D&D 5E Sinister secret of Saltmarsh. THEY HECKING BURNED IT DOWN

[Remedy]

Hello, fellow DMs and players. Here you'll see minor spoilers for the first adventure of ghosts of saltmarsh.

The haunted house. That was supposed to be their first adventure which would lead them towards other intricacies of the region's events. Well, at first giant weasels near the entrance almost TPK'd my brave players, by the margin of one lucky 20 on a death save. Ok, i thought, happens to the best of us, let's continue. Well, they discovered important locations, met the bandits in the cellar. They tied them down. They encountered skeletons. Managed to bar the door to them. But then...One of the players got eaten by rot grubs in the wine cellar, and they just straightforward burned the whole house down. They found the lantern and the code, but the house is pretty much gone. By sheer luck and coincidence, the monk was resurrected from the dead by defibrillation with shocking grasp. As well as that he gained 2nd level, so the electricity and brief clinical death opened his chakras to unlock ki. The moment was epically f*&#ed up, but still.

Also, they rescued Ned from the burning house at the very last moments, and framed him as the arsonist.

Your saltmarsh

My saltmarsh


The house burned down. I wonder, did this happen to any of you? If it did,how did you rule the rest of the adventure? Or you just skipped it entirely? Any advice or ideas how i could do that?

 

[Nebulous]

By sheer luck and coincidence, the monk was resurrected from the dead by defibrillation with shocking grasp. As well as that he gained 2nd level, so the electricity and brief clinical death opened his chakras to unlock ki. The moment was epically f*&#ed up, but still.

The house burned down. I wonder, did this happen to any of you? If it did,how did you rule the rest of the adventure? Or you just skipped it entirely? Any advice or ideas how i could do that?

Haha, you're far too kind. Defibrillation and raise dead by shocking grasp?? Now you've given then Raise Dead as a 1st level spell the rest of their adventuring days

I ran the original 1e in 5e about 3 years ago. I loved it. No, they didn't burn it down. Was there anything in there they needed plot wise?

 

[Charlaquin]

I’m playing in a Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign, and we dis seriously consider burning the house down on purpose. Our job was to stop the slavers, the house was their hideout, and it was abandoned so it’s not like anyone would miss it. Arson legitimately seems like the most direct way for the players to accomplish their goals in the first part.

We didn’t end up doing it, but it would have made perfect sense for us to do.

 

[Remedy]

Haha, you're far too kind. Defibrillation and raise dead by shocking grasp?? Now you've given then Raise Dead as a 1st level spell the rest of their adventuring days

I ran the original 1e in 5e about 3 years ago. I loved it. No, they didn't burn it down. Was there anything in there they needed plot wise?

That was one-time raise dead ticket, the player was new and I didn't want him to die that quickly and stupidly. next time it'll just kill the patient. Also I disabled health potions for the campaign, so it felt like the right thing too.

 

[Remedy]

I’m playing in a Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign, and we dis seriously consider burning the house down on purpose. Our job was to stop the slavers, the house was their hideout, and it was abandoned so it’s not like anyone would miss it. Arson legitimately seems like the most direct way for the players to accomplish their goals in the first part.

We didn’t end up doing it, but it would have made perfect sense for us to do.

but they didnt even know about the smugglers and slavers there. They discovered some vague "bandits" that fed them vague lies and probably wouldn't be in prison for long without evidence. I am just curious, what Sanbalet would do with the house burned down, and the ship and his operations still running?

 

[Nebulous]

but they didnt even know about the smugglers and slavers there. They discovered some vague "bandits" that fed them vague lies and probably wouldn't be in prison for long without evidence. I am just curious, what Sanbalet would do with the house burned down, and the ship and his operations still running?

You'd have to get creative. Maybe he's got another base of operations somewhere...

 

[jayoungr]

If it helps, I played this adventure at a con a few years ago, and we burned the house down too. But that was mostly out of frustration because we couldn't make the rolls needed to progress.

 

[Tony Vargas]

. But then...One of the players got eaten by rot grubs in the wine cellar, and they just straightforward burned the whole house down.

I can't say it's an unreasonable response.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

but they didnt even know about the smugglers and slavers there. They discovered some vague "bandits" that fed them vague lies and probably wouldn't be in prison for long without evidence. I am just curious, what Sanbalet would do with the house burned down, and the ship and his operations still running?

Probably find a new base somewhere. But you don't need to continue that plotline unless you particularly want to. The players may never hear from him again, and the smuggling continues after a minor hiccup. Score a draw and move onto the next adventure.

 

[JediSoth]

Hello, fellow DMs and players. Here you'll see minor spoilers for the first adventure of ghosts of saltmarsh.

The haunted house. That was supposed to be their first adventure which would lead them towards other intricacies of the region's events. Well, at first giant weasels near the entrance almost TPK'd my brave players, by the margin of one lucky 20 on a death save. Ok, i thought, happens to the best of us, let's continue. Well, they discovered important locations, met the bandits in the cellar. They tied them down. They encountered skeletons. Managed to bar the door to them. But then...One of the players got eaten by rot grubs in the wine cellar, and they just straightforward burned the whole house down. They found the lantern and the code, but the house is pretty much gone. By sheer luck and coincidence, the monk was resurrected from the dead by defibrillation with shocking grasp. As well as that he gained 2nd level, so the electricity and brief clinical death opened his chakras to unlock ki. The moment was epically f*&#ed up, but still.

Also, they rescued Ned from the burning house at the very last moments, and framed him as the arsonist.

Your saltmarshView attachment 114009

My saltmarshView attachment 114008


The house burned down. I wonder, did this happen to any of you? If it did,how did you rule the rest of the adventure? Or you just skipped it entirely? Any advice or ideas how i could do that?

When I ran the original Saltmarsh adventure for BECMI D&D several years ago, the players burned down the house before they finished exploring the cellar. I'd planned to make the Saltmarsh trilogy the central focus of the campaign (years before WotC stole my idea ), but I had to change course. The mayor of Saltmarsh was NOT happy about them burning down the house, so I sent them to the Isle of Dread instead.

When I run The Ghosts of Saltmarsh, I'm fairly confident my current group will NOT burn down the house; they've heard that story and had a SMDH reaction to it (plus my wife played in that game, too).