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 29 – Saltmarsh Interlude

The party (now christened the ‘Salty Marshers’) headed out to deliver the blue chest and update the council on their mission to Stone Tooth Island. Along the way, they negotiated over some rickety carts to transport the black dragon’s head and the chest, made their way through town where they attracted a crowd of gawkers – townspeople, mariners and children – and Felix infiltrated the crowd to find out if anyone knew anything more about Gellan Primewater’s mysterious trunk.

Outside the council building, Keraston the Asimar Paladin decided to regale the crowd regarding the dragon’s head, stood on the rickety cart and promptly collapsed a wheel. The crowd were suitably amused, Keraston was suitably embarrassed, and an offer was made for people to attend the paladin’s performance at the Wicker Goat at 6:00pm, where he intended to tell the full tale of the Salty Marsher’s adventures on Stone Tooth Island against the marauding orc sea raiders and the evil black dragon.  

At the council, the Salty Marshers were welcomed back by Eliander Fireborn. Keraston provided a 20-minute tale of their adventures (imbued with more than a little flourish). The party were thanked for their work eliminating the orc raider threat and paid 500 GP for their troubles.

Gellan Primewater negotiated with the party regarding the chest, finally arriving at an acceptable price. The Salty Marshers agreed to deliver it to his residence.

Eda Oweland asked the party to investigate the disappearance of two town guards who were sent west to the Lizardfolk community the town had recently allied with. No communications had been forthcoming from the Lizardfolk for over a week and the guards sent to find out why hadn’t reported back. Eda offered the party 500 GP to undertake the mission, which the Salty Marshers accepted.

Anders Solmor was interested in the Durgeddin Swords recovered from the island, and asked the party to see him after work or at lunch to view the goods and negotiate a price.

Keraston asked whether he could set up a knightly society in the party’s house and start recruiting for it. The council agreed in principle, and asked that Keraston keep them appraised and run any controversial decisions past them first.  

While Fa’aoa the Barbarian and Felix the Rogue/Wizard delivered the chest to the wheezing and doddering old butler at Primewater House, Alyona visited the gaol and arranged the release of Ga’Thog, the salty Orc recruit who had run into some bother at the Empty Net the night before. Keraston took the dragon head to Kester’s Leather Goods to enquire about taxidermy to make it into a ship’s figurehead for the prow. This turned out to be very pricy, so the party finally agreed on a trophy for their front room for 400 GP. It would take 3 days to complete the work.

At lunchtime, Fa’aoa and Felix visited Anders Solmor at his office and negotiated 3000 GP for the three Durgeddin swords and helmet they recovered from Stone Tooth Island. Anders suggested the party contact Lancey at the Mariner’s Guild to help them recruit a crew for their ship, and suggested they mention his name when negotiating. (Later in the day while collecting part of their payment for the weapons, the party met Skerrin Wavechaser, Ander’s 7 ft. tall butler and bodyguard, who made Felix somewhat uneasy. The bizarre red tattoos under Skerrin’s sleeve were unusual for this area.)

Meanwhile, Alyona the Half Elf Cleric consulted with Fleur, the blind woman who ran the magic stall at the markets. Alyona showed her the cookbook she had recovered from the house in Crabber’s Cove and discussed the strange dreams of her ancestor in flames. Opening the book, Alyona realized the growing map page had reconstituted itself over the days she hadn’t checked it. Fleur suggested perhaps that was why Alyona wasn’t receiving the strange dreams anymore – the map was now fully ‘regrown’ with no need to draw her attention to it. The map in the book was of a great chained city, wreathed in flames, called ‘Elturel’. Fleur indicated this might be where Alyona’s ancestor was, and that this place may be on one of the planes of Hell. As to why he needed rescuing, she wasn’t sure, but she did indicate there was something about the book that made her uncomfortable – an evil essence to the book itself.

Alyona purchased a Longsword+1 for Kerastan and met up with the others as they exited the Council building.

The Salty Marsher’s went to the Mariner’s Guild, met Lancey, organised him to recruit a captain and crew with a budget of approx. 48-50 GP/day for the crew and at a cost of 3 GP per day for the man’s recruiting services. 

At day’s end, they headed up to the Wicker Goat to see Keraston’s performance.

Session 30 – Salty Devils

Thessalia, a sea elf Druid, arrived at the Saltmarsh city gates, having followed her astrological muse to this town at the edge of the world. She wasn’t sure why she was here, just that something had drawn her here, as if this place was where she was meant to be. After receiving a welcome and a map from the town guards, Thessalia made her way to The Wicker Goat, the closest tavern. A large crowd had gathered to watch a performance and she needed to stand on tippytoes to see what was going on.  

Keraston was on stage, telling his epic tale of the party’s battle on Stone Tooth Island, including how the Black Dragon bit off his finger(!). Although Keraston was unable to play guitar, Fa’aoa ably assisted by providing music on one of his tribal instruments. The large crowd was somewhat underwhelmed, having been pumped up by Keraston’s speech (and fall) from the cart outside the Council Chambers (although everyone liked Fa’aoa’s accompaniment). As the crowd fell away and drunks heckled the performance, Keraston’s confidence was shot and he ended up at the table with the party, dejected. Alyona gave Keraston the Longsword+1 she had purchased for him at the market to make up for cutting off his finger on Stone Tooth Island. He said he would have preferred a Greatsword. Ungrateful, much?

Three drunks from Primewater Shipping hassled Keraston, one vomiting on him. Fa’aoa decided he didn’t like their attitude and hit one, then carried them outside. Thessalia had booked a room for the night, was eating her dinner in the corner, and used shape water to make the drunks’ drinks explode in their faces. One of the drunks ran away fearfully and Alyona and Felix dragged the remaining one out.

Returning to the inn, Alyona thanked the sea elf, introducing herself and the party and inviting Thessalia to join them. With nothing better to do (or was it the call of fate beckoning?), Thessalia agreed. A disconsolate and very drunk Keraston stumbled upstairs (if Thessalia hadn’t helped him, it’s doubtful he would have gotten his bedroom door open); Fa’aoa followed, swiping some of Keraston’s ‘rocket fuel’. Felix and Alyona headed back to the ship.

That night, the split party were disturbed by Bearded Devils that appeared at the same time in both locations. Dispatching the creatures, Alyona realized that they appeared to be after her cookbook, which had glowed red before they appeared. The party re-joined and stayed on the ship, keeping watch during the night to prevent any more surprises. 

The next day, Alyona paid Ga’Thog and Oceanus (both of whom helped out in the fight last night) their new pay rates as Bosun and Quartermaster of the ship. Oceanus’s pay was upped to the same level as Ga’Thog’s to prevent any ill feeling.

The party headed off into the town. Keraston paid for the cart he broke the previous day. Lancey from the Mariner’s Guild informed the party the search for a crew was going well and that they should have a full complement by close of business the next day. After a delightful breakfast at The Wicker Goat, the party split up to deal with the day’s business.

Fa’aoa and Keraston headed to the Faithful Quartermasters of Iuz, having heard they could source some magic items. They met with Captain Xendris, a female tiefling who would broker the items. Their wish list included a Greatsword+1, Warhammer+1, Amulet of the Devout+1 and a Ring of Protection+1. Xendris couldn’t guarantee she could get the items; it would take a week before she could advise the pair.

Meanwhile, Alyona, Felix and Thessalia made their way to Elliander’s house, where they met with Krag the half-orc in the library. Alyona asked about Bearded Devils and ‘Elturel’, and showed Krag the picture in her cookbook – the city suspended in the air but held by chains, surrounded by fire. Krag explained a devil hadn’t been sighted in Saltmarsh for a hundred years, and thought Elturel looked like it might actually be in Hell, but didn’t recognize the name. He would do more research and find out. After his last visit, Felix was on his best behavior, but wondered who could be commanding those hellish foot soldiers…

Alyona asked about the house at Crabbers’ Cove. It turned out Marcus Lynden, her ancestor, owned the house about a hundred years ago. He was a wonderful chef who also dabbled in fiendish worship. As the party prepared to leave, Alyona’s cookbook started to glow redly – the door to the library burst open and a large devil entered, pointing to the book…

Next Week: Friends & Fiends! A party in their honor! And when will the party undertake their mission to the Lizardfolk settlement?

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