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Entering the Haunted Mansion | Episode 5 | U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

Exploring the Haunted Mansion at Saltmarsh

After a short hiatus of a few weeks, which included a few side quests, the party finally reconviened to approach the haunted mansion looming over the city of Saltmarsh.

A Small Party Explores the Fence & Gardens

We began with a skeleton crew. Nirick, the gnome illusionist/thief made a new friend in Ada, an elven ranger who had recently come to town (yes, we introduced a new player). Nirick convinced Ada to explore the mansion with him, hoping to find some evidence of the long-dead and potentially cursed wizard who apparently now haunts the building.

They started in the daytime, hoping to get a read on the place before night fell. They approached the gate, and walked the perimeter of the garden wall, noting the abundance of overgrowth now making up the majority of garden grounds. They also noted the several holes in the roof, marked by missing slate tiles, and our new ranger noted the birds and bats that likely call the attic home now. Eventually they spotted a fairly recent set of humanoid tracks, which went over the wall at one point, and were lost in the brush on the other side. In an effort to locate them again, the pair climbed the wall, and headed to a nearby well on the west side of the building, to the left of the main gates. Prying up the boards covering the old well was simple, but they were promptly attacked by the creature living within.

The Old Well

The giant weasel had yet to grow to truly monstrous proportions, but it was certainly a challenge for our fairly inexperienced warriors. It hissed, barked and lunged at the pair, and though Ada did try to ply it with her animal kinship, it wouldn't calm down. After a grueling set of rounds trading attacks with Ada's sword & axe and Nirick's rodent-killing poison darts, eventually the pair brought the beast to heel. Ada skinned it, and kept some of its remaining meat, and Nirick appraised the large pelt at the price of a small fortune. They took special care to keep it safe, since it was worth more money than either of them had ever seen in one place.

Starting in the Second Story

Rather than use the front door and be spotted by any inhabitants that might use the location, the pair thought it might be best to use Ada's grappling hook and rope to scale into a window on the second floor. Upon entering, they found themselves in a long hallway, with two closed doors near them. The hallway extended out some ways, including overlooking the foyer from above, but they made the decision to not explore too far, and instead open the doors nearest them.

When they entered the first room, a guest bedroom, it appeared, they immediately heard evidence of the hauntings this place was famous for. Quiet, agitated whispers, almost inaudible, and seemingly emanating from everywhere followed them into the room.

Not much was left in this room, other than some broken shards of furniture, some broken floorboards, and collapsed plaster from the cracking, peeling ceiling. The only remaining piece of furniture was a small chest of drawers along the eastern, interior wall. They opened the cabinet, finding a pair of boots and a cloak. Nirick dug into the cloak, hoping to find the enchanted clothes of the mystical former homeowner. Instead, he was met with a cloud of yellow spores, which immediately knocked him back, coughing a fit of blood and swelling his throat to almost closed. The gnome fell over, leaving Ada to deal with his quickly failing condition.

Ada scrambled into Nirick's bag, knowing that inside were herbal potions and remedies that should be able to help. She pulled three animal kidneys from the backpack, each with liquid inside. She thought back to the fight with the weasel, and knew that Nirick carried some formidable poisons with him. Which was it, though?

The ranger applied some critical tests, comparing the different liquids, and even tested them on the bits of weasel meat she had kept. Eventually she thought she had figured out which of the three was different from the other two, and surmised that it must be the poison. She closed her eyes, and asked whichever gods she prays to for their blessing, and poured one of the other two into the mouth of the gnome, pinching his nose shut and tilting his head to make him swallow whatever the concoction was.

After a few troubling moments, the gnome's breathing leveled as his the swelling in his throat began to recede. Now, it was a waiting game until the gnome would have enough energy to open his eyes.

Help Arrives, but the Going is Slow

Several hours passed, and Ada became increasingly concerned as the sun set in the west. The whispers seemed to grow louder, and she kept seeing small pods of light whisk by her head, always just out of eyesight, but always there, buzzing about. Different strange noises kept up in the building, as the wind whisked through and the floorboards creaked, but it appeared to be more than just the moaning of an old, unkempt home, but rather the things that went bump in the night.

Imagine her relief when the gate in the front of the garden creaked loudly, and she peeked outside to see the half-elven ally of Talia approaching. She lowered the rope down from the bedroom, and Nirick's fellow herbalist aided in his quicker recovery. As they sat in this room, waiting for Nirick's head to clear, they spotted what appeared to be a loose stone in the chimney, and behind it, some dust-covered object. The trio pained over how to get to the object without triggering some non-existent trap, and pained over it for what seemed like days until they just reached in and grabbed the thing. It was a fairly worthless chunk of crystal. The next several rooms the party explored went just the same. Painful care was taken when looking at every element, every dot of mold, and every simple piece of furniture.

Even if their caution was well founded after Nirick's brush with death, even Ada became frustrated with it. It only got worse, then, when River, the Bard arrived and joined the party as well, further compounding the different methods they took to look into every crack, crevice & corner. He did make a comical episode, though, when he found a pile of fresh clothing in one room, and decided to go all in on disguising himself as a sailor by wearing them. It even influenced his speech for the remainder of the game today.

First Spotting the Ghosts

Ada, getting tired of what appeared to be needless caution, decided to leave the party as they pained over a leather sack they found hidden in the floorboards, and ventured to the back of the house by herself. There, near a broken, crumbled set of stairs which apparently led to the attic, she spotted what looked like the faint image of an old man, floating just above the floor as he went about some menial task. When he spotted Ada, though, he turned in a wordless shriek, his face turning spectral and skeletal. The fear charm usually caused by apparitions was completely ineffective on Ada (who critically succeeded her check against it), and the thing floated quickly up the attic stairs.

This is what gets me as a DM. Really, they just found their first truly interesting thing. But, even after Ada came back and told everyone "guys, there's a friggin ghost over there...." they all decided screw it, nope, we're gonna go check out the rest of the bedrooms first. Where is the logic here? Are ghosts just not interesting anymore?

The Crumbling Floor & Ned's Room

That party crossed back from the back of the house where the ghost was spotted to return to the long hallway where everything began. They crossed in front of the foyer, and when looking down both Talia and Ada spotted that there were a pair of fairly worn tracks in the floor of the first story. One led to the staircase right ahead of them, and the other disappeared back into the back of the house on the first floor. There were two doors on the side of the house they approached, Nirick entered the first, noting how much worse off the floor was in this wing of the house than they had seen elsewhere. Nirick also noted that the window in this room was used more than in others. The glass was still intact, perhaps even salvaged from elsewhere in the house and replaced here. The hinges, even, were recently oiled. Nirick flung open the window to look outside, and did not see that anyone had been using this as a mode of entry, however, he did notice some chips in the lacquer and paint on the windowsill. He called Ada over to inspect the marks, and Talia followed.

Where our tiny gnome danced across the floor easily, the elf and half elf entering the room caused the floor to collapse, and they fell into the first floor below. As they discussed how to get the party back together, Talia found yet another one of those loose stones in the fireplace of this bedroom, and discovered a small amethyst within.

River, while everyone was trying to deal with the hole in the floor, moved to the final door in this hallway, and found it locked. Luckily he spotted the key on a neighboring windowsill, and popped the door open. Inside, they spotted the source of some of the creaking floorboards they'd been hearing, a man, tied, bound and gagged on the floor. They let out his gag, and the man introduced himself as Ned Shakeshaft, a member of a thieve's guild from a neighboring city, who was driven out of Saltmarsh by the thieves there. He professed that he was attacked when he first entered this house. He came in through the patio door on the first floor (near where Nirick and Ada had spotted those tracks), and attempted to find a place to sleep, but immediately was met with scary noises and evidence of the haunting. He fled, deeper into the house, as something chased him, and then a few hours ago, woke up in this room. River attempted to weed out if the man was lying, and did think that some of his claims were suspicious, but they've no reason to believe that he was dangerous. Still, in the interests of caution, they decided to keep him tied up, apply some kind of leash around his neck, and deny his offers to help them. Something about a thief saying he is "handy with a knife" turned them off. Nirick, still on the second floor of the house, looked around in Ned's room, and found a dagger in a fine scabbard tucked away in the room. He detected no magic on the weapon, and found it to not be altogether that valuable, but decided to keep it for himself.

What Was this Wizard Up To?

The party ended this session here. They asked a few more questions, like why are crystals hidden in the corners of the house? They surmised that it might have been an effort to build a protection circle into the construction of the home, but likely the party broke it already if it existed, so they worried about potential dangers that might cause. They also noted that the ghost was only spotted after they removed the crystal from the first room, and they wondered if that was the ghost of the former owner, the wizard who owned this place. And if so, what what he doing in that corner of the house, and why did he flee to the attic?

We'll reconvene in two weeks, as we have some players travelling. Yes, we ended the day with the party still split, and their new NPC friend still bound and gagged on the floor.

Until Next Time, Be Excellent to One Another, and Party On Dudes!

Spoilers Ahead, Only for Future DM's to Use!

Hello! If you're reading this because you are interested in running U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmaarsh at your gaming table, there is some information from this session that might be useful to you. If you are a player of this campaign, and you have yet to complete it, please do not read any farther, spoilers await. If you're a player in my campaign, c'mon, guys, don't ruin it. I just dont want to have to not write this part later. Just don't look until after the campaign ends.

Click this Button for Spoilers

1) The Crystals are, of course, meaningless. They are the belongings of the resident of the home, or perhaps thieves that have stashed goods throughout the home over the years.
2) It is important for DM's in this campaign to handle Ned Shakeshaft with care. He is, as you'll read in the module, a plant set here to try to keep the players from certain parts of the home, and kill them if need be. But if your players are as overly cautious as mine, they may not trust him enough to let him in their company. In this case, we have to figure out how to get him to work with, or against, the party again. I suppose I will encourage the party to just kick him out of the house, and then have him sneak around them with his attempts to assassinate them. It doesn't help, though, that they've taken his clothes and dagger. I'm unsure how, exactly, I will do this. Stay tuned for future sessions to see how Ned will attempt to disrupt the party.
3) The Ghost, is, of course, the illusionist working with the smugglers. He is aware that the party is here, and is hoping to scare them off. He'll make reappearances elsewhere, but usually will be working under the guise of an invisibility spell. Eventually he will give up and go back to the basement, as he has work to do. He's cocky, and will ignore the party, sure that they've been scared away after a while. It's up to you whether you work him in or not. I just thought it would be wise to make the place seem more haunted, and having a higher level illusionist walking around is a good way to make that happen. Once the party leaves the master bedroom on the first floor, he will consider his work complete, and he will retire back to his smuggling business.

Side Quests 2! | Episode 4 | U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

Side Quest, Chasing After a Spellbook

We were two players down again this week, so we recycled the theme from last week, and tried the simple treasure map theory again.

If you remember from episode 3 of the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, Talia, a half-elf mage-thief, had taken up employ with Bartleby, the wealthy leader of the town council, himself a wizard of some repute. In his service as a scribe, Talia worked through the oldest texts of the considerable library of tomes, documents, maps & credit statements he had accrued, copying those that needed repair, and dedicating as much of it as she could manage to memory. One of these had been the captains' log from a wrecked ship, which led Nirick and River on their treasure hunt a few days prior, and this time, she discovered a report of a long-dead wizard-merchant who had been captured by kobolds on an old road, some 2 days north and west of Saltmarsh, along an old road which skirted the swamps.

Nirick agreed to accompany her, with the eventual goal of finding the old wizard's long-forgotten spellbook. The old road hadn't been in use in over a decade, and those townspeople who still roamed that part of the wilderness hadn't reported kobolds in the area in at least twenty years. They both judged it safe, but went prepared for trouble just in case.

Preparing for Adventure

Both of them are proficient herbalists, so they concocted together a few healing salves and other first aid supplies. They also teamed their concocting skills to create a few flash bombs, alchemical contraptions that would spark up quickly, with a flash of light and white-hot fire, then burn out. Knowing that kobolds don't fair well in bright lights, they thought it might make an easier path to escape if need be.

The History of Saltmarsh

Both Nirick and Talia took some of this time to review some of the other documents they've located as well. In particular, they reviewed some of the historical notes about the town. In those, they learned that at one time, decades ago, when the city was first beginning to flourish, Saltmarsh was beset upon by a breed of fish-men called Sea-Devils. In an effort to fight off the plague of fish-men, the citizens of Saltmarsh first sold off a stake in their town to their first foreign town council member, Paelomath, a northern wizard. He was a powerful transmuter, and with his spells at hand, Saltmarsh chased off the sea-devils. It wasn't a great bargain in the end, though, as rumor had it that Paelomath made deals with wicked, demonic figures in his old age, hoping to learn the secrets of the Philosopher's Stone, a fabled magical item that could turn almost anything to pure gold. Eventually the man died, or was killed by the powers he worked with, and ever since, his cursed property has loomed over the town, a dark reminder of a deal gone bad.

Entering the Kobold Lair

The pair had a good idea where the kobold lair was from the old documents the named the raiding party and their wizard captive. After a few failed attempts to sneak up on the cave entrance, the pair did note that there was foot traffic in and around the space. They entered, and found at the foot of some roughly carved stairs, there was an old Kobold warning to any else who entered. Of course, they paid it no heed, and went on in anyways.

Talia got her first dose of properly using her thief skills, as her find traps ability showed that there was a pit trap hidden in the floor as they took one of the two possible paths from the entrance. They skirted the trap, and Nirick exposed for them to see, and noted the small horde of rats in the bottom of the pit.

As the smell of the place overtook them, they entered the main body of the cavern. They found the decrepit remains of what must have been the long-dead wizard, his boned dangling from old, rusty shackles in the wall. They also found what must have been the kobold bunks carved into the wall, and worse, a bedroll, a matted mess of old furs and blankets, for something much larger than a kobold.

Enter the Ogre

It feel like I, as the DM, keep saying this with this adventure. But sometimes I plan for an encounter to go one way, and the players completely surprise me. At the first sound of a large creature approaching, Nirick hid himself among the vines and roots in a smaller chamber (which would be the other path to the main sleeping chamber from the entrance, had the pair decided to go that way). Talia, on the other hand, attempted to get up one of the walls to hide among the cracks and crevices of the rock ceiling, adn was spotted immediately. The ogre yelled out in goblin, which Talia understood, and quickly disarmed her, and then captured her, and tied her with some vines to the old shackles braces on the walls left behind by the kobolds.

This space was very cramped for an ogre, and he tried to sit down, stretch out his legs, and enjoy the lizard he had captured for himself, delighting in the fact that he would have fresh half elf to eat later on. Nirick, trying to distract him, used his ventriloquism proficiency to throw his voice down the corridor. The ogre delighted again, and re-set his pit trap, giggling to Talia that the silly humans always come in the cave, and always fall for his trap.

While he was stooped over re-setting his trap, Nirick first attempted to use some of the poisons he had created on a blowgun dart, but missed. He then sliced through one of Talia's bonds, just before the Ogre turned back around. As the beast charged at them, Talia used her grease spell, and Nirick used his spook spell. The Ogre turned in horror from the spook, and immediately slipped in the grease. Nirick lit one of his flash bombs, and threw it into the grease, setting off a flare of white-hot fire which immediately combusted on the greasy substance now covering the ogre.

Should we stay or should we go?

This is the surprising part. It was fairly obvious that the other path looped around to the current chamber the pair were in, and they could have just attempted to run from the area like a smart pair of first level wizard-mages, obviously outmatched by a 8-9' tall ogre. But no.....Talia jumped to retrieve her shortbow, and fired off a few shots at the ogre as it struggled to get its footing in these cramped, and greased, quarters. Nirick loaded some of his poison, a substance made to weaken kobolds, onto his dagger, and persistently attempted to stab the ogre repeatedly.

Long story short, Nirick eventually rolls a critical hit to re-combust some of the remaining grease, setting the beast aflame again. But it was too late. The ogre wound up, and even in the cramped quarters, pummeled the small gnome against a wall, knocking him well below 0 hit points. The ogre then attacked Talia, who tried to escape into the refuge of the smaller of the two tunnels by throwing large rocks and debris down the tunnel ahead of him. Talia rolled the final attack, a critical hit, and plunked the last of several arrows of hers into the monster, putting him down for good. She rushed to Nirick, and stabilized the hapless gnome. Throwing him over her shoulder and running from the place, back to town. Nirick would awaken from his wounds a few days later, and together the pair would dig through the spellbook that they did, eventually find in the lair. They were rewarded for their boldness with a few new spells, including (finally) one offensive spell, and a new illusion for Nirick.

Until next time, when the party will inevitably do something else ridiculous....

Be excellent to one another, and party on, dudes.

Side Quests! | Episode 3 | U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

Looting an Old Shipwreck

The players for both Talia and Parker were out this week, so we ran a small one-off side-quest for River and Nirick. It begins with Talia'a character, currently indisposed working for Bartleby the town councilman copying old documents that appeared to be rotted or moldy onto new, clean parchment. In this work, she stumbled across an old captain's log. Apparently, just west of the town of Saltmarsh is a shallow shoal, which serves as a wave-break for the coastal city, but also as a hazard to ship's captains for years. Luckily for any contemporary captains, the safe passage through the shoal is marked by the wrecked ships which have been tossed up on the rocks over the years. It was one of these ships' captain's logs where she found the mention of some regret, that although the good captain got his crew offloaded safely, he was forced to leave something behind. What, exactly, this precious cargo was was unknown, but it appeared to be of some value, at least to the captain.

Headed to the Shoal

Having met two fishermen, a father and son named Thomas and William in an earlier session, Nirick and River elected to hire Thomas, the salty old father with the larger boat, to ferry them out to the shoal. There, they did locate the ship in question, covered in algae and seaweed from a few years of laying out here among the rocks and seawater. Indeed, the hull had a very large hole in the side, and the pair elected to board the top deck first, and look around.

More Damn Rats!

Nirick identified the cabinets near the helm as the most likely places on the top deck to find anything of value, so River immediately jumped into action, and threw open the cabinet doors. In the first one, he found what appeared to be a corroded, tarnished brass tube. Indeed it was a spyglass, worth a considerable amount of money in good condition, but the pair elected to keep it, fix it up and polish the corrosion, in case they might need it in the future. In the second cabinet, River was met with a much more sour reception.
A giant rat had made its home in this compartment, living off of small fish and the occasional bird. It leapt out at River, scoring a small hit, but to him, it was a severe wound. After some trials and tribulations, the pair eventually smashed the rat into bits, and opened the cabinet to see what kind of loot it had in its lair.

River spotted something small and metal inside, and reached in, gouging his hand on a rusty nail, and immediately failing a constitution check to avoid the infection from the rat's leavings (in game-terms, he suffered damage from poison). Nirick, the herbalist, offered to make him a healing concoction, but critically failed at the attempt. We played this out in the narrative as if he was squeezing a starfish for its oil, and mashing it in with some kelp, but wasn't looking on one attempt, and squeezed the dead rat instead. River smelled the stuff, and with a successful wisdom check, elected not to drink the poisonous concoction. They did find, in the rat's nest, a silver chain and medallion of some quality craftsmanship, which they would later sell for a pretty profit.

Exploring Belowdecks

The pair decided to take a more cautious approach to the captain's quarters. Nirick used their grappling hook and rope to dangle from the upper deck and peer through the windows. When he reported that he saw no movement or danger, River took the sledge hammer he carries (he "acquired" it in a previous session, when he was attempting to bust open a sewer grate and stole the supplies to do so), and slammed into the wet, rotted boards above the captain's desk, making a hole easily large enough for either of them to enter. Looking about in the room, they found nothing of particular value.

Monsters of the Deep

They neglected the other two cabins, and went straight for the hull of the ship, since Nirick, passing a detect noise check, knew that something was inside the boat somewhere. Once they threw open the hatch to the bay and bilge from the main deck, they saw that something had attempted to better secure the ship to the surrounding rocks, stopping it from moving around in the tides anymore. Along the bottom of the bilge, easily 3 feet of standing water was present, even at low tide. River quickly spotted some of the old cargo still suspended against the hull walls with rotting cargo nets, and fired a shot from his shortbow to release some of the crates. Seeing only moldy straw, he decided it was time to climb down for a more thorough investigation.

The player who plays River has played a series of characters who die in unfortunate ways. It has gotten to the point where he just doesn't stay attached anymore. In this case, he was charged by a fishy humanoid, some bastardization of a merman with a grudge (In game terms, it is a reclusive merrow, weakened by a recent spat with a few sharks roaming the seas, and seeking refuge in this ship). His death was imminent. Until, that is, we saw what it is that an illusionist specialist can do. Sticking his tiny gnomish head below the hatch, Nirick got the Merrow's attention, and cast "spook." Neither character knew what it was the Merrow saw, but it believed the small gnome was actually a great, shark-headed beast, prowling the ship, hoping to catch this prey that got away. It screamed its inhuman scream, and plunged as quickly into the water as it could manage.

Nirick and River gathered up some of the goods they could find, and with Thomas' help, got it loaded onto the old fisherman's boat. And they tuck-tailed and left the dangerous scene. They pawned off what goods they had found for a fair amount of coin, and started working to repair their spyglass. Once they met back with Talia, she confirmed from research in Bartleby's library that there are many kinds of "fish men" that live in these warm southern waters, and this was a merrow, a favored prey of larger sharks, and enemy of mermen, locatahs and other quasi-marine creatures.

Until next week, be excelent to one another, and party on, dudes.

An Abundance of Rats Part 1 | Episode 2 | U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh Episode 2 - Dealing with the Rats

This episode introduced a new character, a half-elf mage/thief named Talia. She came seeking the same level of fame that the rest of the party, Parker the Dwarven warrior, River the half-elf bard & Nirick, the gnomish illusionist/thief had initially come here for as well.

It was a fairly comical session. First, Parker took bets that he could eat rats. Talia is a gaming expert, so she worked as a bookie, and two patrons of Mick's Tavern played along. Parker did extraordinarily well, catching, killing and eating 6 raw rats, which was more than either of the gamblers thought, so they kept the cash. Parker, though, failed his constitution checks, and became very, very ill, with sores popping up on his skin, a fever, and some double vision.

Herbalism for the Win!

Both Nirick and Talia happen to be accomplished herbalists. Nirick is actually a specialist in the field. Together, they fixed up a small treatment for Parker's illness, and fabricated a rat poison that proved to be very effective. Still working on their job to solve the abundance of rats in the city. They started by capturing and killing, as well as poisoning as many rats as they could manage. It was fairly effective, and both Mack, the purveyor of Mick's tavern, and Greibus, the town council member and merchant of dry goods who owned the building next door, were fairly happy with the results.

However, the issue was not completely solved. After employing Parker's stonemason skills, they patched up the crack in Greibus' foundation that allowed the rats to enter the basement. Then, though, some standing water started to pool between the cobblestones. River had the idea to check a local well, and indeed, the water levels were very high.

Bartleby, the Leader of the Town Council

Talia and Nirick conversed with Greibus about where they might be able to find a map of the sewer system. He informed them that the wealthiest of the town's merchants, Bartleby, lived up north of the city proper, up on a hill among his vineyards. He had, in the four or five years since he moved into Saltmarsh, bought up several repositories of scrolls, books & maps of the area, building himself a veritable library of local history. It is rare that he entertains guests, though, and his status as a wizard leaves him as one that not many of the townspeople trust.

Talia looked in her spellbook, and prepared herself with the spell "friends," increasing her charisma dramatically. Then, they approached the wrought iron gates of Bartleby's country villa. They smooth-talked their way into an audience, and then charmed the hell out of Bartleby (as he critically failed his charisma contest rolls).

In return for copying some maps, Bartleby asked that the pair help copy other damaged things in his library, as the young man who was assisting him was fairly worthless at this. They agreed, and got to work, eventually gaining the map they sought, as well as a detailed map of the city and the shipping lanes surrounding it to the south. Furthermore, Talia's work was valued so highly, that Bartleby asked her to come back and assist more often, which also happens again next week.

The Saltmarsh Sewer System

Armed with this map, the group decides to go investigate the output drains throughout the city, and sure enough, some of them appear to be clogged, while others are bursting at the seams to let out the excess water in the sewers. River and Parker bash open a sewer grate, and find inside a plug, of sorts, made of deep-water seaweed, and very carefully woven into place to block the sewer system, intentionally raising the water level. Talia used grease and some inventive use of fire to bust the plug loose, and the man-sized construction eventually fell apart and floated out to sea.

Success! I Guess?

This is one of those fun episodes for a DM, where what you intended to happen comes nowhere close to happening. The party did find the source of the water level, and once the sewers were an option again, most of the rats did leave, so the city considers it a success. But the still standing mystery of who, or what, blocked the sewer drains, and for what reason, still exists, and the party didn't seem too concerned with discovering why. Very well, I suppose.

They were provided with a second job. Bartleby offered Talia and Nirick their choice of potions from a collection he had acquired in his business dealings, if they solve a different rat problem in his warehouse. Apparently, a few particularly large rats had moved in, and had gotten into his potion store. One, apparently, had knocked over a potion of speed, and another had somehow gotten into a potion of giant strength. There is a third in there, but Bartleby doesnt know what he got into, but it smells like burnt hair. The party will attempt this mission at a later date. Talia and Nirick declined to tell the rest of the party about their payment, and instead, it is being passed along as a "reward" for now being the owners of an exclusive exterminators' licence in Saltmarsh.

The final move of the day was River's decision to not tell the town about the investigation, or their findings. Instead, he sang songs in Mick's tavern about how the most famous dwarf in the world ate all of the rats in Saltmarsh, and how no job is too small for their team and their odd, but heroic dwarf. With the two gambling witnesses from earlier in the session, the statement sticks, and the town appears to believe that the dwarf, indeed, ate all of the rats. In reality, he was held up in bed with a fever, but whatever.

Until next time, be excellent to one another, and party on, dudes.

Arriving in Saltmarsh | Episode 1 | U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

The Adventure Begins in Saltmarsh

We begin this adventure with three heroes arriving at the town of Saltmarsh. River, a half-elf bard, Parker, an impulsive dwarven warrior, and Nirick, a gnomish illusionist were lured to this area under contract of one Guido, the Champion of Darkshelf. With the objective of creating an adventuring company, and making some small amount of fame for themselves, the trio under Guido's employ headed to this relatively small fishing town to set up shop. Guido and his official crew took some pity on these hapless adventurers, and set them up with a pre-paid month's lodging on one of the larger rooms at Mick's tavern, an old establishment known by the sailors in this southernmost part of the continent as a great place for cheap, watery gin, palatable stew & once and a while a place to find women of loose morals.

Of course it didn't take long for the crew to make a name for themselves. Parker barged in, his great axe in hand, and announced himself as "the most famous dwarf in the world," who would "take on any task." These bold claims were met with laughter by the crowd, including the gnomish illusionist Nirick, but it was a tall, ugly half-orc in the corner who drew Parker's attention. After goading the half-orc sailor into a fight, and a few sloppy, lazy swings of his axe, the surrounding sailors convinced Parker to not spend the night in jail by murdering an unarmed man, so Parker left his axe at one of the tables nearby, and charged the orc to head-butt him into submission. It worked, and the orc collapsed into a heap, with his sailor friends laughing and dragging him out into the alley

River, ever the entertainer, instantly wrote a song (to the tune of rudolf the red-nosed reindeer), about Parker: "but do you recall? The Most Famous Dwarf of Them All..."

The remaining sailors in the bar were entertained, and threw the half-elf some spare change for his performance. Nirick noted that one of the men throwing copper pieces appeared to not be a sailor, and was perhaps more of the adventuring type, so he met the man in the corner, and asked him where one might find work around this town. The response was luke-warm, but the enterprising River rationed out that the man was about to book passage on one of the ships in the harbor. So off to the docks they went.

Meeting the Sailors

In possibly one of the more comical displays of dwarven bravery ... well, we'll get there.

After recognizing by the flags in the harbor which ships belonged to the southward town of Seaton, River found one of their quartermasters, tolling up his shipments on the docks. He propositioned the man to buy up all of the remaining passage seats on his boat, but the man immediately rationed out what the half-elf was proposing. "You want to buy up all my passage, so you can sell the tickets back to possible passengers at a profit, right? okay, well here's an unreasonable price..." Which Parker did not appreciate.

The dwarf, having learned that axe-murdering someone is a bad thing, decided to head-butt again, this time the officer of one of the large ships in the harbor. It was a success, and the quartermaster fell with a bloody nose, but dozens of sailors then mobbed on the dwarf, wailing on him with belaying pins until not much was left of him but a bloody, unconscious mess.

Back to Mick's!

As slowly as it took for the two relatively small and weak surviving party members to drag Parker back to Mick's tavern, they were greeted with much laughter as they dropped the unconscious "most famous dwarf in the world" in the tavern floor. They got help from some of the sailors in dragging him upstairs to put him in one of the beds, after which River sang another song about how "the most famous dwarf" battled against unbeatable odds, because there is no task too large for them. With his proficiency check for singing, River rolled a critical failure, and his off-key, rambling song was laughed at by the entire audience. As much as it was an honest effort, it was such a miserable failure that his audience thought it must have been a comedy act. River played into it a bit, and stirred up more laughter. Mack, Mick's grandson who runs the tavern, offered them some small employment, since even with the comedic performance, it was apparent that at least, this group was willing to try.

An Abundance of Rats

Mack told River and Nirick about a vermin problem in his basement, and claimed that everyone on their block, including the dry goods merchant next door, is suffering from too many rats. The issue probably goes as far as the entire warf-quarter district of town, but Mack could only speak for his fellow shop-owners on this block.

The pair walked next door, where they met the merchant Greibus the Low, who happens to be the lowest of the five merchants who make up the town council, and spoke to him about getting their rat problem solved. Greibus swindled River into believing that they would need licencing to act as exterminators, and in the swindling, stated that his role in the government was to handle contracts and licences. By the end of the conversation, at least, River was able to talk his way out of having to pay for doing this work, and as a reward for solving the rat problem for their block, Greibus would reward the trio with an exclusive licence, to become the only city-approved exterminators in Saltmarsh. When asked about other work the trio might take on, he mentioned that sure, the county ditch, an irrigation channel built to take water from a nearby stream, needed dredged out; but judging by the scrawny Nirick and slender River, they wouldn't be the ones to take on a task like that.

A House on a Hill

As River and Nirick continued to explore the blocks around Mick's and the docks, the sun began to set, and a eerie, stormy fog began to creep in north and west of the city. As the setting sun back-lit the area, both of them noted a large structure up on the cliffs. Someone had built a home up there. As the fog crept in, and twilight settled, strange lights lit up in the fog, dimly illuminating the area between the claps of lightning out in the bay. When they got back to Mick's, they asked Mack about the apparently unoccupied home. He refused any answer, and River (finally passing a good check) intuited that perhaps, questioning about the house on the hill made the man nervous. When pressed, Mack found something else to do and left the two of them with their questions.

When they finally retired for the evening, they opened the shutters of their room and watched as the sky, illuminating in flashes of far-off, fog-obscured lightning, continued to show the silhouette of the place. Nirick, using his spellcraft proficiency, reasoned that the unnatural-seeming lights they spotted in the fog between lightning claps could have been one of a few options. Either something actually natural, like St. Elmo's fire, a Wil 'o Whisp (a very dangerous monster often found in and around swamps, much like those that give Saltmarsh its name), some phantasm of magical means like a flickering light spell, or finally some phantasm of more ghostly, undead presence. But, before they can get too much more information about the house on the hill, they need to rid the warf-quarter district of rats.

Until next time, when Nirick will continue to shake his head at his bumbling accomplices...be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.

Swamp Walkers - Episode 3 | B2; The Keep on the Borderlands

Exploring the Swamps - Session 3; The Keep on the Borderlands

The Mission: Re-Open the Swamp Road

This session of B2 - The Keep on the Borderlands began at the Keep on the Borderlands itself, with the two surviving members of the party finding a a new character to join their group. The player who oversaw the trials and tribulations of Uh-Ga rolled up his next character, and decided on another berzerker, Rig-Ra. He joined Hraf and Bimmy as another nomadic barbarian, and went with them to discuss a short mission with the sergeant at arms they had met in session 1. This officer of the watch had spoken to the castellan, a sort of manager of this large military property, and agreed to pay the party 20 gold pieces for every survivor, assuming they did in fact clear the path across the bog to the south and opened it up for trade again, as well as giving each of them a suit of ring mail from the quartermaster's office, as well as a private room for them to share at the traveler's inn in the outer bailey for the period of one month. The party attempted to negotiate to a better deal, but colossally failed their charisma checks, and the officer of the watch was unwilling to budge. A note from the DM: yes, in fact, the sergeant is getting a full payment, and will pocket the remainder if any of the party members do not return. And that, folks, is how you start a character development arc for an NPC. So sure, the Sergeant at Arms seems like a nice guy, and doesn't damage the party's ability to succeed, and will actually be very helpful, but, this now more vibrant and memorable NPC (non-player character) is well known to be out for his own profit as well.

Beetle Juice; What Creepers Live in the Swamps?

So the party made its way back down to the old Ferryman's shack and pier, and used the raft they had crafted in the previous session, as well as the ten-foot poles that Hraf bought (his player smiled when the remainder of the party noted that she had basically become McGuyver, the only one of the trio that thinks ahead about purchasing equipment, and always has something to save the day stowed away in her character sheet). Hraf suggested to the remainder of the party that they use the poles to pilot the raft better than an oar might (picture a pole-raft), and then they could use them to stop from sinking into the bog, if they have to walk off the path again. It was very effective.

Once across the river, they marched due south, knowing that headed east pointed them back towards the bullywugs that caused such a problem last time. Once they reached night-time, they found a moss-covered tree and climbed up into it for the night, to stay away from the reaches of whatever exists under the cover of the boggy marsh. It was a wise decision, as they discovered when they watched the bog shift and move among the roots of the tree they were in. Bimmy took a piece of the cheese he had previously failed to pass off as his own to the cheesemaker's guild, and tossed it down among the leaf-litter and peat, and all looked on as large, house-cat sized beetles with glowing parts in their necks and rears came up and tore the foodstuffs apart. Fire beetles are a common swamp denizen in dungeons and dragons, and Hraf's animal lore proficiency told them all that these beetles, once killed, could be used as harmless torches for a few days afterwards, since their luminescent glands would keep glowing for some time after death. He made quick work with his shortbow until none remained, and the three climbed down out of the tree, and grabbed the beetle-kabobs, peeled off some of the exoskeletal plates to expose the glands, and marched on down the wooden planks laid over the bog.

Trolls; The Dangers of the Random Encounter Tables

A few moments after getting out of the tree, they encountered another fork in the path that was not on the Sergeant's map. Since both appeared to head in a generally southerly direction, there was no way to tell which of the two was the proper path. They took the left path, headed lightly southeast. This was not the correct path.

An hour or so later, they caught wind of a horrid, rotting smell that none, even Rig-Ra, who decided that his backstory was that he was, in fact, born on a bayou, could identify. They looked a little further down the path, and saw that eventually the wooden planks ran out. Not wanting to chance whatever the smell was, and certainly not at the same time as they would have to walk across the bog again. The trio turned around, and at the moment that their backs were turned, a large troll lunged out from his fairly well camouflaged den, and attacked the group.

Now, it should be said that under normal circumstances, a troll in d&d is by far a too tough opponent for three first level characters. Had everything gone as things usually go, all three would have died in a round or two. But, this is the Keep on the Borderlands, so what the hell, let the die roll where they lay, and play the game as that sadistic bastard Gygax intended.

It should also be said that this was the worst, most fumbling disastrous excuse for a troll that ever existed. A goblin with no arms trying to head butt his way through the full charge of heavy cavalry would probably have landed more success than this pathetic excuse for a walking turnip. Throughout the encounter, which lasted all of 4 full rounds, he only landed one hit, and for the most part remained stuck in the bog , unable to move (again, play the dice as they lay, and when it sucks, it sucks, and when the players win, they win). The best part of it was that Rig-Ra got to see what it was like to unleash his full berzerker rage on a creature. He leapt onto its back, and dismembered the thing in a few rounds.

Hraf, of course, after it began to regenerate, looked in his backpack, pulled out a set of torches and a flint and steel, and the party was able to put an end to the thing. Then, the trio looked around for its den, and found the stick, leaf and mud wattle construction, with a fair amount of loot inside. I used the fancy random treasure generator that I reviewed a few months ago, and loaded up the loot pile with things that were taken from merchants who had attempted to cross the swamp road. It will be fun to see how the party gets all of this stuff, including a winter-time sleigh with no wheels, back to the keep to get the cash out of it. That random generator also gave them a giant pile of coins, though, which will become pretty important later on.

Knowing When to Not Fight; Lizard Men in the Swamps

The last part of the swamp road ended when all three attempted to quietly sneak up on some lights they saw ahead. They failed, and were surprised a few yards later, when a series of lizard men popped out of the brush, surrounding them, forcing them to surrender. They heard a hostage ahead shouting for them not to fight, and when allowed to speak to him, the elf (yes, the elf they were originally looking for in the swamp) turned out to be a wizard, who was able to cast a spell to allow the lizards and the players to speak to one another. Before then, though, the players had to convince the lizard shaman to allow the elf to have his book back. The non-verbal communication they attempted was for the most part successful, except that when Hraf asked for the book, the shaman assumed it was an offer of trade, and he took his entire sack of cash, including Hraf's third of the troll loot.

In any case, it all worked out, as the lizard men turn out to be perfectly happy being peaceful. All they really want is to have their home back, which they were chased out of by a group of bandits who moved into the dense forest south of the swamps. They negotiated with the party to say that if the party could get the bandits to leave, either by diplomatic or violent means, then they would not only allow merchants across the road un-harassed, but they would even help as guides when need be, and ensure the maintenance of the road going forward.

Which is where we will pick up next time. Our trio of barbarians will venture into the more solid ground of the southern woods, and face off with the bandit troupe there. Until then, be excellent to one another, and party on, dudes.