Dehydration & Disease

Exploring Chult requires plenty of water to stay hydrated. The water found in rivers and on the ground is unfit for drinking unless it is boiled first. If they have a rain catcher, characters can use it to collect rain and then store the water in portable containers.

At the end of each day, any character who hasn’t drunk at least 2 gallons of fresh water must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer 1 level of exhaustion. The saving throw is made with disadvantage if the character is wearing medium armor, heavy armor, or heavy clothing. Characters traveling at a fast pace, instead of a normal or slow pace, take a –5 penalty on their saving throws against dehydration.

Characters traveling with beasts of burden and other animals must keep them fed and hydrated as well. Dinosaurs and other creatures native to Chult can forage for food and drink as long as they are in their native habitat.

Diseases

The following diseases can affect giants and humanoids exploring the jungles of Chult.

Mad Monkey Fever

Beware the mist that creeps through the jungles of Chult. Contact with this thin, blue, odorless mist can infect you with mad monkey fever.

Shivering Sickness

Biting insects in the jungles and marshes of Chult carry the shivering sickness. The easiest protection against it is a coating of insect-repelling salve on all exposed skin.

Throat Leeches

Minuscule parasites known as throat leeches infect the water in Chult’s forests, swamps, and rivers. Anyone that swallows tainted water may become infested with throat leeches. Immediate symptoms include throat inflammation and shortness of breath. Causes fatigue and exhaustion.

Explorers can avoid contracting throat leeches by drinking only rainwater or water that’s been boiled or magically purified.