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 about the OGL (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 22 – Explore!

Alyona (Half-Elf Cleric) dreamt of ancestor Marcus Lynden, trapped in a fiery ruined city on a floating island high above a sulfurous plain. The floating rock appeared to be suspended by massive chains, and the recipe book seemed to float below it, almost as if everything was extending from the book itself. Alyona awoke with a start to find the worried Fa’aoa (Human Barbarian) kneeling next to her. Alyona alleviated his concerns and secretly checked her recipe book. The torn pages had grown another 1.5 inches from the spine, with the beginnings of an image appearing on the edge of the page tear…

The party ate a meal and then questioned the bound and dejected Orc they had captured, who indicated there was a relief party from the dock returning that morning. Kariston (Aasimar Paladin) slept so soundly he couldn’t be woken, so Korth (Lizardfolk Druid) built a stretcher and Fa’aoa dragged the paladin around. The Orc captive was left behind in the room.  

The party moved out. Felix (Human Rogue) triggered the fire trap on the north wall of the large room outside and searched in vain for secret doors. Everyone entered a cave with numerous crates and a well. Korth jumped in and bathed himself, purifying the water at the same time.  

In the next cave the party found the cell and kitchen to the south they had encountered before. Alyona moved to a set of double doors at the end of the corridor and heard voices and footsteps beyond. Returning to the party, all agreed to set an ambush, hiding behind crates and niches in the cavern walls. An Orog, an Eye of Gruumsh and an Orc walked into a bar—I mean, the cavern—and the fight was on! Fa’aoa had stowed the sleeping Kariston in a northern cave for good measure, but an Orc exited the north passage and yelled for the party to surrender or they would kill their sleeping companion. Alyona quickly charmed the Orcs to the north and grappled an Orc near Kariston’s body. The Orcs were quickly disposed of by the powerful party.

Investigating the rest of the level, Alyona set off a statue gas trap, Korth followed footprints to a secret door and revealed how the Orcs had flanked them, and the party uncovered treasure and some magic items. They decided to take the Orc captive to the beach so that Oceanus the Sea Elf (currently on their commandeered longship) could take care of him.

Travelling down to the beach, they waved to the Elf to bring the longship in, and loaded the Orc and some supplies aboard. Then it was back to the mountain to explore the Forge below.

Dropping the sleeping Kariston and a very tired old Lizardfolk into their base room, Alyona, Felix and Fa’aoa moved downstairs to the Glitterhame, the cave system below the Orc lair. Felix was attacked by a Cave Bear, but the party quickly put it out of its misery. They made it to an iron door, but Felix broke a lockpick in the lock and realized the only way to get through now would be to break the door down. The party decided to take a long rest and come back tomorrow.

Session 23 – Down Below…

During their long rest, Alyona again experienced dreams of her ancestor Marcus Lyndon. This time, a ghostly figure of Marcus covered in flames stood before the ruined house in Crabbers’ Cove. His body was dragged in to the rubbish-choked main room Alyona had seen before, then through the wall, but she was unable to follow. Then the cookbook closed on the house and Alyona awoke in a pool of sweat. She felt the cookbook and realized it weighed a little more than before – had the torn-out section grown again? She didn’t want to check…

The party awoke to the smells of Alyona’s cooking. As they organized to go downstairs and open the iron door, Karasten cast light on Fa’aoa’s belt buckle so the barbarian could lead the way. Down the stone stairs they marched, into the Glitterhame caverns below. As they made their way to the fungus forest, they noticed the carcass of the cave bear they’d dispatched previously was now gone.

Arriving at the iron door, Felix unsuccessfully attempted to recover the broken lockpick wedged in the lock (the thieves’ tools he used once belonged to his lost mother and were significant to him). A giant Goliath Longlegs spider dropped from its lair on the cavern’s high ceiling, but Alyona cast slow, making its attacks ineffectual. The party finished it off and Korth skinned the creature to sell the pelt in Saltmarsh (potentially worth 700 GP to Kiorna Kester of Kester’s Leather Goods).

Spotting web cocoons on the roof, Karasten quaffed a potion of climbing and cut them down. Alyona was temporarily paralyzed by the web as she attempted to cut one open, but Karasten avoided that problem. Three dead emaciated troglodytes and a duergar body were recovered. The duergar had a Dagger+1. Korth reanimated its creaking form into a zombie, which he christened ‘Tony’. Tony lost a hand attempting to push the door open – its bones and skin were very brittle and it tended to leave a trail of white dust and skin behind it. The rest of the party were not impressed by the abomination, but Korth was happy.

Fa’aoa and Karasten opened the iron door, smashing it off its hinges. Beyond was a stone stair, which Tony scouted, leading the party down into the depths. Below, a room with three dwarven statues and two doors. Tony tested the doors, found they were fake and lost several body parts as a result of the statue’s swinging axes. The poor zombie was reduced to legs, bent body and mouth, having lost both arms, the top of its skull and half its jaw. Felix disconnected the axe traps and found a secret door behind one of the statues. Heading up the stairs behind the statue, Felix set off a magic mouth alarm.

Entering a grand, colonnaded chamber, a voice speaking Dwarven advised the PCs approach no further. Felix, replying in Dwarven, negotiated with the voice, and finally the party met Nimira, a female Duergar and head of the Duergar clan that had moved into the forge area long after the dwarves left. She advised she could help the party with the forge of Durgeddin if they cleared the north rooms of the Ghost Dwarves there. She gave them a Light Crossbow+1 to assist them in their work, which Felix commandeered.

The party headed for the door, which was covered with scrawled runes and barred with wood. Fa’aoa pulled off some of the planks but broke the runes. As the door opened, a Ghost Dwarf appeared. Most of the party succumbed to the ghost’s whispering voices, which struck fear into their hearts. After Karasten and Fa’aoa attacked the ghost, it fled up the east corridor. The party pursued it and as they did, the door slammed, a glowing ring of runes appeared on it and another ghost dwarf attacked Felix and Korth, while the first ghost dwarf appeared to attack Alyona, Fa’aoa and Karasten in the corridor. A voice in their heads stated: “Fools! The runes weren’t to keep us in, they were to keep you out! Now you’re trapped here…”

The battle raged: Fa’aoa headed back to Korth and Felix to defend them, despite his constant fear; Felix was knocked unconscious twice and lost half his max HP; Karasten was targeted as the ghost dwarves dropped in and out of the ethereal plane as they attacked. Felix’s idea of taking out runes on the door worked, but he was down before he could complete the task, and a frightened Fa’aoa wasn’t able to finish the job. Luckily Alyona’s spirit guardians and healing word spells bolstered the party’s defences, as Karasten finished both Ghost Dwarves with his powerful oath ability and divine smite.

Next week: Clearing the Northern Rooms…

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