Out of the Abyss: Session 2-3

Hi all,

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017, and the ‘Tomb of Annihilation’ campaign from 2018. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s another campaign – 2020’s ‘Out of the Abyss’. Each session was approximately 4 hours long. Some of the summaries may be amusing, but don’t forget these are unedited emails, so please forgive their somewhat chaotic nature and poor sentence structure/grammar. If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.

Game on!

Steve 🙂

Session 2 (week 3) – Too Many Tunnels & Demons (T&D)…

Sean’s Warlock drowned in the pool. Larissa’s Elven Druid joined in his place, crawling from the pool with the rest of the party. The battle was still raging up above in Velkynvelve, so the party high-tailed it after Shuushar, the Kua-Toa pacifist, who seemed to know where he was going – and his town of Sluublopdopoulous was ONLY 8 days away. As they left the great chamber and entered the tunnels, they could just make out a Drow voice in the distance: “Vere have all der prisoners gone?” (a very poor and stereotypical German accent).     

Into the Underdark, an unimaginably vast network of labyrinthine tunnels and caverns, including faezress, the magical aura found in pockets throughout the caves and a primary ingredient of warpstones, the rocks treasured by Rhyse’s Ratfolk people. As the party made their way:

• They discovered there’s not much food and water in the Underdark, but edible fungi are almost awesome. That ‘almost’ is actually a huge disclaimer.
• A boneyard, where three skeletons were defeated. Belinda’s Half-Sireen Druid’s vicious mockery – “you’re not getting enough calcium” – unfortunately went astray, but would have cut to the bone (pun intended). Jeremy’s Goblin Monk salvaged enough bone for…bone gruel. Yummo!
• Ascending a cliff, where Alex’s Paladin, the party’s best climber, almost made it to the top (but not quite). Ouch!
• A split party, with Jeremy’s Monk and Rhyse’s Rogue wandering off to chase down a weird smell and possible warpstone, only to run all the way back when the smell turned out to be demonic…
• Running from Drow guards, with Matt’s Duergar Cleric using his “oh-I-can-use-this-for-almost-anything-in-the-Underdark” stone cunning ability to identify a weak spot in the tunnel and Larissa’s Druid and Josh’s Tiefling Wizard collapsing it in the nick of time.
• Watching the slaughter of a Duergar trading convoy by a Glabrezu demon with a glowing warpstone in its chest, then descending from their vantage point and looting all the supplies. All weaponed up and ready to face the unknown. Yay! (That’s a lot of demons in two days…)
• Meeting Yuk Yuk and Spiderbait, two Goblin guides who the party decided to double-cross after they showed them how to get across the Silken Paths, a 2000-foot wide chasm covered with spiderwebs.
• Just 60 feet into the paths and giant spiders are on their way to say hello…

Meanwhile, the Drow are only 3 hours behind the party…

Next Week: More running in the Underdark! Spiders and more spiders! Will the Drow catch the party? Will everyone vomit after eating bone gruel?

Session 3 (week 4) – Websinging and Chasm Breakdancing…

On the Silken Paths, Belinda’s Half-Sireen Bard used speak with animals to sing and persuade the giant wolf spiders to chase after Spiderbait, the Goblin guide who lived up to his name…

The party took out three Darkmantles, fighting in darkness while trying to retain their balance on the web path. Rhyse’s Ratfolk Rogue was choked by one but successfully sliced it off and kept some for dinner.

More spiders – Belinda’s bard managed to persuade two to crawl away after Spiderbait and put one to sleep, but the remaining five fought the party and came out second best. Jeremy’s Monk saved a spider leg (it’s the best bit of the chicken – um, spider). Vicious Mockery became the bard’s preferred weapon.

A chest wrapped up in the webs – “I bet that’s a Mimic,” said Alex’s Paladin. So off he went to grab it, got stuck to it, and lo and behold – it was a Mimic. Lots of shooting and blasting later and more food for thought (and for the party).

At the end of the Silken Paths, the party very graciously let Yuk Yuk and Spiderbait live, paid them for their troubles and even topped up the payment with a little bribe not to tell the Drow where they were headed.

A well-earned long rest on a secluded ledge, some fungus and Darkmantle for dinner (yum!) and then into the Underdark tunnels again.

Into a cavern with a chasm down the middle and very narrow ledges on both sides. As the party edged their way down one side, a section of their ledge collapsed and Alex’s Paladin fell almost 30 feet before grabbing on to a handhold (his bad experiences with cliff faces might develop into PTSD). Drow scouts appeared on the other side of the chasm and started shooting crossbow bolts! Belinda’s Bard was knocked unconscious by Drow poison. Alex’s Paladin climbed up to the ledge the other side of the break, and Jeremy’s Monk fell off as he scooted quickly around and through the rest of the party – he had some trouble climbing back up, but eventually got there. Rhyse’s Rogue sniped the Drow from his prone position. Josh’s Wizard withstood Drow poison and peppered the opposite wall, hoping to collapse it, but it was Matt’s Cleric’s guiding bolts that took out the other ledge (obviously channeling his stone cunning ability there) and sent most of the Drow falling into the abyss below. But more were coming, and the party had to get Belinda’s unconscious bard across the 10 ft. wide break in their ledge. Lots of rope and PCs bemoaning they weren’t strong enough later and Belinda’s bruised and battered bard was pulled up over the ledge side by Alex’s Paladin and Jeremy’s Monk. “Why am I so bruised and beaten,” thought Belinda’s bard. The party got away in time, but the Drow were obviously fast-moving and still on their trail…   

Later, the PCs saw two Hook Horrors running across an intersection, pursued by Gnolls. “We don’t need that hassle,” said Jeremy’s Monk, but as the party crossed the intersection to move forward, more Gnolls appeared from the side entrance…       

Next Week: Gnolls! More high-tailing it in the Underdark! Drow! More fungus for dinner! And somewhere along the way, the semblance of a relevant plotline…

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