Secrets of Saltmarsh

With the upcoming release of Ghosts of Saltmarsh, it got me thinking. Is anyone going to run the adventure? I was contemplating it, but I am already running three games and I am loathe to take away from my time in those games just satiate my desire to re-visit that area.

I converted the 2E version to 5E when I made my recent return to gaming last year, and used it as the springboard to teach my youngest how to play the game. My current games (one home and three here) are all in Greyhawk and I am ecstatic that the new release is set fully in that setting, but am still curious as to your experiences with that adventure.

I'm interested in playing.

Ever played Saltmarsh before? Or in Greyhawk? I’m wondering what experiences others have had.

It's been a while, but I've played in Greyhawk before. I liked it a lit.

I DMed the original trilogy back in the '80s. I don't remember too terribly much about it, other than the fact that the players took an unexpectedly diplomatic route in the second module, which basically cut short the middle part of the trilogy, making me curse them endlessly for causing me to not get my five bucks worth out of the module! (By the way, the original trilogy is going for something crazy like $90 on ebay. I need to get mine listed! To buy more D&D stuff, of course!)

As for Greyhawk, I still have my map, which I had laminated. I don't know what collectors would say about that, but all I know is that it is still in pristine condition. Greyhawk was my nerd imagination fuel through high school and beyond, even long after I stopped playing D&D in '87 or '88. When we switched from D&D to AD&D and Greyhawk, I redid the origin of my first character. The magic-user Festusnima (a pseudonym to protect his true identity) was on the run from the mad king of the Great Kingdom, his relative. Festusnima's father had been the Marquis of the Bone March, until the hordes of humanoids overtook the country. Festusnima, then known as Bjoddar Thorstenson, barely escaped with his life, but not before discovering troops from the Great Kingdom roaming freely and unmolested by the invading humanoids. Also not before betraying hiding members of his family in order to facilitate his own escape. This had been his great secret and his great shame as he spent the next decade amassing power, a fortune, and a reputation as he set about to reclaim his heritage and exact his revenge on the Overking. With the help of adventurers he had met over the years (including Morphide, a fighter and escapee from the Bone March who knew Festusnima's secret, and Feelap Kiip, a thief from the Duchy of Tenh and best friend of Morphide--the two had a total Fafhrd/Gray Mouser vibe), he founded a fortress/city/trading post along the Wild Coast and set about conquering the Pomarj, intending to use its mineral resources to fund missions against the Overking and to, eventually, fund the army and alliances he would need to retake the Bone March and to use it as a staging ground against the Great Kingdom itself!

Whew! I don't think I've written anything about the synopsis of that story in over 30 years!

Funny thing (to me, anyway) is that I was always fascinated by the Valley of the Mage, but it wasn't until the last couple years when I was re-reading my Greyhawk books that I realized Festusnima would have been a distant cousin of the Mage.

So, yeah, experience with both Saltmarsh and Greyhawk (which I've argued in the GP Discord channel is a far superior gaming setting that the overly-populated, overly-detailed, overly-canonized Forgotten Realms).

I. Love. Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser. :D

And if you don't want to laminate yours, use Anna Meyer's maps. :)

Playing all your games Ket has begun to make me long to run a game again, and Saltmarsh seems a good start! :)

I freaked the first time I saw those maps!

I realized in my rambling reminiscence I never actually stated that I was throwing my hat into the Saltmarsh ring. Should I apply for the game or is it by invitation? Or am I too late, and I should beg my way onto the waiting list for the inevitable ghosters (of which I have never been one in almost three years on GP)?

I'm interested, but I have to refresh my Greyhawk-lore ;)

You seem to have some really good thoughts on how to run your game description. How will you be handling combat?

The game is open for those who want to send me a character background apply. As for combat, I go in groups. All party members that have init before the enemy go, then all enemy, then party members, etc.

That way you don’t have to wait your turn when your group is up. On my phone right now, or I’d give examples to clarify... or Benzie can elaborate as he is playing two of my games. 😎

Looks interesting to me.

I will be writing a backstory

Filling in for Ket on combat:

Everyone rolls initiative. Then they are grouped, rather than individual turns. Eg say 3 of PCs roll higher than the monsters, so the 3 PCs go first, then the monsters, then the remaining PCs. For ease of Pbp, any one can post their turn without having to wait for strict init order. The DM will still sequence them correctly. PCs roll damage preemptively as well, that way if the attack hits, the DM already has the damage available.

This saves a lot of time so no one has to wait for people to post in their correct order, nor for attacks to be declared successful before waiting for everyone to roll damage (and reroll for crit, etc,)

Thx Bedzone :)

As an aside, crit is automatically considered 2x the rolled damage. So, on each combat turn, you roll attacks plus damage. A crit will double the damage so you do not have to go back and roll again. It's worked well in my other games so far, and i will continue that rule here.

This game will not allow feats, so that will also make it easier when it comes to combat... no having to figure out if you can re-roll 1s or 2s, etc. Like I said, I know some will not like it, but I want ROLE-PLAYERS... not MIN-MAX players.