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1. NPCs - Dramatis PersonaeThe ToA book has the NPCs for this section scattered all over the place because they're arranged by topic. Your players will be in one particular area at a given time, so having to flip back and forth between the Merchant Prince section, the Side Quests section, the Encounters Tables, and whatever is a huge pain in the butt. Instead, I have arranged the NPCs for Port Nyanzaru by location on a single page. These follow the numbering used on the Port Nyanzaru map in the book. I have included links to stat blocks when possible. Some of these are non-canon or homebrew NPCs, so if you don't like that, sorry. PRO-TIP: Press Control-F (Command-F on a Mac) to "FIND" a word or name on this page for speedy lookups. (Cell-phones have their own wonky ways to do this, so good luck). OLD CITY (1) BEGGAR'S PALACES Beggar Prince Madame Malaya | Drexl from True Romance South Ziggurat. Prostitution: leverage over many in city. BBB policy. Spy. Beggar Prince Spotless Takataka | Tony Soprano North Ziggurat. Sanitation: ruthless Chultean Waste Services. Gladiator. (2) EXECUTIONER'S RUN Beggar Prince Kamari the Fat | Beetlejuice Lesser Ziggurat. Gambling: runs all the bookies. Dino races, Grand Coliseum, and raptor fights collected in city; Executioner Run bets taken at Lesser Ziggurat. Popular. Commoner. K’lahu | Sleazy girl Watto | "Collect a Debt" p.16 (see below) Female bookie who takes bets at Executioner’s Run. Hires party to collect from Taban: 10% to players (only has 50gp of 500gp debt, which he'll pay once <50hp). Thug. Taban | Clayface Man who owes 500gp to K'lahu; offers to join players when loses. Gladiator. (3) REFUSE PIT Ghouls, otyughs (otyughs foreshadow the obliette in the Tomb). MERCHANT WARD(4) GOLDENTHRONE - THRONE HILL (if there, 1d3 hours for audience w/ MPs) Honor Guard | Spider, Scorpion, Tick, Harvestman, Octopus, Squid, Nautilus, Byte 8 Gladiators. (5) MERCHANT PRINCE'S VILLAS (appear in 3 locations on map) NAME | BASIS | POLITICAL STYLE] Ekene-Afa |Donald Trump | Nelson Mandela Weapons, shields, canoes, rain catchers, and traveling gear. Gladiator. Ifan Talro'a | Jareth the Goblin King | Richard III Beasts. Jealous of Wakanga & Ekene; flying snakes warn Yuan-ti. Noble. Jessamine | Bride of Frankenstein | Gandhi Plants, poisons, and assassinations. Has death curse. Assassin. Jobal | Lando Calrissian | Prince Humperdink Guides and mercenaries. Wants Syndra’s map. Scout. Aazon Talieri | Inigo Montoya Trusted consort loyal to Jobal. Spy. Kwayothe | AOC | Queen of Hearts Fruit, wine, oil, perfume, tej (mead), and insect repellant. Has fire ring. Priest. Wakanga O'tamu | Prince | Mitt Romney Magic and lore. Has Wizard’s Journal. Mage. Syndra Silvane | Dolly Parton Stricken by the death curse. Staying with Wakanga. Archmage. Zhanthi | McGonnagal | Mitch McConnell Gems, jewelry, cloth, and armor. Ytepka member with Zhentari ties. Noble. (7) TEMPLE OF SAVRAS Grandfather Zitembe | Rafiki Knows curse is in Omu. Make him a secret Eshowe descendant. If asked to sooth, "a jungle city far to the south, enclosed by cliffs and crawling with snakes--a black obelisk draped in vines." 3 Zhent Assassins wanting info about Artus Cimber. Priest. Inete | Fiver Granddaughter of Grandfather Zitembe. Has had visions of red wizards running a base in Aldani Basin. Suggests visiting Temple of Savras (so probably not met there). Acolyte. 3 Zhentarim Assassins: Vlargak, Mocesti, & Jathen | Weasels from Roger Rabbit Want Zitembe to do spell to aid their search (scrying? divinations?). 500gp ruby. Assassins. (10) JEWEL MARKET Zhanthi's guards and spies. HARBOR WARDBRAZEN PEGASUS Ortimay Swift-and-Dark | Cockney street-urchin Female gnome captain of the Brazen Pegasus; clever and calm. Bandit. Grig Ruddell | Coach Beard from Ted Lasso Gray-bearded first-mate of Brazen Pegasus. Hulking and silent except orders. Veteran. 6 Sailors | Archer, Cyril, Krieger, Lana, Cheryl, Pam Various ethnicities. Bandits. (12) STATUE Na N'buso, the Great King. Just a big statue. (13) HARBORMASTER'S OFFICE Zindar | Santa Half gold-dragon harbormaster. Ytepka Society member. Offering 2k gp for each pirate ship and 500 gp per captured captain. Uses spells for work; message, detect thoughts, knock, clairvoyance s, dominate beast, etc. Stats. (15) FORT NYANZARU Castellan Paihikara | Cyclops Leader of a fort that hasn't done any actual fighting in decades. Noble. Officers Ajabu, Mnyama, Malaika, & Ysman | Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, & Iceman Loyal to the Merchant Princes. Veteran. 40 Soldiers Loyal to the Merchant Princes. Guards. MARKET WARD - THRONE HILL(18) RED BAZAAR THE THUNDERING LIZARD - 5 sp / night Azaka Stormfang | Okoyeh from Black Panther Free if group finds “family heirloom” Mask of the Beast. Saja N’baza ally. Acrophobic. Weretiger. Emeka Isrit | Arthur/Billie Madison--an ex-adventurer owner. Night: sloppy-drunk bartender, free drinks (only sells tej). Daytime: competent manager. Hew Hackinstone | Private Pyle Guide. Insane dwarf. Survived dragon attack at Wrymheart Mine and wants to return. Berserker. Musharib | Kuil “I have spoken” Guide. Wants Gauntlet from Hrakhamar. Super-bigoted against non-dwarves. Albino dwarf spirit warrior. Salida | Jessie from Toy Story, but insulting Guide. Tries to join to report to Ras Nsi. Yuan-ti pureblood. Undril Silvertusk | Ted Lasso Female half-orc priest of Torm. Just came to town and realized buying a horse wouldn't cut it. Seeks party to Camp Vengeance, but will stand against Breakbone if things go south. Priest w/ 60ft darkvision. Volothamp “Volo” Geddarm | Mel Brooks' King Louie Famous author from Waterdeep on Chult book tour. Selling guides for 50gp. Will pay for new monster information for his books. Friends with Jobal. Volo. KAYA'S HOUSE OF REPOSE - 1 gp/night Eku | Glinda the Good Witch Guide. Cannot lie. Couatl disguised as middle age woman. Knows Omu location. Enemy of Nanny Pu’pu. Couatl. Faroul | Rosencrantz Guide. Calishite (Spanish Moore) partner to Gondolo. Gambling addict, has map to Needle’s Bones. Tells tales. Owns Zongo the triceratops. Scout. Gondolo | Guildenstern Guide. Halfling. Drunk. Faux poet philosopher. Lucky/survivor. Scout. Kaya | Morticia Addams Elegant and kind Chultan owner. Has access to the Merchant Princes and royalty. Noble. Ronhip Foechuckle | Tom Cruise Hipster bartender. Knows everything about booze. Commoner. (20) GRAND COLISEUM - YKHVAZI HILL Ekene-Afa |Donald Trump | Nelson Mandela - Only at Coliseum for major events. Weapons, shields, canoes, rain catchers, and traveling gear. Not typically accessible at Coliseum. Gladiator. Beggar Prince Kamari the Fat | Beetlejuice - Only at Coliseum for major events. Gambling: runs all the bookies (thugs). Popular. Commoner. Suggested Events for Holidays: Heroes of Legend vs pirates. Gladiator. Velociraptors vs tigers Mages vs ghouls, skeletons, or zombies. (21) HALL OF GOLD - MOUNT SIBASA Temple of Waukeen. Bridge connects Mount Sibasa to the Grand Coliseum on Yklwazi Hill. Sibonseni - “Mother of Prosperity” | Oprah Beloved chief priestess. Super-diva rides who rides a sedan chair. Servants toss coppers. Priest. (22) PUBLIC BATHHOUSE EVERYONE All Chultans bathe every day at these places. The elite go to the Temple of Sune; the commoners go here. You can introduce your characters to any plot hook at these places. (23) DYE WORKS Omala | Mad Hatter Colorist got iron token from Ytepka Society and needs escort to Kwayothé ("Help a Dyeing Man" below). Commoner. MALAR'S THROATGate is called Ubtao's Jaws; runoff from jungle dumps goods from here into the city Flask of Wine | Sylvester the Cat Unregistered guide. Male. Sociable, but mostly repeats River’s last words; Seeking Artus Cimber. Tabaxi hunter. River Mist | Henrietta Pussycat Unregistered guide. Female. Seeking Altus Cimber for Zentarim. Tabaxi hunter. (24) TEMPLE OF TYMORA Encounter 6 (see below) Besieged by 2d6 zombies and 2d6 skeletons led by a ghoul. If players defeat undead, temple rewards them 5 gallons of tej and a potion of healing. SOUTHERN HILLTOP MANSION Altered from Adventurer's League Beggar Prince Pock-marked Po, “The Hideous Prince” | The Godfather Protection. Old, pock-faced man, always calm. Attendant "lovelies" (bandits) (use CR to make hard). Golden spyglass. Veteran. TIRYKI ANCHORAGENo shelter from dino or undead attacks. Folk must rush into Tiryki Gate to get protection. Dinosaur Handlers Commoner. with +5 Animal Handling Pirates and Sailors Bandits. Lady Death's Dealers Operate in groups of 4 on street corners. Thug. Flask of Wine | Sylvester the Cat Unregistered guide. Male. Sociable, but mostly repeats River’s last words; Seeking Artus Cimber. Tabaxi hunter. River Mist | Henrietta Pussycat Unregistered guide. Female. Seeking Altus Cimber for Zentarim. Tabaxi hunter. HUMBLE CABIN (not a findable place) Beggar Prince Irokuro Kika, "Lady Death" | Ruth from Ozarks Drugs. Allied to Po. Childhood friend to Kwayothe and philosophical mentor. Revolutionary. Assassin. NOT AT PORT NYANZARU, BUT COULD COME UPKupalué “Weed” | I am koo-pah-LOO-ay. At Fort Beluarian. Qawasha’s vegepygmy companion Qawasha | Bob Ross At Fort Beluarian with vegepygmy. Directs to undead regions always. Suggests getting writ. Druid. Shago | Annie At Fort Beluarian. Son of Zhanthi. Fears becoming undead. Wants to impress Liara Portyr. Gladiator. SIDE QUESTS & ENCOUNTERS - NON-LOCATIONAL NPCsThese NPCs and encounters aren't tied to a particular location in the city, but could be hooked to players in many places. If the NPCs would likely be in a location, though, I included them above as well. SIDE QUESTS (p.16) 1. COLLECT A DEBT K’lahu | Sleazy girl Watto Female bookie who takes bets at Executioner’s Run. Hires party to collect from Taban: 10% to players (only has 50gp of 500gp debt, which he'll pay once <50hp). Thug. K'lahu could be anywhere, but likely will be met in the crowd outside Executioner's Run or in the Lesser Ziggurat. Wherever in the city she meets them, K'lahu will approach the team with flattery, saying they look like just the type of people to help her—and make a little money! She'd like the party to go shake down this guy, Taban, who owes money to Kamari the Fat because he's kind of a bruiser and she's worried her men aren't up to it. Taban | Clayface Man who owes 500gp to Taban; offers to join players when loses (free canon-fodder for the Tomb's traps!). Gladiator. He could be anywhere in the city. If you want this to be a small encounter, put him in the crowd at Executioner's Run and K'lahu points him out. Then it's just a matter of following him discretely into an alleyway for the rough-up. Or, if you want to stretch it out, the group can shylock around the city and track him down like bounty hunters. Does the party deliver the whole 500gp worth of gemstones to K'lahu? If so, she'll tell Taban that from now on, his bets need to be paid in advance—he's lost all his credit. She might, afterward, invite the party to meet Kamari the Fat, who is always looking to hire reliable enforcers. Does the party take the gems and keep them? Then they've made an enemy with Kamari the Fat. He'll get a sanction issued from Jessamine and hire her assassins to take the party out in their sleep. 2. CREATE A DISTRACTION AT FORT BELUARIAN Rokah |Sean Connery James Bond Spy Rokah could approach the party anywhere, but if they do something big in public, that can trigger him trying to hire them. He could also think they look like an effective troupe and approach them cold. Rokah needs an escort to Fort Beluarian and a distraction while he ransacks the commander's (Blaze Liara Portyr) quarters. His superiors (Zhentarim, but don't say this—say "people who work directly for the merchant princes") suspect the Flaming Fist are in league with the pirates, and he has been tasked with finding the evidence. The party should be warm to this since Zindar offered rewards for bringing down pirates as soon as they arrived. In return, he offers to pay for their charter of exploration (50gp), introduce them to the best wilderness guides in Chult and pay for hiring them (River Mist & Flask of Wine), and will cover passage to and from the fort (the Brazen Pegasus, most likely). Assure the party that this is a low-risk endeavor. The garrison has 58 mercenaries stationed at it, but they'd only need to distract enough that he could get into the Inner Bailey and snoop around. That location has only a dozen or so guards in it at any given time and Liara Portyr holds court in its Hall (10C). Rokah should have a map of the fort—provide either the one in the book on p.55 or trace off a rough hand-drawn one. This will allow the players to plot out their distraction plan. The distraction will need to last some set amount of time. I would determine this randomly. Roll a d12 when the distraction begins in order to determine how long his search goes. On a 12, he fails to find any evidence, but otherwise he finds the sending stone in her iron box (10I). Rokah will pay the necessary costs of Aramag the Dragon-Turtle. From Beluarian Landing on up to the Fort, the party should be attacked by something. I used a trio of sea hags (pretending to be women in trouble on the road) because that was the random beach encounter that came up (p. 195), but you could throw whatever you like at them. If successful, Rokah fulfills his promises to the party. He also may provide them access to Zhanthi, who is ultimately behind this mission. 3. ESCORT A PRIEST TO CAMP VENGEANCE Undril Silvertusk | Ted Lasso Priest w/ 60ft darkvision. Female half-orc priest of Torm. Just came to town and realized buying a horse wouldn't cut it in the jungle. Seeks party to Camp Vengeance to deliver a "packet of dispatches" from superiors in the Order of the Gauntlet. Undril is broke. She probably has just enough money for a couple night's lodgings and a horse (75gp). She should seem upset and worried. Maybe even crying. She's a sore thumb wherever she is, because she's A) a half-orc and B) in shining chainmail armor. We are not told what is in the packet of dispatches, though Undril will consider it her duty to protect them and keep them secret. Breakbone orders an on-foot party to head north and clean out undead—so maybe the missive said that reinforcements are not coming because the riverway is too dangerous. If they came bay canoe, he sends them with his sick to Port Nyanzaru—so maybe the notes say that the losses are too great, so he must retreat (he's gone nuts, so he misinterprets this to be because of his sick needing treatment, not to abandon the fight). However: I think the coolest would be for the dispatches to include a statement ordering Breakbone to be relieved of command, with Ord Firebeard assuming the position, due to general incompetence. He would pretend not to have read it and continue in charge illegitimately. If players can find out what's in these ahead of time, it could shape the outcome of the Breakbone encounters quite a lot. If Breakbone tries to punish the party for balking at anything, the book describes various ways his orders can be challenged, but Undril's loyalty to them is the main thing. She'll stand up to him and convince him to let them go. Breakbone is basically Col. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now!, so I'd lean into that. When the players are getting close to Camp Vengeance, I'd watch the movie again and then maybe refresh my readings of Heart of Darkness. I'll give my ideas about how to run that on a later blog post about the location specifically. 4. EXPLORE THE ALDANI BASIN Inete | Fiver Acolyte. Granddaughter of Grandfather Zitembe. Has had visions of red wizards running a base in Aldani Basin. Suggests visiting Temple of Savras to get her supplies. She'll provide her own food and supplies and donate another 100 gp to the expedition's expenses. This is probably introduced after the team has been in the jungle before and already up some levels. If the party reaches Aldani Basin, they'll find the base easily enough—it's the giant floating earthmote, Heart of Ubtao (p.58). In it, they'll discover the elven lich Valindra Shadowmantle | Lydia from Beetlejuice, who will reveal to them the nature of the Soulmonger and that it is in Omu. She is power-player in Forgotten Realms lore, but here incognito. I'd play this lightly—like, have her be pretty gothy the whole time, and if pressed at all, will state outright that she's a lich, ho-hum. Inete will be incensed that Valindra is using this sacred place for her base (as will any traditionalist Chultans in the group). Valindra is in charge of all the Red Wizards of Thay that are exploring Omu and Chult. 5. FIND ARTUS CIMBER Xandala | “Naughty Zute!” handmaid from Holy Grail Sorcerer. Half-elf claiming to be the daughter of Artus Cimber and worried to find him. Really a betrayer character who will, when they find him, cast Dominate Person, take the Ring of Winter, and flee. She has light scales all over her. Summerwise | Cute and Mute Pseudodragon Summerwise can be persuaded to turn on Xandala, but why would the party suspect her of foul play? You didn't hint at it, did you? Xandala doesn't come with any direction or plan for the party, just a loose desire to find Artus. You'll need to decide where Artus is and how the party might track him into the jungle, if at all. 6. HELP A DYEING MAN Omala | Mad Hatter Commoner Colorist got iron token from Ytepka Society and needs escort to Kwayothé at Goldenthrone. Though he'd likely be found at the Dye Works, it would also make sense for him to go to The Thundering Lizard or elsewhere to seek out a party to help him. Omala's crime is strange. He used contraband Dancing Monkey Fruit "to make and sell dyes." The effect of the fruit comes when eaten or drunk, so why would he do this? Would clothing dyed with the fruit have a poisoning effect too, but the book not mention it? Was it a food dye? It's unclear. Instead, I'll infer what I can from the description and lay out how I'd run this: The fruit makes an excellent chartreuse clothing dye. Normally, Omala buys from Kwayothe for 5 gp per fruit and uses 1,000 of them per month. Last month, a black-market trader came to Omala with an offer: Dancing Monkey Fruit fresh out of the jungle for 1 gp a piece. The trader had a month's worth, no questions asked. Omala couldn't resist, so he made the deal—defrauding Kwayothe for 5,000 gp. He'd have got away with it too, but the Ytepka Society have eyes in every business—and noticed. His fraud triggered their dropping the iron coin. Kwayothe is terrifying, Rumor has it she tortures people to death with her beautiful pets. Omala strikes out to The Thundering Lizard (or wherever) trying to find a capable group of protectors who will escort him to the Goldenthrone to meet her and ensure she won't kill him on the spot. He cannot pay them because he has only the 4,000 gp that he saved from the purchase and will need to pay Kwayothe the full 50,000 gp to make amends. He's shy 1,000 gp. Kwayothe is willing to forgive Omala the 1000 gp deficit if the characters agree to secretly assassinate Shago within the next 10 days. If the characters succeed, Kwayothe will pay them 1000 gp out of the pile Omala paid her (inadvertently creating an enemy of Zhanthi). If the characters fail, Kwayothe has Omala killed. 7. HELP THE LORD'S ALLIANCE Lord Lerek Dashlynd | Thor (a terrible spy) Spy Illuskan offering a ship for an accurate map of Chult that includes Nangalor and Orolunga. The Player's Map does not have these locations listed, so they will either need to find these locations through adventuring or get them marked accurately by Eku (knows both) and/or Azaka Stormfang (knows Orolunga). In turn, this side quest is only really possible later in the adventure. Why does the Lord's Alliance want to know these two places? Nangalore is home to Zalkore N'Buso, the last queen of Omu. Orolunga is the home of Saja N'baza the all-knowing Naga. I think this happened because someone from the Lord's Alliance was guided by Eku into the jungle and she told them that answers could be found in these two places. Ironically, I have Lerek spending time every week in the same diner that Eku frequents (Kaya's). If Lerek hires the party before they have been in the jungle, doing research about where these places are would be their quest. They could go to Goldenthrone, Temple of Savras, pursue rumors, etc. to get on the right track. 8. HUNT PIRATES Zindar | Santa Half-Dragon. Half gold-dragon harbormaster. Ytepka Society member. Offering 2000 gp for each pirate ship and 500 gp per captured captain. The first side quest the players get, but it will probably not be possible until they return to Port Nyanzaru the first time. He knows the ship names: Dragonfang, Emerald Eye, and Stirge. The players can capture these at sea from a ship like the Brazen Pegasus or their own, like if Lerek gave them one. Or, they might wrangle them out of Jahaka Anchorage over land. Succeeding at this immediately elevates the party in public standing. Zhanthi will praise them from a balcony. They'll be recognized in the streets of Port Nyanzaru as heroes. 9. SAVE AN INNOCENT MAN Belym | Ernie Commoner Gay husband offers 25 sp to save husband from Executioner's Run. Belym's husband is Draza | Bert who apparently is a victim of mistaken identity. The vibe of this encounter is urgency, so he runs up to the party as they are watching the trials at Executioner's Run. "You look like good and capable people. That man, the man second back in the line, that is my husband! He is innocent!" The party cannot stop the man from dropping into the pit, but they can surreptitiously help him cross the gauntlet. If they are not sneaky enough, guards come and arrest them, etc. If they succeed at helping the man, word travels amongst the commoners that these foreigners are good people. This gives them advantage on persuasion checks with commoners and populists in the future. 10. SEEK WISDOM AT OROLUNGA Eshek | Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster Acolyte of Savras A possessed man tells the party, “SPEAK TO THE GUARDIAN OF OROLGUNGA!!!” and passes out. This is a random encounter, best used if a party is too focused on some other path. Or, it could be cool to do it as soon as they leave the docks their first day in the city! Azaka Stormfang and Eku both know the location of Orolgunga, so this could be a good segue to them. The Temple of Savras, obviously, could offer more help too. ENCOUNTERS (p.193)
1. A PARROT POOPS ON A RANDOM CHARACTER'S HEAD Roll a die to choose the party member. Or, choose the one who would be funniest. Bonus: have this happen to this character every time you roll below a 16 for Port Nyanzaru Random Encounters to create a running gag. 2. DINOSAUR RAMPAGE The text indicates that an ankylosaurus goes nuts and has to be calmed or put down, but this wouldn't apply to different parts of the city. So, choose different ones as you like. This is where I got my idea for the triceratops/almiraj encounter at the end of Session 1. 3. STOP! THIEF! A merchant shouts, "Stop! Thief!" as a furtive youngster named "Gord" (Commoner) rushes past the characters. lf the thief is caught, the grateful merchant can introduce characters to a merchant prince (maybe to suggest they be hired as guards?) or provide them one other favor. If this happens outside the wall, then the introduction could be to a Beggar Prince. 4. OOPS! ALL PIRATES! A drunk foreign sailor--(unarmored veteran AC:10)--is loudly trying to pick a fight with three local commoners, who are clearly no match for the lout. If the characters intervene, the grateful locals become a reliable source of information about Port Nyanzaru, but the sailor and his shipmates ambush the characters elsewhere in the city later on. First off, make the sailors pirates. All the pirate ships in the book are manned by Chultans, but change that. Make this the Calishite crew of the Emerald Eye in town to get supplies. Second-mate Bestir is the lout. This creates a beef between the party and a particular pirate crew. The locals are a trio of college boys out carousing (Derise, Sanka, & Junior). Junior had too much and threw up—right on Voltan's belly. Voltan flew into a racist rage, which is going on when the party happens upon them. These guys are educated about lore, technology, history, languages, as well as current political events. 5. BEGGAR PROPHECY A beggar (Commoner) grabs a character by the arm and shouts, "The ancient one beneath the Forbidden City gives birth to a terrible new god! The snake-men know! They know!" Then he stumbles away into the crowd. Passersby tell the adventurers to ignore the beggar and that his predictions are wrong most of the time. We'll call him Teiresias. 6. UNDEAD SIEGE Alarm horns declare that undead are attacking Malar's Throat. Mercenaries keep the monsters out ofthe city proper, but people are trapped in the temple of Tymora and besieged by 2d6 zombies and 2d6 skeletons led by a ghoul. If the characters defeat the undead, the temple rewards them with 5 gallons of tej and a potion of healing (2d4+2). How this would work if the characters are not in or near Malar's Throat is unclear. Maybe just opt for another parrot poop if they're not. 7. YUAN-TI ATTACK Shouts of "Look out!" give a character a briefwarning as a water barrel, building stone, or other heavy weight crashes down. The character must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or be struck, taking 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage. Any character who succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check spots a disguised yuan-ti pureblood slinking away from the scene. The players would have no idea what a yuan-ti is, let alone one in disguise, but say that they thought the man had reptilian eyes for a moment. 8. BEG TO BET A tabaxi minstrel, Ball of Wax | Snagglepus, asks one of the characters for a gold piece for her to bet, promising to pay it back. If the character agrees, the Ball makes good on her promise the next day, returning a pouch containing 10 gp. 9. PICKPOCKET A thief (spy) named Panya tries to pick the pocket of one of the characters (+4 sleight of hand vs passive perception). 10. VOLO The characters run into Volothamp "Volo" Geddarm | Mel Brooks' King Louie who is delivering a copy of his new book to one of the city's merchant princes. There is a 50 percent chance that Volo is drunk. A copy of his guide is 50gp. 11-20. MEET A SIDE QUEST NPC See above section.
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This Article has 5 Sections
*Note: I will not include a "basis" (few words that remind me how to play a character) for the guides until the "How to Role Play the Guides" section to conserve space. MICAH'S PRONUNCIATIONS (not definitive) Aazon - AY-AY-ZON Azaka Stormfang - ah-ZAH-kah Bwayes O'tamu - BWAYZ oh-TAH-moo couatl - ko-OTT'h Eku - EE-koo Faroul - fah-ROOL Fort Beluarian - bell-oo-AIR-ee-an Gondolo - GON-doh-loh Kupalue - koo-pah-LOO-ay Musharib - moo-shah-REEB Port Nyanzaru - NIE-an-ZAH-roo Qawasha - kah-WASH-ah Ras Nsi - RAZ nuh-SEE River Tiryki - tear-YEE-key (alt: "teriyaki") Saja N’baza - SAWJ-ah nuh-BAH-zah Salida - sah-LEE-dah Shago - SHAW-go Zhentarim - ze-HENT-ah-rim 1. Why Guides?
Tomb of Annihilation is supposed to be this super-deadly quest, right? So why include guides at all? It's a fair question.
Honestly, you might not want to use them at all. If your group would really enjoy wandering through hex-after-hex of random encounters in the jungle, that may be just the way to approach the game: don't let the players ever find a guide. However, most people are going to want to have guides to help the party. Guides help the party in 3 main ways:
The book doesn't give us much information about how these guides vary in these matters, so DMs have to infer it or figure it out themselves. This is a drag because there are 12 guides listed in the book. In my guide breakdowns below, I'll include my note about how each of these things are handled by them. Fortunately, your players will only choose one or two guides at a time, probably, so you don't need to study the other ones very carefully. Learn how to run them for their meeting, but all the minutia can wait until the players have chosen. Then, afterward, study up on that particular guide's information. Easy! 2. Useful and Useless Guides
The spectrum of guides, from the most useful to the least is wide. Every DM will have to decide for themselves how much they're willing to sabotage the journey into the wild.
MOST USEFUL
Guides 1 - 5 are safe choices; the rest are debatable. I was willing to let my players choose any in my campaign, but I can see why someone wouldn't . 3. Registered and Unregistered Guides
Most of the guides are registered with Jobal, but there are a few who are not. Guides who are unregistered face Jobal's punishments if caught working illegitimately--what I call his "BBB" program (I swear to God I came up with this before Joe Biden's agenda!). BBB stands for beaten, blinded, and beheaded.
Apparently he believes in a 3-strikes-your-out program. All of the guides found inside the walls at Port Nyanzaru are registered guides--it's where Jobal can keep an eye on everyone. That's Azaka Stormfang, Eku, Faroul & Gondolo, Hew Hackinstone, Musharib, and Salida. River & Flask are unregistered guides in Port Nyanzaru, but can only be found outside the walls in Malar's Throat or Tiryki Anchorage. They're the Han Solo guides--useful outlaws. The rest of the guides--Shago and Qawasha & Kupalue—are unregistered, so they pick up work out of Fort Beluarian [4515]. The book implies that Jobal only punishes the guides for working black-market, not the clients. But that's up to you. 4. Paths to the Tomb
Most of the guides have goals that will point the players, more or less, towards Omu and the Tomb of Annihilation. Reddit user /u/Aghris did a great little flow-chart that shows how the guides (and a few other NPCs) get them there. Be sure to go thank him!
I've recreated it here:
Aghris's flowchart is handy for conceptualizing paths to Omu. With it, he's laid out all the connections (I think) to all the locations that these NPCs have in the book.
From this, we can extrapolate a simpler geographical map that shows us how the guides who have agendas in the jungle will get the group closer to their goal. Notice that some of the guides are not represented on the map. They--Salida and Shago--have no avenues to Omu for the players. 5. How to Role Play the Guides
Again, don't try to pin down how to run all of the guides. Just focus on the one(s) that the players hire.
The ToA book strangely put the information you need for the guides in two places in the book--for inconvenience's sake, I suppose. Pages 33-35 give us their biographical information, but then the information about their rates and negotiations are way in the handouts back on pages 244-248. These latter, the "handouts" (bound in a $50 book without perforation, but whatever), should only be handed out if the players have Jobal's assistant Aazon | Inigo Montoya introducing them to guides. Remember, the book gets the list wrong of the handouts that go with him. They're 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9, But again, I would role play this information and not use hand-outs at all. Also, my players immediately co-opted the pronunciation of his name, so it's shouted a la Keagan-Michael Key's Substitute Teacher bit, "A-A-ZON!" It's a hoot, so go with it if you like it Recall that there are bulletin boards with the ads for the guides at the The Thundering Lizard, Naya's House of Repose, and the Habormaster's Office,. Here are my graphics for those. ![]() ![]() ![]()
The guides below are organized as they were above: in order of usefulness.
EKU | Glinda the Good Witch
REGISTERED - Found at Naya's House of Repose or through the Harbormaster
The best guide and your party can't have her. EKU HAS A LISP. SHE CAN NOT LIE. Eku is the most useful of all the guides. By a lot. She's a couatl in disguise, so she's super-powerful AND she knows exactly where to go! (Check out the couatl stat-block). But in all my years, I've never seen a single party that had 100% good-aligned characters in it. Someone always wants to be Chaotic Neutral, so the party is screwed. She will only work for parties that have ALL good characters in it. The couatl are ancient, primordial beings--demigods, sort of. They are from Ouroboros the World Serpent, who was contemporary with Dendar the Night Serpent and Ubtao in the first wars that shaped reality and the planes of existence. Wild stuff. The further into Tomb of Annihilation the group gets, the more of this deep, Gygaxian lore gets scraped up. Expect to see a lot of it. But let's imagine an all-good party played this game. A paladin group or something. Eku will openly use psionic telepathy as soon as she meets the players to detect their thoughts and alignments. If any of the group members are evil or neutral, she politely refuses to be their guide. But if they're all good, she'll take them on and fast-track them through Chult. Because she knows the way to the end from the outset, if the team were ready to enter the Tomb at session 1, she'd direct them right to it. If the party is starting at level 10 or so, you might consider this. Otherwise, she will send them on the Yellow Brick Road to meet OZ in order to gain the experience they need to survive it. Eku is part of a motif in the game that alludes to The Wizard of Oz. She is its Glinda the Good Witch of the North. Azaka Stormfang is its Cowardly Lion. Bwaves is the mindless Scarecrow found amongst the stalks (vegepygmies). VORN is the Tinman, frozen in the forest. The flying monkeys are flying monkeys. Nanny Pu'pu is the green hag Wicked Witch of the West in Mbala. Saja N'baza is the great and powerful OZ. The Wreck of the Star Goddess is OZ's air-balloon, blown off course. Use this how you like, but it's interesting to me that the Baum novels were about colonialism and the conquering of the American west (he was super-racist against Native Americans). Doing a little study about the OZ books and Baum might inform your setting in interesting ways. SAFETY Very smart (18) and full of useful magic (see couatl stat block). Will keep characters out of harm's way, can do greater restoration if things go very wrong, and does magic damage with her attacks. Ideal. DIRECTION Unless the players have some other idea of where to go, Eku will recommend going to meet Saja N'baza at Orolunga [2133]. On the way there, she'll guide them to VORN [2928] and then M'bala [2733] to take care of Nanny Pu'pu. This would be a tough fight, but if the characters are up to about 3rd level or so, and they have Eku on their side, it shouldn't be fatal. Saja N'baza can tell them whatever you want them to know. Then, it's just a matter of grinding around the jungle to level up. Eku gets along well with the Arakokra at Kir Sabal [4638], so the team could head there. and she's familiar with nearby Nangalore [4341] (where she gathers flowers sometimes), so she could help navigate that bad trip of a place. It's safe to assume that Eku has a working familiarity with every location on the map; treat it that way. I mean, if the players could have her as a guide. Which they will not. INFORMATION The only limit to what Eku knows has to do with what she's willing to tell. I assume she even knows about Acererak, the Sewn Sisters, and the Atropol. The book doesn't say so, but I'd play it this way. You know. Assuming a party was all good. AZAKA STORMFANG | Okoyeh from Black Panther
REGISTERED - Found at Thundering Lizard or through the Harbormaster
Probably the best guide for most groups. Azaka Stormfang is hard and capable. She doesn't speak much, but when she does, she's direct and doesn't coddle feelings. She's a weretiger, so her invulnerability to most things makes her feel justifiably superior to most people. She is generally negative about foreigners, but has worked with them enough to know they are privileged and ignorant of the evils their people cause. She shrugs, assuming The big surprise (anagnorisis) is that, once the team gets to Firefinger [4230], she breaks out in a sweat. She's terrified of heights (weretigers are not immune to falling damage). Don't reveal that she's a weretiger until they're close to Firefinger. I had the team deal with an 80-foot waterfall in the River Tiryki a day before they got to it to reveal how bad she was with heights. When creatures "hit" her in fights, roll for what damage they should have delivered, but assure the players that she seems fine. They'll love her. She was turned to a weretiger years ago by her lover, Bwaves O'tamu | Macbeth, who is Wakanga's cousin. The three of them were best friends as teens, but the attack changed everything--and Bwaves became a recluse in the jungles. Azaka now seeks a "family heirloom" that the pterafolk at Firefinger have. This is really the Mask of the Beast, which I altered to also prevent lycanthropes from turning on their moon cycles. Azaka is part of a motif in the game that alludes to The Wizard of Oz. She is its Cowardly Lion. SAFETY Super-tough and good in a fight (see weretiger stat block). Will inform adventurers of all the common risks in the jungle before leaving and how to buy the supplies to mitigate them. DIRECTION Can be counted on to keep the team from getting lost and from wandering into greater undead territory. She'll push for them to go to Firefinger [4230] to get the Mask of the Beast, but also knows how to get to Saja N'baza at Orolunga [2133] and really anywhere in the north half of the jungle. INFORMATION Of all the guides, Azaka is the most 'Chultan' (ethnically Tabaxi or Eshowe). She has a middle class familiarity with the political history of the region and an adult's mastery of the lore and traditions of the land. She knows who Ubtao is and the Barae and why Ras Nsi was exiled (attempted genocide against the Eshowe)—and that the undead come from him. She heard bedtime stories as a child about Nanny Pu'pu and hags, heard fables about the trickster gods, and thinks of ch'winga as pests the way some people think about cats (grudgingly admitting fondness for them if pressed). RIVER MIST & FLASK OF WINE | Jay and Silent Bob
UNREGISTERED - Found in Malar's Throat or Tikyri Anchorage
Fun outlaw guides like Han Solo and Chewbacca...or Jay & Silent Bob? — but cats! River Mist is the leader of the brother-and-sister tabaxi guides. She is the Han Solo of the pair. The book says she wears an eyepatch because she had an accident as a child with a sling. Cooler is to make it from her second time being caught as an unregistered guide. One more time and she's beheaded! She talks like Henrietta Pussycat from Mr. Rogers: 95% meows. But instead of mewling, she's tough--like Han. Flask is the strong silent partner. He repeats the final words that River says sometimes, but mostly keeps quiet. He talks with a lisp, like Sylvester the Cat: "THUFFERING THUCKOTASH!" Play up on cat tropes as hard as you can. Have them go from aloof to suddenly cuddly. Always STARVING to death! Unable to fight off an instinct to hunt when a bird is nearby. Obsessed with small treasures--especially ones up on high shelves. And randomly spastically running around the camp at night. They also approach fights like they're stalking prey and then pounce. Speaking of which, River and Flask fight well enough, but they are especially handy for their speed. Tabaxi hunters can move double speed every other turn, effectively. This means they can use their turn to dash 120 feet if need be, or climb 40! A note on tabaxi: there are two groups of people on Chult called "tabaxi." 100% of the time you see the word in the Tomb of Annihilation book, it will be referring to the cat people like River and Flask. However, as you do research and dig into peripheral materials about this region, you'll find human people called Tabaxi as well. You'll notice that usually, these ones have a capital-T, but not always. All of this came from some tangled nonsense in the lore as the D&D editions came out. Here's how WotC wants us to understand this dichotomy and the lore now. Cat people-tabaxi (what I call the tabaxi race) are from a faux-Mexican land west of Faerun and Chult. They were enslaved and brought to Chult hundreds of years ago. They are lower-case Tabaxi. The native humans of Chult form three main tribes, one of which were called capital-T Tabaxi after the cat-people who were brought there as slaves (what I call ethnic Tabaxi). The other two tribes are the genocided Eshow and turned-to-lobster-men Aldani. SAFETY Flask and River aren't really powerful, but they are pretty effective in a fight with their multi-attack (see tabaxi hunter stat block). Their speed and stealh scores are what make them most interesting--they're like ninjas! DIRECTION Won't get lost in the jungle, but they only know how to lead characters to places near the Tiryki River like the deadly-tall tower Firefinger [4230] and the grung maze-village Drungunglung [3833]. They are superstitious and credulous, so they are all-in on the rumors they've heard about the voodoo priestess in Mbala [2733] who can still raise the dead, despite the death curse. Anything south of the Tiryki River, though, they'll just guess about. INFORMATION River and Flask aren't much on accurate lore. They're too fun for that. They like the pop-culture version of that sort of information--conspiracy theories, false rumors, etc. They DO work for the Zhentarim, but are both good-aligned. They are unwitting servants of the evil fraternity. The Zhents have an interest in the famous adventurer Artus Cimber | Indiana Jones, and because he's an international celebrity. The sourcebook says they'll tell the Zhents about what they learn about the guy, but I'd make this more of a bragging "I can't wait to get back to Port Nyanzaru and tell Kamari the Fat that he was right about Artus being in town!" They spend their time babbling about how they've heard that frost giants are in the jungle and that Artus is going to teleport a city out of another dimension. Note: I would not include Artus Cimber and the Frost Giants in the actual adventure at all. Very non-Chulty content, injected into it for fan service to some novels and a previous official campaign. Up to you, though. Faroul & Gondolo | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
REGISTERED - Found in Naya's House of Repose or through the Harbormaster
An Incompetent Pair with Delusions of Eloquence Rosencratz and Guildenstern in their titular work, Schlubb and Klump from Sin City, Laurel and Hardy, and Owl from Winnie the Pooh are all pretenders to intellectualism. They try to hide their stupidity in a bramble of 10-cent words and purple prosody. Faroul and Gondolo are the same. You could play this subtly so your players fall in for them like Pinocchio did to the cat Honest John and Gideon the Fox. Or, you could play it hard and obvious like Laurel and Hardy who never duped a single straight-man. If your players go wandering into the jungle with only these idiots as their source of wisdom, you'll likely see a TPK before they get a week in though. Something to consider. They could meet each other in the dinosaur race (the duo ride Zongo the farting Triceratops) and play it subtle. Let these be the first guides the team meets. They can be the ones who warn the team that they'll need to hire good guides--like them. The group hires them and then have someone else point out that they're terrible the moment they're ready to head out. Make them make an educated choice. The two men are also desperate gamblers, hounded by Kamari the Fat for their debts. They're like Huck Finn's Duke and Dauphin, always eyeing a new scam and a quick opportunity to make it rich. Play Faroul (the human Spanish Moore type) like Falstaff: full of lies about his bygone glory days. Play Gondolo like the Walrus from Alice in Wonderland: babbling nonsense philosophies to hypnotize prey. SAFETY Faroul and Gondolo each have multiattack and keen hearing and sight (see scout stat block). They also have a full-grown triceratops, which can do up to 74HP of damage per turn, no matter HOW flatulent it may be (see triceratops stat block). Unfortunately, the pair are stupid and disloyal and craven. So, the decision between them being in harm's way vs any player is not up for debate--they'll save their own skins. DIRECTION These are anti-guides. They have zero knowledge about the geography of Chult, about jungle terrain, or how to navigate places generally. They are no help to the group in this department. The guiding they do is to Needle's Bones [4837] only. Unless the team can drive them to a character redemption arc, they'll treat finding her dragon horde as their priority. The map they have to that location is the one bit of direction-sense they have. INFORMATION They know nothing and talk a lot. Assume that they've overheard conversations at the track about every bit of lore or rumor that's in the adventure, but get it very, very wrong since they just make everything up on the fly. Make their claims wrong and absurd. Keep a list of sesquipedalian words on your DM screen. Shago | Annie
UNREGISTERED - Found through the Harbormaster or at Fort Beluarian
Charmingly Positive for an Orphan "HE IS VIGO!" shouted Janosz about Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbuster's II. This line is my guiding star for performing Shago. Every sentence is in that sing-song, ultra-enthusiastic, confident tone. It exudes naïveté, which is what I like most about this guide as a character. Shago has a subtext--just like Annie. Annie, when faced with the horrors of child abuse, white slave trade, and abject poverty leaned on handy idioms and singing songs to brighten her day. What makes her so compelling is that she does understand that darkness. It makes her Pollyanna-ness good, not crappy. Shago is the estranged son of Zhanthi—the most powerful of the Merchant Princes. He is her only son, and as such, must have been raised with at least the suggestion that, when things go back to the way they were—once the Amnians are gone, once the need for the Merchant Princes and the Ytepka Society has passed—he, Shago, will be crowned the King of Chult. Zhanthi, though, raised him in the political world before the revolution. He was raised to befriend the colonizers from the Sword Coast. He would have been a young teen when the warriors he admired were ousted and forced to live at Fort Beluarian [4515]. He apparently defied his mother, left the city and his culture, and became a guide for foreigners. He is an unregistered guide, which puts his mother in a political jam. It must be embarrassing, or at least inconvenient, that her only son so flagrantly denies the authority of her peer, Jobal. Shago probably knows the story of how that merchant prince came by his wealth. In the jungles, he's probably heard that he betrayed his party and took the loot for himself. Ironic, then, that Shago lives as a traitor but for doing what he felt was right. Being unregistered puts any party he's with in danger. It would be most interesting to keep his positive bravado up for a long time in the adventure and only peel back this dark reality underneath--his sophisticated understanding of colonialism, corrupting power, and loyalty later. If the party found itself in Kir Sabal [4638], how would Shago react to learning that the Arakokra has been protecting the royal heirs in Princess Mwaxanare and Prince Na? Would he share his wisdom with them? Or will you "break the cutie" and have him flip out, revealing to himself and everyone else that he'd secretly hoped that he'd be crowned after all the whole time? SAFETY Shago is a gladiator so can do up to 60HP of bludgeoning damage per round between his brute double-damage and multi-attacks [see gladiator stat block]. He's a noble heart, so he'll jump right into a fray to protect his allies, especially the weaker ones. He loves fighting undead, in part because they are a blight but also because he does not have to worry about feeling sad for killing beasts. DIRECTION Shago is highly competent at traveling through Chult and will not get lost in any part of it. He has no particular agenda, but is happy to lead groups to anywhere. The book suggests he knows the ways to Firefinger [4230], Kir Sabal [4638], and the Peaks of Flame [3854], but really, he knows where just about everywhere is on the map. INFORMATION Shago has a ton of accurate lore at his fingertips. He knows about regional monsters, dinos, and wildlife. He knows the history of the royal family, the genocide of Eshowe by Ras Nsi and the Tabaxi, and about the Trickster Gods. He knows about Ubtao and the barae. He even knows a little about the nature of hags around Chult. On the other hand, Shago doesn't really care much about the death curse much or have any insights on where to go to figure it out. Musharib | Kuil (the "I have spoken" guy from Mandalorian)
REGISTERED - Found at The Thundering Lizard or through the Harbormaster
Wild-Eyed Zealot who is also Pretty Racist Musharib is not the worst guide; he is the least terrible of the bad guides. He speaks in clipped, gruff sentences. Musharib is openly racist against non-dwarves. He'll talk only to dwarves in the party unless there is no other option. If a non-dwarf interjects, he will glare at them to let them know their input is not wanted—then turn back to the party dwarves. He ignores any following comments from non-dwarves entirely. If a party hires him who are all non-dwarves, he is openly racist to them when they talk. Here's his attitude towards the major playable races along with euphemisms he'll use when referring to them:
Musharib is an albino shield (mountain) dwarf. In Chult they are all albinos--with red rabbit eyes--meant to be like the morlocks from The Time Machine. Chultans are traditionally afraid of them. They are described in earlier TSR texts as inspiring "fear and superstition" in them (you know, because 'primitives' are superstitious.) They had drow-like disadvantages in sunlight in past editions, but that seems to be removed now. SAFETY Musharib is relatively weak in a fight [see albino dwarf spirit warrior stat block]. He is unconcerned for the safety of anyone in the party, even other dwarves. If a character dies, he shrugs; if they get lost or left behind; he shrugs. He's a jerk. He does have some innate spellcasting that has some utility, but overall, pretty crappy guide in terms of keeping the party safe. DIRECTION Musharib will use lies and guile to trick the party into going to going to Hrakhamar [1650] to retrieve Moradin's Gauntlet. When he hears about their quest, Musharib will immediately suggest (correctly, inadvertently) that the source of the Death Curse must be in the most southernmost regions of Chult. He'll convince the party to invest in sea passage around the western coast to expedite their journey there. He'll likely lead them right into being captured by pirates near Jahaka Anchorage [1241]. If they survive that, he'll march them over a volcano to face a dungeon full of deadly firenewts. If he gets the Gauntlet, he'll dismiss the party immediately. Upside: then they're only a short 14-day march through a valley of genocided Eshowe bones patrolled by Firenewts to Omu [2953]. INFORMATION Musharib knows almost nothing about any part of Chult other than Hrakhamar Mine. He blames firenewts for the volcanism that drove his people from the mountains in a diaspora. He knows a bit about Batiri customs and gets along with them okay (but does not like them). If asked about any topic outside of an immediate goal; he ignores it. He is ignorant about others' concerns and does not care. Qawasha & Kapalue ("Weed") | Bob Ross & Groot
UNREGISTERED - Found at Fort Beluarian
Tall Weirdo who talks to his Dog First off, read Adam Lee's story about these two that was published in Dragon+ Magazine. (Part 1, Part 2). It's fascinating. It gives a great sense of Chult from a native's POV, but also curious insights into this pair's motivations. Well-written. It doesn't make these two any less useless, though. They're terrible guides for the party to fall in with. Qawasha actively guides foreigners away from Chultan ruins and toward greater undead territories. He has also in recent years stopped paying Jobal, so he is unregistered. This is inherently dangerous. Qawashe sees resurrection as unnatural, so has no real interest in stopping the death curse. He definitely doesn't want to take foreigners into any as-yet-unpillaged tombs in order to stop it. He resents the "exploration" of foreigners to dig out and take away Chultan artifacts. He's a strange, trippy druid type. He refers to the vegepygmy with him as "Weed" when talking to others, but only communicates to the being through hand signs. Vegepygmies cannot talk, but this one has learned to say the phrase "I am Kapalue," which he must have picked up when the two started interacting. It says this for every context. SAFETY Qawashe is a 4th level druid, so he is pretty effective in combat (see druid stat block). However, he's only interested in ridding the jungles of its undead. Kapalue is a vegepygmy, which are pretty weak at a CR 1/4 (see vegepygmy stat block). Qawasha will try to protect the party from harm generally, guiding them away from dangerous plants, towards good resources, and by fighting off their attackers. But he's also always putting them on the task of killing undead, which is problematic. DIRECTION Qawasha gives only the directions towards greater undead areas, not towards meaningful ruins. He knows the jungles well, though, so he knows how to get most places. If persuaded that the journey would be in the interest of protecting Chult from undead and not the exploitation of its lore, he knows the way. INFORMATION Qawasha knows the lore of Chult well. He is an active follower of Ubtao and knows all about the various ruins throughout the empire. He is happy to educate people about all of its history. Hew Hackinston | Private Pyle
REGISTERED - Found at The Thundering Lizard
Maniac who wants to Fight a Young Red Dragon Hew Hackinstone lost his arm in a dragon attack. He now seeks revenge. He's quite damaged. He won't care that he and the players are outclassed by the monster, he'll trick them into going to Wyrmheart Mine [1753] anyway. This place is pretty cool and gives a great launch point towards Omu [2953] at higher levels, but the dragon part makes it a deal-breaker until then. Play him like Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket after he's snapped. There's no reason the players should choose him, but he makes an interesting encounter at The Thundering Lizard. He can come up and try to hard-sell them repeatedly, in different ways, to hire him. You could incorporate Monty-Python-esque nudge-nudge conspiracy beats in it. Pretty funny. But no. Don't let your players start their jungle quest with a red dragon mission. SAFETY Hew is pretty weak in a fight, despite having advantage on his attacks (see berzerker stat block). The book modifies his berzerker stats down, so he's only doing up to 11HP damage on a hit. He won't go out of his way to protect player characters because he's nuts, not because he's bad. DIRECTION As for general guidance, Hew has no knowledge of greater Chult and is obsessed with getting back to Wyrmheart Mine for revenge. He knows nothing about the jungle or tracking. He has zero interest in the death curse, Acererak, or the Tomb of Annihilation. IF the players kill the dragon for him, though, he will be loyal unto death. He'll even walk right into obvious traps for them. INFORMATION Hew Hackinstone has no knowledge about Chult, its lore, or what's going on in the quest. Salida | Jessie from Toy Story
REGISTERED - Found at The Thundering Lizard, in Naya's House of Repose, or through the Harbormaster
An Evil Yuan-Ti in Disguise TRY TO GET YOUR TEAM TO HIRE SALIDA. MAKE HER A VOLUNTEER IF YOU HAVE TO! Seriously. She's the coolest concept of all the guides. She's an entirely competent guide for 80% of the adventure, then right before they get to Omu, she betrays them! AWESOME. She's sassy and rolls out clever insults all the time. I decided to give her a country twang to make her more disarming. I even changed her token art to be based on Jessie from Toy Story. Isn't she cute! In order to rattle off the clever insults, I spent time one night with the players' character sheets and pre-wrote a bunch so I'd have them ready. Obviously, you will need to do that for YOUR particular group, but here are mine: Stage-Magician Rogue:
Avoid any hint that she is duplicitous or evil. Play her as helpful, fun, and useful until they get all the way to Omu [2953]! Then, she TURNS on them and signals the Yuan-Ti to ambush them! WOO!
She uses as sending stone to communicate with Ras Nsi, but I would avoid letting on about it until the team is very far along with her (if at all). SAFETY Salida is a helpful asset most of the time, though not particularly powerful in a fight (see yuan-ti pureblood stat block). She has multi-attack and will fight alongside the players. She is quite smart, so will help in solving puzzles, etc. Besides the betrayal thing, she's great. DIRECTION Salida will not offer any useful help in finding Omu; it's contrary to her fundamental goals. On the other hand, she won't go out of her way to undermine their plans so as to avoid detection as a spy. She is otherwise, a competent guide who can read maps well and not get lost. INFORMATION Salida doesn't have much insight into the lands of Chult for the players. She is generally flippant about it all, seeing the lore of these people as absurd (she is a member of a cult dedicated to the annihilation of the universe--what would she care about Ubtao or his shrines?). She knows plenty of facts about the region and its wildlife, but she mostly just jokes. |
AuthorMicah Faulkner first started playing D&D back in 1985. He took many years off after high school, but came back in 2016 to find everything new and changed. Now he plays with his wife, son, and sisters every couple weeks. Archives
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IN DEVELOPMENT:
The Playa's Handbook (working title) A supplement for your campaigns with mechanics for romance! Fall in love! Get sticky! Stay tuned! |