Tomb of Annihilation - A Race Against Death
A shadow looms over the world. The Death Curse—an insidious blight—ravages the land, dooming all who have ever cheated death to waste away
About the adventure
A shadow looms over the world. The Death Curse—an insidious blight—ravages the land, dooming all who have ever cheated death to waste away, their bodies withering with each passing day. No magic can bring them back. No power can defy the final embrace of the grave. In the heart of the untamed jungles of Chult, the source of this dark affliction festers. Only those brave enough to face the wild, the unknown, and the horrors lurking within can hope to uncover the truth. Time is running out. The resurrected are dying again, and soon, death will come for us all. Gather your party, sharpen your steel, and steel your mind—for this adventure may be your last. Will you break the curse… or succumb to the Tomb of Annihilation? Tomb of Annihilation is a throwback to old hexcrawl exploration adventures from the early days of D&D. Expect to track things like food & water, harvest things from animals and plants, and hope you brought enough bug repellent to keep the mosquitos away.
Game style
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Meet the Game Master
1 year on StartPlaying
437 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Teacher
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Just your average nerd trying to play more d&d. Have you ever had a friend be volun-told to DM a game? That was me. But then I loved it, so here we are. I enjoy puns, silly side plots, and trying to not laugh when my players come up with wacky ideas like drowning the ogre using an immovable rod. I run 5e content (sorry no auto success for a nat 20). I do use supplemental material to add in or take things out to make the game run in a smoother/more exciting way. So even if you've played a module before, it'll be different this time around! I've currently run: Curse of Strahd 🧛 🩸 Tomb of annihilation 🦖🌴 Lost mine of Phandelver ⛰️🗡️ Out of the Abyss 🍄👿 Storm King's Thunder 🌩️🐉 Wild beyond the Witchlight 🎠🧚🏽 Dungeon of the Mad Mage ⛰️🧙🏼 Vecna - Eve of Ruin 👁️🖐️ I have wrapped up the above games in about 12 months (Curse of Strahd lasted 15 months, Mad mage is still ongoing but will likely last 2 years) If you are looking for a DM for a corporate event, message me for prices. I've done both entertainment and team building events. 🌟Btw the banner pictures are art that a player did for the various shenanigans that happened over a few campaigns. Lastly, if you are new to Startplaying and haven't made an account yet, you can use this link to get a $10 credit! https://startplaying.games/referral/clrcc6dyn0073oj93ofknscn1
View Profile →Reviews (33)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Creativity
Storytelling
Teacher
Belle is a great DM! She knows the rules, her games run on time, and she is inclusive to different levels of comfort of players. Her voices and characters are compelling (and there is quite a lot of them!), as well as she takes the time to know your character and what would make it tick, to include in the campaign. She keeps her games on track - especially longer campaigns - with relevant stuff happening in the world around you. She's also very receptive to feedback, both in session and out of session. Overall, a great experience, with very clear expectations, safety and very good execution.
Belle has truly been a pleasure to game and geek out with over the full expanse of nerdom (but yes, also D&D). She uses a short-form, 2-2.5 hour session style that jives really well with the type of play I'm looking for: expect 2-4 encounters each session (with typically at least one combat and one roleplay opportunity), roleplay is encouraged but not required, and the story will advance in some small (or sometimes large) way each session. Belle is a master of "yes, and"-ing your character ideas, encouraging your characters to do cool sh** and creatively solve puzzles in-session but then think through how that would impact their personal story/character development outside the session with your weekly journal entries. The thought and care she puts into each entry in her ever-growing game catalogue of campaigns and one-shot is readily apparent each session; journeying with my party into whatever new wrinkle she's developed for us each session has fast become one of the highlight of my week. 10/10 would game again.
I am so looking forward to my other sessions with Belle as DM. She is knowledgeable about the game, helpful for new/returning players learning the online system, and a good storyteller. She does a great job at giving the right amount of information and letting us figure it out on our own. She feels like a member of the team, and not a force we are working against, which just makes for a great dynamic.
I've played with Belle for a month now and I can't praise her or her gaming methods highly enough. She has an attention to details on both the player and the GM side that really captivates everyone at the table. And her voices are 10/10. She seems never to forget a detail and continuously astounds with both action and role play immersion. If you're thinking about playing at her table, I highly advise you try it!
After wrapping up the campaign I initially started under Belle, I have to say she's pretty much second-to-none. She's been nothing but accommodating to any sort of schedule or game funkiness, plays all sorts of NPCs in a compelling way, is fair in her application of rules, and (what I regard to be most important) is really good "glue" between the different sorts of personalities in the party. It's been an absolute privilege to play under her, and I look forward to doing so for a long time.
Character creation
Creating your character
This will be done session zero. We will decide to use either 2014 rules (and the races/subclasses designed for those rules) or 2024 rules (and the subclasses and playable races released with those rules). There will be some character restrictions (ex. no one is teaching strixhaven spells in the jungle, races from other planes of existance, etc.) so as to keep with the theme of the campaign. Certain spells and backgrounds (goodberry/Wanderer/etc) will have modifications to not totally negate the survival aspect of the adventure. Expect a difficult survival focused game for the first half of the campaign before it transitions into a puzzle & trap filled dungeon crawl in the 2nd half.
This game will be using the 2024 Rules/Class/Subclasses/Playable races We currently have: Tiefling Barbarian, Elf Cleric, and Drow Wizard
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Working mic is needed, Webcam a plus. Dndbeyond, Discord, and Roll20 account, the free ones are all you need.
What Belle brings to the table
Lots of theater of the mind discriptions as well as interesting battle maps. Music to set the vibe. Terrible NPC voices that will make you laugh. Tissues for when a dinosaur eats your halfling.
Homebrew rules
Potions - if you use an action to drink a potion, you get the maximum healing. Initiative - If you get a nat 20 when rolling initiative, you can choose where in the turn order you go. Ex. You want to be after the cleric so they can buff you first? No problem. Spell scrolls - Can be used by anyone as a one time use spell. Wizards can also learn spells from them, but this consumes the scroll. Dropping to 0 Hit Points - To avoid metagaming, death saving throws are rolled secretly to the DM. This will make the other players feel pressure when deciding their next actions. Do they go for the killing blow, or heal the wizard? While in death saves, the player can describe important moments from your character's life flashing before your eyes. Do you even know who I am? -When a roll happens that is going to lead to the immediate death of a character (failing a spell save, failing a final death roll, etc.), they can do an hero style flashback to a moment that demonstrates what motivates them. Like the inciting incident of their backstory, a memory of their lover, etc. After they describe this to the group, they can force a single reroll. This can only happen once per character. Help - A character can only provide help if it has proficiency in the skill or tool related to the task at hand, or a relevant ability score equal or higher than the character doing the task. If you say “I’ll help” during charisma based checks I WILL ask you how you help. Example: a bard with Arcana proficiency can help a wizard decipher magic runes (advantage on the Intelligence (Arcana) check), but a rogue with a Strength score of 8 cannot help a barbarian with a Strength score of 18 force open a door. Hero Coins - these act similar to inspiration as they are rewarded for things like journal entries, giving a recap at the beginning of the session, or awesome rp moments. These are stackable and can be used to increase a d20 dice roll by 1 for each coin used (you can have a maximum of 5 at any time, so use them!) This is not limited to your own rolls. If a friend fails a save, everyone can toss hero coins onto their roll to turn that into a success. This is to foster cooperation and encourage rp.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Microphone
Headphones
Platforms used
Safety
How Belle creates a safe table
Lines & Veils to be filled out before session zero. We will have a 5 minute break at the half way point!
Content warnings
Safety tools used
Additional tables
1 available
Weekly / Thursday – 9:00 PM UTC
2 / 5 Seats Filled