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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7832390" data-attributes="member: 20323">Yes, I took your excellent additions to the map, the TOA Companion locations, made a few alterations for my group, and overlaid it with 250-foot hexes.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/kxxKxWh.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />That completely makes sense. I've run two ruined cities previously – Mezro (which was a magical/temporal headtrip city where water played a major role and the PCs focused on a dungeon crawl) & Kuluth-Mar (which was a sideways city teeming with undead where verticality played a major role and the PCs had to get to a central ziggurat). I want Omu to be distinct from those, so I'm thinking to play up a fast-paced and action-packed sense of discovery in an Indiana Jones motif. And playing up the lava.I've thought about using these quick exploration rules to emphasize that there's always something to discover...[SPOILER=Exploring Omu]Exploring OmuEach hex = 250 feet, representing very difficult terrain due to ruined buildings and natural overgrowth.Moving Cautiously you cover a hex in 5 minutes, and your party can make Stealth checks.Moving Normally you cover a hex in 2.5 minutes.Moving Quickly you cover a hex in 1 minute, but your party lookout(s) suffers -5 passive Perception.Searching a hex thoroughly requires 30 minutes.While adventuring in Omu, there are Exploration Roles you may wish to divide among your party:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Investigator searches for clues and treasure; make an Investigation check upon entering a new unkeyed hex.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Lookout keeps an eye out for sneaky monsters and traps; you can use your passive Perception while exploring (PCs with other roles may not). When entering a new hex without keyed areas, there’s a 10% chance for random encounters (d12).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Mapper handles annotating your map of Omu; the DM may call for checks to deduce locations. When entering a new hex without keyed areas, there’s a 50% chance of finding an interesting ruined structure (d12).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Scout scouts out an adjacent hex; making a Perception check in new unkeyed hexes or a Stealth check in new hexes with keyed areas.</li> </ul>[/SPOILER]I've got a d6 list of clues: 1 = old papyrus design documents stamped by “Gorra” for a massive skeleton door with five geometric keyholes; 2 = water-damage journal with etchings of nine puzzle cubes and illegible warning about “the false entrance”; 3 = urn with engravings depicting the mass sacrifice of gorgons to harvest their blood to make mortar; 4 = royal edict on clay tablet proclaiming the Devourer seeks Omu’s five best gamblers to challenge him to a game of dice and the winner will earn freedom (five worn names surrounded by polyhedral silhouettes: triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, octagon); 5 = Dwarven stone pattern roller with hidden message lamenting vast amounts of diamond dust used in creating the Tomb of the Nine Gods that depleted all of Chult’s diamond mines; 6 = holy symbol of Ubtao enchanted with magic mouth speaking in Old Omuan: “The Devourer has killed our gods and outlawed worship. No amount of divination pierces the unhallowed Tomb where my kinsmen toil.”I have a d12 list of interesting ruined structures inspired building off of <a href="https://slyflourish.com/running_omu.html" target="_blank">Sly Flourish: Running Omu</a>.And I'm still working on tying various story/character elements I'd like to bring to conclusion to a random encounter table that doesn't eat up a lot of time, but also presents some meaningful risks. For example...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Showing the fallout of a magic duel between Acererak and another lich which ended with that lich destroyed, her magic drained, and her phylactery stolen. I'm imagining parts of the city with ongoing spell effects, tears in reality emulating conditions of various planes, and feuding between various power groups in Omu.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Introducing zoblins (zombie goblins) serving the zombie lord Queen M'bobo who is important to the goblin PC's storyline and who has the Eye of Vecna (the Hand of Vecna was a major subplot for our druid PC). M'bobo is a goblin character from the Ring of Winter novel who was zombified by Ras Nsi but later escaped his control when Nsi was stripped of his barae powers. She seeks vengeance on Ras Nsi and Artus Cimber (who killed her "god" and delivered a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Mezro).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The PCs were geased by Zalkoré (who I made a wild sorceress & "queen" of the yellow musk creepers) to help her reclaim her throne in Omu, but had Asharra cast remove curse on all of them, of which Zalkoré is aware and seeks revenge against the "liars and betrayers." Possibly some kind of merger of various plant monsters like russet mold, vegepygmies, yellow musk creeper & zombies, and shambling mound.</li> </ul>It's good to hear your experience that with the increased keyed locations, random encounters weren't needed. I still might consider them for story purposes, but only if I can design the random encounters right.Ah, sounds like you have a party of irrepressible explorers! <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=":)" />I have that unmarked GaleForce 9 vinyl map of Omu & an acrylic hex grid overlay which matches up with the 250-ft hexes. Since we've had 4 players come and go over the course of the campaign, I plan on including the old ranger in Omu who can give the party a "download" about the rough layout of Omu (i.e. here are the 9 shrines and here are the ones that have been raided already, the yuan-ti live over here, the Red Wizards were there but don't know where they are now).Because we're a bit strapped for time (only 3 sessions for Omu & the Fane), I have 3 of the shrines raided already:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Shagambi's Shrine was raided by the ranger PC & Dragonbait (who got captured by yuan-ti). Since it was mostly a big combat, I was fine cutting this one out.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Papazotl's Shrine was raided by the Red Wizards. The puzzle is extremely obscure and seems like it could become an exercise in frustration for the players. Plus it's close to where the Red Wizards camp is, so a logical one for the RW to claim.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Obo'laka's Shrine was raided by the yuan-ti, seeing as it's right by the palace. The puzzle is rather vague. Players need to be aware that it's suspicious there are lit torches, since every other shrine apparently lacked them. But what if they explore this shrine first? How do the players know to connect the torch holders in room to the torch holders in the hallway? Does mage hand count as touching the puzzle cube? What about familiars? If it’s put in a bag using levitate does that trigger the petrification? Too many corner cases.</li> </ul>That makes a lot of sense. We're done with the jungle hex crawl – I kept normal long rests, just made it more challenging, and sometimes threatened their ability to take long rests in the narrative – and it ran well with modification and seeding clues (which were a big motivation to explore). The party now has an 11th level druid with wind walk so they can reach Omu in less than two days of wind walking, so they've officially unlocked fast travel. But I am looking toward the Tomb and thinking they'll be hard-pressed to get a long rest in there, so having some kind of "Blessings of Ubtao" to allow PCs to gain benefit of a long rest during a short rest might help with pacing before the final confrontation.Very cool. Similar for us. I started them at 3rd level and they've been in the jungle for ~60 days.Actually, the main time pressure on the PCs is now the Sewn Sisters. They've been a thorn in the PCs' side for half the campaign and much more active villains out in Chult. Now that the PCs just killed Baggy Nanna, one of the remaining sisters is going to Nightmare Haunt a PC every night. And the party's tactic of tiny hut + private sanctum doesn't defend against the night hags (which can either ethereally follow the party to be within the tiny hut when it it cast or ethereally come up through the floor, and their Nightmare Haunting doesn't technically cross planar boundaries), so their only resort is trying to anticipate who will be Nightmare Haunted and then have one spellcaster PC give up their long rest to watch over that one with protection from evil and/or magic circle. I've also tightly controlled access to diamond dust – the component for greater restoration which can restore Max HP lost to Nightmare Haunting – so this is a major threat against the PCs.Of course, in Omu the other time pressure threat comes from the Red Wizards actively exploring shrines. I have it that there's a cumulative 10% chance per day of the Red Wizards claiming another puzzle cube (starting with I'jin and going from there).Yep. Totally agree. I changed it to -1 Hit Die per every fortnight (2 weeks). And I seeded a few "life imbued" magic items of Ubtao that could be expended in a ritual to grant extra time to a Death Cursed creature. That allowed the PC motivated to save her husband from the Death Curse to actually have the time to do so, without the party feeling overwhelming pressure to go straight to Omu. That gave them breathing room to enjoy exploring the jungles.I also used a Dungeon World style "front" which I called the Deepening Death Curse, but I spread my timeline out too much so that very few of the "impending dooms" got to take place.</blockquote>

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