Running Out of The Abyss and need a hand with all the NPCs?
Here is everything you need to know about Velkynvelve prisoner NPCs, broken down and made easy!
Out of The Abyss can be a scary book to DM, there isn’t a lot of info on what exactly is going on and leaves a lot up to the DM to figure out. Here is a list of the NPCs that you will start off with (if you choose) and ideas on what you can do with them and how to run them.
Also, if you are reading this then you are either just starting the campaign or are thinking about it, CONGRATULATIONS on joining the Underdark! Especially with this campaign since its closely related to Lolth’s actions. We are your biggest fans!
Without further ado: Everything you need to know about Velkynvelve prisoner NPCs
Velkynvelve Prisoners
Buppido
Male Derro originally from Gracklstugh
A talkative and disarming old guy who can charm your pants off before he stabs you right in the back.
Sorry, too much too soon?
To sum up, Buppido is a charming serial killer. He believes he is the reincarnation of the Derro god Diikarazan (an evil god who will murder and offer bloody sacrifices for the Derro people to follow to insane glory.)
He is fine with any setbacks and decides they are just part of the plan. Also, he is pretty sure (100% sure) he is invincible and completely fearless due to thinking that.
If you decide to do any murders with Buppido, he will go about a ritual including cutting open the victim and arranging their organs (in what arrangement is totally up to you, maybe he puts them all upside down or puts them exactly the right way – outside the body, or maybe they are all also cut open)
Derendil
Male Quaggoth originally from.. changes based on who you ask.
If you ask him directly, he is an elven prince who has been cursed by his court wizard to be the monster he is now. He will speak in Elvish only but can understand under common as well as speak it.
If you ask anyone who works at the prison, he used to serve there as one of the Quaggoth prison helpers. But he has lost his mind and is now going to be sent to Menzoberranzan to be some other sort of help (if you know what I mean).
He will behave for the most part as a highborn noble elf until he’s stressed out.. then he can go a little crazy and will resort to violence.
His made-up backstory is that he is Prince Derendil of Nelrindenvane in the High Forest. The wizard who stole his crown is named Terrestor, and that he is slowly losing himself to this beast form.
In reality, he is touched by the madness of the demon lord Fraz-Urb’luu and that kingdom absolutely does not exist.
All the other prison NPCs stay away from him due to his rage fits from time to time and he just looks pretty scary in general. Not to mention other beasts of his kind are the ones guarding them.
A great quirk to have for him is that he is just a big fluffy snob. If one of your players speaks elvish, have him instantly like them more than the other players and they can gossip about the “peasants” that they are surrounded by, as nobles do.
Eldeth Feldrun
Female Shield Dwarf originally from Gauntlgrym
Voted in high school as “Most likely to die saving friends”, Eldeth is almost guaranteed to be a player favourite.
Since she is a more “accepted” race by surface standards, it’s pretty likely the party will trust her off the bat. And not for no reason (Double negative ftw)
She will literally die or stay behind to save everyone else.
If she doesn’t die, however, she will look for her shield and Warhammer from the prison then will want to go home to Gauntlgrym. It would be great if the party could make it to Gauntlgrym with her in tow, so having the party love her enough to get her home is ideal. But killing her and watching everyone cry is also great (depending on the type of DM you are and the story you want to have).
As for why she is in the Underdark, she was scouting for her home city and as she is vaguely aware of the Underdark creatures, she has a deep mistrust and dislike for the creatures here, especially Drow, Derro, Duergar, Orcs and Quaggoths. So if the party decides to take them and her, feel free to have all kinds of racist comments and mistrust between her and them to add some spice.
JimJar
Male Deep Gnome originally from Blingdenstone
Basically the comedic relief for the party. JimJar is totally addicted to gambling. Especially when it comes to betting people’s own abilities against themselves.
An example of that might be “I bet you can’t do 100 pushups in 1 minute” then next time “I bet you can’t do 100 pushups in 30 seconds!”
Also, he has great stealth and pickpocketing abilities. And deep pockets for random stuff. Have him steal some rations and hide them in his armpit, excellent first impression material, also something for him to bet with later “armpit ration” yummm.
As a little Easter egg, you should decide before getting too far in the game if you want to go with the variant option for JimJar. That should determine how you play him and how you feel about him.
The variation is that he is actually Garl Glittergold (Gnome god of mischief) in disguise. He can appear to help the party in one of the demon lord encounters. He can leave the party and come back at another time, or he can just transform into his “true self” during the battle, then he will leave the party after that.
If you decide to go that route, he can’t really die while with the party or they would get suspicious and ask questions later instead of just being epic.
Ront
Male Orc originally from the Iceshield tribe.
Totally disposable character in my opinion, unless you have an orc in your party and they want a friend?
Ront is a coward that ran away from his tribe being slaughtered by dwarves.
One extra reason for him to hate Eldeth, but mostly he just hates himself.
And as one who hates themselves usually is, he is a huge bully.
He will try to intimidate the players and other NPCs, but if someone else shows authority or puts him in his place, he will begrudgingly accept it… for now.
He also has a very short temper and will fly off the handle at the toss of a hat. Not a great mix with Derendil, if you have them in the same party they will likely kill one another if not stopped. He could also try killing Eldeth a couple of times if you need some extra drama (because demon lords aren’t enough lol!).
Sarith Kzekarit
Male Drow originally from Menzoberranzan
Well technically from an outpost of the drow.
Sarith was a guard/scout who was originally part of the team that captured Stool. However, he attacked and killed one of his teammates.
He has no recollection of this and is quite sure that this is a drow plot to keep him down (like being a man wasn’t enough in a drow society).
Disgraced by his imprisonment, he is very quiet and keeps to himself. He knows he is going to be used as an offering to Lolth, which he is not a fan of.
If he can get away though, he will. He has a vast knowledge of the area as he is literally a drow scout, so a great asset as long as he doesn’t go crazy and kill someone else…
Sarith did in fact kill his comrade, but not for drow reasons, his brain has been impacted by the demon lord Zuggutmys mind spores. He went through with the attack while they were initially entering his brain, and now they are continuing to grow in his mind (unknown to even himself).
Most party members will want to leave him behind because he is
A) a drow while they are in a drow prison and
B) Stools capture. And everyone loves stool.
So…
Shuushar the Enlightened
Male Kua-Toa originally from Sloobludop
What is a pacifist doing in the Underdark you might ask?
Shuushar can give you the answer. There is way too much fighting and squabbling going on. He is here to spread the word about peace and harmony.
It totally makes sense when you understand his hometown (full of total wackadoodles who literally made up a god to worship because they need a god that badly).
Shuushar will absolutely not fight for any reason and will literally take hits to the face, a whole lot of “turn the other cheek” mentality.
Having him sit down to meditate in the middle of combat is the best thing ever (for us, as the DM lol!) also giving him fortune cookie answers to things is excellent for roleplay. The best way to describe him is a monk who was kidnapped from the monastery and just ready to go back home.
Stool
Non-binary Mycanoid originally from Neverlight Grove
Stool is still just a sprout (baby), so it is very lonely and scared, especially of Sarith. It just wants to go back home and do mushroom things.
It can throw up rapport spores 3/day to help everyone communicate telepathically, you can choose if you want everyone to be only able to understand and use their own languages, or if you want to allow total free communication with the spores.
Not only are the spores allowing multiple communications, its silent since it’s in your mind. perfect for plotting a prison escape.
Stool will want to stick close to any player or NPC that’s nice to it, and if it goes along with the party will start acting very curious and be similar to a dog or young child, wanting snuggles and just waddling along on those two cute little stump legs.
Topsy
Female Deep Gnome originally from Blingdonstone
The more talkative of the twins, Topsy will generally translate the random muttering of her brother, Turvy, and be more involved in things.
Or you can have them both be recluses, with her just being less so, DMs choice.
Topsy was out with her brother picking mushrooms outside their home of Blingdonstone when they were captured by Drow. They don’t really like it here and are definitely ready to go home.
A secret fun fact about Topsy and her brother is that they are wererats, and they have been at the prison for less than a month, so they could pop out at any moment!
Turvy
Male Deep Gnome originally from Blingdonstone
Unlike his sister, Turvy has always been the quiet one. He stays back while she does the social aspects of their shared life.
Rogue-like and preferring to be alone, also pretty unsure of this new rat-form they have both developed, Topsy and Turvy are very likely to leave the group after escaping the prison.
If they do stay, they run the risk of turning and biting someone, especially someone they get close to considering that’s the nature of Rat-type lycanthropy.
As for the prison escape itself, both Topsy and Turvy are willing to help, although they aren’t really sure if they want to get back home to Blingdonstone as they are a little ashamed of what’s happened to them.
What the prison NPCs know
Collectively:
- There are 19 drow at the outpost including Ilvara (commander), Asha (priestess), Shoor (New head guard), and Jarlan (old head guard)
- 3 drow guards watch the slave pen
- The cell has some sort of anti-magic effect (Variation: collars have some sort of anti-magic effect)
- Jorlan suffered some disfiguring injuries, he was the head guard before that happened
- Shoor is the new guard and carries a sticky goo wand thing
- It might be a metter of days or tendays before the slave cart comes to take us all away to Menzoberranzan
- The prison is in the air
Buppido Knows:
- The way to Gracklstugh
Derendil Knows:
- How to speak Elvish, he can let the prisoners know whatever the drow are saying
- The gossip about Ilvara, Jorlan and Shoor
Eldeth Knows:
- The way to Gauntlegrym after leaving the Underdark, not from the underdark
- Her warhammer and shield are somewhere in here, she would like to get them back before escaping
Jimjar Knows:
- The way to Blingdinstone
Sarith Knows:
- A gray ooze lives in the pool below the prison, it feeds on waste
- The patrol to pick them up is delayed, which is unusual
- Basic guiding info around the underdark (Most likely will lead them to Neverlight grove though due to spore influence)
Shuushar Knows:
- The way to Sloobludop
- The darklake area enough to guide players through it
Stool Knows:
- The way to Neverlight Grove
- How to make friends and influence others (spore communication)
Topsy Knows:
- The way to Blingdenstone
How to run so many NPCs?!
Companion system
Whoever came up with this system is a genius. It basically allows the party members to get attached to a specific NPC (or 2 or 3) and then takes them out of battles, instead of fighting alongside the player on their turn and giving buffs instead. The rules are easy to understand and clear up the table so you, as the DM, arent playing pretty much by yourself with all these extra turns.
Tent cards
We believe this was originally brought into play by some random DM on Reddit? It’s now been taken down (although the original link is still listed in sources). Luckily for you, we got and added to these cards before they disappeared and you can have them for free because we love the Underdark and want you to love it too! Yay!
Not only are these great to help you run individual stats if needed, having a picture up for your players helps them get used to the NPCs and decide which ones they want to keep and which ones they want to get rid of.
Kill them off
You could also just decide you don’t want to start with this many, but it is way more fun to kill them or have them be introduced only to leave at another time (NPCs have their own goals after all).
Hopefully, this all helps you get your game running smoothly and is enough to get you started.
Congrats again on starting your descent into the Underdark and good luck with your campaign!
This concludes: Everything you need to know about Velkynvelve prisoner NPCs.
We will have more Out of The Abyss content coming out soon!
Sources:
Out of The Abyss Dungeons and Dragons Book Module
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_365kpTUFg
https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/9v220t/enjoy_these_npc_cards_i_made_for_out_of_the_abyss/
https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/40zfeb/5espoilers_im_making_character_tents_for_the_npcs/
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