Ghosts of Saltmarsh: What do I need to know?

[jaappleton]

So, my group WAS going to do an Avernus game. But considering its so Fiend heavy, and essentially traps you in Hell, there's some flaws to that. We've decided to instead opt for a Ghosts of Saltmarsh game.

Some bonuses to it:

1. Its a series of short adventures converted to 5E, right? So if we get 2 adventures finished and decide to move on, no harm, no foul. We aren't locked into Barovia or Avernus. We can hop on a ship and sail off to DM's Imagination Land and do some homebrew if we want.

2. A more varied enemy type as opposed to Avernus, which is super Fiend-oriented (Understandably), opens up some more varied character builds that something like Avernus typically locks out (Try being a Fire Dragon Sorc in Avernus :smalltongue: )

So my question is, are there any pitfalls to avoid? I'm not asking if I should answer "YES" to a question any particular NPC asks me, what I want to know is... Well, should I avoid making a Fire Dragon Sorc because half the creatures are immune to fire?

[Monster Manuel]

I think you'll do fine with Saltmarsh. There is a pretty wide variety of opponents and a good mix of social vs combat encounters. I don't think you'll find yourself constrained by what you choose to play, with the one caveat that a LOT of it happens on boats. Or near them. The book is extremely boat-adjacent. Pick something that isn't tied too heavily to a given terrain type that isn't wet. If you're, say, a ranger who's focused on the Underdark and Montainous terrain, for instance, you may be sad.

It's a loosely-connected series of adventures, yes, but they do connect much better than they do in Yawning Portal. And it gives you a decent amount of background and supporting material to weave them all together into a halfway-decent small-scale campaign setting. I've only gotten through about 1.5 of the adventures as-published with my group, and they've kind of veered off into their own thing, and it's working out just fine. There's a whole section of generic sea-encounters and randomly-generated mysterious islands that can fill in gaps between the adventures, so depending on what your party likes, go nuts.

[Daphne]

In terms of damage resistances, not really. You could play a Draconic / Storm Sorcerer just fine.

[Segev]

Yawning Portal is several classic dungeons (or, in one case, connected series of dungeons) from across 3 editions reprinted for 5e. The "connection" between them is usually just an inserted reference to the next one, if that. (I don't know that the giants are hinted at in White Plume Mountain, nor if the Tomb of Horrors is linked in from the giants.) From my limited research on the original material, the Ghosts of Saltmarsh are almost as connected as the dungeons in Against the Giants (from, most recently, Yawning Portal). They were individual modules, printed and run separately, but they were designed to be taken as a sequence of connected plot lines.

[JoeJ]

Three of the seven adventure in Ghosts of Saltmarsh are connected, but not so tightly that it would be a problem to only play through one or two of them if that's what your group prefers. The book also includes some brief suggestions on incorporating the adventures from Yawning Portal into a Saltmarsh campaign. There are also three adventure locations that can be dropped into the game wherever the DM wants.

In terms of character creation, you probably don't want to play a character who is completely shut down underwater because there is some of that (although it's not the majority). It would be helpful, although not essential, if several party members have proficiency in vehicles (water) and/or navigator's tools.

[Democratus]

Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is one of the great D&D adventures.

It's a Scooby Doo mystery (haunted house and all) with some fun and varied combats.

I've been running this for new players since the 80s and it never fails to please. Enjoy! :D

[Sparky McDibben]

Fire damage suffers slightly during underwater encounters, but Elemental Adept could cover that. For loads of fun, play a Triton.

[JoeJ]

One thing the DM should be aware of is that there is a disconnect between the text description of the town of Saltmarsh, which is stated to have a population of roughly 5,000, and the map on p. 15, which shows a village that couldn't possibly have more than a few hundred residents. There's nothing in any of the adventures that actually requires a map of Saltmarsh, however, so it's pretty easy to just ignore the map (or to substitute a different one, if the DM is so inclined).

[Segev]

One thing the DM should be aware of is that there is a disconnect between the text description of the town of Saltmarsh, which is stated to have a population of roughly 5,000, and the map on p. 15, which shows a village that couldn't possibly have more than a few hundred residents. There's nothing in any of the adventures that actually requires a map of Saltmarsh, however, so it's pretty easy to just ignore the map (or to substitute a different one, if the DM is so inclined).

Good thing to note. Maps of settlements are always a bit wonky compared to descriptions, I've found, in RPGs, but it's good to be reminded of this, so it doesn't sneak up on you.

[Sparky McDibben]

One thing the DM should be aware of is that there is a disconnect between the text description of the town of Saltmarsh, which is stated to have a population of roughly 5,000, and the map on p. 15, which shows a village that couldn't possibly have more than a few hundred residents. There's nothing in any of the adventures that actually requires a map of Saltmarsh, however, so it's pretty easy to just ignore the map (or to substitute a different one, if the DM is so inclined).

You could also just say that the 5,000 residents includes the outlying areas of Saltmarsh, such that they include lone farms, etc., whereas the map only shows the actual town of Saltmarsh. *Shrug.* It's an easy rationalization.

[KorvinStarmast]

What to you need to know?

Not every problem is nail to be hit with a hammer.

Roleplaying and social interaction are very useful in the 5e version of this set of modules.