising the dead any time we feel like it, and battling only the world's most potent species of monsters... we'll be epic in a few more levels!" leaves me going "Um... what?"
Of course, this is partly because 3rd edition seems to have failed to include a useful bit of knowledge that can be found in the 2nd edition DMG; what constitutions "low-level" or "high-level" is a matter of taste.
That DMG further says "Campaigns that commonly have 4th- to 8th-level characters consider those with 12th-level or more to be high level, while those with 12th-level characters set the limit closer to 18th or 20th level. While there is no set break-point for high level, character duties and responsibilities begin to change between 9th and 12th level."
I've always stuck with that, so I viewed 12th-level to be high-level in 2nd edition since most of my players' characters fit that 4th- to 8th-level range - and then as 3rd edition came out and made levels beyond 9 more potent than they previously were, I felt it necessary to decrease my own cut-off for high-level to match the increased power... but I admit that doesn't match with how the Epic Level Handbook implied that "epic" had to mean something outside the normal game, rather than just being a new word that means "high-level."
"Epic", is of course, a widely used now term, for anything.
Brock_Landers wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
dave2008 wrote:
Ive removed content from this thread because trolling/baiting/personal attacks are violations of the Code of Conduct.
You can review the Code of Conduct here: http://company.wizards.com/conduct
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Brock_Landers wrote:
Mirtek wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
Lord_Ventnor wrote:
Say what you will about Drizzt, but this is some bad-ass artwork. Demogorgon has gotten massively huge.
Click link for higher rez version.
Synjin wrote:
Mirtek wrote:
A true hero does not fight because he will survive. A true hero fights because he must.
Serpine wrote:
They could do the antidemon artifact route, where the PC's acquire the artifact, and drop it off next to Demogorgon or Orcus and just have to survive a couple of rounds until it activates and sucks the demon lord back to the Abyss.
From what I gather from the Monster Manual, the demon lords' biggest power is that they change the world around them just by being in the world (see chimeras and gnolls). I doubt this will happen, but it would be interesting if the PC's races turned to minotaurs, gnolls, ghouls, etc. if they are around a demon lord too long.
Mirtek wrote:
Mechatarrasque wrote:
EN World's Morrus found some of the character concept art from the adventure. Check it out!
GLABBAGOOL, awakened gelatinous cube.
Love it. Reminds me of the RPGA 4e adventure I co-wrote and ran at our local cons in SoCal a few years back.
In it I included a wicked team of "Oozassins". A trio of awakened ooze assassins sent to kill the PCs.
One of the three was an awakened gelatinous cu... Hey! Waitaminute?!...
Does anyone remember the mongrel folk teaser we got? I wonder if they'll be a playable race.
also good to see some low level guys who aren't cultists.
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
MonsterEnvy wrote:
...Gromph, always thought it was a lame name, still do...
Brock_Landers wrote:
Level 15 is kill a dragon or try and become a duke sort of level. Not that interested in save the world type APs.
Level 15 is kill a dragon or try and become a duke sort of level. Not that interested in save the world type APs.
Zardnaar wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
SleepsInTraffic wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Synjin wrote:
I am from San Diego ( live in Iowa now) and you guys are killing me 
I miss In -N-Out so much, also there is no Jack-in the-Box in Iowa :-(
I also would like to see more of a regional issue not lets save the world all the time. it gets to be a boring scenario. How about next season we vist the Aglarond or Rashemen area because Thay is on the move to attack or exiled Red Wizards are up to something and Thay is getting involved, or Calimshan because of a war in the area or (maybe to soon) the Netheries are ploting again since there still some in cannon, princes and princesses left to cause trouble. I'll even bite on that since the Shade Enclave crashed into Myth Drannor during the "The Herald" of Ed a Greens book at the end of the Sundering, that it broke the seal deep underground that held the rest of the fey'ri and now they all are free so they want vengeance.
Princes of the Apocalypse was a more a regional issue to those who have actully read it.
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
MonsterEnvy wrote:
Nozareem wrote:
The Elementla Princes are not even the biggest problems themselves. The issues are the fact that they causes disasters that get stronger and stronger while they are in an area and more evil elementals start coming out as the node spreads and the Elemental prince moves on causing more destrction as it moves. However this only affects a few miles at a time so while the descrution would be horriible it would be fairly slow moving.
They are huge threats but their are powerful enough forces in Faerun that the Elemental Princes would probbably be eventully stopped. It's just by the time it happened massive amounts of land and life would be lost.
Shasarak wrote:
Nozareem wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
I look at the story as presented from the point of view that The underdark races would eventually turn back the demonic forces. The question is in the outcome like how much damage was done, what alliances were made, was any demonic lore gained were demons enslaved and did the demons gain a foothold in the prime material plane or corrupt anyone of note? Any of these questions are important with long term ramifications but certainly not the end of the world nor is stopping any of the above saving the world. Ultimately it looks like the PC's are just engaging in a bit of damage control. Hell a smart group of PC's may sit back and let the forces of evil kill each off and only interveine when there is any spill over or gains are made by either evil force.
BRJN wrote:
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek wrote:
Finieous wrote:
Demetrios1453 wrote:
I suppose when you use hyperbole you can expect to be called out on it. Still, Hercules vs. Giants was more "Greeks rule, barbarians drool!" than it was "save the world."
Anyway, my deeper point (if you'll indulge me) is that there were originally two literary traditions that influenced and inspired D&D: pulp fantasy and high fantasy, the latter most expressed in the 70s with the exploding popularity of Tolkien. The original game, and the early adventures, were more clearly inspired by the former: your Conans, Elrics, Fafhrds and Gray Mousers, your Cugels. A very different thread of adventures spawned with Dragonlance and was more clearly inspired by Tolkienesque high fantasy, where you're not really a hero if you're not saving the world from this or that dark lord, dark queen, or apocalyptic prince.
I very much prefer the pulp fantasy tradition, but all we seem to get these days is more and more of the samey high fantasy stuff. Me no likey.
Dark Sun, Eberron, and Ravenloft are all examples of settings that are are lot more pulp than high fantasy. All three of these were heavily supported in 4e, and have been talked about in 5e products.
We're getting Realms stuff right now, but they're not ignoring the existence of these settings, and there does seem to be a plan to integrate them in. I just doubt we'll get Adventure League stuff with them, since it makes it a lot more complicated when a season of the Adventure League can't accomodate your character from another setting last season. The only way to do it really would be to split the party, and create an Eberron League, a Greyhawk League, a Dark Sun League, etc. And while these exist to some existent (remember Ashes of Athas or Living Greyhawk?), doing it officially from WotC's position would split their league players and cause complications that might be too hard to manage, just after they finally got the party back together with 5e (after the split of 4e vs Pathfinder).
I don't think it's an issue of setting. The Realms are fine. For me, it's an issue of adventure design. Despite how it's been abused over the years, there's nothing in it that should require the Realms to be saved from a new apocalyptic threat every season. Good old-fashioned exploration-focused, location-based adventures work just fine in the Realms. Indeed, that's really what PotA is at heart, with a bogus "mystery" hook that isn't mysterious to any player who can see the book cover and some chaotic-stupid scripted behavior from the cultists added on to make things more "apocalyptic."
I do think you've hit on the real reason for it, though: The campaigns (or "stories") are just one piece of Wizards' multimedia, multiplatform release strategy. A new epic "save the world" story-arc every season likely makes sense in that context.
It should be noted that Princes fo the Apocalypse and Tryanny of Dragons take place 3 years apart and the way Princes is set up. You can wipe out the Cults Elemental Evil before any major forces are even awere of them.
Lady_Auralla wrote:
FabioBLK wrote:
So, is the general expectation that this will be another massive dungeon crawl or something different?
Diablo for D&D.
gmanjkd wrote:
Mechatarrasque wrote:
Mirtek wrote:
Uchawi wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
arnwolf666 wrote:
SleepsInTraffic wrote:
Rundell wrote:
ModusPonens wrote:
MonsterEnvy wrote:
Mirtek wrote:
IxidorRS wrote:
MonsterEnvy wrote: