For the past several days, the talk of the streets and taverns has all been about the so-called death curse: a wasting disease afflicting everyone who's ever been raised from the dead. Victims grow thinner and weaker each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the death they once denied. When they finally succumb, they can't be raised - and neither can anyone else, regardless of whether they've received that miracle in the past. Temples and scholars of divine magic are at a loss to explain a curse that has affected the entire region, and possibly the entire world.
You have been invited to the home of home Syndra Silvane, a retired adventurer and merchant, looking for those willing to join an expedition to Chult, and by the sounds of it - its got something to do with the supposed Death Curse.
I'm going to start a new ToA campaign for 4-6 players, preferably those who haven't played it before, however anyone is welcome. One to two posts a day where possible.
Roll for stats, if they are exceptionally bad (like three stats below 10 and nothing above 13) you can take standard array instead. Any officially released content is allowed, no home brew or UA. Note: I do not have any digital copies of these resources so it will need to be provided yourself.
Give a name, class, race and backstory concept(that explains your connection to Chult, the Death Curse or Syndra Silvane). The adventure technically begins in Baldur's Gate, though that's more for character backstory than real game time.
One final note, I do not plan to go exactly by the book, especially when it comes to some of the side stories and characters.
If your interested, leave a character below and we'll have some fun.
Leann left Chult while still young, her people sending her to Baldur's Gate to infiltrate the humans city there. She found Baldur's Gate to be much like living among her own folk, but then met a paladin who showed her a different way of living. She traveled with him for some time, learning the tenants of the Oath of the Ancients. Leann grew to respect her mentor, and to find that most humans were nothing like her people. She found she wished to live with the humans, not to spy on them for her people, but to protect the humans from her people.
Recently her mentor died, and, due to the curse was unable to be raised again. One of her mentor's old adventuring companions, Syndra Silvane, requested Leann attend her at Syndra Silvane's home.
Backstory: Nahuali was raised in isolation in a monastery deep in the jungles of Chult, with one purpose in life: to protect an ancient artifact known as The Eye of Ubtao. Her mentor died when Nahuali was still a child, and the young woman was left to defend the Eye of Ubtao alone. For ten years she lived in the monastery, until the day the Eye disappeared. Only days after the disappearance of the artifact, whispers of the Death Curse began to sweep across the land. Convinced that the Eye of Ubtao and the Death Curse were connected, Nahuali left the monastery and ventured into the outside world. Learning of Syndra Silvane’s proposition, she approached the adventurer and offered to accompany the expedition.
Backstory: Aedan grew up in the Dalelands town of Arrowmark. His parents were farmers, and he grew up to be strong, and capable. As his teens were coming to an end, he joined the local town guard, hoping that it would be much more interesting than growing crops and tending cattle. There he received some training in arms, yet remained somewhat undisciplined. However, he did not find the excitement he wished for, as the town was rarely in any peril, and the guard's jobs mostly consisted of patrolling a very small area. He wished to go on the kinds of adventures he heard of in tale and song, and came to believe he would never experience such things unless he left his homeland and traveled far abroad. After some time, he found himself in Baldur's Gate, in search of work and excitement.
Name: Harold Plaugg Class: Bard Race: Half-elf Ability Scores: 11-16-15-9-13-17 Backstory: Harold is the son of a chance encounter between an Elven father and Human mother. Raised by his mother, Plaugg never knew his father. His mother did her best, though with little success at crafting a living. As a result, Harold and his mom mostly lived on the grift, much of it in Chult where rules were a bit more flexible and accommodating than Baldur's Gate. Moving from place to place and moving from short con to short con. He learned to blend into situations very quickly. Most anyone who looks at him tends to recognizes him as someone they know -- no matter where he goes, people "remember" him and assume he belongs there. Although he is charming, builds rapport quickly, and easily influences others, Harold does not seek leadership positions preferring to guide decision makers toward his desired outcomes by verbal finesse.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
*I've been wanting to do this adventure for quite a while now. Would love to join! Also happy to share all of the content I own.
Name: Dorno
Class: Druid
Race: Firbolg
Backstory: Dorno is the gentle giant of his clan of firbolgs who hail from the Moonwood just north of Silverymoon. Normally the lead warriors who defend the wood against the terrors from the north would represent the clan on an important quest, but all have been resurrected in the past, including the clan chief, and thus are quickly wasting away because of the death curse. Now it is up to the unlikely hero Dorno to save them, the clan chief choosing him due to his large heart despite his childlike nature and significant lack of experience. The chief only hopes that an old acquaintance, Syndra Silvane, can guide Dorno down the right path to save the clan and thus the Moonwood with them.
Ability scores: 161416121616
(Just going to see roll results first, although I'm pretty sure I know who my character is already... Wow, pretty bad. Will opt for standard/point by if the DM allows just to get that main stat up.)
Interested--fairly new to DnD, so I apologize in advance and ask that you bear with me. I'm hoping to get some experience here on the forums. I have played a few sessions elsewhere, but not a large amount.
Name: Ivas Marenov
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Ability scores: Ability scores: 161112151114
Backstory: Raised on the hardscrabble slopes of a mountain village in Damara, Ivas had only the endless tales of adventuring spun by his mother to keep him going through the long, harsh winters. When he came of age, he left his aging parents to the care of his many siblings, buying what provisions he could so as to become an adventurer himself. His sights were set on one thing: A legendary sword said to be passed down from one hero to the next, now dormant and awaiting the next worthy champion where it lays buried deep within the dense jungles of Chult. Ivas's dream is to find this sword, even if it takes him to the end of the world. Of course, his mother made up the tale completely, and the sword does not exist; she could never bring herself to tell him that, not even when he left in search of it. This may or may not be due to her hope that he will--sword or no sword, tales or no tales--find his way to wealth.
Bckstory: A champion of his tribe in the northern wild, send out into the world on a prilgrimage, to gain eternal glory. A mission to restore peace to the world, and bring honor to his tribe, so that one day, he may sit on his fathers chair as a Warchief, with the beautiful huntress Trienna as his wife.
Backstory: Following in the footsteps of his father, Astiax spent his entire adulthood smuggling valuables in and out of Baldur's Gate in an, albeit unsuccessful effort to leave this existence of poverty and insignificance behind him. One day a strange tome went through his hands. Naturally curious and somehow feeling strangely drawn to the book, he took the opportunity to study its contents extensively. He soon realized that it contained a series of rituals intended to reach out to a higher power.
Astiax felt that the powers and riches promised by the procedure were the only means to finally achieve a better life, even though he suspected that there would eventually be a price to pay for them. Always willing to take a gamble, the young man followed the instructions in the book and pledged himself to the fiendish being he conjured. Then, for a time nothing happened and only recently Astiax began to develop a range of unnatural abilities. Now the young Warlock set out in his quest for more power and a better understanding of the bargain he struck.
Recently, nightmarish visions began to plague Astiax in his dreams. All of them had one common feature. An island overgrown by a dense and untamed jungle which was beset by hordes of undead. His research left him with the conclusion that this island had to be Chult and that a greater power was drawing him there.
Backstory: Agni was born in a family who made their business in pirate hunting. Naturally, she was trained to become one as well and she was actually a hunter for a while. However, she soon found herself on the side of those she hunted. Much of her life was nothing more than a rigid daily schedule that allowed her no freedom and so she couldn't help but be filled with curiosity by the lives of those who constantly threw themselves into the face of danger but still smile and laugh more than anyone she has ever seen in her life. When a particular captain noticed her curiosity, it didn't take much for him to convince her to join his crew and leave her family. She travelled the world, to places she had never been to nor even heard of before. Life was wonderful and she was filled with joy but all was shattered when the captain fell severely ill. The crew searched everywhere for someone, anyone, to cure their captain but no one knew what to do. It was then that they discovered the existence of the death curse and how so many others were also being affected. It was then that Agni volunteered to find the source of the curse and put an end to it before it took the life of their captain away.
I'm interested! Also new to ToA and D&D in general.
Name: Sybil Covenwing
Race: Human (Variant)
Class: Wizard
Ability Scores: 10 12 16 18 12 10
Backstory: Sybil was raised in a small community on the outskirts of civilization proper, growing up exploring the forests and occasional ruins around her home. During one such adventure, she discovered a case of spell scrolls, most of which had torn and deteriorated with age. Nevertheless, Sybil was enamored by the concepts of bending reality to the castor's whims, and began to study magic on her own, copying what she could onto cloth wrappings that adorn her forearms for easy travel. Soon, however, the death curse reached their village, and Sybil resolved to head into the world beyond to try and seek a cure. Her travels would eventually lead her to the home of Syndra Silvane.
Ok, not that characters will know this but these are the special rules of the death curse:
Any creature that is on the planet and has ever been resurrected has there hp maximum reduced by one every midnight until they hit zero, no amount of magic or plane hoping can slow this withering once it begins.
Any time your HP maximum is reduced, the effect is permanent this includes effects like that of a wraith
Any spell up to and possibly including a wish automatically fail if attempting to revive a dead body.
However spells such as speak with dead still function as normal
You have been invited to the home of Syndra Silvane, a retired adventurer and merchant. A uniformed attendant leads you up a grand staircase to the third floor, then ushers you into a wood-paneled room with a fireplace, comfortable chairs, and a heavy table bearing goblets and bottles of wine. The darkly paneled walls are hung with maps and sea charts. Racks, shelves and cabinets hold hundreds more rolled up maps and charts.
A person is seated in an overstuffed chair near the fire. You can't discern a gender, because only the person's head emerges from under a heavy blanket drapped over the chair, and an embroidered hood and silver mask conceal the wearer's face. Even the dry, raspy voice provides no clue. "Help yourselves to wine, and seat yourselves friends - I hope I may call you that."
"You know you can always call me friend..." Leann admonishes the seated figure with a soft smile. "Thaidin would haunt me for sure if I did any less." She adds on, her smile turning a bit sad. Moving to the wine and food, Leann takes some and then sits, watching the seated figure intently. Leann herself is a beautiful blond woman, with blue eyes and wearing chain mail. She has a long sword at one hip, and a shield laid with her pack near the door.
Nahuatl smiles distractedly at her host and sinks into an armchair in the corner of the room, drawing as little attention to herself as possible. She is a woman of about thirty-five years, with locks of black hair and copper skin. Her build is light, and her posture is calm and vigilant. She wears the simple robes of a monk, and to the casual observer, Nahuatl, at 5’4” and 112 pounds, does not appear to be a formidable combatant. But looks can be deceiving, and Nahuatl is a born fighter despite her light figure. Accepting a glass of wine, she sips it at regular intervals while she studies her fellow adventurers.
"Uhh, sure! Mr. Silvane! I'm Ivas Marenov! Err... nice to meet you!"
Ivas's manner shows a mixture of anxiety and excitement, though it leans more towards the latter. Unlike his more relaxed companions, he is alert and sitting up, more concerned with ogling the room's apparent wonders than drinking the wine that has been offered. His head turns and his eyes dart as he tries to take in his surroundings all at once, already imagining what sorts of fantastical lives these other adventurers must lead. One of his legs shakes slightly in a nervous tic; when he finally notices it, he hurriedly drinks from his wine in an attempt to suppress it.
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I'm going to start a new ToA campaign for 4-6 players, preferably those who haven't played it before, however anyone is welcome. One to two posts a day where possible.
Roll for stats, if they are exceptionally bad (like three stats below 10 and nothing above 13) you can take standard array instead. Any officially released content is allowed, no home brew or UA. Note: I do not have any digital copies of these resources so it will need to be provided yourself.
Give a name, class, race and backstory concept(that explains your connection to Chult, the Death Curse or Syndra Silvane). The adventure technically begins in Baldur's Gate, though that's more for character backstory than real game time.
One final note, I do not plan to go exactly by the book, especially when it comes to some of the side stories and characters.
If your interested, leave a character below and we'll have some fun.
Ability scores: 17 11 13 16 12 9
Name: Leann Welver
Race: Yuan-Ti
Class: Paladin
Background: Faceless One
Backstory:
Leann left Chult while still young, her people sending her to Baldur's Gate to infiltrate the humans city there. She found Baldur's Gate to be much like living among her own folk, but then met a paladin who showed her a different way of living. She traveled with him for some time, learning the tenants of the Oath of the Ancients. Leann grew to respect her mentor, and to find that most humans were nothing like her people. She found she wished to live with the humans, not to spy on them for her people, but to protect the humans from her people.
Recently her mentor died, and, due to the curse was unable to be raised again. One of her mentor's old adventuring companions, Syndra Silvane, requested Leann attend her at Syndra Silvane's home.
Ability scores: 16 5 14 10 13 11
Name: Nahuali
Race/Class: Human Monk
Backstory: Nahuali was raised in isolation in a monastery deep in the jungles of Chult, with one purpose in life: to protect an ancient artifact known as The Eye of Ubtao. Her mentor died when Nahuali was still a child, and the young woman was left to defend the Eye of Ubtao alone. For ten years she lived in the monastery, until the day the Eye disappeared. Only days after the disappearance of the artifact, whispers of the Death Curse began to sweep across the land. Convinced that the Eye of Ubtao and the Death Curse were connected, Nahuali left the monastery and ventured into the outside world. Learning of Syndra Silvane’s proposition, she approached the adventurer and offered to accompany the expedition.
Interested!
Ability scores: 7 12 12 14 17 15
Name: Aedan Greycastle
Class: Barbarian
Race: Human
Backstory: Aedan grew up in the Dalelands town of Arrowmark. His parents were farmers, and he grew up to be strong, and capable. As his teens were coming to an end, he joined the local town guard, hoping that it would be much more interesting than growing crops and tending cattle. There he received some training in arms, yet remained somewhat undisciplined. However, he did not find the excitement he wished for, as the town was rarely in any peril, and the guard's jobs mostly consisted of patrolling a very small area. He wished to go on the kinds of adventures he heard of in tale and song, and came to believe he would never experience such things unless he left his homeland and traveled far abroad. After some time, he found himself in Baldur's Gate, in search of work and excitement.
Roland Drask: Human Rogue - Lost Mine of Phandelver
Name: Harold Plaugg
Class: Bard
Race: Half-elf
Ability Scores: 11-16-15-9-13-17
Backstory: Harold is the son of a chance encounter between an Elven father and Human mother. Raised by his mother, Plaugg never knew his father. His mother did her best, though with little success at crafting a living. As a result, Harold and his mom mostly lived on the grift, much of it in Chult where rules were a bit more flexible and accommodating than Baldur's Gate. Moving from place to place and moving from short con to short con. He learned to blend into situations very quickly. Most anyone who looks at him tends to recognizes him as someone they know -- no matter where he goes, people "remember" him and assume he belongs there. Although he is charming, builds rapport quickly, and easily influences others, Harold does not seek leadership positions preferring to guide decision makers toward his desired outcomes by verbal finesse.
*I've been wanting to do this adventure for quite a while now. Would love to join! Also happy to share all of the content I own.
Name: Dorno
Class: Druid
Race: Firbolg
Backstory: Dorno is the gentle giant of his clan of firbolgs who hail from the Moonwood just north of Silverymoon. Normally the lead warriors who defend the wood against the terrors from the north would represent the clan on an important quest, but all have been resurrected in the past, including the clan chief, and thus are quickly wasting away because of the death curse. Now it is up to the unlikely hero Dorno to save them, the clan chief choosing him due to his large heart despite his childlike nature and significant lack of experience. The chief only hopes that an old acquaintance, Syndra Silvane, can guide Dorno down the right path to save the clan and thus the Moonwood with them.
Ability scores: 16 14 16 12 16 16
(Just going to see roll results first, although I'm pretty sure I know who my character is already... Wow, pretty bad. Will opt for standard/point by if the DM allows just to get that main stat up.)
Ability scores: 16 10 11 17 14 12
Interested--fairly new to DnD, so I apologize in advance and ask that you bear with me. I'm hoping to get some experience here on the forums. I have played a few sessions elsewhere, but not a large amount.
Name: Ivas Marenov
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Ability scores: Ability scores: 16 11 12 15 11 14
Backstory: Raised on the hardscrabble slopes of a mountain village in Damara, Ivas had only the endless tales of adventuring spun by his mother to keep him going through the long, harsh winters. When he came of age, he left his aging parents to the care of his many siblings, buying what provisions he could so as to become an adventurer himself. His sights were set on one thing: A legendary sword said to be passed down from one hero to the next, now dormant and awaiting the next worthy champion where it lays buried deep within the dense jungles of Chult. Ivas's dream is to find this sword, even if it takes him to the end of the world. Of course, his mother made up the tale completely, and the sword does not exist; she could never bring herself to tell him that, not even when he left in search of it. This may or may not be due to her hope that he will--sword or no sword, tales or no tales--find his way to wealth.
Ability scores: 15 7 13 17 12 9
name: Stonetree
Class: Barbarian
Race: Goliath
Bckstory: A champion of his tribe in the northern wild, send out into the world on a prilgrimage, to gain eternal glory. A mission to restore peace to the world, and bring honor to his tribe, so that one day, he may sit on his fathers chair as a Warchief, with the beautiful huntress Trienna as his wife.
Ability scores: 14 9 14 8 15 15
Name: Astiax Xavonios
Class: Warlock/The Fiend
Race: Human Variant
Charactersheet: https://ddb.ac/characters/19821047/0JQY5G
Backstory: Following in the footsteps of his father, Astiax spent his entire adulthood smuggling valuables in and out of Baldur's Gate in an, albeit unsuccessful effort to leave this existence of poverty and insignificance behind him. One day a strange tome went through his hands. Naturally curious and somehow feeling strangely drawn to the book, he took the opportunity to study its contents extensively. He soon realized that it contained a series of rituals intended to reach out to a higher power.
Astiax felt that the powers and riches promised by the procedure were the only means to finally achieve a better life, even though he suspected that there would eventually be a price to pay for them. Always willing to take a gamble, the young man followed the instructions in the book and pledged himself to the fiendish being he conjured. Then, for a time nothing happened and only recently Astiax began to develop a range of unnatural abilities. Now the young Warlock set out in his quest for more power and a better understanding of the bargain he struck.
Recently, nightmarish visions began to plague Astiax in his dreams. All of them had one common feature. An island overgrown by a dense and untamed jungle which was beset by hordes of undead. His research left him with the conclusion that this island had to be Chult and that a greater power was drawing him there.
Name: Agni
Race: Tiefling
Class: Barbarian
Ability scores: 13 8 15 7 15 14
Backstory: Agni was born in a family who made their business in pirate hunting. Naturally, she was trained to become one as well and she was actually a hunter for a while. However, she soon found herself on the side of those she hunted. Much of her life was nothing more than a rigid daily schedule that allowed her no freedom and so she couldn't help but be filled with curiosity by the lives of those who constantly threw themselves into the face of danger but still smile and laugh more than anyone she has ever seen in her life. When a particular captain noticed her curiosity, it didn't take much for him to convince her to join his crew and leave her family. She travelled the world, to places she had never been to nor even heard of before. Life was wonderful and she was filled with joy but all was shattered when the captain fell severely ill. The crew searched everywhere for someone, anyone, to cure their captain but no one knew what to do. It was then that they discovered the existence of the death curse and how so many others were also being affected. It was then that Agni volunteered to find the source of the curse and put an end to it before it took the life of their captain away.
Ability scores: 15 11 14 11 16 13
Ability scores: 14 13 10 17 12 7
I'm interested! Also new to ToA and D&D in general.
Name: Sybil Covenwing
Race: Human (Variant)
Class: Wizard
Ability Scores: 10 12 16 18 12 10
Backstory: Sybil was raised in a small community on the outskirts of civilization proper, growing up exploring the forests and occasional ruins around her home. During one such adventure, she discovered a case of spell scrolls, most of which had torn and deteriorated with age. Nevertheless, Sybil was enamored by the concepts of bending reality to the castor's whims, and began to study magic on her own, copying what she could onto cloth wrappings that adorn her forearms for easy travel. Soon, however, the death curse reached their village, and Sybil resolved to head into the world beyond to try and seek a cure. Her travels would eventually lead her to the home of Syndra Silvane.
Alright, I have my players. Sorry to those who missed out.
To my players, the game should start the game soon
Ok, not that characters will know this but these are the special rules of the death curse:
You have been invited to the home of Syndra Silvane, a retired adventurer and merchant. A uniformed attendant leads you up a grand staircase to the third floor, then ushers you into a wood-paneled room with a fireplace, comfortable chairs, and a heavy table bearing goblets and bottles of wine. The darkly paneled walls are hung with maps and sea charts. Racks, shelves and cabinets hold hundreds more rolled up maps and charts.
A person is seated in an overstuffed chair near the fire. You can't discern a gender, because only the person's head emerges from under a heavy blanket drapped over the chair, and an embroidered hood and silver mask conceal the wearer's face. Even the dry, raspy voice provides no clue. "Help yourselves to wine, and seat yourselves friends - I hope I may call you that."
"You know you can always call me friend..." Leann admonishes the seated figure with a soft smile. "Thaidin would haunt me for sure if I did any less." She adds on, her smile turning a bit sad. Moving to the wine and food, Leann takes some and then sits, watching the seated figure intently. Leann herself is a beautiful blond woman, with blue eyes and wearing chain mail. She has a long sword at one hip, and a shield laid with her pack near the door.
Nahuatl smiles distractedly at her host and sinks into an armchair in the corner of the room, drawing as little attention to herself as possible. She is a woman of about thirty-five years, with locks of black hair and copper skin. Her build is light, and her posture is calm and vigilant. She wears the simple robes of a monk, and to the casual observer, Nahuatl, at 5’4” and 112 pounds, does not appear to be a formidable combatant. But looks can be deceiving, and Nahuatl is a born fighter despite her light figure. Accepting a glass of wine, she sips it at regular intervals while she studies her fellow adventurers.
"Uhh, sure! Mr. Silvane! I'm Ivas Marenov! Err... nice to meet you!"
Ivas's manner shows a mixture of anxiety and excitement, though it leans more towards the latter. Unlike his more relaxed companions, he is alert and sitting up, more concerned with ogling the room's apparent wonders than drinking the wine that has been offered. His head turns and his eyes dart as he tries to take in his surroundings all at once, already imagining what sorts of fantastical lives these other adventurers must lead. One of his legs shakes slightly in a nervous tic; when he finally notices it, he hurriedly drinks from his wine in an attempt to suppress it.