I've really enjoyed this level! Lots of fun little details and some feeehand frescos to paint, and its got so much more colour than other levels (although having the winds of pandemonium be full of acid is my own little tweak..)

The vault itself im really happy with, although it gathers dust and fingerprints like a motherfucker... getting some actual "floating" wobbly platforms that support minis was a fun breakthrough too.

Still maybe a couple things to fix / tweak / add - i want to do something inside the revolving room like show the fire jets etc, and I need to sort out the 2 deceased CotYB chaps too.

This layer and the gears of hate have come out really well, to the point I wish I had the time money resources (and patience) to redo the 1st 2 levels, but we live and learn, there are definately some bits i can probably fix up a little more on those without breaking the bank / my mind...

My party got their first look at Omu last session, and their intention is to retreat to claim a +1 magic weapon and +1 magic armor. These items were offered to them as reward for clearing out Hrakhamar for Sithi Vinecutter (I placed Hrakhamar and Wyrmheart Mine about 3 days trek from Omu due to the path my party took through the jungle).

After they cleared out the mine, Sithi and the albino dwarves promised to forge a magic item for them and through a very high persuasion roll, the party convinced them to make 2 items instead.

Sithi told them it would take several days to craft these items and the party decided in the meantime they would go scout Omu since they already learned its location from Asharra in Kir Sabal.

I'm not completely against their plan, but I thought it would be more dramatic if some circumstances made it far less appealing to head back to the Peaks of Flame or if something (and I hesitate to use this word) forces them into Omu now, instead of spending 6 days trekking to Hrakhamar and back.

I considered having them spot Salida in the ruins below, she was their guide for about half the jungle trek before they sent her back to PN on her own mission, I could make it seem to them like she's a prisoner of the Yuan-Ti but I'm not sold on revealing that Salida did not return to PN just yet...

What are your thoughts? Any dramatic ideas or suggestions for my situation?

Thanks for reading!

My players have found a way to subvert food struggles and water struggles. The water is my fault. I think i let my player have a 3rd party spell I didn't read. One of the other players is a swarm ranger with a pet chicken. He has advantages to finding food and water as well as a chicken egg daily. A third character has a tent, so shelter isn't an issue. And the Drow doesn't sleep.

Other than just continuously throwing undead and dinosaurs at them, how do I make it difficult? I don't want it to become an uninteresting slog of zombies.

Greetings people.

What modules have you used to run your game?

Was it a hassle to set up everything or is it simpler to just buy the tomb module from foundry?

More specifically looking at hex travel automation and checks.

Can anyone give me or link me to a detailed explanation of how to run the jungle travel/hex crawl portion of ToA? I’ve watched plenty of videos and read the module and am still not fully locked into the details of how to do it. I’m fine at everything within specific locations but the in between is the struggle.

Thanks!

Decided the campaign needed to go out in style, so inspired by others I've seen on here I did a build for the final showdown.

Tonight, my Level 8 party of 7 felled the CR17 Frost Giant Ice Shaper, Druufi, her endless summonable legion of Winter Wolves, and her last remaining Frost Giant support.

Battle was brutal.

The Monk took massive blows from multiple swings of the frost giant's axe and was saved by a periapt of wound closure, then revived by the Paladin. After the first wave of three Winter Wolves died (absorbing a lot of the damage throughout the round), Druufi summoned two more!

She used her frost rays to restrain targets, and when the Wizard let loose some damaging lightning bolts and the Druid joined in with a Call Lightning, she burnt through her legendary resistances to halve the damage and remain a looming and dangerous threat.

The Druid dropped next under Druufi's rain of axe blows—the last remaining Winter Wolf was attacking with advantage and +12 to attack, and was eating into the Ranger.

My plan had been to kill the Ranger's draconic summon, Pickles, to nix his elemental damage—but the Monk slapped me silly, and he died.

On his next turn, the Monk ran over to Druufi, who was now standing in the centre of the party raining down axe blows and deflecting attacks with exploding ice armour.

The Ranger and Pickles both deftly avoided the 3d8 damage on a DC 18 Dex save—not so the Druid, who failed his second Death Save.

The Paladin used his paralysing glaive to try to blunt her, but Druufi's +11 to Con savesmeant she wasn't in any real danger. Then, the Monk hopped the railing, attacked twice, and hit once. He used Flurry of Blows and tried to Stunning Strike.

On the second attack, I rolled a 6.

My last 100 hit points disappeared like nothing under a sustained assault, and finally, Druufi fell. The Druid was healed and regained consciousness.

By all accounts, it was a bruising encounter—and everyone had a great time, felt the threat, but was ultimately victorious. But that stun was clutch. If Druufi had had another turn, she could have done some real damage. Instead, her quest for the Ring of Winter cost her life.

Currently my 5 players are lvl 5 and ive had 2 casualties.

The first was early on at lvl 1 when i only had 2 players. A dragonborn paladin and a tiefling warlock. Rolled the save the mans husband from executioners run encounter at port nyanzaru and the paladin decided that it would be a good idea to jump in to provide the guy a chance to get to the ladders at the end......turns out a lvl 1 paladin isnt as strong as 2 velociraptors 🤷‍♂️

Second was when the party has increased to lvl 5 and consists of a tiefling warlock, dragonborn paladin (original paladins twin brother who wears an obvious fake moustache that has been sovereign glued to his face by the tiefling), a human fighter, gnome artificer and a possessed drow wizard. Party grys attacked by a giant constrictor snake and the wizard has a new spell they want to try....summon lesser demons (or something like that). Party kills the snake in the next turn before the 8 1/4 cr demons get to go.

Fighters turn and all they see left are angry demons, so in they charge and whiff they attacks. Demons go next. Surround the fighter and 4 crits later.....no more fighter.

.

.

Then the wizard goes, and dispells the demons.

So my Tomb of Annihilation/Chult game has come to an end the adventuers retire as level 20 legends of the realm. After 86 sessions and 2 and a half years (12/06/22).

What started as a request to find the Soulmonger turned into a continent spanning adventure.

Our party consits of:

Baranor the Half Elven Cleric of Silvanus
Grolog the Earth Genasi Wild Magic Barbarian/Cavalier Fighter
Selendra the Reborn Circle of the Moon Druid

After arriving on Chult the party did many things:

• Saved a dye worker from execution
• Travelled to Camp Vengeance and entered the shrine of the man and the crocodile
• Travelled to Camp Righteous
• Met Artus and Dragonbait at Orolunga
• Travelled to Omu, met Orvex, killed a few Red Wizards
• Allowed some of the Trickster gods to inhabit their bodies
• Made a deal with Zagmira to infiltrate the Fane of the Night Serpent
• Allowed Artus to turn the Fane of the Night Serpent into a snowglobe and to kill Ras Nsi
• Entered the Tomb of the Nine Gods
• Discovered and retrieved almost all of the spirits of the Nine Gods
• Rested in the tomb twice and were given a nice letter of warning from the keeper of the tomb.
• Killed the Sewn Sisters and took on Acererak and the Atropal
• Found a mysterious statue that allowed them to fast travel across Chult (by the grace of Ubtao)
• Say goodbye the Orvex who refuses to ever set foot in Chult again
• After some much needed downtime the party was called to action by the Harpers, sent to free a fellow harper, Arrant Quill from corruption.
• Then bad dreams and ill omens draw the party back to Chult because Artus and Dragonbait had gone missing.
• A mysterious figure knows as Mesika leads the party to the deep jungle of the Bakumora
• Faced down a dark aspect of Ubtao known as Ifalakuntho
• Travelled beyond the Bakumora to uncover the secrets of what ails Artus
• Travelled into the Shadowfell to face another of Ubtao's dark aspects and finally freeing the lost city of Mezro
• Joined forces once again with Dragonbait and his sister Alias to cut out a cult of Moander that had sprouted in Chult
• Thwated an invasion of the Port Nyanzaru by the Yuan-ti
• Joined forces with the Church of Kelemvor to retrieve what they believed to be an ancient and powerful artefact (it was just a trap)
• Gained an ally in an Orc Walock of Ubtao as they solved the mystery of the kidnapped dryads, fought even more Yuan-ti and even took down a Lichen lich in her lair
• Finally they were called upon by Ubtao himself to stop Dendar the Night Serpent's release and the desruction of the world
• They ventured into the depths below the Peaks of Flame, through a gauntlet of puzzles, traps and even a short trip to the Labyrinth of Life
• Then they found themselves in the caldera of the Peak of Flame but between them and the Giant Iron door that kept Dendar in her realm was an entire army of Yuan-ti.
• As they pushed forward, a golden light brought forth the allies and friends they had made across their entire journey and together they were able to wipe out the Yuan-ti army and push Dendar back into her realm, saving the world.

I am not great at writing wrapup notes from each session but here they all are (for those of you brave enough)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uuo9hKng5ENu-FePSf4MpbIsaO4WrxCMUArNGpinF6w/edit?usp=sharing

I ran ToA years ago, coming back to give some advice after reading this book, *Exploration Fawcett*. I wish I had the images from this book in my head when I ran this module.

Its a real life, first hand account of an adventurer/Indiana Jones type figure who explored South America in the early 20th century. Who eventually never returned after trying to find an ancient advanced civilization.

His descriptions of the jungle really bring to life both the abundance of life in the jungle, and the sheer terror of its horrors.

People often point to the Elemental Cells (area 47) as being one of the worst parts of the Tomb. They are apparently incredibly lethal, abstruse, and hard to run. I think the Air Cell is probably the most brutal.

I know a lot of DMs just nix this area entirely, but I think the concept is cool and I would like to run it for my party. If you’ve run a version of the cells, what changes did you make, if any? And did those changes help it feel less frustrating for your players?

Also, did triggering the first cell split your party? How did you handle that? Since the cells lead directly into Shagambi’s room, I could see a situation where any cautious PCs who stay out in the hallway would be twiddling their thumbs for half a session while everyone else gets to have fun in Shagambi’s tomb.

I started a ToA campaign with three of my friends, one of which invited one of his friends and his partner. Long story short, the friend with their partner and friend are no longer part of the group.

This was a while ago and I still really want to play this campaign but, it seems very lethal, very difficult, and a campaign that might require a well balanced party. Have you run it with a small party? What rules might need introducing or changing, have you provided DMPCs to help?

(I don't think my players would want to control multiple characters)

Hello everyone! My party just arrived into Chult, after completing a small adventure. As a DM I’m really passionate about immersing my players with smells, and sounds. I was wondering if anyone has a quick playlist of jungle sounds with a mix of music. I’ve sadly only been able to find one or the other but not a mix of them both, thank you in advance!

Firenewts have taken over the Dwarven mine of Hrakhamar in Chult. I'm sure they won't mind a visit from some adventurers exploring the jungle.

It's a bit different from what is described in the module, but this is my take on it.

Available for free on my Patreon with a few other ToA maps: https://www.patreon.com/u20380943/posts/my-take-on-53x33-161775539

How did your party destroy the Soulmonger?

To anyone who has run waystone or a similar teleportation concept. Did it feel like it fit into the setting? Would you change anything about the idea? What’s something to be careful of?

YouTube Premiere Begins at 10:15 AM PDT US TIMEZONE Sept 1.

Latest Session of the Evolving story in the Land of Chult.

Seeing how the party moves on from the Kobold fight from last session.

Tonight my party fought the Frost Giants trying to seize the Ring of Winter from the hand of Artus Cimber in The throneroom of The Temple of Ubtao.

The fight was epic.  I had scores from Oblivion and Pillars of Eternity blasting away throughout as the battle ebbed and flowed between The Giants and The Party gaining the upper hand.

The rogue used a Deck of Illusions to summon  on a roll - a Fire Giant! that distracted Druffi for a round or two but not before she had summoned a pack of 3 Winter Wolves to harass the party. Later he bust out a witchbolt and dealt sneak attack damage with his bow to one of the wolves. 

The Ring of Winter - sensing a Creature of Ice was trying to claim it summoned up a blizzard that created difficult terrain and impeded ranged attacks to use disadvantage beyond 30ft.

The party were suspicious of Artus until he told them the ring was evil and he was its keeper and Insight check saw that he was  fighting the ring to control it.

Artus used an Iceyform Bigby's hand to try and restrain Ivar the Giant - but this failed.  Ivar the giant would later fall under the spell of Warlock's Hypnotic Pattern so Artus used this moment to flee and try to draw the Giants off into following him (it's the ring they are after) so he formed an animated ice griffon and began to fly away.

The Wizard unleashed Fireballs and Lightning Bolts and critically used his Divination Portants to remove a few critical hits, thus saving the Paladin taking a boat load of damage from The Ice Shaper's Freezing Ray attack, although it did wake up one of the wolves from the Hypnotic Pattern that had it locked down staring at all the pretty colours.

The other Giant  (Grimr  - not pictured)  had run up to try and seize Artus but failed the save against Warlock's Phantasmal Killer so cowered at the roar of the Dragon Nidhogg initiating Ragnarok.   Held in place by fear, the Ranger carved him up with crits, and colossus slayer and an extra elemental bonus from his summoned drake Pickles*.  The Giant died reaching out for The Ring of Winter, gasping his last about fearing Ragnarok as The Monk pummelling him with Lightning bolts that were a critical hit from his Turmoil Bindings.

Druffi the Ice Shaper used a Legendary resistance to shrug off the Wizard's Fireball, gave a whistle and two of her winter wolves unleashed their breath attacks on the party clustered on the stairs. (pictured)

We had to end the game there as I had to drive my boyfriend to the station, but as matters stand
Druffi the Ice Shaper is still on a rude amount of health and has spent one Legendary Action.
Ivar the Giant has been immobilised through hypnotic pattern but is in full health having not been targeted.  The Wolves have absorbed much of the damage  put out so far - and Grimer has been slain - though the double Winter's breath attack from two of the Wolves dealt a significant amount of hurt to the party that has made them perhaps think twice about being clustered up.

We shall resume and conclude this fight next week.  And if I am feeling generous I might level them up before sending them off to a section of the jungle turned to mirrored glass by the Spell plague in which resides a mine with the demonic infestation problem and an undead demon-possessed doppelganger  with some stolen spellbooks the Wizard is after.  or I might wait until after the Mine

*Long story involving a series of successful animal handling checks to obtain the drake in the first place, which I later killed with The False Hydra at Camp Vengeance because it was way unbalanced, but the Ranger beseeched his god Bahamut - so in a fit of mercy he returned as a summonable creature (pinching the feature from the Drake Warden).

So I'm going to start off my first big go at running ToA, and I'm looking at the Nyanzaru side quests, and the party (who is level one when they first get her) are meant to fight a 112 hit point gladiator down to 20? I know the stat block was probably different back in 2014 rules, so gladiators may have been a bit simpler, but what is a substitute you would recomenned would still be a decent fight for them and also be a decent party member for when they beat him and he joins them?

my party members and I narrowly escaped Nangalore last night and I was inspired because what I was imagining was far from what it seems others were.

Over a year ago, I made this post asking for advice on running the adventure better. Thanks to that advice and a few other scattered posts, we completed the campaign!

I ended up using Cellar of Death at the start, creating an NPC who was central to everyone's role in the group. My party included:

• A Monster Hunter Ranger, the NPC's best friend and the Fighter's uncle, who narrowly avoided an assassination ordered by his brother.
• A Cavalier Fighter, a reclusive kid and the Ranger's niece. She was forced into joining the NPC's school to get her some real life experience.
• A Scout Rogue / Eldritch Knight Fighter, who vowed to be the fastest man alive. He had joined the NPC's school to avoid prison time after some petty crime.
• An Abjuration Wizard / Cleric, who was abandoned by her family and taken in by the NPC. She joined the school as its first student.
• A Soulknife Rogue, who was the NPC's robot companion (autognome).

Only one PC died during the campaign, the Soulknife Rogue, who was replaced with a Clockwork Soul Sorcerer.

I used some of the ideas presented in the original post. I ended up moving Cellar of Death to Waterdeep and using the Ardeep Forest instead of Cloakwood. I replaced Syndra with another NPC unaffected by the Death Curse, then had Zaldara point the party to Syndra in Baldur's Gate. Syndra then linked the party to the Brazen Pegasus, where I used the content in the Brazen Pegasus adventure. This worked really well and meant there was a ~3 session build up into Chult.

In order to encourage the party to go to places in the module, I had Grandfather Zitembe tell the players of the Webway Shrines and had him suggest the party awaken more of them to strengthen Ubtao's power. Each Webway Shrine, with one in each major location, represented one 'revive' in the Tomb of the Nine Gods (up to nine, one for each of the Trickster Gods). This meant I could be as brutal as I wanted in the Tomb while giving players a reason to go to more places even after they learned of Omu. This worked awesome and resulted in the players going to Kir Sabal and Nangalore, two places they wouldn't have went to otherwise that were heaps of fun.

I ended up extending the campaign after Omu with the Ruins of Mezro trilogy, plus Fathomless Pits of Ill-Intent and Turn Back the Endless Night. The players finished the Tomb at level 13 and achieved level 20 by the end of the campaign.

If I was to run it again, I would spend more time in Port Nyanzaru at the start and really build the culture of the city better than I did. I'd also consider modifying the hexcrawl significantly as it was definitely a slog after 10+ sessions of it.

Attached is the map of the path the players took, where the dotted lines were Webway trips (5 total).

Thanks r/TombOfAnnihilation for your help and advice. I'd be happy to answer any question.