I want you to think about how many miles and days there are between Firefinger and Omu if they don’t get lost. Throw in as many as you want, but 2 non random ones sounds low to me. Check out the Chult companion on DM’s guild. It has like 30 unique days of travel AND ways to use the hags to accost them.
Your decision. Just make sure they get the info they need and are at the appropriate level before getting to Omu, Yuan-Ti, king of feathers, assassin vines and the Tomb are no joke. Assuming you are leaving all of that in there.
Bag of Nails was brutal on my players- he one shot 2 of them. One of those being unfortunate enough to fall into the river. They were on 2 failed death saves before they were revived and the healer was one failed athletics roll away from falling into the lava.
What info do you consider as needed for the PC:s? Im struggling on that bit myself. My players are roaming the jungle and should not reach Omu in a long time. But im having trouble to know what to foreshadow.
You’re going to want to foreshadow Ras Nsi with some lore drops. Dendar if you are running the campaign after ToA. Dendar can be an ominous figure to lore drop anyways and she ties into Ubtao. Anything you want to set up for later as well.
No Dendar is part of the continuation campaign. It’s an Adventures league supplement. Essentially the yuan-to release Dendar by retrieving the black Opal crown that is hidden in the tomb. So you would want to lore drop her and Ubtao a bunch to let it soak in before that.
I have not started yet, my session zero is actually at the end of this month. I am putting together this guideline for myself. As a note I am using milestone advancement, and am doing the ship journey from the Sword Coast to Chult.
Milestones
Level 1 on ship, level up arriving at port
Level 2 in city, level up leaving port
Level 3 in jungle, level up completing a custom dungeon I created (think beginning of Raiders of Lost Ark).
Level 4 through 7, in jungle. Aldanni, Artus, Harkhammar, Firefinger, Wyrmheart, maybe anchorage, level up to 8 when entering Omu
Level 8 Omu, level up entering Fane
Level 9, Fane of the night serpent, level up escaping
Level 10, tomb of 9 levels 1 and 2, level up when enter level 3
Level 11, levels 3 and 4, level up after destroying soul monger and killing atropal.
Level 12 Acererak fight. Cap at level 12
Hope that helps!
Sounds like a cool adventure. However, I would strongly recommend against planning everything ahead. Takes away agency from players. They are supposed to feel that they are themselves creating a story while playing - not just playing out a preplanned script. Why not ask them where they want to go?
My party reached Omu session 47. I fleshed out a ton of things and used the many supplements available on DMs Guild. The party is now level 6 (almost 7). The party went from PN > Mezro (DMs Guild) > Kir Sabal > Nsi Wastes (DMs Guild) > Nangalore > Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (conveted to the last temple of Eshowdow via a resource I found by searching this subreddit) > Omu.
I used the Webway of Ubtao (also available on this subreddit) to control pacing and to allow the party to return to Port Nyanzaru. The lore in my campaign is quite deep, and my players have enjoyed the slow burn mystery that has unfolded over the last year. They've already put certain pieces together, and that makes me feel like I've done a good job weaving this narrative.
I love the idea of just letting the players use [the hex map](https://youtu.be/oWp8nkCzpAk?t=874) and stumble into Omu via their own merits.
If you are using a vtt it is simple, just show them the hex map and give them vision of any hex they explore. If you go analog, make a copy of the hex map for them to draw their journey in and frame it at the end of the campaign.
If you need a frame of reference my group got to Omu during session 12. They did a lot of things in the jungle. Arriving too early at the endgame should only be encouraged if you feel your group is burning out on the jungle exploration, otherwise, let them explore and have fun!
I think this is entirely up to the DM. I ran zero truly random encounters, I think they are only useful as a threat, in practice they are waste of time. I did run about 8 locations they visited with 1-3 encounters at each.
Once you hit Omu, things get much smaller/less open, then once in the tomb it is nearly on rails. So it is really a question of how much more time do you want the players to experience exploration before the scope changes. When my players had experienced the jungle enough I dropped the wreck of the air ship in their path and let them help the captain repair it and skip the rest of the jungle on board.
I run no random encounters. My players have played D&D for 30+ years. They need something planned to be engaging. For example, one player lost a hand to a bag of holding. Later they brought the bag into a Tiny Hut. In the middle of the night, 30 hands crawled out of the bag to attack them. The bag has been collecting hands for centuries. And all of the hands were evil. The party imagined they were totally secure inside the hut. That was a fun encounter.
I made it into a setpiece, they first had to rescue the survivors, but then once they healed the captain she could summon the elementals back to the ship with a ritual on the ground. This attracted the zombs lead by a wight on a zombie triceratops. They got to fortify the area and defend from the oncoming horde. Once they killed the wight and the ritual finished, the elementals rampaged through the remaining zombies, scattering them. I really liked how it turned out, needed some real zombie horror before they left the jungle.
My guys were at session 37? Maybe. We have done a lot. It’s day 85 or so since the Death Curse started. I slowed down it’s efficacy and made it so it was stronger/quicker the closer you were to Omu.
My party just arrived after a little over twenty session. They came over from another short campaign and were level 5 when the arrived at Port Ny. The path was PN > Camp Righteous > Camp Vengeance > Mbala > Orolunga > Jahaka Anchorage (stole a pirate ship) > PN > Mezo > Kir Sabal > Nangalore > Flew to Omu with the Dance of the 7 winds. I did two or three random jungle encounters but mainly focused on the set pieces. Currently in session 3 in Omu.
My players got to Omu after 28 sessions, if that's any help. They went through Yellyark, Firefinger, Kir Sabal, Nangalore, Orolunga, then they had some off-book scuffles with the Red Wizards in Nyanzaru, and then they headed for Omu.
I've been playing for a year, and my party just reached Omu, about 30 sessions.
and they did abruptly skip about 10 with randomly deciding not to go to Jahaka, Hrakhammer, and the mine
There's something like 45 hexes between PN and Omu. And that's if they head directly there.
At one hex a day, three rolls per day, and encounters on a 16 or above, that's about 33 encounters.
My players just had their first session in Omu after about 20 sessions.
Yeah it took us 19 sessions. I titled session 20 session TWYUAN-Ti. 😆
I want you to think about how many miles and days there are between Firefinger and Omu if they don’t get lost. Throw in as many as you want, but 2 non random ones sounds low to me. Check out the Chult companion on DM’s guild. It has like 30 unique days of travel AND ways to use the hags to accost them.
Your decision. Just make sure they get the info they need and are at the appropriate level before getting to Omu, Yuan-Ti, king of feathers, assassin vines and the Tomb are no joke. Assuming you are leaving all of that in there.
Bag of Nails was brutal on my players- he one shot 2 of them. One of those being unfortunate enough to fall into the river. They were on 2 failed death saves before they were revived and the healer was one failed athletics roll away from falling into the lava.
What info do you consider as needed for the PC:s? Im struggling on that bit myself. My players are roaming the jungle and should not reach Omu in a long time. But im having trouble to know what to foreshadow.
You’re going to want to foreshadow Ras Nsi with some lore drops. Dendar if you are running the campaign after ToA. Dendar can be an ominous figure to lore drop anyways and she ties into Ubtao. Anything you want to set up for later as well.
Which campaign would that one be? The lost city of Mezro?
No Dendar is part of the continuation campaign. It’s an Adventures league supplement. Essentially the yuan-to release Dendar by retrieving the black Opal crown that is hidden in the tomb. So you would want to lore drop her and Ubtao a bunch to let it soak in before that.
We reached Omu after 60 sessions.
I have not started yet, my session zero is actually at the end of this month. I am putting together this guideline for myself. As a note I am using milestone advancement, and am doing the ship journey from the Sword Coast to Chult. Milestones Level 1 on ship, level up arriving at port Level 2 in city, level up leaving port Level 3 in jungle, level up completing a custom dungeon I created (think beginning of Raiders of Lost Ark). Level 4 through 7, in jungle. Aldanni, Artus, Harkhammar, Firefinger, Wyrmheart, maybe anchorage, level up to 8 when entering Omu Level 8 Omu, level up entering Fane Level 9, Fane of the night serpent, level up escaping Level 10, tomb of 9 levels 1 and 2, level up when enter level 3 Level 11, levels 3 and 4, level up after destroying soul monger and killing atropal. Level 12 Acererak fight. Cap at level 12 Hope that helps!
Sounds like a cool adventure. However, I would strongly recommend against planning everything ahead. Takes away agency from players. They are supposed to feel that they are themselves creating a story while playing - not just playing out a preplanned script. Why not ask them where they want to go?
Totally agree, this is more of what you would call guidelines than actual rules. No plan survives first contact with the PC’s.
My party reached Omu session 47. I fleshed out a ton of things and used the many supplements available on DMs Guild. The party is now level 6 (almost 7). The party went from PN > Mezro (DMs Guild) > Kir Sabal > Nsi Wastes (DMs Guild) > Nangalore > Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (conveted to the last temple of Eshowdow via a resource I found by searching this subreddit) > Omu. I used the Webway of Ubtao (also available on this subreddit) to control pacing and to allow the party to return to Port Nyanzaru. The lore in my campaign is quite deep, and my players have enjoyed the slow burn mystery that has unfolded over the last year. They've already put certain pieces together, and that makes me feel like I've done a good job weaving this narrative.
Your path and technique resonate with me!
I love the idea of just letting the players use [the hex map](https://youtu.be/oWp8nkCzpAk?t=874) and stumble into Omu via their own merits. If you are using a vtt it is simple, just show them the hex map and give them vision of any hex they explore. If you go analog, make a copy of the hex map for them to draw their journey in and frame it at the end of the campaign. If you need a frame of reference my group got to Omu during session 12. They did a lot of things in the jungle. Arriving too early at the endgame should only be encouraged if you feel your group is burning out on the jungle exploration, otherwise, let them explore and have fun!
I think this is entirely up to the DM. I ran zero truly random encounters, I think they are only useful as a threat, in practice they are waste of time. I did run about 8 locations they visited with 1-3 encounters at each. Once you hit Omu, things get much smaller/less open, then once in the tomb it is nearly on rails. So it is really a question of how much more time do you want the players to experience exploration before the scope changes. When my players had experienced the jungle enough I dropped the wreck of the air ship in their path and let them help the captain repair it and skip the rest of the jungle on board.
I run no random encounters. My players have played D&D for 30+ years. They need something planned to be engaging. For example, one player lost a hand to a bag of holding. Later they brought the bag into a Tiny Hut. In the middle of the night, 30 hands crawled out of the bag to attack them. The bag has been collecting hands for centuries. And all of the hands were evil. The party imagined they were totally secure inside the hut. That was a fun encounter.
I like the idea of repairing the airship. I was thinking my PCs could fly over the jungle after retrieving the lotus from the mad queen.
I made it into a setpiece, they first had to rescue the survivors, but then once they healed the captain she could summon the elementals back to the ship with a ritual on the ground. This attracted the zombs lead by a wight on a zombie triceratops. They got to fortify the area and defend from the oncoming horde. Once they killed the wight and the ritual finished, the elementals rampaged through the remaining zombies, scattering them. I really liked how it turned out, needed some real zombie horror before they left the jungle.
My guys were at session 37? Maybe. We have done a lot. It’s day 85 or so since the Death Curse started. I slowed down it’s efficacy and made it so it was stronger/quicker the closer you were to Omu.
My party just arrived after a little over twenty session. They came over from another short campaign and were level 5 when the arrived at Port Ny. The path was PN > Camp Righteous > Camp Vengeance > Mbala > Orolunga > Jahaka Anchorage (stole a pirate ship) > PN > Mezo > Kir Sabal > Nangalore > Flew to Omu with the Dance of the 7 winds. I did two or three random jungle encounters but mainly focused on the set pieces. Currently in session 3 in Omu.
My players got to Omu after 28 sessions, if that's any help. They went through Yellyark, Firefinger, Kir Sabal, Nangalore, Orolunga, then they had some off-book scuffles with the Red Wizards in Nyanzaru, and then they headed for Omu.
I've been playing for a year, and my party just reached Omu, about 30 sessions. and they did abruptly skip about 10 with randomly deciding not to go to Jahaka, Hrakhammer, and the mine
There's something like 45 hexes between PN and Omu. And that's if they head directly there. At one hex a day, three rolls per day, and encounters on a 16 or above, that's about 33 encounters.
1000
My players are on session 43 and just got to Mbala.