The New D&D Book Is Called "Ghosts of Saltmarsh" [UPDATED!]

Hussar · Feb 26, 2019

Paul Farquhar said:
Certainly successful computer games and novels where what initially propelled FR past Greyhawk, but that raises additional questions: Why did SSI choose FR for the Gold Box games? Why was the breakthrough D&D novel (The Crystal Shard) set in FR?

Umm, the Dragonlance novels were the breakthrough D&D novel quite a few years before The Crystal Shard. The DL novels were incredibly popular for a number of years.

MNblockhead · Feb 27, 2019

Paul Farquhar said:
I suspect it's more like a very small number of posters making a lot of noise...

(Quite frankly, there is good reason FR overtook Greyhawk in popularity).

[Grabs popcorn and settles in to read the rest of this thread.]

Jester David · Feb 27, 2019

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
There's already a lot of pirate-oriented content out there and if Freeport or Razor Coast ever get ported to 5E, there will be even more of it.

IF they’re updated you mean.
If Frog God Games or Green Ronin were going to, they already would have. And updating from Pathfinder is more for experienced DMs.
Regardless... an official D&D product likely sells an order of magnitude more copies as those books, reaching ten times as many gamers.

Sword of Spirit · Feb 27, 2019

Not being familiar with the original adventures, I wonder if I should start now trying to figure out how to handle underwater breathing assistance in such a way that the half-aquatic elf* in the party can still feel special in an underwater adventure. Obviously the whole party should get to be there, but there needs to be something in the way it goes to make having natural water-breathing capability be a plus.

I suppose I could require attunement for any water-breathing items, and overload the party with attuneable items so it eats up a precious attunement slot the half-elf doesn't have to use...if I wanted to create a perfect example of a solution that is worse than the problem.

Hussar said:
Umm, the Dragonlance novels were the breakthrough D&D novel quite a few years before The Crystal Shard. The DL novels were incredibly popular for a number of years.

Yep. My friend and I disagreed over whether Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance had more novels. I thought that it was Dragonlance for sure, and he was certain it was Forgotten Realms.

Well, it turns out we were both kind of right (although he was more right than me). At the time I was following AD&D there were a ton of DL novels and much fewer FR novels. But afterwards, at the time when he was into AD&D and 3e, is when FR novels overtook and surpassed DL.

Dragonlance used to be the D&D novel line, with anything else just a bit of dabbling.

*Yeah, I realize the official aquatic half-elf doesn't get water-breathing, but that is ridiculous, so I overruled it.

Whizbang Dustyboots · Feb 27, 2019

Jester David said:
IF they’re updated you mean.
If Frog God Games or Green Ronin were going to, they already would have. And updating from Pathfinder is more for experienced DMs.
Regardless... an official D&D product likely sells an order of magnitude more copies as those books, reaching ten times as many gamers.

Razor Coast's situation is pretty complicated, I suspect, between its path to publication and the sheer bulk of it. But with Pathfinder going through a tricky moment, it wouldn't be a huge shock to see Frog God to shift that way.

Green Ronin is trying to make a go of it with AGE, so may not be interested at all. I was disappointed they dropped the systemless version of Freeport in favor of updating the timeline with a Pathfinder core book (and held onto my systemless core book for that reason). If they decide they need an infusion of cash, though, I think 5E Freeport is likely something they have in their back pocket, if they need it. I mean, they came out with Book of the Righteous 5E, of all things, which is available at my local Barnes & Noble alongside all their AGE games. (There's probably a market for all of their AGE games in 5E, especially Game of Thrones, if they still have the license, but that would mean kind of giving up on their own system, which would likely be a tough pill to swallow.)

Whizbang Dustyboots · Feb 27, 2019

Sword of Spirit said:
Not being familiar with the original adventures, I wonder if I should start now trying to figure out how to handle underwater breathing assistance in such a way that the half-aquatic elf* in the party can still feel special in an underwater adventure.

Without spoiling anything, there's a hell of a good roleplaying hook in U1 for that character.

doctorhook · Feb 27, 2019

Charles Rampant said:
All I can assume is that, despite my own lukewarm feelings on it, Tales from the Yawning Portal sold really well (and/or was sufficiently cheap to make) that they identified that format as revisiting. I'd think it was lazy to re-use old adventures, but you might argue this way they have the benefit of being able to pick the most beloved ones, rather than gambling on a new one being as beloved. As per their usual wide net strategy, they've added just enough crunchy bits on top to attract DMs who might not be able to justify a pure adventure compendium.

Say what ya will about this “updated compilation” format, but I kinda like it! It lets me get copies of old stories I don’t have, but redesigned for modern rules. I think it’s a nice change of pace from the mega adventures (which are often a bit daunting). I really like the shorter adventures—good for mining ideas or plunking into casual games.

The Glen · Feb 27, 2019

Sword of Spirit said:
Yep. My friend and I disagreed over whether Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance had more novels. I thought that it was Dragonlance for sure, and he was certain it was Forgotten Realms.

Well, it turns out we were both kind of right (although he was more right than me). At the time I was following AD&D there were a ton of DL novels and much fewer FR novels. But afterwards, at the time when he was into AD&D and 3e, is when FR novels overtook and surpassed DL.

Towards the end of TSR they were churning out novels, mostly FR. And a large amount of them were drek. Extremely formulaic, lots of famous cameos there to just add a name brand to the book, and very little in the way of actual substance. Dragonlance was huge in its day though, until the Realms just shoved everything out of the way at the end. They got the new modules, most of the video games and became a constant source of splatbooks. They've got 30+ video games set there, the next nearest is Mystara with seven.

Jester David · Feb 27, 2019

Charles Rampant said:
Interesting, rather different than what most of us imagined. By that, I think it is safe to say the general assumption was a 'nautical stuff' book with mainly monsters, campaign ideas, and ship rules; this appears more like an adventure compendium with probably 20-40 pages of ship stuff appended to it, which is also very useful but certainly different.

All I can assume is that, despite my own lukewarm feelings on it, Tales from the Yawning Portal sold really well (and/or was sufficiently cheap to make) that they identified that format as revisiting. I'd think it was lazy to re-use old adventures, but you might argue this way they have the benefit of being able to pick the most beloved ones, rather than gambling on a new one being as beloved. As per their usual wide net strategy, they've added just enough crunchy bits on top to attract DMs who might not be able to justify a pure adventure compendium.

That and it’s easy.
They did four books last year, with three being in the fall. They did a book a month for a while. This was their break, as they just needed to update and do a quarter of the work of making a full book.

Gorath99 · Feb 27, 2019

R_J_K75 said:
Think I'll run this in Dark Sun on the Sea of Silt. Bet they wont include ideas on how to do that!!

Not knowing any of the adventures listed, here's my attempt.

Don't use the Sea of Silt, but instead the Last Sea. Have a Mind Lord go rogue to explain anything in the adventures that wouldn't normally make sense in Dark Sun.