Now that my Empire of the Ghouls game has finished, we’re returning to the Forgotten Realms for Tomb of Annihilation, a campaign I’ve been keen to run for some time. I’ll be posting write ups on this blog after each session – hopefully they will prove useful to others who are running the adventure.
We kicked off the campaign on Saturday night with Session 0 to create connections between the characters. I’d sent them a campaign brief ahead of the session containing key information about Chult so they could build suitable characters. Sly Flourish’s post on his Session 0 was really helpful in pulling this together.
Introducing the Characters
As always, it’s an interesting group of PCs. All are members of the Society of Stalwart Adventurers in Suzail, Cormyr.
Certes the Elder is a 66 year old human wizard and sage who had to leave his library after discovering a dangerous secret that he must protect at all costs
Eysleigh Huntcrown is a human druid who grew tired of the political scheming on his family and went to live in the King’s Forest. He is devoted to protecting plants and nature.
Giddy “Nanna” Gnomes is a rock gnome rogue and archeologist who has had a underwhelming career as a tomb raider. She is looking for her mentor who disappeared many decades ago.
Rhamash of the Monastery of the Resplendent Dragon is a kobold monk and anthropologist who was brought up by dragonborn, and is the first kobold to be accepted by the aarakocra of the Stormhorns.
Tharhul is a minotaur ranger and former gamekeeper on the Huntcrown estates. He’s had enough of nobles and is looking for adventure.
After spending an hour fleshing out the characters, we had time for a short adventure. I used Caves of the Cockatrice from Sly Flourish’s excellent Fantastic Lairs for this. The write up is below.
10th Kythorn, 1495 DR
The adventurers are summoned to Hawklin Hall to meet with Lord Gyles Hawklin, head of one of Suzail’s prominent noble families. Lord Gyles’ son, Marvell Hawklin, has failed to return from a solo expedition to a nearby cave complex that is rumoured to be site of ancient fey magic, and his friend Erlanther Copperwind, president of the Society of Stalwart Adventurers, has recommended the characters. Lord Gyles offers a reward of 50 gp each and will pay for the group’s adventuring charter if they bring Marvell home safely.
Late that afternoon, the party arrive at the cave entrance. Nanna scouts ahead, coming to a cave with three exits and a statue of a dwarf with missing arms. There is a strange elven glyph on the wall.
When she is joined by the others, a small fey creature – a rochade from Tome of Beasts 3 – grabs Eysleigh’s healer’s kit and runs off with it. Then, a second rochade appears and tries to steal Tharhul’s belt pouch. Eysleigh casts entangle to stop the first one escaping, while the others attack the newcomer.
The fey are tricky opponents, capable of teleporting short distances and switching places with the characters when attacked. Nanna is struck by a rock and falls unconscious, but after a few rounds the adventurers defeat both rochades. Rhamash knocks the thief out so they can retrieve Eysleigh’s belongings. They take the unconscious fey outside and leave him by the entrance.
Examining the glyph, Certes recognises it as a symbol of a fey lord known as the Shadow King. Tharhul breaks through the cracked wall into a hidden chamber with sinkhole in the floor and a statue of the Shadow King seated on a throne. Certes uses mage hand to retrieve the darkwood bracelet in the statue’s hands and puts it in his pocket.
Nanna climbs down the hole on a rope into the stream below. The others follow, heading west where a waterfall tumbles down from a hole in the chamber above. Tharhul befriends a cockatrice hatchling and brings it along.
Fashioning a makeshift grappling hook from her pickaxe, Nanna climbs up through the hole, followed by Rhamash and then the others. The gnome enters the large cavern beyond which is filled with stone statues and holds a glowing fey gate.
Several cockatrice hatchlings attack the group and even Tharhul’s little friend turns on him. Meanwhile, the mother, a full-sized feytouched cockatrice strikes from hiding, teleporting away using misty step, as lightning flashes around the fey gate. Nanna starts to turn to stone but fortunately succeeds on her second saving throw. After several rounds of hit and run attacks, the cockatrice fails to hide, and is killed by an arrow from Tharhul.
The characters examine the statues and work out which one is Marvell. Entering the hatchery to the southwest, they watch as a petrified dwarf turns back to flesh, only to become stone again when he is pecked by cockatrice hatchlings. Using ranged attacks, the party slay the hatchlings from the entrance.
Back in the large cavern, one of the statues – that of a female elf – becomes flesh again. The grateful elf introduces herself as Celestria Avondel and has been trapped in the cavern for 150 years, becoming petrified repeatedly by the cockatrices. She gives the characters a magical shortsword named Windharrow as a reward for being rescued.
After a while, Marvell transforms back into flesh too. He cuts off the cockatrice’s head as a trophy to impress his belle, then the party escort him home to Hawklin Hall where they receive their payment from Lord Gyles.
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Richard Green | Game Designer 
Looking forward to following along this adventure as well.
As for the Caves, I remember playtesting that encounter, it was great fun indeed. Fantastic Lairs is a great book all round, must pull it down and remind myself of more of the ideas in there.
Also, love the use of the Facades, they were the monster that jumped out to me for immeadiate use for my new low level campaign from my first skim through ToB3.
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