Ghosts of Satlmarsh: already out?

[Unoriginal]

Title says it: is the "Ghosts of Saltmarsh" book out already?

I'm hyped for it, though I think WotC made a mistake announcing Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus a couple of day before GoS's release. People only have a limited amount of hype and money to spend.

Anyway. time for salty ghosts.

[Lyracian]

I believe the answer to your question is yes (depending on what time zone you live in) as release date is 21st May.

[Unoriginal]

If anyone already has the book, would you mind telling us more about the content?

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Horror-themed adventures in the style of Tales from the Yawning Portal. It's not a sourcebook for running a pirate campaign or having pirate-y adventures, though it does have a bunch of nautical crunch. The focus of the adventures is Lovecraftian weird horror, and some of them have interesting methods. One, I think, is intended to be a stealth-based adventure, and another has the players as diplomats. I'm really interested to sit down with it, Princes of the Apocalypse and the starspawn from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and try to put together a really tight cult-based weird horror campaign and sand off some of PotA's weak bits.

[KorvinStarmast]

Title says it: is the "Ghosts of Saltmarsh" book out already?

I'm hyped for it, though I think WotC made a mistake announcing Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus a couple of day before GoS's release. People only have a limited amount of hype and money to spend.

Anyway. time for salty ghosts. I ordered it, have not received it.

[Sigreid]

Does it have enough ship crunch to actually handle ships without totally winging it? That's what 8m most interested in.

[2D8HP]

If anyone already has the book, would you mind telling us more about the content?


Does it have enough ship crunch to actually handle ships without totally winging it? That's what 8m most interested in.


I bought it and brought it home last week but I've only glanced at it, but so far it seems AWESOME!

First off the setting is Greyhawk! There's even a dot on a map for "The Tower of Zenopus" which was the 'sample dungeon' in the first D&D rules I had back in '78 which warms my heart emmensely!

The first chapter details the base setting with some interesting NPC's and NEW BACKGROUNDS for PC's, including 'Fisher" and "Shipwright' plus some more (IIRC as I'm at work and the book is under my nightstand right now), many plans of boats and ships are in the book and there's some new rules for nautical stuff, I've only fully read a few pages so far but I like what I've seen, the recommended levels are one through 12, and it suggests interposing the adventures with those from Tales of the Yawning Portal which seems a fine idea, in fact I suggest that you buy both books and DM sessions from them at the Gilman Street Brewery, ale's on me!

[Unoriginal]

ale's on me!

Be careful saying that, you're risking an Alestorm.

[GlenSmash!]

My DM just got it and shared it with my party on DndBeyond. He's requested we stay away form the adventure itself but are welcome to take a look at the Ship rules.

I will return and report as soon as I give them a look.

[NRSASD]

Just got my copy! Gave it a blisteringly quick perusal, but it looks intriguing.

The monsters in the back seem to be a pretty even mix between different ranks of a faction (lizardfolk, drowned, kaolinths, bullywugs, and sahuagin all getting more variants) and unique monsters (vampiric jade statues, skeleton behemoths, and skum just to name a few). I'd say 20% of them are repeats from other books, but the other 80% are unique.

Just one page of magic items, all aquatic themed. Two new backgrounds apparently?

Saltmarsh has a magic store. Could be optional, not sure.

The sailing rules seem to treat the boat as a single large living organism, immune to poison, psychic, and a bunch of mental conditions. It gives advice on how to handle crew, and suggests abstracting them during boarding actions.

Disclaimer: I literally flipped through the book for 2 minutes while pumping fuel for my car. Take everything I say with a generous helping of salt because I literally wasn't reading it.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Question: How different is the Saltmarsh of this book from the Saltmarsh described in 3.5's Dungeon Master's Guide II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master%27s_Guide_II)? I'm wondering if scrounging up the old 3.5 book would enhance my experience of the 5e one.

[Lunali]

Does it have enough ship crunch to actually handle ships without totally winging it? That's what 8m most interested in.

There are a few prebuilt ships, some potential upgrades, rules for crew in and out of combat, and rules for ship combat and travel. Would have to actually play with them a bit to know how good they are, but they definitely exist.

[Merudo]

The monsters in the back seem to be a pretty even mix between different ranks of a faction (lizardfolk, drowned, kaolinths, bullywugs, and sahuagin all getting more variants) and unique monsters (vampiric jade statues, skeleton behemoths, and skum just to name a few). I'd say 20% of them are repeats from other books, but the other 80% are unique.


Are any of them of the "Beast" type?

If so, I'll get the book to add these beast forms to my Druid guides.

[Sigreid]

There are a few prebuilt ships, some potential upgrades, rules for crew in and out of combat, and rules for ship combat and travel. Would have to actually play with them a bit to know how good they are, but they definitely exist.

Thanks. The info in this thread is pushing me off the fence on buying it.

[HappyDaze]

Are any of them of the "Beast" type?

If so, I'll get the book to add these beast forms to my Druid guides.

There's a sea lion.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Are any of them of the "Beast" type?

If so, I'll get the book to add these beast forms to my Druid guides.

There are a few beasts! The giant sea eel is CR 1/2, the sea lion is CR 1/2, the giant white moray eel is CR 2, and the giant coral snake is CR 4. There's also a sahuagin hatchling swarm at CR 3, which is classified as a beast for some reason, and a unique CR 1/8 awakened crab named Barnacle Bess, which belongs to an NPC.

[KorvinStarmast]

Title says it: is the "Ghosts of Saltmarsh" book out already?
I got mine. Yay. Began reading it. (Wow, small print again!)
I'll get back to you in a week after I've read the whole thing. I'll be running the first adventure with a biweekly group starting in June.

[NRSASD]

Just finished the section on Saltmarsh town. I really like how they set it up! Even though this is just a hub-town, there's 3 major factions (one evil, 2 neutral) who all have reasonable agendas and resources. Rather than your classic good vs evil, law vs chaos, nature vs civilization, it's a much more grounded struggle between the low-key themes of wanting to unify with the neighboring kingdom or sticking to the old ways of low-key smuggling. Both sides have all alignments arrayed on them, so it's a good, complicated struggle.

It's also dripping with plot hooks, which is awesome!

[deljzc]

Considering I spent most of the winter months re-writing the original U1: Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh for 5th edition so my son and his friends could play. And considering I didn't really want or feel to do the same to U2 and U3, I might buy this just to mix into what I do, or fully incorporate it except for the U1 adventure (the house and smuggler ship).

I'm a huge old-school Greyhawk fan too, so that's going to be my setting for as long as I play D&D anymore. Just can't give it up.

[darknite]

Got mine today with the alt cover. Perused the appendices but that's about it. Looks okay.

[8wGremlin]

Got mine today with the alt cover. Perused the appendices but that's about it. Looks okay.

Ok! Ok! I think we can do better than that!
It has the Charles atlas seal of approval.


- sorry couldn’t help myself.

[Sigreid]

Ok! Ok! I think we can do better than that!
It has the Charles atlas seal of approval.


- sorry couldn’t help myself.

Nice one Frankie.

[allthingslich]

I've done a full review of it if you're on the fence and need a bit more info.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh - Review (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqoO54nVA1I&t=548s)

I really like the back of the book content (ships and water based adventures) as well as the details provided on the village of Saltmarsh itself.

[Unoriginal]

I've done a full review of it if you're on the fence and need a bit more info.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh - Review (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqoO54nVA1I&t=548s)

I really like the back of the book content (ships and water based adventures) as well as the details provided on the village of Saltmarsh itself.

What can you tell us about the new monsters, if you don't mind me asking?

[NRSASD]

I've done a full review of it if you're on the fence and need a bit more info.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh - Review (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqoO54nVA1I&t=548s)

I really like the back of the book content (ships and water based adventures) as well as the details provided on the village of Saltmarsh itself.

Thanks for the review! I enjoyed

[Vogie]

My gf got me a copy of it and gave it to me last night, I'm really excited at looking over it.

[2D8HP]

I got mine. Yay. Began reading it. (Wow, small print again!)
I'll get back to you in a week after I've read the whole thing. I'll be running the first adventure with a biweekly group starting in June.


Your players are a lucky crew!


...I'm a huge old-school Greyhawk fan too, so that's going to be my setting for as long as I play D&D anymore. Just can't give it up.


It's not just Greyhawk, it's old Greyhawk, there's a brief mention of "The Great Kingdom" and the "Overking"!


What can you tell us about the new monsters, if you don't mind me asking?


There's a lot of them, mostly nautical themed but not all
Vampiric Jade Statue
A large exquisitely carved jade statue of a vampire guards the tunnels in Isle of the Abbey, having been brought to life by dark magic. Its stone fangs draw blood that it uses to work a curse on its victims.
Large construct unsigned
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 114 (12d10 ÷ 48)
Speed 30ft.
.....
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The statue can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creative's turn. The statue regains spent legendary actiond at the start if its turn

Bite. The statue makes one bite attack.
Blood Reaper. All creature currently cursed by the statue and within 20 feet of it take 5 neurotic damage.
Move. The statue moves up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.

[Envyus]

Skum have a cool new design.

https://media-waterdeep.cursecdn.com/avatars/thumbnails/5912/479/1000/1000/636918877666194101.png

[Âmesang]

It's not just Greyhawk, it's old Greyhawk, there's a brief mention of "The Great Kingdom" and the "Overking"!
I had just asked on Canonfire! what the module's starting year could be, and I suppose that certainly narrows it down; I recall hearing ages ago that they wanted to reboot the WORLD OF GREYHAWK® back to 576 CY, and as an ardent fan of 3e… I'm honestly not against that.

Hell, when contemplating converting my plane-hopping 3e sorceress, Quintessa, to 5e, I had thought of her visiting Toril just as the Spellplague hits and ending up frozen by a variant temporal stasis. Eventually she's freed only to find that not only has a 100+ years passed, but the temporal connection between Oerth and Toril has altered so that she'd return the Oerth of "the past" — possibly an Oerth where she was never born.

[kenposan]

Does it have enough ship crunch to actually handle ships without totally winging it? That's what 8m most interested in.

It's essentially the Ships and Sea UA. I haven't compared them to see what changes, if any, where made.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

I had just asked on Canonfire! what the module's starting year could be, and I suppose that certainly narrows it down; I recall hearing ages ago that they wanted to reboot the WORLD OF GREYHAWK® back to 576 CY, and as an ardent fan of 3e… I'm honestly not against that.

Hell, when contemplating converting my plane-hopping 3e sorceress, Quintessa, to 5e, I had thought of her visiting Toril just as the Spellplague hits and ending up frozen by a variant temporal stasis. Eventually she's freed only to find that not only has a 100+ years passed, but the temporal connection between Oerth and Toril has altered so that she'd return the Oerth of "the past" — possibly an Oerth where she was never born.

I don't know anything about Greyhawk lore, but Iuz is around, Keoland has been defeated in its wars of conquest and Iuz's kingdom and Keoland have a neutral-to-amiable relationship, if that helps narrow things down any. I believe Kimbertos Skotti is the king of Keoland, which would put it between 564 and 598 IIRC.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I don't know anything about Greyhawk lore, but Iuz is around, Keoland has been defeated in its wars of conquest and Iuz's kingdom and Keoland have a neutral-to-amiable relationship, if that helps narrow things down any. I believe Kimbertos Skotti is the king of Keoland, which would put it between 564 and 598 IIRC.
So is that "older" than the version of Saltmarsh we're shown in 3.5's Dungeon Master's Guide II? If it is, I'll feel safe to skip trying to hunt down a copy of it, since it's out of print.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

So is that "older" than the version of Saltmarsh we're shown in 3.5's Dungeon Master's Guide II? If it is, I'll feel safe to skip trying to hunt down a copy of it, since it's out of print.

No idea, I'm afraid; I never looked at Saltmarsh in DMG II, and don't know enough about Greyhawk to say one way or the other. If you want, I'll try to find my DMG II copy this afternoon after work and look at some of the similarities and differences.

[Âmesang]

I took a peak through the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide II and found this:

"Longtime D&D fans no doubt recognize the town of Saltmarsh, which was originally introduced in 1981 in dungeon module U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. This module was followed by two more adventures, U2: Danger at Dunwater and U3: The Final Enemy … The town of Saltmarsh presented here exists several years after the events in those adventures."

I'm kind of a pedant for such things, even when my group's DM is extraordinarily lax… though with my luck we'll just end up playing some FORGOTTEN REALMS® version just out of laziness. :smalltongue: I would like to peak through the book just to see what the new factions are like (assuming they're as detailed as the Realms'). Considering I'm the primary note-taker, though, I'd like to include something for a year just for posterity.

EDIT: If we were to take a LIVING GREYHAWK™ approach, then since the DMGII came out in 2005 that should correspond to 595 CY. Of course if Overking Ivid V is still in power, then the year would likely be on or before 586 CY (which I imagine would line up better with the older modules).

[Spriteless]

Question: How different is the Saltmarsh of this book from the Saltmarsh described in 3.5's Dungeon Master's Guide II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master%27s_Guide_II)? I'm wondering if scrounging up the old 3.5 book would enhance my experience of the 5e one.Veeeery different. DMG2 Saltmarsh is like, a small, well developed city, with a theater and other civilized stuff, as I recall. This Saltmarsh is a smaller smuggling outpost fishing village, with a bit of a schizm in local politics (which could be charted on the chaos/law axis) that means the PCs could influence the future of the settlement. Very intriguing, in a blue collar way.

I mean, I still love the DMG2 for walking one through making a city, though.

[Unoriginal]

Veeeery different. DMG2 Saltmarsh is like, a small, well developed city, with a theater and other civilized stuff, as I recall. This Saltmarsh is a smaller smuggling outpost fishing village, with a bit of a schizm in local politics (which could be charted on the chaos/law axis) that means the PCs could influence the future of the settlement. Very intriguing, in a blue collar way.

I mean, I still love the DMG2 for walking one through making a city, though.

I know a D&D Livestream that's about to go to Saltmarsh, with for adventurers an half-elf narcissistic alcoholic Myrkul Cleric, an half-elf Bard and wizard-wannabr who spent 10 years transformed into a raven, a Tabaxi Rogue who once stole a chief's crown in the middle of his tribe, and a Warforged Fighter who still hasn't figured everything about not being at war or how to live in this different world.

I fully expect them to take the city over or burn it to the ground semi-accidentally within a few sessions.

[Spriteless]

What is this stream? I want to see people try to burn a swamp down to the ground.

[Unoriginal]

What is this stream? I want to see people try to burn a swamp down to the ground.

Well, it's called "Roll20 presents:...", DMed by Adam Koebel, but the Saltmarsh stuff is supposed to start on the 27th.

Also they might not burn the town. Or the town might burn without it being their fault.

EDIT:
Here's a twitter post about it:

https://twitter.com/roll20app/status/1131696364419727361

[Puh Laden]

For anyone who has it, did they make the secret of "The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh" more sinister?

Because: when I ran U1 today in AD&D, my players ended up making an alliance with the smugglers; the party occupies the upper mansion and the smugglers carry on about their business (they were able to convince Sanbalet that having the mansion be legitimately occupied was a better way to deter unwanted eyes than just making it look haunted.) Of course, part of the reason they were able to do that is because in the papers that related to the purchase of the mansion, it was decided that "of course, the deed is there". And they already had a council member's agreement that they could keep anything in the mansion. And they have no guilt because none are lawful and the smugglers are literally only committing tax evasion -- they're not evil cultists, necromancers, slavers, or anything else like that. Of course, if the council finds out, they'll be in trouble for sure.

[Âmesang]

Also, does anyone know if this'll come with a Player's/DM's Guide like previous big 5e modules? I'd like to see if they have an official write up for the new factions (at least done up in the same format as before, just to keep things consistent).

[Unoriginal]

Also, does anyone know if this'll come with a Player's/DM's Guide like previous big 5e modules? I'd like to see if they have an official write up for the new factions (at least done up in the same format as before, just to keep things consistent).

Not sure what you mean? There is a section describing factions, backgrounds, downtime activities, etc, based in the Saltmarsh region.

[Merudo]

There's a sea lion.


There are a few beasts! The giant sea eel is CR 1/2, the sea lion is CR 1/2, the giant white moray eel is CR 2, and the giant coral snake is CR 4. There's also a sahuagin hatchling swarm at CR 3, which is classified as a beast for some reason, and a unique CR 1/8 awakened crab named Barnacle Bess, which belongs to an NPC.

Thank you! I'll be added these beasts shortly.

[Âmesang]

…but is Bess a monstrous crab (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a)?


Not sure what you mean? There is a section describing factions, backgrounds, downtime activities, etc, based in the Saltmarsh region.
I meant something more akin to this — the Adventurers' League Player Guide for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist/Dungeon of the Mad Mage
https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/ALPGv82.pdf

I'm considering picking up Saltmarsh just 'cause it's GREYHAWK®, but there's also the chance my group'll run it and I don't want to risk peeking ahead. :smalltongue: Granted, kind of my fault for using a form-fillable pdf character sheet to get a character ready ahead-of-time.

[Kane0]

Just picked up my copy yesterday, haven't had a chance to read through it but looks solid enough from a skim.

[2D8HP]

…I meant something more akin to this — the Adventurers' League Player Guide for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist/Dungeon of the Mad Mage
https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/ALPGv82.pdf....


That's neat!

I've never seen anything like that (but the last "Adventurer's League" game I played in was over two years ago, I played "Lander Stormwind" an Urchin background human Fighter and....)

[Âmesang]

So I just picked it up, and after a quick page-by-page of scan with my eyes… I found information on the three factions, but not presented in the way they are in most Adventures' League player guides; fortunately the Greyhawk Grognard (http://www.greyhawkgrognard.com/2014/08/01/factions-of-greyhawk-scarlet-brotherhood/) has a detailed write-up for the Scarlet Brotherhood, which (along with Faerûn's factions) should provide a great template for the Loyalists and Traditionalists.

I also made myself a faction logo template, so I'm thinking of something based on the nations' respective heraldry.



https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/dnd/books/forgotten%20realms/factions/army%20of%20the%20black%20spider%20%280%29.png https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/dnd/books/forgotten%20realms/factions/army%20of%20the%20black%20spider%20%281%29.png https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/dnd/books/forgotten%20realms/factions/army%20of%20the%20black%20spider%20%282%29.png

[Envyus]

For anyone who has it, did they make the secret of "The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh" more sinister?

Because: when I ran U1 today in AD&D, my players ended up making an alliance with the smugglers; the party occupies the upper mansion and the smugglers carry on about their business (they were able to convince Sanbalet that having the mansion be legitimately occupied was a better way to deter unwanted eyes than just making it look haunted.) Of course, part of the reason they were able to do that is because in the papers that related to the purchase of the mansion, it was decided that "of course, the deed is there". And they already had a council member's agreement that they could keep anything in the mansion. And they have no guilt because none are lawful and the smugglers are literally only committing tax evasion -- they're not evil cultists, necromancers, slavers, or anything else like that. Of course, if the council finds out, they'll be in trouble for sure.

In an optional way if the DM wants to make everything part of one adventure.

One of the town council is involved with the smugglers and the smugglers are also involved in the slave trade along with giving weapons to the lizard folk.

[2D8HP]

As I read more of Saltmarsh it becomes more and more impressive to me (yes I was buying modules when Saltmarsh was printed for 1e, I remember some of In Search of the Unknown, The Village of Hommlet, Against the Giants, and The Vault of the Drow, but I don't remember this one), it really looks to me to be the best "campaign" WotC has put out since Tomb of Annihilation, and the suggestions for mixing the setting and adventures in it with those from Tales of the Yawning Portal are spot on.

Besides, with the new Backgrounds of "Fisher", "Marine", "Shipwright", and "Smuggler" there's expanded oppurtunities beyond the "Sailor" background to have a PC who says "Matey", "Seaward ho! Hang the treasure! It's the glory of the sea that has turned my head.There's never a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day a'terward", "For thirty years, I've sailed the seas and seen good and bad, better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, knives going, and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views" and "ARRRR!"

I'm impressed.

[deljzc]

For those Greyhawk fans out there, here is Anne Myers interactive map:

https://easyzoom.com/image/122424

One of the coolest things for us old school D&D fans on the internet.

Note, this uses of a lot of the 3e Living Greyhawk chronology and shows Saltmarsh as a large town when the original source material (U1-U3) describes it as a fishing village with maybe 1000-2000 people (including the surrounding countryside).

It kind of makes sense as well because there is no reason for a large town to be so close to Burle and Seaton. I think the adventure runs better as a small fishing village and surrounding agrarian properties and I hope the new release goes back to that (sounds like it does).

I loved this location to start adventurers in Greyhawk. There's a ton going on. Lots of old-school modules in the vicinity and didn't follow the typical Village of Homlet and Temple of Elemental Evil path many were doing back in my day (which was up in the City of Greyhawk area). Not that running Homlet, TOEE and Slave Lords (Wild Coast) and even into Giants/Drow wasn't a good old school adventure (it was). But if you want something different, Saltmarsh was a fun start.

[Unoriginal]

It kind of makes sense as well because there is no reason for a large town to be so close to Burle and Seaton. I think the adventure runs better as a small fishing village and surrounding agrarian properties and I hope the new release goes back to that (sounds like it does).

Specifically, it's a small fishing village/town that might get bigger in the near future thank to the mine that recently opened