Page 9 - Tomb of Annihilation

STARTING AT HIGHER LEVELS When you're ready for the characters to meet with
Syndra, read:
Although the adventure assumes that the characters be-
gin at 1st level, you can start them off at 5th level or 9th
level instead. You have been invited to the home ofSyndra Silvane, a
retired adventurer and merchant. A uniformed attendant
STARTING AT 5TH L EVEL
leads you up a grand staircase to the third floor, then
Characters of 5th level will still find parts of chapters l
and 2 challenging. If an encounter becomes too much of ushers you into a wood-paneled room with a fireplace,
a cakewalk, you can introduce enemy reinforcements. comfortable chairs, and a heavy table bearing goblets
Hold off on XP awards and level advancement until the and bottles of wine. The darkly paneled walls are hung
characters reach Omu in chapter 3.
with maps and sea charts. Racks, shelves, and cabinets
STARTING AT 9TH L EVEL hold hundreds more rolled-up maps and charts.
Characters of 9th level will steamroll through chapters A person is seated in an overstuffed chair near the fire.
1 and 2, and that's fine. Spend less time on encounters You can't discern a gender, because only the person's
in the jungle, and steer the characters toward Omu as head emerges from under a heavy blanket draped over
quickly as possible. Once they arrive, run the adventure
as you normally would. Characters at this level will still the chair, and an embroidered hood and silver mask con·
be challenged by chapters 3 and 4, particularly if you ceal the wearer's face. Even the person's dry, raspy voice
play the yuan-ti as intelligent adversaries. Hold off on provides no clue. "Help yourselves to wine, and seat
XP awards and level advancement until the characters yourselves, friends- I hope I may call you that."
enter the Tomb of the Nine Gods in chapter 5.
STARTING THE ADVENTURE The masked speaker is Syndra Silvane. She is a Tetbyr-
ian human archmage, with these changes:
The adventure's default starting location is the city of
Baldur's Gate on the Sword Coast, in the Forgotten Syndra is lawful neutral and speaks Common, Dwar-
Realms setting. However, any large settlement will do. vish, Elvish, and Halfling.
Possibilities from other D&D worlds include the Free Syndra's hit point maximum has been reduced to 79
City of Greyhawk on Oerth, the city of Specularum on by the Soulmonger's death curse, and it decreases by
Mystara, and the city of Sharn on Eberron. 1 every midnight. If her hit point maximum drops to 0,
To get things rolling, read or paraphrase the following Syndra dies and can't be brought back from the dead
Introductory text to the players: until the death curse has ended (and if her soul hasn't
been devoured). Destroying the Soulmonger is the
only way to halt the attrition and restore her hit point
For the past several days, the talk of the streets and maximum to normal.
taverns has all been about the so-called death curse:
ROLEPLAYING SYNDRA SILVANE
a wasting disease afflicting everyone who's ever been
Syndra tells the characters her story and makes her
raised from the dead. Victims grow thinner and weaker request. Roleplay the encounter, paraphrasing the fol-
each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the death lowing information and responding in Silvane's dry,
they once denied. When they finally succumb, they can't cracking voice to the characters' questions:
be raised-and neither can anyone else, regardless of • "I was an adventurer years ago. I died once and was
whether they've ever received that miracle in the past. raised from the dead. I have since closed the door on
Temples and scholars of divine magic are at a loss to that stage of my life."
"The death curse you've heard about has struck me. 1
explain a curse that has affected the entire region, and
don't know how much longer I'll last before I perish.
possibly the entire world.
Clerics have no help to offer. They're stymied by what
is happening.n
At this point, invite the players to explain why their char- "My contacts in the Harpers have learned that the
acters are together, how long they've been together, and cause of the death curse is a necromantic artifact
what they've been doing. If the characters don't know called the SouJmonger. According to their sources,
each other, you can have them meet at Syndra Silvane's the Soulmonger is somewhere in Chult."
residence. • "Chult is a peninsula ringed with mountains and
choked with rainforests. Enormous reptiles, savage
SYNDRA SILVANE's CURSE goblins, and an army of undead prowl its jungles and
ruins. Mapping the place has always been nigh impos-
The party's benefactor is a retired adventurer named sible, and nothing is known about the region's current
Syndra Silvane. Being a wizard and merchant of no geography beyond a few miles from the coast."
small repute, she has magic to expedite the party's jour-
ney to Chult as well as treasure with which to reward
characters for their assistance.

l~l'RODUCTION
8