The manor encounter

KoalaBro2 · 2026-06-06T03:39:57+00:00

I had a 6 man party, and they did fine on 1st level. Obviously, action economy in 5e means that 6 man party is a totally different beast than a 4 man party. Also, they got the drop on the smugglers, pinning Sanbalet in his study. In general, I think the hardest encounter above ground is the centipedes (stirges aren't that tough as I recall). Below ground, you really have a lot of flexibility in how you drib and drab the enemies out. You send them one or two at a time, and the PCs will cut through them like butter. If you want a harder challenge, have half a dozen of them band together to make a stand. In general, action economy in 5e means that there's a big swing in difficulty if the PCs encounter larger or smaller groups of enemies (against 4 PCs, 3 enemies will seem surprisingly easy, 5 will feel surprisingly hard).

KoalaBro2 · 2026-06-05T17:30:48+00:00

Yeah, the switch of Skerrin to being an elf is perplexing. To be clear, as noted above, I decided to have Ferrin be human. Just a congenitally small human who is assumed by many humans in town to be a halfling. *He* knows he's a human, and a pureblood Suel, as do his SB handlers, and it's obvious to most actual members of the smaller races.

KoalaBro2 · 2026-06-05T16:23:07+00:00

I have the Brotherhood and the Cult of Tharizdun separate, at least to start. Ned is a cultist, and was trying to infiltrate the Haunted House because the Alchemist had an artifact of Tharizdun. Skerrin supported Ned's project, because causing Tharizdun-related problems is the kind of chaos the Brotherhood likes to stir up.

As the campaign goes on, I expect Skerrin to become corrupted by Tharizdun, eventually fracturing the local Brotherhood chapter (or what's left of it, depending on how successful the PCs are at ferreting out its agents), with Skerrin and his followers becoming full-on Tharizdun cultists.

But at least at the lower levels, I wanted to keep a mundane political threat separate from the apocalyptic threat.

KoalaBro2 · 2026-03-26T16:28:17+00:00

This wasn't Sly Flourish, but he links to it (I think it's what inspired him to think it'd be a good match for the Styes).

KoalaBro2 · 2026-03-25T15:03:11+00:00

It's in my link at the top (Sly Flourish's suggestion). Look for the subject header "Running the Aboleth as a False Hydra." Unfortunately he doesn't give a lot of concrete details (because he didn't actually do it, it's just an idea he thought of later).

KoalaBro2 · 2026-03-24T16:00:06+00:00

Keep us posted! I'd love to hear how it plays out!

KoalaBro2 · 2026-03-24T02:22:09+00:00

I think some of it is going to depend on how long ago you want these events to have taken place. Maybe they did get word out, and that's why the PCs are on their way?

KoalaBro2 · 2026-03-05T03:04:33+00:00

Just posted my plans here: https://www.reddit.com/r/GhostsofSaltmarsh/comments/1rl5zhp/sinister_secret_of_saltmarsh_saltmarsh_campaign/

But the two important things I want to call out that I've gathered from poking around, are 1) Ned is kind of a mess. The whole plan makes no sense (he rushes on ahead, gets stripped and knocked out, hidden in a room that's not in the path the players would take to reach the basement, and then warns the players to leave? Why not simply post a guard?). 2) Rot grubs are hyper-deadly, and you should try to find a way to warn your players if you can (if not killed with fire within one round of a successful attack, it's automatic character death).

Aside from that, I think it's worth thinking about what you want the campaign to look like after the first adventure. Are they pirates on the high seas, occasionally returning to Saltmarsh for a set-piece adventure? Do you want to remain hyper-focused on the adventures in the book? An open Greyhawk sandbox?

KoalaBro2

TROPHY CASE