Tomb of Annihilation is an epic story which takes in an entire continent filled with dense jungles, vibrant cities and the crumbling ruins of long-dead civilisations.  This version of the adventure will be run using the Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition ruleset, with various tweaks and additions from other sources including Level Up - Advanced 5e.  

In order to keep things approachable for players of all levels of experience, initial character creation will use a limited range of options, with a selection of more unusual options becoming "unlocked" as the adventure progresses.  Starting characters will begin at Level 0, meaning that they will not be assigned a class to begin with, just a set of randomly-generated statistics and an everyday Occupation which serves to replace the Background normally assigned at 1st level. 

The first few sessions will see these everyday people have experiences and make choices which will inform and support their development into fully fleshed-out characters in a narratively satisfying way.  This means that instead of writing a "backstory" for your character which takes place before the adventure starts, your character's development into an adventurer will actually be played out at the table.

The adventure is split into four main parts, outlined below.  Each part presents a different "sandbox" experience which the player characters can freely explore until the narrative of the story pulls them inexorably towards the next chapter.

Tomb of Annihilation is deadly. In particular, the sandbox nature of the adventure means unwary characters can easily find themselves in situations that they are ill-equipped to deal with.  PC death is a real possibility at any stage, and is likely to be permanent, however new characters can easily be woven into the plot.

Part 1 - Fish out of Water
Comprising the journey to Chult and exploration of the exotic city of Port Nyanzaru, this part sees ordinary folk start to forge a new path for themselves in a strange new land.

Part 2 - Welcome To The Jungle
Rumours spread of a growing evil which threatens to change the world forever.  In response, our newly-fledged adventurers leave the safety of the city and strike out into the untamed wilderness.

Part 3 - The Forbidden City
Lost to memory, the crumbling ruins of an ancient city lie hidden in the vast wilderness of  Chult.  As the peril facing the world heightens, those brave few souls willing to try to stop it close in on its source.

Part 4 - The Tomb of the Nine Gods 
Half tomb, half death-trap, the climax of the adventure sees the party delve into the darkness in a mega-dungeon experience like no other.  The chances of success are slim; the chances of survival perhaps even slimmer.