D&D Tomb of Annihilation

Soulmongerisdestroyed.Otherrulesconcerningdeath

savingthrowsremainunchanged.

SoulDevouring

Thesoulofanyhumanoidthatdieswhilethedeathcurseis
activebecomestrappedinsidetheSoulmonger.Thesoul
remainsthereuntilitisconsumedbytheatropalorthe
Soulmongerisdestroyed.
OnceasoulbecomestrappedintheSoulmonger,it’sonlya
matteroftimebeforetheatropaldevoursit.Youcan
determinethestatusofatrappedsoulatdawnonanygiven
daybysecretlyrollingad 20 .Onarollof 2 orhigher,thesoul
remainstrappedintheSoulmonger,atleastuntilthenext
dawn.Arollof 1 indicatesthatthesoulwasdevouredbythe
atropal.Acreaturewhosesoulisdevouredinthishorrific
mannercan’tbereturnedtolifebyanymeans,including
divineintervention.
IftheSoulmongerisdestroyedandyouhaven’tbeen
trackingthestatusofaparticularsoultrappedwithin,graba
handfulofd 20 s—onedieforeachdaythesoulwas
trapped—androllthemtogether.Ifyourolla 1 onanyofthe
dice,thesoulwasdevouredbeforeitcouldbesetfree.
Spellssuchascommuneanddivinationcanbeusedto
determinewhetherasoulhasbeendevouredorwhetherit’s
stilltrappedintheSoulmonger.
Howmanysoulsmusttheatropaldevourtobecomeagod?
Itcouldbethousandsormillions.Ultimatelyit’stheDM’scall,
butthedefaultassumptionisthatthisapotheosiscouldtake
monthsoryears.

ReplacementCharacters

Thedeathcursemeansthat,forthemostpart,deadcharacters
staydead.Ifacharacterdiesandthere’snoreasonablewayfor
theplayertocontinueplayingthatcharacter,youcanhavethe
playercreateanewcharacter.Areplacementcharactershould
bethesamelevelastherestoftheparty.
Chultattractsadventurersfromallovertheworld,and
theactivationoftheSoulmongerdrawsevenmore
adventurersthanusualtoitsuntamedwilderness.Theplayer
charactersareamongtheearliesttoarrive,butadventurers
fromacrosstheglobebegintoconvergeinChultasthecrisis
mounts.Itshouldnotbedifficulttointroducenewcharacters
toreplacethosewhohaveperished.Anewcharactermightbe
thelastsurvivingmemberofadoomedexpedition,aguide
whohaslivedinChultforyears,aloneexplorerseekingglory
ortreasure,orsomeoneracingagainsttimetosavealoved
oneaffectedbythedeathcurse.Workwiththeplayertocome
upwithastorythatmakessense,giventhecircumstances.

TickingClock

TombofAnnihilationisatime-bombadventure.Inother
words,timeisoftheessence.Thecharactersareunder
pressuretofindanddestroytheSoulmongerquickly,since
manylivesdependonit.
Timepressureaside,Chultisalandripewithadventure
possibilities,andcharactersmightbedrawnbycuriosityor
circumstancetolocationssuchasthegardenruinofNangalore,
thedwarvenforgeofHrakhamar,orthepiratehavenofJahaka
Anchorage.Suchlocationspresentdangersthat,when
overcome,preparethecharactersforgreaterthreatsawaiting
theminOmu.IfthecharactersreachOmutoosoon,they
probablywon’tbehighenoughleveltosurvivethereforlong.
WhenthecharactersmakeinquiriesaboutOmu,paintthelost

cityasaterrifyingplacesothatplayersfeelthetensionof

wantingtogettherequickly,butnottooquickly.

CharacterAdvancement..............................................................................................................................................................

Charactersbegintheadventureat 1 stlevelandgainXPby

defeatingmonsters.Aftereachgamesession,addupalltheXP

earnedanddistributeitevenlyamongthepartymembers.If

thecharactersgainenoughXPtoadvancealevel,encourage

yourplayerstoleveluptheircharactersbeforethenext

session.Ideally,thecharactersshouldfallwithinthedesired

levelrangeforeachchapteroftheadventure,asshowninthe

SuggestedCharacterLevelstable.

SuggestedCharacterLevels

Chapter SuggestedLevel

1 .PortNyanzaru 1 standhigher

2 .LandofChult 1 st– 6 th

3 .DwellersoftheForbidden

City

5 th– 8 th

4 .FaneoftheNightSerpent 7 th– 9 th

5 .TomboftheNineGods 9 thandhigher

YoucanslowtherateofadvancementbywithholdingXP,

“banking”ituntilyou’rereadyforthepartytolevelup.

Conversely,youcanhastenleveladvancementbyawardingad

hocXPformakingdiscoveries,completinggoals,roleplaying

well,andsurvivingoravoidingdeadlytraps.Anysuchadhoc

awardshouldbenomorethanwhatthecharacterswouldearn

fordefeatingamonsterwithachallengeratingequaltotheir

level.Forexample,afairadhocawardforapartyof 2 nd-level

adventurerswouldbe 450 XP,whichiswhatthecharacters

wouldearnfordefeatingachallengerating 2 monster.Aswith

otherXPawards,theamountshouldbedividedevenlyamong

allpartymembers.

AstheDM,youcandispensewithXPtrackingandallow

characterstogainlevelsatwhateverpacesuitsyourcampaign,

usingtheSuggestedCharacterLevelstableasyourguide.

Chultisloadedwithfundistractions,alluringlocations,

andopportunitiesforcharacterstoexplore.Consequently,it

canbehardtogaugewhatlevelthecharacterswillbewhen

theyarriveatadventurelocations.Again,lettheSuggested

CharacterLevelstableguideyou.Forexample,ifthe

charactersare 4 thlevelandabouttostumbleintoOmu

(chapter 3 ),youmightwanttosteertheminadifferent

direction,throwrandomencountersatthemuntilthey’ve

reached 5 thlevel,advancethemto 5 thlevelautomatically,or

adjustencountersinOmutomakethethreatseasier

toovercome.

StartingatHigherLevels.............................................................................................................................................................

Althoughtheadventureassumesthatthecharactersbeginat

1 stlevel,youcanstartthemoffat 5 thlevelor 9 thlevelinstead.

Startingat 5 thLevel

Charactersof 5 thlevelwillstillfindpartsofchapters 1 and 2

challenging.Ifanencounterbecomestoomuchofacakewalk,

youcanintroduceenemyreinforcements.HoldoffonXP

awardsandleveladvancementuntilthecharactersreachOmu

inchapter 3.