Exploring Chult

With the upcoming release of a new 5th edition D&D adventure, it is time to take a closer look at the Jungles of Chult, a mysterious, ancient land or fabulous buried treasures and thick, disease ridden, swelteringly hot, gloomy, amazingly dangerous rain forest infused with primal power. To cap it all off, the undead on on the rise and the natives are all obsessed with the end of the world (and they may be right!). Welcome to Chult!
Chris Perkins talks about the Tomb of Annihilation ( • Video )
Also, sorry for calling the Flaming Fist Mercenaries the Crimson Fists, and for saying Mezro was created for the worship of Eshowe, I meant to say Ubtao.

[@RaymondKarlVeasey75]

I've been playing D&D since the mid 80s. I think my favorite part of D&D is world building.

[@kingmasterlord]

I've never had a group that lasted more than two or three sessions, world-building is almost my only experience with d&d

[@pancorleone]

It isn’t the most important part people. And that’s why your games fall apart after a few session. It’s about giving the players an environment to roam free in, have fun, make choices etc. it’s not about the DM’s world building. And I’m a forever dm!

[@RaymondKarlVeasey75]

@@pancorleone Without An Established World Your Storytelling Will Peter Out. So You Are Merely An Exception To The Rule.

[@rsp7029]

I was eleven years old and went to a game store in the mall and saw a book with a dinosaur and a skeleton in a suit of armor and i was like "what the fuck is that???" And i bought. Didn't understand anything. Best impulse buy I ever made. Took me a year to figure out what a thaco was.

[@KyleJordanGaming]

You figured out thaco when you were eleven? And it *only* took a year? Impressive. Most impressive. 👌

[@NoLoveSouth1st]

Chult is my favorite location/campaign setting. Looking forward to having my players delve into the jungles and explore all the oddities

[@gholamdapantaloonsniffer8218]

I'm about to run my first campaign soon in Saltmarsh and I plan to take my players on a trip to Chult after their campaign for a grand old time in the jungle, as one of them is a druid and so I want to give them a story reason as to why they can wildshape in to Dinosaurs 🦕

[@michaelkelligan7931]

My master theif/lord Truemark Voldean had an affair with a female jungle giant in Chult and wound up with a half breed son i never expected. Turned out to be a really cool player character after his 10 year B.C. (Black Company) training. Great video Kiwi love to adventure in Chult!

[@gachapinCUEVA]

The lord likes tall girls, hell yeah

[@bradluttrell8111]

I have been re-watching your videos while painting miniatures over the holidays and came across this gem again. This was the first video of yours that I ever watched. I just wanted to let you know this video did it for me and I instantly became a fan of your channel. Keep up the great work and thank you again for all the great content.

[@AJPickett]

Thanks Brad, will do!

[@davidfletcher6703]

Another group from Balders Gate I would like to hear about besides the Flaming Fist would be The Company of The Westering Sun, the group lead by Eldrith that routed the Black Horde when they endangered Balders Gate

[@martyhoward6727]

So useful. Thanks for all these videos. Spent a lot of time with your creature videos, now I'm enjoying these 'location' videos. Understanding the history and the locations are so nice.

[@RedNZBlue]

I really liked this one! I've never heard of Chult before so I enjoyed hearing about a brave new frontier. Also I like anywhere that houses Chuul.

[@AJPickett]

Chuul! *runs and hides*

[@KyleJordanGaming]

I’m sorry, did you say you... like... Chuul? I’m pretty sure the vast majority of players rather strongly disagree with you on that one. But hey, you do you, my man. 👌

[@thorild69]

Beware condensation when deep in the hot ground. It's something you have to keep in MINED.... I'll show myself out.

[@insomniaarts5497]

Just want to thank you AJ you sir have been a guiding force in my pursuit of creating an immersive environment in the realms of D&D. Also on a personal note your DM crafting posts and vids are great. Please continue to bring your adventuring community knowledge and insists to grow the most incredible role playing game ever.

[@AJPickett]

Thank you, that is really nice of you to say! I will do my best to bring some more crafty stuff, though the lore vids take up a lot of my time now.

[@seanwarren9357]

Well, thanks! Watching is time well spent.

[@ShineyFace1337]

"Welcome to the jungle" is really fitting for this place

[@yogsothoth7594]

A primordial a warlock patron might be interesting.

[@samuelyoung5664]

Gain a serpent familiar, the ability to talk to all the intelligent reptilian beings, gain natural scales that add to ac. Anything else?

[@jackcho634]

Fascinating stuff, I imagine Chult could be a great setting to run a more 'pulp' dnd campaign in.

[@Slechy_Lesh]

Or a more Lovecraftian one, or like some of the more primal Conan stories

[@trequor]

The Tomb of Annihilation campaign is very Indiana Jonesy

[@nvfury13]

Very Mysterious Island.

[@SallyWilliams]

Very interesting & helpfull for the upcoming TOMB OF ANNHILATION adventure

[@bradleyallen6883]

I f***ing love these bro, keep 'em coming!

[@StanleyNunn]

This is a Great series and a great help to me as a Dungeon Master. Keep up the amazing work.

[@josephclark8599]

Dream of large monsters. Great reference! I Love it!!!

[@jaymevosburgh3660]

As a person that owns & commonly wears a spiked leather breast piece, spiked bracers and a tunic with a hiking pack and a sword and/or axe... I can say that they still get insanely hot during the summer here in Oregon. At about 68F+ I am thinking about taking it off. And at 76+ I am done. Or in going to black out from heat exhaustion. So i have changed my home rules to reflect my personal experience with that. Same applies to carry weight for over an hour, it does not matter how good your pack is. 50+pounds is more difficult than most folks realize, especially over normal forest & mountain terrain lol

[@nvfury13]

It is a lot less heavy if you are used to it, as in “this is my daily life”.

[@jaymevosburgh3660]

Great video. I enjoy making trips into Chult. Good place to send a party to locate magical plants, herbs & spices. And a good place to go to delve into ancient empires! Plus I adore snakes and spiders personally :)

[@jameslightfoot1872]

I created a small tribe of gnomes in Chult, the remnants of a Lantanese expedition that was shipwrecked on the coast. Due to the harshness of the jungle, only the strong survived and within a generation, the once civilized and advanced gnomes adapted a barbaric culture. Most have forgotten how to read, magic is no longer practiced and warriors lead.

[@jeremiah1059]

One generation?

[@crypticuriosity8969]

How did you know I was listen to you at work 😆? For that alone I subscribed, great video btw.

[@AJPickett]

Thanks for the sub!

[@Zasek2112]

The campaign arc for my 2nd group was 5 Imprisoned marid in pools throughout the forgotten realms. Our prize for freeing the marid from his pool in chult was that one of us could walk into the pool with as much gold as they could carry and each coin would become a gem of great value. We made our 20 str main fighter a harness with leatherwork (designed with 19 int and made with 19 dex), lol. Totally exploited the hell out of it.

[@jarrodjanuary5486]

Thanks again!

[@jaymevosburgh3660]

I am not familiar with the new changes to 5th edition yet so when you said Chult is now an island that blew my mind! I'm going to certainly be getting the new books when my baby ages a bit and allows for it 😈 I saw the map you put up on a video and was confused by the massive rift or ravine or what ever that thing is. I want to know what caused all that.

[@benjamingalvan2346]

I know its a different lore setting but i can imagine one the giant lizards from cholt being something like the luderoths from the monster hunter games

[@Canadian_Ry]

This is super helpful! I'm working on a 5e character concept, lizard folk barbarian5 druid 15 as a tribal protector who uses wild shape exclusively for reptilian and saurian forms. I can't wait for the next video. Keep up the great work!

[@Slechy_Lesh]

Cool! How's that going, how have you advanced this concept? Like do you have a background, and can I read it?

[@TerrariaGolem]

@@Slechy_Lesh I made one like this if your interested. Final version was a DM homebrew beastmaster ranger. But the Druid idea is interchangeable.

[@chaddixon9764]

Never go full Anakin.

[@AJPickett]

The Younglings! *sob*

[@Xopher30]

thanks for summarizing all of this info! well done sir

[@chaddixon9764]

Good idea doing this given that ToA is the next book that is coming out.

[@AJPickett]

I thank the comment that inspired me to make this vid, so, thank you all, subscribers and commenters :)

[@kyliepoe6231]

So far I've resisted all the expansion products beyond the vanilla game trifecta, but I think I'm gonna break that for ToA.

[@jonathangrant6835]

Nice ending!

[@alexwest2514]

Crimson fists? FOR THE EMEPEROR

[@AJPickett]

*There is only the Emperor, and he is our shield and protector.*

[@diegophantasmic5127]

Great video, AJ! Love your channel. it's helped me be a muuuch better DM. please do a vid on orcs and interesting ways to use them? keep it up!!

[@AJPickett]

Orcs! Zug Zug, they are on the list.

[@TimDreadPirateRiley]

Great job

[@AJPickett]

Thank you

[@chaddixon9764]

I had a GoO Warlock with Dendar as my patron.

[@AJPickett]

Crikey! I bet that warlocks spells were a bit bitey.

[@chaddixon9764]

Yeah I changed Eldritch Blast to Eldritch Fang, it was basically the same thing but it looked like I was shooting energy snakes.

[@Birbucifer]

What Patron features did you get?

[@abrahamsorby8193]

Im currently running a homebrew jungle campaign. It's a challenge, i hope this helps cause there is not much out there for this specific landscape in d&d

[@KyleJordanGaming]

It’s been a while for me, but I think I remember the 4E (I know, everyone hates 4E...) DM Guide had some pretty neat rules for wilderness exploration. Maybe combine some of the mundane aspects of the Feywild with desert/harsh environment survival? Or borrow that rule from the Shadowfell (‘gloom’ or something?) where PC’s basically get depressed over time, but instead it’s like exhaustion from trekking through the forest. Something like that. Also, I think there’s definitely potential for a fun encounter where the party stumbles across some native tribesmen deep in the jungle (who don’t speak -English- Common, of course) and awkward nonverbal diplomatic shenanigans ensue. If they’re polite, the tribesmen are chill and invite them over for dinner and give them some helpful supplies, but if they do something dumb they might accidentally insult the tribe’s ancestors and get chased out the village by indignant natives. That’s a memorable moment, right there. “Remember when an army of angry Zulu warriors chased the party into a T-Rex den because Bob just *refused* to take his shoes off before entering the chieftain’s hut? Oh man. Good times.” 😂

[@adamholcomb200]

In season 7 the player character race Yuan'ti will be popular and warlocks of Dendar. Also necromancer wizards will have a lot of fun at 14 lvl taking control of zombie T-Rex's and other zombie dinos🐍🐍💀💀☠️💯👍

[@AJPickett]

Sounds like a damn good time :)

[@zmishiymishi5349]

Gosh, after toomb of horrors i would love to play toomb of anihilation!

[@willynthepoorboys2]

Good stuff !

[@Kudagraz]

Great video. Would you consider doing more region based videos. I am curious about Calimshan, Tethyr, and Lake of Steam, in that order.

[@AJPickett]

That's the plan! I have a complete plan for covering the entire realms, so, its going to happen :)

[@nimdewhirst7939]

He’s so fabulously Kiwi

[@AJPickett]

I'll be the first to admit that we have one of the weirdest accents :)

[@jideoforojukwu4263]

Some African influence in D and D. Wish there was more but this is nice .

[@AJPickett]

It's a start.

[@jideoforojukwu4263]

@@AJPickett you think if there's a serious enough push for it they actually do it ? I did a project on African folklore and being African myself I found a shit ton of monsters and derived many ideas from the folklore I found. I'm honestly shocked as to why we haven't gotten a major expansion with strong African influence.

[@nvfury13]

They have a whole continent...I thought it was Toril that had it. There were even articles about how racist it was because they included tribes and civilized societies, just like real life Africa.

[@philiplerch727]

I just want to thank you. You are an awesome beacon of creativity. When will you do a carrion crawler monster video?

[@AJPickett]

oh wow, I just realized I made those videos about how to sculpt one, but never actually did an ecology video on them. I shall have to get one done very soon!

[@KyleJordanGaming]

Yo, the Crimson Fists are in Chult?! Space Marines vs. Dinosaurs? Heck yes! 🤘

[@AJPickett]

My friend Anthony is putting the finishing touches on a crimson fist Chult adventure you will want to pick up.

[@KyleJordanGaming]

@@AJPickett Seriously..? I think I speak for all true men of culture when I say that is something I need in my life. If you’re joking, I’m gonna be *very* disappointed. Don’t tease me like that, AJ! Lol...

[@craptastiko6513]

that maze at 6:15 looks a lot like the maze found on the scalp of that guy in westworld

[@jacen16]

great job as always. Do you think that the heavy canopy in parts would be enough to negate the disadvanage yhat underdark races get for bright light?

[@AJPickett]

Yes, and thanks :)

[@ultimateninjaboi]

I was sold at "Dragon Turtles." X3 I'm considering running a planar campaign for my group, but starting them in some exotic, Material location. May, actually, go with Chult, now. Or at least tweaking it a bit to fit the geoup. X3

[@AJPickett]

There is no reason why the god of chult, Ubtao, could not be a titanically enormous dragon turtle that supports the entire island on it's back.

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

@@AJPickett See the turtle of enormous girth, On his shell he holds the earth

[@seannduncan]

Damn way to call me out for watching DND lore at work and not actually working

[@josephweymon8020]

Great video @AJ Pickett! Would you ever consider doing an entry for both Turmish & Zakhara? I'm familiar with them, but would love to see what you can dig up on them. Thanks. Oh, & I'm not always nerdy, but when I am it's while watching TMG; stay #NERDY my friends. 😎

[@AJPickett]

Possibly!

[@rickeymariu1]

Oh MIGHTY GLUESTICK. I beseech you! Could you do a video on Dracotaurs?

[@rickeymariu1]

I have a player who is playing one (I play 3.5) and I need to know how pleople would treat him.

[@AJPickett]

Sure thing :) Wow, that must be a pretty brutal campaign to have a Dracotaur player character! People would undoubtedly see him as a monster, this is a species which is basically incapable of feeling empathy for others, they may ally with other scalykind, they see true dragons as divine, they revere Tiamat and have a very strong orientation towards dominating through strength, or killing and eating the weak.. so, if by people you mean Dwarves, Elves, Humans and such, they would react with great alarm and probably instant violence, I mean, this is the D&D world, you just can't afford to hesitate when a man eater shows up, and Dracotaurs are man eaters.

[@seanwarren9357]

Dwarves, Elves, Humans? You main light snacks? lol Brutal's just the way I like it.

[@MykeFahrenheit]

Love the video, @aj pickett Where does the information about Underdark creatures in Chult come from? Thanks

[@archam777]

Ive heard it over and over that Ubtao "betrayed" the primordials..........but ive never heard "how" he betrayed them. Is it just stated that he did??? Or is there actual lore that tells us what/how he betrayed them? ~AND~ how did that betrayed give the gods an edge??

[@AJPickett]

I know part of it was sharing with the gods information on some of the most powerful primordial's weaknesses.

[@ne0nmancer]

Some Seath the Scaleless type shit

[@TheKrucifix12]

I love these videos but they're incredibly hard to find on your KZbin

[@AJPickett]

A channel revamp is coming when I hit 100K subs

[@promenthia]

Does anyone know the opening track? would make for some great battle background music

[@arcticdino1650]

Dendar is just D&D Apophis.

[@murderbunnies]

Chult: Where africa meets australia

[@McKennish]

There are South American elements as well

[@holla52holla]

Where did u get all of these amazing pics?

[@atomatopia1]

“Dream of large monsters”

[@Optimushroom]

22:34 Are you absolutely certain you meant the Crimson Fists, and not the Flaming Fists? The former being a Space Marine chapter from the Warhammer 40.000 setting, and the latter being a mercenary company based in Baldur's Gate?

[@AJPickett]

Yeah, they are totally not the same organisation.. I mean, Abeir Toril couldn't possibly be a planet that got lost in a warp storm for a couple of thousand years, leaving Eldar, Humans, Squats, Orks and such stranded together in total isolation... ha ha ha... that's just crazy talk.... *Hides Bolt gun*

[@aaroninfante-levy3612]

Great lore research! 10:58 where is that map from with Port Freedom, Eleder, Stasis Fields, Farsouth Mine, etc?

[@AdamTheCoop1]

why does nobody ever talk about the chaos purple worms from 3.5? that isnt the subject of your video so no fault there obviously but your inclusion of the purple wormy boi reminded me, they were like CR 29 or some insane shit

[@tadasbotyrius2451]

Love your videos, but can you put references in the description below? Thanx

[@Jader7777]

Who's stronger, Aserak or Vecna?

[@AJPickett]

Vecna is a God, Acererak is what happens when a very powerful being tries to become a god, but fails. I will quote a section from the Tome of Magic for you, to lay down the essential Lore on Acererak. "he was born of a union between a human woman and a demon. Despite his hideous deformities, his mother kept him and cared for him until, when he was ten years of age, some superstitious villagers burned down their house. Acererak survived the conflagration because of his demonic heritage, but his mother did not. In his diary Acererak recalls that incident as the event that propelled him on the path toward necromancy and revenge against humanity. Acererak became a powerful wizard. As he grew older and saw the specter of death looming, he sought out and completed the ritual for becoming a lich. After he assumed his undead form, his power continued to grow for centuries more. The diary relates, however, that Acererak eventually felt the forces animating his undead body begin to wane. Knowing that final oblivion was near, he decided to build himself a secret tomb. "Only those of keenest luck and greatest skill will win through to me," the diary read. "There, they shall receive a magnificent reward for their persistence." The diary, the Tomb of Horrors, and the supposed reward were all parts of an elaborate ruse designed to bring powerful adventurers into the portion of the tomb that Acererak -- by then a powerful demilich -- called his Fortress of Conclusion. In truth, Acererak had devised a ritual that he hoped would merge his consciousness with the Negative Energy Plane through the sacrifice of potent spirits. Had he actually accomplished this goal, he could have assumed control of any undead on any plane and gained godlike powers as well as immortality. But the infamy of the Tomb of Horrors drew more than wealth-hungry thrill-seekers intent on gaining the reward promised in Acererak's diary. Supplicants also came. Necromancers questing for knowledge, seekers of eternal life, and lost souls in search of purpose traveled to the tomb to learn what they could of the dark arts. In time, the supplicants became worshipers, and they stayed to dwell near the object of their devotion. Eventually, a settlement called Skull City sprang up around the entrance to Acererak's Tomb of Horrors. Some of the heroes Acererak lured to his tomb proved even more powerful and ingenious than he had anticipated. After fighting their way through Skull City and the Tomb of Horrors, they made their way to the demilich's Fortress of Conclusion. At the last possible moment, they surmised Acererak's plan and destroyed the artifact that was crucial to his apotheosis. They struck down Acererak and shattered his phylactery. Normally, such an action would have sent Acererak's spirit to Abyss, but the worship of the Skull City residents lent him a semblance of divinity; his desire to merge with the Negative Energy Plane proved stronger than the pull of the Abyss. Unfortunately for Acererak, souls do not travel to the Negative Energy Plane upon death. Since his spirit had no clear destination, it went nowhere, becoming a vestige divorced from all planes."

[@Jader7777]

Welp, that answers that one thoroughly.

[@dragonlord498]

what about sammaster and Acererak?

[@AJPickett]

Samaster?! That son of a... he discovered the means by which a dragon becomes a dracolich, for that alone, if he was still around, and not destroyed after he became a lich, I would go kill him myself.As for the question of, if, they were both active and faced off against each other, who would win? I would put my money on Acererak, but it would be one close fight I think.

[@dragonlord498]

not only that but he recreated and altered the dragon rage curse (that made it personal you don't try and blackmail dragons). also it wouldn't be surprising if he created a few other undead dragon variants like apparently he at least had in some part creating a dragon vampire not sure if it was the first or not though. he was also at one point selected to be a chosen of mystra. too bad he wasn't placed into the open grave book considering he likely one of the most infamous and powerful lichs in the forgotten realms.

[@Babidi111]

- would good-berries take care of all the dehydration issues?

[@Jaspertenpenny]

I love Chult, as a setting, I want to run an adventure here that doesn’t involve the tomb of annihilation. Not interested in doing that style of dungeon crawl, but I love the Indiana Jones style jungle adventure

[@keiths81ca]

You could have the party look for the Ring of Winter. Possible patrons are: the Zhentarium, Harpers, Church of Auril, Frost Giants, Xanthar, Jaraxle.

[@comicfan92]

hey AJ, would you consider doing a video on Sindpawn champions?

[@jeremygriffin620]

Thanks as always! More info for my hype!

[@AJPickett]

Thanks Jeremy :)

[@diogonetto269]

Wow what's that picture at 2:00 of?

[@AJPickett]

A god of some sort, I think it might be from Magic the Gathering, but I am probably wrong.

[@gamingwithinfamous]

Where the heck do I look for Were-Moles? lol.

[@AJPickett]

In the ground

[@gamingwithinfamous]

@@AJPickett Lets see you make a video about that one. What they don''t tell you about Weremoles. Oh, you can learn about all kinds of creatures but God forbid we talk about the dreaded Waremolle. lmao. I mean come on...

[@digunder14]

last i checked the batari goblins were green, not red

[@andrewbarber8933]

I love these can we do Kara tut next

[@AJPickett]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4rKopSqraZ7hJY Kara Tur (first overview, will have to do more on this area)

[@andrewbarber8933]

ha awesome gonna go do that now.

[@simmonslucas]

TMG can you suggest some source material for Chult, besides this video? (I refer my players to your videos as sources) I really like Chult, I had no idea that it existed. I had been in the process of creating something that feels very similar, but if it is already made...

[@trenthobson2756]

Could I get a link the original picture used as the thumbnail? I would just screen shot it, but I wanna see it without the word "Chult" obscuring anything.

[@thorild69]

Dream of large monsters? As you wish.

[@christopherjustice6411]

Kiwi 🥝 🇳🇿

[@ernestlam5632]

Sounds like MTG Ixalan

[@anathema1828]

I'm feelin' HOT HOT HOT!

[@itzybitzyspyder]

*flaming fist

[@jackrabbit4907]

No Amazones? :(

[@AJPickett]

Anchorome on Toril would be a better location for them.

[@jackrabbit4907]

@@AJPickett thats just north from where i live,Maztica! I roll with the dog people in the desert.

[@charliehoke1956]

You mispronounce Uptow

[@AJPickett]

Actually, no I didn't, I am aware of the way Chris Perkins says it, so, I guess there are a couple of ways to say it.

[@haywoodyoudome]

Chult is like Detroit. Avoid going there unless you absolutely must.

[@AJPickett]

Oh I dunno, aside from the Dragon Turtle the main port city is pretty exciting.

[@goldenbrigain7031]

chult sounds like africa. Just a bit. also what the hells with that stupid rule about people not being able to practice magic as freely? Something to do with not letting the people advance magically to allow the place to reman dangerous for adventurers?

[@ryancparker]

I don’t understand your take on dinosaurs and how they’re different. If dinosaurs were alive today we would be domesticating them.

[@AJPickett]

I don't see you plowing your field using Alligators... jokes, jokes... Dinosaurs on Toril are different to Earth Dinosaurs.

[@AncientRylanor69]

🌻🪴🪴