D&D 5E Tomb of Annihilation campaign recaps

[Rabbitbait]

I'm curious, but does this last Tomb part of this campaign get to be a slog of near death traps? I think my players would be scared to set foot anywhere!

It almost seems like the mini traps in the Shrines, but in the Tomb they are deadlier and stdacked back to back the whole way down

It feels a lot more deadly and my players live in constant fear, but they are really enjoying it. They know that death can strike quickly and that ups the stakes. I have found that this module ramps up the stakes all through the campaign so that by the time they got to the tomb they are ready for it.

Nyanzaru was a little dangerous
Going out into the jungle was very dangerous
Omu was frightening and if you didn't act carefully you would die
The tomb is a death trap

So yes, your players will be scared to step anywhere and they will love it.

 

[cr1ms0n]

I'm curious, but does this last Tomb part of this campaign get to be a slog of near death traps? I think my players would be scared to set foot anywhere!

It almost seems like the mini traps in the Shrines, but in the Tomb they are deadlier and stdacked back to back the whole way down

I’m playing in a ToA campaign (and so haven’t read these recaps yet) and I really enjoy the actual threat of character death. We have been in the tomb for a few sessions now and Having to think through every room and every act we take has kept it from being a slog. If it weren’t deadly it would be much more boring.

 

[Nebulous]

Depending on how things go, we might have to switch to Fantasy Grounds for the last Tomb part, but that seems like it would be good for a dungeon crawl in a trapped death zone

 

[Nebulous]

Session #35 - The Wraiths of Unkh & More Wicked Yuan-Ti

https://app.box.com/s/shvm78y45c2k78gf9vt9m4nstd5t6cx4

Note that I changed it from 3 ghasts to 2 wraiths, because, well scarier. Three ghasts aren't anything to 6th level heroes but a speed bump.

 

[Rabbitbait]

Session 36 - Day 117 (3pm - 7pm): Wading and squeezing: https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/7667265/day-117-3pm-7pm-wading-and-squeezing

Not the best session last week - a wee bit of frustration at not being able to figure out puzzles. The crawlspaces could pose a problem for my group, I have a goliath and a tortle in the party and there is no way they would be able to fit through the crawlspaces. That basically means that the entire beholder encounter is unlikely to happen. I would like the party to level up before facing Acererak because they are only level 8 at this point and that beholder encounter is a goodie.

 

[Nebulous]

Session 36 - Day 117 (3pm - 7pm): Wading and squeezing: https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/7667265/day-117-3pm-7pm-wading-and-squeezing

Not the best session last week - a wee bit of frustration at not being able to figure out puzzles. The crawlspaces could pose a problem for my group, I have a goliath and a tortle in the party and there is no way they would be able to fit through the crawlspaces. That basically means that the entire beholder encounter is unlikely to happen. I would like the party to level up before facing Acererak because they are only level 8 at this point and that beholder encounter is a goodie.

I was reading this session just the other day so it is familiar - the mimic and the shafts and the exploding gas. Actually, until i read it closely, I didn't realize you could bounce all over the levels, I thought you had to sequentially go through them all. But I like it better that way, it's a huge interlocking maze. But damn, you need to read the Tomb chapters well because they could wind up in some really weird spots really fast.

My guys just reached the first level of the Tomb. Also, I can see my players also having future frustration in not figuring out puzzles, especially as they try to mesh the "clues" with the obstacles.

 

[Rabbitbait]

I was reading this session just the other day so it is familiar - the mimic and the shafts and the exploding gas. Actually, until i read it closely, I didn't realize you could bounce all over the levels, I thought you had to sequentially go through them all. But I like it better that way, it's a huge interlocking maze. But damn, you need to read the Tomb chapters well because they could wind up in some really weird spots really fast.

My guys just reached the first level of the Tomb. Also, I can see my players also having future frustration in not figuring out puzzles, especially as they try to mesh the "clues" with the obstacles.

It can be awkward as the characters can suddenly bounce from one place to somewhere quite far away and some of those puzzles are difficult to hold in your head as a DM. However I'm managing it OK when they do go somewhere unexpected although I may go off script a little from time to time. The thing is, nothing else actually matters except getting the skulls (for opening the locked gate) and freeing the trickster gods (for the boosts when facing Acererak). The skulls can be placed wherever you like. So a lot of it is fun and interesting but not essential if the characters don't solve the puzzles.

However I don't feel that my players are leveling up fast enough (many are still at level 8) so I have retrofitted. Whenever anyone gets inhabited by a trickster god the first time they get 5000xp (having a god in your head makes you more powerful). That will pump them up faster and make those that haven't taken a god on to be more tempted to do so. I want someone to take the spirit of Wongo or Kubazan on - they seem lots of fun.

 

[Nebulous]

However I don't feel that my players are leveling up fast enough (many are still at level 8) so I have retrofitted. Whenever anyone gets inhabited by a trickster god the first time they get 5000xp (having a god in your head makes you more powerful). That will pump them up faster and make those that haven't taken a god on to be more tempted to do so. I want someone to take the spirit of Wongo or Kubazan on - they seem lots of fun.

I don't use XP, I quit that partway through 3e, too much a headache of bookkeeping. I level them up as seems appropriate, and it really works and lets me control the game much closer than what the XP tables in the PHB would recommend. They're starting the Tomb at 7th which seems appropriate, and at some point inside, not sure where, they'll hit 8th.

 

[Nebulous]

Ugh! It's not posted yet, but we realized in the session coming up we used Silence spell as a mobile spell, and it massively changed the strategy of that session. We did it completely wrong. It is cast on a space, not an object, and cannot be moved.

 

[Rabbitbait]

Ugh! It's not posted yet, but we realized in the session coming up we used Silence spell as a mobile spell, and it massively changed the strategy of that session. We did it completely wrong. It is cast on a space, not an object, and cannot be moved.

These things happen. As long as you tell the players you stuffed up and that you'll play it by the rules from now on, then it won't matter. If you let them keep on doing it then it might break the game.