The Dungeon Master's Diary: The Terrors of the Tomb of Annihilation

The Tomb of Improvisation

Let the records state that improv was never meant to be the order of the day for our daringly deluded dungeoneering delegation. There was a plan. Heck, there was even a plan within a plan. And within that plan another plan. And diabolically dauntingly dangerously delightfully death-inducing designs wrapped around all of it. Ah, yes, such grand designs. And I, as the ever-venerable Dungeon Master, was overly eager to watch as my masterplan unfolded before my unsuspecting group of avid D&D gamers. It was, modesty aside, a genius mindfuck of an adventure that I had carefully laid out.

Setup done, now for Pizzas!

The basic premise was this: With a full team of 8 players of which we had two strapping new fellas join our D&D fraternity, I arranged for 2 parties comprising 4 players each, split between veterans & noobs alike. The 2 parties would be competing through the final stage of our Tomb of Annihilation campaign to defeat the elusive demi-lich Accerak and end the death curse plaguing the lands of Chult. And, with real tangible prizes up for grabs, my inner-zealot was positively zooming with anticipation in watching the two teams butcher each other for the sake of glory and complimentary tickets to Cape Town Comic Con.

But alas. It was not to be. Life. Three of veterans were unable to attend. Which left me with a party of 5 and a now defunct dungeon design. But, as I had some new players joining, I still wanted to ensure they had the D&D experience that would be worth their time so then...improv.

And so it begins...

Out with the old and in with the new (you can see some of the OG dungeon designs in the photo dump at the bottom of this post).

New plan: No competing. Co-op dungeon crawl through a linear dungeon to defeat the big bad. Fairly straight-forward. Keep it simple because well, it's 5PM on Friday and my players were set to arrive at 7. And I needed to pick up Pizzas...and lay out the gaming tables and logistics...Pressure....it's where I thrive. Let's throw in a McGuffin - Yeah, bring back Accererak's favorite Stone Juggernaut a quarter of the way in, some ghost-pepper chips & Mexican candies too. Joking? Not at all! Here's how it went down:

Once we got the pleasantries and pizzas and character-selection, it was down to business as the party traversed through the treacherous dungeon in the hope of defeating the demi-lich. No starting treasure items this time. Even with the new players, I wanted to ensure that there was a blood bath upfront. No dilly-dallying and analysis paralysis. Get to it before it gets to you! The Ranger was first up and the first to encounter 2 monsters in the form of a Chultan Skeleton with a rusty sword and a Zombie. The Ranger was also the first to brave the Mexican candies to prompt a free re-roll. Then later in the game attempted the ghost-pepper Big Korn Bites which was a brave attempt...a very brave attempt.

Decisions, decisions...

I don't think Mexican cuisine sits well with the bearer of the Ring of Winter who seemed rather surly after that. Following was the pitiful Saurial Paladin who kept rolling dismal ones on his Holy Avenger which made us doubt his commitment to his faith. The Druid fared no better though and so too the Bard. With low dice rolls dominating the start game, my devious victory was all but guaranteed. The Wizard came in flying (literally) with some powerful chromatic orb high rolls and acid splashes laying waste to many monsters that were filling the corridors. With the party's motivation renewed and back on track they trudged on heartily...just as I dropped the Stone Juggernaut bombshell right behind them.

The rig was straightforward: The Juggernaut cannot be attacked. If it is on the same tile as you, you die. If you die, you're out of the game and no healing surges can bring you back. There were some caveats - attacking Accererak will disturb or break his psychic hold on the Juggernaut and thereby slow it down or eventually cause it to act on it's own will. If any hero reached the hollow tree tile which is the source of the runic magics powering the steam rolling engine, you could destroy the tree and that would stall the Juggernaut completely. Or you could also just kill the lich and that would be that. Game over. You win.

The Dungeon Master just dropped the Juggernaut

The party met with some hilarity along the way. A field of psychedelic mushrooms and a zombie gorilla who just wanted to chill out and listen to Bob Marley without any noise made for some fun moments. Then futile attempts to stall the Juggernaut and some analysis paralysis which prompted me to take action with improv again and force the game forward by bringing the lich closer to the fight. A Stone Gargoyle made for another mini-boss fight.

There was no escaping the Juggernaut

There were some tense moments that would have seen the Ranger meet a rather unfortunate and inevitable end but some clever strategy from the team and many, many ghost pepper chip consumptions later, they saved said Ranger and entered into the final stages of the game to battle Acererak. Eventually though, after much discussion and debate, the party managed to defeat the lich and that was that.

Each Hero had their moment to shine though from the Bard's trap-hopping to the Paladin's eventual rolls of glory and powerful attacks to the Druid's panther wild-shaping and multiple summoning (including an adorable pet raptor - yes, seriously). Even the Ranger was able to deal some heavy damage with his Ring of Winter attacks & dual at-wills and the ever-reliable Wizard with some powerful daily powers. There were some casualties though that were brough back with surges but luckily, no permanent fatalities. 

As a big surprise, the final treasure boxes contained the free Comic Con Cape Town tickets which were awarded to 4 lucky heroes. 

All in all, a fun night of dungeon crawling, despite my last minute futile attempt & haste in construction. But now the curtains have drawn on the Tomb of Annihilation and the Jungles & lands of Chult are now free of the death curse.

Acererak - The Undead Lich

Next month I'm hoping for a full party of players as I take them deep into Undermountain, home of the mysterious Mad Mage Hallaster Blackcloak. See you all there!

Some pics of the previously-planned Dungeon layout: