D&D 5E [SPOILERS] Enhancing Tomb of Annihilation

[Valmarius]

Yes, the description of Beluarian Landing is nicely evocative. The book doesn't say how long the trip between port and fort normally takes, though. A standard PHB sailing ship (2 mph) would take about 35 hours each way. A galley (4 mph) could do it in about 18 hours one-way.

My group had to take canoes there and back, although once they arrived they stole a small boat from a rival exploring party. So the trip back was a bit faster.
I used it as an opportunity to start easing them into the exploration rules. Tracking supplies and checking the weather and encounters, but no chance of getting lost (they're on a coastline).

Mind you, much like Pukunui said, I haven't introduced the death curse yet. The PCs are currently an explorers society, simply looking to retrieve ancient artifacts and explore ruins.
So the time spent going to the Fort wasn't wasted against any ticking clock.

 

[pukunui]

On a different note, I just had an idea for a potentially cool way to enhance my group's encounter with Nanny Pu'pu. They've signed up with Eku, so they've learned that Pu'pu is really an evil hag and that she is the reason why all the villagers in Mbala mysteriously disappeared. They have agreed to (attempt to) kill her.

Killing Pu'pu will, of course, remove the Rite of Stolen Life from the game (not that any of the PCs in this particular group would necessarily want to take advantage of it; they're all fairly good people). So my idea is that, as they are clearing the path up the side of the plateau, another adventuring group comes up behind them, with their local porters carrying a dead comrade on a makeshift stretcher. They explain that they've heard stories about the old woman residing in Mbala who can supposedly raise the dead and they're heading there to see if the rumors are true.

The dead explorer will be the party's priest, so they'll all be a little worse for wear, and also the sibling of one of the other explorers. The reason being that, should the PCs allow this other party to speak to Nanny Pu'pu (after all, they might try to talk them out of it by explaining that she's really an evil hag, among other things) and learn what is required of them for the ritual to work ... the other party might turn on the PCs in an attempt to capture one of them to use as the sacrifice (and possibly also loot them for 100 gp gems).


I'm also thinking that, should the PCs destroy Pu'pu and her flesh golem without getting badly hurt themselves, I might have some pterafolk show up and tell the PCs they know the hag was hiding her treasure down the well. If the PCs get it for them, then the pterafolk won't eat them. If the PCs refuse, the pterafolk attack. (Depending on how many pterafolk there are, if one or more is slain, the rest will fly back to their cave on the south side of the plateau, giving the PCs the chance to follow and wipe them out, should they desire that.)

 

[CapnZapp]

On the trip: don't forget about the Dragon Turtle.

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[CapnZapp]

On Nanny Pupu: there really was no chance they would interact with her peacefully, not with a Paladin in the party (She's a fiend, and so registers as evil)

I upgraded her to a Night Hag and gave her two Golems and a Lightning Bolt. That was enough for a quick scare, but then she was no match for my level 5 party.

I really wonder what she could have done if they had let her live, but the module did not use subtlety in describing her...

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[dropbear8mybaby]

Also, has anyone given any thought as to how far a ship like the Brazen Pegasus can travel in a day? It's not one of the standard ship types listed in the PHB/DMG, so it's hard to tell how many of the ship's crew of 8 need to be on duty at any one time. If we assume they only need half the crew on at any time, they could potentially sail for 16 hours each day, which (if they're going 10 mph for most of the day) would mean 16 hexes.

The ship rules are stupid. Ships travel 24/7. You don't really need to do a lot of tacking on sea voyages, that's mostly a coastal thing unless the wind is dead ahead. Realistically, you could generally have just one person piloting the ship at night while they maintain a course. At most, two. I've sailed a 120' square rigger with just myself and my father. It's not that difficult.

 

[pukunui]

The ship rules are stupid. Ships travel 24/7. You don't really need to do a lot of tacking on sea voyages, that's mostly a coastal thing unless the wind is dead ahead. Realistically, you could generally have just one person piloting the ship at night while they maintain a course. At most, two. I've sailed a 120' square rigger with just myself and my father. It's not that difficult.

That's more or less what I thought. The ship rules in the DMG seem OK. The trouble is simply that they only give a few examples, and the Brazen Pegasus doesn't match up with any of those. It doesn't say anywhere how many crewmen are needed to operate it at any given time. But you're right, it could be just one or two people for much of the voyage.

 

[extralead]

On a different note, I just had an idea for a potentially cool way to enhance my group's encounter with Nanny Pu'pu. They've signed up with Eku, so they've learned that Pu'pu is really an evil hag and that she is the reason why all the villagers in Mbala mysteriously disappeared. They have agreed to (attempt to) kill her.

Yours was nearly-exactly my experience. I actually rolled the 9 explorers randomly while they were just encroaching on Mbala from Aldani Basin. The party was all-around level 2 and I did not want Eku to give away her capabilities yet even though she did about 9 and 6 damage to the hag and the golem with a quarterstaff. 5 of the 6 warriors died, and no lightning bolts were involved.

Her plotline is more for color. It's a DM's DM set of rules. Enjoy having read it and rest easier than she was put down.

Initially, I wanted Artus and Dragonbait to put her down in front of the party with a full-Couatl Eku (or Eku as a Werewolf or Stegosaurus), but then I rolled the explorers and changed it. The party then met Artus and Dragonbait at Orolunga, as it was probably also meant to be.

Next time I run this section, I am excited to incorporate more ideas like yours with what happened from mine. It's an inspiration, thank you.

 

[pukunui]

Going with the make-up of the Explorers random encounter, here's what I've come up with for the other party:

The mage and the priest were brother and sister, Miri and Dravin Amblecrown, nobles from Berdusk. They hired a local scout, Mzolu, to be their guide, as well as six local tribal warriors to be porters. Their father is dying of the death curse, so they are seeking its end as well. However, Dravin stumbled upon a stegosaurus and got killed (the proof is in the six puncture wounds in his chest). Mzolu told Miri about the witch of Mbala and her magical powers of resurrection that seem to defy the death curse, so the group set out to find out if Mzolu's story was true.

Along the way, the group stumbled into some mad monkey mist, and Miri is still suffering some lingering after-effects from the fever, which have made her obsessed with raising her brother at all costs.

As an alternative to having this other group catch the PCs up as they head up the path to Mbala, I could make it so Miri is already visiting with Nanny Pu'pu when the PCs arrive. Mzolu asks them kindly to wait outside the hag's hut until his master emerges. When Miri comes out, having agreed to take on the pterafolk in exchange for Pu'pu's assistance, she attempts to convince the PCs to help her.

Since she's still a little loopy, if the PCs refuse, she orders her followers to attack them with the intention of capturing at least one of them alive to use as the living sacrifice. (She might also hope that the PCs have a 100gp gem for use with the ritual; if not, she will have one already - she is a noble, after all.)

If the PCs do help Miri get rid of the pterafolk, she instead attacks them on the way back to Mbala, still with the idea of capturing one of them to use as the sacrifice needed to bring her brother back to "life".

Because of Miri's lingering madness, it hasn't quite clicked that the hag's ritual will make her brother undead. The PCs can attempt to reason with her and convince her against going through with the ritual, but it will be difficult. If a PC uses lesser restoration (or similar magic) on her, then her mind clears and she can be more easily convinced of the craziness of her plan. (In this case, she could potentially become an ally of the party's - or maybe even a replacement PC, should one be needed.)

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The ship rules are stupid. Ships travel 24/7. You don't really need to do a lot of tacking on sea voyages, that's mostly a coastal thing unless the wind is dead ahead. Realistically, you could generally have just one person piloting the ship at night while they maintain a course. At most, two. I've sailed a 120' square rigger with just myself and my father. It's not that difficult.

While I agree with you overall, I think weathering the point directly north of Port Nyanzaru could be a difficult affair. It's not like you have a lot of sea-room in the bay and certainly not in the five-or-so hexes closed to the Port. What I'm trying to say is, if you don't weather that point in daylight (and an outgoing tide), it could be tricky.

 

[pukunui]

I forgot to have Xandala approach the PCs while they were in Port Nyanzaru, and I have a feeling that once they learn about Omu from the oracle at Orolunga, they won't want to go back ... so I'm thinking I will have Xandala hanging around the base of the naga's ziggurat, unable to find the way up (the chwingas, sensing her evilness, won't appear for her).

One thing I'm unsure about: the adventure repeatedly states that good-aligned PCs can turn Summerwise the pseudodragon against Xandala. But considering that pseudodragons can only telepathically convey "simple ideas, emotions, and images", how should I go about having him communicate with the PCs? I'm guessing he wouldn't necessarily initiate such contact either. It might only come up if the PCs think to communicate with him to find out more about what his mistress is up to. But even so: how would I have Summerwise convey the idea that he thinks Xandala's quest for the Ring of Winter is foolish?

Would he simply telepathically send them an image of a frosty ring accompanied by the emotion of disapproval? Something like that?