Dashboard - Secrets of Saltmarsh

In the aftermath of Gellan Primewater's death, the party and Eliander Fireborn conduct a thorough search of the ship. They pay their respects at the scene of Shardona’s murder in Primewater’s quarters before finally searching the room properly. Hidden in a secret compartment, they discover his journal, filled with various incriminating entries.

Upon returning to Saltmarsh, the party escorts Kes Bickle to the Temple of Procan . Through a sizable donation of 5,000 gp—intended to compensate for the loss of regular revenue from Primewater’s operations—Bickle’s tongue is restored. In exchange for his freedom, he translates the cipher in Primewater’s ledger and testifies before the council, providing enough evidence to posthumously prove Primewater’s criminal activities and his likely support for the Sea Princes’ operations to seize control of Saltmarsh.

Victory comes at a heavy price, however. With Shardona dead, the party suffers one final loss: Durik Ironhide resigns from the group. Claiming the adventuring life no longer suits him, he uses his earnings to purchase Primewater Shipping. Leveraging his popularity with the sailors of the Empty Net, he sets out to reboot the business along more legitimate lines, forming a strategic partnership with his cousins at Copperlock Mine company. Finally earning the grudging respect and partnership of Manistrad Copperlocks.

The party retires to their house, where they mend wounds, sort through loot, and make general preparations for what lies ahead.

Those seeking to purchase items from Xendros Magic Shop discover that Captain Xendros has closed shop. A sign on his property announces his return in three weeks—a somewhat curious development given the timing of Primewater’s exposure and Welgar Brinehanded's less-than-complimentary words toward the magic shop owner.

Three days later, a runner arrives with word that the Saltmarsh Town Council l requests the party’s presence. When asked why, the messenger explains that various strange beings arrived the day before last: Lizardfolk, Merfolk, and other lesser-known aquatic types. There is talk of an alliance against a shared threat.

The time to put an end to the Sahuagin menace has come… adventure awaits.

We'll be instituting a "Search" house rule as it comes up often.

We'll be using a Wisdom-based "Spot Hidden" check (similar to CoC)

This will have both passive checks (made by the DM), and active checks "calls by the PCs to search.

Difficulty:

Routine (concealed door, obvious trap) - Roll Under Full Wisdom Stat

Hard (Secret Door, well-hidden stain) Roll Under Wisdom/2

Extreme (Perfectly crafted, magical concealment) - Roll Under Wisdom/5

Modifiers

Specific searches ("I search the dresser") receive a +4

Elves/Dwarves get a +4 when searching for Doors

Thieves can use their Find Traps for objects/doors

The player's have been contracted the Saltmarsh Town Council to investigate the Lizardmen of The Hool Marshes. Having discovered a large weapon cache aboard the smuggler ship, as well as incriminating documents, the party was informed by Oceanus that the smuggler's had been supplying the Lizardmen for some time. The Saltmarsh Town Council feats the Lizardmen are preparing to attack the village of Saltmarsh and have sent The Party to recon to see what information can be discovered that the village could use towards its defense

***Complete*** The party was approached by Manistrad Copperlocks with a sensitive matter concerning the Copperlock Mine. Rumors of an issue proved true when Manistrad Copperlocks confirmed that her people had encountered trouble while opening a new shaft. Given that the normally insular and tight-lipped dwarves rarely let information escape their hold, she has grown concerned about the presence of one or more leakers among the miners. Knowing that Gellan Primewater has been trying to weaken her position on the Council and opposes the dwarves' support of King Scotti's plans for Saltmarsh, she asks the PCs to discreetly investigate the matter.

After descending into the mine, the PCs dispatched some giant rats, only to soon engage in a desperate melee against a shadow. Lacking the armament to pierce its spectral form, the party relied on smart tactics and the generous use of Shardona Lightbright's wand of magic missiles to defeat it.

The party then encounters an injured dwarven miner named Torvig, who informs them that he and his mining team broke into a passageway leading to the Underdark. They were quickly overwhelmed as goblin attackers pressed their advantage. He urges the party to help him close the opening. After a desperate fight against the goblins—particularly the powerful goblin shaman—the party hastily used the mining blasting powder to seal the mine before a large group of goblin reinforcements could descend upon them.

Grateful, Manistrad Copperlocks pays the party their agreed-upon sum and warmly offers to work with the group again in the future.

From time to time I'll call out certain overlooked or underused rules. Also after every major adventure we will be adding new rules from the various expansion books.

Overlooked Rules

A) Charging an Opponent (PHB pg.128)

A character can also charge a foe. A charge increases the character’s movement rate by 50% and enables the character to make an attack at the end of his movement. A charging character also gains a +2 bonus to his attack roll, mainly from momentum. Certain weapons (such as a lance) inflict double the rolled damage in a charge.

However, charging gives the opponents several advantages. First, they gain a –2 bonus to their initiative rolls. Second, charging characters gain no Dexterity bonuses to Armor Class and they suffer an AC penalty of 1. Finally, if the defender is using a spear or polearm weapon and sets it against the charge (bracing the butt against a stone or his foot), he inflicts double damage on a successful hit.

B) Withdrawing (PHB pg.128)

When making a withdrawal, a character carefully backs away from his opponent (who can choose to follow). The character moves up to 1⁄3 his normal movement rate.

If two characters are fighting a single opponent and one of them decides to withdraw, the remaining character can block the advance of the opponent. This is a useful method for getting a seriously injured man out of a combat.

Withdrawing does NOT provoke an attack of opportunity from an opponent (but could provoke one from adjacent enemies)

C) Bleeding Out and Deaths Door

Core Rules: Hit Points at 0 or Below

At 0 Hit Points:
- The character is unconscious and incapacitated.
- They collapse and can take no actions (e.g., no movement, attacks, or spellcasting).
- They begin bleeding out, losing 1 hit point per round automatically at the end of each round, unless stabilized (see below).
- They’re not dead yet but are in immediate danger.
Below 0 Hit Points:
- The character remains unconscious and continues bleeding out, losing 1 HP per round.
- Death Threshold: If the character reaches -10 hit points, they die instantly. This is the default cutoff in AD&D 2e.
Massive Damage Exception:
- If a single attack or effect reduces a character from positive hit points to -10 or lower in one blow (e.g., 15 damage when at 5 HP), they die immediately without bleeding out. This reflects catastrophic injury (DMG, p. 75).

D) Combat Round Sequence

We will be modifying the combat round sequence to play closer to the rules as written (PHB pg.122). The major change is that actions are declared BEFORE initiative is rolled.

The DM decides what actions the monsters or NPCs will take, including casting spells (if any).
The players indicate what their characters will do, including casting spells (if any).
Initiative is determined.
Attacks are made in order of initiative.

E) Spellcasting Timing in the Combat Round

Spells have a casting time listed in their description (PHB, pp. 200–211), measured in segments (1 segment = 6 seconds, 10 segments = 1 round). In combat, this time is added to the initiative roll to determine when the spell takes effect.

Casting Time:
- Ranges from 1 (very fast) to 9 (almost a full round) or more (multiple rounds for big spells).
- Examples:
  - Command (1st-level, Law): Casting time 1.
  - Cure Light Wounds (1st-level, Healing): Casting time 5.
  - Spiritual Hammer (2nd-level, Combat): Casting time 5.
When It Resolves:
- Add the casting time to your side’s initiative roll.
- The spell completes and takes effect on that modified initiative count.
- If the total exceeds 10, it spills into the next round (DMG, p. 66).

New Rulings

A) Attacks of Opportunity - Player Options: Combat & Tactics (pg. 13)

Attacks of opportunity occur when a threatened character or creature ignores the enemy next to it or turns its back on a foe and attempts to move through a square under threat. The threatening enemy gets to make an immediate melee attack (or sequence of attacks for monsters with multiple attacks) against the threatened creature. Attacks of opportunity cannot be performed with missile weapons.

This is a free attack that does not take the place of any actions the threatening creature had already planned. A creature can't make more than one attack of opportunity against a single opponent in the course of a combat round, but if several enemies leave themselves open, the creature can make one free attack against each one. There is a limit to the number of attacks of opportunity a single creature may make in one round. Warriors and monsters can make three attacks of opportunity plus one per five levels or Hit Dice. All other characters can make one attack of opportunity plus one per five levels. Thirty kobolds trying to swarm past a fighter in a narrow passage will take losses, but some will still get through.

Surprised characters and monsters cannot make attacks of opportunity during the round in which they are surprised

B) Tome of Magic

Spells from inside this expansion book are now part of the campaign setting

C) Improvised Attack Option - Pressing Attack

You can declare a Pressing Attack, one where you apply your strength/momentum in an attempt to push your opponent backwards under your onslaught

Steps

Declare a Pressing Attack
Roll To Hit
If successful roll damage and make an Opposed Strength check against target
If successful you can push your target 5' in the direction of your choice (as long as it is "Away" from your PC)

Summary: Having reunited with Oceanus and located the Lizardman liar, hidden deep in the The Hool Marshes. The party is faced with a decision to press on into the liar, or return to Saltmarsh to make preparations before entering.

Downtime Activities

1. Level Up

2. Shop

3. Storage Options

4. Investigate/Follow up on Rumors and Leads

1. Level Up

Barrister, Seraphiel have leveled up

2. Shop

A) Master Weaponsmith arrives to Saltmarsh

A merchant ship containing fine wares on the way to Unknown has docked in Saltmarsh. Amongst the merchants is a Master Weaponsmith who is selling Mastercrafted Weapons. The weapons are EITHER Expertly Balanced (+1 to hit), or Finely Edged/Reinforced (+1 damage). This refined craftsmanship comes at a cost, prices for weapons are 6X the prices found in the PHB. Unknown. The ship carrying the merchant will be departing in 7 days (IRL).

B) Temple of Procan

The following items are being sold by Welgar Brinehanded

C) Xendros Magic Shop

The following items and services are being sold by Captain Xendros

D) As usual, common/mundane items from Dwarven Anvil, Winston's Store can be purchased at cost from the Players Handbook

3. Storage Options

The party is now beginning to amass a large number of items, and a fair amount of wealth. Clearly you can continue to just haul it with you, or you can consider the following two options

1. Rent storage in a vault.

A small lockbox in a reasonably protected vault inside the Bank of Saltmarsh can be rented for 5GP a month. It will be large enough to hold coins, gems, jewels and jewelry and other small items
A medium small vault capable of holding a small amount of armor, weapons and other sizable items can be rented for 75gp a month. This includes physical 24/7 guards , high quality locks, and magical alarms

2. Rent or purchase a house

The party can either rent (70gp/month) or purchase (1250gp) a suitable house in Saltmarsh. It would come with a sturdy vault, but the party would be required to hire services NPCs such as guards, stewards to watch over the building while you are way. Details on the home can be found here Saltmarsh House.

4. Investigate/Follow up on Rumors and Leads

There are whispers that Welgar Brinehanded will soon be departing Saltmarsh on Temple of Procan business. It is unclear as to why or for how long
Gellan Primewater hasn't been seen in the town since the party departed in search of the Lizardman liar, some think he has headed to Unknown to profit off the merchant ship, others say he was not on his ship when it departed the other day. It has been sometime since Primewater has not been in the village proper
Whatever has been affecting the sea gulls near the docks seems to have spread across all of the birds in Saltmarsh, people are reporting varied and violent behavoir coming from all the birds in the village

Summary: Having just uncovered a smugglers plot to arm a Lizardman tribe the party awaits the Saltmarsh Town Council's thoughts on the matter. Spending the last several rainy days recovering and restocking, the party learns of a new magic shop from Shardona Lightbright.

Downtime Activities

1. Upload a Bio of your character into Kanka for 250 XP. Characters can be found in Character section, you should have write access

2. Level Up from Previous Adventure

3. Learn New Spells, Update Inventory, Etc.

4. Shop

5. Investigate/Follow up on Rumors & Leads

Level Up

Barrister, Theros, and Seraphiel have leveled up

Rumors & Leads

People have noticed strange behavior from the seagulls that fill the skies of Saltmarsh, they have grown more aggressive, stealing more food, and pestering the locals
The party is suspicious of Gellan Primewater perhaps you can follow him as he moves about town to see what you can learn, be careful though, he's a powerful man not easily crossed
There has been a setback of the Copperlock Mine, rumor has it that some of the dwarves are blaming Kreb Shenker for the setback, and are planning revenge
The party's exploits with the haunted house and smugglers are slowly becoming the talk of Saltmarsh. It would be possible to recruit porters, mercenaries, and body guards from amongst the local population.

Shop

Shardona Lightbright has introduced you to Captain Xendros who runs a small magical shop here in Saltmarsh.

Xendros Magic Shop has the following wares for sale

Temple of Procan

Has the current wares

Winston's Storeand Dwarven Anvil have common adventure items and normal weapons found in the DMG.

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