D&D 5E Speculation on how you think Tomb of Annihilation will start

[Klaudius Rex]

Five bucks says it's cultists.

Yeah, i think they have definitely overused the whole cultists thing. Sometimes it seems like the whole continent of Faerun is full of fantatical cultists.

...that being said, I've always wanted to join a cult myself!

 

[SkidAce]

Send 25$ to dontbeeatenfirst . com care of SkidAce.

And your place will be held for the upcoming meeting.

 

[Zardnaar]

Dead Kender raining from the sky.

Or the tomb is a death factory for collecting Kender souls. Acerak is going to use it to fuel a lifejammer to crash the Spelljammer into Kenderhome. The resulting detonation open a portal to Athas and the Kreen Empire invades to feed on the remaining Kender.

Acerak then straps a spelljammer to the Dragon of Tyr and uses him for SR 10 speed to chase down all the Kender in wildspace launching an interstellar cleansing war.

This wakens Shai Halud on Athas and an invading galactic invasion of life master halflings on a religious jyhad vs the Jedi.

Shai Halud is revealed to be Aceraks father. A sequal is planned called The Lich Empire Strikes back. Acerak kisses his long lost brother. The final part of the trilogy is Return of the Psychic Warrior. The goal isto make a D&D multiverse movie franchise.

They mess it up with the 4th movie as the audience doesn't buy into the Dragonborn Warlord superhero vibe as they shout a severed arm back on.

They make 3 prequel movies The Shadow Menace, Attack of the Bones and Revenge of the Gith and it ends with Mearls yelling Noooooooooooo.

 

[Luz]

And perhaps more importantly, how would you like an adventure like this to start?

I'm considering using a time-travel spin on this adventure. From what I know of GH Acererak canon, he ruled (while still a lich, pre-history) over a primitive region known as the Tilva Plateau, which was still very much an untamed land of jungle and prehistoric beasts - so substituting Chult with this wouldn't be difficult. I think it would be fun for PCs to go back to this period to explore and discover (perhaps unwittingly..?) a slice of the arch lich's past. There's potential for a time warp effect that shifts the PCs from the "past" of ToA to present day ToH back to past ToA at higher level, if I'm feeling really ambitious. A lot will depend on the final published ToA product and how much I'd have to modify to make this work, but I look forward to it.

 

[Klaudius Rex]

Do you think its better for a campaign to be started by force? as in "taken" away? like the Mists from Ravenloft transport you to Barovia? Or say, you wake up in a drow prison as in Out of the Abyss?

OR

make the autonomous decision yourself as a player character to go on a quest? like see a post in a tavern and get hired to do something?

Let me know in general what you prefer,
and what about for starting ToA?

Thanks!

 

[CapnZapp]

My interest is mainly to know this:

Will an existing party of level 3 or 5 or so miss out on
a) critical setup back in Sword Coast, with or without a voyage south?
Or
b) regular low-level adventuring already in Chult

Since the module is unlikely to reach my hands until October, I'd like to know the consequences of my current plan, which is to play during the summer (back in Red Larch) and then portal the heroes to Chult at the earliest opportunity.

Tldr How does the story start?

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I like the idea of a shipwreck: You're traveling home from your latest adventure when a vicious squall drives your ship helplessly into the coastal rocks of an unknown shore. You and a portion of the crew and passengers make it safely to the beach before the ship founders. You must now reach whatever civilization there may be, shepherding the other survivors. Eventually you reach a town and could catch a ship if you wanted, but there are all of these adventure hooks...

 

[Charles Rampant]

Uhm, over on Power Score he had a post about one of the Wizard livestream games, and it is apparently showcasing the start of the module. From what he said (I didn't read too closely) it starts with the party sailing into the hub city. In other words, it isn't a particularly set-in-stone beginning to the story.

 

[JeffB]

I would suspect there is a "How to get your PCs to Chult" section with a few options including some mentioned here (like "shipwrecked")

 

[clearstream]

How do you think Tomb of Annihilation will start?

"The harrowing ocean voyage was exhausting enough. Now you are faced with a dark island that could well be filled with cannibals! A tattered, old ship’s log is your only clue to the riches that may lie beyond the isle’s quiet shores. Rumors of great wealth brought you here, but the thrill of adventure sustains you as you work your way inland, slashing through dense jungles and murky swamps in search of a lost plateau and the great black pearl: "