After a bit of a hiatus we decided to start playing D&D again with my old group. As everybody had pretty much forgotten everything about Princes of the Apocalypse campaign we were in the middle in, I thought it best to start a new campaign. And as I had quite liked the Out of the Abyss campaign that I had played with the other group, and nearly everything was already prepared for that one, we started that campaign.

The Out of the Abyss campaign starts with the group being held prisoners by the drow. That is a bit forced, but necessary to set the scene for the whole campaign. And it has a lot of potential: There are 10 interesting NPCs held prisoner as well with whom the group can interact to find out more about where they are, and where they could go. And there are tensions between the drow that can be exploited to make the escape easier.

Or you could just have one group member deciding to attack a drow at the first opportunity, without a plan, without discussing it with the group, and with no idea what to do after the initial attack. *Sigh*

Of course that escape "worked" in as far as it got the group and the NPCs out of their cell and into the Underdark, with the drow in pursuit. The only alternative would have been a total party kill, which maybe isn't what you want at the start of a campaign. However the lack of planning leaves the group in the worst possible starting position for the rest of the campaign. A better plan could have led them to pick up some equipment during their escape. Now they have only the weapons of the one drow they killed, and they didn't even take his armor. They also have not the slightest clue as to where they are going, they just followed one of the NPCs who suggested one of the three tunnels leading out of the cave.

What's done is done, and we can't rewind and do the escape over. However most of the NPCs are still with them, so hopefully we can get that roleplaying interaction going in the next session, to give them an idea of the geography of the Underdark, and where to head to. With the easiest option to get equipment missed, they are going to have to acquire weapons and armor more slowly, over time, as loot from whatever enemies they fight. I do feel that the players are missing out on something by not even trying to roleplay more, or to plan more. But I can't exactly force them to do so.