D&D 5E Troubleshooting slow narrative? (ToA, spoilers)

[Quickleaf]

I just started running ToA (6 sessions in) and I'm anticipating the same issue with my players. Chult is a good setting but the mega-plot hooks do not collect into any sort of compelling thread. "There be evil over yonder" should not be the driving thematic force of a modern published D&D campaign, imo.

Some ideas I'm building out, which others may find interesting. Warning, this is a bit of a brainstorm.

A) The Death Curse is more specific than a vague defilement and usurpation of resurrection magic. It's actually connected to diamonds that are the required components of most of these spells. It's not a coincidence that, despite their portfolios and mysteries, almost gods accept diamonds as payment for a life returned. It's due to a sacred contract made long, long ago between ancient pantheons and Ubtao, who supplied the archetypal, platonic diamond that bound the gods to accept any diamond of worth "as it were this one".

The circumstances of the arrangement require development (gotta write it) but Ubtao is a trickster god surrounded by trickster gods, deception was definitely involved. When Ubtao abandoned Omu he left the platonic diamond, assumed safe (or maybe he doesn't care). When Acererak found it he used its tie to those resurrected via the contract to feed the Soulmonger and shake things up. After the adventure concludes the platonic diamond will likely be destroyed and the payment of resurrections in Faerun will become as unique and varied as the gods granting them.

B) Two other diamonds are sisters to the platonic diamond, cut from the same vein. They were turned into jewels for Omu royalty and high priests. Though they probably didn't know of the existence of the platonic diamond, they knew that the gems glowed when within a certain range of Omu (actually the platonic diamond beneath it) and each other, and that they could be used in resurrections without being consumed in the process. All diamonds mined in Chult have stronger metaphysical connection to the platonic diamond than those mined elsewhere in Faerun. Perversely it allows people resurrected with Chultan diamonds to suffer the Death Curse longer before dying.

Wow! That’s some great lore development! Consider your platonic diamond idea yoinked!

Interestingly, I was inspired upon reading the Tomb’s many magic nullifying effects (no teleport, etc.) to include a bit of lore about the diamond mines of Chult being depleted by Omuan Queens. Who were being forced by Acererak, who needed the diamonds as spell components for enchanting the Tomb. Dovetails nicely with your idea!

C) The Omuans abandoned the city, destroyed all the maps and melted the coins but that was only 200 years ago (7 generations) A diaspora from a major trade hub wouldn't cleanly cover its tracks even with a major coordinated effort to do so, likely organized by the fallen clerics of Ubtao. Coins would be in circulation outside the city's ability to reclaim, maps would be made and owned by foreign traders, artwork and books/scrolls would have been sold and owned by non-Omuans.

Add to this that Omu is surrounded by three volcanoes. They would have figured prominently in religion, folklore and art. They would have been threaded into worship and commerce.

Add to this that a maze is the sacred symbol of Ubtoa, suggesting a predilection for pathfinding and puzzles.

So... Omuan coins still pop up in modern commerce. Most modern Chultans don't recognize them, thinking they're just coins from the variety of lands that visit Port Nyanzaru for trade. Some however regard them as cursed and will not accept them. These people are the plot hook to families that still have a cultural memory of Omu. One of these families has one of the sister diamonds too. Maybe it's one of the Merchant Princes? Anyway, if you know Omu is somewhere between the three volcanoes and you have a sister diamond, it leads you to the lost city.

I’ve had Omuan coins marked with wasps, mimicking the wasp mask of Queen Napaka. But I love your connection about the importance of sitting between the three volcanoes in the Omuan culture. Great lore making for a great clue!

D) The Death Curse comes in two parts. Dying, then returning as an undead agent with the goal of seeing the Soulmonger ascend. Syndra Silvane perishes as an ally and returns as an enemy attempting to thwart the entire mission. Most NPCs who succumb to the curse in Faerun have no idea of it's origins, but a few probably do and would make interesting cameos as they showed up in Chult all 'dark side'. Undead Volo? Undead Blackstaff? Adjust CRs accordingly.

Great minds! I reinterpreted the Death Curse similarly. It doesn’t just make you dead, it makes you undead and a servant to Acererak.

E) The Red Wizards hire the Zhentarim as mercenary allies to form a party, equal to the number of PCs. Their goal is to provide a safe circle/anchor for Szass Tam to teleport deep in the tomb, once the other dangers have been removed. He wants to look upon the Soulmonger with his own eyes and make his own appraisals. Maybe this group gets one of the sister diamonds and the PCs the other, so they know when each group is (relatively) nearby?

Interesting approach to the rival party!

 

[Quickleaf]

Over lunch I managed to whip together a one-pager of my notes on clues to Omu, the Death Curse, and Acererak...

 

[Harzel]

I've only skimmed pieces of ToA, and that was a while ago, so my comments are generic. The mission-oriented player (and others) might find it more satisfying to not stumble on clues serendipitously, but rather have access to sources of information be themselves the subject of quests. E.g., a diviner/soothsayer/mystic or just a knowledgeable NPC could tell them that the knowledge they seek is in thus-and-such dangerous location guarded by terrible beasts, deadly traps, etc. The source could be another NPC, a tome, a map, vision, whatever (I'm not sure what is appropriate).

Also, I sort of get the impression that the clues you are working with are themselves (deliberately) somewhat cryptic and/or partial information that has to be pieced together. Another advantage of the PCs 'earning' their way deliberately to a source of information is that it feels more legitimate to make the info they get more straightforward and concrete that just a 'puzzle piece'.

Just a thought off the top of my head. Hope it is of some use.