Is The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh a well-designed adventure module?

[Arnwyn]

I voted no. I recently updated U1 (along with a host of other old modules) to 3e, and Ned was foremost on my mind when I voted, but there are other reasons. (Sadly, though, I don't remember them specifically because I [personally] found U1 to be utterly forgettable, and don't understand it's popularity).

But I'm in the clear minority on that. (And for the record, upon conversion I wasn't impressed with U2 and U3 as well.)

 

[Odysseus]

I believe U1 to be an excellent module.
Although I agree Ned can be problematic for some groups. An adaption I made the last time I ran U1. Was to make Ned a missing adolecant, for whom the party are searching. Hence the reason the explore the house. Which seemed to work better.

 

[Joshua Randall]

An adaption I made the last time I ran U1. Was to make Ned a missing adolecant, for whom the party are searching. Hence the reason the explore the house.

That's a truly excellent idea. Consider it yoinked.

 

[gizmo33]

I voted Yes.

I like blue maps. I don't care for maps that are photographs with a grid over top of them. They're hard to read. Can you imagine driving with one?

So what current designers could learn is that, while photoshop is cool, being able to read a map quickly and easily is more important IMO than impressing/annoying me with graphics. Of course I might be in the minority of people who buys an adventure to run it.

 

[Storm Raven]

Ah, thanks. I remember correctly now. Still, I don't think it ever worked. The parties I've played with ever since high school, even (especially) when good aligned, have such trust issues against such tactics that we have to metagame new PCs or we'll waste an hour or two role playing till the party will even allow the new member in. It's a running joke of parties saying "my, you look like a trustworthy fellow" to some guy at the tavern and allowing them in the party.

So, what did they do?

Leave him there, tied up in the house? Take him back to Saltmarsh still tied up? (That would raise some interesting questions in town). Send him on his way?

 

[Quasqueton]

Why did you select this module? I thought it was designed very well.

Well, the discussion in a different thread, about the Tomb of Horrors prompted me to make the poll for that module. I thought the poll results and the first part of the discussion was interesting enough to decide to make this a series, similar to my series of “your experiences” (which seemed to be well liked around here).

I was going to just follow the same order as the “your experiences” series, but looking at the list, I saw another EGG module was first, there. Since I didn’t want this series to seem like it was concentrating on just one author, I decided to start with something else. The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is one of the best classic modules, in my opinion, so I thought I’d go with it.

You might not have meant it this way, Crothian, but asking that question, followed by that statement seems as though you were expecting me to only ask about bad or “polarizing” modules.

Quasqueton

 

[el-remmen]

I like blue maps. I don't care for maps that are photographs with a grid over top of them. They're hard to read. Can you imagine driving with one?

So what current designers could learn is that, while photoshop is cool, being able to read a map quickly and easily is more important IMO than impressing/annoying me with graphics. Of course I might be in the minority of people who buys an adventure to run it.

I'm with you, giz.

I have often been the lone voice in the wilderness of Dungeon's new style color maps, prefering the old black and white or grayscale ones without reservation.

 

[el-remmen]

Oh, and as for the module - I would ranks it up there as one of the best - perhaps second only to Against the Cult of the Reptile God (which admittedly works better as a slightly higher level module).

 

[Crothian]

You might not have meant it this way, Crothian, but asking that question, followed by that statement seems as though you were expecting me to only ask about bad or “polarizing” modules.

Ya, I though it might seem that way. I was just curious if there was a reason you went with this one next. I am thinking though the more polarizing modules would warrant better discussion though.

 

[painandgreed]

So, what did they do?

Leave him there, tied up in the house? Take him back to Saltmarsh still tied up? (That would raise some interesting questions in town). Send him on his way?

Yep, they just left him tied up. Ungagged him, asked questions, and said "thanks but we can't trust you. you've been safe enough here so far and we've cleared out the house, and we'll be back to set you free." They'd usually leave him ungagged at least but that dosen't suit his purposes because if yelling would alert the smugglers (and not the characters), he'd never have needed to be tied up to begin with. The ony time I can remember DMing it when they actually untied him, they gave him the choice of being tied up or tagging along under watch and being considered hostile if he did anything suspicious (like try and lose the theif that was constantly at his back). When they party finally came across the smugglers, it was broken up and the first group (without Ned) engaged initially. The second came around the corner and by time Ned had a initiative to act to aid the smugglers (and the only time he wasn't alone with the party without suprise or even a weapon), it was already pretty obvious that such a choice would be suicide for a lost cause, so I opted for him to just sit back, do nothing, and report to his employer.