DM Scallywag's page

Apologies again for the delays. Now we begin.

“GOLD OFFERED TO ANY BRAVE ENOUGH INVESTIGATE HAUNTED HOUSE NEAR SALTMARSH!”

“Inquiries answered at The Wicker Goat Tavern in Saltmarsh. Seek out the barkeep for more details.”

“Reward provided by Anders Solmor."

So reads a posting that has appeared in several inns and taverns in and near the fishing village of Saltmarsh along the southern coast of Keoland.

The parchment is crisp and white and the ink appears barely dried.

The promise of gold is too good to resist. Some of you may be strangers to the area, but your inquiries have revealed that this Anders Solmor is a local merchant of considerable wealth and a member of the town council.

Some of you are locals and are intrigued by the work offered. The fact that the reward is backed by Anders is especially attractive. He’s young and brash, but he has a keen mind for business, which guarantees the reward will be good.

You find yourself at The Wicker Goat this cloudy midday. The mood is sour again today, and rumblings among the dwarves and humans at the sparsely-occupied tables is the catch has been poor again.

You approach the barkeep, a greying gentleman of a strong build whom some of you recognize as Lankus Kurrid, a retired officer. You exchange your pleasantries and ask about the posting. He points to a door down the back hallway and tells you that Anders will be there shortly to answer all questions. He suggests the daily fish stew and a cold ale would make a fine lunch while you wait.

You look around the room and see several other individuals who don’t appear to be part of the regular crowd, and you hear a baby fussing from one of the tables, not something usual for any tavern.

Depending on your temperament, this may be a good time to quietly dine and wait for Anders to arrive, or perhaps to ask some questions of these other strangers. Perhaps they've heard something.

Now is a good time to get to know one another while you wait for your host to arrive.

Hi folks. I’m dealing with a family emergency that came up, but I’m finishing prep and we’ll get started in the next day or so. I apologize for the delay.

DM Scallywag I wanted to touch base with you. From the recruitment tab you mentioned we were starting in the Wicker Goat. Do we want to assume that earlier today I dropped off the baby I found in the marsh at a local temple or am I wandering around the Goat now hoping to find it a home?

I'll leave it up to you. If you're still carrying the baby we can use that for some introductory RP and getting a quick lay of the land instead of jumping right into the quest. Finding a place to drop it off may also open some opportunities for preliminary fact-finding.

Welcome to the gameplay thread. We will begin shortly.

Welcome to the discussion thread.

The Hand of Fate Part One - The Randomized List

I took the list above and threw it into random.org's list randomizer. These are the results:

1. Orym Rednose (Gnomezrule) - Firbolg ranger (far traveler)
2. Emmett Escheus (Dreaming Warforged) - Druid (guild artisan)
3. Amberstone (DM Darn) - Dwarf fighter (acolyte)
4. Pakk the Cyclops (Blue Symbiote) - Half-orc cleric (pirate)
5. Blacklock (Mishima) - Human fighter (criminal)
6. Tanya (WhtKnt) - Human wizard (urchin)
7. Tomoe Gozen (HayatoKen) - Human monk (pirate)
8. Duncan Umber (Adhanadel) - Human cleric (shipwright)
9. Tessa Tanglerope (DM Aumakua) - Tallfellow halfling rogue (marine)
10. Kurgan Kegstalker (Grumbaki) - Dwarf UA ranger (bounty hunter)
11. Althea (Scranford) - Triton warlock
12. Unknown (Daniel Stewart) - Sorcerer
13. Hiryn Gaelildar (Helaman) - Human barbarian (outlander)
14. Caladwhen Amakiir (The KGB) - High elf rogue (outlander)
15. Osrik Fellhammer (Jubal Breakbottle) - Mountain dwarf barbarian (marine)
16. Rodalas Windrace (Terevalis Unctio) - High elf rogue (spy)

The Hand of Fate Part Two - Roll 1d16 8 Times (six primary characters, 2 alts)

Character Select 01: 1d16 ⇒ 8
Character Select 02: 1d16 ⇒ 1
Character Select 03: 1d16 ⇒ 3
Character Select 04: 1d16 ⇒ 9
Character Select 05: 1d16 ⇒ 11
Character Select 06: 1d16 ⇒ 6

Character Alt 01: 1d16 ⇒ 16
Character Alt 02: 1d16 ⇒ 3 Duplicate roll
Character Alt 02: 1d16 ⇒ 11 Duplicate roll
Character Alt 02: 1d16 ⇒ 15

Selected Characters

(1) 8. Duncan Umber (Adhanadel) - Human cleric (shipwright)
(2) 1. Orym Rednose (Gnomezrule) - Firbolg ranger (far traveler)
(3) 3. Amberstone (DM Darn) - Dwarf fighter (acolyte)
(4) 9. Tessa Tanglerope (DM Aumakua) - Tallfellow halfling rogue (marine)
(5) 11. Althea (Scranford) - Triton warlock
(6) 6. Tanya (WhtKnt) - Human wizard (urchin)

Alternate Characters

(7) 16. Rodalas Windrace (Terevalis Unctio) - High elf rogue (spy)
(8) 15. Osrik Fellhammer (Jubal Breakbottle) - Mountain dwarf barbarian (marine)

For those of you selected, congratulations! I'll have the discussion and gameplay threads opened shortly. You may feel free to "dot in" on the gameplay thread (create a post then delete it so it will show on your campaign list), and talk among yourselves in the discussion thread. I'll be reviewing your character sheets to see if there are any glaring issues.

I'll make an introductory post in the gameplay thread later this week and we'll go from there.

For those of you not selected, I offer my condolences. This was the fairest way to decide among so many submissions, and I wish I could take everyone, but 16 players would be untenable for this adventure. Thank you so much for your submissions! I really didn't expect this level of turnout. Hopefully we meet again on another adventure.

Ok, here's what we have so far (and my undying thanks to WhtKnt for compiling the initial list!!!).

- Amberstone (DM Darn) - Dwarf fighter (acolyte)
- Osrik Fellhammer (Jubal Breakbottle) - Mountain dwarf barbarian (marine)
- Kurgan Kegstalker (Grumbaki) - Dwarf UA ranger (bounty hunter)
- Tanya (WhtKnt) - Human wizard (urchin)
- Althea (Scranford) - Triton warlock
- Duncan Umber (Adhanadel) - Human cleric (shipwright)
- Blacklock (Mishima) - Human fighter (criminal)
- Pakk the Cyclops (Blue Symbiote) - Half-orc cleric (pirate)
- Caladwhen Amakiir (The KGB) - High elf rogue (outlander)
- Orym Rednose (Gnomezrule) - Firbolg ranger (far traveler)
- Tomoe Gozen (HayatoKen) - Human monk (pirate)
- Hiryn Gaelildar (Helaman) - Human barbarian (outlander)
- Tessa Tanglerope (DM Aumakua) - Tallfellow halfling rogue (marine)
- Unknown (Terevalis Unctio) - High elf rogue
- Emmett Escheus (Dreaming Warforged) - Druid (guild artisan)
- Unknown (Daniel Stewart) - Sorcerer

If anybody's missing who already posted, sound off please.

So as I previously said, to keep this fair and because of the large number of submissions, I'm going to let fate decide your ... er ... fate.

What I'm going to do tomorrow (Monday June 17) is take this list and throw it into the random list sorter on random.org.

I will then roll 1d16 8 times, re-rolling duplicates. Numbers 1-6 are primary and should move on to completing their characters if anything's left to do. Numbers 7 and 8 are first alternates, and if any of the previous 6 should drop out then you'll have first dibs to jump in. Beyond that if anyone drops I'll turn it back over and take the first submission.

Once the selections are made I'll set up the discussion and gameplay threads and we'll get started around Thursday-ish this week. Probably in a tavern. I'll also drop characters an extra piece of information or lore based on their background selections.

were you able to open up his sheet?

I'm afraid that's an account-specific link, so for me it shows my character list, not yours.

Can you look at him from D and D Beyond?

Can you post a link? I do have a D&D Beyond account.

Hi folks. Work’s been keeping me really busy this week, so I’ll keep recruiting open till Friday night, like 11 pm or Midnight EDT.

II haven’t yet taken a count of the submissions but it looks to be enough that I may need to do some random number assignments to keep things fair since there’s only six slots.

Silly question. Firbolgs are listed as medium (as opposed to large). Are you okay with them?

Firblogs are fine.

This might be splitting hairs but is this adventure a wild ocean seafaring romp or mostly coastal swamp setting.

This specific part of the adventure is more landlocked. Later parts may venture out into the waters, should things get that far.

DM Scallywag wrote:

Helix Missionary wrote:

Cool. Also, adding on to the question since between now and then I've been struck with another fun concept: are the backgrounds from SCAG potentially on the table? I know a few are very Realms-focused but some are more open, and all can be flavored to fit other settings.

Which ones did you have in mind? Just asking so I can see how well they can be integrated with the Saltmarsh background info.

Far Traveler was the main one I was thinking about, although Inheritor could help tie more directly into the story so that would be a good call, too.

Either of those would be fine, though obviously Far Traveler would have to be adjusted to use a location from Greyhawk.

Cool. Also, adding on to the question since between now and then I've been struck with another fun concept: are the backgrounds from SCAG potentially on the table? I know a few are very Realms-focused but some are more open, and all can be flavored to fit other settings.

Which ones did you have in mind? Just asking so I can see how well they can be integrated with the Saltmarsh background info.

Go ahead. Leaving out SCAG was more an oversight on my part since some of the material also appeared in XGE.

I left it open ended since I didn’t know how much interest I’d generate, but at the current rate I’d say end of this week? I still need some time to finish prep and I can review the character submissions over the weekend.

Some quick notes:

Character Sheets:
I'm ok with linking to an external PDF or image file, but if you can edit your character's profile and put the vitals in the race field it'll make it easier for quick reference.

Something like:

Human Wizard 1 | AC 13 | Init +1 | HP 8/8 | Saves: INT +3 WIS +2 | Pass Perc 15 | Spell Slots 1/1

or

Dwarf Fighter 1 | AC 16 | Init +2 | HP 12/12 | Saves STR +5 CON +4 | Pass Perc 13

Dwarven Characters:
Some additional information that you can use in your background or at least to explain why you're in Saltmarsh -- Recently a dwarven clan has been hired to mine the nearby cliffs for valuable metals, and it's caused controversy among some of the locals. For characters who aren't native to the area, this is information you'd very likely learn as you make inquiries about the town, especially as you get closer to Saltmarsh.

Clerics & Deities:
Wikipedia has a good entry listing the various deities of Greyhawk. The 1983 World of Greyhawk supplement from 1e is also a good source. If you need any additional information or fluff let me know.

I know you didn't mention SCAG, but does that mean no genasi? I could do an aasimar instead...just thinking something planetouched storywise.

I think you meant Elemental Evil not SCAG, but nevertheless I'm ok with genasi. I'm kinda surprised they weren't included in VGM.

12.6.12.8.6.10

Extra salty.

I probably should have added if your rolls are terrible you can take the standard array instead.

“GOLD OFFERED TO ANY BRAVE ENOUGH INVESTIGATE HAUNTED HOUSE NEAR SALTMARSH!”

“Inquiries answered at The Wicker Goat Tavern in Saltmarsh.”

So reads a posting that has appeared in several inns and taverns in and near the fishing village of Saltmarsh along the southern coast of Keoland.

The parchment is crisp and white and the ink appears barely dried.

You might be a wandering adventurer, or mercenary. Perhaps you are a local resident in the region, or even a citizen of the fishing town itself. But the posting and promise of reward has caught your eye.

Perhaps you are puzzled at the thought of a haunted house. Maybe you’ve heard whispers over the last decade or so of such a horror in your very community. Maybe you just really need some fast gold. Nevertheless you’re intrigued enough to seek out more information and make your way to The Wicker Goat.

Scope
I’m looking for 4-6 players, new and experienced alike. We will be starting with The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and continuing with other adventures in the book if there’s sufficient interest.

Setting
The setting is the world of Greyhawk, along the southern coast of Keoland. Several hooks are included for existing backgrounds along with a few new ones detailed below. Once players have their backgrounds selected the GM will provide the additional hooks.

If you’d like additional detail on the setting, DM’s Guild has both editions of World of Greyhawk from AD&D 1e.