Hidden Pathways

of

Chult
Expanded Travel and Discovery for Tomb of Annihilation

by Alex Clippinger

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TITLE 1
I. Teleportation
Hidden Circles in the Jungle
Syndra Silvane can transport the players to Chult
at the start of the adventure using a teleportation
spell. During the adventure, parties who
thoroughly investigate the Heart of Ubtao
might find a teleportation circle in one of
the chambers occupied by Valindra
Shadowmantle. Surprisingly, though,
the base adventure makes no other
mention of additional teleportation
circles in the peninsula. The
following entries list more areas
where the players might
uncover teleportation
circles, hastening their
lategame travel around
the region as you deem
fit.
It is important to note that you may allow the
existence or use of any number of these
teleportation circles as you determine necessary
or useful to your particular adventuring group.
Mbala
Once the city of a great kingdom, it is only
reasonable that Mbala would have its own
teleportation circle. Any player taking the time to
investigate the ruins of the city can discover the
circle. Nanny Pu’pu preserved the circle in case
she someday found it useful and binds it with her
magic; only killing the witch or forcing her to allow
its use will make it available for magical travel.
Mezro
The ruins of Mezro contain a teleportation circle.
Few people in Chult are well-aware of the circle’s
existence. The first group aware of the circle are
the Flaming Fist, who have thoroughly explored
the ruins and reported the circle’s existence to
their commander, Liara Portyr, who resides at
Fort Beluarian. While some of the soldiers know
of the circle’s existence, only Liara and her
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second-in-command at the fort, Gruta Halsdottir,
knows the sequence of sigils.
The second party that knows of the circle’s
existence is, of course, Artus Cimber. When the
barae secreted their city away and left the ruins
in its place, the circle remained. Artus
occasionally checks the ruins of Mezro and
the circle in particular, hoping that
one day his wife Alisanda will utilize
it and return to him once more.
Nangalore
A hidden chamber beneath
Zalkoré’s lair contains an
ancient teleportation
circle, utilized by the
mad queen and
her entourage. It
can only be
discovered upon searching the area after the
medusa’s death, though you may elect for her to
offer its use in the unlikely scenario that she is
charmed by one or more members of the party.
Omu (Derelict)
Rumors exist that a teleportation circle once
stood in the lost city of Omu, but it was either
destroyed with the ruination of the city or
demolished by Acererak, who would have taken
the time to sniff out any such ‘back door’ onto the
doorstep of his temple.
Port Nyanzaru
Wakanga O’tamu, the merchant prince, has a
teleportation circle in his private villa. Its
existence is perhaps his most closely guarded
secret, and even the good faith of Syndra Silvane
is not enough to make him volunteer the
knowledge of its existence to the party. Syndra,
for her part, is aware of the circle but keeps
Wakanga’s secret. A party that consistently
interacts with Wakanga or his surrogates
throughout the campaign may find him willing to
share this most significant secret at the
appropriate time.
Hidden Pathways of Chult 2
II. Underchult
The term ‘Underchult’ is not a local one; instead,
it is a name given by visiting adventurers. Many
newcomers to the jungle learn of dangerous
caverns beneath the dense greenery and
immediately think back to the Underdark of the
Sword Coast and beyond, a likely contributor to
the name.
In truth, the ‘Underchult’ bears little resemblance
to the Underdark of Sword Coast fame, apart from
its reputation for danger. Much of Chult rests on
granite, which does well to resist the constant
effects of its wet climate. In many areas, however,
this bedrock is struck through with veins and
nodes of limestone. Over the centuries, the
constant rain and moisture of the jungle has worn
away these limestone sections, leaving caverns
and twisting passages in their wake.
Unlike the deep and widespread network of
tunnels and caverns in the traditional Underdark,
the tunnels and caves of Underchult are shallow
and intermittent. The wild changes in elevation
between mountains, valleys, cliffs, and basins in
the peninsula keep tunnels from stretching for
more than a few miles at the very most.
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Waterlogged Caverns
With Chult’s constant rains, the tunnels and caves
of Underchult are almost universally flooded.
Even the widest tunnels and hollows are
perpetual host to underground runoff. In many
cases, these rivulets form shallow streams that
wind their way into some deep crag or a tunnel’s
exit. In bigger voids, deep pools are host to
creatures who know no world beyond their small,
subterranean lake.
Deadly Currents
Danger is ever-present in these tunnels; as the
rains aboveground intensify, so too does the flow
of water belowground. During periods of
extended rain, the tiny streams become
underground rivers. When the jungle’s all-too-
frequent tropical storms drown the peninsula
with rain, the caverns and tunnels turn into
rushing rapids. Creatures caught in the tunnels
during these times, or who blindly stumble into
their opening, often find themselves carried pell-
mell through the rushing dark. If they are
fortunate enough not to drown they are
nevertheless left exhausted, dazed, and
sometimes miles from their origin.
Discovering a Tunnel
A party of adventurers in the jungles of Chult have
approximately a 10% chance of stumbling across
an opening to an Underchult tunnel in any given
day. The Dungeon Master’s check to determine
whether a party will come across the Underchult
should be made after determining party direction
and whether they become lost, but prior to
random encounters. If the party is slated to
discover a tunnel entrance in their travels for the
day, you may wish to roll or select a random
encounter that will fit with the Underchult, in case
they choose to explore.
If a party comes across an entrance to the
Underchult during a tropical storm or heavy rain
Hidden Pathways of Chult 3
(at the DM’s discretion), the party must succeed
on a group DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be
sucked into the wild current of the tunnel. A party
who is swept into the current is expelled at the
other end of the Underchult tunnel (or a
randomly selected exit if more than one exists).
Each member of the adventuring party takes 3d6
bludgeoning damage and suffers one level of
exhaustion. This exhaustion replaces the level
they might normally receive for travelling during a
tropical storm. The party is also considered lost,
unless they happen to come out of the Underchult
at or within sight of a previously visited or known
location.
Traversing Underchult
The possible advantage to discovering an
Underchult tunnel system is that your players gain
the benefit of moving at a fast pace (gaining an
additional hex of movement on a 3 or 4 result of a
1d4 roll) while still be considered to be moving at
a normal pace (they do not take a -5 to passive
perception, for example). Of course, the tunnel
might not lead them in a direction they want to go
in the first place.
An Underchult tunnel’s direction can be chosen by
the Dungeon Master, or have multiple, random
exits in various
directions. See the
Underchult Tunnel
tables below to
randomly generate
a tunnel or small
network. Players
can determine the
direction of an
Underchult tunnel
system with a DC 15
Wisdom (Survival)
check. Players must
spend approximately
an hour investigating
the tunnel, observing
evidence of water flow, or similar. These
observations can be made during the course of a
short rest. The check is made with disadvantage if
there is insufficient light to investigate the tunnel
and the player lacks some other means of seeing
in darkness.
Creatures of Underchult
Few creatures can stand to survive in the caverns
of Underchult—the methodical washing out of
most of its tunnels prevents almost any smaller or
humanoid creatures from establishing a home of
any permanence there.
Many aquatic creatures make a tenuous living in
the pools and ponds below the surface. Fish take
shelter below rocky shelves when the current
swells, emerging again when the waters calm to
feed on whatever the rains have swept down into
their domain. In some rare, larger caves,
predators like Plesiosaurs lurk in bigger ponds,
always happy to snatch living or dead prey as it is
carried past on the rain-swollen rapids.
In what few tunnels curve above the rush of
waterlogged flow, occasional colonies of
Myconids thrive in the warm, damp environs.
Hidden in these rare hollows, they will live out
generations without ever seeing another
living, sentient creature.
The most expected
danger is, of course,
the undead.
Helplessly drawn
into the Underchult
during the storms
and often too dim to
find their way back out,
the dark chasms have
slowly begun to swell
with their ranks. Zombies,
trapped in rocky nooks but
with no need to breathe, are
happy to lie in wait beneath

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Hidden Pathways of Chult 4
underground pools, ready to snatch anyone
unfortunate enough to cross their path. 1d4 Standing water: this section has…
1 Little pools, barely enough to support life.
2 Small pools or ponds.
Rumors abound that rarer monstrosities reside in 3 Deep pools; larger creatures could dwell here.
Underchult’s larger caves. Green and black 4 A huge underground pond or small lake.
dragons have been known to seclude themselves
in the Underchult, shaping lairs in flooded caves
and far from the reach of most intrepid
adventurers. These wyrms particularly enjoy
finding Underchult tunnels with an outlet off of a
sheer cliff, which the dragon veils with vines and
other overgrowth. The sheer rock face makes the
lair nigh-invisible and well-protected from
flightless foes.

Underchult Tunnel Tables

As a Dungeon Master, you can determine the
features of an Underchult section, or use the
tables below to determine them randomly. When
randomly deciding on tunnel exits, simply use a d6
to determine a random adjacent hex, as you
would if the party became lost.

1d4 Exits: this section has…

1 One exit (roll a d6 to determine adjacent hex).
2 Two exits (roll a d6 to determine adjacent hexes).
3 Three exits (roll a d6 to determine adjacent hexes).
4 Four exits ((roll a d6 to determine adjacent hex).

1d4 Tunnels: this section has…

1 Mainly five-foot-wide tunnels.
2 Tunnels approximately ten feet wide.
3 Tunnels approximately fifteen feet wide.
4 Tunnels that split wildly or vary in size (roll twice).

1d4 Caverns: this section has…

1 No caverns or voids.
2 Small caverns.
3 At least one larger cave area.
4 A series of caverns or grottoes.

1d4 Running Water: this section has…

1 Small streams or rivulets
2 An underground river—watch your step!
3 Wet stone but no visible streams.
4 Pools or bodies of water only.

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Hidden Pathways of Chult 5
Acknowledgements and Credits
Cover and internal art by The Forge Studios, located via DriveThruRPG.

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Hidden Pathways of Chult 6