D&D 5E Tomb of Annihilation experiences and advice thread

[DRF]

Hi!

I recently set out to organize a weekly D&D campaign and the group assembled much quicker than I anticipated. I'm prepping Tomb of Annihilation, and would love some feedback. I'll be using the Celler of Death from DMsguild as the intro adventure, but beyond that I'm just looking for general feedback and advice concerning the adventure. I'm a pretty new DM who has only done Lost Mines of Phandelver as my longest game. I've never done hexcrawl, or anything with the scope of ToA (though I read and prepare obsessively, which I guess is an advantage).

What do you guys think of the adventure? What should I be wary of, change, or keep in mind? Also, is the lost-in-the-jungle aspect fun for players, or does it get tedious? As I'm reading about it I do think it sounds cool, but the map of Chult is huge and I'm wondering if they'll get bored.

Thanks!

 

[Uller]

As has been mentioned in other threads...if you are starting at 1st level don't introduce the death plague or other major plot elements right away. Let your players decide why they are in Chult (let some be from Chult). Let them explore, discover mysteries not related to Acerak and establish their own connections to Port Nyanzuru. Maybe one of the merchant princes becomes a patron or rival. Maybe the pirates become antagonists or allies. Maybe the players become a thorn in the sides of the flaming fist. Then around 5th or 7th level introduce the death plague and the plot.

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[ArwensDaughter]

There's a very helpful thread on running Tomb of Annihilation here.

If any of your players have been resurrected, you'll need to think about whether you want to use the curse as is or modify it. There are several other approaches provided in the thread linked above (and a nice index in the first post).

Similarly, give some thought to how you will track water consumption and how you will deal with exhaust, heat, and armor issues. (See the same thread for alternative approaches)

Don't feel like the your players have to explore ALL or Chult. Depending on which guide they choose (hopefully they will choose one), there will be encouragement to head in a particular direction in the jungle.

I made a guide for myself for each day traveling through the jungle, with notes about what to remember when. (marking off insect repellent, checking for water consumption, etc.)

I also developed a spreadsheet, based on one provided in this post, that randomly "rolled" weather and random encounters, and provides a place to make notes about what has happened on a given day.

The random encounters are varied and interesting, and there are enough places to encounter in the jungle that so far my crew hasn't been bored.

Note that some locations on the map (Hisari, Matolo, Mezro) don't have much info/to do in the hard cover, but there are adventures in DMsGuild that flesh these out more.

If your crew decides to spend much time in Port N, you might want to look at some of the DMs Guild material (either AL or Adept) that provide more encounters or adventures in Port N.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I used Cellar of Death as well, and It's a great introduction. My group had a great time coming up with their mutual NPC friend and together constructed a huge backstory about he influenced them all (he was a pirate turned good who opened a tavern). So when... what happens... happened, they all took it, and the entire campaign hook, personally. It's an awesome introduction.

Really, the best advice is to have them announce where they plan on going, and, then, since it will usually take some time to get there, read up on that location and nearby locations between sessions. My group decided to escort the half-orc priest to Camp Vengeance first, so that allowed me to read up and make plans about that area. They've investigated Mbala and were suitably creeped out by Nanny Pu'pu, and in the session we just ended, they happened to be within Yellyark when the goblins set off the trap, much to their dismay and my amusement....

 

[jasper]

1. Have your players roll 3 % dice and take notes of who and result. Use these rolls as for the wandering encounter chart.
2. I in the second session in and chapter 2. The Dc for getting lost even with a +7 survival is a little high. My changes are If the guide knows the route roll with advantage. I thinking of also just letting the group get lost once if the guide knows the way.
3. I see not problem with the 79 days the lost condition is no loot from the teleportation lady. But you may want to give the group a couple of days in chapter 1 before starting the curse.
4. Make sure they map (I drop $20+ to get one printed). This will give the feel of hex crawl. You didn't say homebrew or adventure league, but be ready to downgrade or upgrade wandering monsters.
5. Swap out a wandering monster encounter with a sudden downpour/flood etc. Aka be evil and try to wipe out their tents and supplies. Only do this a few times.
6. Props use them if you like them.