Ghosts of Saltmarsh is an adventure module anthology for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game . I cannot find a way to add things in a way that makes it work automatically, that has that detail of the feat "activate" once level 5 is reached. Chapter 2 of Ghosts of Saltmarsh doesn't describe when to level characters. The Ghosts of Saltmarsh Adventure book releases May 21st and it is full of adventures and possible plots. Each episode ends on a dramatic cliffhanger for the next episode to follow. They can be run individually or together. A number of others are converted, new to 5e but not new to D&D. Based on comments Ive seen by other reviewers, it appears that the actual print of the cover looks flatter and duller, too. You can read all of these articles here: Like those articles, this article contains spoilers for Ghosts of Saltmarsh. [11], For Bleeding Cool, Gavin Sheehan wrote that "Ghosts of Saltmarsh is one of the best put-together books in the entire run of 5th Edition. I like that various significant failures are possible without automatically going to catastrophic failure. On the Sea Ghost, the adventurers also meet a party of lizardfolk, and find other clues that suggest busting the smuggling ring isnt the end of Saltmarshs problems. Saltmarsh has three competing factions that strive for influence around town, and two of them have direct ties to outside Greyhawk forces. You could also let the players know that anything in the Player's Handbook is fine but they should bring up any other options with you before they pick it so together you can decide if it fits what's going on. Ghosts of Saltmarsh also introduced new rules for ships, including full statblocks for several kinds of boats and naval vessels. The tragedy of Barovia suffuses all of the adventure's material, transporting the players to an otherworldly realm. After returning with their intelligence, the characters are rewarded, but of course there part in the plan isnt done: the alliance want them to join the attack on the fortress as a strike team so its back to the stronghold they go! The factions provide connective tissue between the adventures in Ghosts of Saltmarsh, but players can easily approach the chapters of the books as standalone adventures or pull Saltmarsh out of Greyhawk entirely without any significant issue". Session 13: Chapter 6 from the book (conclusion/assault). GoS has some of the bones of one of those, but it isn't quite there. All of the adventures are well done, thought out, and some stand the test of time. If you enjoy this article, check out Sly Flourish's bestselling books, weekly newsletter, YouTube videos, twice-weekly podcast, and fan-supported Patreon, all offering tips to help you run awesome D&D games. I recommend this product: I think your DM will get a lot of value out of the content and should enjoy running the adventurers within for you. With detailed maps and NPCs and plot hooks galore, DMs are given all the tools they need to bring Saltmarsh to life way beyond the realms of the seven featured adventures. As with other official titles, two covers exist: the limited edition cover (available for pre-orders and limited quantities in local game stores) and the regular cover. This first adventure is APL 6 designed to be run before chapter 6. This is the first campaign book Ive read through properly, but I understand these rosters also appeared in previous campaign books. Well, first there's Saltmarsh. And Final enemy is level 7. A vocal subset of fans have been asking for the return of Greyhawk for a while now. Like my post from the Sea Ghost Loot, I went through the first half of The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and labelled where all valuables are located at in the mansion. Its worth noting that if youre playing in a world other than Greyhawk and you intend to run the book as a campaign rather than pick stand-alone adventures from it, you might find it difficult to include some adventures in your campaign. It takes a lot of work to mesh singular modules into a cohesive adventure, but [Mike] Mearls and Kate Welch (who served as the lead designers on this one) did a fantastic job. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. DMs looking for their next published campaign have a lot to look forward to if they choose GoS. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". When I run The Ghosts of Saltmarsh, I'm fairly confident my current group will NOT burn down the house; they've heard that story and had a SMDH reaction to it (plus my wife played in that game, too). You also might be the sort of DM who lets players choose anything and come what may. Completing both parts is expected to take 4-6 characters from 1st to 3rd level. The rise of all these dark powers may be a sign of a coming apocalypse? Its also a content pack for Roll20. What plots should you include? Youre unlikely to encounter a galleon which is intended for fishing, for example. Drizzly Patches must be an unfortunate character indeed, and the latter two sound more like magical girls than grizzled sailors! A session zero is vital to a healthy campaign but we would all rather be playing than going over rules, expectations, and character creation so these sessions . Be wary that determining the clerics follow Orcus or Tharizdun make a diplomatic solution to the adventure even less likely, if the characters figure out who exactly the clerics worship. The degree of success also affects the rewards granted to the characters by the Saltmarsh council at the end of the adventure. Mr. Dory a named NPC, hes an unusual variant of skum (which also appear in this appendix). This is an interesting product, because it falls somewhere in the middle of previous adventure books in terms of its presentation and purpose. Heres what Wizards of the Coast have to say about what this product offers: Ghosts of Saltmarsh (hereafter referred to as GoS) runs to 256 pages, which is the typical length of a Fifth Edition product by Wizards of the Coast. [1][4][5] Ghosts of Saltmarsh was released on May 21, 2019. These NPCs are all fairly interesting, and the random tables of events for each faction are a useful addition for making return visits to the hub town exciting. Slaves present in the fortress add an additional complication for moral characters, who may hate the idea of leaving the slaves even if they may be rescued in the subsequent attack. The Final Enemy is the last adventure of the trilogy focused on the sahuagin threat which began in The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and continued on in Danger at Dunwater. However if you want to keep them in Tier 1 (level 1-4) Do Salvage Operation instead of Final Enemy. Id consider it worthwhile prep to redo the roster with better organised information. I have the DnDBeyond version of the content, which means I cant comment on the physical quality of the book or its interior design, but if you already own official fifth edition products in hardback you should already know what kind of quality to expect. data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAKAAAAB4CAYAAAB1ovlvAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAw5JREFUeF7t181pWwEUhNFnF+MK1IjXrsJtWVu7HbsNa6VAICGb/EwYPCCOtrrci8774KG76 . This seems pretty redundant: whatever room the characters are in, Ill be looking at the actual description of that room which contains this exact same information. If you ever need such a rule, at least you know you can find it on page 9 of, Type of ship (taken from the sample ships earlier in the appendix). The adventure delivers a clever and well-executed twist, this first half serving as a fine introduction to new players or as a place for existing groups to start afresh at level one. And sure, there are people who will look at this and think 'I dont feel like going out to sea' for their campaign, and thats okay because some of these can be adapted easily to fit what you need if you feel like taking your DMs tools to them". Time to turn back if you dont want spoilers! See Full PDF Download PDF. In a session zero, our players can build their characters together while also discussing the story of the campaign. Id love to run GoS! If you like picking up new sources of monsters to help diversify your own adventures, theres good value in this appendix for you. This one-page guide, influenced heavily by Matt Coleville's video on the value of player guides, is intended to give the players everything they need to understand where the campaign is going and how their character might fit into it. Even though her country is led by an evil half-demon demigod Keoland and Saltmarsh accept their business for the money it brings, potentially leading . A fortified lighthouse on Abbey Isle makes the shipping lanes safer and can also give Saltmarsh advanced warning of invasion by sea. Drowned sailors stir to unnatural life, animated by dark magic and sent forth in search of revenge. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. If you want to run every adventure you may have your work cut out either to find a different part of the world where all the adventures fit, or to homebrew necessary changes to the geography of a region. [10], Cameron Kunzelman, for Paste, wrote that the book is "geared at more veteran players" and that he "found it very cool to read through". Note that a similar sidebar gives localisation guidance for each adventure in this book. In addition, the DM is tracking the sahuagins alert level, the raising of which has consequences for the battle. The effort involved to rework what I perceive as the adventures flaws could be better spent homebrewing my own adventure that actually ties into the sahuagin arc. The Azure Sea Random Encounters table would make a good substitute for the Open Water tables, and it comes with ready-made pirate crews. . . Its worth remembering that there are also two random encounter tables in Chapter 1: Saltmarsh. $19.99. It hints that some of the adventures in the book might make ideal side quests for campaign set in a port town (eg. And buy the first module. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Ghosts of Saltmarsh is an anthology of updated modules and adventures from previous editions, including three adventures from the classic 'U' series. To give you some idea, its perfectly possible to get results like Drizzly Patches, Silky Angel, and Pretty Charm. These guards are alerted by noise in 1. Just arrived The Wasteland Wanderer Character Record! comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment Shiroiken Additional comment actions. This appendix includes statblocks for a number of creatures. Check em out if you love boats". Saltmarsh is 1. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. If you do the work to flesh them out the three adventure seeds provided, its feasible to significantly expand your GoS campaign with a second major arc. Interspersed throughout the locations are plenty of adventure hooks: for instance, the docks have their own section which includes a random table of rumours that might be overheard there. In play, Id suggest using these numbers as a baseline but introducing a small amount of variance to the price and construction time for upgrades slightly based on current market conditions, availability of materials and skilled workers, rarity of the technology, etc. Fortunately, an awareness of this seems to have factored in at the design stage: indeed, the adventure references divination and commune specifically as options for characters who have lost the trail. They do really well, managing to map out a lot of the levels and freeing Borgas and Kysh. The mayor of Saltmarsh was NOT happy about them burning down the house, so I sent them to the Isle of Dread instead. Production Values. An adventure for levels 5-8, the adventure is told in a series of short episodes requiring about 2-3 hours to play each. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Honestly, I think the standard cover is more attractive and the alternate cover looks too dark. The three adventures of the core Saltmarsh trilogy has the characters face off against sahuagin, who worship the shark god Sekolah. I like this section a lot for what it is. These arent given names, you could use other tables for that: theyre meant to be sailor nicknames. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dungeons & Dragons 5E Ghosts Of Saltmarsh D&D 5th Edition at the best online prices at eBay! Saltmarsh gets a whole chapter, of course, but if a DM wants to do so they also have enough information about Uskarn (the village from Tammerauts Fate) and the Styes (from the adventure of the same name) to run additional adventures based in and around either location. This is easily the beating heart of an exploration game, and it doesnt look like it would get repetitive in a hurry".[13]. Youll either love or hate the maps in GoS. Ghosts of Saltmarsh (hereafter referred to as GoS) runs to 256 pages, which is the typical length of a Fifth Edition product by Wizards of the Coast.It has a recommended retail price of $49.95 in the US, and 38.99 in the UK. If the characters forge on and fight the clerics, the abbey ruins are essentially a straightforward dungeon crawl. When the characters arrive, diplomats from several groups of aquatic races are present for negotiations to join an alliance against the sahuagin. The cannibal cultists of Lolth have left no written records which might shed further light on events. The mysterious island section of this appendix describes and provides tables for generating a variety of uncharted isles ripe for adventure. Session Zeros are a great time to relax with our friends before the adventure begins. Wild islands are those on which nature and wild magic reign. Have a question or want to contact me? The D&D Beyond version of Ghosts of Saltmarsh includes high resolution versions of both of these maps along with high-resolution maps of all of the locations in the whole book. Upon encountering the clerics, the adventure might branch from its original path: although it is very difficult to do so, the characters may be able to avoid fighting the clerics and might decide to help them to the mainland so they can get help to rebuild the abbey (if they agree to this and arent deceiving the clerics in order to deport them, they obviously cannot complete their original contract). The Saltmarsh village and regional maps can be printed on 17x24 for about $3 each at your local Staples or Fedex print center and they look great on the table when you're running your session zero and describing the locations. As youd probably expect, there is very little content aimed at players. Ghosts of Saltmarsh features adventures from Dungeon magazine and the TSR UK staff, all connected through their nautical themes. The seven adventures can be played through for characters 1st through 11 th levels, not exactly as a single campaign, though advice is provided for how to do that. The first, Avernus, fell apart. Heres how the adventure site roster currently works: its a numerically ordered list of rooms or areas. The third setting Wizards have chosen to provide conversion notes for came as a complete surprise to me: Mystara, another classic setting from the second edition era. Someone might recognize her as one of two adventurers, brother and sister, who came to town with dreams of finding the alchemist's gold at the haunted mansion only to never be found again. After the island broke into war between two factions, one group escaped the conflict using the ship. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. While Xendros is in Saltmarsh on behalf of her kingdom to buy preserved fish in bulk to feed her nation, she's more interested in the trading of magic items and acquiring an Apparatus of Kwalish. Blood, Salt, & Bones contains 25 different statblocks for. Additionally, in pitching this I also mentioned The Sunless Citadel as an . Props can help make the ethereal ghosts of our campaign begin to feel solid and real. They then must defend it agaisnt a horde of drowned ones, before venturing underwater to face the drowned ones leader and seal the Pit of Hatred. It offers some history of the region; the notable details of Saltmarsh such as inns, taverns, and other landmarks; their potential backgrounds; and, most importantly, the central theme for their characters: Above all you are companions who, together, seek to bring safety and prosperity to the village of Saltmarsh. There are no encounters preceding arrival, so Id recommend either skipping past the journey or spicing it up the journey. To help diversify your own adventures, theres good value in this.... Lot for what it is full of adventures and possible plots the rise of all these dark powers be! Good value in this appendix ) NPC, hes an unusual variant of skum which. Town, and Pretty Charm was not happy about them burning down the house, so id either. 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