Startingat 9 thLevel
Charactersof 9 thlevelwillsteamrollthroughchapters 1 and 2 ,
andthat’sfine.Spendlesstimeonencountersinthejungle,
andsteerthecharacterstowardOmuasquicklyaspossible.
Oncetheyarrive,runtheadventureasyounormallywould.
Charactersatthislevelwillstillbechallengedbychapters 3
and 4 ,particularlyifyouplaytheyuan-tiasintelligent
adversaries.HoldoffonXPawardsandleveladvancement
untilthecharactersentertheTomboftheNineGodsin
chapter 5.
StartingtheAdventure........................................................................................................................................................................
Theadventure’sdefaultstartinglocationisthecityofBaldur’s
GateontheSwordCoast,intheForgottenRealmssetting.
However,anylargesettlementwilldo.Possibilitiesfromother
D&DworldsincludetheFreeCityofGreyhawkonOerth,the
cityofSpecularumonMystara,andthecityofSharnon
Eberron.
Togetthingsrolling,readorparaphrasethefollowing
introductorytexttotheplayers:
Forthepastseveraldays,thetalkofthestreetsand
tavernshasallbeenabouttheso-calleddeathcurse:a
wastingdiseaseafflictingeveryonewho’severbeen
raisedfromthedead.Victimsgrowthinnerandweaker
eachday,slowlybutsteadilyslidingtowardthedeath
theyoncedenied.Whentheyfinallysuccumb,theycan’t
beraised—andneithercananyoneelse,regardlessof
whetherthey’veeverreceivedthatmiracleinthepast.
Templesandscholarsofdivinemagicareatalossto
explainacursethathasaffectedtheentireregion,and
possiblytheentireworld.Atthispoint,invitetheplayerstoexplainwhytheircharacters
aretogether,howlongthey’vebeentogether,andwhatthey’ve
beendoing.Ifthecharactersdon’tknoweachother,youcan
havethemmeetatSyndraSilvane’sresidence.SyndraSilvane’sCurse................................................................................................................................................................
Theparty’sbenefactorisaretiredadventurernamedSyndra
Silvane.Beingawizardandmerchantofnosmallrepute,she
hasmagictoexpeditetheparty’sjourneytoChultaswellas
treasurewithwhichtorewardcharactersfortheirassistance.
Whenyou’rereadyforthecharacterstomeetwithSyndra,
read:
YouhavebeeninvitedtothehomeofSyndraSilvane,a
retiredadventurerandmerchant.Auniformedattendant
leadsyouupagrandstaircasetothethirdfloor,then
ushersyouintoawood-paneledroomwithafireplace,
comfortablechairs,andaheavytablebearinggoblets
andbottlesofwine.Thedarklypaneledwallsarehung
withmapsandseacharts.Racks,shelves,andcabinets
holdhundredsmorerolled-upmapsandcharts.Apersonisseatedinanoverstuffedchairnearthefire.
Youcan’tdiscernagender,becauseonlytheperson’s
heademergesfromunderaheavyblanketdrapedover
thechair,andanembroideredhoodandsilvermask
concealthewearer’sface.Eventheperson’sdry,raspy
voiceprovidesnoclue.“Helpyourselvestowine,and
seatyourselves,friends—IhopeImaycallyouthat.”ThemaskedspeakerisSyndraSilvane.SheisaTethyrian
humanarchmage,withthesechanges:
SyndraislawfulneutralandspeaksCommon,Dwarvish,
Elvish,andHalfling.
Syndra’shitpointmaximumhasbeenreducedto 79 by
theSoulmonger’sdeathcurse,anditdecreasesby 1
everymidnight.Ifherhitpointmaximumdropsto 0 ,
Syndradiesandcan’tbebroughtbackfromthedead
untilthedeathcursehasended(andifhersoulhasn’t