by Dave J Browne and Don Turnbull (1981)
Set in the world of Greyhawk, The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh was one of the earliest AD&D modules to be intended for a low level party - specifically levels 1-3, and was the 1st in the 3 part Underwater series of adventures 40 years after it was 1st published it still features highly in 'best of' lists, and online contributors to AD&D forums and chat speak very fondly of it. Why is this? And does it deserve the praise it receives?
Presentation wise it is typical of the era, the main body of the module being a 32 page booklet with a loose outer cover containing most of the maps. Text is a mixture of descriptions for the DM, along with sections of boxed text to be read aloud. The cover art by Dave De Leeuw is evocative - though it is a massive spoiler! - and most of the internal art is of good quality, so the initial impression is quite pleasing. Then you begin to read, and the adventure comes alive. While this module was ostensibly published by the US TSR team, it was written by the UK team and it shows. The writing is tight, descriptive, never wordy, and the attention to detail paved the way for what was to come from that team in the UK series - it is ripe with nautical terms along with nuggets of bawdy humour.
Presentation wise it is typical of the era, the main body of the module being a 32 page booklet with a loose outer cover containing most of the maps. Text is a mixture of descriptions for the DM, along with sections of boxed text to be read aloud. The cover art by Dave De Leeuw is evocative - though it is a massive spoiler! - and most of the internal art is of good quality, so the initial impression is quite pleasing. Then you begin to read, and the adventure comes alive. While this module was ostensibly published by the US TSR team, it was written by the UK team and it shows. The writing is tight, descriptive, never wordy, and the attention to detail paved the way for what was to come from that team in the UK series - it is ripe with nautical terms along with nuggets of bawdy humour.
The cover image - SPOILER ALERT!
The vast majority of adventures published up until this point had been relatively plot-free, open, often sandboxy - or tournament orientated funhouses. The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh brought to the table a plot, something which a lot of later modules were to follow, but while many of those handled the plot elements in a heavy handed manner, this module never does. I believe this is because it mostly uses locations and exploration to drive the plot forward rather than scripted events. Here's a location, these are the adversaries, and this is what they are doing - and they will simply KEEP doing it until the party interfere. This approach works, and it works beautifully.
Th adventure begins with the party hired to investigate a 'Haunted House' - its owner has not been seen in years, and now there are flashing lights and spooky noises scaring travellers away. The party go to the house, investigate the source of the alleged 'Haunting', and then it all kicks off. Yep, it's the Scooby Doo D&D adventure - and people have criticised it for that. I don't think that's a problem when the module is as tightly written as this one. Especially when it leads to a fantastic finale.
Spooky mansion - what could go wrong here?
The maps are a real strong point. The house itself feels authentic, it's a massive step forward from the typically random(ish) dungeon common in this era of gaming. And then there's the boat from chapter 2 - perfectly realised, eloquently described in the text, and almost certainly used and reused by many a DM throughout the years whenever a campaign takes a nautical turn.
So far so good, but I've yet to get to the best facet of the adventure in my opinion - its pacing. It is best played using a party of about 6-8 1st level PCs, and the initial exploration of the house is rather gentle, there's not a lot that hurts the PCs unless they are careless or too trusting. But if they do throw caution to the wind it does bite. The party will slowly discover clues which help them piece together the plot, and when they dig deeper all hell breaks loose - against an intelligent and organised foe - and a classic NPC. This then ends Chapter One. The plot now has a natural break in which the party can recover, and possibly gain levels. If they have been pretty thorough then some or all of them can feasibly gain a level at this point.... It's almost as if it has been designed precisely for this to happen... Hee hee.. of course it has!
Chapter Two is shorter and is focussed on dealing with the ringleaders in the enemy group. It's here that the module gets even better, and where you realise exactly why the module writers put the natural break in - the party will need those extra levels! This chapter is one of the most dynamic and satisfying sections of any module I have ever run.
It was at this point that the Bard in one of my groups stood up
and starting singing an inspiring shanty - OOPS
So, a perfect adventure? Nearly but not quite. Here are a few of the aspects some people have been critical of.... It needs a bit of prep from the DM as the town of Saltmarsh itself is only barely mentioned in passing. Many DMs substitute Restenford in here from the L series of modules and that works nicely, and a version of Saltmarsh was published in one of the later 3.5E books which could be used too. I never needed either though, and largely improvised the town's involvement. There are few 'gotchas' which are rather nasty, but clues to their nature are given in the descriptions, so for me that's not an issue. A clever party can get a LOT of loot - that's not a problem for me either. The only real criticism I can side with is that the adventure might not appeal to those who like their adventures to be highly fantastical, as the 'Secret' is somewhat mundane.
The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, along with its follow up modules U2 and U3, was slightly reworked for 5E and serves as the opening adventure in WotC's Ghosts of Saltmarsh, a book which has been extremely well received. To me this shows the enduring quality of this excellent adventure module. I don't agree with every one of the changes they made to the scenario, but that doesn't matter, I'm not their target audience. However I love the fact that those new to the hobby are getting to experience a scenario that has been so iconic to my own gaming experiences.
A true gem. Low level adventuring does not get better than this.
Presentation: 8/10 – artwork inconsistent but the maps are perfect and the writing excellent
Brawn: 8/10 –a real slow burner, starts gently then kicks off in fine style - twice
Brains: 10/10 - perfectly paced, teaches the party good play and rewards it. The players must be alert, inventive and thorough.
Overall: 9.5/10 - the best low level module TSR ever produced, vying for the title of 'best TSR module full stop'
Scooby-Do might be a reasonable description of the plot of the first half, but the big difference is that it is an unexpected solution, as undead are very real (and actually present). In the cartoon, it is the same plot every episode, and there is no logical reason why they should run from "The Gruesome Ghoul", aside from the fact that Old Man Withers would be revealed after two minutes.
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