Hi all,

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017-18, the ‘Tomb of Annihilation’ campaign I ran in 2018-19, the ‘Out of the Abyss’, a campaign I ran in 2020 and the ‘Phandelver’s Pact’ campaign I ran from 2020-2021. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that), which is why I could use them for this column.

Here’s another campaign (some might say my last 5e campaign, if you don’t count all the playtest campaigns I ran and continue to run lol) that started out with a slightly skewed version of ‘Ghosts of Saltmarsh’, then merged with a doctored ‘Descent into Avernus’ and was prematurely cut short when WoTC stunned the community by deciding to be dicks (remember that?), prompting me to run Pathfinder 2e campaigns instead.

‘Shadows Over Saltmarsh’ was set in Greyhawk, my childhood campaign world (created by the eminent Mr. Gygax, himself). Each session was approximately 4-5 hours (sometimes more) long. Most of the summaries appear here as they first appeared. If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.

Steve 🙂

Session 17 – Underworld

Felix (the thief) and Korth (the lizardfolk druid) easily dispatched the Stirges. Moving up the stairs, Felix discovered a fast-flowing stream at the top, the stone stairs continuing to climb upwards and a natural passage descending northwards, the stream slowing down through it. Felix made his way down the passage, following the water course. Unfortunately, Fa’aoa (the barbarian) and Korth lost their balance and fell into the stream, shooting down the watery slide. Felix attempted to grab the barbarian but Korth (who was enjoying himself) crashed into them and now Felix was also carried down the stream into the cavern below. Fa’aoa managed to grab hold at the bottom, as did Felix, but once again Korth dislodged both as he slid into them.

Down through the rushing waters the three flowed, into a new cavern where they sped past three bewildered Troglodytes. Further down they slid, finding it hard to grip the sides of the slippery channel. Felix finally managed to slow himself in a pool and reached the side, but Fa’aoa and Korth continued their ride down the rushing stream until they were washed over a waterfall into a chasm below. Felix could only watch in shock as they disappeared into the dark.

The stalwart rogue cast light on a stone and dropped it down the chasm. It was only about 60 ft. down, and a stairwell next to the waterfall seemed to bode well, so Felix quietly made his way down…

Meanwhile, Ser Keraston (aasimar paladin) and Alyona (half-elf cleric) saw their companions disappear down the water slide. Roping themselves off, they carefully made their way down the passage until they found a side cave about halfway down. Unfortunately, it was full of Stirges. Killing the bloodsucking creatures, they left ex-prisoner Gerendil in the cave with some torches and continued down the descending passage, all the while avoiding falling in the rushing water. Eventually the two adventurers arrived in the cavern they had left previously. Further south into another cave, this one filled with Dwarven stone sepulchers, and over the east ledge, the vast fungi forest they had encountered before. Making their way down some stairs, Keraston was attacked by a Grick. Both Alyona and the Paladin decided discretion was the better part of valor and they rushed further south to find the cavern with the waterfall chasm. Down the stairs they went…

Earlier, Fa’aoa and Korth had dropped into a pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Cold, exhausted and hurt, the water continued to pull them south. Fa’aoa managed to drag himself out, but Korth was swept to another cavern, where he eventually extracted himself from the water. Fa’aoa, unable to see in the dark, dragged himself along the floor until he found a wall. Korth discovered some Dwarven carvings on a wall and then headed back the way he came, over a stone bridge and into the previous cavern…

Meanwhile, Felix crept down the spiralling stairs until he reached the bottom. Hiding his light stone, he moved into the cavern beyond, where he could hear the waterfall and sense a presence nearby… Fa’aoa saw some light from a side tunnel, but it blinked out. He readied his maul… Korth enter the cavern from the south, but his light spell only revealed his silhouette to the others, who had difficulty making out who it was because of the distance… As the three converged, Felix, Fa’aoa and Korth were reunited on the shores of the waterfall cavern. Ser Keraston and Alyona clunked down the stairs as stealthily as they could (NOT!) and soon the party was together again.

Korth broke into a nearby door, discovering an empty storeroom. The party entered another door, finding a warehouse full of old and rotting food and wine. Korth wandered off and ran into a Gray Ooze, which the party helped him to dispatch. Back to the quiet storeroom for a long rest. Keraston headed back up top to get Gerendil, bringing him down to the others. 

The next day, the party set off to find where the new caverns led to. Felix identified these rooms were part of a Dwarven storage area, probably linked to Durgeddin’s secret forge. The party made their way south, up a narrow tunnel and into another cavern. Suddenly, a stalagmite sprung to life and almost all were caught and reeled in by the Roper’s rocky tendrils. Korth was bitten badly, Gerendil managed to strike the beast in its eye before being bitten in half, and after a terrific struggle, including numerous unsuccessful spells from Alyona, the Roper was vanquished.

During the battle, Korth escaped into the fast-moving river. He ended up in yet another cavern, but was caught in a net as several gray-skinned dwarves pulled him in…

Next Week: The Search!

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