DM Report
Out of the Abyss continues apace! Deep into the third season, the party has thus far: arrived at Gracklstugh; achieved the patronage of Clan Henstak allowing them to move freely around Southfurrow; uncovered a long-held secret of the stone giants; got very worried that the wanted posters for the "Whorlstone Ripper" might actually be Buppido, in whose tender care, unfortunately, they left several friends; and finally might have begun to understand just how much interest the demonic invaders of the Underdark are taking in them.
In my version of OotA, Gracklstugh is core to the campaign, and several layers thick with plot. While I've been a bit concerned about the sheer amount of exposition required in the last couple of sessions, the group assures me they're having a good time, so three o'clock and all is well on that front. In what will come as a surprise to absolutely bloody no-one, I'm increasingly diverging from the text, but at the same time having a lot of fun using the spine of the published campaign as the basis for a pointedly PC-focused game (something I haven't done to this extent before now). There will come a time when this game is completely home-brew, pulling only from the book where needed, but we're a long way from that yet. I'm excited at the prospect -- having chunkified my DM'ing and all that.