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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 7386685" data-attributes="member: 12731">a. Great Rift (original location #5)b. Moa (original location #6)Add Reverse Gravity making it non-trivial to cross the 60 ft gulf.Have there be 10 + 1d10 Jaculis, half of which attacks the first player getting across. Have them be undetectable (or at least have them take 20 on their Stealth check) so there's an actual chance of them achieving surprise.Inside, the only change I'd make is to have all twelve archers focus-fire on the lead PC.c. Bag of Nails camp and DummyBag has made a straw tabaxi made to look like himself, and positioned it up in the tower, in such a way it's only visible from across the river. Any fireball that destroys it, does not destroy him. Plus, the Yuan-Ti will ambush anyone coming to loot the place.His camp is below the tower. Out of fireball range, that is. It contains little of value - Bag carries his valuables on his person.d. Unkh (original location #8) Empty - but the adventurers won't know this until they solve the shrine's puzzle. It sure looks as if the cube was stolen by Ras Nsi (with the blue triangle Ghasts) but it's really Fenthaza who has it - she quite logically thinks this will make heroes try to kill Ras Nsi.Make the "master keys" white, and the keys inside have every color of the rainbow.Also when the statue attacks the party, add the stunning light attack of a Flail Snail. Unless the wrong key is removed, the dazzling rays repeat (so if everybody is stunned, it's a TPK).If you wonder why it should be this cube, consider which cube you're supposed to be able to do without at the false entrance to the tomb... (that's right, it's this one). e. Ubtao ShrineThis is a temple to Ras Nsi himself, with statues in his likeness, snake skin and blood sacrifice offerings, inscriptions (in Old Omuan, but not that old) telling of his heroics, and how Ubtao and Mezro are ungrateful traitors etc...Careful investigation reveals that this used to be a temple to Ubtao, and that by removing the Ras Nsi statues and the grisly offerings (essentially consecrating the temple) the last remaining unbroken stone tablet's maze can be traced with a finger for 1d10 charges of Ubtao's Blessing.f. Kindergarten (with unmarked gate)Describe regular village life with civilian Yuan-Ti Purebloods going about their lives, and a school of young guarded by a few Malisons.You don't have to make this a rosy romantic picture. Just enough that it isn't completely straight-forward to kill every snake people, and create at least a minor dilemma after experiencing the horror of the Fane. g. Resistance HQThis sunken structure is accessed through underwater corridors, but there are a couple of connected "dry" rooms above the water level inside. The outcasts have sealed any gaps to not reveal any lightsources within.Kaas-Bil is a lowly pureblood that live out in the open (in any regular hut) but she gathers here if contacted by the heroes. She's visibly nervous; clearly she must be desperate to trust pesky adventurers. Her only goal is the safety of the populace (including those purebloods currently serving Ras Nsi). If the heroes seem like they won't kill them all, she gives them the location of the hidden entrance with no plans to backstab them. She really will be content with Ras Nsi and the cult of undeath removed, but of course hopes the heroes will wipe out Fenthaza, Sekelok & Co along the way.She really is a priestess of Sseth, the Sibilant Death (and has the stats of a mind whisperer); but lives the life of a commoner "peasant hero". Only if she manages to gain power will she declare her allegiance openly, and then the Yuan-Ti falls under the spell of a snake god anyway <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />h. Obo'laka (original location #19)The torches are alight in the outer chamber, and the puzzle is solved by shining their light onto the puzzle cube inside, and not by moving the torches in the reverse order.Alternative solutions to using the secret passageway include magically protecting the torches from the water, or using mirrors to direct their light through the pools without actually taking them inside.i. Main GateThis gate is heavily guarded. Even though a well-placed Fireball might take out the visible gate guards, more (and more dangerous) Yuan-Ti will swarm the place within seconds. Use the Fane Reinforcement table as inspiration if your players attack head-on, except sooner or later Fenthaza, Ras Nsi, and their entourage arrives together, to form a very deadly final encounter indeed.(The point is that even level 10:ish characters should face a clear risk of TPK, or why bother with subterfuge and diplomacy. Even if they somehow manage to clean house, I recommend you to have the Red Wizards ambush them before they have time to rest; a henchman appearing to give them ten seconds to drop all their puzzle cubes and run, or they will all die - the actual wizards hiding)j. Quiet Quarter (with #20b)Eerily quiet part of the palace area. Everything is ashen and no living plant or critter can be seen, except a few wretched beggar Yuan-Tis. The entire area was turned into undead during one of Ras Nsi's earlier experiments. Tracks can be seen going in and out of one building - this is 20b.k. Slave PensHere are plenty of commerce going on, in and around the stables for Chultians captured: mostly humans, but a few albino dwarves and lizardmen etc too. Include a Flaming Fist captain who's unhinged from seeing her entire patrol be transformed into Broodguards, or some other thing you fancy.  l. Stairs To NowhereOnce this set of stairs led down into a maze demiplane, used for Ubtao worship. Acecerak warped the gate to the Negative Energy Plane (meaning a desolate place of mostly emptiness but with a strong alignment to undeath), and it is this power source that Ras Nsi tapped and that led to the creation of the undead zones of Chult (the areas marked "greater undead" on the map).It should be considered an artifact for purposes of destroying it. If the party is foolish to venture forth, it's like a bitter cold ash desert set in eternal dusk, with the odd stone ruin or petrified tree husk. There is no air and fire brings no warmth, so visits by living creatures tend to be short. Even if you overcome these obstacles, the plane itself used to inflict negative levels upon you (say, 1 level of exhaustion to any non-undead per day, no save). The purpose of the Stairs to Nowhere isn't to provide an adventure location, but to explain how a middling Necromancer such as Ras Nsi could fill an entire continent with undead for a hundred years.I might revisit this map key when I've read up on how to destroy the Soul Monger. Perhaps shucking it inside could be an alternative means to getting rid of it, as well as closing the gate?m. Old Royal Palace (original location #20) with Dignitaries SuitesOutside the palace a few courtiers quickly dart from building to building, and an occasional merchant wagon rolls by. Nobody is seen entering or exiting the actual palace, though.The palace itself is just as abandoned as in the book version, perhaps out of fear its previous owners haunt it still. Empty galleries and great halls, with only few pieces of evidence of Yuan-Ti presence, a shed skin here, a dead human slave skeleton there. There are still great pieces of chultian and minotaur artwork to be found - priceless artifacts to any museum curator, but not terribly valuable to adventurers.Just think of what Princess Mwax can accomplish with the Skull Chalice of Ch'Gakare here! Dignitaries SuitesThe important-looking grand house to the northwest of the Palace houses various foreign guests - after all Omu has existed for quite some time, so it makes sense Ras Nsi has made a few allies of his own. I'm not talking neighboring cities and lands; it stands to reason there's at least one teleportation circle in the palace, so these dignitaries can come from any where and from any plane. A tiefling or gitzerai merchant here, a far-away yuan-ti or shadar-kai ambassador there... Any guards are more like attendants or servants, and mostly regular Purebloods.Perhaps an Eryines that tried to seduce Ras Nsi but was exposed and has to bide its time here, fearful of returning home to report defeat... or a visiting (and unscrupulous) necromatic fey scholar from the Unseelie court, anything really, that signals how important Ras Nsi is after all, considering his continent-wide necromantic power... (not to mention those who sense the power of the Soulmonger and mistakenly believes that power belongs to Ras Nsi). Treasure: medium riches as befits foreign dignitaries (gold wine goblets, luxurious carpets, oiled pleasure slaves) but nothing magical.n. Fane Entrance (#20a)This structure looks as if it could have an entrance facing towards the palace. I'm placing my downward-sloping Fane entrance (facing to the southwest - leading back underneath the Palace) here. Place a sizable guard contingent here. Specifically, place at least two pairs of Yuan-Ti whose purpose is to raise the alarm inside rather than to fight any intruders.o. Water GateA monster guards this gate. Perhaps a Froghemoth. Perhaps the Fane Hydra can get out and join the fight? If the fight isn't over quickly and silently (easier said than done when fighting bulky monsters), guards will investigate.p. Waterfall (original location #17)This location is mostly here just to make the characters wonder about it. There's nothing of real interest here, and walking here is an useless detour - as the module specifies, the waterfall isn't navigable. If they try anyway, at least "reward" them with the Vision (see q below).q. Water Vision (original location #17)The vision of Acecerak is too cool to only be used for an out-of-city location few adventurers will visit (especially if you don't use a map with keyed encounters). So I'm moving it to below the waterfall.The character that has the nightmares of shadow Acecerak is effectively under an epic-level curse and cannot benefit from a long rest even with Ubtao's Favor. I leave the means to which you rid yourself of this affliction up to the DM. Just as one suggestion: Genuinely converting to Ubtao's faith will do it. Having to kill Acecerak is also okay - when it comes to the lich it's time to play hardball.r. Papazotl (original location #16)Ouch. Dat puzzle. If the investigation of the 16C riddle inscription was particularly successful, or the players are particularly stumped, reveal that each letter is inscribed in a faint square (hinting that it has a place on a grid...)s. Ubtao ShrineThis shrine is an underwater maze bigger on the inside than on the outside - water-filled corridors with stone slabs above. Despite the creepy water there is no danger here. Just hold your breath, solve the maze and gain 1d10 Ubtao's Favors in the middle. If a character has water-breathing this place is actually an entirely safe resting place - no monster or enemy to Ubtao can ever solve the maze.If holding your breath becomes an issue (which it really shouldn't be at this level), require three successful DC 13 Int checks: two to find your way into the center of the maze, the third to successfully recall the way out again. Each check takes 1d10 combat rounds. After ten to 15 rounds the PHB states a character starts to suffocate, so with three successes in a row a character should do alright if not extremely unlucky with the d10 rolls.t. Nangnang (original location #18)No changes. The solution is to gain access to make (all the) offerings alone, which apparently Chief Yorb has never tried.u. House of the Dead Bad location. Describe as an Opium Den from a movie you've seen. Then add steamy snake-zombie depravity...Most dwellers are drugged out of their minds here, unable to put up any effective resistance. But I'm thinking a Spawn of Kyuss and a worm-infested Abomination, maybe an Alhoon or Tlincalli, or any other disgusting thing you can think of!</blockquote>

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