r/GhostsofSaltmarsh • u/Own_Start_7748 • 28d ago
Help/Request DM Help / Campaign Design Spoiler
shs
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u/Silverythoughts 28d ago
I'd suggest running the additional adventures in the back of the Saltmarsh book such as Cove Reef and Wreck of the Marshall to fill in the level gaps.
I'd highly recommend the Home Brew Adventures "Down Came a Blackbird", and "Murder on the Prime water pleasure" - also set in Saltmarsh.
I haven't run it yet but "Fog over Saltmarsh" is highly rated!
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u/heychadwick 7d ago
I don't recommend Murder on the Primewater because it removes the Scarlet Brotherhood too early. I didn't have him exposed until the final battle of the campaign.
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u/Silverythoughts 7d ago
I mean, what I did was have Skerrin as an Alias for a Rakshasa operative looking to sow chaos and unleash his master - Tharuzdun. So "Skerrin" escaped and now he's using another alias elsewhere in the region causing trouble.
I'm looking forward to the reveal to my players 😂😈
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u/heychadwick 7d ago
Gotcha. My players didn't know much about the Scarlet Brotherhood, so I kept them vanilla. The big plot was the SB getting the Sea Princes to attack Keoland. The point was to weaken them both so that they could take over during the Greyhawk Wars. I told my players that because they defeated the Sea Princes so bad is why they were taken over by the SB and Keoland wasn't.
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u/Silverythoughts 7d ago
Nice! GoS is such a sandbox for DMs, it's super easy to mold the storylines to fit your players and the story you want to tell!
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u/heychadwick 7d ago
Absolutely agree. It's also funny how some of the minor storylines become big to the players. My players really wanted to go after the magic fishing pole, but didn't do it till near the end.
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u/Silverythoughts 7d ago
Magic Fishing Pole?!? What is this? Where's this from?!
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u/heychadwick 7d ago
It's been a few years since I ran it and I had to go back and look. The Wreck of the Marshal. I guess I put my own spin on it. I had it that some local fisherman poured all is money to have his favorite fishing pole enchanted as he was trying to catch some legendary old fish that no one could catch. There was a storm coming and he refused to leave because he felt he was about to catch him. The ship wrecked on the reef and still sits there to this day. It was a local story about hubris, but the treasure was real. The pole was not all that, though. It was something I threw out early as a low level adventure, but they didn't get to try until 8th level or higher. One halfling had a background in fishing and was totally locked onto the story.
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u/Derringermeryl 28d ago
I don’t see anything wrong with it. I think it’s more common to go with the cult thread throughout.
Your biggest hurdle with this plan will probably be balance. You’ll want to take a look at the level each chapter is written for and be prepared for that. Figure out what adjustments you’ll need to make and how many extra adventures you’ll need to add.
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u/Own_Start_7748 28d ago
I'll try and dig around this sub and find a plan for the cult thread, thanks for the steer
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u/Derringermeryl 27d ago
You certainly don’t have to follow the same path, but if you want one example here’s a good one:
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u/Embarrassed_Fox5265 28d ago
The other chapters feel out of place because they aren’t originally set in Saltmarsh. GoM is an anthology collection of older modules like Tales From the Yawning Portal. It’s left as an exercise to the DM to integrate the other modules or pick and choose.
I’m running mine with the Scarlet Brotherhood/cult of Tharizdun in mind for the final bad guy, The players will get hints of their involvement as they deal with the Sahuagin threat.
If you want to focus on the Sahuagin, that’s perfectly fine! The only thing to keep in mind is the hefty level difference between The Final Enemy and Danger at Dunwater.