

Out of the Abyss drops the party right into a worst-case scenario, forcing them to get creative and come up with their own solutions to challenges right from the start. Few pre-made adventures come even close to this delicate balance of story and choice-directed gameplay, and fewer still can do so with an ever-present sense of danger and urgency. It’s more like a comprehensive guidebook to the known reaches of The Underdark, but with an incredible, cinematic story for players to get engrossed in. To Dungeons Deepīefore we go any further down the rabbit hole, this is as good a time as any to mention that Out of the Abyss is a simply exquisite adventure module. Some of those secrets threaten to unravel the very fabric of the entire Material Plane. It’s an unforgettable place that hides many secrets, and some of those secrets threaten far more than a single hamlet out in the middle of nowhere. This warren of winding tunnels and immense caverns is an intriguing and strangely beautiful place-the potential for adventure is virtually limitless for those with the fortitude and savvy to keep themselves out of harm’s way.

Yet, The Underdark is more than just an endless murder-dungeon crafted by a cabal of sadistic Dungeon Masters to torment their players. Encounters with intelligent species often end in imprisonment, slavery, death and worse-far, far worse. The harsh environment breeds efficient predators, adept at ensnaring, killing and devouring hapless travelers-and that’s just the plant life. Its endless twists of lightless chasms and tunnels are home to countless terrors, traps and hazards. Journeys in The Underdark rarely end well. No matter the cause, you find yourself miles beneath the surface of the world, scrabbling to survive in the alien, inhospitable landscape of The Underdark. Maybe you even delved a little too greedily and too deep. Perhaps you took a request from the dangerous sort of mysterious stranger, or you found yourself on the wrong end of a Drow’s blade. But maybe you’re a different kind of adventurer.
