I see this is going to be an interesting session as the EotW tailers this multi-tier arena combat with the assumption the characters are going to be willing to fight their opponents and not try to escape from Sahuagins by taking their captures head-on. While in the first combat in the area the players do not have any of their gear there are still two magic users that have Cantrips, VS spells and a Monk that can put some hurt on whomever they end up facing. It's not until the second combat with the Sharks where they get their gear back where they are more likely to go off-script and try to capture the Sahuagin leader and force their exit. I've placed enough Sahuagin in the area so hopefully, if the party does try to take on their captors it will be pretty lopsided combat.
I think I've worked out all the possible scenarios the party can throw me that are not covered in the EotW. Still, this group of players has a tendency to surprise me with their actions so maybe any of this prep will not have been enough.
After a detour to Waterdeep to do some research the party heads out to the port city of Saltmarsh.
Finally, the group makes it to Saltmarsh. Given I had them on a six-month detour to Bilgewater but I can start my Ghost of Saltmarsh / Tales of the Yawning Portal single storyline mash-up.
Party will arrive in Saltmarsh and get a massive info dump, which I'll be including as a handout on Roll20, from their patron on the ins and outs of Saltmarsh.
After that, we'll jump right into the first module The Sinister Secret Of Saltmarsh. The adventure is for 1st characters but I have scaled it up for the party who are all 5th level. The only qualms I have with this module are some tracks they can follow and a few secret doors leading to areas that show where the smugglers are located and I'm not sure the party will look for any such clues. So they may clear out the house but there is still half of the locations left unexplored. I'm not going to make any adjustments to that portion of the game and just see how things play out but I'm predicting that I'll have to intervene (neon sign what have you.)
Since Saltmarsh will be their main base of operations, and the party does not burn it down, I'm going to give them the house to restore (it's in really bad shape) and live in.
I don't expect to finish this module in one sitting, (we only have three hours), but I feel the players could make a nice dent in it.
Last session was a little disappointing. Had a few players unavailable, so I stretched a city downtime episode to delay starting a big combat. The players didn't pick up on any of my more interesting plot nuggets, but they did do some original battlefield tactical preparation with some pit traps and bunkers.
I'm hopeful for next session. I have some interesting combat tactics prepared, and
a curveball where a disguised Lamia will pose as an ally calling for rescue
My next session is going to be frightening. This is a new system and I'm dreadfully far behind in learning it. I'm not even sure if I could DM one right now. There's no timeframe on when my DM is going to have a session so being the DM in a campaign is really my only option.
It's looking like my next session is going to be the start of a 1:1 campaign, the character is a half-elf ranger. I have pulled a throwaway sentence from one of the descriptions of my NPC's in my world and have built it into an entire campaign, which will actually really lend itself to be a one to one session!
The concept is that the mysterious facility on an island known as Crimson Peak, which has been derelict for decades, has suddenly started belching smoke again. Shortly afterwards, some concerning reports of kidnappings in the area have begun coming in, and everyone is greatly worried that Crimson Peak is to blame. The facility was extremely secretive when it was operational, and travelers in the area would often go missing. One woman had allegedly escaped the facility, but she disappeared the night she washed up on the coast, along with the kindly fisherman who had given her shelter - he had sent for the doctor from the local village, who arrived in the morning to find the cabin trashed and empty.
Now the kidnappings have started again, and people desperately want someone to find out what is going on in there and get their people back!
I'm building it up ready to go, and hopefully I can get it coherent enough to make a module out of it XD
After a detour to Waterdeep to do some research the party heads out to the port city of Saltmarsh.
Finally, the group makes it to Saltmarsh. Given I had them on a six-month detour to Bilgewater but I can start my Ghost of Saltmarsh / Tales of the Yawning Portal single storyline mash-up.
Party will arrive in Saltmarsh and get a massive info dump, which I'll be including as a handout on Roll20, from their patron on the ins and outs of Saltmarsh.
After that, we'll jump right into the first module The Sinister Secret Of Saltmarsh. The adventure is for 1st characters but I have scaled it up for the party who are all 5th level. The only qualms I have with this module are some tracks they can follow and a few secret doors leading to areas that show where the smugglers are located and I'm not sure the party will look for any such clues. So they may clear out the house but there is still half of the locations left unexplored. I'm not going to make any adjustments to that portion of the game and just see how things play out but I'm predicting that I'll have to intervene (neon sign what have you.)
Since Saltmarsh will be their main base of operations, and the party does not burn it down, I'm going to give them the house to restore (it's in really bad shape) and live in.
I don't expect to finish this module in one sitting, (we only have three hours), but I feel the players could make a nice dent in it.
Last session was a little disappointing. Had a few players unavailable, so I stretched a city downtime episode to delay starting a big combat. The players didn't pick up on any of my more interesting plot nuggets, but they did do some original battlefield tactical preparation with some pit traps and bunkers.
I'm hopeful for next session. I have some interesting combat tactics prepared, and
a curveball where a disguised Lamia will pose as an ally calling for rescue
My next session is going to be frightening. This is a new system and I'm dreadfully far behind in learning it. I'm not even sure if I could DM one right now. There's no timeframe on when my DM is going to have a session so being the DM in a campaign is really my only option.
It's looking like my next session is going to be the start of a 1:1 campaign, the character is a half-elf ranger. I have pulled a throwaway sentence from one of the descriptions of my NPC's in my world and have built it into an entire campaign, which will actually really lend itself to be a one to one session!
The concept is that the mysterious facility on an island known as Crimson Peak, which has been derelict for decades, has suddenly started belching smoke again. Shortly afterwards, some concerning reports of kidnappings in the area have begun coming in, and everyone is greatly worried that Crimson Peak is to blame. The facility was extremely secretive when it was operational, and travelers in the area would often go missing. One woman had allegedly escaped the facility, but she disappeared the night she washed up on the coast, along with the kindly fisherman who had given her shelter - he had sent for the doctor from the local village, who arrived in the morning to find the cabin trashed and empty.
Now the kidnappings have started again, and people desperately want someone to find out what is going on in there and get their people back!
I'm building it up ready to go, and hopefully I can get it coherent enough to make a module out of it XD
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!